16: Chapter 16 Kindness Sows the Seeds of Disaster

By the time the wind and snow began to subside, Lu Mingyuan had already walked two li.

His green bamboo staff left uneven marks in the snow, and the bamboo basket on his back swayed slightly with each step. The recent battle, though brief, had stirred his Qi and blood, causing the flow of True Qi throughout his body to speed up by thirty percent compared to usual. Upon internal inspection, his Chaotic Dao Foundation rotated as normal, but the wisp of Noble Spirit at its edges had condensed considerably, its white-gold halo growing more pure.

Yet, a strange unease lingered in his heart.

It wasn't fear after the fact, nor was it excitement, but rather a kind of... indescribable, inexplicable disquiet. He stopped walking and looked back the way he came. The wind and snow blurred his vision, leaving only a vast expanse of white. Those four bandits should have taken the silver and left by now, right? With that money, perhaps they truly could find a proper path.

"I hope so," he murmured to himself and continued on his way.

After walking a bit further, faint moans suddenly came from the roadside ahead.

Lu Mingyuan halted. Clear Sight unfolded. Amidst the snow, a figure was curled up under a withered tree, body covered in snow, nearly blending into the ground if not looked at closely. The person was burly, with a fierce scar over his right eye—it was the one-eyed bandit leader from earlier.

He hadn't left?

Lu Mingyuan approached. The one-eyed man's face was bluish-purple, his lips blackened. His right hand clutched his left shoulder tightly, dark red blood seeping between his fingers. The snow around the wound was stained red, the blood already beginning to freeze.

"You..." Lu Mingyuan crouched down.

The one-eyed man struggled to open his remaining good eye. Seeing it was him, his pupils contracted sharply. He tried to scramble backward but jolted the wound, letting out a pained grunt.

"Don't move." Lu Mingyuan pressed him down. "The wound needs tending."

He set down his bamboo basket and tore open the tattered cloth at the man's shoulder. The wound was deep, a piercing stab from a Sharp Weapon. The edges were already inflamed and swollen, the oozing blood dark in color—clearly not a fresh injury. More serious was the blockage in the surrounding Meridians, the Qi and blood unable to circulate. Through Clear Sight, he could see a mass of gray-black sickly Qi entrenched there.

"This wound is at least three days old," Lu Mingyuan frowned. "Why wasn't it treated sooner?"

The one-eyed man gritted his teeth, voice hoarse. "Treated? With what... No money for medicine, nowhere to recuperate, still had to lead the brothers to find a way to survive..."

As he spoke, he suddenly coughed violently, hacking up a mouthful of bloody phlegm.

Lu Mingyuan fell silent. He retrieved the salt he had just bought and a small bottle of liquor from his basket—items on Xuanweizi's list, said to be for preparing medicine. He also tore a clean strip from his inner garment, using snowmelt to clean the wound.

The moment the salt touched the wound, the one-eyed man's whole body shuddered violently, veins bulging on his forehead. Yet, he gritted his teeth and didn't cry out. Lu Mingyuan felt a slight stir in his heart—this man had some fortitude.

After cleaning, he applied the gold-sore medicine powder he carried with him—a wound medicine made by Xuanwei Temple. Though not precious, it was quite effective. Finally, he bandaged it securely with the cloth strip.

Having done this, Lu Mingyuan took two steamed buns from his basket and offered them. "Eat."

The one-eyed man stared at him blankly, his single eye filled with confusion. "You... why save me? I was just trying to rob you."

Lu Mingyuan sat cross-legged on the snow opposite him. "Because you are also a person."

Those five simple words made the one-eyed man tremble all over.

"I'm a mountain bandit, a wicked man," he said bitterly. "When people in town see me, they either run, report me to the authorities, or... like you did earlier, beat me down."

"And now?" Lu Mingyuan asked. "Still want to rob me?"

The one-eyed man shook his head. "Can't win, and don't want to fight anymore." He paused. "When that staff of yours... tapped my wrist, I felt a... very righteous Qi. It didn't seem like it wanted to hurt me, more like... it wanted to make me see clearly."

His words were halting, but they touched upon a thought in Lu Mingyuan's mind.

Noble Spirit, vast and firm, nourished by uprightness and causing no harm. So it wasn't just capable of warding off demons and healing wounds, but could also... influence people's hearts?

"What's your name?" Lu Mingyuan asked.

"Wang Meng," the one-eyed man said softly. "Used to be a scout in the border army. Lost the eye, got discharged, returned home. This year's great drought... half the village starved to death. Those of us left couldn't survive, so... so we took up this dirty business."

He clenched his fist. "I know it's a sin. But watching my old mother become skin and bones from hunger, watching my wife hold our child and cry... I... I had no choice."

The wind and snow picked up again, howling through the bare branches.

