Ye Tiancheng could only rest in the village for now, as it was not yet time to obtain what he desired. He could only make simple repairs.
"Waa ya ya ya, sha sha sha..." Just then, he suddenly heard strange sounds from behind him. He instinctively looked towards the sounds and saw a child running towards him, making odd noises from his mouth. Ye Tiancheng looked at him, finding the boy very strange and inexplicably drawn to him.
The little boy's expression was too comical, as if he were deranged. This child was named Zhang Fengzi, and his father had gone missing in the Ice Pond a long time ago.
Since then, the child had no father and was now very lonely and isolated, appearing almost mad. When this fellow, in his deranged state, appeared before him, Ye Tiancheng felt a pang of sympathy. For some reason, he was reminded of a story, his own childhood. The shared misfortune made Ye Tiancheng pay attention to the child.
"Little friend, what are you shouting about?"
"Are you a ghost? There's a very fierce big ghost, I'm scared, I'm scared..." Hearing this, Ye Tiancheng felt very, very strange. He looked at the child, feeling great pity for him, hoping he could help him.
"This child's father disappeared in the Ice Pond, and he's been alone and helpless ever since." At this moment, someone from the village walked over and stood beside Ye Tiancheng, telling him this. Ye Tiancheng heard this and immediately noticed that the situation was not optimistic. Often, he felt like someone destined to change everything. Everyone rushed about in this world for their own fate, but not everyone received beautiful blessings; most became tragedies.
"What Ice Pond? Let me go and see it." Ye Tiancheng took a deep breath and said to the person. The person smiled faintly, his expression peculiar. It was precisely this peculiar expression that told Ye Tiancheng that some things could be ignored, but some things had to be thought about carefully. No one would risk their life for someone else, because such a danger could lead to the end of life. Living was for enjoying a beautiful life; death meant nothing. Everyone was selfish, no one helped for the sake of another, and no one lived for another. However, seeing the pitiable state of this child, Ye Tiancheng felt a surge of compassion.
"This is a very pitiful child. Even if we consider all possibilities, we should help him," said the Great Green Snake in his sea of consciousness.
"Of course, does that need to be said? To help this child, I must become stronger. Therefore, others also helped me. No matter what, I must accumulate merit for my future."
Ye Tiancheng spoke very seriously, not lying, but speaking with sincerity. Hearing his words, everyone became very excited.
They saw someone who could help this child, so how could they not be excited?
This was the so-called compassion, but he had no idea of the great price it would entail. However, Ye Tiancheng was ready to pay such a price. This price was no longer anything in Ye Tiancheng's mind. This fellow had been greatly disturbed, perhaps by a spiritual impact.
Yes, this was a spiritual impact, the so-called shared misfortune.
"Deep within every lonely soul lies a broken heart. Those who linger in such a heart are destined to suffer different impacts from others," Ye Tiancheng mused inwardly.
But those standing beside him did not feel that he had gained the deepest understanding.
After all, everyone's situation was absolutely different, and the impacts they received were also vastly different, weren't they? Of course not. He, Ye Tiancheng, was completely different from others.
No matter what, he had to seize the time to do what he wanted to do. Whether it mattered or not was irrelevant. The most important thing was that in this situation, maintaining his stance was very difficult, because everyone's mental journey was different, and what they experienced was not necessarily the same as others.
If he were to eventually fall into such a situation, it would naturally make him more mature. But naturally, the price to pay would be considerable, even a price measured in life. And this price was too heavy for Ye Tiancheng, so he did not want to pay anything as a matter of course in this situation.
Because he wanted to live, not to say he wouldn't help the little boy. He lowered himself to look at the boy and asked, "Little friend, don't be sad. Big brother will definitely help you. What's your name?"
"Big brother, my name is Xiao Liuzi." Xiao Liuzi looked at Ye Tiancheng with his innocent eyes, hoping he could help him find his father. Although this hope was very slim, the little boy maintained an optimistic attitude. Looking at Ye Tiancheng's innocent demeanor, Ye Tiancheng could no longer bear it.
Because he didn't want this innocence to turn into wickedness, like himself.
In the eyes of others, he was a living example. Therefore, Ye Tiancheng vowed to find his father.
"To go to the Ice Pond, you must have a ferry. Without a boat, you can't cross to that small island. I think his father went to that small island to look for primroses. Ice grass is in the Ice Pond lake." It was both an Ice Pond and a lake, which made Ye Tiancheng feel that the terrain must be very, very complex.
"Then who is willing to lend me a boat, and who is willing to guide me? I think there must be someone familiar with the waterways."
Hearing Ye Tiancheng's words, the villagers shook their heads, not daring to go to that place. Because everyone knew that anyone who could get close to the Ice Pond had died.
