Zhang San, please behave yourself!
Chapter 68 - 68 68 People Live with One Breath!

68: Chapter 68: People Live with One Breath!

68: Chapter 68: People Live with One Breath!

“Oh!

I really can’t hold it in anymore!”

Zhang San watched Wang Dada’s face turn anxious as Zhao Siyang kept interrupting him, finally losing his temper and bursting out.

“Nephew, let your uncle speak the truth to you.”

Hearing this, Zhao Siyang helplessly lowered his head, staring at a bone in his soup bowl, silent.

Zhang San vaguely felt that something was about to happen, but didn’t know what it was.

Wang Dada grabbed his nephew’s hand, and before he could speak, tears began to fall from his tiger-like eyes.

“I have wronged you, nephew!”

“Uncle, what are you talking about?

You gave me my life, you are like my parents!”

Wang Dada shook his head.

Song Dingbo looked on with a face that said he was just there for the drama.

Although Zhang San didn’t know why Zhao Siyang kept interrupting Wang Dada, he believed Zhao Siyang had his reasons, which were inconvenient to mention.

“Wang Laohao, why is that street next to you so busy?

I’m really curious, and I bet Wang is too.

Tell us.”

The woman sensed the atmosphere was off, especially the uncle’s expression, and quickly nudged Wang Laohao.

Immediately, Wang Laohao told Zhang San, “Next door, the Jiang Family is quite wealthy.

Recently, I heard that three young men wanted to marry their three daughters.

They agreed but then the young men backed out.

Then Mr.

Jiang went out for a while.

Now, those three young men have agreed.”

“Mmm…

At least that’s what we’ve heard.

They not only agreed but also became sons-in-law by moving in.”[Note 32]

“Three sons-in-law, just thinking about it is pleasing.”

After finishing, Wang Laohao still remembered to pull on his own uncle’s hand, asking, “Uncle, what’s on your mind?”

Zhang San originally wanted to interject, but completely failed to stop it.

Then, Wang Dada wiped his tears, and holding his nephew’s hand, he said, “Actually, that night, I lied to you.

The next day at Three Quarters past Noon, I struck and decapitated the person you were holding.

I took care of your body.

How…

how…

how can you still be alive?”

Wang Laohao incredulously stood up slowly, looking shocked at everyone in the room, stumbled back two steps, touched his own neck, and whispered, “I’m dead?

How is that possible…”

Thud—

As Wang Laohao’s hand touched the red line on his neck, his head fell to the ground.

In a flash, blood gushed out, reminiscent of the scene when Wang Dada’s broadsword fell at the execution ground.

Suddenly, the entire person turned into a thick white vapor that drifted out of the house, gradually fading away.

The child, seeing his grandpa suddenly die, started crying loudly.

But just as the child opened his mouth to cry, before he could make a sound, his body turned into a pool of blood, spreading all over the floor.

Wang Dada was so frightened that he collapsed on the ground.

Song Dingbo, though he had seen and caught ghosts before, was so scared at this moment that he clung tightly to Zhang San, trembling all over.

Zhang San, looking at Zhao Siyang shaking his head helplessly, finally understood why Zhao Siyang had kept interrupting Wang Dada, fearing Zhao Siyang had already anticipated this scene.

At that moment, the woman turned into a black cat, walked to the doorway of the room, turned her head back to look at Wang Dada.

“Uncle, your words back then had already saved him.

It was because he believed your words that he lived up till now!”

“But why…

why reveal the truth now and break his spirit?”

“And my poor child, tomorrow is his seventh birthday, he would have become a real person by then.

But now…”[Note 33]

The black cat that the woman had turned into helplessly shook her head and jumped out of the room.

Leaving behind a sentence that echoed in the room for a long time.

“Life hangs by a breath.”

Wang Dada sat on the ground, dazed, looking at the gloomy sky outside the door, unsure whether he was looking at the white vapor his nephew had turned into, which had already dissipated, or if he was still hearing that “Life hangs by a breath” echoing.

Zhang San’s crossing was a resurrection after death.

His desire for life was stronger than anyone else’s.

