The road is right under your feet

Chapter 295 I'm Sorry, I Lied to You

Bai Xing was still frightened. He put away the enlightenment stone, walked out of the house, and heard the sound of someone reading aloud in the distance.

"The Tao that can be spoken of is not the eternal Tao; the name that can be named is not the eternal name. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and earth; the named is the mother of all things. So, always be in the nothingness in order to observe its wonders; always be in the existence in order to observe its boundaries. These two things come from the same source but have different names; both are called mysterious, and the more mysterious, the more mysterious they are; they are the door to all wonders..."

Yun Anle was reading the Book of Songs with his head shaking.

Bai Xing immediately recognized that this was a famous Taoist scripture from ancient Earth, created by Lao Tzu.

Cuizhu and Meixiang each led their people and hurriedly moved between the halls. When they saw Baixing, they immediately bowed and saluted.

Bai Xing nodded and walked straight towards Yun Anle who was sitting in the pavilion.

When Yun Anle saw Bai Xing, his eyes lit up, and he stopped chanting. He said happily, "Master, when are we leaving the palace?"

Bai Xing instructed yesterday that we should take a day off tomorrow to rest and pack up.

Yun Anle no longer went to the martial arts training ground to train, but was ordered by Qiqi to recite the Tao Te Ching.

Early in the morning, Yun Anle, with a wrinkled face, recited the obscure article with great difficulty. He even ran to the small pavilion closest to Bai Xing and looked at it quietly while reciting.

Bai Xing sat down beside him and poured himself a cup of tea. "We will leave the palace after breakfast. Have you packed everything?"

Yun Anle's eyes were bright, and he nodded wildly, "Okay, okay." Then he frowned, "Master, Lele doesn't have anything to pack, and Sister Cuizhu and Sister Meixiang have already packed it for me. I still want to go to the martial arts training ground."

As he spoke, Yun Anle stood up and gestured a few times, "I want...hoho...haha..."

"Master, I am full of strength now, I want to become stronger!"

Yun Anle's eyes were bright and sparkling, filled with longing for the future and an inexplicable stubbornness.

Bai Xing was distracted for a moment, and the corners of his mouth curved up, "Want to learn?"

"Yeah, I think so!"

Yun Anle's voice was loud and clear, as if he was swearing some kind of oath. He walked forward and grabbed the corner of Bai Xing's clothes... and acted coquettishly.

Bai Xing couldn't help laughing. He glanced at the corner of his clothes, his eyes softened, and he reached out and slapped him rudely.

"Ow—"

Yun Anle felt pain and subconsciously let go of his hand to cover his forehead, looking aggrieved.

Bai Xing was not soft-hearted and just said, "Now is not the time. When you have integrated all the meridians in your body and opened up all the acupoints, then come and find me as your master."

"In the early stage of the Body Refining Realm." Bai Xing shook his head, "The progress is too slow."

Yun Anle's face was squeezed into a ball, and he looked quite distressed. He lowered his head and said, "I know, Master. Lele will work hard."

Bai Xing smiled and nodded, reaching out to touch his head, "Come on, Master believes you can do it."

"But, Master, refining that... is so uncomfortable..."

Yun Anle muttered something, no one knew what he was thinking about, and his body couldn't help but tremble.

Bai Xing hesitated for a moment, then said seriously, "An Le, this road is destined to be accompanied by pain and endless struggle. It's not too late for you to regret now. Your master will let you live a peaceful life, without having to bow down for a bowl of rice or fight with others."

Yun Anle raised his head abruptly, his eyes showing panic, and he tiptoed anxiously, "Master...Master, Lele is not uncomfortable, Lele is not afraid, Master, please don't abandon me, Lele...Lele will practice hard, Lele don't leave Master."

Yun Anle's eyes were almost pleading, his hands were trembling, and he wanted to stretch out his hands but stopped.

Bai Xing fell silent. Yun Anle became even more panicked. He rushed forward and hugged Bai Xing regardless of anything else, burying his head in his chest. His eyes darkened and he became more and more crazy.

Bai Xing felt the slightly trembling body in his arms and the almost inaudible sobbing, and sighed softly.

He reached out and touched his little head, and sighed, "Anle, do you know why your teacher wants to take this path?"

Yun Anle didn't look up or say anything. He just kept burrowing into Bai Xing's arms like a cow, holding on to him tightly with both hands.

"As a teacher, I cultivate the Tao in order to protect the people around me, so that they can grow up safely and healthily, and live a life without worries.

I don't have much background, so I have to fight for what I want. But you are different, you have a master. So, Anle, just grow up happily, get married and have children, experience all kinds of flavors in the world, see all the prosperity in the world, and live up to your youth and make the most of your life."

Yun Anle blinked, and a drop of hot tear fell without warning. Then, teardrops as big as beans fell down, wetting Bai Xing's clothes.

"Master, Master, Master, why are you so kind to me?"

Bai Xing paused, and patted his shoulder from time to time, "An Le, you have to know that many times you don't need a reason to be nice to someone."

Yun Anle grabbed Bai Xing's clothes tightly and said, "My parents don't want me, only you want me."

A simple sentence that said nothing, yet said everything.

Bai Xing's men did not stop, but remained silent.

"I'm sorry, Master, I lied to you. Ever since I can remember, I have lived a life of displacement. We were chased all the way here from a faraway place. My father died to save me and my mother.

My mother disappeared shortly after that, leaving only this. Later, I was afraid that my mother would not be able to find me when she came back, so I kept waiting in Meihua Town."

Yun Anle's eyes dimmed as he stepped away from Bai Xing, holding something in his hand with only half of a chain exposed.

"But she never came back. She doesn't want me anymore..."

"My real name is Anle, Yan Anle. My mother said she hoped I would be safe, happy and successful in my life. But she left me forever."

Yun Anle stared at the thing in his hand absentmindedly, eager yet restrained.

Shirahoshi took a look and saw that it was an exquisite necklace. The chain was iris-colored and the pendant was a slightly lighter color. The material was unknown, but it didn't look like a common item.

Even he, a grown man, couldn't help but praise how beautiful it was when he saw it.

"I'm sorry, Master. I have been lying to you all along. My mother taught me to read and write. I was born with sharp five senses and a good memory, so I learned faster.

Therefore, the old gentleman liked me very much, but it was not because I liked reading, but because doing so could please the old gentleman, and when he was happy, he would give me something to eat.

I'm sorry, Master. I know I've disappointed you. I... I just want to live. I want to find my mother. I want to ask her why she doesn't want me anymore and who killed my father."

Bai Xing felt very uncomfortable, not because Yun Anle had been lying to him from the beginning to the end, but because of everything he had been through.

In fact, there were signs of all this long ago. Yun Anle's life with this huge span of identities can be said to be seamless, and he didn't even need a transition in between.

Moreover, he knows etiquette and it seems like he has learned the rules naturally without any guidance.

Haven't eaten pork, haven't seen a pig run yet?

This sentence is embodied in Yun Anle.