allonlinenovel Chapter 168 Kun Gang Has a Remaining Gold from Yu Pu (7)
Chapter 168 Kun Gang Has a Remaining Gold from Yu Pu (7)
When I was eight years old, on a sweltering summer day.
A torrential rain was approaching, and every breath of air was choking and made it hard to breathe.
Li Tingyun could no longer endure his father's beatings and humiliations, and chose to retaliate in the most extreme way—
Kill him with your own hands.
His mother collapsed at the threshold, witnessed everything, and died of shock.
Overnight, he became an orphan without parents.
He was also a sinner who killed his father and mother...
Three hundred years ago, when Li Tingyun was born, he was burdened with the ominous prophecy of being a "lone star of calamity".
Before he could remember anything, his grandparents passed away one after another, and signs of the decline of the "Ji" family began to appear.
After that, his father repeatedly failed the imperial examinations, had no hope of obtaining official rank, and became increasingly unfortunate.
Before he knew it, he had become addicted to gambling and squandered his entire fortune.
With the feigned assistance of a man surnamed Yuan, the family moved from Huangliang City to Lingxi Village.
His father remained in a daze all day long; his situation could never get worse, it was worse than anyone could imagine.
And then, without realizing it, he signed a contract with someone and ended up selling his wife and children.
She was sold into a brothel.
Little Yuanbao even asked his mother curiously, "What kind of building is a 'brothel'?"
When he first arrived, he thought the brothel was paradise because... there was plenty of snacks to eat!
It wasn't until the mother and daughter were forced to separate that he realized the seriousness of the problem, and immediately refused to cooperate, causing a huge scene.
Although Yuanbao is young, he has a big temper. When he gets angry, pots and pans fly everywhere, tables and chairs are thrown at people, the bathhouse floods, the stove is blazing, the roof collapses, the foundation cracks, and pavilions and towers sway precariously, making people dizzy and unable to stand steadily.
The madam, waving her handkerchief, cried and begged him, "Grandpa Little Saint, please stop your supernatural powers!"
Li Tingyun was exceptionally gifted in his childhood, possessing abundant spiritual energy. However, he never underwent proper cultivation, and his understanding and control of Yin and Yang and the Five Elements were entirely based on intuition. To put it bluntly, he was just playing around and fooling around.
He went too far and made a huge fuss, and even he couldn't clean up the mess.
He single-handedly got someone present to drink a whole pot of liquor.
This includes him himself.
He was so exhausted that he collapsed and slept soundly until the world seemed to end.
From then on, no one dared to target the mother and son again.
But this does not mean they are saved.
At such a young age, Li Tingyun is not yet strong enough to save himself or others. He can barely protect himself and his mother.
He's just a little kid. How many years does a human being live? He gets tired, hungry, and makes stupid mistakes. He's more easily fooled, deceived, and misled. Besides, he's all alone and outnumbered. Even if he struggles, he's powerless to turn the tide.
In the brothel, his mother was a "pure courtesan" who was assigned to teach music theory and music to the courtesans because she played the pipa very well.
Women in Daliang take pride in playing the pipa well. His mother was also trained before her marriage to be well-educated, reasonable, and proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.
The courtesan is the most detestable woman!
This woman is always picking on him.
They overturned his rice bowl, trampled his snacks, and pinched his face, scribbling all over it like a piece of rice paper.
Finally, when he looked in the mirror, he saw that he had been painted as an ugly monster with a face full of pockmarks and sores, and the ugly ink marks could not be washed off.
If his mother hadn't been watching him so closely, he would have definitely set fire to the courtesan's long, straight hair in the middle of the night!
In brothels, debauchery and extravagance abound, and the forced prostitution and rape are commonplace.
Li Tingyun has been knowledgeable since childhood.
At an age when he knew nothing, he was already very knowledgeable.
Truly, he has a "promising future."
One day, he asked his mother, "What does 'seeking flowers and asking willows' mean? What are flowers and willows?"
A sleazy old man told him that seeking pleasure with women is a man's nature!
Any man will do this kind of thing; he'll naturally understand when he grows up.
The uncle also said...
His mother covered his mouth in alarm, not allowing him to say anything more.
It's unbelievable how much nonsense he learned from people in just a few days.
His mother sternly told him that everything he had heard and seen was wrong!
Indulging in debauchery is wrong, and indulging in endless pleasures is also wrong. As for forcing women into prostitution or forcing women into sexual relations, that is even more wrong!
Then teach him what is right.
What exactly is "right"?
According to his mother, it is "My heart is not a stone, it cannot be turned," "We made a vow of life and death," "Having seen the vast ocean, other waters are nothing; having seen the clouds of Wushan, other clouds are nothing," and "A single meeting in the golden autumn breeze and jade dew surpasses countless encounters in the mortal world"...
He couldn't possibly understand any of that stuff back then.
They can't eat fine chaff.
They even started to complain.
He disliked poetry, lyrics, and descriptions of mountains and rivers, finding them too flowery, pretentious, and affected!
