Chapter Thirty-Eight: Please Call Me Ditch God

  "What?" Bi Fangji was so shocked that he spilled the tea bowl in his hand. "You're saying..."

  "That's right..." Yang Bo said with a pretended painful expression: "We can't go back anymore, otherwise we'll have to eat prison food until death, and that's the lightest punishment. Hmm, I forgot, in this era there is no free prison food to eat."

  "..." Bi Fangji pointed with trembling fingers for half a day, and finally sighed weakly "Zhi Xian, you have a big nerve!"

  Yang Bo smiled and looked like a dead pig that wasn't afraid of boiling water.

  "Wait a minute!" Bi Fangji seemed to have thought of something again. "Wait, Zhixian is probably intentionally trying to drag me down with him? What's this about investing 500 taels, now I'm in a situation where even jumping into the Yellow River can't wash me clean! Zhixian has used a clever trick to get rid of me!"

  "Call me a god of pits…… Look, I've been looking at that Yan Daren with disdain for a long time. If I don't pit him once, how can I justify my kneecap?" Yang Bo patted Bi Fangji's shoulder with some sympathy. Some habits of modern people couldn't be changed in a short time, but he found Bi Fangji more and more likable. This old guy, apart from his white skin, seemed no different from ordinary Daming scholars.

  "Run faster! Speed up!" Bi Fangji shook off Yang Bo's hand and lifted the curtain to shout at the rickshaw driver.

  "Is the priest afraid?" Yang Bo leaned against the side of the car with a relaxed expression, his head shaking back and forth with the bumps.

  "Isn't it that you have eaten the heart of a bear and the gallbladder of a leopard?" Bi Fangji turned his head in anger, he felt that he was really wronged. If Yan Erjiao didn't let go, it would be another Nanjing Incident, and at that time, it wouldn't just be him who would be unlucky!

  "Don't worry, Old Bi" Yang Bo lightly gestured for Bi Fangji to sit down: "I'm sure our Lord Yan is in a state of anxiety, I'm worried about him! He doesn't have the leisure to chase us... Father, according to your doctrine's spirit, shouldn't you be praying for him now? Or should you pray for us?"

  "I think the trouble we've stirred up could get us killed at any moment! If there's anyone to pray for, it would be us!" Bi Fangji replied without hesitation.

  "Hmph" Yang Bo curled his lip "Take a look, the hypocrisy of religion..."

  "If you want to discuss these topics, we can find another time." Bi Fangji didn't have the calmness of Yang Bo, he anxiously asked: "The most urgent problem now is, how can we safely leave Xuzhou Prefecture?"

  "I assure you, we will leave very safely," Yang Bo comforted.

  "I'm puzzled, why don't you have the slightest bit of reverence for the powerful and prestigious Huai'an Prefect? You speak of him so brazenly, just like talking about a waiter at a tavern?"

  "Father, you're very familiar with the culture of Da Ming, so I suppose you've heard an old saying: 'The process is not important, what's important is the result.' Isn't that right?" Yang Bo stretched out his right hand and examined it carefully before slowly saying, "Do you think if I didn't do this, could I have brought two thousand taels of silver to Shandong Prefecture?"

  "No, I don't think so," said Bi Fangji stuttering. "The Bible says that if we do immoral or sinful things, then our reward will be punishment rather than a prize! May God forgive our sins..."

  Yang Bo burst out laughing and suddenly said seriously: "Old Bi, do you think it's better to leave this silver for Yan Daren to drink and gamble with or should I take it to Shandong Prefecture to open a private school?"

  "This is the difference between righteousness and trivial matters that you often talk about? But this is a false proposition, I need to think about it for a moment."

  "He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; he shall keep your soul. The Lord shall keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore."

  Bi Fangji looked at Yang Bo deeply, seemingly thoughtful, and said: "I've been guessing all along, Zhi Xian, whether you've been overseas? You have no prejudice against Christianity, you even know the proverbs of the Bible. Why don't you consider joining us?"

  Yang Bo rolled his eyes, and Bi Fangji felt a bit embarrassed: "I was too abrupt, but I really hope you can consider it carefully..."

  Yang Bo pulled his thoughts back from distant memories "I heard this proverb before and thought it was suitable for comforting people, so I remembered it. You know? Before, I used to be a firm atheist..."

  When Yang Bo wrote down the maxim, Bi Fangji hastily drew a cross and said "Oh my God"

  "But then something strange happened, which overturned my beliefs and thoroughly discredited my atheism. To this day, I am still searching for a faith of my own..." Yang Bo waved his hand to interrupt Bi Fangji, who continued: "I know what you want to say, but I suggest you keep it to yourself. Your teachings say that when an enemy strikes your left cheek, you should offer him your right cheek as well. Sorry, I not only want to strike back, but also make him never dare think of it again. Look, Father, this is my faith! I am walking a dangerous and lonely road, one step heaven, the next hell..."

  "You are misinterpreting God's teachings, the violet leaves its fragrance on the heel that crushed it, this is tolerance, tolerance is a noble virtue..." Bi Fangji couldn't agree.

  "When I meet the enemy with a smile and put aside our grudges, my right hand is holding a weapon that can kill him at any time. This is what's called tolerance, Father Yang." Bo let out a disdainful snort.

  The carriage fell silent for a moment, and both people were silent...

  After a moment, Bi Fangji broke the silence and said, "Although I didn't understand what you meant, I felt that your tone was very heavy, as if there was a strong sense of responsibility, like carrying many burdens that don't belong to you on your shoulders? But why did you give me the impression of being so... Oh God, forgive my straightforwardness, so crude and rude?"

  "Haha" Yang Bo suddenly burst out laughing: "Father, if you were a pig? Oh, sorry, I'm just making an analogy. If you were a white-skinned pig, would you choose to hide among a group of black pigs or hide among a group of white pigs which is safer?"

  Bi Fangji snorted, "Do you have such a crude analogy?" However, he had to admit that what this person had done before was just his disguise. Thinking of being inexplicably deceived by him, Bi Fangji forgave him according to the doctrine, but his curiosity about him grew stronger - what kind of person was Yang Zhiyan?

  Yang Bo felt much better after chatting with the priest. He casually picked up a book and started reading it, shaking his head from side to side in the swaying carriage.

  "What book are you reading?"

  "Xu Guangqi's handwriting, 'The Original of Geometry' Volume 1"

  "I admire your diligence in studying, but I have to remind you that you're holding the book upside down..."