The Husky and His White Cat Shizun - Chap 272
The public trial ended in the end.
Even if someone spoke up and defended, the result could not be changed.
Following the trial of the Heavenly Music Parlor’s Divine Scale had been an ancient practice in the Cultivation World for thousands of years. No one could escape, including Mo Weiyu.
After clearing the scene, Mo Ran was escorted to the confessional outside the Heavenly Music Parlor.
He was bound by Dharma artifacts, shrouded by barriers, and guarded by guards. He would kneel here for three days and three nights, receiving ridicule and curses from passersby until the day he had to dig out his Spirit Core.
This was the so-called public announcement.
“Father, Mother, I want to see him.”
In the guest room of the Heavenly Music Parlor, Xue Meng could not sit still. He suddenly stood up but was stopped by Madam Wang.
Madam Wang said, “Don’t go.”
It was rare for her to be so firm, but at this moment, she could not deny it.
“Don’t go to the confessional. Don’t see him.”
“Why?! I just … I just … ”
Madam Wang shook her head.
“At the Life and Death Summit, we can’t even protect ourselves now. How many people are ordering us to disband today? You and your son need to stay calm and not stand out. Once the Life and Death Summit is in trouble, be it Yu Heng or Ran Er, even the last path of retreat will be cut off. ”
Xue Meng was at a loss. “But will there really be people who will fight him and scold him? I don’t know what’s going on with that exquisite chess game and how he could solve it … but … ”
He buried his face in his palms, his voice wet.
“But, he really saved us that day … Why do some people who have not experienced the disaster and did not see the situation that day treat him like this just based on one side of the story?”
Why?
Xue Meng did not understand. He was too pure.
But Madam Wang knew, and so did Xue Zhengyong.
The Heavenly Music Parlor was the most just temple in the Cultivation World. Once something was set, especially after it had been tempered by time and stood tall for thousands of years, very few people would think about why it was just and whether it was wrong. In such a power, even if there was a voice of rebuttal, it would be easily drowned out.
Mo Weiyu was a sinner.
Because he was a sinner, anyone could humiliate him and scold him.
Because they were cursing the sinner and hitting the sinner, whether it was the spit or the fists, it was not violence, not venting, not following the trend, not venting of jealousy, and definitely not the boundless pleasure of a tiger who had fallen from grace.
Instead, he was punishing evil and promoting good.
Everyone should be clapping their hands and cheering. Whoever dared to speak up and beg for mercy would be considered an accomplice. They should be dragged onto the stage, their faces painted, their hair cut off … Bah, they should be devoid of morals, unable to distinguish right from wrong, and fight together.
Xue Meng could not go to the confessional.
….
………………
The confessional platform was not covered. Mo Ran knelt in the misty rain. The fine rain fell on his face. He closed his eyes. The crowd surged. Even the rain could not extinguish this lively scene.
…………………… . These residents of the Upper Cultivation World were not cultivators, so they did not know what had happened before. But they were very curious. They held oil paper umbrellas and looked at the man who was tied up.
During the day, they were far away from the platform, so they could not see Mo Ran’s appearance clearly.
But when the public trial was held on the confessional, these people could come closer to take a look.
A girl whispered in surprise, “When I heard what he did this morning, I thought he was an ugly monster with a green face and fangs. I didn’t expect him to be so good-looking.”
The strong man next to her thoughtfully straightened her cloak and said, “You’re too naive. In this world, there are countless people who are good-looking but have sinister hearts. You must not be fooled by the appearance of this kind of person. ”
There were also parents who came specially with their children.
The father was a teacher in the Upper Cultivation World. He was gentle and refined. He picked up his child so that he could see Mo Ran’s appearance clearly.
“Do you see? You must be a good person in the future. You must not be like this kind of beast. ”
The child was only five or six years old and was not very sensible, so he asked, “Father, what did he do wrong? Why is he kneeling here? ”
“The mistakes he has made are too many to count.” The teacher said sourly, “According to the conclusion of the public trial in Tianyin Pavilion, he killed people, set fire, practiced forbidden techniques, and deceived his identity. This person has no sense of shame or humanity. He is cold-blooded and dark. He is worse than pigs and dogs. When you grow up, you must not be like him. Do you remember? ”
“I remember.”
The father was relieved. Then he heard the child ask him, “But father, do you know him?”
The father was stunned. “Me? … Of course I don’t know him. Your father is the most upright teacher in Qingfeng Academy in the Upper Cultivation World. I have been open and aboveboard all my life. I have made friends with knowledgeable people and decent gentlemen. How would I know this kind of evil? ”
He paused for a moment, as if he felt that he needed to add more fuel to the fire, so he earnestly instructed the child, “Our family is a scholarly family. Since childhood, we have been nurtured with excellent morals. With a person like him, even if we say one more word, we should feel extremely ashamed and dirty. Do you remember? ”
This time, the child did not say that he remembered, nor did he say that he did not.
