There's something wrong with me

Chapter 238 Enlightenment! Manifestation of Cause and Effect!

"It's not that I'm overthinking it."

The thief's eyes held a knowing smile, and he hadn't been dismissed by Zhang Feng's words today.

“Grandpa, you always say we’ll get together every fifty years, but there has to be a time limit.”

Whether it's one day, three hundred days, or any month...

He looked at Zhang Feng, mustered his courage, and asked the question he hadn't dared to ask for days.
"Since it's an invitation, your dear friend shouldn't make you wait here for a whole year."

This is impolite.

As far as I know, the disciples of the Xuan Yun Sect not only value righteousness, but also etiquette.

"Old man...your argument doesn't make sense, does it?"

"What?" Zhang Feng stood up, leaning against the wall. "You don't believe me?"

"How dare I?" The thief heard Zhang Feng sound a little angry, as if he was annoyed at being suspected, but he believed him a little more.

But then he remembered that Zhang Feng was a very good actor.

Since he figured the matter was already out in the open, he pressed on with another question:
"I dare to ask you about this matter today, sir, because I am curious."

There is neither moon nor sun. Are we really going to wait here forever?

"Isn't there some agreed-upon date, or somewhere in town, to meet?"

"A place?" Zhang Feng glanced around the courtyard. "If there really was a place, everything would have changed in the last fifty years."

Before the great thief could say anything more, Zhang Feng continued:
"Don't worry, since I need you, I won't treat you badly."

And as you know, my days are numbered, and I am waiting for my dear friend to extend my life.

This matter concerns my own life and death; how could I risk my life to amuse you?

Zhang Feng threw out his last bait: his own life.

A normal person would never risk their own life to joke around with outsiders.

At least within basic logic, the thief believed these words.

'Since your friend is looking for you, even if you don't have a place to go, you still need some direction...'

However, the master thief also wanted to get to the bottom of things and ask questions thoroughly.

But when faced with Zhang Feng's calm gaze...

The thief hesitated again.

As a smart man with high emotional and intellectual intelligence, he knew that asking this kind of question would basically strain the relationship.

In his view, things are far from reaching the point of completely tearing off the mask of civility.

Zhang Feng, in particular, is still using rhetoric and empty promises.

This can be considered a form of psychological comfort to him.

Some smart people fall for this.

Even though it feels impossible, I still hold onto hope.

This is because all other methods have failed, and now we can only rely on the illusions offered by others.

Then, with a bit of personal expectation added, it was finally able to keep going.

These clever people are indeed clever, but it is precisely because they are too clever that they overthink things.

Of course, if a better solution were to emerge now, such a person would simply walk away without hesitation.

Brotherhood and romantic love have no hold on them whatsoever.

After spending several days with this master thief, Zhang Feng had thoroughly grasped his basic thought process.

Basically, they drag things out, set traps, and keep giving him hope until he has no better options.

It's a very basic deception based on human nature.

And so it is again in this kind of 'pie in the sky'.

The thief went back to his house to sleep, and instead of spying on Zhang Feng, he fell asleep with a complex mix of anticipation and nervousness.

This is how most people feel when they've been tricked.

However, it is more of a causal application.

Zhang Feng is now using him, testing him, and secretly learning his training methods.

Furthermore, if necessary, having a powerful thief with nearly 90 stats as a bodyguard can prevent certain incidents from happening in the early stages.

It can be considered a multi-pronged approach.

However, the master thief was unaware that he had been completely deceived and confused.

This kind of confusion is even more pronounced than that of those who sell courses online.

The teachers who sell courses only scratch the surface, trying to catch a lot of small fish but not big ones. At most, they cast a wide net with their sales pitch, looking for people who don't understand and want to "fit in".

It teaches things like how to make money, life philosophy, zodiac signs, how to judge people, things, and girlfriends, and how to start a business.

It's all about matching the numbers.

If someone truly had that ability, they would have mastered the entire industry long ago; they wouldn't be selling courses online.

This is very basic logic.

But Zhang Feng's claim about the notorious thief is no longer a mere fabrication.

On the contrary, Zhang Feng identified the other party's fundamental needs through detailed analysis, as well as various psychological and behavioral logics.

