The villain is right beside me

Chapter 104 I don't think there are immortals in the world

Longquan Temple is famous because two years ago, a high monk who claimed to be a living Buddha came to the city to lead other monks to preach. He even performed aerial capture and fire breathing in public, just like a god. Therefore, countless people began to believe in Buddhism. Under their preaching, many people donated incense to show their sincerity.

This was just the beginning. They used some magical methods to treat diseases, and some even exaggeratedly said that they were the real Buddha, so they recruited believers. They also recruited many female believers with reasons such as "a match made in heaven" and "the fulfillment of a wish in the previous life". Gradually, Longquan Temple became a holy place. During the New Year and festivals, many high-ranking officials would invite them to perform rituals.

The person in charge is confused, but the bystander is clear. After Mu Qing understood all this, he felt that something was wrong. Wasn't this a cult?

"There are still people in this world who are cheating under the name of Buddhism... If the Buddha really exists, would he send them to the eighteenth level of hell?" Mu Qing sneered. Regardless of whether the real Buddha exists or not, these swindling cultists are hateful, and those ignorant people who are unaware of the insidiousness are equally hateful. It must be that no one has seen through their tracks, but rumors are like the sea, which can instantly drown a self-aware and sober person.

If I were my old self, influenced by my previous values, I might really punish these scammers.

But now, Mu Qing doesn't want to meddle in other people's business, and even more disdains to meddle in other people's business. It's like seeing an old lady fall down, but turning a blind eye...

It’s not that the once passionate young man has become cold-blooded and numb, but that after experiencing loneliness in his heart, he chooses to look at the world with indifference.

The two of them walked out of the city and came to a wharf. The official post station here was also built along the river, so the wharf was quite busy. It was both a water wharf and a passenger and cargo collection station. The wharf workers built simple houses here, and there were medicine and cloth shops, grain shops, warehouses, and warehouses lined up.

Similarly, this is also the largest slum in the city.

Even though it was Chinese New Year, there was no Chinese New Year atmosphere in this slum near the capital. The coolies on the dock were still moving goods, and they were working happily. They were not afraid of working hard, because they had to work to get food. The more and heavier the goods, the happier they were.

The huge barrels of cooking oil weighed more than 200 kilograms. They were grouped in pairs, tied with hemp ropes on their shoulders, and walked towards the warehouse with difficulty. Leather oil is the main material for making candles, and is mostly packed in large bamboo baskets covered with parchment paper. Each basket weighed about 200 kilograms. Two porters carried it on a shoulder pole, shouting "Hi, Ah Yo" and staggering with every step.

This is truly a world that belongs to the poor. These poor people without property and jobs, the common people living at the bottom of society, are mostly bankrupt and landless farmers. They are forced to leave their homes to do hard labor due to the pressure of making a living, and live in shacks in the wilderness by the river.

They were derided by the government as "people who don't farm, weave, trade, or do business", and a large number of undesirable people in society. But who would have known that all they wanted was to have a bite to eat and a piece of clothing to wear?

However, there were people who were even more miserable than them. Across a low alley was a rather dilapidated Dragon King Temple. The walls were drafty and it was even harder to keep out the cold than the wooden shed. I wondered how those beggars survived the winter. No one cared about beggars. If they got sick, their bodies would freeze stiff in the howling wind. A kind-hearted friend might dig a grave for them, or throw them into the wasteland to feed the wild dogs. No one in the government would investigate.

Mu Qing was dressed in bright clothes, and everyone who looked at him would consciously avoid him, because people like them, who were commonly known as the untouchables, did not dare to cause trouble and get into trouble with the rich young man.

Mu Qing's eyes were as cold as water, but he had another feeling in his heart.

From the lofty gate of the immortals to the battlefield where life and death are out of one's control; from a glorious status for a while to a wanted cultivator on the mainland; from an official rising from the mortals to seeing the starving people outside the city...

In fact, what is the difference between me and them?

The demise of the Immortal Sect left the two of us displaced. If I hadn't escaped, I would have become a pile of bones that no one cared about, and Yunxi would have become a cauldron under the feet of the enemy.

The same goes for officials in the court. If an official makes a mistake, the worst consequence is the extermination of all nine generations of his clan. If he survives, men will be demoted to commoners and can only beg on the streets like beggars. Women will be even worse off, as their families will be sent to the Jiaofangsi, which to put it bluntly is a "brothel" for the entertainment of dignitaries.

Thinking of this, a gust of wind blew and Mu Qing shivered. He suddenly looked at Yunxi beside him and couldn't help but clench his hands.

I can't just go with the flow like this anymore. If I don't get stronger soon, I won't be able to protect her, let alone myself!

"Big brother, do you want to buy a pair of straw sandals?"

Next to the street where Mu Qing stopped, there was a middle-aged woman selling straw sandals. Next to her stood a little girl, who was short and thin, with dark skin and a dirty face. She only had a pair of big eyes that were dark, clear and bright as stars.

When the little girl saw Mu Qing standing in front of her straw sandal stall for a long time, she thought he was attracted by the straw sandals woven by her mother. After hesitating for a long time, she finally mustered up the courage to ask softly.

"Daya, stop talking!"

The middle-aged woman's face changed and she started to scold. She saw that the demeanor displayed by this person was not comparable to that of ordinary people. She was worried that her daughter's words would cause displeasure to others, which would be troublesome.

Mu Qing just woke up from his deep thoughts and saw that the mother and daughter's clothes were full of patches and looked shabby. It was obvious that they lived a very poor life and were very pitiful. In front of the mother and daughter, there were pairs of straw sandals on the stall, which was full. It was obvious that they had not sold a single pair.

