in the edge

Chapter 514: Divide and eat

"I'm really sorry, the monkey is ignorant and was just joking."

While pushing those powerful men into the study, Du Chengfeng climbed ashore and protected the monkey behind him.

He had felt the powerful men joining forces to kill the attacker just now. He might have been able to resist such an attack with his strong body, but if it came to this monkey, it would be a different matter - after all, he and these monkeys had a four thousand year relationship, and he couldn't just watch this monkey being beaten to death on the spot.

But perhaps because he was not familiar enough with the terrain, Du Chengfeng's pushing back action pushed the monkey directly into the pond.

Then there was a plop, and the human-shaped monkey disappeared.

Even if Du Chengfeng turned around, he couldn't find the monkey there. The water in the pond was still the same water. Not to mention the monkey, there wasn't even any fish in it.

The monkey seemed to just dissolve into the water.

"It seems that this pool of water is the real treasure left by the fisherman."

The strong old man with red hair and beard couldn't help but stroke his long beard.

"When the fake is made to appear real, the fake becomes real; when the real is made to appear fake, the real becomes fake... No wonder we were suppressed as soon as we came in. It turns out that this old man's strength has reached this level."

"So, the monkey is still fake?"

Du Chengfeng couldn't help but continue asking, he was still a little concerned about the whereabouts of the monkey.

"But just now..."

"Does it matter whether it's true or not?"

The old man with red hair and beard walked over and patted his chest.

"If you think it's true, then it will be true if it's false. If you think it's false, then it will be false if it's true... Whether it's true or false is in your heart. It's not important. What's important is what you believe in."

"Been taught a lesson."

Du Chengfeng bowed and smiled bitterly.

He did understand what the old man said, but it was precisely because he understood that he couldn't laugh - what the old man said was nothing more than the power of the mind, the so-called mind overcomes all things, as long as the will is strong enough, everything will change because of the will.

But that’s where the problem lies. Just like the old fisherman couldn’t use the pond to prolong his life, after he knew that the pond was just an illusion, he couldn’t make those monkeys appear in reality.

As for what happened just now, it was purely an accident. Perhaps it was the water droplets that he scattered on the shore when he was fishing, which turned into the appearance of a monkey. But when the monkey fell into the water, it eventually merged with the water and returned to where it was supposed to return.

In other words, when he subjectively wants the monkeys to appear, the knowledge from the fisherman will conflict with this subjective will. Once this conflict occurs, the monkeys will not appear.

"But...it can be considered a good thing."

Du Chengfeng thought so.

After all, the world outside is too dangerous. Any powerful person in his prime can easily kill all the monkeys. So instead of calling those monkeys out to die, it is better to let them reproduce in the virtual world.

As for the problem of living space... the worst that could happen is to expand the pond a little bit, which is relatively easy for him.

"Anyway, thanks for clearing up my confusion."

Du Chengfeng, who had figured it out, once again clasped his hands and bowed to the old man with red hair and beard to show his politeness.

But the old man shook his head.

"It doesn't matter whether I solve the puzzle or not. After all, you have helped me to strengthen my will, so I will just consider it as a reward for you."

As he said this, the old man with red hair and beard came up to Du Chengfeng and lowered his voice.

"When I was trapped by this fisherman, I turned into a tiger."

"Ah this."

Du Chengfeng choked on the spot.

But he still remembered what he had done to those tigers. He had been chasing away those tigers before the city was built. And after the monkeys gradually began to expand their sphere of influence, he simply sent the remaining tigers to the zoo.

Of course, the same goes for other animals, or rather, there is no intention to kill them all. In addition to breeding them so that the monkeys have meat to eat, the other purpose is to unite as many powerful people as possible who are also trapped.

But now it seems...

"What do you mean, passed it over?"

Du Chengfeng picked up the fishing rod beside him.

If he were outside, he might not be able to defeat this powerful man with red hair and beard, but now he is in the fisherman's cave... As the actual controller of this cave, he may not lose.

"There may be a chance in the future."

Contrary to Du Chengfeng's expectations, the powerful man with red hair and beard did not show any hostility, but instead put his arm around his shoulders.

"Once I have stabilized my insights and gains from this time, I will definitely fight you again if I have the chance in the future... I always feel that fighting with you will definitely help me improve my skills."

"That's okay too."

Du Chengfeng accepted the invitation and looked at the old man with a little more respect.

Unlike what he thought, the old man with red hair and beard did not want to take revenge personally, but wanted to improve each other's abilities through public fighting. This behavior was worthy of respect, and there was naturally no reason for him to refuse.

After this brief exchange, the old man with red hair and beard went straight into the study with other powerful people.

However, the old man was still a little late, because there was not a single book on the small bookshelf - and when the old man's eyes swept over the other powerful men, those who had entered the study earlier had already turned their eyes to their noses and their noses to their hearts, and began to enter a state of meditation on the spot.

The old man with red hair and beard immediately became furious, and flames were rising from his body.

"You really won't leave any for me?"

The old man clenched his fists, with flames of anger leaping from his fists.

"We agreed to share the knowledge of the fisherman, and now you are doing this?"

"This……"

Du Chengfeng, who followed in, looked at the scene and didn't know what to say for a moment.

"There's no need to keep this kind of thing to yourself, right? After copying one copy of the book, it can become two copies... How about this? I'll copy one copy for each person present, so that everyone can benefit from it, right?"

After these words were spoken, the powerful people in the study room felt a little embarrassed.

"Then follow what you said, Lord."

Finally, a middle-aged scholar with white hair and beard stood up.

"We are petty-minded."

"No, no, no."