Under this operation.

It won't affect people's mood anymore.

Instead, it plays a manipulative role in disrupting cause and effect, causing things to become upside down and leading people into a permanent mental maze.

This is Zhang Feng's latest idea of ​​'reversing cause and effect'.

To put it more mysteriously, the great thief was "reversed cause and effect" by Zhang Feng.

Honestly, people like this don't even know what they're doing or what they're doing anymore; they're just constantly influenced by the people around them.

Even when influenced, he understands what he is doing, knows the final outcome, and strives for the desired result.

But if you dig deeper, you'll find that this person is actually confused, bewildered, and has a blank mind about the 'future'.

Feeling lost about the future means not having a sense of purpose in life.

As long as there is no result, he will remain trapped in Zhang Feng's mental maze of reversing cause and effect, striving for Zhang Feng's result.

This is also what Zhang Feng was thinking about—not being 'enlightened'.

Even if Zhang Feng directly admits a few days later that his cake drawing was just a random sketch, he will still believe in himself because of the fruit he drew before.

But this is not cause and effect, but rather a sunk cost that ordinary people cannot avoid; it is human nature.

In layman's terms, it means they were set up.

It's very common in general business, personal relationships, and business partnerships.

This kind of predicament is also very easy to resolve. One is to have a firm mind and get to the bottom of things, then the predicament will naturally be resolved, and one's mind will be clear.

Secondly, don't follow anyone or get involved in any schemes from the beginning. As long as you feel there's no problem and you're not involved in any crimes, then set up your own scheme.

What Zhang Feng is doing now is organizing his own events.

Furthermore, in a normal society, if a master thief cannot kill himself, he can only be tricked by himself after paying money and effort.

If it's replaced with a contract stating it's a partnership, then it's just working for free.

Especially after the scam is over, with sunk costs already in place, a few sweet words can easily win him over, and he'll still foolishly follow you around.

Add one more trick of procrastination, and you can literally kill a person's youthful spirit.

High-level thinking, when it comes to low-level thinking, is absolute domination.

Furthermore, among strangers who don't know each other, if someone with a higher level of thinking befriends someone with a lower level of thinking, there must be something they want in return.

They might be trying to be a good teacher, showing off and asking the other person for emotional support, or they might be after the other person's body, or they might be after the other person's money, or all three.

Zhang Feng may not have a complete understanding of human emotions and desires, but he does know these things and that humans are essentially animals.

Ultimately, humans are still animals.

Then, high-level thinking is like a lion in the forest, and low-level thinking is like a rabbit.

If a lion suddenly befriends a rabbit when they don't know each other, it's most likely not a good thing.

The only good thing is that the lion is very famous, and there are good people in human nature who can teach him and give him advice, so the rabbit might be able to learn something from the lion.

But it was all for naught; the rabbit would jump into almost every pit it was supposed to jump into.

People need to be taught by experience; grand principles are useless.

Just like today, the initial thief was a lion, looking for himself, the rabbit, wanting to kill him and steal his treasure.

But now he has turned the tables and become the lion, using his financial and human resources.

This involves a fundamental game of human nature, the shift in positions between the two sides, and the addition of yesterday's insights and today's transformation.

After everything that has happened these past few days.

Zhang Fengcai gradually came to understand human nature, saw through its essence, found the basic logic, and gained a lot of experience.

I don't want to use my wits; it's too much trouble.

Fortunately, with this moment of enlightenment, his Nascent Soul cultivation level increased by 3%.

Zhang Feng was quite happy.

It can be considered a further completion of the seven emotions and six desires, an extra gain.

This gain, including the wisdom gained, is also a lesson in life.

Zhang Feng used to kill and run around recklessly, but now, thinking back carefully, he realized that in the past few hundred years, he had never experienced the most basic human scheming and intrigue.

Logically speaking, backstabbing and intrigue are the first real-life experiences.

The earliest trial world was the post-apocalyptic world, which was the best arena for intellectual battles.

But I played it safe and developed my strength for more than a day until I became invincible before I came out of the mountains and overwhelmed the monsters.

