Chapter 174: I may be young, but my old man is incredibly powerful!!

Of course, talk is one thing, action another.

But Lu Yuan felt no guilt at all.

He had done nothing wrong in this matter.

As a legitimate Taoist of the lands beyond the Great Wall, and as a Celestial Master, this was something he had to do.

So if the living Hu Tutu stood on a moral high ground and criticized him, Lu Yuan still felt no remorse.

Even so, so what?

Just because the paper doll Hu Tutu wanted to live, did that mean they had to continue the lamp for a Malevolent Deity?

If the Malevolent Deity kept being sustained, the ones who would suffer were the ordinary people beyond the Great Wall.

Therefore, Lu Yuan only said flatly and without expression:

“Can’t gods who are fading be continued?”

“Like the Flower Maiden at Zhenlong Temple — isn’t she continued the same way?”

“You want to continue a Malevolent Deity?!”

“What are the consequences of sustaining a Malevolent Deity’s lamp?”

“Don’t you know?”

The fire crackled.

The living Hu Tutu stared at the flames, and after listening to Lu Yuan, did not speak.

The firelight flickered across her face, bright then dim.

After quite a while, she finally spoke:

“But gods like the Flower Maiden, how many of those are there in all of the borderlands?”

When the living Hu Tutu said this, Lu Yuan found himself stunned for a moment.

Then the living Hu Tutu lifted her head and looked at Lu Yuan seriously:

“Actually, in the borderlands, gods that are about to disperse aren’t numerous.”

“Furthermore, don’t you know even the ones about to disperse aren’t always eligible to have their lamps continued?”

When the paper Hu Tutu finished that sentence, Lu Yuan suddenly felt as if waking from a dream.

Right... right!

Lu Yuan had actually forgotten about that...

First of all, wild deities like the ones at Zhenlong Temple are indeed rare.

They were attracted by the Deity of Beauty.

Across the whole borderlands, deities like that probably number only a few dozen at most.

And the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp doesn’t continue just any deity.

Take the many wild deities at Zhenlong Temple that are about to disperse — among them only the Flower Maiden could be continued.

The other wild deities could not...

This involves worshipers, certificates, and all kinds of messy rules.

Authentic gods have far too many regulations and taboos.

According to the Hu Family’s rules, gods that could be continued across the borderlands could probably be counted on one hand...

So...

They chose the Malevolent Deity to continue...

Hmm...

That is indeed a dilemma...

What should be done then...

Lu Yuan thought for a moment, then grew too lazy to keep thinking.

He was not some ruler of the world, not a champion carrying the weight of everything on his shoulders.

He was not someone who had to solve every problem.

As a Taoist, Lu Yuan believed the Dao follows nature.

The paper Hu Tutu had been forcibly given life, but one cannot save one life by sacrificing others.

What should be done with the paper Hu Tutu was a matter for her father to consider, not Lu Yuan.

What Lu Yuan must do was one thing and one thing only: not to continue the lamp for the Malevolent Deity.

Only...

Lu Yuan moved his gaze away from the living Hu Tutu and turned to look behind a rock.

The paper Hu Tutu was squatting there, her back to them.

Moonlight poured over her, hitting the two little crooked tufts on her head.

She bowed her head and focused intently on repairing the lamp. From her bosom she took a sheet of yellow paper, tore it into thin strips, and tucked them, strip by strip, into the lamp wick.

One strip in, the lamp brightened a bit.

Her sleeve had slipped down, exposing her arm.

Moonlight shone on her arm; the paper folds left marks that climbed from wrist to shoulder in lines, like a folded piece of paper reopening.

She did not know.

She did not look down; she only stared at the lamp.

Looking at that silhouette, Lu Yuan suddenly remembered what she had just said.

“Priest, what are you doing here!”

The voice was crisp, exactly like the night at Zhenlong Temple.

She saw Lu Yuan and was happy.

She did not know Lu Yuan had come to stop her.

She also didn’t know that Lu Yuan’s sword not only pierced that black mass, it had shattered ten years of her life.

Lu Yuan pulled his gaze back and looked at the fire.

The fire had shrunk a bit, red coals blinking in the ash.

Lu Yuan felt no regret.

If he had to do it again, he would still seal off that qi, still smash those shells, still thrust his sword into that black mass.

He had done the right thing.

