Chapter 234: The Wretched of Jinzhou City

Chapter 234: Chapter 234: The Wretched of Jinzhou City

"Did you divine that I would come today?"

Leng Yingxue wasn’t just cold toward Chu Fan; even when facing this old acquaintance, her words remained just as chilly.

The elderly nun who had led Leng Yingxue to the Zen Temple put her palms together and withdrew.

The nun sitting cross-legged on the rush mat waved her hand, and a tea table appeared before her.

On the table sat a clay pot still steaming with heat and two empty bowls.

The nun set down her wooden fish, leisurely picked up the teapot, and filled both bowls about seventy percent full.

"For this pot of tea, I personally picked and roasted the leaves just yesterday. They are the first green leaves from that tree this year. Donor Leng, why not try it and see if it’s any different from twenty years ago?"

Leng Yingxue sat directly on the floor, removed her veil, picked up a tea bowl, and took a delicate sip.

"The tea’s fragrance is rich upon the palate. Though slightly bitter, the aftertaste is sweet. Your tea ceremony has improved quite a bit in the last twenty years." Leng Yingxue remarked faintly after setting down the bowl.

The nun smiled faintly. "Twenty years can bring immense change to the world. To Cultivators like us, it passes in the blink of an eye. For an ordinary person, it is half a lifetime. And for some beings, it is an entire life, or even several cycles of reincarnation. Just like you, Donor Leng. In these past twenty years, you spent ten in a fog and ten in slumber. Upon waking, your heart is filled with a thousand complex emotions. I have sat in meditation here in this Abbot’s hall for two decades; I was bound to have some epiphanies."

Upon hearing this, Leng Yingxue’s elegant brows furrowed slightly.

"All matters in this world can be summed up in four words: ’brought together by karma.’ Our acquaintance is a result of the Karma Technique, as is our discussion today. If you ignore him, that is your karma. If you truly strike him down with a ruthless hand, that too is your karma. If you disregard all reputation and fortune to know and cherish him, that is still your karma. What is karma? It is unknowable. In all things, you must simply ask your own heart. Donor Leng, you have become attached."

"You know what I came to ask?" Leng Yingxue asked, somewhat surprised.

The nun smiled again. "I have known you for one hundred and twenty years, Donor Leng. You appear cold and unfeeling, but in truth, your heart is soft. This is the very nature of the Dao of Yin Yang. Since I could divine your arrival today, how could I not also divine your purpose for coming?"

Listening to these Zen words, Leng Yingxue felt her heart grow troubled. She stood up and looked at the Bodhi Tree, which was not much taller than her.

Many green buds had sprouted on it, but it still looked rather bare. A few Bodhi Flowers bloomed, as crimson as drops of blood.

"The Spiritual Qi in the world is reviving, and all living beings are awakening. It is now an era of great struggle. In such an era, one can either drift with the tide or hold fast to their original convictions. Ultimately, there will be those who fight for the sake of all life. Donor Leng, what path will you choose?"

"Spiritual Qi Revival? An era of great struggle?" Hearing this, Leng Yingxue whipped her head around, her eyes filled with shock and suspicion.

"The affairs of the world are themselves a turning wheel of reincarnation. It is simply that you and I were born at the juncture of a cycle. Like the transition from day to night, like winter giving way to spring, all is reincarnation," the nun said softly, her pace unhurried.

"Are you saying a great calamity is coming?"

"Day follows night. Before the sun rises in the east, there is naturally a darkest hour. In that darkest hour, a legion of Demons will dance in chaos, and the righteous and evil will stand in opposition. From this, the calamity will arise."

"What will happen to my Piaoxue Palace?"

The nun shook her head. "No one in the entire world will be able to remain unscathed. It cannot be avoided."

Leng Yingxue had originally come here for two reasons. One was to visit the old nun, who was an old acquaintance. More importantly, her heart was in turmoil, and she had hoped to find enlightenment here.

But unexpectedly, not only did she fail to find enlightenment—her heart growing even more troubled—she also heard such a world-shattering secret.

’Spiritual Qi Revival, a great calamity on the horizon?’

’No one can remain unscathed?’

