We agreed that I would be married off to a short-lived general, but why is my husband so powerful?

The two women, aunt and sister-in-law, couldn't help but exchange a glance as they watched the carriage travel in that direction.

Yue Lingshan: Is Batu really a good person?

Wen Rushi: Let's see how things go.

The two communicated with silent eye contact.

Wenru and Yue Lingshan had spent so much time together that they had developed some understanding of each other.

They understood each other through their eyes.

After receiving a look from Wen Rushi, Yue Lingshan exclaimed excitedly, "Thank you, Batu! You're such a good person!"

Batu's ears, hidden beneath his wolf-skin hat, felt slightly hot.

The three of them walked until the afternoon.

They set up camp at the foot of a leeward slope.

This time, there were only three of them, and they only set up two tents.

The three split up and acted separately.

Batuza tent.

Wen Rushi and Yue Lingshan went to collect dried animal dung and red willow branches.

Yue Lingshan had previously fought on the grasslands with her elder brother, so she was more experienced than Wen Rushi, who was entering the grasslands for the first time.

After running a short distance with Wen Rushi, she couldn't wait to say:

"Sister-in-law, do you think Batu really will take us back? I'm a little skeptical."

Wen Rushi turned to look at Batu and said, "What he said is probably true. The road we are on now is indeed heading back."

Yue Lingshan couldn't understand why he would do that.

"For a barbarian like him to say his tribe isn't a good place, does that mean his tribe is a den of wolves to him?"

Thinking this through, Yue Lingshan asked the question after returning to their resting place.

"Batu, what did you mean when you said the Naiman tribe wasn't a good place? Do you know what they're going to do with us if they capture us?"

Batu lit the fire, shook his head, and said, "I don't know why they captured you, but..." He paused, seemingly unsure how to begin, and then said, "They all eat people, especially women and children."

Although Batu's tribe was a small tribe, because it was close to the Great Jin, the people in his tribe, including him, had received some education and were not like those tribes that lived far away from the Great Jin in the depths of the grasslands, eating raw meat and drinking blood.

Batu joined them on their journey to capture people in the Great Jin because he was starving and was pulled into their group along the way.

However, he had only been a member for a short time.

The Naiman tribe is known to eat people, a claim I heard directly from members of their tribe.

Those people from the Naiman tribe spoke with great conviction and detail.

Although I haven't witnessed it with my own eyes, I can't help but feel nauseous every time I hear people talk about cannibalism.

This is why he risked being discovered to take Wen Rushi and the others away.

The people of that tribe also said that their favorite food was the women and children of the Great Jin Dynasty.

He thought that even if the Naiman tribe had other purposes in capturing Yue Lingshan and the other girl, in the end they would probably still end up being eaten.

Wen Ru and Yue Lingshan exchanged a glance.

She believed Batu.

However, those people certainly didn't capture them to eat them.

Wen Rushi had already guessed that it was probably because of her breaking the formation.

This is why she was willing to be captured by them and risk entering the grasslands during this season.

Neither of them asked Batu any further questions.

"You should still send us to the tribe tomorrow! There are only two women among us. The tribe went to great lengths to capture us; they certainly didn't do it for food. What if news of you sending us away gets out...? You've probably seen how ruthless those people are..."

Wen Rushi did not stop Batu earlier because she wanted to test whether Batu really wanted to send them back.

Upon hearing this, Batu scratched his head and said, "Alright then!"

At night, Batu kept watch alone in his tent.

Yue Lingshan and Wen Ru still slept in the same tent.

Yue Lingshan couldn't sleep because she thought about Batu's actions today.

"Sister-in-law, I used to think that all barbarians were like wild beasts, only knowing how to burn, kill, and plunder, and that there wasn't a single good person among them. But after seeing Batu, I realized that even among barbarians, there are good ones."

Wen Rushi closed her eyes and said, "Humans and beasts. Good and bad are not determined by their appearance, but by their hearts."

"Ah! When I think about the barbarians who fought against us and died on the battlefield, some of whom were like Batu, I feel terrible."

"It's just a difference in perspective, and besides..." Wen Rushi paused, "everything in this world is governed by cause and effect; you reap what you sow!"

After hearing that Ru Shi sent away the ghosts on the battlefield by chanting sutras, Yue Lingshan also read some Buddhist scriptures and naturally understood the meaning of the two words "cause and effect".

"More or less!"

"If that's the case, then there's no need to distinguish between good and bad people in this world. What about when we risk our lives to protect our country, even sacrificing our lives? It can't all be due to cause and effect, can it?"

Wen Rushi recalled what she had seen before: "There is a place where wild beasts and birds of prey have to cultivate themselves to shed their animalistic nature in order to become human."

In order to pursue higher spiritual goals, the people there must shed the five poisons of greed, anger, ignorance, pride, and doubt before their souls can be upgraded once again and they can escape the realm of ordinary people.

All living beings in this world, regardless of size, lifespan, or awareness, are fundamentally striving to improve themselves and achieve fulfillment of their essential nature.

If all living beings in the world could understand this principle, there would be no need for people to artificially distinguish between good and bad.

Lao Tzu said, "When the Way is lost, then comes virtue; when virtue is lost, then comes benevolence; when benevolence is lost, then comes righteousness; when righteousness is lost, then comes propriety."

Yue Lingshan was completely confused.

However, she understood one thing. At this moment, she thought Batu was a good person, but perhaps the next moment, he would kill an innocent person in front of her, and then he would become a bad person in her eyes.

Good and bad are impermanent; it all depends on how you look at it.

only.........

"Go to sleep, we have to get up early tomorrow," Wen Rushi interrupted Yue Lingshan's thoughts.

Yue Lingshan opened her mouth, but finally couldn't help asking, "Sister-in-law, do you mean that we've lost our moral compass here, which is why we have morality and talk about good and bad people? How can we restore the society of ancient times, where the world was governed by the Way?"

Wen Rushi never expected Yue Lingshan to suddenly ask her such a question.

She was speechless for a moment.

Lao Tzu said: When the world is governed by the Way, even a warhorse can be used for manure.

When the world is in chaos, warhorses spring up in the suburbs.

But how to restore a lawless world to a lawful one? Perhaps the books have some explanation, but Wen Rushi has not yet discovered that method, and she has no answer for the time being.

Perhaps, if we give her a little more time, she'll figure it out.