Chapter 73: Contemplating the Dao Scripture with the Bodhi Seed
It was already close to noon. The small eatery was desolate, utterly devoid of customers. Inside, only Little Tingting's sobbing could be heard.
Ye Fan, dragging a musk deer and carrying rice and flour, pushed open the shop door and walked in.
Little Tingting's large eyes were red. She was using a hot towel to carefully wipe the old man's wounds, her heart aching as she wiped and cried sorrowfully.
The old man's wrinkled face bore several bruised finger marks. The blood mainly flowed from his mouth and nose, even staining his scattered, graying hair.
"How could those beasts have the heart to lay their hands on him..." Ye Fan felt a pang in his heart. A kind old man in his twilight years suffering such vicious treatment was enough to ignite a blazing fury. Little Tingting was so adorable and sensible, only five or six years old, yet someone had also pointed at her forehead, knocking her to the ground. Now, her small face was covered in sad tears, truly evoking heartache and pity.
"Big Brother..." Seeing Ye Fan return, the tears in Little Tingting's eyes immediately fell anew, and she began to cry loudly.
"Tingting, be good, don't cry. Grandpa is fine." The old man quickly spoke to comfort Tingting, using his calloused hand to wipe away her tears. Then, he looked at Ye Fan with surprise, saying, "This musk deer and these rice and flour..."
"I hunted the musk deer in the mountain forest, and traded a roe deer for the rice and flour." Ye Fan set these things down, then took a small jade bottle from his bosom. He pulled out the stopper, poured out a bit of Hundred Herbs Liquid, and applied it to the old man's wounds.
"You only had one meal from us, there's no need for this..." The old man was not good with words, feeling grateful but unable to express much.
"Uncle, you don't need to say anything more. One meal might not seem like much, but the intention and friendship behind it are very heavy." Saying this, Ye Fan crouched down to wipe the tears from Little Tingting's face. "Tingting, don't cry. From now on, I'll stay here. I won't let you suffer any grievances."
"Big Brother..." Little Tingting's eyes reddened again. Her long lashes trembled slightly, and tears fell in a cascade. She looked down at her patched shoes and whispered, "But... those bad people will come again. They'll bully us again."
"Don't be afraid. Big Brother won't let those bad people bully Tingting anymore." Ye Fan gently patted her head with pity. Such an adorable and sensible little girl, being bullied like this, truly made it hard to calm one's emotions.
"Child, don't do anything rash." The old man, weathered by hardship, sensed Ye Fan's anger. He feared this youth might act impulsively and bring about great disaster, dragging himself into it as well. "We can't afford to provoke them. The Li family has cultivators among them. They're not people like us mortals can afford to provoke."
The old man let out a long sigh. "I'm already this old. I really don't want to leave my homeland. I've lived here for decades. The older one gets, the more one clings to the past. I have feelings for this place that are hard to let go of. But now, I have no choice but to leave. For Tingting's sake, I've decided to give up everything here. Even if I have to beg, even if I have to leave my homeland, I won't stay here any longer."
"Grandpa..." Little Tingting's face was immediately streaked with two lines of tears again.
"Tingting, be good, don't cry. Uncle, don't talk about leaving your homeland just yet." After comforting Little Tingting, Ye Fan said to the old man, "Don't worry. I won't cause any trouble. For now, let's close this little shop. Then I'll think of a way. If it really comes to it, I'll leave with you."
Ye Fan deeply understood that mortals faced many misfortunes. The most painful were losing a child in old age and being forced to leave one's homeland. The old man had already lost his son, and now he was being driven out of this small town. The bitterness in his heart was unimaginable. Ye Fan really didn't want to see such a pair of grandparents and granddaughter suffer misfortune.
"Tell me in detail. What kind of background does the Li family have?"
"Child, what are you planning to do? We'll pack up and leave here tomorrow. We'll never come back. Don't go provoking them now."
"I'm not a reckless person. Don't worry."
In the end, under Ye Fan's persistent questioning, the old man finally revealed some things.
The Li family was the leading wealthy household in this town. It was said that three or four members of their family were cultivating outside. Cultivators were very mysterious to ordinary people, never seen in daily life, so the townspeople were all very afraid of the Li family.
Ye Fan felt the old man was still holding back some things. For example, the Jiang family had been well-off before, owning a tavern in town, and why his son had suddenly passed away—these things hadn't been mentioned.
"Tingting, go warm the towel for Grandpa with hot water." After the old man sent Tingting away, he said, "Young friend, I know you're not an ordinary child. Being able to hunt a musk deer at such a young age, you probably know some cultivation too. But I still advise you not to provoke the Li family..."
The old man continued. His son and daughter-in-law had also been cultivators. A few years ago, they were highly valued at a certain immortal sect. Even the Li family in town had befriended them and didn't dare to offend them easily.
"Misty Grotto Heaven..." Ye Fan was very surprised. The sect where the old man's son had belonged was one of the six grotto heavens of the Yan Kingdom, only about two hundred li from the town.
Several members of the Li family also cultivated at Misty Grotto Heaven. One of them had entered the sect at almost the same time as the old man's son, but his achievements had fallen far behind.
"That Li family child had a crooked heart and improper behavior. He committed an evil deed. My son was too upright and couldn't help but intervene. As a result, a deep enmity was formed..."
