The sun and moon are both wrong; who made him seek the Dharma

Page 29

For the past two years, there have been rumors circulating in the city that the children at the Holy Infant Home have been dying without any apparent reason!

These words immediately made the atmosphere in the teahouse even more heated.

"Yes, yes, I've heard of that too!"

"Good heavens, doesn't that mean..."

"A cannibalistic act!"

These words, like a spark thrown into a frying pan, instantly ignited everyone's emotions.

"You beasts! Those foreigners, wearing the skin of priests, are actually doing cannibalistic things!"

"What about the government? Doesn't the government do anything about it?"

"Tube?"

The man sneered, "The government officials treat foreigners like their own fathers; how dare they interfere?"

The crowd erupted in another round of gritted teeth and curses.

Until someone suddenly asked:

"I wonder how those adopted children are doing?"

The teahouse fell silent for a brief moment.

"With such a big incident last night, what will happen to those kids?"

An elderly man with white hair sighed, his cloudy eyes filled with worry.

"Don't worry."

A traveling doctor at the next table, carrying a medicine chest, interjected with a confident tone:

"Although the fire was large last night, none of the children were injured or killed."

I heard that someone braved the flames and rushed in to rescue people.

Everyone was astonished.

"The fire was so big last night, how did you manage to rush in and save people?"

"Yes, my cousin said he didn't see any children being carried out from beginning to end!"

The itinerant doctor shook his head:

"I don't know about that."

However, this morning, all the children appeared at the entrance of Father Xu's church in the west of the city.

"Father Xu?"

"It's that Han Chinese priest surnamed Xu. He's usually very kind and charitable, and he's adopted a lot of orphans."

"What about the people who saved the child?"

"I don't know."

The doctor spread his hands, "They didn't leave their names or appearances. Father Xu doesn't know who saved them either."

It seems they had only heard of Father Xu's good reputation; they simply put the child down and left.

A collective sigh of emotion rose once again in the teahouse.

"Doing good deeds anonymously is truly an ancient tradition!"

"This is a true hero!"

After all, with the government completely ignoring these orphans,

Handing it over to another church is the best course of action.

At least the priest was a Han Chinese whom they knew well.

Everyone raised their glasses, using tea instead of wine, to toast the unknown hero from afar.

Meanwhile, the "true hero of ancient traditions" they were talking about was sitting by the window on the second floor of the teahouse, cracking melon seeds and listening to the discussions downstairs with nothing to do.

"Senior brother, did you hear that?"

Gao Haoguang crossed his arms, leaned back in his chair, and said in a low voice:

They're talking about you.

"Just say it."

Xia Chuan gave a mumbled reply, then picked up the teapot and poured himself a cup of tea.

"It's not like it's the first time I've been praised."

Gao Haoguang rolled his eyes speechlessly.

Although I've long been used to my senior's behavior, I still can't help but want to complain every time I see his "taken-for-granted" face.

Bai Xiaoxiao, sitting opposite, covered her mouth and chuckled.

"But senior brother,"

Gao Haoguang snapped out of his thoughts and looked through the window at the slightly dilapidated church across the street.

In the church courtyard, the rescued children were sitting in small groups on the steps.

Father Xu moved among them, working up a sweat.

"Won't it cause Father Xu a lot of trouble if we just leave the children in like this?"

Gao Haoguang's voice carried a hint of worry:

"Will they run out of money and other resources over there?"

Xia Chuan waved his hand, interrupting his junior brother's rambling:

"You don't need to worry about that."

He held up a thick finger:

"Firstly, Father Xu's family is quite wealthy, and when I left, I left all the silver and banknotes I had on my person on his table."

Gao Haoguang was taken aback: "All of them?"

"all."

Xia Chuan nodded, his tone casual as if he had only lost a few coins.

“I also left him a note saying that if he didn’t have enough money, he could come to me for more anytime.”

When did you leave this letter? How come I didn't know?

"You slept like a log last night, what could you possibly know?"

Xia Chuan glanced at him with disdain, then changed the subject:

"Besides, your senior brother has saved up some money over the years by traveling all over the country."

He paused, a malicious smile creeping onto his lips:

"If all else fails, we can ask your senior brother Huang Erguo for it."

Gao Haoguang nodded blankly, but couldn't help sighing inwardly.

I wonder what sins Sanzhen suffered to end up with this demonic senior brother.

Xia Chuan nodded, his voice somewhat low: "Secondly, it's because..."

There weren't actually that many kids.

"Forty-six infants, twenty-one toddlers under three years old, and fifteen children between three and seven years old..."

All in all, there are only about eighty.

More than eighty.

This number instantly silenced Gao Haoguang.

The Holy Infant Nursery in the east of the city has been open for almost twenty years.

Every year, at least a thousand children are sent there.

Twenty years, that's more than 20,000 children.

They were only able to save these eighty-odd people.

Gao Haoguang dared not think any further.

It's always like this.

Too late again.

Gao Haoguang turned his head blankly, looking at the bustling street outside the window, at the people chatting and laughing, completely oblivious to everything.

They talked about the "strange news" of the previous night, about the "cannibalistic foreign devils," their tone filled with curious excitement and a sense of detachment.

Gao Haoguang felt completely out of place amidst the hustle and bustle.

He was like someone standing outside a glass dome, able to see and hear everything, yet unable to touch anything.

The inexplicable emotion clenching in his chest made him feel suffocated.

"Senior brother,"

His voice was a little hoarse, and his gaze remained fixed on the view outside the window.

"Does what we're doing... really make sense?"

"We saved these eighty-odd people, but what about those who were saved before? What about those who were already dead?"

"We're always one step too late...we're always too late..."

The voice grew softer and softer until it almost became a murmur.

To Gao Haoguang's surprise, Xia Chuan acted almost without hesitation.

He nodded, his tone firm and composed:

"It makes sense."