Volume 6: Wangchuan Chapter 20: Toads
Ji Chuan helped up the little beggar who had fallen to the ground and was about to say something to him.
But the little beggar just shook off Ji Chuan's hand without saying any words of thanks to Ji Chuan. He staggered and ran away.
Ji Chuan was slightly stunned.
At this time, a gentle old man in a long robe passing by saw this scene, pointed to his head, and sighed: "Don't blame me, young master, these little toads don't know this place very well..."
"What does this mean?" Ji Chuan asked with a frown.
"Young master, are you from outside?" The old man asked again when he saw Ji Chuan's puzzled expression.
"I am indeed not from Zangling. Please clarify my doubts, sir." Ji Chuan said politely.
"Are you still coming to a place like this?" The old man muttered, and then he sighed and slowly explained the reason: "No wonder... We are adjacent to the source land, and the source land is shrouded in a thick yin energy. You know this, right?"
Ji Chuan nodded.
The so-called Yellow Springs Death Air is what cultivators call it.
Among these mortals, they all call the deathly air of the underworld Yin Qi.
"It seems that these negative energies only exist in that source area, but in fact, a small part of them has also infiltrated into our land," the old man continued.
"That's true." Ji Chuan agreed.
How was the source stone orchid vein formed?
Isn’t it because of the death energy from the underworld that has seeped in?
The old man sighed again, "These Yin Qi are really damn bad things. Because of the existence of Yin Qi, people living on this land are more or less corroded by it. This also leads to a very high probability that women here will give birth to monster children."
"Monster child?" Ji Chuan was stunned.
Lu Qingshan on the side had almost understood what the old man said.
In layman's terms, this land seems to be contaminated by nuclear radiation, so the deformity rate of children born here is extremely high.
"Yes, among ten babies, there are almost two or three who are ugly monster children with dark skin. Because they look like toads, these monster babies are also called toads." The old man further explained.
"But, according to what the old gentleman said, the probability of a 'toad' appearing is so high. Why do I see so many pedestrians on the street, and they all look the same? Only the little beggar just now is the 'toad' that the gentleman mentioned?" Ji Chuan asked puzzled.
"Because few of those little toads will grow to this size." There was a hint of pity in the old man's eyes.
"Is it because of the lifespan limit?" Ji Chuan's heart tightened.
"It seems that the parents who gave birth to the toads did not intend to keep these 'toads', and would abandon them, or even drown them with their own hands. It is not impossible." Lu Qingshan interrupted at this time.
Through the old man's words and expression, as well as the appearance of the little beggar just now, he roughly guessed the truth behind it.
"What a sin... It is indeed because of what you said," the old man sighed, and pointed at Ji Chuan and said, "But what this young master said is actually right. These 'toads' are in very poor physical condition, and they are stupid and dumb, like they have dementia. Even if there are soft-hearted parents who don't want to abandon them, I'm afraid it will be difficult to raise them to adulthood."
Ji Chuan had a complicated expression. He felt angry but more helpless.
The act of these mortals abandoning their own children may seem cruel, but there are also unavoidable reasons behind it.
Raising children to provide for one’s old age is a concept passed down from generation to generation.
A child who is so ugly and almost impossible to grow up.
A child who is destined to be unable to take care of them in their old age.
For these mortals who are just struggling to survive, there is no better choice than to give up.
What's more, these ugly "toads" who are as idiots, even if they are raised to adulthood by their soft-hearted parents, after their parents pass away, won't these "toads" who have no ability to take care of themselves also starve to death?
This is an unsolvable problem.
This is the general environment in this world.
Ji Chuan had no reason to comment too much or feel indignant about this.
No matter how despicable, everyone has the right to live.
But Ji Chuan felt depressed.
The same is true for Lu Qingshan.
As he comes from a modern perspective, he should have been more open-minded about this kind of thing than Ji Chuan.
After all, even in modern times with advanced medical conditions, there are many cases of abandoning children because they have disabilities or incurable diseases.
What can we demand in a world where people's wisdom is not yet enlightened and their thoughts are relatively feudal and backward?
But no matter how he figured it out, the discomfort in his heart was still there, and it was not so easy to get rid of it.
I don't know where this feeling comes from, but it feels like a thorn in my throat.
Perhaps it can only be explained by empathy.
Just as the leader of Shanhai Pavilion evaluated Lu Qingshan when he passed the Guixu Sutra to him.
Lu Qingshan is a cultivator with great empathy!
" Fortunately, there is Master Qiu, who is kind-hearted and has adopted many 'toads' abandoned by their biological parents. The little beggar you saw just now should be the 'toad' adopted by Master Qiu." The old man spoke with emotion at this time.
"Master Qiu?" Ji Chuan's eyes narrowed.
"A very young cultivator adopted many toads abandoned by their parents out of kindness. Later, some people would personally send their newborn toads to Qiu Zhenren, asking him to adopt them," the old man sighed. "What a good man! I hope Qiu Zhenren can achieve great success. People like Qiu Zhenren should become immortals."
The old man was just a mortal and did not know the difference between the so-called ranks of cultivators, let alone that in the world of cultivators, the only one who could be called an immortal was a sword immortal.
But in his mind, there is not much difference between this Master Qiu and an immortal.
"Old sir, could you tell me where this Master Qiu lives?" Ji Chuan bowed to the old sir.
The old man didn't think much about it and told Ji Chuan the details.
"Junior brother, let's go and see those children." After asking for the specific address, Ji Chuan suddenly turned to Lu Qingshan and said.
Lu Qingshan nodded slightly and had no objection.
…
Following the old man's instructions, Lu Qingshan and Ji Chuan walked for several miles until they arrived at the entrance of the town, a very dilapidated area, and finally saw the "Toad Cave" that the old man mentioned.
The two men stopped and saw a dozen thatched huts beside a dirty stream. There were flowers and plants all around the huts. It seemed to be a peaceful scene.
But in the open space in front of the hut, there were dozens of strange-looking "toads" surrounding it.
These "toads" are not very old. The small ones seem to have just started walking, and the big ones look only about ten years old.
But without exception, they are all extremely ugly, with dark blue skin, covered with moss or pustules. From a distance, they really look like toads.
These ugly "toads" are huddled together at this time.
Lu Qingshan stood not far away and looked over.
The "toads" were surrounding a woman who looked somewhat weak.
The woman was wearing a short linen robe, looking like a refined peasant woman. She had her back to them, tending a stove in front of her.
Above the stove is a huge medicine furnace, in which some medicine is being brewed.
A faint spiritual energy blew from it and floated towards Lu Qingshan.
The medicine brewed in the medicine furnace is actually a precious elixir containing spiritual energy!
I think this woman is the Taoist Master Qiu that the old gentleman mentioned, but I didn’t expect her to be a female cultivator.
When Lu Qingshan was thinking this.
At this moment, the woman suddenly turned around, and her eyes inadvertently met Ji Chuan who was standing there.
Both of them were shocked, and Lu Qingshan was also a little surprised.
This Master Qiu is actually...Qiu Shiyin!
In just one day, they met three times, but Qiu Shiyin gave them three different impressions.
It's so wonderful.