Looking at Wang Laohao’s severed head, he also felt uneasy.

Especially that child, who would have become a truly honorable person in just one more day!

In this world, many people are like evil spirits, but in the Shehong Stockade, where ghosts roam the streets, there was a child under the age of seven who could have become a real person.

“I’ll go look for that black cat.

Maybe, there’s still hope to save both of them.

Even if only one can be saved, it would be good.”

Zhang San said, and took a step to leave.

Zhao Siyang sighed, “It’s useless.

Between life and death, there is great terror.

It’s not something you or I can control.”

At that moment, Wang Dada, tears streaming down his face, finally understood why Zhao Siyang had always stopped him from speaking before.

Taoism speaks of the secrets of heaven that must not be revealed, yet he had already given himself so many hints before.

How could he have not understood then!

Upon hearing Zhao Siyang’s words, Zhang San, however, acted as if he hadn’t heard them and left resolutely.

No sooner had Zhang San stepped out the door than an old man blocked his way.

“Young man, death is like a lamp extinguished.

It cannot be chased or sought after.

Let go.”

Zhang San was unwilling and bowed to the old man, saying, “If a lamp can be relit, can’t a person be resurrected?”

“Life and death are like Yin and Yang, merely states of being.

You can be alive, dead, or even in between.

With the Six Paths interwoven and the myriad laws of heaven and earth, perhaps nothing is truly fixed.”

“But I still want to do something.”

The old man smiled and nodded, saying with a smile, “The heart of a young man is ever present.

Head east, and if you walk towards death, perhaps that will be your chance for life.”

Zhang San did not understand the old man’s words, but his description of life and death and Yin and Yang greatly inspired him, and he immediately bowed deeply to the elder.

“Thank you for your guidance, sir.

I will surely repay you one day.”

“Forget it, you young people, none of your words count.”

The old man spoke and then disappeared.

Although Zhang San didn’t know who the old man was, he felt that the powerful presence he had just felt was much stronger than Zhao Siyang’s.

Since the old man told him to head east, and he had already left, what was he waiting for?

Zhang San was still pondering the meanings of “Life and death are like Yin and Yang” and “Walking towards death is your chance for life.”

But the old man appeared in the backyard of the nearby Jiang Family’s house.

At that moment, a steward ran in, flustered, saying, “Sir, the new son-in-law seems unwilling and wants to flee.”

The old man snorted coldly, thinking to himself: I knew today’s youth are unreliable, promising to marry my daughter and then making excuses when it’s time to come.

“Tell my three daughters, a son-in-law with broken legs is still a son-in-law.”

“But it’s just one wanting to run, should all three misses be informed…

Don’t glare at me, I understand now, I’ll pass the message to each of them.”

========

[Note 32]Reference Explanation

The story of the Jiang Family’s marriage comes from Gan Bao’s “Sou Shen Ji” in the chapter “Jiang Shan Temple Plays Marriage,” which recounts how during the Xian Ning era of Emperor Wu of Jin, three young nobles, drunk at Jiang Shan Temple, talked of marrying divine statues of women.

They later dreamt that Lord Jiang told them to set the date for their wedding.

After sobering up, realizing something was amiss, the young nobles prepared offerings to apologize and sought to cancel their engagements.

But their formidable future father-in-law took action, and not long after, the three nobles met their end, presumably summoned by Lord Jiang.

[Note 33]Legal Tidbit

In the Tang Dynasty, children under seven were completely exempt from criminal responsibility.

I looked up “Tang Lu Shu Yi,” which in the section “Terms for the Old, Young, and Disabled” states: “Over ninety and under seven, even if guilty of capital crimes, are not subject to penalty (related dependents who should be penalized are exempt from this law).”

This suggests that anyone under seven is untouchable, like how today anyone under fourteen is in our age.

However, in ancient times, aside from personal penalties, there were also penalties related to one’s family for treason and the like, which this law does not cover.

Hence, I understand that in those times, once you turned seven, you were accountable for your actions.

Thus, Wang Laohao’s child, upon turning seven, could become a real person.

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