Tingting's father had extraordinary talent and was especially valued at Misty Grotto Heaven. He wasn't afraid of that Li family disciple who had entered the sect at the same time. But misfortunes never come singly. Two years ago, when Tingting's parents went out to gather spiritual herbs, they tragically died under the claws of a Lightning Bird.
After Tingting's parents died, the Li family had no more scruples. First, they seized the old man's tavern, then they took his inn, forcing this pitiful pair of grandparents and granddaughter to their current state, and still they wouldn't let go.
Just then, Little Tingting walked back with the washed towel. She looked like a porcelain doll, carved from jade, but she spoke words utterly incongruous with her age. "Why is it that in this world, good people are always bullied, while bad people live long lives..."
Hearing her childish words and seeing her aggrieved expression, Ye Fan and the old man looked at each other in silence, not knowing how to comfort her.
"In this world, there are still more good people. Tingting has only seen one side of it. Everything will get better in the future..." Ye Fan didn't want her young heart to be filled with negative emotions too early.
"That's right. Your big brother is a good person, helping us like this. He and Tingting will both live long lives." The old man showed a kind smile. "Today, I'll stew some musk deer meat for Tingting to eat."
Following Ye Fan's advice, the old man closed the small eatery. At noon, the three of them had a hearty feast. Little Tingting's little face was flushed, and she finally showed her smile again.
In the afternoon, Ye Fan wandered around the small town a few times, figuring out the Li family's properties and where the old man's seized tavern and inn were. Then, he indirectly learned quite a bit from other people.
He didn't want to act rashly, deeply afraid of implicating the old man and Little Tingting. Helping people only to harm them instead would be the most foolish thing.
"The Li family has several people cultivating at Misty Grotto Heaven..." Ye Fan felt very uncertain. After all, he had only just begun his cultivation. And that wasn't even the worst part. The most troublesome thing was that one member of the Li family was cultivating at a super immortal sect outside the Yan region, and seemed to have achieved considerable success.
"The Li family really is hard to provoke. I'll have to think of other ways." This only strengthened Ye Fan's resolve to cultivate. He had to become stronger; otherwise, he would be constrained in everything he did. Even wanting to vent his anger for Uncle Jiang and poor Little Tingting couldn't be done freely.
"As for those bastards who struck today, I absolutely can't let them off." Ye Fan didn't rush into action. Impulsiveness would only ruin things. He calmly returned to the small eatery, entered his room, and began to meditate. After obtaining that golden page and the mysterious green copper, he hadn't had a chance to examine them properly. Now, he decided to start with the golden page.
He activated the mystical method of the *Dao Scripture* and began to introspect. The golden bitter sea, the size of a soybean, was like a divine moon fixed in the darkness. The ancient, unadorned green copper block sat in the center of the golden bitter sea, unmoving, steady as a rock, silent and still.
As for the golden page, it was pushed to the edge of the bitter sea, flowing with radiant light and flashing with divine brilliance. The dense small characters on it were like stars, emitting golden rays, sacred and ethereal. This golden page seemed to want to return to the center of the bitter sea, but no matter how brilliantly it shone, it couldn't budge the green copper in the slightest, only drifting at the edge.
Ye Fan's mind was completely immersed in the golden page within the bitter sea, but he encountered the same trouble as before. Each small character on the brilliant golden page shot out needle-like rays of light, causing intense pain in his mind and preventing him from making out the characters.
"How can this be? Is there no way to cultivate the mystical method on this golden page?" Ye Fan frowned. It was like owning a mountain of treasure but being unable to extract any wealth, not even a single copper coin.
Suddenly, Ye Fan seemed to remember something and reached into his bosom.
A dull Bodhi seed appeared in his hand, as big as a walnut. It had natural patterns that connected to form the image of a Buddha.
The Buddha image was naturally formed, completely evolved by nature—dull, ancient, and natural, with a faint Zen charm emanating from it.
"The Bodhi tree can help people attain the Dao. I'll try using this Bodhi seed!" It was because of this Bodhi seed that Ye Fan had obtained a mysterious ancient scripture in the bronze coffin. Now, unable to read the mystical method recorded on the golden page, he wanted to try using this miraculous Bodhi seed.
The Bodhi tree also had other names: the Tree of Wisdom, the Tree of Enlightenment, the Tree of Thought. Legend said it could awaken one's divine nature and enlighten oneself.
The moment Ye Fan grasped the Bodhi seed, he began to circulate the mystical method recorded in the *Dao Scripture*. Golden threads immediately overflowed from his bitter sea, converging toward the Bodhi seed.
At that moment, whether it was an illusion or the Bodhi seed was truly working, he felt his mind become empty and serene, very peaceful. He began to introspect the bitter sea again, observing the golden page.
"It really works..." Ye Fan was astonished. The Bodhi seed made his mind empty and serene, his thoughts calm and waveless. He easily penetrated the golden light and saw the ancient characters on the golden paper. The needle-like, dazzling golden rays suddenly seemed to soften, no longer hurting his eyes.
"I've opened a treasure trove!" Even holding the Bodhi seed, Ye Fan couldn't stay calm. He was extremely excited. He had unlocked the complete Wheel and Sea volume of the *Dao Scripture*.
The ancient characters transformed into divine radiance, continuously imprinting themselves on his mind like shining stars.
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The story begins on a night. That night, there was wind, dark clouds, and the lights went out...
A bloodthirsty homebody, after an ordinary instinctual "activity," ended up with a five or six-year-old adorable girl.
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/book/