Great, we're doomed now!

But you grew by absorbing the host's life energy. If your initial size was only '1', now it's '100'.

"!"

The scarecrow finally realized what Ye Shou was planning to do.

"Could it be... that you've been deliberately letting me grow up like this these past few days?!"

"if not?"

Bobo sighed, then smiled, half-sarcastically and half-helplessly, "Do you know how hard it is to pretend to be an idiot?"

"..."

Ye Shou and Abuder glanced at him simultaneously:

Was he pretending to be stupid these past few days? I had no idea!

"Don't do that... I, I've never done anything bad, no, I will never do anything bad again!"

The scarecrow clasped its hands together; if it were a human, it would probably be weeping bitterly.

"Please spare me this time! I swear I will never appear before you again!"

"..."

"Anyway, Joseph wasn't hurt, so please have some mercy and do me a favor. I have a family too, sob sob sob..."

These words did not move Ye Shou in the slightest; he wore a smile, but his eyes remained icy.

"Just pray that your main body can react quickly, but judging from the sluggishness of long-range operation and the speed at which I swing my sword... I can only say that the outlook is not very optimistic."

"Hey! Let's...let's make peace!"

"[A Prosperous Nation]!"

Clang!

The flaming sword was drawn out and then inserted again.

"Hooray hooray hooray!!!"

"Eee ...

Unmoved, he continued to wield the flaming sword!

Chapter 142 Watch me stab you right through!

"Ouch... My chin feels so rough, and I can hear a 'crackling' sound when I move it. What happened while I was unconscious?"

The next day, the group of four chartered a boat. Qiao Er would touch her chin from time to time, as if she could still feel the phantom pain, but in reality, it had already been cured by Ye Shou.

"I didn't do anything, I just pulled that bastard out of your body and gave him a good beating."

"Really, Ye Shou?" Er Qiao licked his back teeth with his tongue. For some reason, he felt various discomforts in his mouth today.

"But I feel uncomfortable, like I have dentures."

"It's probably just your imagination, or maybe the enemy's clone is messing with your nervous system."

"From what you've told me, that substitute is a pure spiritual entity. Although the method of stabbing it out with a sword sounds a bit horrifying, it's a last resort, and I can understand it."

There's no other reason for you to use violence against me, and you've certainly taken good care of this old man's body, haven't you?"

“Of course, we were very gentle from beginning to end, just like a massage therapist.” Ye Shou nodded.

"Hmm...that's true!" Er Qiao laughed heartily.

Avdol and Polnareff turned their heads away with dark faces:

Thinking about it carefully, Ye Shou's punch back then seemed completely unnecessary except for venting his anger... But since it has been healed, there's no need to tell the person involved anymore, right?

"Ahem!" Bobo coughed lightly, pointing to the river and deliberately changing the subject, "Abudul, you're very familiar with India, right? Is this that holy river?"

"Yes, although I am Egyptian, I lived in India for a long time, so it's not an exaggeration to say that this is my second home."

Abuder gazed at the wide river, his pupils reflecting the rippling water, revealing a deep sense of reminiscence.

"The Ganges, which the people here call the Holy River, seems to me like a mother to this country, encompassing all the births, old age, sickness, and death, the filth and grime, the glory and shame, the joy and sorrow of this land."

And no matter what it becomes, it continues to meet people's needs, regardless of wealth, status, gender, or profession, treating everyone equally... There is no gentler river than this.

Many Indians may never leave their village in their entire lives, but they have a strong belief that they must make a pilgrimage to the Ganges.

I have seen hundreds of thousands of people bathe in the river here, men, women, and children alike washing their bodies in the murky water. I have also seen livestock and humans drinking from the same spot, women washing clothes, children playing... Countless people pass through here, perhaps leaving something behind, perhaps taking something away, but ultimately they all return here.

"Back here?" Bobo asked, puzzled.

"It's like a cycle of reincarnation."

Abudar said, “The rich have funerals filled with flowers, while the poor can’t even afford the wood for cremation, but whether it’s ashes or a whole or decomposed body, it will eventually return to nature in the Ganges.”

“Reincarnation…” Ye Shou smiled. “Abudel, do you believe in this kind of worldview?”

"Because I haven't experienced it myself, I can't say for sure. If I had to say something, I don't believe it."

"Oh?" Ye Shou turned his head in surprise. "You're a fortune teller, yet you don't believe in this?"

"It's not so much that I don't believe it, but rather that I disagree with it."

If everything is explained as 'karmic retribution,' then it's merely seeking a rational excuse for one's actions, leading to the conclusion that 'what we're doing now is completely meaningless'—ultimately nothing but nihilism.

