Chapter 489

"Young Master Tao is truly filial, pity his father doesn't appreciate it. Sigh!"

"Such a touching display of filial piety—Master Zhang, please grant Young Master Tao's request."

"Indeed, indeed—son kills father, how cruel!"

Zhang the butcher was no cruel man; hearing this, he sighed inwardly: "County Magistrate Xiong is truly blessed to have a son like you."

"Very well, they're just two fat pigs anyway—fine, I'll grant Young Master Tao this favor."

"Thank you." Tao Zui bowed, pulled half a silver ingot from his sleeve, and handed it over. "Master Zhang, take a good look—this isn't magic illusion, it's real silver."

"Young Master Tao gave too much."

"Not too much at all!"

Tao Zui shook his head, led the fat pig away, and walked toward the city outskirts.

Some people followed behind, eager to watch the spectacle.

They reached the city outskirts.

Tao Zui suddenly crouched down, stared at the single pig, and said: "Go now, go—henceforth, Tao Zui is the bamboo spirit, and has no further ties to the Xiong family."

The fat pig, upon hearing this, began crying again.

"Hey, look! That pig is crying?"

"Fake emotion—when he poisoned his wife and children, why didn't he cry then?"

"Exactly. Now he cries—isn't it a bit late?"

The townsfolk were deeply repulsed.

In this era, rulers tended to revere benevolence and forgiveness.

But the common people's simple values remained: repay enmity with enmity, repay grievance with grievance.

If you repay evil with virtue, how do you repay virtue?

"Hmph!"

Finally, the two fat pigs grunted and charged into the woods, vanishing from the townsfolk's sight.

……

"If good and evil go unrewarded, the heavens must be biased."

"The father has a human face but a beast's heart; the son has a bodhisattva's soul. Marvelous! If polished up and sold to a theater troupe, this story might fetch a good price."

An Youyu, hearing the townsfolk's gossip, picked up his brush and began writing furiously.

Even after gaining miraculous power, An Youyu never forgot he was a scholar, never thinking to use his strength for personal gain.

"To earn a living by force is to defile scholarly dignity!"

……

Zhong Mansion.

"So the Xiong family is truly finished?" Zhong Suqiu asked, dazed.

Nie Xiaoqian nodded: "What else could it be? The Six Realms' judgment is most just—they got exactly what they deserved."

"Sigh!" Zhong Suqiu sighed. "I can't fathom how they thought—how could they harm their own child? Can human hearts truly be this cruel?"

For Bai Lian, raised in the Zhong household, Xiong County Magistrate's mindset was utterly incomprehensible.

"Human hearts are truly strange," Nie Xiaoqian smiled. "They can birth someone as kind as Sister Zhong, and also someone as vile as Xiong County Magistrate. It is precisely these contrasts that make the mortal world so vivid."

Zhong Suqiu shook her head: "I'd rather have less vividness—if only everyone could just be at peace."

"That wish of yours is destined to remain unfulfilled," Nie Xiaoqian shook her head. "Humans are vessels of the seven emotions and six desires; evil will always arise. Someone like Sister Zhong is the anomaly in this world."

"Yes, I'm the anomaly," Zhong Suqiu froze, recalling the past dozen or so years, realizing now that someone with her nature was exceedingly rare.

"Only the chat group can accommodate my kindness. Otherwise, even with power, I'd still be doomed to be exploited!"

At these words, Zhong Suqiu was deeply moved, and without thinking, opened the chat group.