Then I will naturally choose the first option.
In the dead of night, two figures rose and fell on the eaves of a wealthy landlord's house.
"Is this what you mean by making money quickly and having no fixed abode—staying up late at night and stealing from this landlord's house?" I asked Ranmo, who was perched on the eaves.
"This is called robbing the rich to help the poor, robbing the rich to help the poor! Do you understand?" Ranmo peeked around, looking curiously.
"No one else can see you, so who are you trying to impress with that shifty look?" I glanced at him sideways.
"I'm just trying to create a nice atmosphere for you..."
"Thank you so much!"
This landlord family was the most ruthless. They not only exploited the poor people under their control, but also colluded with officials to make a fortune for themselves while bullying the poor people, making it difficult for them to even get a full meal.
“Robbing them some grain and silver is already too good for them,” Ranmo said softly.
"Will my constitution, which is subject to divine punishment, be affected by my theft?"
"As long as you distribute the stolen money and grain to those poorer families, you're doing good deeds by robbing the rich to help the poor. How could that have any negative impact?" Ranmo defended me.
"Oh, you're right. Looks like you've done this kind of thing quite a bit before?" I teased him with a smile.
Under the bright moonlight, we lay on the rooftop. His face was completely dark, so I couldn't see his expression. I only knew that he lowered his head and said calmly, "Perhaps."
With the help of Ranmo, we accurately located the underground treasure vault of this wealthy family.
Since it's a treasure vault, it naturally has extraordinary locks. And this Ranmo is truly an all-powerful strategist. Under his instigation, I easily opened it with just a needle.
There were countless gold and silver treasures on display; they were truly rolling in money. It was the first time I had ever seen so much money.
If I had known, I would have carried a large bundle of money with me.
Right now, all I can do is grab a few gold ingots and pieces of silver and stuff them into my pocket, but I think there will be plenty of opportunities in the future, so I'll just have to try again.
With a few silver ingots and a bag of small pieces of silver, I immediately flew to one of my favorite wineries, dropped off a small piece of silver, and filled my gourd with my favorite wine.
He lay back on the branches of a big tree and drank to his heart's content with the ink.
I recalled the days I spent begging with Zhou Lang, how he would always go hungry himself, pretending not to eat anything, and give the food to me.
If I had known this brilliant idea of robbing the rich to help the poor earlier, I wouldn't have had to let Zhou Lang suffer with me.
If only he were here...
I mumbled incoherently, reeking of alcohol, while Ranmo, with his bright white teeth, sat on the treetop opposite me and grinned wickedly.
When I was drunk, I kept imagining him as Zhou Yu.
Thinking of this, I couldn't help but gulp down the wine, my eyes blurry with intoxication as I admired the people on the treetops...
When I woke up the next day, it was already midday and the sun was high in the sky.
I was woken up by the growling of my stomach.
Upon waking, I saw a seven or eight-year-old child dressed in tattered clothes, bent over and earnestly digging for grass roots on the ground. Beside him was a worn-out little bamboo basket filled with some grass roots.
Nearby, a few cows were leisurely grazing, wagging their tails.
Looks like someone's cowherd, instead of tending the cows properly, he's digging at the grass roots on the ground playing.
"Hey, kid? What are you doing?" I asked him in a low voice, curious.
I thought my drinking would scare him so much he'd jump.
Unexpectedly, the child turned around calmly, raised his head, and looked at me with a determination that a child shouldn't have. He asked me bluntly, "Were you calling me?"
I pretended to look around and asked, "Is there anyone else around? Tell me what you're digging?"
To my surprise, the child snapped at me, "Of course it's for eating!" Then he bent down and continued digging for grass roots.
My lips twitched involuntarily. Sure enough, the landlord's family was rolling in money, while the common people could only eat grass roots.
At this moment, Ranmo suddenly floated out, looking at the child with interest, stroking his chin and clicking his tongue: "What a fresh lineage of dragon blood. It seems that the world is about to change hands again."
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"Never heard of the Dragon Bloodline?"
I know this naturally. The Dragon Blood lineage is the blood of the Heavenly Emperor descended to the mortal realm to suppress the chaos caused by demons and monsters and to stabilize the order of the mortal world.
According to Ranmo, this child is a new descendant of dragon blood, born from heaven. It seems that the world is about to change dynasties again.
No wonder, the current emperor is that Prince Shila, but he only has twenty years left to live.
After his death, he might be betrayed by the same evil forces that were there before. If the world is handed over to an emperor who doesn't care about his people, then the dynasty is not far from its downfall.
So I continued to ask the boy, "I'll give you some money, and you can cook my meals and bring them to me every day, okay?"
Wouldn't it be better for someone like me, who's just giving up, to hire someone to cook and deliver meals?
To everyone's surprise, the child paused, his eyes darting around, and asked, "Can you write?"
I was suddenly struck by what he said: "Yes, why?"
"I can cook and deliver meals for you, but you have to teach me to read and write as payment each time," the child said to me with a determined look.
I smiled at Ranmo: "This kid is indeed no ordinary person!"
He shrugged fearlessly, though his hands were stained with ink.
"I've heard that following the dragon vein guarantees a good life. And if you're lucky enough to be promoted to the future emperor, your 'divine punishment' constitution might be lessened!" Ranmo secretly reminded me from the side.
Hearing him say that, I readily agreed, "Okay, deal!"
And so it went, year after year, day after day, through countless springs, summers, autumns, and winters.
All I know is that the half-grown child has unknowingly grown into a half-grown young man.
Until one day, as I was drinking fine wine and getting tipsy, I realized that...
I discovered that this kid hadn't brought me food for ten days or half a month, and he was only filling his stomach with wild fruits from the trees every day.
That's why I finally got up to look for him.
Only then did I realize that the streets outside were filled with displaced people and corpses strewn everywhere.
After searching for a long time, I finally found him, a seven-foot-tall man, kneeling in front of several corpses.
"Hey! What's wrong? Zhu Xiaoba?" Zhu Xiaoba is his nickname.
When he looked up and saw it was me, he pretended to be strong and refused to let the tears welling up in his eyes fall: "My father, my mother, my brother, they all starved to death..."
"Cultivate yourself, manage your family, govern the state, and then you can bring peace to the world! Teacher Ahua, you are wrong about this. I believe that only after bringing peace to the world, governing the state, and managing your family can you be qualified to cultivate yourself!" I saw resentment and anger in his eyes.
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