AWB Chapter 32 Ignorance is bliss
Chapter 32 Ignorance is bliss
People say that ignorance breeds fear, and a novice is not afraid of tigers. At this very moment, Lin Yue, Gong Yong, and the little mouse spirit arrived home around 3 a.m. Gong Yong parked the car in his spot, Lin Yue got out with the little mouse, and the three of them went home together. After washing up, Lin Yue and Gong Yong quickly went to bed, and the little mouse spirit returned to its nest.
The little willow tree spirit said, "Brother Gray Mouse, you're back! Did your errands go smoothly today?" The little mouse spirit said, "Very smoothly, and I even received a reward." Gray Mouse took out the reward Lin Yue had given him—a box of strawberries. The little gray mouse spirit said, "Little willow tree, these are delicious. Eating them will increase your power. I ate one before, and it increased my power a lot. You should try some too."
When the little willow tree spirit ate it, it cried loudly and vomited violently. "Brother Little Gray Mouse, this is fire-elemental, and I'm wood-elemental! I'm wood! I can't eat this! I can't digest it!" The little mouse spirit sighed. "Then let's get something else." The little mouse spirit took out a few cherries for the little willow tree spirit. The little willow tree spirit asked, "What element is this fruit? Don't tell me it's fire-elemental again." The little mouse spirit said, "It shouldn't be; they taste different." The little willow tree spirit bravely ate another one. "Hmm, this is earth-elemental! Okay, okay, I can eat it." The little mouse then brought out many cherries, giving 20 to the little willow tree spirit and keeping 20 for itself. The little willow tree spirit couldn't eat the strawberries, so the little mouse kept them for itself.
It was soon five o'clock in the morning. A wisp of purple mist drifted in from the sky. The little mouse sat on the balcony and began to meditate, while the willow tree spirit's branches swayed merrily. This was the most important time of their day. If they practiced breathing exercises properly at this time, their cultivation would advance another level. Previously, the little willow tree spirit had grown eight leaves, but one had been plucked to establish itself with the space, leaving seven. In the gentle morning breeze, the eighth leaf sprouted from its top.
A new day begins in an atmosphere full of hope and vitality.
At 7 a.m., because both Lin Yue and Gong Yong were a little late getting up, Gong Yong took the child downstairs to a steamed bun shop on the street to buy some buns for breakfast, which the child ate as they walked to school. Lin Yue, meanwhile, took Xiao Bao downstairs and ate a basket of dumplings before hurriedly dropping him off at school. Lin Yue then arrived at the hot pot restaurant on time to begin her workday. Gong Yong, too, rushed to the company to start his day.
To outsiders, the family of five appeared no different, but Ouyang's villa was in complete chaos. Ouyang and the old Taoist priest hastily moved their belongings from the underground storage room that very night. Ouyang hid his things in the villa in the Jiangnan water town, and the old Taoist priest also carried his belongings there, as it was only a few steps away. Finally, Ouyang drove his car out of the garage, even bringing out his campervan, and hurriedly moved everything to the Jiangnan water town villa, leaving the modern villa to the old Taoist priest's master, who was also Ouyang's ancestor.
When Grandmaster Ouyang saw those things, he also wanted to sneak a taste, so he asked Ouyang to move his share to the villa in Jiangnan. Grandmaster Ouyang even secretly went through the basement to set up an array to prevent the spiritual energy from leaking out and being discovered. So how much was left? There were only 1000 catties of spiritual rice, 1000 catties of spiritual flour, and four baskets of vegetables left, which were just casually placed in the basement.
The old Taoist's master said in the WeChat group: "Fellow Taoists, the spiritual rice and noodles have arrived, along with four baskets of spiritual vegetables, each weighing only 1000 jin, and the spiritual vegetables only 200 jin. Come and take a look; I'm at such-and-such courtyard." He sent the address to the group, and less than twenty minutes passed between the first person entering the courtyard. This nearly terrified Ouyang and the old Taoist. It turned out these people had all come and were lurking in Rongcheng; these big shots had all come and were watching them—it was truly frightening.
Ouyang and the old Taoist priest exchanged a glance, both seeing the fear in each other's eyes. They were both secretly relieved that they had moved out overnight and set up an array to conceal the spiritual energy. If they hadn't moved, how could they have gotten a share?
The sudden appearance of this group of powerful figures made their legs tremble. Thinking of their usual authority and methods, Ouyang and the old Taoist priest felt a chill of fear, lest they inadvertently cause trouble. At this moment, they could only feign composure and cautiously deal with the situation before them.
How exactly was the division done? These big shots got into a huge fight, arguing and kicking each other right there in Ouyang's villa. In short, the renovations on Ouyang's villa were almost completely ruined; they were practically tearing down the roof beams.
How was it divided? Everyone gathered together and started drawing lots in the most basic way. Whoever drew a lot got it, and whoever didn't got it didn't. It was then divided into many portions, a result everyone ultimately agreed upon. Then, the people who drew lots handed over their funds.
The old Taoist's master, who was also Ouyang's ancestor, had beads of sweat dripping from his forehead, for he hadn't expected so many ancestral figures to exist in this world. Looking at the chaotic scene before him, he was filled with helplessness and astonishment, but could only follow the temporarily established distribution rules.
After the distribution was completed, since the ancestors had all received their share, but some people with higher political power had not, they asked Ouyang, the old Taoist priest, and Ouyang's ancestor, "Who sent you this? Can we ask some more highly accomplished practitioners or buy some more?"
Ouyang's ancestor thought to himself, "Thank goodness I hid all the spiritual fruits. If you all had found out, I probably wouldn't have been able to save Ouyang's villa today, and this whole neighborhood would probably be gone too. My goodness!"
