Chapter 184: Being Taught Badly?

The sky was faintly bright.

Xu Yin had already gotten up, and he kept thanking Shen Qing.

"Thank you, thank you, old man, I'm truly grateful."

Shen Qing waved his hand: "No need for many words—tell me, what are you doing out in this desolate wilderness?"

"Judging by this child's manner of speech, his family background should be pretty good."

Xu Yin fell silent for a moment, looked at Shen Qing's splendid clothes, and could not recognize that Shen Qing's attire was the great red python robe of an Embroidered Uniform Guard commander; he only knew the material was fine.

He couldn't help thinking that in many strange tales, people who saved a noble later received blessings—could it be that he, too, had a chance?

But shortly after, Xu Yin shook his head again, mocking himself inwardly.

"Xu Yin, Xu Yin, I never expected that in old age I would start fantasizing."

"Who of importance would sit in the snow in the middle of winter?"

However, Shen Qing is their lifesaver; Shen Qing wanted to know, and he would surely speak.

Xu Yin lifted his head: "Sir, you really have good judgment."

"Xu Yun and I are actually not grandfather and grandson—I am merely an old servant of the Xu family, while Xu Yun is the fifth young master of the Xu family."

"But one day I happened to hear that the Xu family's second concubine wanted to swallow the family's property and kill all the Xu family's direct-line heirs."

"I told the Xu family's second young master about this, but not long after he died."

"I was afraid, so I took young master Xu Yun and fled, hiding in Nine Ridge Town."

"Until recently, I heard that the Xu family's eldest and third young masters had also died, leaving only the fourth young master."

"I just wanted to take Xu Yun and run farther away."

Shen Qing nodded. "So it's all about fighting over the family property."

Xu Yin looked at the sleeping Xu Yun and stroked his hair.

"Hey, before I fled I once met a blind fortune‑teller who said little Yun would be destined for great wealth and honor, but how could I not believe it?"

Shen Qing chuckled: "I actually think that fortune‑teller was pretty accurate."

It's not that Shen Qing trusts that fortune‑teller much; the main point is that after meeting Shen Qing, whether Xu Yun becomes rich and noble is just a matter of Shen Qing's word.

If Shen Qing says Xu Yun will be rich and noble, then he will be.

Just then, a burst of laughter sounded from outside.

"Hey, the donkey cart really is here—big brother, your guess was spot on, that old thing actually ran to the ancestral home."

Xu Yin's face changed drastically: "They really came? Benefactor, you'd better run—they're after us, they probably won't bother you."

Shen Qing rose to his feet, flicked out a burst of true qi, and shoved Xu Yin onto the bed's edge: "Just stay there and don't speak."

Shen Qing stepped out of the house and saw three fierce men outside; the one with the highest cultivation had reached the peak of the Grandmaster Realm, shouldering a tiger‑headed great blade—clearly he was the eldest of the three.

A thin, small man spoke.

"Hey, kid, who are you? What are you doing in the Xu family's ancestral home? Hand over that old immortal and Xu Yun, and I'll spare your life."

At that moment the eldest spoke: "Let him go? That won't do—maybe he already knows our secret. I want him…

Before his words finished, Shen Qing moved—crossing dozens of meters in a single step—and punched, sending the elder's head flying; his corpse still held the pose of his last motion.

The next moment, the other two dropped to their knees, helpless—Shen Qing instantly knocked their elder brother out.

"Senior, we are blind to have offended Mount Tai."

"We know we were wrong—grant us a way out, we'll leave right away."

Shen Qing's gaze was calm; he swung a slash and cleaved off one of their heads.

Only the last bandit remained, continually kowtowing and shouting in despair: "I was wrong…

Just then, footsteps sounded and a plain voice spoke.

"Sir donor, they know their fault—shouldn't we do a good deed and spare them a path to life?"

Shen Qing frowned: "Which meddling saint has shown up on my head?"

He glanced over and saw a plain‑clothed monk walking slowly from the snow, melting the snow wherever he passed.

Damn, he's making quite an entrance.

Behind Shen Qing a faint black sun appeared, and his fist intent gradually rose.

In his past life there was a saying: "In chaotic times, kill the saint first."

But suddenly Shen Qing felt something—this monk seemed somewhat special; his innate six senses told Shen Qing that the monk's purity was somewhat terrifying, like a blank sheet of paper.

He also seemed to be sincerely asking Shen Qing a question.

Shen Qing halted his fist, deciding to give this Tupiao a lesson in values.

"Tupiao, do you mean that letting them go is a good deed?"

The monk neither nodded nor shook his head.

Shen Qing continued speaking.

"Let me tell you a story: one day a master and his three disciples arrived at a farmer's home; the farmer was a good man who warmly hosted the four of them. Later some bandits came to cause trouble, and the senior brother, bursting with divine power, wanted to beat the bandits to death—but the master said they had already repented and should be given a chance to live."

"Tupiao, do you think the senior brother was right or the master was right?"

The monk said: "Master."

Shen Qing laughed loudly: "Congratulations, you chose wrong."

"The senior brother let those bandits go, but they showed no remorse at all—the next day they came back to kill the farmer and even the master."

"Do you still think you chose correctly?"

The monk fell silent, seriously considering Shen Qing's words.

"And now, this grandfather‑grandson pair inside the house are good people, while these bandits have come to kill them. If I let them go today, they might return later to kill the grandfather and grandson—then the grandfather and grandson would die."

"So, in order to protect the truly good people, how should we deal with these bandits?"

The monk raised his head to look at Shen Qing, a flicker appearing in his eyes.

"Killed?"

With a crack, the bandit's neck was twisted off.

Shen Qing laughed heartily.

"Ah, that's right!"

"You still have your wits about you, huh?"

Northern Desert, Vajra Temple.

And the news of Prince Wen's beheading also spread to the Great Desert at great speed.

Inside Vajra Temple.

A person in red robes was chanting sutras, and an elder entered the Hall of Chanting Buddha.

"Abbot Jingchan, news has come from Wuyang Prefecture."

"Shen Qing beheaded Prince Wen, and Prince Wen had amassed immense wealth."

Jingchan slowly opened his eyes: "Shen Qing? Another Shen clan member?"

"Yes."

Jingchan sighed: "The imperial house has fallen, the jianghu is in turmoil, foreign powers invade, even the imperial prince refuses peace—Great Wu will surely scatter without the Shen clan."

"To the outside world, we say the gates of Northern Desert's Vajra Temple will always remain open to Shen Qing."

"Yes."

Just then, a monk came running in, flustered.

"Abbot Jingchan! Something terrible has happened!"

"Master Wu Nian is missing!"

Just moments ago, Jingchan had been as steady as an ancient pine, but he suddenly sprang to his feet, rushing toward the door; the elder grabbed a disciple and quickly followed.

Soon the two arrived at a room.

The room was bare, obviously Wu Nian's quarters.

The elder entered the room and ran his fingers over the dust on the table.

"Judging by this, at least three months have passed."

Jingchan grew uneasy: "Three months is plenty of time for Wu Nian to travel from the Northern Desert to the South Sea!"

The elder hurried to console: "Abbot, don't worry; before entering seclusion, Master Wu Nian asked me a question—what is good, what is evil—and he must have gone down the mountain to seek the answer."

"If he finds it, he'll return; besides, he acts with discretion and won't cause trouble."

Jingchan no longer cared about keeping calm, his voice rising.

"No, you've forgotten."

"Wu Nian has only ever chanted sutras since childhood, never descended the mountain, and hardly ever speaks to others—he's as pure as a blank slate."

"What I fear is that he's run into bad people."

"He'll be corrupted in no time!"