Chapter Forty-Four: A Short and Crisp Melody

  Mr. Dongfang had not yet begun to lecture, but this worship ceremony had already shocked the world. The officials hidden in the crowd were all stunned by his loud shout and had not yet awakened, while others were excitedly discussing it in hushed tones.

  After a good cry, Mr. Dongling finally stopped his sorrowful voice, slowly stood up, and bowed to the crowd below, first introducing himself, and then his disciples also came forward one by one to pay their respects. After a round of conventional courtesy, Mr. Dongling finally spoke out in a loud voice: "Today, my lecture topic is called 'Immortal Calamity'! This topic has two layers of meaning. First, I want to talk about how immortals bring disaster to the world, and are hateful and deserving of death; second..." As he spoke, Mr. Dongling cast his gaze towards the many cultivators present, his voice becoming much more subdued: "You esteemed cultivators, a great calamity is about to befall you!"

  After finishing, he looked up at the sky and let out a loud laugh, as if fooling around with children. He waved his hand at the crowd of monks: "Don't be in a hurry, I'll first tell the elders of Tongchuan Prefecture the first layer of meaning, then come back to tell you what kind of great calamity is weighing on your heads!"

  Liang Xin and Qing Mo exchanged a glance, only then did they realize that Dong Ling was being arrogant, this class was actually divided into two sections by him, the first half of the class would be taught to ordinary people, while the second half would be for the monks!

  Mr. Dongling nodded at his disciples behind him and said softly, "Let's begin."

  The first disciple was very young, only thirteen or fourteen years old, and walked to the front of the stage looking at the dense crowd below, appearing flustered and nervous, his body trembling slightly, his lips stuttering as he said a few words, someone in the audience laughed loudly and shouted: "What did you say? We can't understand lip language!"

  Dong Ling stretched out his hand and pressed it firmly on the young boy's shoulder. The child was breathing rapidly, and finally summoned up the courage to shout: "I am a person from Zhongzhou, my parents and ancestors were all farmers, our lives were simple but happy, who would have thought that when I was ten years old, two groups of monks chased and beat us, flattening our village, my parents used their bodies to shield me, and I barely escaped with my life. Until now, I still don't know who the enemy is." As he spoke, tears streamed down his face, and it seemed like he was about to burst into loud sobs.

  Mr. Dongling sneered calmly at the audience below: "In the eyes of cultivators, ordinary people are just ants. If you put yourself in their shoes, when you're chasing or running away, and there's an anthill under your feet, would you carefully avoid it? Die, and serve you right!"

  At this time, the second disciple came up trembling, an old man with a face full of wrinkles, looking twenty years older than Dongfang Shuo. He panted heavily and opened his mouth with difficulty: "I am a scholar from Pingyao State, I have been reading books since childhood but have not achieved anything. In my old age, I opened a private school and taught children to read every day. The children in the city are influenced by their surroundings and inevitably learn some bad habits... Three years ago, a fairy was in a hurry to rush past the private school, he flew over the sky with a loud noise, and at that time there was a child who didn't understand things, covered his ears and shouted: "Monster, son of a bitch!" The fairy suddenly stopped his divine power, coldly smiled and said: "At such a young age, you dare to speak dirty words, when you grow up, you will also be a disaster!" As he spoke, he waved his hand, and the child's head exploded.

  The audience had gradually quieted down below the stage, but upon hearing this, everyone couldn't help but let out a low cry of surprise.

  The old scholar smiled wryly: "I really can't understand, the immortal elder himself said that this child is young and ignorant, and should be punished for speaking dirty words. But I think it's enough to punish him by not letting him eat lunch and hitting his palms twenty times. Hmph, but the immortal elder doesn't think so."

  The old man turned the conversation around and said, "The town where I live is not very good. There are few scholars and many martial artists, it's a place notorious for its cruel people. A child died for no reason, and the adults were so angry that they lost their lives... 73 lives in total! These people were all my neighbors, some of whom had invited me to drink with them, others I had gambled with, argued with, and one even lent me three taels of silver which I haven't repaid yet. In the blink of an eye, they're all dead!"

  Mr. Dong Ling coldly commented again: "Put yourself in others' shoes, when you're walking on the road and suddenly see an ant rushing towards you with its tail wagging, showing off its might, you'll naturally step on it to death. Dead, serves it right!"

  The third disciple was over thirty years old, with a robust build and a dark complexion. He spoke in a loud and clear voice: "I am from Heilongjiang Province in Northeast China. My ancestors have been digging wild ginseng in the deep mountains and forests for generations. Ten years ago, my father dug up a thousand-year-old ginseng, which is priceless..."

