books44 Chapter 147 If Life Could Only Be Like Our First Meeting (6)
Chapter 147 If Life Could Only Be Like Our First Meeting (6)
“Ah,” the vendor sighed, and continued, “That was ten years after I came to this place… or maybe twenty years, I can’t remember exactly, but it happened shortly after I arrived.”
Ten or twenty years is enough for an ordinary person to live half a lifetime, but for this little ghost who has lived for two or three hundred years, it is indeed not a long time.
At that time, he was still a "new ghost" and didn't quite understand many of the rules of the place. For example, he only knew that the border town he was in was called "Tiankui City", but he didn't know that the name came from the name of the first star of the "Thirty-Six Heavenly Generals" in "Tian Gang Di Sha".
For example, he only knew that wandering spirits were forbidden from passing through the market after midnight, but he didn't know where this rule came from, or what the consequences would be if the rule was broken.
Until one day, past midnight, like all the other little devils in the area, he shrank back and dared not show his face. For more than ten or twenty years, he had been doing the same thing every day, not daring to overstep the bounds in the slightest. But on this day, he didn't know what got into him, but he actually got up in the middle of the night, went to the dangerous edge of the window, and looked out at the street.
Because he heard a sound.
There was no one around, it was extremely quiet. Looking around, you could see the only figure moving about in the quiet corner.
Judging from the figure, it was a young boy, and definitely a new ghost. He wouldn't be so ignorant of the rules, wandering around outside in the middle of the night.
The young boy knelt on both knees, his shoulders shaking, seemingly doing something. The peddler, who was secretly observing from inside the house, thought he was too young and had died too early, and was crying outside in the middle of the night because he missed his mother.
The vendor felt a bit sorry for him and circled around the window until he finally found a good angle—he jumped up from the roof beam and hung upside down, his gaze passing through the top pane of glass, before he could see what the clueless little devil outside was doing.
He was digging holes with his bare hands, digging and burying, digging and burying, his back view was thin and small.
It looks just like a little stray dog that's really good at digging holes and burying its poop!
Upon hearing this, Li Tingyun's fists hardened, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.
The vendor continued, "I was hanging from the beam, looking around, when suddenly everything went black. It was like a fog had suddenly rolled in outside, but there were two big red lanterns hanging in that fog. I had a bad feeling, so I quickly hid inside and didn't look any further."
"Later I found out that it wasn't black mist, but a night wanderer! And those two big red lanterns were the eyes of this monster! My goodness, its eyes were so big, it must have been a huge creature!"
"It might be much bigger than the tallest and most magnificent brothel in our market! No wonder it can devour all the little devils who break the law at night! However, that little devil was quite lucky that night and wasn't eaten in one bite."
This little devil is probably not an ordinary soul. Perhaps he cultivates demonic arts and is very vigilant, which is why he was lucky enough to escape this calamity... Mei Shiyu thought to herself.
He asked, "So, what exactly is that little devil trying to do by digging a hole at night?"
The vendor said, "Plant trees."
"Plant trees?" Mei Shiyu turned to look at the towering tree and asked, "Plant willow trees?"
The vendor nodded. "Yes, I saw him inserting willow branches, so he must be planting willow trees."
Mei Shiyu pondered, "Then why did he plant willow trees? Is there some symbolic meaning in planting willow trees in a certain area?"
The vendor said, "I don't know, it probably doesn't have any special meaning. But I do know that willows are a type of tree with a lot of yin energy. In the mortal world, there's a saying, 'Don't plant mulberry trees in front of the grave, and don't plant willow trees behind the grave.' Trees like mulberry, cypress, and willow are all considered yin trees and are usually planted on graves."
The character 桑 (sāng) sounds like 丧 (sàng), and 柏 (bǎi) sounds like 白 (bái), so mulberry and cypress are often associated with funerals and mourning events, making their names unlucky. The character 柳 (liǔ) sounds like 流 (liú), so planting willows behind a house is believed to cause wealth to flow out and prevent the accumulation of positive energy.
