LRAB Chapter 15: One's own incompetence is the source of all misfortune.
Chapter 15: One's own incompetence is the source of all misfortune.
The third day of the first lunar month in the year of Xinhai (1911)
Suitable for: Sacrifices, Dispelling Illnesses
• Avoid: Do not engage in other matters.
Three days have passed, and the middle-aged man with his child, who had originally planned to stay for only one night, has once again broken his promise.
He wandered through the bamboo forest carrying a wine jar, the lead box containing his wife's belongings still always by his side, but this time it had been fitted with several new chains, so he could carry it on his back instead of taking up his hands.
When he arrived at the good spot for drinking that he had found yesterday, he placed the swaddled baby aside and then used the lead box as a pillow to lie down directly on the stone platform.
This is a picturesque pond, connected by several streams, with clear, sweet, and vibrant water.
Water flows over the bluestone, like music softly playing in your ear.
At this moment, closing my eyes, it feels as if I'm resting my head on the lap of my loved one, and a sense of peace washes over me, and I quickly drift off to sleep.
A moment later
A few rays of dawn pierced through the thin mist.
A tall figure, whose age was impossible to discern, stood in front of a mound not far away, carrying fruits and meat, gazing at the disheveled middle-aged man sleeping by the water.
"Aside from his appearance, he doesn't look like he's suffered any calamity at all," he said calmly.
The middle-aged man's ears twitched, and he suddenly opened his eyes.
The person blocked out the last rays of morning light from the sky, and their face was obscured by the shadows.
"You think I haven't suffered enough, don't you? But have you ever seen what true misery or misfortune really means? Have you ever seen a field strewn with corpses?"
Zhang Xun nodded, but then shook his head, turned away and ignored him. This guy's mental state was off, and there was no point in saying anything more.
The middle-aged man scoffed, "Ha, probably just a kid who's never even seen much blood."
Zhang Xun nodded again, drew a circle around the stone tablet in front of the mound, and then arranged all the things he had brought inside the circle in a three-on-one arrangement.
Seeing that he merely agreed and was doing something with his back to him, the middle-aged man became interested. He picked up the lead box, took the wine jar that was placed to the side, took two gulps as usual, and walked towards Zhang Xun.
Chen Xin, who was holding a sword to the side, also took two steps forward, and it was obvious who he was guarding against.
The middle-aged man wasn't annoyed. He looked down and watched as the tall young man finished arranging the things. He then pulled out six three-foot-long, two-finger-thick incense sticks from his sleeve, which made the young man's eyes widen.
He was certain that he did not sense any fluctuation of soul power. The other party did not use a storage soul tool. So how did they manage to stuff this thing into their sleeve?
"What are you doing?"
Zhang Xun answered softly, "Sacrifice."
The middle-aged man looked at the tempting offerings and felt quite envious.
"waste."
"Perhaps this behavior seems meaningless to you. But it simply represents my longing for my parents. It's not about seeking peace of mind, but just hoping they can enjoy happiness in the afterlife."
As he spoke, he began to worship the stone tablet.
"Your parents? You're an orphan?"
"Any objections?"
"No, it's just a feeling. Since you've never experienced having something, you certainly can't understand the feeling of losing it."
After examining the birth and death dates on the stone tablet, the middle-aged man drew his conclusion.
Although he's been drinking or on his way to drink these past few days, he's managed to find out a few things, such as the situation of the family in the small courtyard in the woods.
Zhang Xun remained silent for a few moments, then said, "...Perhaps."
When loss becomes a habit, when the bitterness and sorrow echo in your heart until you become numb, it is truly impossible to understand what it feels like for those who have experienced little of it.
"Kid, I'll tell you a story. Interested?"
"A story full of subjectivity, not interesting."
"Shut up, can't you just listen properly?"
"Okay, please begin your performance."
The middle-aged man sighed deeply and began to organize his thoughts about what he had experienced in his jumbled mind, adding some simple rhetoric as he went along, intending to recount a little of it.
"I have a friend..."
"There's no one else here, you don't need to hide it."
"..." The middle-aged man blushed and fell silent. Was it really that easy to guess?
However, it's understandable. Given his current situation, it's obvious at a glance that he has a lot of stories to tell.
He downed the last sip of wine and made up his mind.
"Okay, I did something, I fell in love with a woman, but our love was taboo, so it had some bad consequences."
"I've lost so much. My father and my family didn't want us anymore. In the end, I lost her, the person I loved most. Just over ten days ago, and I..."
