Good Man Operation Guide

Chapter 143: Holy Monk (End)

Young Master Hu, who directly saw the scene of a murder, was greatly shocked.

He didn’t think that this person didn’t deserve to die. The evildoer had been committing numerous crimes for years, not only kidnapping and selling children, but also fatally beating the parents of the child he had taken after being discovered. Such a person, even if handed over to the authorities, would be sentenced to death.

Young Master Hu was conflicted about whether the master he was following was a renowned monk or a demonic monk.

Whenever something happened in the Jianghu, the bald-headed masters were always willing to help. But when it came to capturing someone and the crowd fervently demanded their execution, it was this group of masters who would plead for mercy on behalf of those evildoers, advocating for leniency.

Because of that, Young Master Hu had never been fond of the monks from Shaolin Temple.

If they spared the evildoers, who would spare the victims who had been cruelly harmed and killed by those evildoers?

If it weren’t for the fact that he had pushed open the door of his house and found that everyone in the village had vanished without a trace, and there was no news whatsoever in the Jianghu, Young Master Hu wouldn’t have come to seek the guidance from Master Shiheng as his follower.

He didn’t even look at the calm surface of the water, but squatted next to Lin Shiheng and asked, “Master, aren’t monks supposed to refrain from killing?”

“Amitabha Buddha.”

The monk with a jade-like face chanted the Buddha’s name with a calm and undisturbed tone. “This humble monk hasn’t taken a life.”

Young Master Hu:

I've seen it twice already, and yet no life was taken?

“This humble monk merely struck the empty air with a palm and kicked out with a foot. It was the person who collided into them. How can you blame this humble monk?”

Young Master Hu:

Alright, your martial arts skills are superior. Whatever you say is right.

After saving the child who had been taken as a hostage by the evildoer, Lin Shiheng also handed over 20 taels of silver as medical expenses. In today’s economy, 20 taels were enough to treat the child’s injuries and provide for their well-being until they became chubby and healthy.

After rescuing the child and “transforming” the evildoer, on the day of departure, the humble townsfolk rushed to the gate to bid farewell.

Their weathered faces were filled with gratitude towards the monk. Everyone knew that monks didn’t eat meat, so the villagers didn’t bring chickens, ducks, or fish. Instead, they carried fresh, clean, and vibrant vegetables.

Lin Shiheng politely declined.

Young Master Hu followed behind him, watching the simple-hearted people rejoicing for them, feeling a tinge of sourness in his heart.

When he left before, the townsfolk bid him farewell in the same way.

It’s just that after a few years, they had actually forgotten about him.

Even though he stood behind Master Shiheng, they didn't even spare him a glance.

Young Master Hu kept telling himself in his heart that it didn’t matter. He performed heroic acts and saved people not for their gratitude, but to have a clear conscience.

But what made him happy was that on that day, the child who had been used as a hostage by the evildoer also came. His hands and feet were still immobile, and he was carefully carried by adults.

The child still had scabs on his face, but his eyes were bright. Instead of looking at the white-robed monk like the adults, he stared straight at Young Master

Hu.

Rarely did someone not overlook him. Young Master Hu was delighted and waved his hand with a smile towards the child.

“Little one, you still remember me?”

“Brother Hu...”

“Oh! So nice!"

Young Master Hu left with the white-robed monk, and the townsfolk stood at the town gate watching them depart. The child’s parents, hearing their son murmuring ‘Brother Hu,’ became teary-eyed.

The child’s mother squatted down and spoke to her child, who was eagerly staring at the departing monk. “That’s not Brother Hu, that’s Master Shiheng.”

“It’s Brother Hu, I remember.”

Although the child’s hands and feet couldn’t move, his voice was loud. “Brother Hu is like that, wearing black clothes, a jade hairpin on his head, ith embroidered auspicious clouds on his shoes, and has a nice smile. I remember.”

The faces of the child’s parents instantly changed.

“Could this child have suffered a head injury?”

“Yes, how can the master wear a hairpin?”

Unaware of the discussion happening behind him regarding whether a monk could wear a hairpin, Young Master Hu continued to follow Master Shiheng according to their agreement.

After leaving the small town, they started heading towards the bustling area.

Along the way, the two of them encountered many people—villains, martial artists, and simple commoners. Everything was no different from the Jianghu that Young Master Hu had traversed. However, Master Shiheng seemed to dislike interacting with others and always tried to walk towards sparsely populated areas.

It’s okay. People with great martial arts skills often have peculiarities, Young Master Hu expressed his understanding.

It’s just that, perhaps it’s a coincidence, their route always seemed to overlap with the places where Young Master Hu had once acted gallantly.

There was a dilapidated village at the bottom of the gorge. A woman had been abducted by bandits there. Young Master Hu studied the situation for several days and finally waited for the day when the bandits dispersed. He devised a plan, killed the bandits, and rescued the abducted women.