Mei Shiyu said, "However, there is another interpretation: 'willow' sounds like 'stay,' meaning to retain or keep. There is also a custom of breaking off a willow branch as a farewell gift. So, the willow tree should have a very good meaning."
The vendor said, "Hey, don't try to argue with me. Many things can be said in two ways: one way and it works, the other way and it works. Regardless of whether the word 'willow' is auspicious or not, willow trees are considered to have heavy yin energy, and ordinary people like to plant willow trees on graves. That's not wrong, is it?"
Mei Shiyu said, "Yes, you're right. But then again, the soil and water in this area don't seem suitable for planting trees."
The vendor said, "Yes, it's not suitable for planting trees, but shade trees like mulberry, cypress, and willow can still survive."
Mei Shiyu asked, "So, this willow tree, which not only survived but also grew very tall, was planted by that 'little devil'?"
The vendor said, "Yes and no. The tree he planted himself was uprooted before it grew. But after him, others followed his example and planted trees in the market. I think this can be considered a case of 'unintentional planting leading to unexpected success'."
Mei Shiyu nodded and said, "You can figure it out, of course you can. And I guess that when later generations imitate him by planting trees, they are not planting trees, but their own rebellious spirits, right?"
The vendor clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Hey, you guessed right again! It really is!"
Mei Shiyu said, "But we still don't know what the first person who planted the tree was thinking."
Li Tingyun suddenly laughed, "Haven't we already answered this question? It's been said that willow trees are planted on graves. He must be doing this to commemorate someone who has died."
The vendor disagreed, "That's not necessarily true. From what I've observed, that kid weighs fifty pounds and has a rebellious streak. He dares to plant trees in the middle of the night; he must have been planning a rebellion for a long time! He's doing it on purpose, deliberately finding an excuse to become a traitor!"
Li Tingyun said coldly, "He's just young, not stupid! At an age when he should only be considered a good-for-nothing, is it too late to cause trouble openly? If he really wanted to do something, he wouldn't let you see it so easily."
Mei Shiyu thought what he said made sense, so she asked, "Then why did he break the ban? And he broke the ban just to plant a tree... That reason sounds a bit... a bit..."
"It's kind of funny, isn't it? Haha."
Li Tingyun laughed for him and said, "Maybe he just wanted to plant a tree to commemorate his deceased relatives. Maybe he was still fantasizing that he could find the souls of his relatives in the afterlife through this tree. But he didn't know that there were any ridiculous prohibitions in the border market, so he broke the rules."
Mei Shiyu moved her lips, and then heard Li Tingyun say, "You still want to ask why he didn't know, right? That's even simpler. He was deceived, tricked, framed, thrown out, pushed out, and not allowed to come in. With so many reasons, surely one of them makes sense?"
Actually, he had forgotten the specific reason.
But in the end, it's one of the few types he mentioned, or two of them, or at least somewhat related.
After all, he was a very unlucky person, especially when he was a child. He had no strength, no support, and was targeted and had bad luck wherever he went. It was common for him to be framed and driven away. He couldn't live well every day and felt like he couldn't go on living. But he just wouldn't die. Even if he died, he would come back to life. He would rather suffer than die.
Perhaps it's because their lives are too rotten and worthless that even Heaven won't take them away.
Evil deeds can last for a thousand years.
Li Tingyun's tone was unfriendly, but Mei Shiyu just thought he was losing his temper again and said lightly, "Fine, I admit that the reason you gave is the most realistic, but also the most ruthless. If it is really as you say, then that 'little devil' back then was too pitiful."
Li Tingyun crossed his arms and said, "You have too much empathy. Maybe the person involved doesn't even care anymore. Why are you still feeling sorry for them? Reality is inherently ruthless, and the world is inherently cruel. There are too many unfortunate people in this world. If you feel sorry for them all, how can you possibly feel sorry for them all? Besides... no one needs your pity at all."