Of course, this was not something that happened now. It was something that happened recently. In the past, villagers could still go to the Ice Pond to fish. Now they couldn't. Not long ago, strange things happened in the Ice Pond. After that, anyone who approached the Ice Pond would die inexplicably. So now, when the villagers talked about the Ice Pond, their faces turned very pale.
He didn't expect Ye Tiancheng to choose this way. The little boy volunteered, saying, "If you're going to that place, please take me with you. I'll definitely show you a path to the island, but only the village chief's house has boats. I don't think he'll lend it to us because I'm poor..."
Hearing about the village chief of Huangjia Village, Ye Tiancheng couldn't help but frown. Because when he came here before, he had also been looked down upon by this village chief. The village chief was named Huang Dabao, and he was a wicked person.
When Ye Tiancheng came here, he was driving a pickup truck. Who drives such a car nowadays? Because such cars had long been obsolete. The only people who drove such cars were foremen on construction sites, because being a foreman was an exploitative job.
Naturally, they would be looked down upon, especially by these rural people. They hated exploitative foremen the most. Therefore, it was natural for the village chief to disdain Ye Tiancheng.
"You can't borrow it from the village chief. He's famously stingy. Even if you give him money, he won't lend you anything because he believes his things can only be cherished by himself. Once they are in someone else's hands, even if you give him money, he'll treat it like a pimp using it. So he won't accept us." The little boy's face was very disappointed because without borrowing a boat, they couldn't go to that place. Ye Tiancheng smiled faintly and patted his head, saying, "Don't worry, even if he's a stingy old man, I'll make him pluck his feathers."
Because when Ye Tiancheng came here, he gave Wang Youcai the skin of the Eight Gangs. Everyone knew that the Eight Gangs was a very difficult monster boss to defeat.
If one person could defeat the Eight Gangs, then they were naturally extraordinary. Therefore, everyone believed his words, thinking that Ye Tiancheng would live up to expectations and borrow a boat from the village chief, who was like Zhou Bapi.
So, everyone headed towards the village chief's house in a grand procession. At this time, the village chief was busy preparing lunch. Because the village chief was the head of the village, what he wanted to eat was naturally different from the villagers. To highlight his unique position, he naturally had to eat differently from others. Although the position of village chief was very small, he put on an air of superiority.
The village chief was named Huang Dabao. He was the boss here. As the saying goes, "Heaven is high and the emperor is far away," he was someone who could make the ground tremble with a stomp. When he saw Ye Tiancheng arriving at his doorstep again, he cursed, "You scoundrel, why are you at my doorstep again? I hate you. Get lost and go as far away as possible."
"Do you know my name is Ye Tiancheng? I like to bully the strong and protect the weak." Ye Tiancheng knew that dealing with a hooligan meant being a hooligan. Arguing with a hooligan would always be a mismatch. Since he wanted to speak unreasonably, he naturally had to fight back. This fellow was so angry that smoke was coming out of his ears when Ye Tiancheng spoke like that.
At this moment, he grabbed a carrying pole and rushed out, swinging it at Ye Tiancheng's head. Because he had practiced martial arts since he was young, this carrying pole, when swung, could split a stone the size of a water vat in half. Therefore, everyone instinctively covered their faces, unwilling to see Ye Tiancheng's head smashed. Although he had brought the skin of the Eight Gangs, they had not personally seen him kill the Eight Gangs. Therefore, in their hearts, there were still doubts. After all, none of them had seen Ye Tiancheng's abilities, but the villagers had personally witnessed Huang Dabao's abilities. Once some thugs,
They also claimed to be martial artists and came to find trouble with Huang Dabao. With a single carrying pole, he had subdued all these thugs. Every one of them had broken leg bones. Since then, no one dared to bother him again.
From then on, peace reigned. Wang Dabao had since become famous in the surrounding villages as a tough character. Whenever disputes occurred among villagers, as long as he intervened, no problem could not be resolved.
But now they saw a different scene: Wang Dabao's hand was raised in the air, holding the carrying pole, but it did not fall on Ye Tiancheng's head. This bizarre scene stunned everyone. They looked closely and found that Huang Dabao seemed to be fixed by a wind-stilling bead.
Just as Huang Dabao's carrying pole was about to strike Ye Tiancheng's head, Ye Tiancheng's silver needles, used for healing and saving people, flashed like lightning and pierced Huang Dabao's acupoints, thus paralyzing him completely.
At this moment, everyone finally understood that Huang Dabao was immobilized because he had been acupoint-struck.
Huang Dabao looked at Ye Tiancheng in shock and asked, "What do you want to do, you brat? Tell me directly."