A Celestial Master of the Dao must act like that.

Continuing a Malevolent Deity’s lamp is simply not allowed.

There is no why.

Rules are rules.

Guarding the common people means protecting those who know nothing, the ordinary folk.

Yet...

Lu Yuan couldn’t help glancing once more at that silhouette.

The paper Hu Tutu squatted there, the moon round and bright over her head.

Her shadow on the ground was short and small, tucked beneath her feet.

She knew nothing.

She didn’t know she was a paper person, didn’t know that lamp was her life, didn’t know ten years had just been lost.

She just squatted there repairing the lamp, very serious.

But... Lu Yuan still felt a little uneasy in his heart...

He shook his head, exhaled, then turned back to the living Hu Tutu and changed the subject.

“You two seem different somehow.”

At this, the living Hu Tutu rolled her eyes and replied:

“I’m human, she’s a paper person, of course we’re different!”

Lu Yuan grinned and then said:

“That’s not what I meant, I mean...”

Lu Yuan was referring to their personalities.

How to put it...

One of them was more naive, the other more worldly...

No—more precisely, the living Hu Tutu wasn’t that worldly.

It was the paper Hu Tutu who was excessively innocent and trusting.

Even though they were twins and grew up together, their temperaments were completely different.

The living Hu Tutu glanced at Lu Yuan, then looked back at the fire.

“She’s never been outside.”

Lu Yuan didn’t speak.

“My father taught her to continue lamps, from dawn till night, from the end of the year to the start of the next.”

“He taught her, then kept her inside, drawing lamp talismans and practicing hand seals.”

“Apart from continuing lamps, she was not allowed to do anything.”

“She never went out, only stayed inside.”

“What Dad taught, she learned; what Dad said, she obeyed.”

“If Dad taught her what’s good, she only knows what’s good.”

Having said that, the living Hu Tutu picked up a stick from the ground, didn’t throw it, and twirled it in her hand.

“I’m different. I must go out.”

“I look for gods scattered outside, I go wherever someone asks for a ritual, I go to every house.”

“I’ve seen things she hasn’t seen.”

“I’ve been through things she hasn’t been through.”

“I’ve been beaten, insulted, suffered losses—she hasn’t.”

The stick spun in her hand.

“When Dad taught her, he said the sweet things.”

“When Dad taught me, he told it like it was.”

“She doesn’t know what the world is like. She thinks everyone’s good, that continuing a lamp is just work, that the lamp is only a lamp.”

“Because Dad won’t let her know, she doesn’t know.”

She tossed the stick into the fire.

“Just like that.”

Lu Yuan was momentarily taken aback.

Hmm...

He understood exactly what the living Hu Tutu meant.

This matter...

How to put it.

Parents teach their children to be good, to do what’s right.

They teach what is right and what is wrong.

Be sincere, don’t lie, don’t deceive.

That’s reasonable, right?

After all, no caring parent teaches their child to steal or to lie to others.

But teaching is one thing; sometimes parents cannot practice what they preach.

Lu Yuan remembered a video he’d seen on Earth before he transmigrated.

The vlogger was emotionally shattered because her mother had faked an accident to extort money and had been hit in the process.

When the hat was returned to the vlogger, she realized what had happened and didn’t pursue the other party’s responsibility.

Her mother then scolded her and joined outsiders in bullying her.

The vlogger was distraught because...

When she was a child, her mother taught her to be honest...

Yet this present incident...

Whatever the Hu Family of Continuing the Lamp actually was, whatever the living Hu Tutu and paper Hu Tutu’s father was like, at least when he taught the paper Hu Tutu he loved her like a treasured daughter and taught her what was right and wrong.

That’s why when the paper Hu Tutu had heard the Faceless Venerable was the Faceless Malevolent Deity, she immediately helped Lu Yuan to prevent the Malevolent Deity’s lamp from being continued...

Lu Yuan took a deep breath and didn’t know what to say...

At that moment, a crisp voice rang out from the side.

“All fixed!!”

The paper Hu Tutu rose from behind the rock.

She held the eight-holed lamp and turned around; the moon was right above her head, round and bright, bathing her in white light.

The lamp in her arms shone—not the dim, nearly dying yellow from before, but bright and golden, like a newly lit lamp.

She ran back to the fire, squatted, and held the lamp out to Lu Yuan.