It wasn't until he met someone that he suddenly had an epiphany, and words became words, and descriptions of scenery were originally expressions of emotion.
What his mother wanted to teach him was to be devoted, to be the only one, to be faithful to one person until death, and to be loyal until the end.
Little Yuanbao retorted to his mother, "Are you and my father really like you described?"
His mother said firmly, "Yes."
Li Tingyun didn't believe it. "You two are clearly a beautiful flower stuck in a pile of cow dung."
"You and my father should never have met, never married, and never had me!"
He's not good enough for you, he doesn't deserve your love!
“No, he deserves it.” His mother remained steadfast, even stubborn.
She stubbornly insisted, "We were childhood sweethearts, we grew up together, I know what kind of person he used to be, no one knows his past better than me."
"Perhaps he is 'sick' now... This 'illness' is very strange; it can torment a person to death, making him completely unlike himself and causing him to do many things he doesn't want to do."
“I understand his pain, but I am powerless to help him. I don’t resent him, because I know he was just caught in a situation he couldn’t control.”
Li Tingyun couldn't understand it at the time. "A person can do what they want and not do what they don't want! What does 'being unable to control one's own destiny' mean? You always speak up for him! I don't believe it! I don't believe it!"
"He can't control himself and ends up hurting the people he loves most. That's cowardice, that's incompetence! I saw him hit you when he was in a frenzy, once, twice, many times! Why don't you hate him? Why don't you leave him?"
"He's a complete scoundrel! How could he feel pain when he hit you? If he's in so much pain, why doesn't he just die?! If he can't live, can't he just die?!"
Cursing his own father to die is utterly outrageous, and his mother has already raised her hand high.
But the slap never landed.
It all turned into a sigh of regret: "You're still young...you don't understand..."
That's absolutely right.
As a child, Li Tingyun really didn't understand anything.
Little did he know that, a century later, the slap his mother had given him that had failed him back then would finally land hard on his face!
The words he uttered in his youthful ignorance, each one and every one, were far more powerful, decisive, and resounding than that slap.
Years later, he unintentionally caused great harm to the person he least wanted to hurt.
I struggled, I suffered, I even held my throbbing head and racked my brains—
Am I sick too?
Li Tingyun wondered: Could it be that he has the same "illness" as his father?
He seems to have become a carbon copy of his father.
The phrase "beyond one's control" encapsulates the meaning of life and death.
He is as pathetic as his father.
But his situation seems to be a little better than his father's.
Fortunately, Mei Shiyu had no feelings for him.
Li Tingyun's parents are a stark counterexample—childhood sweethearts, vows of eternal love, a marriage contract, unable to let go, unable to reciprocate, experiencing both joy and sorrow, having once possessed it, and now suffering even more pain upon losing it.
But for Mei Shiyu, Li Tingyun was just a "meaningless" stranger. No matter what he did, Mei Shiyu would probably not be disappointed or even surprised, thus avoiding unnecessary pain and sorrow.
He can hate him, be wary of him, and be vigilant against him without any burden.
Perhaps it would be more appropriate for them to be enemies.
Li Tingyun eventually came to understand his father's unspeakable difficulties, and naturally also understood his mother's helplessness.
But he still felt sorry for his mother, very sorry for her.
If someone is so sick that they are beyond cure, then staying away from such a madman is the best choice.
Any idea that you still want to get close to him or save him is quite foolish.
It's not worth it.
Perhaps what he least wants to face is that there are still people who care about him and control him.
Because he is destined to break people's hearts.
This kind of "empathy" can only be understood after experiencing it firsthand.
Young Li Tingyun naturally wouldn't understand.
Little Yuanbao didn't understand what "being unable to control one's own destiny" meant, and why his father was "sick".
He preferred to believe that his mother was deceiving herself!
He came up with a whole bunch of excuses and justifications for his father, simply because he didn't want to admit that his father was completely unworthy!
Children only believe what they can see directly with their own eyes.
He saw his father as a cowardly and incompetent good-for-nothing.
Unable to protect his wife and children, he caused them to fall into prostitution and personally tore his family apart.
He hated his father to death.
The mother and son spent nearly half a year in brothels before they were finally freed.
They were redeemed by a "kind person".
This "kind-hearted person" is surnamed Yuan.
It was that guy, his father's old classmate.
The eldest son of the Yuan family is the "blue sky" above the heads of the common people of Huangliang City.
His father and the man surnamed Yuan studied at the same academy since childhood, and his mother was the apple of the headmaster's eye. The man surnamed Yuan longed for his mother, but his mother and father were deeply in love and could not tolerate a second person.
It's one thing to be unable to have a beautiful and graceful lady, but to have her marry his mortal enemy is another. How could he not be filled with hatred? In the year he felt the purest hatred, he chewed his bedside table until it was covered in teeth marks.
Years later, his arch-rival plummeted and never recovered, while he rose to prominence, living a brilliant and glorious life. In comparison, the man who had always been superior to him was now no match for him.
Logically speaking, he really had nothing to be "envious, jealous, or resentful" about.
But this man surnamed Yuan is indeed quite devoted to love.