In the world that followed, people only began to engage in most interpersonal interactions after they had achieved a state of invincibility.

Zhang Feng himself didn't care about these power struggles, so he inadvertently overlooked them.

It makes one's whole life imperfect.

I realized that I was just like the master thief; I seemed to have gotten the order wrong, gotten lost in a mental maze, and made things turn upside down.

Fortunately, I achieved the result, which is 3% progress towards the Nascent Soul stage.

……

For the next two days, the thief didn't ask any more questions.

More often than not, while Zhang Feng was decocting the medicine, he would chat about all sorts of interesting anecdotes from all over the world.

Interesting tales are nothing more than stories of gods descending upon certain places or ghosts appearing.

Most of them are just folk tales, nothing interesting to hear.

Zhang Feng was more focused on the thief himself, feeling that he had fooled him again.

We'll stay safe for as long as we can.

The longer it drags on, the stronger I become.

Once your physical constitution reaches level 30, you can try to repair your brain, begin to seriously condense your spiritual thoughts, and then achieve rapid foundation building.

This can also be considered as a theoretical practice from the past few days.

Zhang Feng estimated that it would take about five more days.

Five days later, my physical fitness level will jump from the expected 30 to at least 60.

Then slowly raise it upwards.

The reason why he only reached 60, which is lower than his previous starting points, is due to the limitations of his aging body.

In the past, at the start of a game, 60 points would only be a matter of minutes.

But now, even if one has reached the peak of Foundation Establishment, the lack of telomeres, the prevalence of illness, and the need to rapidly increase strength while the life force is rapidly diminishing pose a significant problem.

It is a complete reversal of the current, no less than the initial act of defying the heavens by borrowing lifespan. However, as long as one's foundation is fully established, although one's physique is not high, one's strength will increase by tens or even hundreds of times from the normal foundation-building combat power of 60.

At that time, it will appear to be 60 cm tall, but it will not be as tall as the nearly 90 cm tall thief.

But Zhang Feng could take down a whole bunch of big thieves.

Even if a hundred come, I can wipe them all out with one slap.

That will be the day I finally get to hold my head high.

Now, Zhang Feng was silently brewing medicine while listening to the bandit's nonsense.

I just listened and listened.

The thief, who had been telling stories of wandering ghosts in a village, suddenly changed the subject.
“Grandpa, I went to Qianlintang in town to buy medicine today and saw a century-old ginseng there.”

He spoke with a smile in his eyes.

"Although this herb is not in the prescription you gave me, it looks extraordinary to me. Its roots and stems are plump, so it should be a miraculous herb."

"What do you mean?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Feng turned his gaze from the casserole dish to the smiling thief.
"Should we steal it or buy it?"

"That shopkeeper knows his stuff," the thief chuckled. "This ginseng is priced at a thousand taels."

One ounce is enough for an ordinary family to live frugally for a year.

This thousand taels of silver could buy enough food for a family of three for a thousand years.

"If this ginseng is truly a miraculous medicine as you say, then the price isn't too high." After hearing the bandit's explanation, Zhang Feng felt that the calculation was correct and didn't think the price of the ginseng was exaggerated.

Because the thief said to save money by eating frugally.

Furthermore, Zhang Feng also knew how prices were calculated in this world.

In terms of the conversion between gold, silver, and copper, it was similar to that in normal ancient times, one tael of gold was equivalent to ten taels of silver.

One tael of silver is worth a thousand coins.

The normal wage for a laborer is about 500 coins per month.

A pound of pork costs five coins.

Unlike the Ming Dynasty and the martial arts world I had lived in before, where a meal cost several hundred coins or a few taels of silver.

In the spiritual world of Lingchao, a relatively peaceful world, the differences in goods and wages between different places are not too great.

Furthermore, with the coordination of the Ministry of Revenue and relevant departments such as the local finance bureaus, prices have remained relatively stable.

But even a thousand taels is a large sum.

If we can convert it, pork costs five coins, but in reality it costs about ten dollars.

One tael of silver, one thousand coins, which is two thousand coins.

A thousand taels is two million.

Zhang Feng calculated it, and he was shocked when he did. He also felt that this ginseng was really outrageous. How could it be so expensive?