He asked puzzledly, “But father, since you don’t know him, how do you know that he … he … um …” He tried to imitate his father’s words and tried hard to recall. “He is worse than pigs and dogs. He is cold-blooded and dark. Today is the first day we met him … Doesn’t it take a long time to understand a person? Like me and Xiao Hua next door … ”
The teacher said, “You don’t understand. This is not the same. He is a person who has been convicted. ”
The child looked at Mo Ran with his big eyes. After a while, he said, “But this brother looks so pitiful … He doesn’t look like a bad person. Could the Music Pavilion have judged wrongly?”
“You are too young. That’s why you think that way.” The teacher had always been pedantic. He vetoed his son’s doubts. “When you grow up, you will understand that the Heavenly Music Pavilion has been the fairest place in the world for thousands of years. The temple left by the gods is almost never wrong.”
The child held his finger and stared at Mo Ran. He seemed to understand but did not speak up for Mo Ran anymore.
It was late at night. The crowd gradually thinned and dispersed.
In the middle of the night, the drizzle turned into a heavy rain. There was no one left.
The night passed. At the break of dawn, a hawker who was rushing to the morning market slowly pushed a cart.
The rain was heavy and the wind was strong. The hawker stooped and pushed his worn-out wooden cart. At that moment, Mo Ran was half asleep and half awake. He heard the sound of the cart’s wheels on the limestone road and the hawker’s labored and heavy breathing.
His consciousness drifted. In a trance, he thought that he was still traveling outside.
He opened his eyes slightly. They were out of focus.
But almost reflexively, as he had done every day and every night since he had lost Chu Wan-ning, he instinctively wanted to lend a hand, wanted to help the weary peddler push the cart under the tree, wanted to do something in his power.
But he found that he could not stand up.
After a long time, he remembered that the time to atone for his sins was gone forever.
He was now a convicted criminal of the Heavenly Music Pavilion.
Suddenly, a gust of wind blew. The wind was so strong that the tarpaulin on the hawker’s cart was rolled up. He tried to flatten it, but it was to no avail.
The tarpaulin was blown up, and the pile of goods on the cart was completely drenched by the rain. This poor man, who was tired from running around for a living, anxiously flattened the tarpaulin in the rain.
Mo Ran looked at him.
He felt very sad because he remembered the past where his mother danced on the tip of a knife for a copper coin.
In this world, there were always so many people who had to brave the wind and rain for a mouthful of food while others were sleeping peacefully.
He really wanted to help him.
In this quiet and rainy night, he felt so calm that he could recall many things in the past. He remembered the sentence that he once said to his mother with a smile.
“When I am successful, I will build many, many houses. Everyone will have a place to live. No one will have to starve or freeze anymore.”
Mo Ran did not understand why none of the disciples of the Heavenly Music Pavilion who were standing by went forward to help the hawker.
Clearly, it was just a matter of lifting one’s hand.
But these people stood upright like pine trees, which was the most solemn and dignified style of the Heavenly Music Pavilion. Yet, they did not move. Their bodies were like a rock, and their hearts were probably not much different from a rock.
The hawker huffed and puffed as he chased after the tarpaulin. The tarpaulin was blown all the way to the confessional and in front of Mo Ran.
A skinny hand like the bark of an old tree finally caught hold of it.
Mo Ran heaved a sigh of relief and felt comforted for him.
But the hawker knew that the goods on his cart were damaged. His emotions were extremely bad, but he did not know how to vent. He gripped the tarpaulin, and just as he was feeling distressed, he suddenly felt Mo Ran looking at him.
He turned and glared at him.
Suddenly, he gritted his teeth and spat at Mo Ran’s face. “What are you looking at? What’s there to look at? Even a lowly person like you wants to laugh at me? Damn you! Let’s see how you die! ”
He was not satisfied, but he did not dare to get too close. He picked up a few stones and threw them at Mo Ran.
The young disciples of the Heavenly Music Parlor were used to this.
In private, they would often laugh and say, “Humans, as long as they can distinguish between good and evil, they will hate those felons. It’s okay to hit them a few times.”
They were very considerate of the common people’s feelings.
Hence, they did not stop him.
A few stones hit his face and body, but it did not hurt.
But Mo Ran was trembling slightly.
Seeing him trembling and in pain, the hawker seemed to feel that his bad luck and misery today was nothing. He more or less vented some of the anger in his heart. He dragged his frail body towards the cart, covered it with the tarpaulin, and walked far away.
The night fog was boundless between heaven and earth. The heavy rain washed away the hawker’s thick phlegm and washed away many of the stains.
The rain was getting heavier, and the world was cleaner.
Dawn came.
