Chapter 341: Rules

After receiving virtual beatings and a long lecture from Anji about impotency from the medical perspective, Yihao apologised for his lack of tact. But he continued to be on guard against Song Min, who, for the first time in his life, felt grateful to the difficult children he had kidnapped first.

"Listen to your sister," he advised the hot-headed martial artist. "Or your brother, even if he’s a terrible pain in my neck."

Blinking in surprise at a genuinely good suggestion from the evil man who kidnapped him and his siblings, Yihao’s brain started to go into overdrive. Just what was this man playing at?

"Why did you kidnap my brother and sister?" he demanded. "And why are we trapped here?"

Finally. Some questions Song Min had been waiting to hear and was most glad to answer.

"Use that brain of yours!" Mingshen snapped. "Do you really think a great and capable villain like him will answer your obvious questions? You’re going to have to be sneakier with that."

Anji remained silent, but she noticed Song Min’s shoulder drooped slightly when Mingshen criticised Yihao. It was obvious how Song Min was simply waiting for an opportunity to talk. Yet, the ghost general kept getting interrupted ever since Yihao’s arrival.

Swooping at the opportunity smoothly, Song Min placed a hand on Mingshen’s shoulder with a smile to prevent the smart brother from derailing his plans any further.

"No matter," he smiled charmingly. "I quite like his straightforwardness in handling matters. It’s not as if any of you can break out of here by yourselves. Tonight, I will execute the thousand-year-long grand plan. No love is lost by sharing."

Blinking owlishly at the great villain who was constantly a few moves ahead of them, Mingshen shrank back and shrugged the hand off his shoulder, backing into Yihao almost unconsciously for protection.

"What are you playing at? Getting nostalgic all of a sudden? Whatever it is that you’re planning, you’re going to fail. Good will always triumph over evil, even if it costs us."

What great words... Song Min, having lived and believed this his whole life, could only smile bitterly.

"Is that so?" he turned the blazing gaze to Mingshen. "Then why have so many innocents died with nobody to hear their grievance? All those souls I killed and harvested, where were the heroes who should have triumphed?"

Speechless, Mingshen could only bite his tongue in hate. Anji remained silent, observing from behind her brothers.

"You have no right to speak of twisted justice when you caused their misery," Yihao pointed out. "As long as you are not right, you are wrong. A mistake is a mistake, and you’ve made too many without learning from them. My shifu would whoop you with branches if he ever heard you!"

It was a simple logic, but a logic nonetheless. Yet, due to its absolute nature, Song Min felt a need to challenge this simpleton.

"And what would determine right from wrong? Someone as simple as you can’t possibly remember all the rules in the world. You’re definitely guilty of breaking many."

Sighing, Yihao groaned at the reminder. When he was younger, he was often the troublemaker. The number of rules that he broke far exceeded the bowls of rice he had eaten in his lifetime.

"So what?" he glared back. Those rules were made by man. The only rules I shouldn’t break are the ones made by Gods. Compared to me, you’ve sinned."

Surprised that her third brother had such a deep comprehension of philosophy, Anji took a peek at his face. Unlike Song Min, who was shadowed by the burden of knowledge, Yihao’s clarity was reflected clearly in his eyes like the moon over still water.

Laughing in exasperation at the simplified logic, Song Min gestured for Yihao to elaborate.

"And how would you know the rules of God? Have you met any?"

If anyone should preach about the heavenly laws to him, that should have been Anji and not some muscled bloke. The idea of getting lectured by an intellectually inferior being annoyed Song Min so much that his expression momentarily slipped.

Puffing his chest, Yihao put a fist across his heart and stood like a soldier at attention, something Bai Dajin clearly drilled into his head.

"Be kind to yourself. Be kind to others. Be kind to the world. Practice abundance and live according to your will. That is the heavenly law that guides us in the path of cultivation. If you can’t understand it, just trust it. There will always be light at the end of the tunnel."

After reciting the words, Yihao returned to his posture earlier and nodded in satisfaction that he had recited them accurately.

"I didn’t forget a single word this time," he patted himself on the chest happily. "And kindness is the currency of the strong. I aim to become the strongest man alive, even stronger than my shifu. One day, I will split a mountain in half with my bare hands. Do you believe I will split your skull the same way if you continue to bully my family?"

The air rippled with tension, and Anji pulled at the back of her brothers’ sleeves. If Song Min attacked, she should be able to block at least the first wave.

"HAHAHAHAHA!!"

Nobody expected Song Min to burst into loud laughter. He laughed so heartily that his mysterious and threatening aura disappeared. Clutching at his sides and wiping tears from his eyes, Song Min wheezed, unable to stay standing upright.

"That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard in a thousand years. You truly are nothing more than a lump of muscles..."

Anji did not correct the ghost general who seemed to have lost his mind. Yihao remained confused. Had he said anything wrong?

"Be kind..." Song Min mused. "Practice abundance... what a lovely fantasy."

Pointing at Yihao, Song Min then asked one more question.

"How can the starving farmers live and practice abundance when there is no food grown on barren land? How can the children stay kind in a world that exploits their innocence? How can the weak ever become strong by giving everything away to the greedy who rob them? You’re a fool. A real fool!"

Yihao had no comeback. He was not a farmer, nor was he a child who had been exploited. He had a loving family in the Celestial Dragon Sect, an admirable shifu and everything he ever needed in life, even if he had to work hard at it.

Yet, he believed Bai Dajin’s teaching was not wrong.

"They cannot," Anji replied, tapping Yihao’s elbow softly. "But we can."

Mingshen moved aside when he heard her. For some reason, he had a feeling Anji knew more than she let on. This might be more than a debate with the enemy.

Locking eyes, Song Min and Anji did not speak for a very long time. Even Yihao had no idea what he should be doing apart from glancing alternately every few seconds.

"You?" Song Min scoffed eventually. "Who do you think you can help with a crumbling body and soul? You’ve given away so much that you’re nothing more than a hollow shell."

Anji remained calm. Her brothers might not understand it entirely, but she knew the truth. Her Godhood as Zhong Kui had been watered down so much that she was nothing compared to the thousand years of accumulated grudge Song Min grew. However, there was one thing Song Min did not understand about her.

"I can’t help everyone because I’m human. I can’t help those I cannot see or reach. But if there’s anything I learned from my shifu, I can choose to save the ones who are in front of me."

Pointing directly at Song Min, Anji did not waver.

"I can still help this one in front of me."