While Leng Yingxue was speaking with the nun at the Nun’s Zen Temple, Chu Fan was wandering through the city, holding the White Fox.

In the Central Domain, the closer a State City was to the Capital City, the more prosperous it became.

Needless to say, the streets were bustling with traffic and thronged with people.

Both sides of the roads were lined with shops, their buildings tall and their gates wide.

Chu Fan attracted quite a few stares as he carried the White Fox. Even if some people recognized him, no one came looking for trouble.

After all, Jinzhou City was only a little over a thousand li away from Shanyin County. Ordinary people might not know what had happened in Shanyin County early that morning, but any Cultivator would have surely received the news already.

Chu Fan wandered for more than half an hour and was starting to feel bored. Just as he was about to find an inn to stay and practice his Spear Technique, a commotion at an intersection up ahead caught his attention.

Many passersby were also flocking in that direction.

Chu Fan drifted along with the crowd to see what was happening.

When he reached the intersection, he saw a woman on a tall, strong, date-red horse galloping down the street. Many pedestrians who failed to get out of the way in time not only fell to the ground but were also whipped by the woman on the horse.

The onlookers by the roadside pointed and whispered, but none dared to shout curses. There was a sense of them being furious but not daring to speak out.

Listening to the crowd’s murmurs, Chu Fan then noticed a rope being dragged behind the horse. At the other end of the rope, a man with his hands bound was being pulled along by the steed.

The man’s clothes were tattered and ragged, soaked through with blood.

Even his face was streaked with blood.

Chu Fan frowned. ’What kind of deep-seated hatred is this?’

"Who is that woman? Why is she treating that man like this?" Chu Fan couldn’t help but ask a young man standing next to him in the crowd.

"Sir, you must be from out of town, right?" the young man asked in a low voice, sizing up Chu Fan.

Chu Fan nodded.

"That’s the Zhu Family’s eldest young miss. The one being dragged by the horse is her husband."

"Her husband? If he’s her husband, why is she humiliating him like this?" Chu Fan was even more confused.

"Sir, I’d advise you not to meddle. Otherwise..." The young man trailed off, shaking his head.

Of course, Chu Fan had no intention of getting involved in something like this.

It wasn’t that he lacked the chivalrous spirit to help someone in distress; it was that he didn’t know the full story, and besides, it was a family matter.

This was happening right in the middle of a major city like Jinzhou City. If even the common people knew about it, how could the Government Office not? The Government Office wasn’t intervening, so how could he, an outsider who wasn’t even a citizen of the Hua Xu Empire, get involved?

’Isn’t that just looking for trouble?’

Chu Fan didn’t plan to interfere. He would just watch the spectacle and move on.

But unexpectedly, the White Fox in his arms suddenly shot out like a bolt of lightning. The next moment, it was in front of the dragged man, and with a swipe of its front paw, it severed the rope.

Without the rope pulling him, the man rolled several times on the ground before coming to a stop.

The White Fox leaped in front of the man and stood on its two hind legs.

Then, it let out a whimper.

"Brother, he’s so pitiful. Can we please help him?"

Hearing the White Fox’s voice, Chu Fan felt helpless.

He pushed through the crowd and walked toward the White Fox.

The woman on the horse, who had been shouting curses, felt the tension on the rope go slack. She turned her head and saw that the rope was broken and a white fox was standing beside the man. She wheeled her horse around and galloped back, shouting insults as she came.

"Whose beast is this? Are you trying to meddle in my business?"

As she spoke, she reached the White Fox, and the long whip in her hand came cracking down toward it.

Seeing this, how could Chu Fan possibly stand by and watch?

He leaped into the air, snatched the long whip, and with a slight tug, pulled the woman off her horse, sending her crashing to the ground.

"How dare you! Are you looking to die?" The woman scrambled to her feet and immediately started screaming at Chu Fan.

Many of the ordinary onlookers began to whisper among themselves, clearly worried for Chu Fan.

One could only imagine that this woman’s arrogance and tyranny were well-known to everyone in the city.

"Seize this meddling scoundrel for me!" the woman shrieked, pointing a finger at Chu Fan.

Immediately, several figures leaped into the air and charged toward Chu Fan...