Chapter 502: He Must Be Given a Strict Lesson

When Yuese and Mary finally found Jesus in Jerusalem, it was already the third day they had returned anxiously searching.

They searched every possible place they could go.

Market, inns, the homes of relatives and friends they had visited, even the open ground by the city walls where children played.

They found nothing.

Finally, clutching a last hope, they came to the Temple.

Stepping into the Temple's outer court, a feeling of stillness fell over them, different from the usual solemnity of chanting and prayer.

They followed the faint sound of lecture, walked through the cloisters, and came to a temple doorway.

Then they saw.

Their son Jesus was sitting among a group of venerable Scripture Masters.

His stature was small, but his posture was upright and steady; facing the learned scholars' questioning and discussion, he remained calm, citing scriptures and analyzing point by point.

He often put forward ideas that made those white‑haired elders fall into thought, then show surprise or sudden realization.

Around him, several rings of listeners had already gathered, all attentively listening.

Yuese and Mary had built up three days of anxiety, worry, and anger; at the sight of this scene, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over them, choking them in the throat.

They instinctively stopped, not immediately rushing forward to demand, "Why didn't you come back with us?"

Because, as Jesus' words fell into their ears one by one, and as they saw his expression at that moment,

it was not the familiar expression they knew, but a kind of …… they could not describe.

In short, in their eyes,

the one sitting among the Scripture Masters, speaking freely, was no longer their obedient son who helped around the house in Nazareth, who could cry and laugh.

but more like …… a "Son of God" descended into the Human World, revealing wisdom to the listeners he had chosen.

Yuese and Mary just stood frozen in the doorway, watching from afar, listening.

Mary's hand gripped Yuese's arm tightly; Yuese's face was a blank.

They knew this child was destined for greatness, the angel's prophecy still ringing in their ears.

But when this "greatness" manifested itself so directly, with such impact, clashing with their memory of the child who needed them to feed, teach, and protect, the complex feeling ……

was actually not pleasant.

Is there pride? Perhaps there is.

But more than that, it is a sudden sense of distance opening up, and the helplessness that follows.

What identity should they now have to interrupt?

Father and mother?

At this moment, that identity seems so ordinary and powerless.

"Oi~"

"Yuese, Mary, what are you doing standing here?"

A familiar voice suddenly sounded behind them, breaking their tangled thoughts.

The two turned sharply.

It was Yu Lin!

He had somehow come up behind them, a smile on his face.

"Yu Lin!"

"How come you're here too? Where have you been all these years?"

Yu Lin shrugged and smiled: "I haven't gone anywhere, just wandering around, looking at things."

His gaze swept past them to the small figure surrounded by people inside the hall, then came back to look at the two of them:

"Why are you two standing at the doorway doing nothing? Why not go in and listen? It sounds pretty lively in there."

Yuese and Mary exchanged a glance, bitterness showing on their faces.

Yuese sighed, lowered his voice, and quickly recounted how Jesus had "gone missing," how they had anxiously searched, and how they finally found him here.

Mary added on the side, in short, that's what happened.

Yu Lin listened, and although he already knew everything, he still put on an appropriately exaggerated look of surprise:

"There's still this?! This kid is really out of line!"

"When you're out and about, how can you run around without greeting your parents and make them worry this long?"

His tone shifted, taking on a hint of "righteous indignation":

"This definitely needs a stern lesson! Too mischievous!"

Upon hearing this, Yuese and Mary instead froze, their hesitant expressions deepening.

Yuese whispered: "But… Yu Lin, look at him now…"

"But what?" Yu Lin cut them off, wearing an expression that said "what's there to hesitate about":

"Are you afraid to discipline him now? Afraid he's 'different' now?"

"If you won't discipline the child, then I'll do it since you won't."

Having said that, without waiting for Yuese and Mary's reaction, Yu Lin went around them and headed straight for the center of the crowd inside the hall.

He pushed his way out from the crowd.

Under the astonished, doubtful, and even somewhat disapproving gazes of the surrounding listeners, Yu Lin walked up to Jesus, who was deeply discussing a legal detail with an elderly Scripture Master.

"Ah?! Yu..........."

Jesus also saw him, his eyes instantly flashing with bright light; he was about to blurt out Yu Lin's name

but Yu Lin's movement was faster.

He reached out, grabbed Jesus' collar in one hand, like picking up a disobedient puppy, easily lifted the still‑dazed boy from his seat, then smoothly turned and pressed him face‑down onto his own knee!

This series of actions was smooth and flowing, so fast that nobody had time to react.

Immediately after, a ruler appeared in Yu Lin's right hand.

"What's wrong?!"

Jesus was shocked and dazed, his words not yet finished—

Smack!

A clear, loud striking sound rang out abruptly in the originally solemn and quiet Piandian, echoing here!

"Ouch!"

Jesus cried out in pain, bewilderedly asking: "Yu Lin, why are you hitting me?!"

"Huh? You still dare to ask why? Don't you know what you did wrong?"

"What did I do wrong?!"

Smack!

Another strike landed in the same spot.

"Do you know?"

"Ah! I... I was wrong for not greeting you right away!"

Smack! Smack!

Two in a row, the force increased a bit.

"Wrong! Think again!"

"Ah? I... I..."

Smack! Smack! Smack!

For a moment, the clear ruler's sound rhythmically echoed in the Temple Piandian, accompanied by the boy's suppressed cries of pain and his fragmented attempts to explain, which were repeatedly cut off.

The awe-inspiring Divinity light that originally enveloped Jesus, in this sudden education, quickly dissipated like dew under the sun.

At this moment, Jesus, pressed onto Yu Lin's knee, eyes full of tears, trying to protect his buttocks.

No different from an ordinary family's child who made a mistake and was reprimanded by elders.

That is, at this moment, the surrounding stunned audience finally came to their senses, shouting angrily:

"Stop!"

"Who are you?!"

"Quickly release him!"

"How dare you be so rude in the Temple! Blasphemy!"