A normal person's salary is only five hundred coins, or one thousand yuan.

But if we're talking about robbery?
Zhang Feng glanced at the notorious thief, noticing his enthusiastic expression. Was he trying to drag him into this mess?

Could it foster a bond of life and death through shared crimes?

"Aren't you afraid that my best friend will find out?" Zhang Feng looked at him. "Then he will not only despise me, but also hold me accountable for this matter."

"No, no." The thief laughed loudly, "Old man, when night falls, you and I will go to Qianlin Hall, take the things, and kill the man."

If you don't speak up and I don't say anything, who will know?

As he said this, he habitually lowered his voice again and said, "I've been buying medicine for you these past few days, and I've also met that 'Manager Li' a few times."

He had no talisman on him, so he probably didn't know any expert.

Even if he were someone we knew, he doesn't possess any magical talismans. Even if we killed him, as long as we acted cleanly, no one would be able to trace it.

As he spoke, in order to persuade Zhang Feng to agree and to bring Zhang Feng to his side, he concluded by expressing his loyalty:
"Old man, I've been scouting and investigating these past few days, all for your sake!"

Seeing that the old man's health is deteriorating day by day, I have resorted to this desperate measure, hoping to find something to prolong his life.

The master thief's face was full of "I'm doing this for your own good," truly embodying "loyalty and courage."

Zhang Feng was speechless. He hadn't expected that this scoundrel wouldn't even test him, but instead would drag him into the water.

This is actually a good thing; it proves that he still believes in me, which is why he wants to win me over.

But people are indeed variable, and their nature is unchangeable.

In less than a few days, the notorious thief began to reveal his evil nature and was about to commit his old evil deeds.

"It's not that I can't buy it," Zhang Feng thought, though he didn't really want to, but he was also really interested in that ginseng, as it could accelerate his cultivation process.
"I've been here for a few days, and I've heard you mention Manager Li. He's a master of both medical ethics and skill."

Such a highly respected person is from this town…

Zhang Feng wanted to say, "He is the benefactor of this town," but fearing that his unintentional words might subtly remind the thief, he changed it to,

"Good people."

At this point, Zhang Feng slowly stood up again, "I have known some medical skills since I was a child, so I can take advantage of my dear friend's visit to go to Qianlintang to take charge and earn some money."

There are many wealthy families in this town.

Zhang Feng knew all this because the great thief talked about them every day.

So, besides the fact that the big thief wanted to kill them, he could also treat a few rich people and then he would have money.

If you can walk the right path, then walk the right path.

Zhang Feng was also very upset about this, wondering why the person who possessed ginseng was a kind person.

If someone is utterly wicked, then killing and robbing becomes perfectly legitimate and incredibly satisfying.

"Stand overseeing?" The bandit glanced at Zhang Feng a few times, but didn't say anything. He simply cupped his hands slightly and said, "In that case, I will follow the old man's orders."

After saying that, the thief felt that he had made a fool of himself and had been met with a cold shoulder, so he left the kitchen and went back to his room to sleep.

"You old geezer, I'm trying to save you out of kindness, but I'm afraid you'll die young and leave me empty-handed."

And you're just sitting there, sitting there? I'll go to hell!

The thief was seething with anger and didn't want to say anything more to Zhang Feng, even while covered by the blanket.

……

The next day.

morning.

Zhang Feng got up early and felt pretty good.

After a few days of recuperation, apart from some serious illnesses that are difficult to cure and a life expectancy of only 'one month', my physical condition is now almost the same as that of a young person.

The notorious thief, still furious, followed.

When we arrived at the main street...

This was Zhang Feng's first time venturing out and seeing the towns and cities of this world with his own eyes.

Overall, just like the bustling ancient times depicted on TV, it was a lively place with a constant flow of traffic, pedestrians, and vendors hawking their wares on both sides.

"Osmanthus cake!"

Every now and then, vendors carrying loads on shoulder poles would weave through the crowds on the street.

Zhang Feng glanced at it a few times, but wasn't hungry, so he continued walking.

Just now.

"Mom, I want to eat that!"

A seven or eight-year-old girl ran excitedly toward the osmanthus cake as soon as she saw it.

