Yinshan Record

Chapter 412 Bai Zhi's Thoughts and the Divine Power of a Single Strike (Part 2)

"Exactly."

Su Che looked at Xue Baizhi, who had almond-shaped eyes and peach-blossom cheeks, and wondered what this disciple from Yuyang Mountain was doing here.

So they really searched for Zuo Lengchan all over the country?
"I am Xue Baizhi, a disciple of Yuyang Mountain. Greetings, Fellow Daoist Huang Tiandao."

Fellow Daoist, I rarely hear that title.

Su Che looked at Xue Baizhi and said gently, "So you are from the Yuyang Mountain sect. Your sect's Xiong Shou and Xiong Xingyou are currently in Cizhou City. I wonder if the fairy has encountered them..."

"I come from Uncle Xiong."

Xue Baizhi nodded slightly, and Su Che immediately pretended to suddenly understand.

Although the Moon-Bei-Hui Shadow Imprint had already been planted deep within this person's body and spirit, and they were practically inseparable, this was the first time the two had met openly.

Some gestures still need to be made.

"I was wondering what advice the fairy has for me?"

Su Che's gentle and respectful demeanor further endeared Xue Baizhi to this handsome young official.

Sometimes that's how it is. If someone initially sounds like a saint, but you find a problem after meeting them, it will greatly lower their overall rating.

However, if someone is rumored to be utterly wicked, even the slightest positive quality discovered upon meeting them can instantly elevate their entire being.

That's just how the world is.

Su Che had a bad reputation before, and Xue Baizhi probably felt it too from Xiong Shou's perspective.

Having seen Su Che properly today, I have a completely different opinion of him. I think that this young Su Lixing was probably a bit too unrestrained and carefree in his youth, which is why he is not understood by others. Isn't that how it is for ordinary people?
Xue Baizhi looked at the porridge kitchen in front of her. People were already lining up to get porridge. Many of them were dressed in rags, but a significant portion of them were clearly locals.

She then posed the question she had been pondering for a long time to Su Che.

"Fellow Daoist Su opened the soup kitchen to help displaced people, but in my opinion, many of the people here don't seem to be displaced. Instead, they seem to be locals from Cizhou City. Why does Fellow Daoist Su want to help them as well?"

"It's just adding one more bowl of water."

Su Che had already witnessed Xue Baizhi's temper, so he naturally chose to say things that this female knight-errant would like to hear.

I can't just reveal the truth—that I'm secretly plotting a rebellion—so I'm using this free grain to win people's hearts.

The truth may not be pleasant to hear.

"Having taken so much food and drink, I doubt they've even provided a bowl of water?"

"Of course it's more than just a bowl of water, but we can't be petty when it comes to accounts. If I forbid them from getting porridge, they won't dare offend me, but they'll naturally be dissatisfied. This bowl of hot porridge that the disaster victims can eat is essentially being squeezed from their mouths; that's how human nature has always been."

“A day or two is fine, but if the porridge is given out for a long time, it will inevitably cause some trouble. I don’t need these few bags of rice. If they want to drink porridge, I will add more. In this way, they will feel that they can eat this free porridge because of the refugees who come here. They will be more polite to the refugees on weekdays, and even attract more refugees. That would be a good deed.”

Su Che seemed quite generous: "This is just a little scheme of mine, Fellow Daoist Xue, please don't take offense."

"Fellow Daoist Su, your act of helping the refugees here is already a good deed. Moreover, you have a keen understanding of people's hearts and can prevent problems before they arise. I can only admire you. But why do you need to help these refugees? I heard that you come from a military family. You should know that even if these refugees are coerced into an army, they are nothing but a rabble. Or do you have other intentions?"

"Fellow Daoist Xue, I have no other intentions." Su Che shook his head helplessly.

"If it's to preserve the vitality of the court, these people aren't actually on the household register. They are all tenant farmers of local powerful families and noble clans, and they can't be counted on for rent or corvée labor. If you're worried about them joining the bandits, as you just said, they're just a rabble. I don't even need to lift a finger. Even the private army of the Langya Wang clan in the city right now is enough to wipe them out."

"So Fellow Daoist Su simply wants to do a good deed?"

“If we practitioners do not seek to achieve divinity through incense offerings, then we have never sought anything from the secular world.”

Xue Baizhi looked into Su Che's eyes. This statement was true; cultivators and people in the mortal world existed in almost two different worlds. They might sometimes intersect, but generally speaking, people in the world sought favors from those on the mountain, while those on the mountain had no needs from people in the world.

“However, having no desires does not mean having no action.” Su Che seemed to be talking about something very ordinary: “It is just a small act of kindness that can save thousands of people from suffering. I can’t think of any reason not to do it.”

After hearing this, Xue Baizhi pondered for a while, then looked at Su Che and said calmly, "Huang Tiandao Yu Lizi Zhenren truly has a discerning eye."

Su Che smiled slightly upon hearing this.

"Fellow Daoist Xue, you didn't come to see me just to praise my master, did you?"

"Oh, yes, there is something important I need to discuss with Fellow Daoist Su, but this doesn't seem to be the right place to talk..."

"Then why don't you come to my residence for a while? It's not far from here."

It seemed to be the effect of the Moon Serpent's imprint, or perhaps Su Che was indeed quite to Xue Baizhi's liking, but the two quickly became acquainted and walked together toward the new residence that Su Che had acquired.

Smoke curled from the chimneys in Cizhou City, but a different kind of bloody atmosphere pervaded Xuanshan Mountain.

Severed limbs, broken bones, and crimson blood stained the earth, while the flashing swords and glints of blades created an indelible stain.

A burly man, holding a knife in his left hand with several cuts on the blade, stood in front of a mountain ridge and pulled the blade from the corpse at his feet.

Behind him, countless corpses lay scattered on both sides of the mountain road, cut into pieces of varying sizes.

"Hey Liu, don't think we, the 46th of the Lonely Cloud Village, are friendly and bullying you. How dare you step into our village gate?"

A man with a bulging ox-like head and a gash in his chest revealed ruptured internal organs beneath his white ribs, with blood flowing continuously from the wound.

"Liu Yidao, get down the mountain now, and we can still talk. Don't think you can get away with this by killing ten of our brothers. Our leader is a seventh-grade martial artist with a pair of purple-gold meteor hammers..."

The other person looked even worse off; both of his arms had been severed by the blade, and he was gritting his teeth and trying to speak.

With a flick of the blade, a sharp slash of light shot out from his left hand. The clone took a step forward, his fingers slowly tracing the blade.

The feeling of controlling two bodies at the same time was truly amazing, and Su Che couldn't help but immerse himself in it, experiencing something he had never done before.

The shifts in perspective are truly beyond description by any past experience.

"Noisy."

Su Che, or rather Liu Yidao, said coldly as he casually tossed the battle sword to the ground and stepped over the two men's shattered bodies.

(End of this chapter)