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Chapter 403: Useless Tao Te Ching?

Although there were occasional noises from some sects at this moment, it was no big deal.

The martial artists were not anything special, and there were still groups of four people gambling or playing mahjong in the room, which made the place a bit chaotic. However, because they were martial artists, they were somewhat self-aware and did not make any loud noise.

Zhang Wufeng's crystal power diffused and bounced out, quickly shuttling back and forth, and then found a cliff in the valley dozens of miles behind the Zhenwu Hall.

Here, he actually felt the mechanism inside the cliff. These mechanisms did have a secret passage leading to the bottom of Tianzhu Peak.

Inside this institution, there is a large underground space with many secret cells. In the cells, there are groups of beggars with disheveled hair who look like evil spirits. They are locked in the cells with iron chains all over their bodies.

The weather was quite cold, and their bodies were covered with toad-like sores of various sizes, some of which were even festering and oozing pus, which was very disgusting.

Even though it was just a fragment, when Zhang Wufeng came back to his senses, he couldn't help but feel a little emotional.

These people are indeed living a life worse than death, but it is impossible to determine why they are imprisoned and what their identities are.

When Zhang Wufeng's crystal power swept over, several of them obviously raised their heads slightly to take a look. The cold light in the depths of their cloudy eyes was as if they had seen it with their own eyes, making people shudder!

"Indeed, it is true. However, I cannot judge who are the predecessors of Xingyi School." Zhang Wufeng pondered and decided to find out first.

For the time being, he just went to investigate and understand the situation, and then he would consider releasing all these people. Of course, before that, these crazy people must be treated, otherwise they would only kill innocent people when they go out. After all, many of these people are mentally disturbed!
……

"Buzz! Buzz!"

Jiang He's mind was filled with the sound of mosquitoes and ants flapping their wings, which gradually grew larger and larger, and gradually escalated into a huge roar. He felt as if something was squeezing out of his blood vessels and almost bursting his body. The sounds around him were covered by a soundproof layer, blurring and distorting like electronic equipment, and the patterns in his eyes kept shaking and distorting.

Soon, his skin began to feel cold, and Jiang He could even feel it twitching involuntarily. A kitten came from nowhere and scratched his raised goose bumps with its sharp claws. The itching pain gradually penetrated into his bones through his pores. At this time, Jiang He's hands were tied behind his back. He couldn't scratch or reach anything, so he could only shake his body to relieve the itch.

After a while, his tears and snot began to flow out involuntarily, his whole body was trembling, his limbs were cramping, and the feeling of nausea and vomiting became stronger and stronger. What was even worse was that he smelled a urine smell, and he didn't know when he had lost control of his urination.

Jiang He endured it for less than a quarter of an hour before he could no longer bear it. He said to the tearful middle-aged couple in front of him, "Dad, Mom, I... I... I can't stand it anymore. Quick, bring it over to me..."

"Xiao He, you can't, you can't smoke anymore. Just bear with it a little longer. After you quit, I will buy you whatever you want. Not to mention a sports car, I will even buy you the private jet you've always wanted..." Liu Xujie said while wiping her tears.

Jiang Xiangyang was also in tears, and said with great heartache: "Xiaohe, you are the only son of your parents, and you are the only heir to our Jiang family's huge family business. If you can't give up this harmful thing, sooner or later you will go down a path of no return, and then our Jiang family will be completely finished..."

At this point, Jiang Xiangyang felt a pang of pain in his heart. He blamed himself for being so focused on his career that he didn't have enough time to discipline his only son. Although he had heard about his son's various wasteful behaviors before, he had never paid enough attention to them. Anyway, with the current wealth and speed of making money of their Jiang family, even if his son crashed a sports car every day and took millions of dollars to engage in corruption, it didn't matter, because their Jiang family could afford it.

But...but Jiang Xiangyang never expected that his beloved son not only spent money recklessly every day, but also touched things that he should not have touched without telling them!
By the time the couple found out, their son had already become a senior drug addict. This discovery made Jiang Xiangyang feel remorseful. If he had known this would happen, why would he have worked so hard?

Even if the family business is developed well, even if the Jiang family is rich enough to rival a country, so what?