In a house by the water, the head of a family had an accident while fishing on a boat. His leg cramped, and he couldn’t get ashore by himself. Young Master Hu disregarded the danger and jumped into the water to save him.

In a simple city, there was a tyrant who oppressed the commoners with his powerful martial arts and abducted women. Young Master Hu killed the tyrant and brought peace to the city.

Most of the time, he simply did good deeds without thinking about them afterwards. It was only when he passed through these places one by one that Young Master Hu realized that he, in his youthful recklessness, had actually helped so many people.

It was a bit embarrassing to think about. He turned out to be such a good person.

However, what hurt him was that those people he had saved and comforted at the risk of his own life didn’t even remember him. Almost every time they reached a new place, their gaze would fall on Shiheng, ignoring him.

Well, Young Master Hu could accept it.

When he thought about it, even he himself, a martial artist with a decent appearance, would naturally pay attention to the monk who looked like a divine being, radiating an aura of enlightenment, and overlook another person.

Young Master Hu quickly got used to being ignored by everyone.

He didn’t really care about these empty accolades. As he walked through one town after another, one village after another, and saw how well those he had helped were living, he felt a sense of satisfaction deep in his heart.

As he passed by each place where he had once intervened, memories that Young Master Hu thought had long been forgotten resurfaced one by one.

There were the children who admired him and said they wanted to learn martial arts to become martial artists and help the world and save people. There was the elderly grandmother he had taken care of for 2 months when she caught a cold, without any children or grandchildren. And there was the strong man who offended the local tyrant to protect his wife and daughter.

In a few more years, seeing their peaceful lives, a different feeling arose in his heart.

The deadline of 3 months was approaching, and the two of them sat on the boat. Young Master Hu paddled the boat while Lin Shiheng sat in meditation at the bow. Young Master Hu sighed.

“These past few months, I’ve been incredibly tired.”

Lin Shiheng asked, “Tired? How so?”

“Tired everywhere.”

Young Master Hu rarely expressed his sentiments, “Since I started venturing through the Jianghu, I haven’t stopped. Sometimes, I want to take a proper rest, but I always feel that if I continue on, I can save even more people in the future.”

He was born into a privileged family, living a life of luxury from a young age. Naturally, he hadn’t experienced much hardship. However, since leaving Hu Clan and embarking on various adventures, he had encountered enough hardships to last a lifetime.

“If you feel tired, why did you venture through the Jianghu?"

Upon hearing the monk’s words, Young Master Hu smiled, “It’s a tradition of our Hu Clan. Each generation has someone who ventures through the Jianghu, helping and saving people. I heard that my great-great-grandfather was saved by a martial artist who had gone on an adventure, which allowed him to survive. My grandfather told me that saving lives is a noble act, and it’s an opportunity for us young people to gain experience. We can save people and gain experience at the same time. Isn’t that hitting two birds with one stone?”

“And indeed, saving lives brings immense joy.”

He chuckled while paddling the boat, his smile appearing somewhat naive.

Lin Shiheng remained silent.

They continued until the small boat reached the shore, and only then did Lin Shiheng say, “We’ve arrived."

Young Master Hu had been amusing himself with his own chatter, “Speaking of which, what should we eat tonight? I'm tired of that noodle soup...”

After raising his eyes and taking in the scene before him, his words abruptly ceased.

In front of them was a forest that had clearly been burned. Charred trees stood dark and desolate, with a few green leaves sprouting from the top, indicating signs of revival despite not being completely dead.

“Do you recognize this place?”

Lin Shiheng asked him from the side.

Young Master Hu stood there in confusion, utterly puzzled.

“These trees, didn’t I cut them down?”

He recalled his memories of this forest.

It seemed like a recent event. Bandits had caused trouble in this area, committing a massacre in an entire village. Young Master Hu had intended to act on behalf of justice, but upon reaching the bandit stronghold, he discovered that the bandits had kept the children of the village as their playthings.

There were too many people in the bandit stronghold, and he estimated that he couldn’t defeat them, so he went to the authorities seeking their help. Being cautious, Young Master Hu sneaked out at midnight to eavesdrop on the officials’ conversation.

As expected, just as he had anticipated, the reason why such a large bandit force hadn’t been eradicated for so long was indeed due to collusion between the officials and the bandits.

Almost every day, a child would die. He didn’t have time to think about anything else. He could only release carrier pigeons to send messages back home for help. He planned to set the children free himself, but unexpectedly, one child got lost while being chased.

Young Master Hu returned to search and happened to witness the bandits driving that child into this forest and setting it on fire.

What happened afterward?

In his memory, it seemed like he killed the bandits and cut down the trees to save the child.

But why were these trees still standing when he clearly cut them down?

