Chapter 32
As Meng Chuan walked, he watched street vendors peddling their wares. There were also disciples from the Dao Academies talking as they walked side by side.
“Look, it’s Senior Brother Meng.”
“Senior Brother Meng.” The disciples from Mirror Lake Dao Academy immediately greeted him respectfully.
Along the way, what he saw made him smile. He suddenly saw a crippled old man sitting by the side of the road, leisurely watching the pedestrians on the riverside. Beside him was a fishing pole. He smiled and occasionally inhaled on his smoke pipe.
As a brilliant painter, Meng Chuan observed everything with great precision. He could sense the happiness and carefreeness of the crippled old man. “Satisfaction” overflowed from his body despite being severely handicapped—he was missing one arm and a leg.
His disability is so serious, but he can still enjoy life so comfortably? He looks the worst on this street, but he looks the happiest? Meng Chuan walked over curiously.
“Sir,” Meng Chuan walked over and greeted politely.
“Mmm?”
This crippled old man held the smoke pipe in his single hand and looked over. He couldn’t help but be overjoyed. “Isn’t this Young Master Meng Chuan? For you to speak to an old man like me, I have to tell my wife when I get back.” The elder’s smile was very infectious.
“Elder, may I know why you’re so happy? Is there a joyous occasion?”
“Look, the youths are cultivating their martial arts. The adults are living their lives.” The crippled old man pointed at the streets. “I’m happy to see all of this.”
Meng Chuan was slightly stunned.
“Once upon a time at Qinyang Pass, the demons amassed an army and stormed us under the lead of demon monarchs,” said the crippled elder. “Once they charged in, the entire Eastcalm Prefecture and the surrounding areas were reduced to a scorched land. No one survived. At that time, I was serving at Qinyang Pass. From the Godfiends to every soldier… every one of them fought to the death.”
“The Godfiends fought the demon monarchs.”
“We also fended off every demon. Corpses were strewn everywhere, and my companions died one after another. Companions who were chatting and laughing just last night had fallen the next day. As long as they had one last breath, they would drag the demons into an internecine outcome.” The old man’s eyes were slightly moist as he said with a smile, “Our eyes turned red from the killing. When you discover no more demons around you, there are also not many of your companions left around you.”
“We managed to survive until the other Godfiends’ reinforcements arrived, and we finally managed to hold Qinyang Pass.” The crippled elder laughed. “We managed to protect the lives of more than ten million people in Eastcalm Prefecture. That time, out of the soldiers which were originally 20,000-strong, only 1633 soldiers survived. Only two of the five Godfiends who were guarding Qinyang Pass survived.”
“Why did we risk our lives and not escape despite the desperate situation? It’s because we don’t want to be slaughtered; we don’t want our family and children to be slaughtered… We hoped for them to peacefully cultivate, have plenty of alcohol to drink, and brag. We hoped that they would be able to marry and have children in the future…” The crippled old man laughed. “I come out every day to take a look at the people on the streets, and it reminds me of my fallen companions. Their deaths were worth it.”
“I’m very lucky. 20,000 brothers and sisters, but only 1,633 survived. With me surviving, I can eat meat buns, drink alcohol, fish, and even smoke… Haha… How delightful.” The crippled elder laughed.
Meng Chuan listened quietly. The confusion in his heart was gone. Some so-called miserable families were laughable when compared to the elderly man.
Take the Red Rain siblings, for example. Red Rain was a maidservant in a large family and could earn money to support her family. Her father was addicted to gambling, and who could be blamed for the debt he owed? To say that he had been deceived? Ignoring the possibility of him lying to his son, who was to be blamed for not reading the promissory note carefully?
There are all kinds of humans. Some people choose to abandon themselves to vice. Some people remain smiling radiantly even though they are in an abyss. And the vast majority of people… Meng Chuan glanced at the peddlers on the street. They are full of anticipation, busying themselves for their livelihood.
…
After returning home, Meng Chuan ate lunch and went to the study.
He spread open a canvas and began painting.
He had too many things he wanted to paint.
He first drew one of the places in Eastcalm Prefecture…
…
From this day onwards, other than cultivating, he spent the rest of his time painting.
He painted every day.
From summer to autumn, the painting continued for more than four months. As the autumn leaves turned yellow, the painting finally reached completion.
This was a long canvas scroll—25 feet long.
1On the left side of the long scroll was an ancient city—Eastcalm Prefecture City.
The most eye-catching thing was the luxurious Meng family ancestral mansion. Inside, an old woman holding a walking stick stood still. Her entire body radiated a dazzling light, and her aura was terrifying. Next to her were the clan leader, Third Elder, Meng Dajiang, and a large number of clansmen. Meng Chuan drew dozens of people seriously, while the rest of the clansmen were drawn as shadows.
Outside the Meng family ancestral mansion, there was the Black Wolf Gang leader, Liu Chang, who stood there bowing respectfully. Meng Chuan had never seen Liu Chang before. However, Meng Chuan did some caricature, making Liu Chang appear more robust and fiercer. However, in front of the Meng family ancestral mansion, he was extremely respectful and obsequious.
