Chapter 43 (2/2)
Before his hand had touched hiht toward him, then became silently still
Shen Qiao was shocked He hurried over to check on him only to find out that the boy had been seriously ill since a long tio He was already at death's door While the couple were dragging hi his terminal lucidity —— even Gods would have no means to save him, and his heart had already failed by now He could hold on no more
Whether Shen Qiao chose to save him or not made no difference to him at all
His eyes were not co and accusation for this world
Judging by the scars on his body and the ribs poking out under his skin, this little boy probably never lived even one good day in his life Perhaps he never even understood why he had to be born and endure thesetily at him Suddenly, he reached out and passed his hand across the boy's face, tenderly closing his eyelids
Yet, another hand caently wiped off the wet traces of tears at the corners
”You didn't cry even when Yu Ai betrayed you, but now you are crying over so I experienced, whether they were setbacks or predicas I could endure But this little boy… He probably has never hurt anyone The reason Heaven let him be born into this world should not be for hiht to live No matter how hard life is, there should at least be hope for him to see a way out”
If someone else had said these words, Yan Wushi+ would definitely mark them as hypocritical Even now, he could never and would never do the things that Shen Qiao had done However, fro things like this, he didn't even feel strange or surprised Soed in an unconscious and natural way
”You are too naive Who is responsible for giving him hope? Other people need to live too They too need to plan for themselves Why do they need to treat hi to treat him nicely, but it's too late”
Yan Wushi+ said apathetically, ”You can save at most one or two people by yourself There are many people in this world in a similar state as him, yet you are blind to them Isn't this hypocrisy?”
Shen Qiao said, ”If this chaos can come to an end one day and the world is under one person's rule again, then even if such things will not disappear completely, at least there will be a lot less of them By that time, not only one or two people will be saved, but hundreds of thousands of people, isn't that right?”
Yan Wushi+ didn't care to respond He walked straight to the side and, using his palm as blade, created a deep pit under the tree with his inner qi The pit was rectangular and leveled at the bottom
Shen Qiao i his movement He smiled and said, ”Thanks”
He carried the little boy's re his body into the pit Then he swept the dirt around the pit to flatten it out
In such a turbulent era, it was good enough for not leaving one's bones on the ht think there were funeral objects underneath It would then attract thieves and robbers instead
After everything was settled, Shen Qiao and Yan Wushi+ entered the city
The inside and outside of the city were as different as torlds
It was said that after Gao Wei, the Emperor of Qi, heard about the years of faees out there, not only did he not ask the officials to provide disaster relief, but he even built a Poor's Village inside the Hualin Garden in the capital Dressed up as a beggar hiirls in the palace to pretend to be travelling businessmen and passers-by so that he could experience the fun of begging himself Therefore, when people in Ye City talked about the Hualin Garden, their faces were not filled with adue, tacit ridicule
However, even in the face of the danger of the Northern Zhou's ar in on the border, the city appeared to be just as peaceful, happy and prosperous, nothis previous visit
The roads were filled with precious horses and old and silver powders; luxurious brocade dresses fluttered in the wind; hair was decorated with jade hairpins; and the air wassuffused with subtle fragrances —— All of these together for array of prosperity in people's eyes This was the visage of Ye City, the capital city of Qi, a world of glory and wealth
At first glance, those travelers who had just arrived wouldn't be able to find any poor people in this city They ht even feel asha whether they were themselves too poor and pedantic However, if one were to take a look at the hidden alleys on the side, they could occasionally spot a few ordinary citizens wrapped in simple clothes who appeared to be quite ill-fitted with the strikingly flourishi+ng sight around the city was not so one could easily accoed at soed into normal clothes to hide their identities If it was the second case, looking for the for a needle in a haystack
The two of theht after they entered the city Yan Wushi+ didn't say where he was going, neither did Shen Qiao ask about it He only said, ”Take care of yourself, Sect Master Yan I wish you the best”
Yan Wushi+ asked, ”Are you going to look for an inn to stay?”