Mei Shiyu lowered her head slightly, looked at her feet, pursed her lips, and said, "No, if I met someone like that, I would definitely help if I could. Maybe others think 'it's unnecessary' or 'it doesn't matter,' but the person in deep trouble definitely hopes someone will lend a hand. He needs it, he cares, and that's enough. Helping those in need to the best of our ability is doing good deeds, accumulating good karma, and it's something everyone should do."
For the first time ever, Li Tingyun didn't make any sarcastic remarks, nor did he perform a dramatic face-changing act. Instead, he stared silently at the willow branch he had pulled bare at his feet. After looking at it for a long time, he quietly picked it up, seemingly no longer wanting to participate in their conversation.
Mei Shiyu paused, then turned to the vendor and asked, "And then? Why did that 'little devil' end up in such a miserable state?"
The vendor said, "Because he practices demonic cultivation."
Mei Shiyu was taken aback. "...What kind of reason is that?"
Mei Shiyu certainly didn't know as much about the territory as Li Tingyun, but he wasn't completely ignorant either. He was aware of the fact that many of the dead souls in the border town were cultivating demonic arts.
The souls trapped in the City of the Wrongfully Dead have another path to take besides obediently accumulating merit and reincarnating as soon as possible: cultivating the demonic path to escape the cycle of reincarnation.
Although there are no explicit rules in the underworld that all souls can cultivate demonic arts, there are also no explicit prohibitions. The underworld officials usually don't care about these things, and there is no such thing as "little ghosts who cultivate demonic arts will be killed without mercy".
The vendor sighed, "Alas, you don't understand. The main reason why the underworld doesn't care whether the little devils in the market cultivate demonic arts or not is that they all cultivate unorthodox methods. They usually don't amount to much. The biggest trouble they cause is just devouring and killing each other. This kind of chaos is easy to suppress. Just send a ghost messenger to kill them all, and that will solve the problem..."
Mei Shiyu thought to herself: Even so, such chaos will surely drag other innocent souls into the border town. When the city gates catch fire, how can the fish in the moat not be affected? For those innocent people, it will be a catastrophe. The local rulers are negligent in their management, unable to solve the problem, and just keep killing people—what's the use?
He then thought that the Taiji Palace was even worse. Was it a place where demons ran rampant that all worshipped violence to control violence?
The vendor continued, "Cultivating demonic powers sounds impressive, but it's incredibly difficult to do. Especially for the little devils in the market, they were mostly humble and human in their previous lives, knowing very little about cultivation. Once they become devils, they don't even know their own limitations. If they suddenly decide to cultivate, they'll never have a good ending."
Or perhaps, he becomes possessed by evil spirits, goes mad, causes trouble, and is killed by the underworld officials.
Alternatively, one could give up halfway and return to being a human, but because too much time had been wasted, it would be too late to accumulate merit. When the market was cleared out, there would be no place to seek refuge, and that would also lead to certain death.
Alternatively, one could focus on cultivating demonic arts, achieve some success, and infiltrate the ranks of the Yin soldiers—that would be the best outcome.
However, even if one becomes a ghost messenger, one will still face various difficulties and obstacles.
Serving in the mortal realm comes with even stricter rules and restrictions. A lowly ghost soldier will either die from intrigue or from a fight. The law of the jungle prevails, and the survival of the fittest applies everywhere. Who can live more comfortably than whom?
Unless, of course, one can stand out from everyone else.
This applies to both humans and ghosts; only those who are exceptionally outstanding can avoid being lost among the masses and have the potential to break free from the constraints of the rules and become part of the group that sets them.
This possibility is extremely small, and those who make the rules are absolutely unwilling to relinquish power to others.
Therefore, after reaching the summit, he would do everything in his power to prevent anyone else from reaching the summit, even going so far as to push rocks down from the mountain to smash everyone who was climbing up to pieces.