From a refugee to a martial artist

Chapter 342 The Difference Between Upper and Lower Classes
The grass is lush and green, and the trees and flowers are abundant.

Meng Yuan hid behind a boulder a hundred paces away, not in a hurry to make a move, but instead frowned and examined it carefully.

There was a high platform on the grass, with two open-air towers on either side, each topped with a person standing on it.

Wooden stakes were erected on a high platform, and Suwen was tied to one of them, with firewood piled up below.

As the two people on the tower spoke, eleven people dressed in fine clothes came up to the platform.

These eleven people were dressed in magnificent clothes, all wearing white feather robes and tall crowns.

Both men and women had long, dark hair that reached down to their knees; it was unclear how long they had been growing it.

Below the stage, there were about a hundred people, all dressed in coarse cloth and barefoot. Their hair varied in length, but the longest only reached past their necks.

Among these hundred or so people, some had feathers stuck in their hair, and they were all white feathers.

As for the two people on the tower, they were draped in colorful feathers and held a jade tablet in their hands, which resembled a scepter.

Meng Yuan could see clearly that those wearing feathered robes were nobles of high rank, while those in coarse clothes and dirty garments were likely slaves.

Moreover, all those in positions of power have long hair, the shortest reaching their hips and the longest already past the bend.

As for the lower-ranking slaves, their hair could not be long; it was mostly just past their necks.

Those slaves wearing feathers on their heads were likely servants of superiors or favored slaves.

Meng Yuan couldn't understand the rules here either, and could only make a rough guess.

The eleven people on the platform, all holding torches, came to the pile of firewood but did not light it, clearly still waiting for orders.

Suwen was bound to the manor, still dressed in black robes, but he did not speak or cry for help. His eyes were lifeless, indicating that he had lost his mind.

It's obvious from the scene that it's some kind of sacrificial ceremony.

Meng Yuan did not rush to save the person, but first carefully examined himself. Seeing that there was nothing wrong, he then explored his vital energy.

However, Meng Yuan discovered that all of these people were very weak, especially the nobles, who, apart from being well-dressed and having long hair, were otherwise quite frail.

The lower-ranking slaves were alright; although I didn't see any of them entering the path of cultivation, they were all quite robust.

The eleven nobles on the platform still held torches, but had not yet lit them.

Meng Yuan simply waited quietly, but then all of them started murmuring again.

At this moment, Mingyue and Suxin also caught up. They waited for a while behind them, and only after Meng Yuan waved his hand to indicate that there was no problem did they follow.

Mingyue stood beside Meng Yuan, one hand on the sword at her waist, watching the scene in front of the platform, not knowing what to say.

“They’re reciting…” Su Xin squeezed herself between Meng Yuan and Ming Yue, shading her eyes with one hand while straining to hear, “It sounds like the Nirvana Sutra. But there are some differences in the text, and they’re reciting it faster, without any serenity.”

The so-called Nirvana Sutra is a classic text of Mahayana Buddhism, which states that all things possess Buddha-nature and can attain liberation. Patience is the cause of Nirvana, and the method of liberation is patience.

However, the Buddhist scriptures these people were reciting had clearly been modified. Although they recited them extremely quickly, Meng Yuan could still make out some of them. It said that Nirvana is characterized by patience, non-envy, non-boasting, non-arrogance, non-sincerity, non-seeking of one's own advantage, non-anger, and non-resentment. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Among those people, the lower-ranking slaves recited with the most enthusiasm, while the upper-ranking nobles dressed in feathered robes were somewhat perfunctory and lacked vigor, as if they were just fooling around.

"Liberation never ends?" Su Xin found it absurd as the lower-ranking slaves below the stage chanted louder and louder. "What kind of nonsense is this? Although Buddhism teaches patience, there are times when even the Vajra is wrathful! Why does this scripture keep telling people to be patient?"

Su Xin put her hands on her hips in anger, "These people want to burn my junior sister, do you expect her to endure this forever?"

She tugged at Meng Yuan's sleeve angrily and said, "Senior Brother Meng, my junior sister wants to return to secular life once she finds Xiangji Kingdom and is no longer bound by the precepts of our Buddhist sect. You have to help my junior sister!"

Is there a causal relationship between the two? Mingyue glanced at Suxin and said, "You and I will stay behind. Meng Feiyuan will go to the rescue alone later."

Su Xin nodded vigorously, and when she looked at Meng Yuan, there was a clear sense of admiration in her eyes, or even a feeling of devotion to one person. "I just don't know where my senior uncle and senior sister went."

The three waited for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before the people finally finished reciting the funeral dirge.

The two people on the tower shouted again, and the eleven nobles on the platform surrounded Suwen, then their torches fell to the ground.

"Who is this demon? Stop him quickly!" Just then, the man in feathered robes on the left tower noticed a streak of light surging towards them from afar.