The cultivators of the Heavenly Music Parlor left the city gate one after another. When they passed by Mo Ran, they either ignored him or looked at him with disdain.
Suddenly, a pair of black boots stopped in front of Mo Ran.
An umbrella fell, blocking the pattering rain.
Mo Ran was sleeping and did not notice.
Until he heard someone arguing.
A gentle and deep voice, but the tone was very insistent. “Cast a barrier to protect him from the rain.”
“Without the orders of the Parlor Master, do not touch the Repentance Platform.”
“It’s just a barrier.”
“Can’t help.”
Mo Ran opened his eyes. In a daze, he saw a tall and straight man — no, not a man, it was Ye Wangxi. Ye Wangxi’s attitude was firm. “The execution day has not arrived yet. You should not treat him like this.”
“What did we do to him?” Someone frowned. “Miss Ye, you have to take responsibility for your words. The Heavenly Music Parlor did things according to the rules. It was the heavens who could not bear to see him and wanted to rain. This is not a punishment we imposed on him.”
Ye Wangxi’s eyes flashed with anger. “Isn’t this a punishment? The whole night! You let him get wet like this for the whole night? If I hadn’t seen it today … ”
Below, people from Bi Tan Manor passed by. It was Zhen Congming and a group of junior brothers.
Hearing the noise, Zhen Congming glanced sideways and sneered. “Aiyo, the leader of Dark City of the Confucian Wind Sect is meddling in other people’s business again?”
“Holding the umbrella for the sinner, haha.”
The surrounding people gathered around and whispered to each other. There were even a few female cultivators who rolled their eyes at Ye Wangxi and whispered to each other.
Unfortunately, their voices were not low.
“I heard that the black-clothed man who stood up for Ye Wangxi at the Confucian Wind Sect was Mo Ran.”
“What? How come I didn’t know … it was actually this evil spirit who helped her? ”
“Mo Ran even killed his godmother who raised him. Why is he so good to Ye Wangxi?”
After a moment of silence, someone opened his eyes wide and covered his mouth with a handkerchief. His expression changed. “Heavens, the two of them can’t be …”
What is it?
They were very smart. No one said anything at this moment. However, their faces were filled with both disgust and excitement. Their irresponsible guesses were too comfortable. It was like a long and intense climax. This climax pervaded the crowd and spread through the misty rain.
They stared at the two people on the stage.
A man and a woman.
Why was a woman willing to help a man who was down and out? Had she slept with him? She had definitely slept with him. She had definitely loved him to death. She had loved him so much in bed, so deeply entwined with him.
So dirty.
Mo Ran raised his eyes and glanced at Ye Wangxi. He wanted to speak, but for the first time, he couldn’t make a sound.
He could only gulp again and then say hoarsely, “Miss Ye …”
“You’re awake?”
Ye Wangxi lowered her head, still looking as gentle and upright as before.
“… You should leave … Don’t stand here. It’s not good for you.”
Ye Wangxi didn’t leave. She had brought a pot of warm water. She leaned over, holding the umbrella while opening the lid of the pot. The umbrella tilted, and most of the rain fell on her body.
“Drink something …”
Someone from the Heavenly Music Parlor immediately came to stop her. “Miss Ye, prisoners are not allowed to eat.”
“Then can the prisoners be hit by stones by bystanders?”
Ye Wangxi didn’t see what happened last night, but there were stones of various sizes scattered around Mo Ran. His forehead and cheeks were also bruised.
She stared at them, and her gaze was a little fierce like Nangong Si.
Gradually, the shadow of an old friend appeared on her.
“Isn’t the Heavenly Music Parlor doing things impartially? Is this what you call fairness? ”
Those people knew that they were in the wrong, so they didn’t say anything more. The leader looked embarrassed and coughed lightly. “Forget about the water, you can’t eat anything else.”
Ye Wangxi fed him some warm water.
Mo Ran whispered, “Why …”
“You helped Ah Si.” Ye Wangxi didn’t look up. “And helped me.”
“… On Jiao Mountain, if the person who died was me, Nangong would have …”
Ye Wangxi’s hand paused for a moment. She was trembling, but she still said in the end, “Everyone wants to live. I won’t blame you just because you want to live. ”
“…”
“Drink,” she said. “Xue Meng can’t come. He’s stopped by his parents. I’m holding the umbrella here. Previously, you risked universal condemnation to help me and Ah Si. Now, even if no one is on your side, I will still help you. ”
Her expression was still indifferent, but it was very determined.
“I’m here.”
She was a woman of her words. She stood beside Mo Ran. The Heavenly Music Parlor didn’t allow her to open the barrier, so she held the umbrella and tilted it slightly, blocking the rain for Mo Ran.
With her standing, there were no more people throwing stones, but the words of discussion became more and more unpleasant.
Demons who were neither men nor women. Beasts who dressed impeccably.