At that very moment, a chivalrous knight-errant was riding a tall horse, chatting with his friend who was also riding a horse, and was unaware of what was happening.

"Law~"

At the same time, the girl ran past the horse, her quick figure and the scent of her mother's rouge startling the horse.

Ta-ta-ta—

The horse raised its front hooves, then suddenly reared up, about to lose control and trample the pedestrians around it.

"Watch out!" Upon seeing this, the bandit suddenly stepped forward and grabbed the rope with one hand to press down the horse, while pushing aside two pedestrians with the other. He then gently embraced the frightened girl in his arms.

In just a few seconds, a scene that was clearly about to get out of control was stopped.

Seeing everyone around him staring at him in surprise, including the old man Zhang Feng, the thief put the girl down and looked at the two mounted knights, saying:

"Be more careful when you walk around town from now on."

"Yes……"

"Thank you senior..."

The two swordsmen quickly dismounted, clasped their hands in greeting, and were amazed by the bandit's strength and skill, realizing that he was a master!

If given the chance, they would like to befriend this chivalrous hero.

"Great!" The surrounding pedestrians suddenly applauded, their eyes filled with envy and admiration.

"Thank you, my savior..." The mother, seeing that her child was alright, also thanked her daughter, whose face was full of guilt.

The thief gave a slight hum in response, then looked at Zhang Feng who was walking towards him.

As Zhang Feng approached the notorious thief, he listened to the applause around him and whispered, "You actually do good deeds?"

"what?"

Upon hearing this, the thief realized that the old man was truly ill! And quite seriously ill at that!

But I saw that there were many people around.

Despite his displeasure, he ultimately chose to lower his voice and say irritably:
Who says good people must do good deeds? And who says bad people can't do good deeds?

Besides, aren't good and bad, right and wrong, all defined by the laws of the Ling Dynasty? What does it have to do with you and me?

After finishing his sentence, the thief shook his head and continued walking towards Qianlin Hall.

Zhang Feng glanced at the chivalrous man and his mother who had turned to thank the thief, as well as the passersby who were admiring the thief's retreating figure.

Human beings' mental stagnation led Zhang Feng to ask a very stupid question.

This was also part of Zhang Feng's plan for the "great villain" thief, who was manipulating people's hearts and minds, and had not realized it for a while.

But at this moment, Zhang Feng was enlightened by the words of the great thief.

Perhaps I misjudged him?

Was the master thief actually a good person?
But the way he initially seemed intent on killing me didn't seem fake.

Or perhaps, there is no such thing as good or bad people in the world?

Even if you use some of the things they did to prove it, it only proves that he was a certain kind of person in the 'past'?
But people live in the 'present', not the past.

Is it a variable in the future?

Zhang Feng pondered, his thoughts lost in the greatest chaotic maze among the three elements of 'past, present, and future'.

However, amidst this chaotic set of variables, the Divine Transformation Realm suddenly surged by 7%.

The thief falls into a mental dilemma because of Zhang Feng's scheme, while Zhang Feng breaks through his own mental maze because of the thief's actions. It is a two-way causal variable.

Or rather, this is a complete variable causality.

Interwoven within this narrative are elements of good and evil, chaos, and the reversal of cause and effect, forming an ineffable coincidence, much like the grand scheme of Yama, the King of Hell, spanning fourteen hundred years.

In this very strange state.

Zhang Feng felt as if his eyes were 'blind', unable to see the colors 'black and white', but he could see 'green aura' and 'blood aura' rising above the heads of many people.

Zhang Feng vaguely sensed that "Qing" represented both past good deeds and a person's present life's fortune.

Blood is the evil committed in the past, and it is also the calamity to come.

Zhang Feng suddenly attained enlightenment, realizing the variables within good and evil. Combining this with past causes and effects, he ultimately manifested the 'cause and effect' rune.

It doesn't require a certain level of attainment to unlock, but rather requires 'enlightenment'.

In a more fantastical sense, these runes that observe good and evil are manifestations of some of the rules of the 'Eye of Heaven'.

This time, Zhang Feng didn't just understand; he grasped the essence of Tao.

(End of this chapter)