Chapter 195 - 192: The Benevolent are Invincible in the Deceitful Realm

Mr. Gao pressed down on the villager Sha Si’s hand.

In that instant, everyone’s gaze focused on where their two hands met.

Mr. Gao was short and wore a face full of smiles, yet a strange, cold light glinted in his eyes, radiating an imposing authority.

Sha Si seemed stunned. He looked at Mr. Gao with an expression of surprise and disbelief, his voice rising slightly. "Mr. Gao, are you telling us not to kill the donkey?"

"But Mr. Gao," Sha Si continued in an incredulous tone, "this donkey is unruly! It’s one thing that it won’t work, but it also kicks and even killed Aunt Liu San’s chickens. A vicious donkey like this... surely we can’t just keep feeding it for free, can we? If we don’t kill and eat it, what are we supposed to do? Worship it like an ancestor?"

As he spoke, he gave Mr. Gao a look that said, ’You’ve got to be kidding me.’

Behind him, the other villagers suddenly broke into laughter upon hearing his words.

The tense atmosphere was strangely broken, relaxed for a moment.

Sha Si was about to wave his hand to signal the villagers to go and carry the "donkey" again, but his hand was held firmly in Mr. Gao’s grip. The wave was nothing more than a slight, small twitch.

Sha Si’s hand couldn’t move. His laughter died abruptly.

The laughter from the other villagers also ceased at the same moment. The atmosphere grew tense once more.

On Sha Si’s neck, snake-like red veins began to throb and bulge. His eyes became more black than white, and his voice turned suddenly rigid.

He asked in a low, cold voice, "Mr. Gao, are you truly determined to stop us from eating this donkey today?"

"The delicacy of donkey meat... it’s not as if you’ve never experienced it, Mr. Gao. What’s this? Playing the Saint today? Refusing to eat donkey?"

Mr. Gao opened his mouth and extended his tongue to lick his lips.

Dense clusters of tentacles were faintly visible deep in his throat. His tongue was covered in sharp, backward-facing barbs. As his tongue moved, it began to scrape the skin of his lips, leaving conspicuous red streaks around his mouth.

An invisible pressure radiated outwards. Mr. Gao’s voice grew cold as well. His face stiff, he said, "Sha Si, how audacious! I may not be a Saint, but I teach the Scriptures of the Saints and Sages! You are so absurdly ignorant, making a mockery of the Saints with every other word. Such behavior goes against the Celestial Dao and human ethics!"

Each word he spoke was like an inviolable law, like the crushing weight of Mount Tai, one mountain after another.

"The Sages have spoken: the benevolent are invincible! I am now trying to enlighten you ignorant folk with a benevolent heart, yet you remain stubbornly unenlightened. How lamentable, how tragic!"

Mr. Gao pointed at Sha Si, who couldn’t help but take a step back.

Mr. Gao pressed forward, his presence growing more overwhelming with each step. He bellowed, "Sha Si, it’s one thing for you to be unlearned and ignorant, but are you really going to block the path of learning for your descendants as well? What are your intentions? You fool!"

His voice boomed, each word like the tolling of a great bell, thundering endlessly in their ears.

Sha Si was forced back step after step. Only when he was a full ten zhang away from Jiao Zuo did he suddenly open his mouth and cry out, "I was wrong, Mr. Gao!"

"I won’t eat the donkey! This donkey is for Mr. Yu!" Sha Si yelled. As he shouted, he began to vomit—countless slimy, disgusting, multi-colored, bizarre insects spilled from his mouth.

The bizarre insects fell to the ground, squirming and writhing, then moments later, their bodies burst into flame, spontaneously combusting into ash.

Sha Si vomited a floor full of bizarre insects, and the bizarre insects burned into a floor full of ash.

He screamed, "AH! I was wrong! I was wrong, Mr. Gao! I don’t want the donkey! I don’t want it anymore!"

His voice, growing shrill, faded into the distance.

Soon, the other villagers also began to retreat.

They shouldered their hoes and dragged their rakes. Some turned and shouted, "Brother Sha, wait for me!"

Others, almost fawning, said politely to Mr. Gao, "Actually, the teacher is right. The benevolent are invincible. How could the Saints be wrong? The ones who are wrong can only be us."

These people smiled obsequiously at Mr. Gao, hurriedly saying, "Oh, Teacher, I have two children who can enroll this autumn. I hope you will teach them well and discipline them strictly..."

"Teacher, this humble one is leaving..."

"Teacher, my little boy is sixty-three this year. He hopes to have the honor of meeting you."

"Mr. Gao, oh, Mr. Gao... my family..."

"My family, my family, my family..." The villagers repeated the words "my family," each utterance laden with infinite expectation.

Only after expressing all their hopes did the villagers turn and head home one by one.

In the end, the "donkey," Jiao Zuo, was left behind by the villagers with Mr. Gao. With his hands behind his back, Mr. Gao was, for a moment, immensely pleased with himself, full of pride and satisfaction.

Clutching six Ancestral Dragon Coins, he raised his head slightly and happily called Song Ciwan to his side.

"Xin Mian, your teacher here has saved this donkey. Carry him up. Let’s go! We’re returning to the academy!"

Song Ciwan quickly complied. "Yes, Teacher. Your student admires your benevolent heart and intentions."

After speaking, she casually waved to Xie Yunxiang, who was standing in the middle of the group, beckoning him over to help carry Jiao Zuo.

Xie Yunxiang hurried over. He had recognized "Xin Mian" long ago but hadn’t dared to call out to her.

Now that Song Ciwan had called him by name, it took all his strength to suppress the excitement on his face.

But as he reached Song Ciwan’s side, her Heaven and Earth Scale suddenly materialized on its own.

[Human desires: The Xie, shock, and sorrow of a Qi Transformation Stage Cultivator. Three jin and nine liang. Available for trade!]

In a single meeting, Xie Yunxiang had provided an emotional mass weighing three jin and nine liang! Its effect was comparable to more than three and a half years of Cultivation Time!

Song Ciwan: ...

’It’s a little unexpected, but at the same time, it feels just right.’

’Xie Yunxiang truly is worthy of being called Brother Xie. He’s just so easy to fleece.’

Of course, while he was easy to fleece, he wasn’t a fool. Despite the many emotions roiling inside him, he maintained a perfect, polite distance from Song Ciwan on the surface.

He spoke to Song Ciwan courteously, then helped her lift Jiao Zuo.

The group followed behind Mr. Gao, heading toward the academy he had mentioned.

Jiao Zuo, who had worn an expression of utter despair, had been saved from the brink of death. He lifted his dry eyes to look at Song Ciwan, then at Xie Yunxiang.

Xie Yunxiang pulled his wrinkled face into an ugly smile for him. Jiao Zuo averted his gaze.

When Song Ciwan met Jiao Zuo’s eyes, she offered him a gentle and calm expression.

Jiao Zuo froze for a moment, then lowered his eyelids.

Following Mr. Gao, the group didn’t enter the village directly but instead skirted its western edge. After walking for about three li, the path ahead gradually grew damp. A few moments later, the damp path turned into a vast mire.

A bird landed on the wet, muddy ground. The mire trembled instantly, and in a flash, it devoured the bird, pulling it down into the infinitely deep mud.

Mr. Gao paid it no mind. He simply waved his hand and said joyfully, "Children, we’re back at the academy! Come now, I have just happened upon an essay on benevolence, and it is the perfect time to instruct you all!"