Chapter 114 The Truth People often cannot see the truth, nor do they care about it…
As Li Chen finished speaking, he opened his arms towards Zeng Shujin.
Zeng Shujin gave a somewhat forced smile, opened his arms as well, and then took a step or two forward to gently pull the person opposite him into his embrace.
As they embraced, Li Chen silently closed his eyes, leaned against Zeng Shujin's neck, inhaled his fragrance, and tightened his arms around him slightly. It was unclear whether he still felt some nostalgia or was preparing to bid farewell to the past completely.
Upon sensing Li Chenjin's movements, Zeng Shujin's own arms tightened involuntarily, holding the person in front of him tightly in his embrace.
As tears welled up in his eyes, he could smell the delicate fragrance of soapberry and medicinal herbs emanating from Li Chenjin's body.
Unlike the somewhat sharp and cold fragrance that Li Xianghuan used to carry, Li Chenjin's scent, just like her, was very gentle and pleasant.
The two embraced for an unknown amount of time. When Li Chenjin's emotions had completely calmed down, he opened his eyes, intending to push the person away, but unexpectedly…
As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Shen Zhengyuan standing not far from them, staring at them expressionlessly.
She didn't know when Shen Zhengyuan arrived or how long he had been standing there. She only saw that Shen Zhengyuan's face was devoid of any emotion, and his eyes were pitch black, like an abyss that could not be seen at all.
He stared coldly in her direction, devoid of any emotion, seemingly indifferent to her actions, yet sending chills down her spine.
What's most alarming is that Shen Zhengyuan wasn't the only one watching her and Zeng Shujin.
Her gaze passed over Shen Zhengyuan and landed on Zeng Shuqing, who was standing not far behind him, equally expressionless, with dark eyes that showed no light whatsoever.
Not far behind Zeng Shuqing, there was Han Shannan, who was completely stunned and holding a sweet rice ball, and Wen Riwan, who was walking side by side with Han Shannan for some reason.
This situation is like a mantis stalking a cicada, unaware of the orioles lurking behind...
So what day is it today?
Was it her unlucky day?
Li Chen quickly pushed the person in front of him away, and then immediately pulled the person behind him.
Shen Zhengyuan and Zeng Shuqing's gazes followed her movements, finally landing on Zeng Shujin, who had been hidden behind her but had immediately stepped forward to stand next to Li Chenjin.
Li Chen glanced at the person beside him, grabbed his arm, and pulled him behind him, saying, "Senior brother, you go to the peace meeting first, I'll be there shortly."
Shen Zhengyuan didn't know if he had heard their conversation; he just stared intently at Zeng Shujin's arm, which was being held by Li Chenjin.
Zeng Shujin naturally noticed Shen Zhengyuan as well. Or rather, he had already noticed Shen Zhengyuan when he felt Li Chenjin push him away and then shield him from her.
His gaze fell on Shen Zhengyuan, and he said with a bitter tone, "I'll help you explain to your Daoist partner."
"No need, Senior Brother," Li Chen said. "He has a bad temper, so it's best if you stay away from him. I'll handle this matter. You should go and attend to your business."
Seeing Li Chenjin's resolute attitude, Zeng Shujin said nothing more, but gave Shen Zhengyuan a deep look before turning and leaving decisively.
After Zeng Shujin left, Li Chenjin took a step towards Shen Zhengyuan's direction.
But Shen Zhengyuan, who had been standing there for a while, did not continue to stand there, nor did he walk towards Li Chenjin. Instead, he waved his hand, created a spiritual gate beside himself, and then, without even glancing at Li Chenjin, stepped directly into the spiritual gate and disappeared.
Li Chenjin: "..."
Good, good, this magic is really amazing. It just left without giving her a chance to explain.
But now things are different. Shen Zhengyuan looks even angrier and colder than when he was angered by her words and ran away at Wufo Temple. It seems there's still a chance to coax him now. Sigh...
Headache……
Just now, while she was focusing all her attention on Shen Zhengyuan, Zeng Shuqing disappeared without her noticing. If she wanted to get any information from Zeng Shuqing later, she would have to find a way to coax Zeng Shuqing as well.
well……
This is even more of a headache...
What on earth is going on here?
Where do people appear, one after another, like candied hawthorns on a stick?
Her luck today is definitely not good, or rather, it's not a good day for her to go out, or rather, it's not a good day for anything...
Just as she was having a headache, Han Shannan and Wen Riwan had already run towards her with sweet fermented rice balls.
As soon as Han Shannan stopped in front of her, he said excitedly, "Li Chenjin! Your eyesight has finally improved! You know you're going to find me a good master's wife. I thought your eyesight would be bad for the rest of your life!"
Li Chenjin clicked his tongue, raised his hand, and slapped Han Shannan's arm hard. Han Shannan yelled and jumped to the side, clutching his arm and rubbing it frantically while shouting, "Li Chenjin, why are you hitting me?! When did you get so strong?! You're going to break my arm!!"
Li Chen said, "If you keep talking nonsense, it won't just be your arm that's broken; your master's wife will tear you apart alive."