The streak of light appeared abruptly, swept across the grass with extreme speed, and then rushed into the hundreds of people dressed in plain clothes below the platform.

But the light was too fast and too intense; those cloth-clad people didn't even have time to react before being overturned by the gale-force winds of the light.

In an instant, the audience was thrown into chaos, with no one able to put up a fight.

Then the streak of light rushed up the platform even faster, and the eleven nobles immediately fell to the ground, their torches all blown out.

Without pausing, Meng Yuan first grabbed the feathered figure on the left tower, then, holding the figure's long hair, grabbed the feathered figure on the right tower.

Grabbing the hair of two noblemen with colorful feathers in one hand, Meng Yuan landed on the platform from the tower.

During the collision, Meng Yuan held back his strength and did not kill anyone. Therefore, the people here only suffered minor injuries.

These people had not entered the path of cultivation, so their numbers were useless; Meng Yuan did not unleash his killing spree.

By this time, the lower-ranking slaves below the stage had come to their senses. They had just been thrown about, but now they were standing up unsteadily.

The nobles on the platform were too weak to get up properly and were still lying on the ground.

Moreover, the robes worn by these nobles were too gorgeous and loose, and their hair was very long. At this moment, the feathered garments they were wearing were all tattered. When they tried to get up, they either lacked the strength, or they stepped on other people's robes or trampled on other people's long hair, making it a real mess.

Meng Yuan noticed that whether they were nobles on the stage or slaves below, when they looked at him, they would mostly pay attention to his hair, as if they wanted to judge his status by the length of his hair.

Although these nobles had lost the composure they had displayed while reciting Buddhist scriptures, they showed little fear of Meng Yuan. Instead, their eyes were filled with disgust, disdain, and even revulsion, as if a person who loved cleanliness had been tainted by filth.

However, the slaves below the stage were not like the nobles on the stage. They showed no anger or disdain on their faces. They seemed not to be angry at Meng Yuan's actions of bumping into the crowd. Instead, they were all confused and timid, clearly very afraid, and did not even have the slightest thought of rescuing him.

Meng Yuan was standing on the platform. The two nobles with colorful feathers who had been on the tower were now lying on the ground. Meng Yuan stepped on their hair with one foot.

However, these two had such long hair that they sat up in one go, holding the jade tablet in their hands, extremely angry, but instead of attacking Meng Yuan, they showed endless disgust and contempt.

The slaves below the stage stared wide-eyed at Meng Yuan's trampling of the nobleman's long hair, as if they were witnessing a once-in-a-millennium spectacle.

"How dare you, a lowly person with short hair, touch us descendants of the Rainbow Feathers? How dare you trample on our hair?" The Rainbow Feathers on the left tower was furious, and there was also a hint of disgust in his voice.

What is all this about? Meng Yuan was completely bewildered, as if he himself was so dirty that touching them would make them dirty as well.

Moreover, even though these nobles were suppressed by him alone, they showed little fear. On the contrary, they all seemed disgusted and moved away, as if being with him was something to be repulsed. "Shut up!" Meng Yuan stopped stepping on their hair, kicked the two men he had captured from the tower over, and then simply stomped on their faces.

"I'm not clean anymore!" The colorful-feathered man lay on his back on the ground, his face being trampled by shoes, but he didn't resist. Instead, he started to sob and cry.

Seeing this, another person with colorful feathers lay down on the ground and tried to leave, but Meng Yuan didn't give him a chance and stepped on his face again.

"I am no longer clean!" The winged man also burst into tears.

Meng Yuan withdrew his foot, and the two colorful-feathered people who had just been giving orders on the tower did not get up. Instead, they lay on the ground and wept bitterly, like girls whose virginity had been forcibly taken away.

"..." Meng Yuan had seen his share of grand occasions, but at this moment he even wondered if he had fallen into an illusion.

However, his mind was perfectly clear, and the essence and sparks within his body circulated continuously without any abnormality.

Looking at the nobles and slaves on and off the stage, all the slaves below the stage stood up, half men and half women. No one went up to rescue them; instead, they all stared wide-eyed.

The white-feathered nobles on the stage were scattered all around, each looking disheveled, trying their best to stay away from Meng Yuan, as if afraid of being tainted by his filth.

Meng Yuan suppressed his surprise, swung his knife to scatter the pile of firewood, and then scooped Su Wen into his hand.

When Meng Yuan touched Su Wen's hand, he felt that Su Wen's body was burning hot and limp, as if her bones had been removed.

He gently called out twice in Suwen's ear, but Suwen, though her eyes were wide open, showed no anger and did not answer at all.

Meng Yuan held Su Wen's hand and probed into the jade liquid, but felt that Su Wen was not abnormal, but there seemed to be foreign objects flowing in her flesh and internal organs.

"What's your name?" Meng Yuan put one arm around Su Wen's waist and pointed his sword at the colorful-feathered man on the left tower.