Abudel and Ye Shou exchanged a glance:

He had a feeling that Ye Shou should be able to understand what he was saying.

Although he and Joseph are close friends, and he has been getting along very well with Popovich these days, to be honest, there are some things that are hard to find common ground between an American old man and a French playboy.

But Abudel felt that Ye Shou was different!

"Is Mr. Ye Shou very interested in this worldview of reincarnation?"

"Yes, to be precise, I believe in reincarnation."

Ye Shou leaned his head back against the barrier, his gaze peering out from the top edge and landing on the surging surface of the Ganges River.

"I also believe in the Olympian gods, the Last Judgment in the Bible, love and justice can overcome evil, and I believe that Ash will definitely win the championship... This world is like an infinitely multi-box, and no one knows what's inside."

Ye Shou smiled slightly: "Therefore, I never think about such complicated philosophies of life. For me, grasping the 'present' is more important than anything else."

He looked relaxed, but there seemed to be some hidden worry, which was concerning—Avdol frowned slightly.

He thought this might be the reason why Ye Shou had seen "fate." Could it be that the future of this world is not optimistic?

"...I still don't quite understand."

Just then, Bobo saw a swollen "flesh sac" floating on the river. His face turned ashen and he covered his mouth: "I'm an informed person, but this is really beyond my comprehension. Of course, I know that no matter how a person is dealt with after death, it's all the same in the end, whether buried in the ground or scattered in the river... But isn't this too casual?"

"casual?"

"Generally speaking, shouldn't the bodies of family members be treated with respect? At least while they are still visible, we don't want them to be treated casually, let alone stained with dirt."

Bobo gestured with his hand: "I've seen plenty of people scatter ashes at sea, but it's rare to see them thrown into the toilet!"

It might get mixed with other people's excrement!

"Of course, I didn't mean to insult India's sacred river!"

“I understand, I understand. You don’t need to be nervous. In times like this, I’m an Egyptian, and I won’t get angry like an Indian just because you point out the facts.”

Abdel didn't care and laughed, "You have to understand Polnareff... they don't have the time to think about these things."

"You... um."

Bobo was about to speak immediately, but then realized something and shut his mouth, his expression becoming serious.

As Abuder said, people living in this environment have no time to think about life, nor the strength to fight for anything.

"It's strange... Incredibly, I don't feel angry at all when I hear these things."

Polnareff moved away from the ship's railing, sat down on the inside, and turned to look at Ye Shou: "You've been very calm since you boarded the ship."

"In India, it is important to maintain a peaceful state of mind."

Ye Shou pursed his lips and waved his hand, deciding not to continue the discussion.

Just then, Avdol pulled out a stack of tarot cards and approached, saying, "Since you have some free time, how about we do a divination?"

"Divination? That's it?"

Ye Shou looked at the stack of cards in surprise: "Isn't it usually arranged in a card layout?"

"It's just a small game, no need to be so particular."

Aboudl encouraged, "Just consider it an experience."

"……it is good!"

Ye Shou hesitated for a moment, then raised his hand and pulled out a card from the spread-out tarot cards. He turned it over and handed it to Abudel, who immediately frowned.

"What, is the meaning bad?"

"The Tower, this card corresponds to Mars in astrology, and in many mythologies it is a symbol of misfortune. The Tower is also the only Tarot card in the deck whose meaning is not good, regardless of whether it is upright or reversed..."

This means 'a sudden and unpredictable drastic change'.

A towering tower destroyed by lightning can be used as a metaphor to suggest that even the most arrogant humans cannot compare to the power of nature... or that challenging the sky will only invite the wrath of the gods.

Failure, destruction, cost—this is certainly not a good sign.

Avdol's tone was serious, which Ye Shou found amusing. He chuckled and asked, "Is there any way to break this?"

“It was just a joke, nothing serious,” Avdel chuckled. “But if I had to get advice from the fortune teller… I think the right answer would be ‘do nothing.’”

"Do nothing?"

"This tarot card suggests 'destruction' and 'obstacles,' meaning that nothing you do will go smoothly, things will always go in a bad direction, and the harder you try, the worse things will get."

In that case, I think it's better to reduce actions and let things proceed smoothly.

"I see~"

The boy shrugged: "Then there's nothing we can do. We can't stop now."

“That makes sense.” Avdel looked at the [Tower] more closely and suddenly found it very interesting.

"Speaking of which, I bought this set in Japan. The art style is a bit cartoonish... The tower and the lightning bolt remind me of the legend of the Tower of Babel."

"Christian mythology?"