The words were fragmented, but the information was quite substantial.
After recounting everything he had experienced, his eyes began to lose focus for some reason, as if he had become immersed in his memories.
Zhang Xun and Chen Xin exchanged glances and concluded that this guy's mind was probably on the verge of collapse.
As for his identity, it was completely exposed the moment he first appeared. There was no need to guess; the Spirit Hall issued a warrant for his arrest, and he was already running on the border the moment afterward.
It was precisely because I knew his identity that I understood why he had fallen into such a state.
A proud man, because of his love, has affected many things he cares about. Torn by uncertainty about the future, he chooses to escape. But after escaping, he experiences the loss of his beloved. All of this stems from one word.
He was conflicted, yet harbored a deep-seated pride. He understood, didn't want to accept, but dared not face it.
"What do you think is the source of all the misfortune and suffering in the world?" Zhang Xun finally interrupted his reverie.
Coming to his senses, he met the other's eyes, opened his mouth, but remained silent.
"All misfortune and suffering in the world stems from the incompetence, or rather, weakness, of the person involved."
Zhang Xun understood perfectly. It was precisely because of his incompetence that he was unable to change the fate of the Taiping Dao's demise, unable to protect his master, and unable to protect the Yellow Turbans. Postponing his predetermined death by ten years was the only remaining act of resistance he, this incompetent man, had against the Han Dynasty.
Then she asked softly, "Do you feel incompetent right now?"
He seemed to have been struck by something, his expression suddenly turned ferocious, and he roared in a hoarse voice.
"You don't understand anything at all! What right does a little kid have to spout nonsense! You haven't even experienced it yet!"
Faced with his hysteria, a powerful spiritual force accompanied his words.
In an instant, Chen Xin stepped forward and stood between the two, dispersing the pressure.
"That's enough! If you want to vent, I'll help you."
That's all I have to say; in the end, no fight broke out.
However, the confusion in his eyes had faded, replaced by a hint of determination.
He returned to the village in the blink of an eye and headed straight for the blacksmith's house.
As he listened to the cheerful laughter of the villagers along the way, he was no longer as irritable as before.
Pushing open the courtyard gate, he saw Zhang Fa still studying how to forge fine iron, and he pushed him away again.
"Watch carefully, learn carefully." With that, he began forging iron ingots.
The sun rose and then set, until the fiery clouds appeared, at which point he stopped moving.
He let out a breath. The blacksmith beside him had been staring at him for five hours without eating or drinking. Even if he couldn't learn it, he could at least understand something.
He gently put down the forging hammer and swung his arm around it once.
"You keep practicing, I need to take care of some things."
Then it disappeared from there again.
Zhang Fa looked around and saw that all the iron ingots in the reserves had been hammered into refined iron, which made him both amused and exasperated.
If you say he didn't make a profit, he kept all the fine iron, and its price increased at least several dozen times. If you say he made a huge profit, the technique was the most expensive part. The rudimentary skills he just learned had nowhere to be used, and he would forget the feeling in a couple of days.
The middle-aged man walked south from the village entrance, leaving the bamboo forest and heading straight into the border mountains.
This is the border demarcation zone between the Star Luo's vassal kingdom and the Barak Kingdom.
The area inside the mountain range is nominally unclaimed land. It is too dangerous to station troops there. At most, a fortress or outpost can be built on the outer side of the mountain or at the foot of the mountain for the purpose of making a show of it.
As he ventured deeper into the area, he found a pool with beautiful natural scenery.
Looking at the azure waves and the cliffs beside them, he felt this place was quite nice, so a black hammer-shaped soul imprint appeared on his hand, and he summoned a long-handled giant hammer to start smashing the mountain.
As he controlled the force of his hammer blows, his originally颓废 (颓废 is a difficult word to translate directly, but it implies a state of listlessness, decadence, or dejection) demeanor gradually transformed into a sharp and imposing one.
As the night passed, he sat at the entrance of the cave he had smashed, with the lead box he always carried beside him beside him, gazing at some hundred-year-old soul beasts on the pool.
"He's right. I wasn't strong enough back then, but what about now? My talent as Haotian Douluo is among the best in the entire continent. Why should I run away? Running away won't solve anything!"
As he chanted, a highly aggressive scarlet aura began to emanate from his body.
Countless soul beasts began to scatter and flee, as if they would face annihilation if they did not leave.