The man in black didn't know what to say for a moment.
Thoughts surged in his heart.
With his experience and perspective, he understood everything.
His gaze slowly lowered. "It’s just a matter of making a bet and accepting the loss. The winner becomes king, the loser a villain. Everyone has something they pursue."
"749... aims to serve the people, to serve the Great Han. Whether it's me or your grandfather, in the end, we were only acting for ourselves."
"Years ago, I wanted to change the status quo. Your grandfather wanted to change it too."
"The difference is, I did it for myself, while your grandfather did it for the Di Family."
"But what’s the same is—once we act for ourselves, we’re bound to offend others.
If we press downward, we clash with the interests of ordinary people."
"And ordinary people are the root. Change must start from the root. What 749 protects is that root..."
"Does that mean we're wrong!?"
"Can’t a person act for themselves!?"
"Isn’t there an old saying—‘If one doesn’t act for oneself, heaven and earth will annihilate them’!?"
Di She fired off three questions in a row.
The man in black responded with a shake of the head and a sigh. "So there's no absolute right or wrong. Does protecting the rights of ordinary people make 749 wrong?"
Di She wanted to argue.
But he didn’t know how.
There was a long silence.
Di She slowly raised his head, his gaze resolute. "There’s nothing wrong with acting for yourself, and nothing wrong with standing for the ordinary people who are the root."
"The problem lies in this world—it looks peaceful, but beneath the surface it's full of undercurrents!"
He wiped away tears with one hand. "The world is like a scale that can never maintain perfect balance."
"One side is Qi Refiners like the Di Family. The other side is ordinary people."
"If I could, I swear—I swear I’d change this world!!!"
The man in black sighed.
A helpless feeling rose in his heart.
At this moment, Di She's thoughts strangely aligned with some of the ideals of the Tianli Sect.
But changing the world—how could it be so easy?
A scale that cannot be balanced: if it tips toward the ordinary people, the Qi Refiners can still survive. They just won't live as comfortably, as freely, as before.
But if it tips toward the Qi Refiners, ordinary people won’t survive.
And ordinary people are the root of Qi Refiners. Without them, where would Qi Refiners come from?
If the world were full of Qi Refiners, in the end, those with low realms and no talent would still become “ordinary people.”
Right now, the world leans toward ordinary people.
So the change he envisions—whether open or hidden—leans toward Qi Refiners.
It’s a road shrouded in darkness, with no clear end. To walk it... is too difficult...
Because the Great Han has already walked the road of changing the world—tilting the scale toward ordinary people.
Be it various evil cults or even Di She now,
What they seek runs completely counter to the mission of 749.
"Uncle Shui, I want to go out and find out—who destroyed the Di Family, can I?"
"Don’t go out. You’re a Di Family member, and they may be looking for you outside. The odds aren’t high, but it’s a risk we can avoid."
"Wait until the heat dies down before going."
Here, no matter what Di She said or did, the man could tolerate it—because he’d promised Di Kongshan to take care of him.
No one would go easy on him.
Especially with his kind of thinking, his preconceived notions would make him hostile toward 749. If he ran into them...
It would all come spilling out.
"Uncle Shui, can’t I even know who my enemy is!?"
Di She got a little worked up.
The man had no choice.
He got up. "I’ll go find out for you. You just stay here and don’t go anywhere."
Di She hesitated, then finally said, "Thank you, Uncle Shui."
"It’s no trouble." The man in black shook his head.
But was it really no trouble?
Di She's situation was bad, and the man's wasn’t any better.
749 wouldn’t tolerate him either.
He turned and swam out of the palace, transforming into a massive, armor-plated, black-headed fish.
This was his true form.
Di She sat up from the bed.
He still felt it wasn’t quite safe.
He wouldn’t go out, but he had to do something...
He formed hand seals and circulated his Qi.
Lu Ding and the others were on their way to Heishui River.
What started as two people was now three.
Originally, Wutian planned to return to Lionheart Temple after investigating the Di Family matter.
But then he ran into Lu Ding.
He had questions. Things he couldn’t figure out.
Everyone knows monks and Daoists tend to be a bit stubborn.
Some more than others.
Wutian and Crooked-Mouth Uncle were definitely on the extreme end.
So Wutian decided to tag along with Lu Ding.
After all, cultivating back at Lionheart Temple would be realm training.
But walking with Lu Ding—that was training for the heart, and for his beliefs.
He wanted to understand—
Why the Buddhist scriptures didn’t seem to match Lu Ding.
Lu Ding didn’t object.
This walking truth-detector? Super handy!!
And so, the three of them arrived at the Heishui River in the Huangjiang region.
Yan Feifan looked at his phone and said, "Lu-ge, outsiders need to buy a pass to get in. Wait here, I’ll go get a few."
The pass was kind of like a specialized debit card for Heishuifang.
Inside, you had to use it for everything—food, shopping, lodging.
When you get one, you load it with money, then swipe it once you're inside.
This is the modern tech era—who still carries around huge wads of cash?
The card made transfers easy,
And could also act as ID. The registration process basically blocked ordinary people from sneaking in.
It also helped prevent high-level fraud.
Even if you used obscure methods to forge some currency, you couldn’t fake data.
This thing was the real deal.
"Amitabha, no need, Benefactor Yan. I have one here. Let’s use mine. I figure you two don’t want to expose your identities, and want to go in quietly."
"The folks here tend to be a bit rude. If they offend you and a fight breaks out, that’d be bad."
All spoken from experience.
See? The little monk proves useful again.
Lu Ding turned to him. "Then I’ll trouble you."
Then asked casually, "You seem familiar—have you clashed with them before?"
How else would he know they have attitude problems?
Wutian’s expression was calm. "This humble monk is a monk, not a bald d**k."
"Hahahahahahahahaha..."
Lu Ding laughed loud and hard.
Must’ve been someone with a foul mouth, and the little monk couldn’t hold back.
They waited by the riverbank.
Heard three long, two short blasts of a steam whistle.
The three boarded the boat.