Chapter 378: Chapter 280: The Wisdom of the Common Folk!
Dawn arrived in an instant.
When many people in Shengjing City stepped out in the morning, they suddenly found their long-ti neighbors missing, their old friends vanished, leaving only themselves among relatives and acquaintances.
For a mont, sothing called "panic" began to spread in everyone’s hearts.
Especially those who originally planned to move to the New World but listened to the assurances of friends and neighbors who swore they would never leave Shengjing City, only to find after one night that they were all gone. Their panic and anger reached a peak.
"Damn Zhang San, he actually deceived ! If I ever see him again, I’ll definitely chop him alive!"
"Brother Qian Ming, we were classmates, why did you deceive ?"
"Damn you, Wang Lao’er, I’m your own brother, and you left without taking ?"
"Uncle..."
When the protagonist returned from outside the city, he was t with the scene of a city full of wails and cries.
He frowned slightly, not understanding why this was happening.
Judging by the look of those people, they clearly chose not to leave the Cultivation World on their own accord.
But why were they so angry after seeing others leave?
At this ti, an old voice suddenly sounded nearby.
"Little monk..."
The protagonist instinctively turned his head, then saw an elderly man with white hair and beard sitting leisurely in a bamboo chair enjoying the sun.
Seeing the protagonist looking over, the old man smiled and waved at him.
"Little monk, I saw you standing there watching for a while. Are you looking for soone? This old man has lived in this alley his whole life. If you want to find soone, just tell
and I’ll see if they are still around."
Hearing this, the protagonist took two steps forward, gave a polite salute to the elder, and then said, "Sir, this monk is not looking for soone, I’m just curious about sothing."
After saying this, the protagonist glanced back at the people still cursing loudly and asked puzzledly: "Sir, those people clearly didn’t want to leave themselves, why are they so angry after others left?"
After hearing this, the old man suddenly burst into laughter, seemingly reminded of sothing.
He laughed so hard that tears ca out.
The protagonist, worried that the old man might be short of breath from laughing, silently transferred a wisp of True Essence Spiritual Qi to help the elder calm his breath.
The old man laughed for a long ti, and when he finally laughed enough, he looked at the protagonist with a smile.
"Little monk, do you feel they are pitiful for being deceived?"
The protagonist shook his head and calmly said, "Good deeds have good causes, evil deeds have evil retributions. All things have their consequences, and retribution is unfailing."
The old man was baffled and cluelessly shook his head, saying, "I don’t understand what you’re saying. The only thing I hear is ’retribution’, and indeed, those folks are facing retribution!"
Saying this, the old man pointed at a burly, dark-skinned man with a big waist and a strong build, laughing: "That’s Butcher Zhang, the one selling at at the alley entrance. The Wang Lao’er he ntioned sells vegetables next to the butcher’s, they’re neighbors."
"When the emperor’s decree was issued, Butcher Zhang asked Wang Lao’er if he was going to the New World to farm for the emperor. Wang Lao’er said no."
"Many people heard it then. Hearing Wang Lao’er didn’t want to go, Butcher Zhang imdiately said he wouldn’t go either."
The old man finished speaking and deliberately asked the protagonist, "Little monk, hearing the old man say this, do you think these two have a good relationship?"
The protagonist furrowed his brow and asked in return, "Isn’t it so?"
"Of course not." The old man suddenly burst into laughter.
"Wang Lao’er is short and timid. He’s been bullied by Butcher Zhang since childhood. Butcher Zhang often snatches Wang Lao’er’s vegetable money."
"When Butcher Zhang asked Wang Lao’er about going to the New World, it wasn’t because they had a good relationship; it was because if Wang Lao’er left, Butcher Zhang would have no one to bully."
The old man showed a schadenfreude expression at this point:
"I never imagined that honest-looking Wang Lao’er would deceive everyone!"
"Not only did he go to the New World, but he also trapped Butcher Zhang!"
"Now, the channel to the New World is closed. Butcher Zhang can only stay here and wait to die with ."
The protagonist listened, turned to look at the others still cursing, and asked, "Are those people like this too?"
The old man nodded and said with a smile, "The one crying the most sadly is Scholar Sun, he and Scholar Qian were classmates, and they agreed to participate in the exam together."
"The night before the exam, Scholar Sun placed croton seeds in Scholar Qian’s food, causing Scholar Qian to lose control at the examination venue."
"Not only did Scholar Qian lose face, but he was also barred from taking the exam for three years by the examiners for fouling the examination hall."
"Scholar Qian suffered a major blow and nearly died!"
Hearing this, the protagonist was surprised and glanced at Scholar Sun.
He couldn’t understand how soone who did such a vile thing could claim to be Scholar Qian’s classmate and friend, and even complain that he wasn’t called upon leaving?
"What about the man cursing his brother for not caring about him?" the protagonist pointed to the third person and asked.
The old man glanced at the person, then spat disdainfully.
"That guy is surnad Liu; we all call him Liu Laoda."
"Liu Laoda is a gambler, extrely addicted to gambling. He lost all his family wealth, and even caused his elderly mother to die of anger."
"If it were just that, his brother would at most resent him but wouldn’t abandon him."
"The brothers ended up like this because Liu Laoda lost a bet and went asking his father for money, and when his father refused, Liu Laoda strangled him to death."
"Had the emperor not suddenly decreed the move to the New World, Liu Laoda would have faced execution co autumn!"
"You tell , how could any brother recognize him after such deeds?"
The protagonist withdrew his gaze from Liu Laoda, no longer inquiring about others, but looked at the old man and asked, "Elder, where are your family mbers? Why didn’t you go to the New World?"
The old man laughed heartily and said proudly, "My children are much more filial than them!"
"All my children have gone to the New World. When the emperor’s decree ca, I pushed them in the first wave!"
"Didn’t the emperor say that in the New World, one can take land freely? If such a good opportunity were missed, this old man would have no face to et the ancestors after death."
After speaking, the old man smiled again: "As for the old man himself, there’s no need to go. The children are there to conquer the world. I’m too old to move well; I’d only hinder them by going!"
"Amitabha!"
The protagonist intoned a Buddhist chant, pressing his hands together, and said with a complex expression: "Elder, your broad-mindedness is admirable."
Upon hearing this, the old man waved his hand repeatedly: "I don’t deserve such praise. This old man just lived longer and sees further than others; I don’t deserve the praise of the enlightened."
Enlightened?
The protagonist was taken aback, puzzled as he looked at the old man: "Elder, do you know this monk?"
Upon hearing this, a crafty gleam flashed in the old man’s eyes, and he smiled proudly: "In today’s chaotic Shengjing City, with fear everywhere, you remain composed outside the crowd. If you aren’t enlightened, perhaps no one in the world is!"
The old man said this, and while the protagonist was not paying attention, directly tumbled from the bamboo chair and perford a grand gesture of obeisance towards the protagonist.
"Buddha, this little old man’s na is Li Laosan, my eldest son is nad Li Goudan, second son Li Gousheng, and third son Li Goucai. If you et them in the New World, please look after them, this little old man is kowtowing to you!"
The protagonist was suddenly dumbfounded.
ps: Begging for reading, begging for continued reading!
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