Chapter 373 - A Senior Brother’s Wisdom

Chapter 373: Chapter 373 - A Senior Brother’s Wisdom

Liu Meng suggested visiting the official responsible for the border district before they traveled farther into the kingdom.

He oversaw the roads and settlements nearest their entry point and would be more likely than anyone else to have received recent reports.

Su Bai agreed. The places he had marked were possibilities drawn from a map. A conversation with someone who knew what had actually happened there could save them considerable time.

The carriage continued along the main road.

They passed several villages where people were still working in the fields or carrying the day’s produce home.

Nothing about the activity seemed unusual.

Su Bai watched through the window while his spiritual sense passed over the nearby roads, but he found little to justify stopping.

A man guided a laden cart past a stretch of damaged paving. Two children followed behind him and pushed whenever a wheel caught. Farther away, a woman called someone back to collect a basket he had forgotten.

The scenes reminded Su Bai of his previous life.

The work was different, but he recognized the need to finish one more task before allowing the day to end.

Even the children seemed to understand which burdens belonged to them.

Across from him, Liu Meng had been quiet for some time.

She looked out at the people they passed with an attention that went beyond checking for danger. When a child stumbled beside a field and hurried to catch up with his mother, her fingers tightened slightly against her sleeve.

Su Bai glanced at her.

Returning home could stir things that remained quiet inside a sect.

Cultivators were warned about lingering in the mortal world because their strength made interference easy, while the consequences could outlast the moment that moved them to act.

These were the people of Liu Meng’s homeland. Returning after everything she had experienced would hardly leave her untouched.

They approached another farming settlement as the sun lowered over the fields.

A woman worked with a child secured to her back. Three older children helped nearby, though the youngest of those seemed to spend as much time watching the others as doing anything useful.

Liu Meng sighed.

"What is it?" Su Bai asked.

She turned toward him, then looked back at the field.

"Senior Brother, why do people who have so little often have so many children?"

Su Bai followed her gaze.

The mother paused to adjust the child on her back. One of the older children brought her something, and she said a few words that made him grin before returning to his task.

He did not answer immediately. It was easy to count the mouths a family had to feed from the comfort of a carriage. Understanding what those children meant to the people raising them required more thought.

Su Bai watched the family for a while before finally speaking.

"Sometimes," Su Bai said, "having a family is the only luxury they believe they can afford."

Liu Meng considered that answer.

"But raising children requires so much."

"It does. They may also need help with the work, or hope that someone will care for them when they grow old." He watched the woman return to her task. "People do not always make decisions about their families by counting what they possess. Sometimes they simply want someone to come home to."

Liu Meng’s eyes remained on the field until the carriage carried it behind them. Xiao Ran had stopped examining the map and was listening as well.

"When I was little, I wanted everyone in the kingdom to have enough," Liu Meng said. "I thought that if I could get rid of poverty, people would no longer have to live like that."

Su Bai looked at her.

The ambition suited the girl who had quietly made him piles of pills because she believed they would help him. He could imagine a much younger Liu Meng deciding that the suffering around her was a problem she ought to solve.

"Do you think it is possible?" she asked. "Would everyone be equal then?"

"If everyone suddenly became wealthy, there would still be people with more and people with less," he replied. "What people considered poor would change. That does not mean helping them accomplishes nothing."

She looked back at him.

"A family that no longer fears the next meal has gained something real," Su Bai continued. "They may still be poorer than their neighbors. They can still feed their children."

Liu Meng lowered her gaze toward her hands.

"What if everyone received the same amount?"

"For how long?"

She hesitated.

Su Bai smiled gently.

"Some would use it well. Some would lose it. Some would find a way to take what belonged to someone else. Giving everyone the same things once would not keep their lives the same afterward."

"Then there would always be someone who needed help."

"Probably. That is a reason to keep thinking about how to help them."

The carriage rolled over a shallow rut.

Xiao Ran steadied the map case, and Liu Meng remained quiet while considering his answer.

Her childhood ambition had sounded simple when she first spoke of it. The people outside the window had lives that no single generous act could arrange for them.

After a while, she gave a small sigh.

"Cultivation makes some things easier. At least we do not have to take from others just to survive."

Su Bai looked at her until she began to suspect she had overlooked something.

"Have you forgotten Fallen-Star Sanctuary already?"

Liu Meng’s expression changed.

He lightly tapped her forehead.

"And cultivators are hardly the people who should boast that we take nothing."

She raised a hand to the place he had touched.

"Senior Brother?"

"We draw Qi from the world to strengthen ourselves and extend our lives," Su Bai said. "We use what Heaven provides to live beyond the span we were born with. That is why some people call cultivation stealing from the heavens."

Liu Meng listened without looking away.

Outside, Han Yuelin had brought his sword closer to the carriage. Qin Baoshan drifted alongside him, and Ji Ruyue slowed enough to remain within hearing.

Su Bai glanced through the window toward the darkening sky.

"Heaven gives every living thing its time. Cultivation is how we ask for more, and learn to take it when no answer comes."

He let his gaze return to the fields.

"What matters is what you do with the years you gain. You cannot decide every life you pass, Meng. But you can choose what you are willing to do when you see something wrong."

She had been trying to reconcile the people outside with the life she had chosen.

He could see it in the questions she asked and the way her attention kept returning to their work. He hoped she would find an answer that allowed her to care without feeling that she must hold the entire kingdom in her hands.

That’s when a muffled sound came from beside the carriage.

Su Bai turned.

Qin Baoshan had lowered himself onto a broad stone at the roadside. Han Yuelin descended nearby, his earlier expression replaced by deep concentration. Ji Ruyue remained still for a moment before landing a little farther away and closing her eyes.

Across the seat, Liu Meng’s hand had fallen from her forehead.

Her breathing settled into a measured rhythm.

Xiao Ran looked toward Su Bai as though she wanted to speak, but whatever she had been about to say gave way to the same inward attention.

Su Bai stared at them.

He had been trying to answer a question.

Apparently, everyone else had found something more useful in the conversation.

He signaled the driver to stop. The carriage eased to the side of the road, and the staff quieted as they understood what was happening.

Su Bai stepped down and checked the fields and nearby paths before spreading his spiritual sense farther out.

There was no immediate danger.

He returned to a position where he could watch both the carriage and the three cultivating beside the road. Their circulation had begun responding to insights he could not follow merely by listening to his own words.

For a moment, he wished someone would explain something to him so helpfully.

Then Qin Baoshan’s aura shifted. Su Bai set his idle thoughts aside and kept watch, making certain nobody disturbed their breakthroughs.