Chapter 204: Chapter 204: Human Heart
In the early morning, when the sky was just beginning to light up, Wuda, as usual, took down the door plank of the pancake stall.
Actually, he had gotten up at “yinshi”—around 3 to 5 a.m.—and started the process of mixing, kneading, letting the dough rise, shaping the pancakes, heating the pot, and steaming…
By the time the first batch of pancakes was ready, the residents of East Apricot Fang were just heading out to work.
“Big guy, give me two pancakes!”
“Three pancakes for me, two with pickled vegetables, one with fried dough in it.”
“I’ll take five.”
While responding, Wuda skillfully served the pancakes and collected money.
As one basket after another sold out, and with the rising of the sun, all the customers had passed by.
Wuda tidied up the chopping board briefly, then moved a bench to the storefront and sat down. He took out two leftover pancakes for breakfast and nibbled at them slowly.
This man, not yet thirty, already had greying hair and a dark face lined with wrinkles.
His eyes were numb, making him look almost as if he were in his forties or fifties.
This small pancake stall, handed down from his ancestors, once supported a large family.
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Now, only Wuda and his son were left.
His parents had gone back to their hometown to visit relatives years before and encountered an “Evil Wraith,” wiping out the whole village.
His younger brother, Erlang, was conscripted into the military and sent to the North-West Frontier, and there had been no news for three or four years.
Chances were he was gone too.
His wife had died two years ago, pregnant with a three-month-old fetus.
Wuda had wanted to follow her to the grave.
But he couldn’t abandon his two-year-old son and gritted his teeth to carry on.
Year after year.
He didn’t know how much longer he could hold on.
People said that the Wuda family’s pancakes weren’t as fragrant or sweet as before.
Indeed, in the past, it was his wife who kneaded the dough and shaped the pancakes, so naturally, the taste was different.
Life was so hard now.
How fragrant, how sweet could the pancakes he made possibly be?
Having finished the pancakes in his hands, Wuda licked the crumbs from between his fingers clean, drank a couple of sips of water, then stood up, ready to go upstairs to wake his son, who loved to sleep in.
Just at that moment, an old woman in commoner’s attire, with bound feet, came hurrying over from the direction of the street corner.
She ran up to the front of the pancake stall and called out loudly, “Big guy, why are you still here selling pancakes? There’s been a huge disturbance!”
Confused, Wuda asked, “What happened?”
This was Granny Li, the neighbor who had been very close with his parents.
“Heavenly Master’s Mansion…”
Granny Li rubbed her chest, speaking excitedly, “Those people from the Heavenly Master’s Mansion have been arrested, all kneeling by the Stone Lion Statue now, about to be beheaded!”
What?! Wuda’s mind exploded, and his face instantly turned purplish red, “Granny, you’re not joking, are you?”
“Who jokes about such things?”
Granny Li gave him a look, “You better go have a look yourself. That damned Ximen Jin who’s in charge is also kneeling there!”
“Granny, please keep an eye on my stall for me.”
Without a second thought, Wuda dashed toward the direction of the street corner, “I’ll bring you a basket of pancakes later!”
Granny Li stamped her foot, “Oh my!”
She wanted to go see the commotion again, not to watch Wuda’s stall.
But then again, a basket of pancakes seemed more appealing.
Wuda, heedless of everything else, ran out of the long street with unprecedented speed and headed a hundred steps north from the corner.
He soon saw the tall walls of the Guarding Heavenly Master’s Mansion ahead.
And the two imposing, lively stone lion statues at the main gate.
To the left and right of the Guarding Heavenly Master’s Mansion were East Apricot Fang and West Willow Fang, housing thousands of households.
For the past two years, those from the Heavenly Master’s Mansion had been oppressing and exploiting the townspeople.
They brought considerable misery to the neighbors.
Everybody resented them deeply, saying in private that only the Stone Lion Statues at the mansion’s entrance were clean and innocent.
They wished for divine thunder to strike down and kill all those people!
But the neighbors also knew.
This was merely a fantasy, the Heavenly Master was a powerful Immortal Master with great divine powers, even the grand lord of the Prefectural Government had to kneel before him.
They, the commoners, simply couldn’t afford to offend him.
Nobody could have ever anticipated that today, the heavens would truly open their eyes, that evildoers would finally meet their retribution!
By the time Wuda reached the main gate of the Heavenly Master’s residence, people were crowded around the Stone Lion Statue in layers within and without.
“Is it true they were caught?”
“Hahaha, even these beasts have their day!”
“They’ve met their karma!”
“Emperor Heaven above, Emperor Heaven above!”
Wuda was not tall enough to see what was happening inside.
Desperate, he summoned brute strength and forcibly squeezed through the crowded mass of people.
He successfully made his way to the very front.
Then, Wuda caught sight of twenty or thirty of the normally arrogant and domineering stewards and servants of the Heavenly Master’s residence, lined up and kneeling beside the Stone Lion Statue.
One of them was someone he knew all too well!
“Ximen Jin!”
Wuda’s eyes instantly reddened and his blood rushed to his head.
Ignoring the Black-Clothed Imperial Guards who were guarding the entrance of the Heavenly Master’s residence, he clenched his fists and let out a bestial roar.
Then, recklessly, he charged forward, swinging his fists, veins bulging, and pummeled the face of a young man kneeling on the ground.
Two years ago, Wuda’s pregnant wife went to the market to buy vegetables and was accidentally bumped into by this man, who then took her away to his residence.
The next day, her body was returned.
With no avenues for justice, Wuda’s grief and fury festered in his heart, until now, when it found complete release.
As he rushed forward to beat the man, one of the Black-Clothed Imperial Guards wanted to stop him.
But a colleague restrained him.
Everyone just watched as Wuda threw punch after punch, knocking Ximen Jin to the ground, causing him to wail like ghosts and howl like wolves.
Until gradually, there was no sound at all.
Who in the neighborhood didn’t know of the Wu family’s plight? Not a single person stepped forward to intervene, they only felt an unparalleled sense of satisfaction!
Eventually, when Wuda had no more strength left, he covered his blood-soaked face with his fists and sobbed without a sound.
A neighbor with whom he had a good relationship boldly stepped forward and helped the exhausted Wuda to one side.
The Imperial Guards did nothing to interfere.
Immediately after, an Imperial Guard stood on the tier and loudly proclaimed the decree of the new Guarding Heavenly Master.
The onlookers were instantly abuzz!
Only then did everyone realize that it was the justice enacted by the new master of the Guarding Heavenly Master’s residence, taking a stand for the people.
These felons who had tarnished the reputation of the Heavenly Master’s residence would not only be beheaded for all to see but would also have their assets confiscated.
To compensate the victims!
“Good!”
The crowd boiled over.
Waves of cheers, together with the severing of heads, soared straight to the Cloud.
The spilling blood sprayed onto the bluegreen Stone Lion Statue, washing away the dust that lay upon it, making it spotlessly clean.
More and more onlookers gathered in front of the Guarding Heavenly Master’s residence.
Wuda, having regained a bit of strength, was instead squeezed out of the crowd.
“Big brother!”
It was at that moment that he suddenly heard a familiar call.
Wuda whirled around to see a burly man with tears in his eyes, standing a few steps away.
The man’s left sleeve dangled empty, and his right arm cradled Wuda’s young son.
Next to him stood a woman with a beautiful face.
“Erlang!”
Wuda’s vision blurred in an instant, his lips trembled, and his body shook with emotion.
He only heard the other man say, “Jinlian, quickly pay your respects to Big brother!”
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The first update is here.