23: Chapter 23 Questioning

The porridge stall at Shuangxi Ferry had not been lit for three days.

The young monk had not returned.

The commoners living at the foot of the mountain did not know whether he followed the New Path or the Old Path, nor did they understand terms like "Clipping Suffering," "Fixing Joy," or "Power Of Will."

They only knew that when the monk was there, there was fire under the stall, porridge in the pot, and someone chanting sutras in low tones at night.

As for whether those whose foreheads he had touched smiled a bit too calmly, or whether they felt a hollow space in their hearts, those starving did not care about such details.

Thus, as soon as the person vanished, the news spread.

On the morning of the third day, people from the Zhao Family of Black Stone Ridge arrived.

The leader was Zhao Hengyue.

This man was a manager for the Zhao Family, in charge of the commercial taxes at the eastern entrance of Guli Circuit, as well as the dealings between the Zhao Family and Qingsang Main Peak that were not meant for public view.

Among the Cold Households of Duansang Ridge, few had seen him, but many had heard his name.

After Qiu Hanshan of Old Grave Slope died, when the Zhao Family went up to Qingsang Main Peak to demand accountability and deliver messages, he had been at the forefront.

Zhao Hengyue did not wear armor; he only wore a dark gray dharma robe.

Behind him followed some twenty guards, and he had brought four grain carts.

As soon as the grain bags were unloaded, the displaced people by the ferry all lifted their heads.

Accompanying them were a few monks.

The leading monk appeared to be in his thirties, with clean features, snow-white robes, and held a glazed bowl in his hands.

There was no rice or water in the bowl, only a faint layer of white light floating within.

The light was not piercing; after looking at it for a while, one's emotions would even seem to fade.

The young monks addressed him as Master Jinghuai.

He was not a monk of the Old Path.

Monks of the Old Path rarely appeared in the world these days, mostly traveling on foot through bitter lands, receiving precepts, making vows, and bearing calamities; they walked slowly and rarely interfered in the territorial disputes of the noble families.

Jinghuai followed the New Path, a path of "Clipping Suffering," "Fixing Joy," and "Shared Heart."

When the New Path reached a high level, one could temporarily establish a "Land of Peaceful Joy" within a stall, a ferry, or a village, causing those who returned to the faith to cry less, complain less, and fear less, leaving only a piece of peace and joy.

This Realm was called Establishing the Land.

In terms of rank, it was roughly equivalent to a Cultivator at Foundation Establishment.

When Jinghuai arrived in front of the porridge stall, he did not first ask where the young monk had gone; he simply placed the glazed bowl under the stall and told the young monks to wash the pot, light the fire, and distribute the rice.

The displaced people did not dare to move at first, but seeing the white rice actually poured into the pot, they slowly gathered around.

Jinghuai pressed his palms together, his voice very gentle: "The porridge will be served as usual."

Once the words were spoken, the area outside the stall fell silent.

A child was crying from hunger, so Jinghuai raised his hand and tapped the child's forehead.

The child's crying gradually subsided, and in the end, he just opened his eyes to look at him, a faint smile appearing on his face.

The look in the commoners' eyes toward him changed.

Having rice to eat was a good thing.

Once the fragrance of rice rose from the pot, Zhao Hengyue turned to look in the direction of Qingsang Main Peak.

"A perfectly fine monk was serving porridge here the day before yesterday, and in the blink of an eye, he is gone."

His voice was not loud, but it was audible to the merchants, farmers, and displaced people at the ferry.

"Shuangxi Ferry is on the territory of the Zhou Family; with the porridge stall's fire extinguished and the commoners starving, the Zhou Family should at least come out and say something."

The Zhou Family arrived quickly as well; it was Accountant Zhou Chengli.

With an account book tucked in his sleeve, when he stood outside the stall, he looked first at the grain carts, then at Jinghuai, and finally at Zhao Hengyue.

"Is Second Master Zhao here to demand accountability, or to serve porridge?"

Zhao Hengyue smiled.

"Both are possible."

Accountant Zhou Chengli also smiled: "A wandering monk without a temple certificate comes and goes freely at the ferry, and now that he is gone, the Zhao Family brings grain carts and a monk who has Established the Land to our doorstep. It's as if you knew something was going to happen."

Zhao Hengyue's expression did not change.

"Since the person died under your family's mountain, naturally I arrived quickly."

"How do you know the person is dead?"

Zhao Hengyue raised his hand and pointed at the cold stall: "The stall is here, but the person is not. The bowl is here, but the person has not returned. The commoners say he is dead; can the Zhao Family not know?"