Han Shannan rubbed his arm, looked at Li Chenjin strangely, and asked, "Which master's wife? The eldest or the youngest? Can I ask Sect Leader Zeng to be my master's wife?"
Li Chenjin is actually a person who pays a lot of attention to her appearance. She usually doesn't have any problems with her facial expressions in front of people. But even though she is very careful, she couldn't help but roll her eyes at this moment and said, "What do you mean by big or small? You only have one master's wife. Go away and play somewhere else!"
"Then who exactly is my master's wife?" Han Shannan asked.
"Who else could it be but Shen Zhengyuan?" Li Chen asked incredulously. "Do I look to you like someone who's fickle and easily bored?"
"oh……"
Han Shannan curled his lip, looking somewhat disgusted, and said, "Your taste is really bad. If I want to find a Daoist partner in the future, I dare not let you help me with the selection..."
Li Chen was about to say something to Han Shannan, but then he thought about it and realized that what Han Shannan said didn't seem to be wrong.
Given her current state, it's best to leave the matter of finding a suitable partner to Han Shannan's family, lest she make a mistake and harm this foolish young man.
"Alright, let's go to the peace talks. It's almost time."
After Li Chen finished speaking, he turned to leave, but Wen Riwan suddenly asked, "Then why were you hugging Sect Leader Zeng just now? Did Sect Leader Zeng force you too?"
Li Chenjin patiently explained, "No, that's not it. I hit it off with Sect Leader Zeng at first sight, but it's just mutual appreciation between friends. As for what happened just now... well, there's a reason for everything, and it's definitely not what you're thinking. It's impossible for me and Sect Leader Zeng to be together."
Han Shannan, holding the sweet fermented rice balls in his hand, followed behind her and said, "Friends admiring each other even hug? I think Sect Leader Zeng must like you. He can't bear to let you go. Why don't you consider changing your Daoist partner? Isn't Sect Leader Zeng better than that old guy?"
Li Chen turned around and looked at him, saying, "You brat, I advise you to be careful with your words and actions. Your affairs in the demon realm can only rely on Sect Leader Shen. If you offend him, see if he will help you."
"The current peace between the cultivation world and the demon world is only superficial. Even if the demon world has really done nothing, as long as someone with ulterior motives accuses you, given the prejudice most cultivators and ordinary people have against demons, how many people do you think would be willing to stand on the side of your demon world?"
"Moreover, if dirty water is splashed for too long, even the cleanest thing will become dirty. This is the reason why public opinion can be so terrifying. In addition, people often only like to hear bad things about others, using them as gossip. Moreover, most people like to follow the crowd and act according to the opinions of the masses, like lambs following the lead sheep, with almost no ability to distinguish for themselves."
"Once the bad news about your demon realm spreads, everyone will be prejudiced and assume that there must be something wrong with your demon realm. At that point, all the blame will be placed on your demon realm, and who will care whether the demon realm is really as the rumors say, or what it actually is?"
"The distinction between what is considered 'clean' and 'dirty' in this world is simply a matter of which side has the most people standing on it. Therefore, people often cannot see the truth, nor do they care about the truth. Don't think about the idea that 'the innocent are innocent' now."
Han Shannan: "..."
Han Shannan immediately fell silent, his hand gripping the dog leash tightening unconsciously. He clearly began to worry about the demon realm, having completely forgotten about whether or not to change his master's wife, the senior master's wife, or the junior master's wife.
Seeing his pensive expression, Li Chen stopped and gently patted him on the shoulder.
As he looked up at him, he smiled and said, "The cultivation world and the human world are different from your demon world. In these two realms, it's easy to spread rumors, but difficult to refute them; words are like a killing knife, yet many people think it doesn't matter if they say a few bad things, unaware that they are killing people without realizing it. Such people will go to hell in the future."
"Human beings have three karmas and five paths, with the karma of speech being the most serious. The karma of speech includes lying, divisive speech, harsh speech, and frivolous speech (1). That is why the Buddha often said, 'Bodhisattvas should guard their speech and not produce words that slander the Three Jewels or criticize others (2).' You should pay attention to this in the future, lest one day when I am not paying attention, I look back at you and find that you are on the list of sinners in hell."
Han Shannan silently covered his mouth, stared at Li Chenjin for a while, and then said, "Are you trying to scare me on purpose?"
"You can choose not to believe me," Li Chen shrugged. "Anyway, I'm making this clear beforehand: if you accidentally end up in hell, I can't get you out. Even the old monk Mingcun couldn't handle this kind of thing, so you can't expect me to be more capable than that old monk, can you?"
Han Shannan: "..."
Han Shannan: "Oh... then I won't call him 'old thing' anymore..."
Li Chen glanced at him helplessly, but in the end he didn't say anything more. He just waved his hand and said, "Alright, hurry up and go to the peace talks. I don't think today's peace talks will be peaceful either."
"It's hard to say. If this peace meeting doesn't go well, there might be a third one..."
The author's note: (1) From the *Mahaprajnaparamita Sutra*
(2) From the Bodhisattva Precepts of the Brahma Net Sutra
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