Behind Liu Chang was Zhou He, who was bowing even higher at a deeper angle. Zhou He even gave Liu Chang a fawning smile. His smile was very detailed. Behind Zhou He was the timid Red Rain and Ironborn siblings. The rest of the Eastcalm Prefecture City was filled with many crowds.
Several pitiful women were forced to sell their bodies for their families and were crying as they walked towards Idle Stone Garden. There were also dozens of workers working hard. Among them, there were even those who were crippled and were working with only one hand.
There were also restaurants, teahouses, noodle shops, and other places. There were street vendors and pedestrians along the road. There were gambling addicts and local ruffians… There was also the crippled one-armed man by the side of the river. Beside him was a fishing rod as he smoked a smoke pipe. He chuckled happily as he looked at the streets beside him. He was situated at the rightmost corner of the scroll, taking in the entire painting.
Meng Chuan drew hundreds of Eastcalm City’s commoners in this picture.
The highlight was the Dao Academy.
In the Dao Academy drawn by Meng Chuan, there were children, youths, and teenagers who were cultivating hard. Dean Ge Yu was drinking and giving pointers. The Dao Academy was located on the leftmost side of Eastcalm City, and there was a sun rising beside it. This group of disciples from the Dao Academy represented the rising sun of Eastcalm City—its hope.
However, on the rightmost side of Eastern City.. Outside the city, a group of young men dressed in Dao Academy clothes… left Eastcalm City under the watch of their parents and family for another area.
On the rightmost side of the entire portrait, was a border stained with blood.
There was a Godfiend and demon monarch fighting. The Godfiend was Fairy Meng, and the demon monarch was a snake demon monarch that flew high in the sky.
Along the border, countless soldiers were fighting the demons. Most of the soldiers were drawn simply, but some faces were drawn carefully.
For example, among the soldiers, there was his father—Meng Dajiang—Dean Ge Yu, Clan Leader, Third Elder, Yun Fu’an, Liu Chang, Zhou He… Although these people had different identities in Eastcalm Prefecture City, they had a common identity here—human soldiers fighting demons!
It’s done. After painting the last character—a one-armed warrior stabbing a sword into a demon’s head—the warrior was the crippled old man. His gaze was fixed on the demon, but it was as if he was looking at the leftmost part of the painting—the peaceful Eastcalm City.
The entire painting conveyed the things Meng Chuan wanted to express.
For instance, the Black Wolf Gang’s leader, Liu Chang, was afraid of the Godfiend families, but he made some wealthy merchants fear him.
Zhou He could amass many servants under him with one domineering command, but he had many fears.
Meng Dajiang and the others had a high status, but they had also engaged in a bloody battle at the border for years.
Godfiends were high and mighty. They were the backbone of humanity. They needed to protect the entire human race.
As for the entire painting, there were many ordinary people who were from all walks of life. The women from Idle Stone Garden were just a small selection of countless commoners. Although these ordinary people were weak, they took up the greatest numbers in the painting. They were protected by Godfiends, but they were also the foundation of the human race. Only countless ordinary people over generations could give rise to Godfiends. As a result, the human race never ceased to exist.
The entire painting showed all the different people. Even though he had only drawn the tip of the iceberg of the human race, he still revealed the reason for humanity’s survival.
On the upper right corner of the painting, Meng Chuan wrote two words: “People Resonance”.
People.
There were many people here: Fairy Meng, Meng Dajiang, Third Elder, Liu Chang, Zhou He, the crippled elder, Ge Yu, and so on… The characters were them, and also not them.
I’m done painting. Meng Chuan sat on the chair, feeling extremely satisfied.
He had always liked painting since he was young.
This was because he liked to observe this world. He liked to use his brush to record down what he could see. In the early days, he drew what was on the surface, and they were very vivid. Later on, when he drew Gallant Steed, he could draw the charm of horses. It was as if the horses were alive. Therefore, even those who didn’t appreciate art would still feel shocked when they saw the painting. They were willing to pay a high price to buy it. At that time, he was the best artist in Eastcalm Prefecture.
And today… he had reached another level.
He drew his “heart!”
He drew out the strong emotions in his heart and fused them into the painting. The moment he finished, a great sense of accomplishment and satisfaction filled his heart.
People. Meng Chuan closed his eyes and smiled.
The immense spiritual satisfaction made his head spin.
But he didn’t know something was happening in the area between his eyebrows, within his consciousness.
A blurry human-shaped soul slowly began to coalesce. In the past four months of painting People Resonance, the human-shaped soul had slowly started emitting a spiritual light, causing the human-shaped soul to constantly condense. When the painting was finished, it caused great perfection in his heart. This human-shaped soul was finally able to reach its limits—and with a boom—it completely turned corporeal, revealing its true appearance.
1At this moment, Meng Chuan felt his head spinning.
Following that, he “saw” as though he was cultivating Quintessential Energy inner sight. His consciousness “saw” a vast void between his eyebrows. There was a figure standing in this space. It was himself.