Du Chengfeng waved his hand. He actually understood this kind of thinking.

Although they were still in the same camp when facing the fisherman in this cave, they would become competitors once they left the cave - so no matter from which angle, deducting one or two books and preventing others from obtaining all the knowledge was also a necessary defensive measure. However, Du Chengfeng didn't care about this. He had decided to divide the spoils from the beginning, so he was naturally willing to make all the knowledge left by the fisherman public.

Anyway, it’s just some fishing tips, which is nothing to Du Chengfeng.

Of course, from the perspective of these powerful people, what Du Chengfeng wrote might be private - this is why Du Chengfeng allowed these powerful people to go to the study first. It didn't matter how much they took. Anyway, if they wanted to confirm whether the knowledge was complete, they had to take out all the books again and proofread them collectively.

Thinking of this, Du Chengfeng picked up the empty notebook that had been placed aside.

Wherever the heart moved and wherever the mind went, under the influence of mental power, the originally blank paper was instantly filled with words - and after repeating the same method several times, Du Chengfeng gave the books to these powerful people for them to copy.

Of course, in the process, he also copied a copy for the coyote.

After all, this was the original reason why he came here.

"Why did you give these things to them?"

When seeing the manuscript handed over by Du Chengfeng, the coyote couldn't help it after all and dragged Du Chengfeng out.

"Don't you know how valuable these things are? As long as you have them, you can embark on a true path, and even..."

"Can it even replace the old man fishing?"

Du Chengfeng scratched his head.

"And die by the pool like that old man?"

"This……"

The coyote choked in his tracks.

It seems so.

No matter how glorious and powerful Diaosou's path seemed, as the founder of this path, Diaosou himself died on this path.

Even the founder died because of this, so can a latecomer like him really do better than that fisherman?
"So they only hide one or two books."

As he said this, Du Chengfeng pointed at the powerful people in the room.

"They are actually very clear that the fishing old man's skills are only a reference and a source of inspiration for them, so being able to get one or two books is actually enough... After all, they all have their own paths to follow and their own hearts to cultivate."

Having said that, Du Chengfeng took a special look at the old man with red hair and beard.

"Just like the old man playing with fire, can you imagine him sitting by the pond and fishing all day like the old man fishing?"

"What do you mean by an old man playing with fire? I am the Fire Star Lord!"

It was at this moment that the old man with red hair and beard stretched his neck and shouted over.

"Why can't I catch any fish? I'll fish for a whole day and show you!"

"Ah this."

Du Chengfeng couldn't help but scratch his head again.

Judging from his bad temper, he doesn't look like the type of person who can go fishing for a whole day.

"Anyway, you understand, right?"

"……Understood."

The coyote sighed and finally lowered his head.

Once upon a time, he was the one who educated the Tin Man, but who would have thought that now it was the Tin Man who was educating him.

But perhaps he really needs some guidance right now. After all, the position of the fisherman old man in his heart is too important. It can even be said that the fisherman old man is his mentor - although in fact, he already knows that the old man has never regarded him as a disciple, and even thought of taking his life to prolong his own life.

But no matter what, from his own perspective, this is definitely his mentor.

He had always been both respectful and fearful of this mentor. Respect was for his profound knowledge and the kindness that led him to heaven. Fear was for his terrifying strength and his cold-blooded mind that regarded everything in the world as straw dogs.

But now, his mentor is dead after all.

He died in the Taoism that he was best at.

"Then... we'll leave first."

While the coyote was still standing there, the powerful people in the study had already walked out.

"The manuscript has been copied completely. You are indeed magnanimous. The contents are exactly the same. You are truly a man of high character... If you are in trouble in the future, we will definitely help you once to repay your kindness."

"What about the others?"

Du Chengfeng looked towards the bedroom.

"Do you really not want the bed? If not, I'll keep it."

"You are joking, benefactor. How can such a small thing be worth doing this?"

The middle-aged scholar with white hair and beard stood up again and bowed to Du Chengfeng.

"Since you are the benefactor who helped us out of this difficult situation, we will naturally repay you... For now, let alone the bed, we will not even take this cave or the body of the fisherman."

As they said this, as if they were worried that Du Chengfeng would make excuses again, those powerful men instantly turned into streams of light and disappeared at the bottom of the pond.

At the bottom of the pond was a hole leading to the outside world. It was obvious that these powerful people simply ran away.

"Ah this."

Du Chengfeng was speechless for a long time. You know, he still had some questions to ask.

He could understand why they left him the bed, after all, that was what he had said he wanted. He could also understand why they left him the cave, after all, although this huge cave was valuable, it was impossible to move it away out of thin air - but that was the problem, compared to the first two things that were obviously more valuable, these powerful people chose to put the body of the fisherman last.

What does this mean? Could it be that the corpse is more important than the bed, the books, or even the entire cave itself?
"Isn't this just a dead body?"

Confused, Du Chengfeng simply moved closer and kicked the body of the old man fishing.

He didn't feel anything wrong. A corpse was a corpse. Perhaps because it had not been dead for too long, the corpse was still somewhat flexible - but no matter what, a corpse was a corpse. How else could one explain it?

"Hey, who is that?"

Du Chengfeng, who couldn't figure it out, simply turned around and looked at the coyote.

This coyote had come to heaven earlier than he did, so he must know more than he did. So if this corpse really had something to say, this coyote must also know...

"Hey! What are you doing!"

It was at this moment that Du Chengfeng suddenly saw that the coyote opened its bloody mouth and pounced towards him!
Immediately afterwards, the body left behind by the old fisherman was swallowed by the coyote.

(End of this chapter)