Young Master Hu was plunged into great confusion.

“Where is my sword... where did my sword go?”

His head throbbed with pain, and with a pale face, he reached behind to touch the sword, only to feel blood in his hand.

Blood-

Why is there blood?

He stood there in a daze, as scenes flashed through his mind.

The children were too young, and they ran slowly. One child got left behind, and after Young Master Hu noticed, he went back to find him, only to discover that the bandits were about to drive the child into the sea of fire.

He had been able to survive in the Jianghu for so long because of his exceptional ginggong skills. After all, no matter how skilled one was in martial arts, it was impossible to defeat a hundred opponents at once.

But he had no way out.

He could fly on his own, but he couldn’t carry others with him. If he left, the children would lose their lives.

Young Master Hu drew his sword and confronted them.

His martial arts skills were indeed formidable. He single-handedly killed all the bandits, but in the end, he himself was severely injured.

Young Master Hu could vaguely recall the sensations before his death.

His whole body turned cold, as if even his blood had grown cold. Only the wind, carrying the scent of blood, blew gently on his face, as if his departed mother was tenderly caressing him.

He only had time to say “don’t be afraid” to the crying child before losing consciousness.

Just before his consciousness disappeared, Young Master Hu looked at the sword that had been broken in two and thought, what a waste of such a good sword.

When he woke up again, he naturally regained his senses and suddenly felt a strong desire to go home and take a look.

However, when he returned home, he found that it was empty. Nothing had changed in the mansion—no dust, no disorder. It looked as if someone had tidied up.

But there was no one.

Not a single person.

He panicked and went down the mountain in an attempt to find out, but those people couldn’t hear or see him. It wasn’t until he overheard the conversation of passersby and made his way to the inn where the monk in white lived.

Under the moonlight, the monk in white took a sip of tea and turned his head to glance at him.

“Benefactor, is there something you need?”

Ignored by the mumbling lackey, the wicked person who couldn't see him, he walked all the way, and the common people he had helped before looking right through him...

Young Master Hu laughed foolishly.

As he laughed, he began to cry.

It turned out that he had already died long ago.

The first funeral Lin Shiheng conducted was for Young Master Hu, the young master of the Hu Clan.

The Young Master Hu, who died prematurely, fought against the bandits all day to protect the children. In the end, the bandits were all killed, but he himself exhausted his strength and died.

The Hu Clan elders were nearly blinded by tears when they saw that the Young Master Hu died so young. As Lin Shiheng had the ability to save the Five Evil Tigers, the Patriarch of the Hu Clan pleaded with him to help save his deceased son.

Master Shiheng always did good deeds regardless of their size, not to mention the fact that the owner also provided money.

So he went to the Hu Clan’s mansion, only to find that the soul of Young Master Hu wasn’t there.

Presumably, he was trapped. A good person like him, when strangers learned of his death, they would refuse to believe it and pray that it wasn’t true. The wishes of the living fell upon Young Master Hu, preventing him from leaving to the underworld.

Taking him through all the places where he had done good deeds, letting him see how well the people he had saved were living, would allow him to leave with peace of mind.

It was the first time Master Shiheng had done such a thing, so he was inevitably a bit unfamiliar. To alleviate this unfamiliarity, he didn’t hesitate to help and save people along the way.

After bringing Young Master Hu’s soul back to the Hu Clan, the reputation of Master Shiheng, the holy monk, spread throughout the entire martial arts world.

Only a few people knew that, if true holiness were to be compared, no one could surpass Young Master Hu, who had the heart of an innocent child and died so early.

And no one knew that three months after Young Master Hu’s death, a follower who was invisible to others started following Master Shiheng.

This follower always wore a solemn expression, probably because he had shaved his head and could no longer wear a hairpin.

Master Shiheng’s illustrious reputation had always been circulating in the martial arts world.

It was said that although he was young, his martial arts skills were extremely powerful, and he had a kind heart, aspiring to reform evil people throughout the world.

And indeed, Master Shiheng had the ability to do so.

Since his appearance in the Jianghu, some evildoers were influenced by him and surrendered themselves, while others chose to retire from the Jianghu and never appeared in public again. The Jianghu enjoyed a period of peace for some time.

Even hundreds of years after Master Shiheng’s passing, people were still talking about him.

How exactly did Master Shiheng reform those evildoers? What kind of pure goodness did he possess to influence so many extremely wicked people?

Upon hearing these words, it was inevitable for people to make a few sarcastic remarks, “If you were to know, how could Master Shiheng be called a holy monk?”

[Ding! Vacation world is over. Please choose: 1. Vacation, 2 Continue the tasks.]

“Continue the tasks.”

Lin Shiheng opened his eyes, and the first thing he smelled was the scent of medicine.

He carefully absorbed his memories.

An ancient peasant family?