With a trembling heart, Ouyang took out his phone, pulled up the security camera footage, and projected the footage onto the remaining white wall in the living room. Although the wall was peeling and a few bricks were missing, it was still mostly projectable.
The surveillance footage clearly showed a little mouse suddenly producing a phone and talking to Ouyang's astonished and bewildered expression. The old Taoist's expressions of fear, disbelief, and surprise were also vividly displayed in the projection. The various patriarchs looked at them with disdain, "What's the big deal? It's just a little mouse that's become a spirit." The mouse was seen riding on Ouyang Xiu's shoulder down to the basement, producing a large amount of spiritual rice and flour out of thin air. It darted out and then returned, releasing more items. At this point, Ouyang quickly checked the surveillance footage. The last scene showed the little mouse leaving Ouyang Xiu's villa, returning to collect the money, and then climbing out the window. Ouyang immediately grabbed his phone, paused the playback, and stopped it.
Ouyang, the old Taoist priest, and Ouyang's ancestor were terrified, fearing that the next part would be revealed, the part where the little mouse delivered the spirit fruit.
A government official said, "Didn't you say there was still a batch of spirit creatures? Those chicken and duck eggs, chicken and duck meat, and rabbit meat, could you share some with me?" As soon as he said this, some old monsters that had clearly left returned.
The anxiety and fear in the hearts of Ouyang, the old Taoist priest, and Master Ouyang were palpable. Finally, Master Ouyang spoke up, saying, "I will notify everyone after I receive it. I will call on everyone in the group, but it will probably take two or three months, because it always happens around that time."
Good heavens! It turns out that during the fight, those old monsters actually left a piece of their divine consciousness in Ouyang's house. They didn't know exactly where it was on the ground, but they probably knew everything related to it. This terrified Ouyang, the old Taoist priest, and Ouyang's ancestor. They looked at each other, their faces pale, filled with worry and fear. No one knew what kind of trouble this lingering divine consciousness would bring them; the future seemed shrouded in a thick shadow.
Ouyang quickly left the villa and took out his phone in the hallway to call his construction team. He called a contractor and said, "Brother Li, can you help me out? There's a problem with my villa. Could you fix it for me?" Brother Li was also not far from Rongcheng and told Ouyang that he would be there in about 30 minutes.
Thirty minutes later, Ouyang picked up Brother Li and a group of his brothers, about six or seven people, at the entrance of the residential area. They brought tools and drove their work vehicle, while Ouyang drove his BMW, and they all arrived at his villa. The moment they stepped into Ouyang's villa, he quickly closed the gate.
Everyone saw the empty villa, with only a few main beams and load-bearing columns remaining. The rest, my goodness, was practically a ruin. Luckily, one of the elders had set up a protective barrier during their fight, preventing the commotion from spreading beyond his villa and keeping the dust from spreading outwards. Otherwise, it would have been headline news this morning. Thank goodness, these powerful ancestors knew to keep a low profile and protect their privacy, not letting ordinary people know of their existence.
Many of Ouyang's surveillance cameras were broken, and some very valuable furniture and pottery were almost completely lost. The last few elders felt this was a bit too much, so they left some Taoist artifacts as compensation to Ouyang. Ouyang, being a wealthy man, had Brother Li rebuild and renovate the villa according to the blueprints he had previously used to decorate it, restoring it to its original state.
Brother Li's jaw dropped, his mouth agape in utter astonishment, as if he could fit an egg in it. His six or seven brothers behind him stood there, practically frozen, mechanically turning their heads to look at Ouyang. "You've been robbed? Your villa was just renovated, less than six months ago!" Ouyang scratched his head. "Don't even mention it, you guys. How about you redo it? I'll pay." Brother Li suddenly burst into laughter, readily agreeing, "No problem. I'll restore it exactly as it was before, a one-to-one replica, no problem." Brother Li turned to his six or seven brothers and said, "Find all the guys who did the work last time, and restore it within a month."
Did you think everything that happened at Ouyang Bieye today was over? Not at all. A very few of those high-ranking officials, seeing the little mouse in the projection produce a cell phone out of thin air, and the spirit rice and spirit noodles appear out of nowhere, witnessed firsthand the live demonstration of things they had never believed in—the existence of ring spaces, the existence of Taoist masters capable of performing magic. This shocking scene was deeply etched into their minds, making it impossible for them to ignore what they had once dismissed as superstition or legend. They began to reflect on their past blind denial of the unknown, realizing how narrow and one-sided their understanding had been.
From then on, these people underwent a tremendous change in mindset. They no longer easily rejected or denied the mysterious Taoist culture and its supernatural powers, but instead approached the world with reverence and a spirit of exploration.
Those who championed science and opposed so-called Taoist culture have been thoroughly brainwashed this time, their minds emptying all the preconceived notions they had before. Today they finally understand that those high-level families and those ancient monsters that have existed for hundreds of years are real. Today they have witnessed it firsthand.
This was undoubtedly a huge shock to their worldview and values, and it also made them re-examine the beliefs and convictions they had always held. They began to wonder how many unknown mysterious forces and wonders were hidden behind this seemingly ordinary world.
The groups of people who had been following Lao Xiao suddenly withdrew from the hot pot restaurant. Of those groups, at most three remained, still following Lao Xiao.
Old Xiao is still away on a business trip and won't be back for another week or so. As for what Old Xiao has realized, perhaps we'll only know when he returns. In this situation full of unknowns and variables, Old Xiao's movements have become a suspense, making people wonder what changes he will bring to things after his return.