The only son was actually involved in this evil thing. No matter how big the family business is, there will be no one to carry it on!!! Jiang He felt extremely regretful when he heard what his parents said. Why was he so stupid that he believed what others said and got involved in this deadly thing just to seek for his fortune?
Now his body felt as if thousands of ants were gnawing at his bones, thousands of needles were piercing his heart, thousands of mouths were sucking his blood, thousands of insects were breaking his tendons, and thousands of blades were splitting his skin. Jiang He had never suffered since he was a child. The idea that he had made up his mind to quit was thrown away at this moment. Now his only thought was..., then he wouldn't feel as uncomfortable as he does now...

Based on this idea, Jiang He begged without hesitation, even though he knew it was wrong to continue like this: "Dad, Mom, I feel so uncomfortable now, I really can't stand it anymore, please bring it to me quickly, I beg you, I really can't stand it anymore..."

"Xiao He, if you really can't stand it, then just recite the Tao Te Ching. Didn't the Taoist priest say that this thing works?" Liu Xujie said with red eyes.

"Mom, it's...it's no use."

Jiang He was in so much pain that his lips turned extremely pale. He spoke in a trembling voice, "Yesterday…yesterday I could recite the Tao Te Ching backwards…backwards, but…but it was of no use…at all. I felt…still…so…bad…when I should feel…bad. I guess…what that damn…dead…dead Taoist priest said…was…all…all…lies.”

“Xiao He, we have been quitting drugs for several days, but every time mom and dad couldn’t bear to see you so miserable, so they obeyed you again and again.

But today, Dad has decided that he can't go on like this no matter what, otherwise he will never be able to really quit.

Xiaohe, you have to hold on. If you can't quit, and if you continue like this, then...the consequences..."

Jiang Xiangyang choked up and couldn't continue speaking when he reached this point.

……

Seeing his parents in pain, Jiang He's resolve, which was about to collapse, recovered a little, and he immediately began to recite the Tao Te Ching, which he thought was useless: "The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao. The name that can be named is not the eternal name. Namelessness is the beginning of heaven and earth; name is the mother of all things. So always be without desire in order to observe its wonders; always have desire 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 they are, they are the door to all wonders... Roar, roar, roar..."

"Tao gave birth to one, one gave birth to two, two gave birth to three, and three gave birth to all things. All things carry the yin and embrace the yang, and the rushing qi makes them harmonious... roar, roar, roar..."

"Those who know do not speak, and those who speak do not know. Block its openings, close its doors, blunt its sharpness, resolve its confusion, harmonize its light, and be one with the dust. This is called the mysterious unity. Therefore, one cannot be close to it, nor can one be distant from it; one cannot be profited by it, nor can one be harmed by it; one cannot be respected, nor can one be despised. Therefore, it is respected by the world... roar, roar..."

Every time Jiang He read a paragraph, he would stop and yell a few sentences to kill the physical and psychological pain. Jiang Xiangyang and Liu Xujie were also in agony. As parents, seeing their children in such pain, they also felt the same pain and wished they could take their place. Several times, they wanted to let their son take another breath, but when they thought of the consequences, the couple had to give up the unrealistic idea.

"The way of heaven is to reduce the excess and replenish the deficiency... Roar, roar... It hurts so much, I can't hold on any longer. I really can't hold on any longer." Although Jiang He forced himself to recite the Tao Te Ching for a while, as the attack became more and more serious, his already wavering determination collapsed in an instant. He struggled and shouted, "I can't hold on any longer. Let me go quickly. Please let me go quickly..."

"Xiao He, wuwu, you have to hold on, hold on, once you get through this point it won't be so painful anymore..." Liu Xujie said while crying.

"I...can't bear it anymore. I really...I really can't bear it anymore. Please drive me away..."

As his resolve collapsed, Jiang He's mind began to lose its clarity and he was almost going insane... He would pay any price for this, even death, without hesitation!
"Xiao He, Dad knows you feel uncomfortable, but you really can't touch that thing again. You will die if you continue like that, do you know that? If you die, what should we do? As long as you get through this time, Dad will agree to any request you make..." Jiang Xiangyang gritted his teeth, holding back the heartache and cheering for his son.

"Let me go..." Jiang He couldn't hear anything now. He just kept repeating those words and then struggled desperately.

"Xiao He..." Liu Xujie stepped forward, hugged her struggling son, and then burst into tears.

(End of this chapter)