Chapter 734: What Do You Know, You Old Fool

Interestingly, the food on the mountain was slightly better than what they had been given in the Northwest prison.

It wasn't spoiled, just scarce.

Most of it was likely leftovers anyway.

"Are you not going to eat?" the Plump Girl asked.

Chen Changsheng smiled. "This Chen is a cultivator. I practice fasting and have no need to eat."

The Plump Girl blinked. "You're a Daoist priest?"

"A cultivator is not necessarily a Daoist priest."

"Oh, oh, I get it. You're a believer in the Dao. What the priests call a lay practitioner, right?"

"Something like that."

The Plump Girl continued eating, asking curiously, "What's so good about cultivation? Can you really use Immortal spells like the people in storybooks?"

"What do you think a cultivator should be able to do?"

"Call the wind and summon the rain?"

"Wind and rain follow the timing of heaven. While they can be summoned, doing so defies the natural order and incurs karma."

"I don't understand."

Chen Changsheng smiled. "Cultivation doesn't strictly require the mastery of Immortal spells. Most people who believe in and practice the Dao do so to cultivate their character, nourish their spirit, and understand their true nature."

"But you just said you could summon the wind and rain."

"I can."

The Plump Girl shook her head. "I don't believe you."

Chen Changsheng asked, "Then do you believe there will be a heavy storm tonight?"

"Oh, please!" the Plump Girl said. "That doesn't count. If it really does rain, it might just be a coincidence. True Immortal spells should come the moment you call and vanish the moment you wave them away."

"That won't do. It takes far too much energy," Chen Changsheng said.

The Plump Girl was intensely curious, but hearing this, she did not press the matter.

"Oh... alright then."

Unexpectedly, a heavy rain truly did fall after night set in.

Lightning flashed and thunder boomed across the sky as the torrential downpour raged on.

"Pitter-patter!"

"Crack!"

A flash of lightning illuminated the outdoors, startling everyone so much that they struggled to sleep.

The flesh on the Plump Girl's chin quivered in fright. "You actually guessed right! It's not just raining hard, there's thunder too!"

Just as she spoke, the outer door opened.

The same group of bandits from earlier shoved a white-haired old man inside.

"Get in! Get in!"

The white-haired old man groaned. "My poor old bones..."

"Hmph!"

The bandit sneered. "Just sit there and behave."

With that, they left, locking the door behind them once again.

Chen Changsheng looked at the white-haired old man and could not help but ask, "Are you having fun?"

The old man flashed a wide grin. "Plenty of fun, hahaha..."

This old man was none other than Ying Zheng, the Old Dragon King of the Tongtian River.

The Plump Girl paused and asked, "Do you two know each other?"

The old man and Chen Changsheng answered at almost the exact same time. "Never met him."

The Plump Girl opened her mouth, but did not know what to say.

Chen Changsheng rested his hands behind his head and let out a sigh. "Just how bored must you be to come here for entertainment?"

The Old Dragon King inspected the prison cell. "It's a novel experience! It's been quite a few years since I was last locked up."

He looked back at Chen Changsheng and chuckled. "But what about you? How did the famous Mister Chen end up behind bars? Hahaha..."

Chen Changsheng smiled. "Keep laughing. Aren't you afraid of losing your old teeth?"

"My teeth are in excellent condition."

Chen Changsheng shook his head, then asked, "How is Mo Yuan doing?"

Hearing this, the Old Dragon King's demeanor turned serious. "He's doing alright. His injuries have stabilized, but that thing... it simply cannot be rooted out."

"This Chen will try to think of a solution later."

"You certainly should. He suffered all that for your sake. Meanwhile, you just vanished into thin air, entirely out of sight for three years."

"This Chen had no other choice."

"Who knows with you."

The Plump Girl listened to them speak and couldn't help but blink, asking, "Aren't you two acting a little too relaxed?"

"Hmm?"

Chen Changsheng turned to glance at her and smiled. "As the saying goes, the more you fear something, the more likely it is to come. We might as well treat it like it doesn't matter."

The Old Dragon King said, "You make a fair point. Tomorrow, I'll have them drag you out and chop your head off."

Chen Changsheng said, "If they're chopping heads, they'd chop yours first. One look at me and they can tell I come from a good family. But look at you in those tattered grey robes, you clearly don't have any money to give them. The first one chopped will definitely be you."

"It'll be you!"

"It'll be you!"

"You!"

"You are!"

The Plump Girl was somewhat dumbfounded.

She couldn't help but feel that these two were bickering like little children.

She let out a sudden giggle.

The Old Dragon King turned his head to look at her and said, "Hey, little girl, what are you laughing at? No laughing."

The Plump Girl hurriedly covered her mouth and waved her hand. "I'm not laughing anymore."

She paused for a moment, but then said, "But it really is quite funny."

Chen Changsheng looked at the Old Dragon King and said, "Look at you. Have you no shame?"

The Old Dragon King said, "Am I the only embarrassing one here?"

He let out a light huff, seeming to throw a petty little tantrum.

The two of them settled down.

The Old Dragon King only then brought up serious matters, asking, "So, how long do you plan on staying here?"

Chen Changsheng shook his head and said, "I have no intention of resting my feet here. I figure I'll head out tomorrow."

"Oh..."

The Old Dragon King asked, "And what about those people outside?"

"Hand them over to the authorities."

"Hmm?" The Old Dragon King stared blankly for a moment, asking, "The authorities?"

"Exactly."

"Why not just chop them all down? Why go through all that unnecessary trouble?"

Chen Changsheng said, "What good would chopping them all down do? You kill one today, and another springs up tomorrow. Are you planning to stand guard here every day just to kill them one by one?"

Hearing this, the Old Dragon King said, "You really think too much. If it were up to my temper, I'd just massacre them a few times. Once they're scared, no one will dare do this anymore."

Chen Changsheng shook his head. "Since ancient times, bandits have never ceased to exist. At the root of it all, it is because the laws are not properly enforced, or the authorities are colluding with the bandits. That is why they spring up endlessly. Besides, out of all the people who turn to banditry, very few actually do so willingly."

"Knowing how difficult life is, they have no choice but to resort to such measures."

"So according to your logic, these people can be forgiven?"

"Of course not."

Chen Changsheng said, "There is no such logic in this world. Good is rewarded with good, and evil is met with evil. The moment they raised their blades to kill, they should have understood that those who kill will always be killed by others."

"So in the end, aren't you still going to kill them?"

The Old Dragon King pointed a finger at him and said, "That is what I dislike most about you. You spout endless nonsense about morality and righteousness, but in the end, you still end up chopping them down."

Chen Changsheng laughed. "What do you know, you old fool? This is principle."

"Right, right, principle." The Old Dragon King was entirely dismissive.

In his eyes, he could kill the people of an entire city with a single slap. Why bother with all this trouble?

The Plump Girl was somewhat dumbfounded, realizing she couldn't quite understand their words.

What kind of situation were they in right now?

Why weren't they worried at all? They were even discussing how that group of bandits was going to die.

Shouldn't they be considering whether they would be chopped down themselves?