After divorcing my celebrity wife, I became the world's richest person

Chapter 457 Humanity's Afflictions

In the dilapidated house, Liu Zhongxiang poured a cup of tea for Chen Yu and casually took out a booklet from nearby.

"Mr. Chen, you might not be aware of our situation here!"

Chen Yu received the booklet with some confusion and discovered that it contained records about the entire town.

But after reading through all the content, he suddenly became agitated and abruptly stood up.

"All of your ancestors were prisoners?"

Liu Zhongxiang sighed helplessly, "Yes, they were all utterly unforgivable! Some had ancestors who were generals responsible for slaughtering entire cities."

Chen Yu inhaled sharply; he finally understood that, after all the trouble, these people were seeking redemption for their ancestors' sins.

Unlike other schools of thought, Daoism does not emphasize the next life; what it seeks is only in this lifetime.

Therefore, the mistakes made by these people's ancestors could only be atoned for by them.

Chen Yu didn't know what to say; if he chose to help these people today, he would unwittingly bear their karmic consequences.

Yet if he ignored them, his conscience wouldn't allow it.

As he was in a daze, a commotion suddenly arose outside the door. Li Guokai, who had been there in the morning, hurried back with a group of people.

Chen Yu was just stewing in his own frustration when he walked out, and Li Guokai knelt on the ground, holding a stick made of pure gold.

"Mr. Chen, I heard you were back, so I came especially to apologize. This treasure has been passed down in my family from generation to generation, and today, I present it to you as a gift for our meeting."

Chen Yu's eyes widened in astonishment. Every household in this small town was so poor, and even someone like Li Guokai wasn't very wealthy. Where had he gotten such a large gold stick?

Just as he was about to inquire, Li Guokai took out a piece of yellow paper from his person and handed it over.

"Mr. Chen, could you please take a look at the life-chart written on this paper and see if my generation can clear our ancestors' sins?"

Chen Yu was taken aback; although his mind held some knowledge of metaphysics, he was utterly baffled when it actually came to interpreting these things.

Metaphysics is systematic and entirely separate from human existing knowledge.

The only connection was the recently researched concept of quantum entanglement.

But this concept had not yet been accepted by most people, and to completely integrate it would be extremely difficult.

Chen Yu took the yellow paper and coughed a few times.

"I really can't read this; you'd better go up the mountain and find a genuine Heavenly Master."

Li Guokai quickly knelt down a few steps forward and grabbed Chen Yu's thigh.

"Word has already spread here that you are Long Tian's Closed-door Disciple and must have received his authentic teachings. Please, for the sake of the gold stick, just take a look for me."

Frustration mounted on Chen Yu's face. The identity of a Closed-door Disciple was real, but he hadn't learned anything yet; he had only received an extremely powerful Qi Force from the Heavenly Master.

Liu Zhongxiang leaned in and whispered to Chen Yu, "Mr. Chen, you can just say anything."

Chen Yu heaved a sigh and handed the yellow paper back.

"Don't worry, all of the sins will definitely be cleared in your generation."

Li Guokai was thrilled to the core, laughing wildly while clutching the yellow paper.

"Now my son can escape suffering. From today on, us Lis will stop meddling in those messy affairs!"

After yelling a few more times, he stuffed the gold stick into Chen Yu's hands and hurried off with his bodyguards.

Liu Zhongxiang shook his head, his face showing no less resignation than Chen Yu's.

"The greatest wish of everyone in this town is to completely break free from the sins of their ancestors, but some families have been passing down this legacy for hundreds of years. Seeing no hope, some have given in to despair and turned to evil deeds."

Chen Yu suddenly felt that Liu Zhongxiang seemed different from the others in the town.

This man's craftsmanship was no worse than any professional outside the town; the things he made were almost indistinguishably fake, yet he never took them out to swindle and boast.

When he was sick, he just had his daughter set up a stall on Tianhu Mountain and sold paintings at a fair price.

To say he was atoning might be somewhat true, but it did seem a bit much.

Even if one were atoning, one shouldn't joke with one's own life!

"Mr. Liu, if I may be so bold to ask, what exactly is your role in this town?"

Liu Zhongxiang suddenly chuckled a few times.

"Actually, we are fellow disciples from the same sect!"

Chen Yu was stunned, never in his dreams had he imagined Liu Zhongxiang would have such an identity.

"Then why are you here?"

Stay updated via empire

Liu Zhongxiang sighed, "Actually, I was given the same test as you, but alas, I fell here, not only carrying the sins of the entire town but also the bad karma I had sown myself!"

Chen Yu's breathing suddenly became rapid, as this was something he had never expected.

Moreover, when scanning the other person's memory, he had not uncovered this information either.

"Then I should call you senior brother!"

Liu Zhongxiang waved his hands repeatedly, "No need for that, I just hope you can pass the test and not end up trapped here like me."

Chen Yu didn't know what to say, as he had never been in such a situation.

And up to now, he still didn't know what the test given by Long Tian was exactly.

Chen Yu sighed softly and asked no further questions, simply returning to the house and taking a seat.

He briefly checked the Gold stick in his hand and found that it was still solid.

Just then, two men stumbled up to the door.

One of them was extremely emaciated and upon arriving, he collapsed on the ground.

"Old Liu, can you give us a painting to sell for some money?"

Without any hesitation, Liu Zhongxiang took down a rather decent painting from the wall and handed it to the two men.

The men thanked him several times over, then headed to the pawnshop nearby with the painting.

In fact, many people in the town knew Liu Zhongxiang was an expert counterfeiter, but the pawnshops here still recognized his goods because these paintings would definitely sell for a good price outside.

The two men from before seemed to be suffering from severe malnutrition, a condition beyond even Chen Yu's ability to cure; at most, he could prescribe some nutritional supplements to help them recover.

Watching these people, a spark suddenly flashed in Chen Yu's mind - perhaps Long Tian had sent him here not merely for a test, but to witness the true hardships of humanity.

As he pondered, a noisy commotion suddenly arose from the main street.

Out of nowhere, two merchants had boldly set up a stage in the middle of the square.

A large billboard quickly attracted many onlookers who brought out all sorts of things from their homes to gather around, with some even bringing out their own porcelain bowls.

Stepping out to take a look, Chen Yu found that these two merchants were actually buying antiques.