  "This big fellow was talking nonsense, getting more and more off-topic, from the value of ginseng to how to dig it up, until Dong Ling glared at him, and he suddenly came to his senses, his face turning red with anger: 'We six brothers, along with our old man, dug up this treasure, laughing so hard our mouths couldn't close, when we were going down the mountain, we were suddenly stopped by someone who wanted us to hand over the treasure. I spat! The ginseng guests in the old forest are not easy to mess with, let alone the seven of us, and he was alone. At that time, the few of us rushed up together, not thinking of taking his life, just wanting to beat him up to vent our anger, but unexpectedly, he was a cultivator.'"

  The big man suddenly stretched out his hand and tore open his collar, revealing a hideous scar on his chest: "Needless to say, my father and I felt a cold light flash before our eyes, a chill in our chests, and we all fell down. The Taoist took the ginseng from my father's arms and walked away with it. They all died, but I didn't because my heart is on the right side, which left me with a thread of life. Son... student, the student can't understand why he wouldn't reveal his identity as a Taoist. If he had, we wouldn't have dared to be rude, and even if we were unwilling, we would have had to hand over the ginseng obediently. But was he willing to kill us with his own hands rather than deign to show us his identity?"

  Mr. Dong Ling commented at this point: "If several ants are carrying a gold ingot on the road, wouldn't you go up and snatch the ingot? If the ants don't obey, wouldn't you just step on them? Do you need to report your name and address before stepping on them? Dead, serves them right!"

  The fourth student, the fifth student, the sixth student...

  Mr. Dong Ling's disciples are not many, all together there are only more than 20 people, each person's origin is different, and they come from all over the world, but they have one thing in common: they have all suffered deeply from the suffering of the practitioner, their relatives and friends have died, and only they themselves have survived by luck.

  Everyone finishes telling their own experiences, Mr. Dongli always starts with 'compare hearts' and ends with 'died, deserved it!'

  Tongchuan Prefecture had no shortage of street heroes and rascals, but it lacked scholars. As they listened to the students recount their bitter experiences one by one, everyone was moved to emotion. But when they heard Dong Xue's comments, which could only be described as harsh and unfeeling, many people's faces revealed indignation.

  These people didn't dare to scold the monks directly, but they didn't use courtesy when talking about Lao Touzi Xuanbu Jiong. Finally, someone in the audience pointed at him and cursed loudly during Dong Ling's comments: "You old matchmaker, why don't you die? You deserve to die!" However, Mr. Dong Ling burst into loud laughter, his voice suddenly rising like a thunderclap, mercilessly piercing everyone's eardrums.

  Amidst the loud laughter, Dongfang Shuo said loudly: "Not bad, I should die too, because I am also a cultivator of heaven and energy. As long as one is walking in the world of humans, but does not respect human laws and regulations, relies on strength to bully others, and does not put ordinary people in their eyes, all such cultivators should die!"

  As he spoke, the old man suddenly changed his expression. He raised his head and the book ribbon that tied up his hair suddenly burst apart. His long white hair danced in the windless air, shocking everyone. He pointed at the many cultivators below the stage with a furious hand and shouted: "I should die, but you won't live either! Orthodox or heretic cultivator? Five Ways Three Vulgarities? One Line Heaven? Ninety-Nine Returns to One? Haha, you bunch of rootless, arrogant, self-proclaimed heavenly cultivators who were born in the mortal world yet view mortals as ants and worms. In reality, you are just a pile of dogshit!"

  At this point, Dong Ying suddenly reached into his bosom, fumbled for a moment, and unexpectedly pulled out a small silver ingot, which he casually tossed to Liang Xin below the stage, saying: "Shopkeeper, buy wine!"

  Smashing the sacred tablet and scolding the emperor, stunning the officials and reprimanding the Confucian scholars... During class, taking out money to buy wine, Mr. Dong Ling, Xuan Pu Jiong!

  A five-jin vat of strong liquor, the seal mud shattered and the fragrance overflowed. Mr. Dongliang approached his nose to sniff, burst out laughing: "Fifteen-year-old old Baiqu, not bad, not bad!" He immediately tilted his head slightly, like a whale drinking water, and drank half a vat in one breath, let out a big belch, and suddenly sang loudly:

  "Cultivate immortality, abandon wealth and lust, all because of fear of death and seeking eternal life!"

  "Cultivate immortality, eliminate the seven emotions and six desires, and abandon the stinky skin bag of father, mother, wife, and children!"

  "Cultivate immortality, cultivate until you forget your own body and the world, what does it matter if the country is destroyed or the mountains and rivers are ravaged!"

  "Cultivate immortality, refine the golden elixir to burn heaven and boil sea, prove the Tao with an iron heart, all for one's own selfish desires. I'll trample on your mortal emotions, mortal heart, mortal people, and mortal world. You can't escape, die, and it serves you right!"

  "Cultivate immortality, cultivate a single entity, uniquely! I! Alone! Supreme!"

  The short song has ended, and the ravens and sparrows are silent.