This man with colorful feathers was a middle-aged man, around forty years old. He was not bad-looking, but he was too weak.

Moreover, this physical weakness is due to a long period of pampered living.

When the man with colorful feathers saw Meng Yuan's knife pressed against his neck, the disgust and aversion on his face finally faded, replaced by a hint of fear.

However, the colorful-feathered man did not reply to Meng Yuan's words, but instead looked at a white-feathered woman.

The woman in white had long hair that fell down her back, and she was of average appearance.

The woman in white stood up, her hands tucked into her sleeves. When she saw Meng Yuan staring at her, she couldn't help but frown, her disgust and revulsion impossible to hide.

However, the woman in white feathers didn't speak. Instead, she looked at a coarsely dressed slave below the stage.

The slave was also a woman, dressed in rags, but she was fairly good-looking, with a white feather stuck in her hair.

The coarse-clothed female slave with white feathers in her hair took a breath, looked at Meng Yuan, and said, "You are not worthy to ask about the surname of the superior clan."

"..." Meng Yuan then realized that the colorful-feathered man did not answer his question, but instead ordered the white-feathered woman to do so because the colorful-feathered man felt that he was not worthy to speak to him, so he had the white-feathered woman do it for him.

Moreover, the woman with white feathers seemed to feel that she was not worthy to speak to her, so she made the female slave with white feathers stuck in her hair speak again.

Fortunately, the female slave with the white feather in her hair noticed that her hair was about the same length as Meng Yuan's, so she spoke up.

Meng Yuan felt a bit of a headache. He wanted to talk to this person with colorful feathers, and it was clearly face to face, but he still had to go through the white-feathered nobleman to relay the message, and finally have the slave with white feathers stuck in his hair speak.

"Can't you speak?" Meng Yuan's anger subsided, and he patted the face of the noblewoman with the knife in his hand.

The noblewoman with colorful feathers was already somewhat frightened, but she remained silent, simply holding her hair and looking at the noblewoman with white feathers.

The noblewoman with white feathers still didn't speak to Meng Yuan, but instead muttered something to the female slave with white feathers stuck in her hair below the stage.

The female slave with white feathers in her hair stood below the stage and said to Meng Yuan, "The superior clan must not associate with the inferior clan, nor speak with the inferior clan."

"Am I from a lower clan?" Meng Yuan ignored everyone else and only looked at the Caiyu nobleman lying on the ground.

Noble Lady Ayaka remained silent.

Finally, the message was relayed once, and the female slave with white feathers in her hair below the stage said, "Yes. You have short hair, are dressed in dirty clothes, and behave in a vulgar manner; you are the lowest of the low."

So, the length of hair determines one's social standing? But everyone's hair grows!

Meng Yuan laughed in anger, put his arm around Su Wen, and with a flick of his knife, severed the left hand of the noblewoman with colorful feathers.

"Ah—" The noblewoman with colorful feathers seemed to have never seen a bloody scene before, and immediately screamed in pain.

A scream of agony filled the air, and blood splattered across the stage.

The group of nobles in feathered robes were all horrified, their eyes filled with fear as they looked at Meng Yuan, but their disdain and disgust only increased.

"What's your name?" Meng Yuan turned his attention to the other Rainbow Feather Noble, leaving behind the one with the severed hand.

The nobleman with colorful feathers was also a man, but much younger. His face was deathly pale, and his eyes were filled with fear and dread as he looked at Meng Yuan, but his disdain and disgust remained undiminished.

The colorful-feathered nobleman remained silent, only glancing at the other white-feathered nobleman.

“Answer me yourself.” Seeing that the white-feathered nobleman was about to find a slave to answer for him, just like the noblewoman before, Meng Yuan simply spoke up and stepped on the head of the colorful-feathered nobleman.

Suddenly, the noblewoman with colorful feathers started sobbing again, "I'm not clean anymore!"

The other nobles were terrified, but the slaves below the stage showed no intention of resisting, or even of trying to rescue them.

Moreover, among these slaves, many looked at Meng Yuan with fear in their eyes, but also with pity, as if they were not optimistic about Meng Yuan's future.

Meng Yuan ignored it and pressed down hard with his foot, asking, "What's your name?"

The noblewoman with colorful feathers trembled all over, as if she wanted to speak, yet was unwilling to.

Finally, with no other choice, the colorful-feathered nobleman looked at a white-feathered nobleman and said, "I can't listen."

The white-feathered noblewoman was a middle-aged woman. Upon hearing the words of the colorful-feathered noblewoman, she immediately agreed. Then, looking at the slaves below the stage, she said, "Lowly people cannot hear the name of the superior clan."

Upon hearing this, all the hundred-plus slaves below the stage knelt down and covered their ears tightly.

"Her name is Kiyoko," the noblewoman with colorful feathers finally replied.

Meng Yuan was so angry he laughed again, feeling that of all the things he had encountered on his journey south, today was the most interesting.

(End of this chapter)