A monk disappeared in the Zhou Family's territory, the porridge stall's fire went out, and the Zhao Family brought grain to continue the service, while also bringing a New Path monk who had Established the Land to settle the crowd.

With the situation laid out like this, if the Zhou Family were to turn hostile on the spot, it would mean snatching grain, driving away monks, and oppressing the people in front of all the poor at the ferry.

Only then did Jinghuai raise his eyes to look at Accountant Zhou Chengli.

"Although that little Junior Brother had shallow cultivation, he did save the starving people here. If he is truly dead, his funeral affairs can be investigated slowly, but these people before us cannot go hungry."

Accountant Zhou Chengli glanced at him.

"The Dharma Master is quite compassionate."

Jinghuai shook his head slightly.

"This poor monk dares not claim compassion; I only wish to make people suffer a little less."

As he spoke, the white light in the glazed bowl rippled slightly, like an invisible layer of water spreading slowly from the four corners of the porridge stall.

The crying of the people queuing under the stall grew softer, their complaints grew lighter, and the sorrow on their faces seemed to be wiped away.

A chill flashed in Accountant Zhou Chengli's eyes.

The New Path.

And not an ordinary New Path.

Once this person arrived, he did not rush to demand accountability or argue; he simply opened the stall, served porridge, and settled the crowd.

As long as he sat at Shuangxi Ferry for a few days, the displaced people, merchants, and farmers here would not remember the Zhou Family in their hearts, but the Zhao Family, and even more so, this white bowl that made people "not suffer."

Accountant Zhou Chengli withdrew his smile and said: "I will report this matter to the Main Peak."

Zhao Hengyue nodded.

"I will also report it to Black Stone Ridge."

Under the stall, the hot porridge rolled, and white steam rose in waves.

That white steam mixed with the light in the glazed bowl, and the sorrow on the faces of many people by the ferry faded a little.

When Accountant Zhou Chengli turned and left, his mind was filled with complex thoughts.

Although the original hidden danger was eliminated, the younger one was removed only to bring the older one, and it simultaneously accelerated the conflict with the Zhao Family; one day, a winner would have to be decided.

That night, the lights in the East Side Hall of the Main Peak did not go out all night.

After Accountant Zhou Chengli returned to the mountain, he recounted the situation at the ferry.

When he mentioned that Zhao Hengyue had brought grain carts and arrived with Jinghuai, the expressions of several Zhou Family managers in the hall darkened.

The thin, tall old man spoke first: "It wasn't invited by the Zhao Family themselves."

Accountant Zhou Chengli nodded.

"The Zhao Family can kick someone when they are down, but they might not be able to find a monk who has Established the Land within three days, and bring grain carts to block the ferry just in time."

Zhou Wenyu said in a low voice: "There is at least one New Path temple behind this."

Zhou Boyan sat under the lamp, his expression even colder than usual.

"The entry of a New Path temple into Guli Circuit is no small matter."

Accountant Zhou Chengli said: "Jinghuai does not report the temple name. But that glazed bowl of his is not something a Loose Cultivator monk can afford; I reckon it is a Foundation Establishment Magical Artifact, extremely rare."

"Once the porridge stall opened, the crying of the commoners under the stall stopped for the most part. If he is allowed to sit there for a long time, the farmers at the foot of the mountain may no longer fear our prestige."

Once these words were spoken, the hall was silent for a moment.

The Zhou Family suppressed the Cold Households and the farmers by relying on contracts, taxes, wells, and mountains.

But the New Path did not compete with you for contracts, nor did it compete with you for wells.

It clipped suffering.

It made the commoners unaware of suffering, and made the commoners have no desires.

This sounded like a good thing.

But for the Zhou Family, it was the most fatal.

The thin, tall old man said: "The Emperor has passed away, the barbarian tribes in the north are moving south, and Jianghuai is in chaos. All parties are scrambling for people, grain, and ferries. It is not strange for the New Path to appear at this time."

"What is strange is that they happened to land at Shuangxi Ferry."

Several people in the hall knew what was going on.

After Old Grave Slope, the Zhao Family used the death of Qiu Hanshan to demand accountability.

Now that the monk was gone, the Zhao Family used the porridge stall to enter the ferry again.

There was another layer of trouble.

The Zhao Family had descendants who became personal disciples of a Peak Master in the Chengtian Sect; although they could not yet run rampant for the Zhao Family, it was enough to whisper in ears.

Someone could not help but say: "Are we just going to let them set up a stall at Shuangxi Ferry?"