He had already established a successful business, but he had not yet married or had children. He always returned to Lingxi Village under the pretext of "visiting old friends" and swaggered over to the "Ji" family to visit friends and relatives. Rumors and gossips were already rampant outside.
Li Tingyun's father was naturally extremely disgusted, and as time went on, his suspicions grew.
He once suspected that his son was not his biological child—perhaps this is why he sold his wife and children on a whim.
The man surnamed Yuan used a large sum of money and his power to redeem Li Tingyun and her son from the brothel.
He couldn't wait to win over the once high-and-mighty young lady, now a pitiful mother, and make her his own.
As for the little devil with a fierce look in his eyes behind the young lady... he beckoned, called over the "advisor," pulled Li Tingyun away, and sent him out of the city.
The sorcerer, disguised as a "master advisor," always kept a low profile and a hunched back, offering advice, doing his best, and working tirelessly for the Yuan family. In front of the Yuan family, he was as obedient as a dog. Who would have thought that he was the one walking the dog?
With his grand plan nearing completion, and the thought of finally achieving his goal, the demonic Taoist had a pleasant expression towards heaven, earth, and everyone else.
He would give money to beggars he encountered, help out when he saw injustices, and even throw a couple of meat bones to a dog that was passing by.
In Huangliang City, who doesn't praise him for doing good deeds every day, like a bodhisattva with lowered eyebrows?
Who would have thought that his method of using someone else to do his dirty work would be so astonishing?
The demon squinted his eyes and smiled as he looked Li Tingyun up and down. His three long, white beards cascaded down like a waterfall, making him appear kind and approachable.
Li Tingyun knew this man was formidable; all his "supernatural powers" were ineffective against this sorcerer.
This time, he lost all means and ability to resist; he could neither protect himself nor his mother.
The sorcerer captured him as easily as capturing a piglet; no matter how much he punched, kicked, screamed, or yelled, it was useless.
He led him straight out of the city gate, and said with a consultative tone, "Young friend, I do not like to do things that involve killing. I only want to take you home and see your father along the way. I am an old friend of his, and I hope he will not be surprised to see me."
Li Tingyun spat and said, "Get lost!"
The sorcerer wiped his face: "Young friend, how can you be so rude?"
Li Tingyun's three-pronged attack: "Get out, get out, get out!"
The demon shaman clasped his hands together and said, "May you have boundless blessings."
He pulled out his whisk and flicked it with a "whoosh!"
Pull him from the yellow millet field at one end to the drainage ditch at the other.
There are at least three acres of land in between.
Li Tingyun fell into the ditch, thrashed about frantically for a few moments, and then disappeared from the surface.
The sorcerer thought he had drowned.
Unexpectedly, he was just pretending to be drowning; in reality, he was a better swimmer than a fish!
He held his breath and slipped away in an instant.
The Taoist priest stroked his long beard, still smiling broadly: "Good lad, you dare to play tricks on this old Taoist?!"
As Li Tingyun swam, he suddenly felt the river narrowing. Without hesitation, he jumped ashore and ran for his life.
The road beneath our feet was strange, sometimes long, sometimes short; the mountains in the distance were also strange, sometimes near, sometimes far; and the people behind us were even stranger, their laughter rising and falling: "Kid, your two short legs are fast, but no matter how fast you are, can you be faster than the Taoist master's 'shrinking the earth to an inch'?"
The sorcerer followed closely behind him, his pace neither hurried nor slow, as if he were strolling leisurely in a garden.
Li Tingyun struck the ground with his palm, then leaped into the fissure in the ground and slithered away in the opposite direction.
His ability to adapt to changing circumstances is exceptional.
The demon Taoist sighed deeply: "At such a young age, he can already fight on par with me. What will he be like when he grows up?"
The sorcerer was as light as a swallow, his feet barely touching the ground. He watched with amusement as the trapped beast struggled on.
Li Tingyun's cultivation was too shallow. Although he hid underground, he could not conceal his presence, and a long, winding line appeared on the ground.
He couldn't run fast or far, and he easily lost his way; in short, he made many mistakes.
The sorcerer stood still, reaching out a hand to grab him, his arm growing longer and longer, his hand stretching further and further.
We followed that line and pulled him out!
No matter how powerful Sun Wukong is, he can't escape the Buddha's Five Finger Mountain.
Li Tingyun's mouth was full of mud, which he sprayed all over the evil Taoist's face. After being slapped a few times, he finally calmed down.
Really settled down? LOL, how could that be?
Li Tingyun is like a lively, leaping carp, constantly darting around, using his wits and courage to keep everyone on edge.
The demonic Taoist couldn't help but look up to the sky and sigh: "It's hard to eat shit and hard to raise a child. Raising a child is even more painful than eating shit!"
From then on, the Taoist priest became even more determined to remain unmarried and childless, transcend worldly concerns, cultivate the Tao, and ascend to immortality.
The evil Taoist priest tied Li Tingyun up tightly.
It's wrapped several times more than a crab with eight legs.
I carried it all the way home for him.