The Wisdom of Little People

"This really is wonderful news."

Seeing that Old Man Yu didn't seem to believe him, Li Tiezhu grew anxious and hurried to explain further.

"I was at home when I suddenly heard something howling outside. I sneaked a look, and there was this enormous beast, weighing at least four or five hundred jin. It was badly injured, too.

"If we kill it, cook it before the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster arrives, and then dry the meat, we'll have enough food for the whole winter. It'd be much better than eating rice cakes that could break your teeth. And eating beast meat can replenish your vitality, too. Maybe we could even lose two fewer years off our lives."

Tiezhu spoke excitedly, gesturing as he went.

"You fought it?"

Old Man Yu looked him up and down before asking.

"How could I? Even injured, a beast that size is probably no weaker than someone at Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment. I couldn't handle it alone, so I wanted to find you and call over that person from the Zhang Household. The three of us could kill it together."

Li Tiezhu explained his idea.

The person from the Zhang Household he mentioned was one of the settlement's only two remaining people at Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment.

The other, of course, was Old Man Yu standing before him.

After hearing Tiezhu's explanation, Old Man Yu showed no hint of joy. Instead, his expression turned grave.

"Tiezhu, if you didn't fight it, how do you know it's about as strong as someone at Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment?

"What if it's at Fetal Movement Perfection?

"Even if it's injured now, once we surround it, can you guarantee you won't get hurt when it fights back with everything it has?

"Don't you know what getting injured means when the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster arrives?

"You'll have a harder time surviving it, and the bugs will be more likely to sense you, too. Since you're injured, your vitality will keep draining away.

"Do you have some Spirit Medicine that can restore you completely in a single day?"

Old Man Yu fired off one question after another, leaving Tiezhu red-faced and lowering his head without realizing it.

If he could guarantee that he wouldn't get hurt, he would have killed the beast by himself already. And a Spirit Medicine that could restore an injury in a single day—was he even worthy of having such a thing?

If he had something like that, why would he still be here with his mother?

He was so excited because he'd thought the beast meat might do his mother some good, too.

"Since you don't know how strong that beast is, and you don't have Spirit Medicine that can restore you completely in a single day, don't even think about going after it. Staying at home is the safest thing you can do right now."

Seeing him like that, Old Man Yu felt a little sorry for him and spoke earnestly.

A beast might differ from a Demonic Beast by only one word, but that didn't mean beasts weren't strong.

The difference between beasts and Demonic Beasts was like the difference between ordinary people and cultivators.

Some powerful beasts were no weaker than humans at Fetal Movement Perfection. In fact, thanks to their size, they could be even stronger.

Old Man Yu didn't know why a powerful, injured beast had come near Tiezhu's home at a time like this, but no matter what, he wouldn't take the risk.

Even if it was only a beast at Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment, or even Minor Accomplishment, he wouldn't do it if there was any chance he might get hurt.

Others might think he was a coward, but he believed this was the prudent thing to do.

Besides, he had something a thousand, even ten thousand times more important than hunting a beast to take care of.

After Old Man Yu finished speaking, he saw Tiezhu standing there with his head bowed, a conflicted look on his face. He knew the man still hadn't given up on the tempting idea.

Perhaps Tiezhu had seen the injured beast and thought its wounds were so severe that it couldn't fight back. And with two people at Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment in the settlement, he'd come up with an idea he shouldn't have had.

Even if what Old Man Yu had just said made perfect sense, once someone got stuck in a dead end, it wasn't easy to find the way out.

So Old Man Yu had to speak more sternly:

"Tiezhu, think of your mother at home. Think of your wife in the Blessed Land, and your two children. If you get hurt, do you think you'll survive?

"What will happen to your wife and your two children then?

"How will a widow and her orphans survive in the settlement?"

Those words jolted Tiezhu and brought him fully to his senses.

"Uncle Yu, I was wrong."

Once he'd come to his senses, Tiezhu looked at Old Man Yu with shame and spoke from the heart. "If you hadn't opened my eyes this time, I might have made a terrible mistake. You're right. No matter how many benefits that beast could bring, they could never compare to my family.

"Uncle Yu, thank you."

Then Tiezhu started to kneel. His resolve was so firm that even Old Man Yu was taken aback for a moment before hurrying to support him.

"What are you doing?"

Old Man Yu snapped.

"Uncle Yu, I don't mean anything else by it. You opened my eyes, and you didn't just save me—you saved my whole family. Isn't it only right that I kneel and kowtow to you?"

Tiezhu spoke sincerely.

But only he knew the truth.

Though he often seemed simple-minded, even rash, he actually had a perceptive side—or, one might say, a little cleverness of his own.

When he'd run into Old Man Yu at the quarry and learned that the other man wasn't going to the Blessed Land, he'd immediately made an excuse to give him a spear.

He knew perfectly well that when it mattered, Old Man Yu, at Fetal Movement Major Accomplishment, would be more useful than him and could save his life.

After that, using the spear as an excuse, he entrusted his wife and two children to Yu Dashan, hoping the man would look after them along the way, and even after they reached the Blessed Land.

For that, he'd specially forged Yu Dashan a fine saber, one that could be called a masterpiece.

On the morning they left for the Blessed Land, he'd steamed Spirit Rice early and had his wife bring it along so Yu Dashan could eat it on the way.

Every link connected to the next. If anyone called Tiezhu a fool, they might well be the real fool.

His kneeling now had its purpose, too. If he didn't survive but Old Man Yu did, then that kneel would be like entrusting his family to him.

For the sake of that kowtow, Old Man Yu would do what he could to look after Tiezhu's wife and two children.

Who said little people had no wisdom?

It was just that the wisdom of little people was often called a little cleverness.

"All right, there's no need for this between us. Go home quietly now. Remember, don't provoke that injured beast, and block the entrance with stones.

"If you have to, hide in the cellar first.

"Maybe the beast will flee on its own before the Black Annihilation Wind Disaster even arrives."

Old Man Yu said.

"I under—"

Tiezhu nodded hurriedly, but before he could finish, a thunderous boom suddenly rang out above them.

"Rumble!"

In an instant, the thick dark clouds overhead seemed to be split apart by bolts of lightning, and the cold between heaven and earth suddenly intensified.

Old Man Yu and Tiezhu's expressions changed at the same time.

"Not good!"

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