Zhou Boyi put down his teacup.

"Let them set it up."

Several people in the hall raised their eyes in unison.

Zhou Boyi said: "For now, try to delay the confrontation with the Zhao Family as much as possible, as long as the family members don't suffer losses or injuries, and later we will find an opportunity to seek the Lu Family to balance the situation."

"Family Head... if the Lu Family is unwilling to get involved, aren't we just waiting for a slow death?"

"What the Zhou Family needs to fight for now is not at Shuangxi Ferry."

"But, if we don't fight on the path of cultivation, how can we stand out?"

Zhou Boyi did not answer.

Apart from the birth mother's family, only a few people in the Zhou Family knew of the existence of the heir.

The Zhou Family had been suppressing the news as much as possible to buy time for the heir to grow.

The Fifth-Grade Qingming had already been achieved.

Before the heir succeeded, the Zhou Family could not be in chaos.

Once in chaos, Black Stone Ridge would bite, the New Path temple would bite, and those few pairs of eyes in the Chengtian Sect would also look over.

Zhou Boyi didn't spell these things out, only saying: "The Zhao Family wants fame, give it to them. The monk wants a stall, give it to him. The Zhou Family only guards the Main Peak."

"Delay."

Once this word was spoken, no one in the hall rebutted.

At the time of the autumn harvest, the wind on Duansang Ridge had already turned cool.

The Gudong Field was much better this year than last year.

The Jiang Family now had more than just the two mu of Gudong Field.

After the Liu Family merged in, that half-fen of thin field by the well in Niubei Hollow also belonged to the Jiang Family.

It wasn't fertile, but it could grow low-grade spirit grain; it produced little, but it was stable.

After the Feng Family line ended, the Main Peak hung several bad debts on the Jiang Family to manage on their behalf.

The grinding shed at the foot of the slope could grind Yin Sand, and Yin Sand was a Yin-series spirit resource used for making talismans and Artifact Refining.

The swampy land in the western hollow could grow Puxin Grass, which could be used as medicine to aid Alchemy after being dried.

The checkpoint shed at the entrance of Duansang Ravine, which was originally used by the Feng Family to guard the ravine entrance, waterways, and mountain roads for the Main Peak, was now also under the rotation of the Jiang Family; the work was tiring, but they could skim a little profit from the passing mountain goods.

These things, taken individually, were not big.

Combined together, they counted as having a family foundation.

Jiang Yuhe watched the fields during the day and practiced Grain Rain at night.

Jiang Xingchuan guarded the grinding shed and no longer ran out every day.

Jiang Shoushan managed the ravine entrance and the checkpoint shed, and Zhao Xing's belly was becoming more visible day by day.

After Chen Xiaoyan joined the family, Lin Suwen felt much more relaxed, and that bit of Spring Commencement Energy also smoothly entered the second layer.

The Main Peak's tax this year was double, also known as the guilt tax.

This was the Jiang Family's regular tax, like a rope around their necks, tightening, but not strangling them to death; it was meant to make you struggle desperately.

But after the autumn tax was paid, Jiang Chengning opened the granary and saw that there were still a few bags of spirit rice left inside.

Although not many, it was the first time in these years.

At night, several members of the Jiang Family sat at the table in the ancestral house again.

The family genealogy was spread out on the corner of the table.

Jiang Chengning calculated the remaining spirit rice, Puxin Grass, Yin Sand, and some other yields from this year, and finally looked up at Jiang Yuhe.

"In the future, the family's resources will be prioritized for Yuhe."

Lin Suwen looked at her daughter and nodded gently.

Jiang Yuhe was stunned.

"Father..."

Jiang Chengning's voice was not loud, but firm.

"Fourth-grade Grain Rain, it shouldn't be dragged down by our family into ordinary Qi refining."

"If the Jiang Family wants to not be grasped by the Main Peak, just having a few Qi refining Cultivators is useless. The Zhou Family says the matter is settled, but we cannot really act as if nothing happened. We must have our own Foundation Establishment."

He looked at Yuhe.

"At the moment, you are the only one with the best chance and the fastest path to reach that step."

After he finished speaking, his gaze fell on the family genealogy.

"This book has spirit and can respond to us. But it is not a bottomless pit; every time we ask, it consumes something. In the future, if there are any more requests, everything will be prioritized to pave the way for you."

The room was quiet for a long time.

Jiang Yuhe looked down at her hands.

That bit of Grain Rain was sinking slowly in her body, not hurried, not loud, like a heavy rain not yet fallen, pressed deep into the soil.