“Priest, look! I fixed it!”

The lamp wavered in her hands; the flame climbed high, casting light across her face.

Her eyes were bright and the lamp was bright; the two lights mixed together, indistinguishable.

The paper Hu Tutu looked at the lamp for a moment, then lifted it up to compare with the moonlight.

The copper lamp cup was pitted with rust; the firelight made it glow a dark red.

The wick had been newly stuffed; the thin strips of yellow paper were neatly placed.

She didn’t know where the lamp oil came from; it was clear and bright, pooled at the bottom of the lamp cup and reflecting the flame like a small piece of melted amber.

The living Hu Tutu sat nearby, silent, watching the fire.

The paper Hu Tutu didn’t care, she only held the lamp up to the moonlight.

“Here, see? Isn’t it bright?”

The living Hu Tutu glanced and said it was bright, then turned back to the fire.

The paper Hu Tutu hugged the lamp and sat down between the living Hu Tutu and Lu Yuan, adorably yawning.

Then, thud.

The paper Hu Tutu leaned against Lu Yuan’s arm, lamp cradled in her lap, eyes slowly closing.

Then.

Asleep?!

Lu Yuan turned, stunned, looking at the little snub-nosed thing leaning on his arm, somewhat bewildered.

The living Hu Tutu glanced and said to Lu Yuan:

“Normal.”

Before Lu Yuan could say anything, the living Hu Tutu suddenly stood up and said to Lu Yuan:

“If that’s the case, then we’ll part ways here.”

With that, she came over, blowing out the eight-holed lamp and stowing it away.

“Give me a hand.”

Now the living Hu Tutu half-squatted in front of him, one hand holding a bundle.

Seeing this posture...

Lu Yuan knew she wanted him to put the paper Hu Tutu on the living Hu Tutu’s back.

The living Hu Tutu would carry the paper Hu Tutu on her back as they walked.

The two were about the same height; carrying one on one’s back like that...

Logically speaking,

They should each go their own way now.

Lu Yuan’s matter was resolved.

Although he didn’t know what those two planned to do next, he couldn’t follow them forever.

Only...

Seeing the paper Hu Tutu suddenly fall asleep leaning on his arm...

Lu Yuan looked at the living Hu Tutu’s impassive face again.

After a long silence, Lu Yuan suddenly said:

“What’s your name?”

The living Hu Tutu froze, turned her head a little to glance at Lu Yuan, and after a few seconds said abruptly:

“Hu Yangyang.”

Lu Yuan nodded slightly, then asked:

“Are you going home now?”

Hu Yangyang was silent for a long while, saying nothing.

Lu Yuan looked at her and continued:

“Take me to your home, I want to see your father...”

Lu Yuan had barely finished speaking when Hu Yangyang was about to object, but Lu Yuan looked at her earnestly and said:

“Maybe I can save Hu Tutu.”

Initially, Hu Yangyang instinctively wanted to refuse.

Lu Yuan was of the Dao, and they were one of the Ten Families of the borderlands.

How could they meet? There was nothing to discuss.

It was almost impossible, but...

When Lu Yuan said those words, Hu Yangyang was stunned.

Then she snorted lightly and flatly refused:

“My father couldn’t do it, why should you be able to?”

That was true.

Looking at the Hu Tutu twins, one could tell how much their father had cared for them.

If he had any means, he would have sought it.

So many years had passed with no solution; that probably meant none existed.

Did Lu Yuan have a solution?

He did not.

Not in what he currently knew, nor even in the Dao writings the system had rewarded him with!

Lu Yuan had no method at all.

Only...

Lu Yuan might not have a method, but maybe the old man did!!

Just meet them, introduce yourselves; maybe the old man knows.

So Lu Yuan lifted his chin slightly and said:

“Your father is only one of the Ten Families, but I am of the Dao’s legitimate line!”

“To put it bluntly, your Ten Families of the borderlands are far behind the Dao when it comes to real ability!”

“If not, then the borderlands would be ruled by you!”

“I may be young, but my old man at home is ridiculously powerful!!”

“What if, just what if?!”

Meanwhile,

In the deep mountains, the old man traveling the night road suddenly sneezed.

Then he pinched his nose.

He muttered, almost puffing:

“Who’s behind me muttering nonsense about me!”