"I want all these straw sandals." Yunxi was kind-hearted and secretly stuffed a piece of silver into the middle-aged woman's pocket. This piece of silver was enough for a poor family to live a stable life for many years.

Mu Qing packed up the straw sandals. It was not that he had no reaction, but he understood that they could save this mother and daughter, but they could not save all the mothers and daughters in the world.

"Ah, thank you Miss, thank you Miss..." The middle-aged woman was stunned when she saw a large piece of silver in her hand. She immediately thanked her and was so excited that she was a little incoherent.

Mu Qing took the package and walked to the dilapidated Dragon King Temple. The walls were collapsed and filled with dust and cobwebs. The statues in the temple had blurred faces and were in tatters, having collapsed long ago.

Outside, beggars could be seen gathered together, shivering one by one. Behind the temple, countless small mounds of earth rose and fell, and some were even dead sleeping on them, with their bodies covered only by a straw mat woven with hemp.

Seeing this scene, Mu Qing thought that the so-called fake Buddha was eating vegetarian food and wearing warm clothes in the royal city, but he never had any kindness for these refugees; the ministers in the palace who were chasing fame and fortune were scheming against each other all day long, but they didn't see the suffering of the people and the displacement of the people!

Thinking of how many brothers and sisters were beheaded and buried in foreign lands, and those culprits are still fighting for spiritual vein resources! Thinking of the ancestor Tianheng, the cruelty of the world of immortal cultivation, and the law of survival of the fittest...

This world is really absurd...

Heaven and earth are not benevolent, and all things are dogs.

The sage is not benevolent, and regards the common people as dogs.

Cultivating immortals... Cultivating immortals... Hehehehe... So this is what cultivating immortals is...

Mu Qing sneered in his heart. He was neither a good man nor a bad man. He had read novels in which the protagonists were all very clear about the greater good, and though they would do anything to achieve their goals, they were always just and fair...

Now, he understands!

Ridiculous! It's all ridiculous!

"There is no such thing as being unable to control oneself. In fact, one cannot control one's heart." Mu Qing seemed to be making fun of himself. Human beings are inherently contradictory creatures. They use emotional and rational concepts to deal with things and face life.

Once rationality exceeds the standards of morality, it will be called cold-blooded and ruthless.

Once emotion goes beyond the cage of the law, it will turn into double standards and hypocrisy.

Thousands of people have thousands of faces, good or evil, righteous or evil, immortals and demons. In fact, they are all products of the diversity of the world. The so-called immortal cultivators are actually just mortals who have gained powerful powers, because in essence, they are still human beings!

As a human being, you have seven emotions and six desires, including greed, anger, and delusion. The root cause of sect wars is greed. They can never let go of greed, so they covet other people's resources and occupy other people's land; the struggle and killing between monks is anger, because first there is greed, then there will be all kinds of calculations, conspiracies, and murderous intentions; monks pursue immortality and want to become immortals, isn't that just delusion, because of this delusion, they will do anything and lose all conscience.

Do people really think that becoming an immortal will allow them to get rid of all their emotions and desires? Get rid of all their obsessions? They are wrong. When they fight for a goal, there will be no end.

This is what human beings are, straw dogs between heaven and earth, straw dogs in the eyes of saints. This world is unfair, the only thing that can be called fair is life and death.

The disappearance of a life means nothing to the entire nature and the long river of history.

Most people cultivate immortality to achieve immortality, because they are afraid of death. They cultivate immortality to achieve immortality, but in the end, without exception, they all die on the way. Even the Heavenly Lord cannot escape the law of life and death.

Since we are all going to die, are there really immortal beings in this world?

To become an immortal is actually to become the Tao, to comprehend the Tao, to become the Tao, to be like the Tao, to see all living things as straw dogs; to be like the Tao, to see the vast universe as nothing but ants...

There are no immortals in this world!

That’s right…there have never been any immortals!

Only Tao is eternal!

When Mu Qing realized this, he suddenly opened his eyes and looked up at the sky, as if his gaze wanted to cross this world, cross the universe and the stars, and cross the vast and infinite road of heaven!

Yunxi saw Mu Qing's gaze from the side, and his heart rumbled as if countless thunders were shaking and exploding wildly.

He seemed to be frozen, motionless. But in this moment, the world was filled with only Mu Qing's gaze, and his life was filled with only this gaze.

Yunxi didn’t understand what kind of gaze this was. It didn’t have much brilliance, but it contained a deep and firm power. This power was very strong, so strong that it could shake the heavens.

"Is it possible that he has been comprehending one after another... that he is... in a state of meditation?" Yunxi's eyes were filled with shock. She had never seen anyone enter a state of meditation while gaining enlightenment, let alone someone who could gain enlightenment anytime and anywhere and enter a state of meditation at any time.

It’s as if you have comprehended some profound truth in shallow meditation, and suddenly entered into deep meditation, as if your whole person, your whole soul, has entered into a mysterious way of seeking the truth. On the long road, you cannot find a way out, but you can suddenly wake up from a deep level and then enter again!

All of this is visible but not tangible.

Suddenly, a roar came from Mu Qing's Taoist platform, and the soul in his body seemed to be about to leave his body and ascend to heaven in broad daylight to pursue the illusory way of heaven and earth.

His cultivation level has reached a new level!

Build a six-story platform.

According to ancient records, there was a type of person who clearly had no cultivation, but after attaining enlightenment one day, he could suddenly ascend to heaven in broad daylight and suddenly became an accomplished person.

Such people are called ascetics.