Chapter 345: Does It Matter Without an Outcome?
“You never know.”
“Huh?”
The old man made a questioning sound. “Why?”
Chen Changsheng looked at him calmly and said, “You think he deserves death? Why?”
After thinking for a long time, the old man said, “Family shattered and lives ruined, all because of this son.”
“For example?”
“At sixteen, reckless with passion, he took liberties with a girl in the district, forced her into marriage, ruining her life.”
“At seventeen, he was addicted to gambling. His wife was carrying his baby in her womb, but he paid her no mind. She almost died along with the child.”
“Upon turning eighteen, during spring, he gambled everything away, stole the coffin money saved by the elderly in the family, lost it all too, bankrupting the family. Still, he didn’t stop.”
“What happened later?” Chen Changsheng asked. The old man hunched over and continued, “With no money left to hire a midwife, though the baby survived, his wife died from difficult labor. The very next day, he handed over the swaddled baby and sold it to a slave trader! Unworthy of being called a human!”
The old man’s tone clearly grew heavier.
His figure swayed slightly.
A flicker passed through Chen Changsheng’s expression. “Truly unworthy of being a son.”
The old man sighed and continued, “His wife died unwilling to close her eyes, and his flesh and blood was given away!”
“Twenty years old!”
“The family rice jar ran empty. His father caught a chill, lay paralyzed on the bed with no one to care for him. Finding it troublesome, he abandoned him in the cowshed!”
The old man thumped his long walking stick. His face darkened further.
“At twenty-two, his father died, his body never found…”
The old man’s voice grew faint. He went on, “At twenty-four, his father-in-law met an unnatural death. He coveted the father-in-law’s family fortune, resorting to schemes and forceful seizure…”
“At twenty-five, he opened a tavern. Many thought he’d finally settled down, but they never expected it to be a den of thieves.”
The old man took a long breath and said, “If he doesn’t deserve death, then who does?”
After finishing this lengthy recounting.
The old man’s emotions slowly calmed.
When the sound finally faded away.
Chen Changsheng spoke, “How old is he now?”
The old man murmured, “…Twenty-seven.”
Chen Changsheng nodded and said, “So, what part did you play in all this?”
The old man took a deep breath and said, “I am that elder left helpless in the cowshed.”
“But you passed away when he was twenty-two.”
Chen Changsheng said, “Now he is twenty-seven. Over these past five years, you lingered here, hiding in this City God Temple. Your endless resentment should have turned you into a vengeful ghost. Yet the Power of Worship maintained your awareness. So, what has kept you from killing him all this time?”
The old man’s eyes were clouded. He muttered.
“People say a tiger won’t eat its own cubs, but human hearts can turn cold enough.”
“The old man speaks rightly. Otherwise, why would we have the phrase ‘placing righteousness above family loyalty’?”
There are always things that become impossible to tolerate.
The old man understood these truths. Yet he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
And so he fell back on the saying: a tiger won’t eat its own cubs.
Such blind love for one’s offspring is indescribable, impossible to weigh or give up.
Chen Changsheng wasn’t unsympathetic to the old man’s struggle. He never felt any bias toward him from the beginning.
The old man said, “Celestial Immortal…”
Chen Changsheng looked at him.
The old man said, “I don’t know how to choose. I beg you, Celestial Immortal, for guidance.”
Chen Changsheng said, “Killing him brings swift justice.”
The old man was silent for a moment, but finally shook his head.
Chen Changsheng said, “Since it is so, why do you assume he cannot live through this night?”
The old man spoke no more.
Chen Changsheng stepped forward and said, “The previous City God pitied you, hence allowed you refuge here. But your Resentment Energy continues to grow. One day, you will become a great disaster. By the rules, I should execute you here, to avert future dangers, and face the Karma myself.”
The old man lifted his head. Those eyes were still clouded.
Chen Changsheng said, “However, I, am a man of casual habits. I believe what one believes is most important.”
“I shall wait here tonight. When dawn breaks tomorrow, I will destroy your Wandering Spirit.”
The old man froze. His mouth opened several times, but words failed him.
Chen Changsheng said, “The choice is entirely yours.”
The old man hesitated, gripping his long staff, deep in thought for a long, long time.
Finally, it dissolved into a sigh.
“Thank you, Celestial Immortal.”
He shuffled away with halting steps toward the district.
Round the corner, he vanished from sight.
Chen Changsheng found a spot beneath a tree and promptly lay down.
A leaf fell, covering his left eye.
He did not sweep it away. He fell asleep under the tree.
The sun set in the west, dusk fading to twilight.
Until the sky darkened completely, the moon bright, stars sparse.
Throughout the night in Xiyu District, dogs barked and roosters crowed without cease. Many households couldn’t sleep, and curses gradually rose into the air.
Only when the last candle wick flickered out did Xiyu District slowly fall quiet.
…
“Cock-a-doodle-doo…”
The crowing of the roosters echoed from the district.
The sky was still somewhat gray. Once again, heavy mist rose over the river, rolling in, shrouding the view.
The figure of the Green-Robed Gentleman under the tree stirred slightly.
The leaf covering his left eye fell away.
He opened his eyes, turning them toward the distant rising sun.
Then he looked toward the district entrance.
Chen Changsheng stood up and walked toward that ‘City God Temple’.
The agreed time was dawn. But the old man had yet to return.
Chen Changsheng looked down and saw three Copper Coins placed before the incense burner.
He recognized those three Copper Coins.
He scanned the surroundings. No sign of the old man.
Chen Changsheng murmured to himself, “It seems he came back, then.”
He looked again at the City God Temple.
The Divine Statue inside the temple emitted a dense aura of incense offerings.
This place no longer had its true deity.
Chen Changsheng stood silent for a long while, then reached out and collected the three Copper Coins before the incense burner.
He regained his focus and headed toward the Tavern in Xiyu District.
When Chen Changsheng arrived, he found the Tavern doors tightly closed. Expanding his Divine Sense, he searched the entire Xiyu District, but the Manager was nowhere to be found.
Chen Changsheng lifted his head, looking at the weathered Tavern.. After a long moment, he sighed.
“Strange, strange…”
Chen Changsheng turned and left, walking out of that street, out of Xiyu District.
He cast one last glance at the low City God Temple, then never looked back.
The old man from yesterday, it seemed, was no longer around.
A Wandering Spirit burdened with clinging Resentment Energy, even with the Power of Worship sustaining it, could not enter Reincarnation.
How he ceased to be, remained unclear. Chen Changsheng didn’t bother to seek clarity.
As for the Manager, whether he lived or died was unknown.
Had he died by the old man’s hand last night? Or had he fled this place in the night?
Many things, once the outcome is known, cannot satisfy.
So let it be.
Does it matter without an outcome?