Women who couldn’t distinguish between good and bad. Murderers who had no conscience.
If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext. Moreover, everyone knew that the man kneeling on the ground would never be able to make a comeback, while the woman standing beside him had long fallen from her sect and had no one to rely on.
No matter how unpleasant the words were, who would care about them?
At this moment, Mo Ran suddenly realized that there were so many brave warriors in the world. One after another, they were impassioned, like bamboo shoots sprouting after the rain.
They were so righteous, indignant, and hated evil.
He didn’t know where these people had gone in the past.
The Heavenly Music Parlor’s interrogation was the rarest. Perhaps in ten years, no one would be able to receive this special honor.
Waves of people came and went, returning and returning like the ebb and flow of the tide. Someone said, “This Mo Ran did a lot of good deeds in the past. Now that I think about it, we don’t know what his intentions are. He even stayed overnight in our village. Such a murderous demon, just thinking about it makes me scared.”
“I heard that his mother is that Duan Yihan. Do you guys know?”
“Duan Yihan? The music deity that is hard to find? “Those who heard it were shocked.” Isn’t that girl very nice? I heard that she is talented, gentle, noble, and very kind … ”
Immediately, someone said sarcastically, “You men are really interesting. Duan Yihan is a whore, right? In this day and age, even a whore can be praised as noble and pure. I think this world has really changed. There is no moral standard in this world. ”
The man who was contradicted was unhappy. “Duan Yihan is a musician, not a whore. She has been in the music parlor for so many years, but she has never accepted any guests.”
“You think that she didn’t accept because you are poor. For this kind of woman, as long as you have enough money, there is no such thing as innocence.”
At this time, someone said emotionally, “What’s the difference between a musician and a whore? They are all people who don’t know self-respect and have no sense of shame. In this day and age, there is actually someone who speaks up for a whore. I didn’t expect that in the Upper Realm of Cultivation, morality has fallen to such a low level. ”
The person who spoke was none other than the teacher who came with the child yesterday.
Today, he was not holding his child, but was holding a stack of books. A group of study boys followed behind him. The teacher raised his chin slightly, looking extremely noble.
Someone recognized him and said politely, “Mr. Ma, you left class early today.”
“What is learned on paper is always shallow.” The teacher said, “I left class early today to bring my students here to learn in person and see the world.”
After he finished speaking, he glanced at the young master who spoke up for Duan Yihan and snorted disdainfully, “But I never thought that I would actually be able to hear such a shocking statement. This has truly broadened this Ma’s horizons, and I’m truly worried about the atmosphere in the upper cultivation world.”
“Yes, Mr. Ma is right. You are a model of morality.”
“Mr. Ma is a model teacher and has put in a lot of effort.”
The man who dared to speak up for Duan Yihan was ashamed and angry, but the people around him were laughing at him. His face turned red, but he couldn’t say anything. He flicked his sleeve and left angrily.
When Mo Ran heard these words, he was angry at first, but then he felt powerless.
He couldn’t do anything. He could only listen to his mother who had passed away long ago become disgusted in front of everyone’s mouths.
He could only watch the woman who told him to “remember kindness, don’t take revenge” before she died be chewed up by those black mouths. She was described as a prostitute, a pervert, and a scum who gave birth to a lowly child.
He couldn’t stop them from talking.
Ye Wangxi endured for a long time. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She stepped forward, wanting to argue with the people below the stage.
But Mo Ran called her in a low voice, “Don’t say anymore.”
“…”
“It’s useless.”
Ye Wangxi returned to his side. At this time, the rain had gradually stopped, but she still didn’t put away her umbrella, as if this thin oil-paper umbrella could block anything.
Mo Ran raised his eyes to look at her. After a while, he said in a hoarse voice, “Don’t stand here to accompany me. Miss Ye, if you believe me … then go back to Tianyin Pavilion. Go find Xue Meng, find the people at the peak of life and death … and tell them …”
He calmed down for a while.
At this moment, he didn’t even have the strength to speak.
“Tell them to listen to me. Try … to find Hua Bi’nan as soon as possible … and find my Master …”
At the mention of Chu Wanning, he felt a sharp pain in his heart.
Where was Chu Wanning?
Listening to Shi Mei’s tone, he wouldn’t hurt him. But where would he be taken by Shi Mei? What would he be forced to do?
He couldn’t think too deeply.
“The first Forbidden Technique has really been broken. We have to be on guard.” Mo Ran’s eyelashes fluttered. “… I can’t stop the second attack … but there will definitely be a second attack … please believe me … I don’t have any other intentions. I just hope that everything can stop.”
It can’t go on like this.
I don’t want to repeat the same mistake. I don’t want to see Chu Wanning summon Huai Sha again.
I don’t want to see him mend the vault of heaven on his own again.