Lu Mingyuan listened quietly. He thought of his own mother at home, of her words, 'I hope my son tops the imperial exams, bringing glory to our family.' If disaster struck his home, if his mother went hungry and cold, what would he do?

He didn't know the answer.

"What about your brothers?" he asked.

"Took your money and went down the mountain," Wang Meng said with a bitter smile. "Said they'd buy grain in town, then go their separate ways. My wound was too severe, couldn't walk. Told them to go first."

Looking at that face twisted by pain and guilt, the unease in Lu Mingyuan's heart grew clearer. He had let these bandits go, given them silver to encourage goodness—it seemed merciful. But what if, with that money, they didn't reform, but continued their wickedness? What if they used that money to buy blades and spears, to rob even more people?

Mercy could sometimes be a double-edged sword.

This thought poured over him like cold water, sobering him instantly.

"Wang Meng," Lu Mingyuan stood up, his voice turning serious. "I saved you today because I see you still have a conscience. But you must promise me one thing."

"Speak."

"Once your wound heals, take your men and find a proper livelihood." Lu Mingyuan stared into his single eye. "If I ever learn you've returned to wickedness, the next time we meet, I will show no mercy."

Wang Meng struggled to sit upright. With his uninjured hand, he pressed it to his chest. "I, Wang Meng, swear to the heavens: if I survive this day, I will turn over a new leaf. If I break this oath, may I be struck by lightning and die a wretched death!"

The oath echoed in the wind and snow.

Lu Mingyuan nodded. He took out the last few pieces of broken silver from his purse and placed them beside Wang Meng. "This money is enough for you to recuperate and settle yourself. Take care."

With that, he shouldered his bamboo basket and turned to leave.

After walking a dozen or so steps, Wang Meng's hoarse voice came from behind. "Benefactor! May I ask your honorable name?!"

Lu Mingyuan paused but did not look back. "A name is unimportant. Just remember your oath."

The wind and snow swallowed his figure.

Wang Meng knelt in the snow and kowtowed heavily three times towards the receding back. As his forehead touched the ground, tears mixed with muddy snow dripped down.

And what Lu Mingyuan did not know was—

Less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn after he left, three furtive figures emerged from the woods on the other side. They were the three bandits from before. They hadn't gone far at all, having been hiding in the shadows observing the whole time.

"Boss, did that scholar really believe it?" the tall, skinny one whispered.

Wang Meng wiped his face, expression complex. "He believed."

"Then we..." another bandit rubbed his hands, "that money..."

"Split the money in two," Wang Meng said through gritted teeth. "Half goes to buy grain for the village. The other half... we brothers split it, each finds his own way to make a living."

"And you, boss..."

"Once my wound heals, I'll enlist in the army," Wang Meng looked into the distance. "The border army is tough, but at least it's a proper path."

The three fell silent for a moment. The tall, skinny one suddenly said, "Boss, are you really washing your hands of this? These days, can a proper path... really be walked?"

Wang Meng didn't answer. He looked in the direction Lu Mingyuan had left, a struggle flickering in his single eye.

Meanwhile, Lu Mingyuan had returned to the mountain path. The wind and snow grew heavier, the sky darker. He quickened his pace, but that thread of unease shadowed him like a specter.

Clear Sight subconsciously unfolded, scanning his surroundings. Suddenly, his pupils contracted—

On the snow beside the mountain path were several very faint footprints. Not his, and not Wang Meng's. The footprints extended from the woods, lingered for a long time near where Wang Meng had been hiding, then retreated back into the forest.

Someone had been observing from the shadows the whole time.

Wang Meng's accomplices? Or... someone else?

Lu Mingyuan stopped and looked back at the wind-and-snow-shrouded forest. His vision was limited, he couldn't see clearly. But he could sense several malicious gazes fixed on him from the darkness.

Mercy is good, but showing mercy to the wicked—does it condone more evil deeds?

Letting Wang Meng go—did it give him a chance to reform, or did it plant the seeds of future calamity?

He didn't know.

He only knew he had made a choice. And every choice has its Karma.

"I hope... I am right," he murmured to himself, turned, and hurried on his way.

The wind and snow swallowed his figure, and also swallowed those few peering gazes from within the woods.

And in a deeper darkness, a pair of eyes completely unlike a human's, glowing with a dim red light, quietly observed all of this. The owner of those eyes licked his lips and let out a low chuckle:

"A merciful heart... such delicious nourishment..."

The voice dissipated with the wind and snow, as if it had never existed.

Lu Mingyuan sensed something, whirling around sharply.

Behind him was only the vast, endless snow.

He tightened his grip on the green bamboo staff and quickened his pace.

The sun set in the west, the outline of Zhongnan Mountain crouching in the twilight like a great beast.

A seemingly resolved grudge, a seemingly reformed bandit, a merciful heart.

A hidden danger had quietly been planted.