"Nothing, I just want to borrow something from you. I'll pay you 100 times its value. Don't always be a stingy person; be generous to gain respect from others. So, I'm educating you to grow. Don't be unconvinced. If you're unconvinced, I'll make you convinced. So you have to be convinced whether you're convinced or not." Ye Tiancheng spoke to him in a condescending tone. This fellow naturally had no temper. At this moment, if he dared to lose his temper with Ye Tiancheng, he would surely die. Therefore, he could only choose to submit and serve. In this situation, whether he was convinced or not, he had to be convinced because the strong were respected. In the face of strength, any condition would be useless. So he learned to be obedient.
Seeing his constipated expression, Ye Tiancheng chuckled, completely disdainful. He had seen people like him countless times and was long past caring. Because some people needed to learn to grow to truly understand what it meant to be strong, in the face of strength, anyone could be defeated.
Trying to compete with a truly powerful person was like a moth flying into a flame. Therefore, he could only obediently accept everything Ye Tiancheng said. If he was unconvinced, he would pay an even heavier price. In the face of such a price, he no longer dared to say anything.
Wang Dabao took out the iron-shelled boat from his house and said with a pout, "Don't blame me for not telling you, you'll die if you go there. I felt a powerful killing aura within 300 meters of the shore. For someone like you at the fifth or sixth level of the Golden Core realm, going there is like sending yourself to the slaughter. It's rumored that even people at the peak of the Golden Core realm have died there."
"If I don't go now, when will I?"
Ye Tiancheng's lips curled into a disdainful smile. Seeing his determination to go, the villagers were very worried. Because these villagers were very kind, they didn't want to see a good person like Ye Tiancheng die. In fact, Ye Tiancheng only shared a common past with the little boy. He was not a kind person, because he was also very wicked. Not long ago, he had killed a woman with whom he had been intimate. To put it bluntly, he was sometimes very wicked. Thinking of these things, he felt a sense of shame. A person who knows their own heart.
It could be considered upright and honorable. Some people simply did not understand what wickedness was, only knowing how to constantly take.
But pursuing those detestable things, they had no remorse. Ye Tiancheng had no remorse at all. What he wanted to achieve was just a simple process. When he finally understood why he was despised by the Divine Stone and the Great Green Snake, he finally knew the joy of doing good deeds and the feeling of being loved by others.
Therefore, living in this world, one must do many good deeds to be liked by others. If you often do wicked things, it is an offense against heaven. After much thought, he had to admit that he was a complete scoundrel. Sometimes, being a scoundrel was much better than being a good person, but sometimes being a good person was much better than being a scoundrel. The cycle of heaven did not spare a good person, nor did it spare a bad person, because heaven was ruthless. It did not operate according to human will, but only according to its own preferences.
Ye Tiancheng took the iron-shelled boat and headed towards the Ice Pond a few kilometers away. Halfway there, he encountered Wang Youcai. Wang Youcai was chasing after him, panting. In his hand, he held a red long sword. This long sword was his ancestral evil sword.
The name of this sword was the Scarlet Blood Sword.
"The Scarlet Blood Sword was forged by my ancestors. It is said to have been refined with the blood of a flood dragon, making it very powerful. As a precious sword presented to a hero, I hope you can make the best use of it." Ye Tiancheng was very happy to receive this sword because he needed a suitable weapon. He never expected that as soon as he wanted to sleep, someone would send him a pillow. He had to give this person a thumbs-up. Although he preferred to use small daggers, he was not in a position to choose weapons now. Possessing this Scarlet Blood Sword was better than fighting with his bare fists.
"Then I'll respectfully accept your offer. Thank you for your kindness. I will definitely return alive, because there are still many delicious and useful things, and even more beautiful women who are like my future wives, waiting for me." Ye Tiancheng's words made Wang Youcai laugh. Wang Youcai chuckled and said to him, "You are indeed quite an interesting person. It's not a waste for me to call you a friend."
"What are you talking about? Actually, I am also very wicked. If we become friends, you will have bad luck for eight lifetimes. So, don't be tempted by superficial things. When you truly know that he is an evil person, perhaps you will become his enemy." Ye Tiancheng did not want to conceal his flaws and shortcomings at all. He said very earnestly.
In fact, many things are truly a double-edged sword for human nature. One must grasp this balance. If one crosses the line, it may lead to an abyss of eternal damnation. Whether one is a good person or a bad person, one must not be too carried away.
"Then I'm leaving. You must come back alive. I think when you return alive, I should cook you a good meal." Although Wang Youcai is a man, his culinary skills are excellent. Besides making swords, he also cooks, because he believes that making swords is like making delicacies; it requires careful preparation.