paranoianovel Chapter 63: Senior Brother Tongyuan's Background.
Chapter 63: Senior Brother Tongyuan's Background.
Wow~
A figure darted out of the pool and swam toward the shore.
"Phew~"
After Bai Chen reached the shore, he was panting heavily.
He already had pulmonary fibrosis, so his breathing was not as good as that of ordinary martial artists. Now, practicing the Internal Organ Realm places even greater demands on his lungs.
In fact, the strength of lung function directly determines the speed of cultivation in the Qi Refining Realm.
After all, the stronger your lungs, the longer you can hold your breath, which means you can stay in the pool for longer.
"Once we get back to Earth, I'll get some oxygen tanks..." Bai Chen thought to himself.
After resting for a while, Bai Chen looked at the three gourds placed not far away beside him.
The gourd contained dried powdered goat entrails.
These dried goat offal powders were prepared by Xuanming Daoist for Bai Chen, Tong Yuan, and Tong Ji.
Bai Chen picked up a gourd, opened the stopper, and immediately a fishy, foul smell wafted out.
Despite the discomfort, I ate some dry powder.
After the dried powdered goat offal was swallowed, it transformed into a barely perceptible force that nourished his internal organs.
The lungs are the most affected!
Bai Chen felt much better in his lungs, and it didn't feel as uncomfortable as before.
Goat's internal organs have this effect; if it were the internal organs of a fierce beast like a black bear or tiger, wouldn't it be even more outstanding?
"Unfortunately, I really did throw away the python's internal organs."
Bai Chen was heartbroken.
After removing the bones from the python, he stored the python's skin, meat, and gallbladder in the refrigerator.
He simply threw the python's internal organs down the drain and flushed them away.
Because he has never had the habit of eating offal since he was a child.
.....
The sun sets in the west, casting its glow on the mountains.
On the narrow, winding path.
Three men dressed in Taoist robes walked together; these three were Bai Chen, Tong Yuan, and Tong Ji, who had been cultivating for most of the day.
"Junior Brother Bai Chen, you are truly amazing. You mastered both the dynamic and static stances of the Qi Refining Realm in just one day."
Among his companions, Tong Yuan remarked with envy.
Tongji, standing to the side, squinted and echoed, "Exactly, exactly. We've been practicing for so long, and we still haven't mastered the stance."
"hehe."
Bai Chen smiled slightly and comforted him, "My two senior brothers, please don't underestimate yourselves. I just have quite a bit of family wealth, and I used money to lay a solid foundation for my previous cultivation levels."
"If we're really talking about martial arts aptitude, my two senior brothers are probably much stronger than me."
Upon hearing this...
Tongyuan scratched his head and sighed, "It's so good to be rich. If my family had been rich back then, we wouldn't have ended up ruined."
Tongji, who was standing to the side, seemed to remember something and quickly patted Tongyuan on the shoulder, comforting him, "It's all in the past now. We are all your family now."
Seeing this, Bai Chen hesitated slightly, but ultimately couldn't help asking:
"Senior Brother Tongyuan, what about your home...?"
"Brother Tongji is in a terrible situation, even worse off than me."
Before Tongji could speak, the squinty-eyed Tongji eagerly explained:
"In recent years, natural disasters and man-made calamities have been frequent. The rent for my senior brother Tongyuan's house is also high. In order to pay the rent and taxes, he can only borrow money from Zhou Bapi in the city at high interest rates, hoping to repay it when the harvest is good next year."
Unfortunately, a locust plague struck the following year, and not only were they unable to repay their debts, they also couldn't pay their rent.
Those scoundrels, Master Liu and Zhou the Skinflint, aren't human, they're beasts. Their family kidnapped my senior brother's mother, and their family kidnapped his sister, intending to sell them to brothels to pay off their debts..."
"His father naturally refused, but he was outnumbered and outmatched, and ended up getting beaten black and blue."
"Tongyuan's sister and mother, unable to bear the humiliation, chose to drown themselves in the river."
"Then his father went to the city to file a complaint with the authorities, but he was beaten out by the yamen runners. In the end, exhausted, he passed away not long after."
"After losing his parents, Senior Brother Tongyuan was left to wander the streets and almost starved to death. Fortunately, he met Master, who came down the mountain to practice medicine and cure diseases with talisman water, and took us in."
......
Tongji spoke calmly, as if he were telling a story.
As for Tong Yuan, the person involved, apart from the occasional sadness in his eyes, he had no other expression.
Bai Chen listened with a heavy heart.
He never expected that this tall man, who was 1.89 meters tall, would have such a tragic past.
This damned world, to paraphrase Lu Xun, is nothing short of cannibalistic.
"Senior Brother Tongyuan, if you ever wish to take revenge, simply give the word, and I, Bai, will certainly lend a hand!"
"Thank you, Junior Brother Bai Chen."
Tongyuan gratefully cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Master once said that once you enter Taiping Temple, you are one family."
If Junior Brother Bai Chen ever encounters any difficulties in the future, please don't hesitate to ask for my help.
"Me too, me too!" Tongji quickly chimed in.
The three of them remained silent on the way back to the Taoist temple.
...
evening.
Outside the Sanqing Hall.
More than a hundred Taoist priests sat cross-legged, chanting the scriptures in a muttered manner.
The sound of wooden fish being struck, mixed with the chanting of scriptures, drifted through the air above the Taoist temple.
Bai Chen was among them.
When he was at Qingyun Temple, he almost never participated in the morning and evening lessons in order to practice martial arts faster.
However, since I'm currently in the Refining Body Realm, I can only cultivate at noon. Since I'm free anyway, I decided to attend the Taoist temple's evening class.
The scripture recited by the Taoist priests is called the "Taishang Ganying Pian" (Treatise on the Response of the Supreme Being), and its main content is to guide people towards goodness and to deliver the souls of the deceased.
However, there were a few parts that Bai Chen found somewhat strange.
The normal version of the Taishang Ganying Pian (Treatise on the Response of the Supreme Being) encourages people to practice medicine, help the world, and do good deeds.
The scriptures recited by the Taoist priests of Taiping Temple are about hating evil as if it were their enemy, slaying all demons and monsters, and turning evil into good.
Bai Chen didn't think much of it.
After all, Martial Continent is another world. Even if the general background is similar to the feudal society on Earth, it is not Earth after all. It is reasonable that some things are different.
...
The next morning.
Bai Chen greeted Xuanming Daoist and then left the Taoist temple.
Before he traveled through time, he planned to go to Pyongyang and exchange his silver notes for some gold.
If the US dollars in the rented room are stolen, you can sell some gold to exchange for money.
...
Two hours later.
Pyongyang.
A guest riding a mule arrived at the entrance of an inn.
"Sir, are you here for a meal or to stay the night?" the waiter greeted him warmly.
These days, mules aren't cheap; they can even cost as much as some ordinary horses.
"Check in, I'll take a superior room." Bai Chen took out a small piece of silver and tossed it over.
"Okay, sir."
The waiter became even more respectful, turning around and loudly announcing, "Manager, a distinguished guest has checked in, a superior room available!"
...
The rooms at the inn were not cheap, costing two taels of silver per day.
The advantage is that it is spacious, with two side rooms and a small courtyard with its own entrance.
The mule was tied to a crooked tree in the yard.
Enter the side room.
Bai Chen took off his training clothes and changed into prison clothes.
Then, he took out six gold bars, each about two fingers wide and as long as a spoon, from his pocket.