Shen Qiao thought for aDaoist monasteries first If I can't find them, then I'll stay in the monastery”
Yan Wushi+ nodded, ”I still have some business to deal with”
He turned around and left without saying what business he had In just the blink of an eye, he had already disappeared froht
For a moment, Shen Qiao stood where he was and watched as the latter disappeared into the sea of people He couldn't help but pull a smile and started to leave as well
He hadn't walked far before a large troop approached fro the ere driving pedestrians away as the latter rushed to the sides in a fluster in order to avoid offending the noble and getting theether with the rest of the crowd The next second, he heard so from behind, ”Which prince or princess is it this tihed as he replied, ”You're wrong Judging by the honour guards, it should be the Co!”
As if he was suddenly enlightened, the first person let out a sound of surprise, ”Ah! Is he that Co whom the Emperor deeply favors?”
The other person said in a ht It's hi, Mutipo, was so famous that his name was known to almost everyone However, his fame did not come from his ability or political achievements, but from the Emperor
There was also a very unpleasant history between Shen Qiao and this Comain He probably hated Shen Qiao to the bone Shen Qiao was not afraid of hi for Yu Ai, there was no need to cause more trouble As soon as he heard the conversation, he retreated even further to the back of the crowd and planned to take shelter in a nearby shop
Right then, he heard so puzzledly, ”That's not the Co”
Shen Qiao turned back Unfortunately, the person as riding high up on the horse was also looking in his direction
Their eyeshappened, but the other person was slightly shocked
”Oh! That's indeed not the Co He's the new favorite of His Majesty People say that he was recommended to His Majesty by the commandery prince Nowadays, His Majesty likes hi? Is that the one who… is she?”
”Haha That's right She's that concubine as stripped of her clothes by the Emperor His Majesty sold her body to the officials They could see her naked for a thousand pieces of gold!”
The cohter fro crowd
What could one make of the country when its e about the Yuwen Yong he had met, Shen Qiao shook his head and disappeared back into the crowd
The Northern Qi was a supporter of Buddhism Therefore, as a Buddhist capital, Ye City had nearly no Daoist monasteries Shen Qiao asked a few passers-by, but most of them didn't know if one existed in the city In the end, an old on Monastery in the west side of the city It's a pretty lonely place Only two young Daoist priests and an old abbot live in it Not o there”
Shen Qiao thanked the old on Monastery It was si from outside, except for the three characters written on the wooden plaque above the main entrance which could still be considered as readable, the rest of the places were all covered with moss, the tiles weather-beaten It must have been many years since it was last cleaned and repaired
The oldDaoist priests that lived here But Shen Qiao didn't see any of theate all the way to the little court in the center It was not until Shen Qiao raised his voice and asked for the third or fourth ti priest boy finally yawned his way out
”What have you coreeted hiroup of people asked to stay here a couple days ago?They should have been led by a young ht with him a lady and two old men, and perhaps some other disciples The man has a redDaoist robes ”
The little priest shook his head, ”Not that I know of Our monastery has always been pretty quiet and lonely It's been a long tihtly disappointed Seeing that the sky was getting dark, he asked, ”Then uest rooht?”
”We do But it hasn't been cleaned for quite some time You'd have to clean it yourself”
”Thank you It's good enough to have a place to spend the night May I ask if the abbot of theme stay in his place”
”Nah, there's no need Myfor a place to stay, not to borrow money, so it doesn't uided Shen Qiao through the monastery's main hall to one of the rooms in the backyard When the door was opened, the dustyDaoist priest hih non stop as he fanned hard in front of his nose
”Look how dirty this place is! Are you sure you are fine with staying here?” He peered at Shen Qiao from the corner of his eye
Shen Qiao briefly scanned the roo cloth were handy There was also a well right outside With just a bit of cleaning, the room would do just fine In fact, when he was still the sect leader of Mount Xuandu, the place he lived in wasn't as luxurious and coined
”I' priest”
Since he said yes, the little priest didn't bother with it any further, ”There's no food past noon, so the kitchen has already closed You'd have to cook sos and cups can be found in the kitchen, but we don't have any rice or noodles If you want to buy food, there's some in the market just across the street But you have to hurry up They ht close soon”
With a reception as bad as this, it was no wonder that thelocated in the capital city Apart from the fact that most people in Qi were Buddhists, the host's attitude was probably very proble He just agreed to everything with a sht after the little priest left, he i the bed
Not long after, the little priest returned, his face covered in excitement ”Mister! Hurry up and take a look outside! There are several carriages parked out there loaded with things The people said those were for you!”
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