The Fragrance of Knowledge Part 1

The moment he finished mocking himself, the surrounding scene changed again. This time, what appeared before Yu Zhen was an incomparably familiar little Taoist Temple.

His heart jolted, and he couldn't help but step forward. However, an invisible barrier blocked his path, preventing him from getting any closer.

A sound of footsteps came. He turned his head to see the man who was his father by blood, holding a sleeping infant and approaching the Taoist Temple along a dirt road. Perhaps due to the apprehension of returning home, he actually stopped halfway down the road, hesitated for a moment, and then directly tossed the child into the grass before turning and striding away.

It was late autumn and early in the morning, with mist still lingering in the woods. The infant wasn't wearing much, just lying there on the dew-kissed grass, so quiet it was as if he were already dead.

Yu Zhen stared blankly at the man's receding back, his hands unconsciously clenching into fists, his expression tense, and the rims of his eyes turning a little red.

Creak—

The wooden door of the Taoist Temple was pushed open from the inside. An old man with graying hair, wearing a Daoist robe, stepped out. He too gazed at the man's receding back, sighed heavily, and walked forward to pick up the infant still lying in the grass.

"This is all karmic debt..."

The old man lamented, touched the infant's frozen face, lifted the hem of his Daoist robe to wrap the child, then turned and quickly walked back into the Taoist Temple, not sparing another glance for the man who had left.

"Grandpa."

Yu Zhen couldn't help but call out softly, wanting to follow the old man back into the temple, but the barrier remained. He could only watch helplessly as the old man's figure disappeared behind the door.

The desolation of being abandoned in his heart lessened slightly. He stared foolishly at the temple gate, the tense aura around him slowly softening.

However, the scene suddenly changed again, turning into a construction site.

The gray-haired old man was carrying a child who only knew how to giggle foolishly on his back with a strap. He stood before a man who looked like a foreman, pleading bitterly for a job.

But the foreman impatiently shooed him away, scolding him for wasting time while mocking him for thinking he could find a well-paying job with a child in tow. Did he think everyone was running a charity?

The old man left with a sigh. He spent the last of his money to buy a bowl of noodles for the child, while he himself returned to the Taoist Temple on an empty stomach.

Yu Zhen's heart trembled as he watched, his eyes reddening again, unable to believe that his grandfather had ever gone through such hard times.

The scenes began to change faster.

The old man took the child everywhere to look for work, but he was met with rejection at every turn. Their days grew harder and harder, often not knowing where their next meal would come from.

As if the hardship wasn't enough, the mentally unclear child was also insensible. Because he was too foolish, he would always run around uncontrollably, causing the old man to be unable to rest well. Despite his old age and lack of energy, he had to force himself to stay alert to take care of him.

Director Huang from the village couldn't bear to watch any longer. He brought over some food and necessities and advised, "Send the child to an orphanage. If you keep carrying him like this, you'll drag yourself to death."

The old man shook his head and sighed, "I can't. This child is simple-minded. He'll be bullied if I send him to an orphanage. No, I can't."

"But with him, how are you going to get by? Before he came, your life was so much easier. Look at yourself now. Take my advice and send him away."

The old man still shook his head, extremely stubborn.

"Send him away," Yu Zhen said from outside the scene, looking at the old man's thin and gaunt face, unable to stop himself from adding his own plea. "Send him away, Grandpa. You're too tired. Send him away."

The hard days seemed to have no end.

The foolish child grew up day by day, and the old man's hair grew whiter and whiter. Finally, one day, the child who had only known how to giggle foolishly suddenly opened his mouth and called out, "Grandpa." The old man was ecstatic and began to ponder sending the child to school.

But for schooling, where would the tuition come from? There was no such thing as compulsory education in that era.

The old man left the village again, talking himself hoarse until he finally got a job at a construction site. Then, he accidentally fell from a high scaffold, a pool of blood spreading on the ground beneath him.

"No!"

Yu Zhen hammered at the barrier with all his might, wanting to check on the old man lying on the ground, but the scene before him suddenly vanished completely. In the pitch-black space, only a child with a foolish smile on his face stood before him.

The tragic sight of the old man lying on the ground with blood slowly seeping from the back of his head intertwined with the foolish smile on the child's face before him. Yu Zhen's chest heaved violently, and his eyes gradually turned red.

"What are you smiling about?" he strode over, crouched down, and reached out to touch the child's neck, his gaze slowly losing focus. "Grandpa suffered so much for you, how can you still smile?"

The child continued to smile at him, his face full of innocence.

"Don't smile!"

Yu Zhen roared, a faint Baleful Qi emanating from his body, his fingers beginning to tighten their grip. "It's all your fault... all your fault! It would be better if you were never born! If it weren't for you, none of this would have happened! If it weren't for you... Just die!"

Boom—!

In the infinite sky above, a clap of thunder seemed to explode.

As his fingers tightened, the golden seed inside his Dantian began to vibrate slowly, faint cracks appearing on it.

[Yu Zhen, hold fast to your true self!]

A deep shout suddenly rang in his mind. Yu Zhen's body shuddered, the red light in his eyes receded slightly, and his gaze slowly cleared. Then, upon realizing what he was doing, he was so shocked that he immediately retracted his hand.

The child's figure disappeared.

"How could I do that? No, that's not me, it's not..." He collapsed onto the ground, staring at his hands. When his gaze fell upon the ring on his finger, all the negative emotions like fear and panic in his heart suddenly dissipated, and his reason returned.

No, something wasn't right.

"It's fake."

He stood up and carefully recalled the details of those scenes, his tone shifting from hesitant to certain. "It's fake. Grandpa was never injured in a fall, nor did he ever go to a construction site. It was all fake."

He indeed had no memories from before elementary school, but he was certain of one thing: his grandfather was not short of money.

Although the old man lived a frugal life, he had never worried about money. In fact, when a lonely old man in the village fell seriously ill, and Director Huang organized a fundraiser to pay for his treatment, his grandpa had stunned everyone by taking out fifty thousand yuan all at once.

After he started earning his own money in college, he had been worried that the old man wouldn't have enough money at home and had sent some back, only for the old man to return it all untouched, with a note telling him to just ask if he was short on money, and Grandpa would give him some.

After decades of living together, he was very sure that his grandfather was not the type to put on a brave front in front of the younger generation. When he said he had money, he really had money; he wasn't lying.

His fluctuating emotions slowly stabilized. He looked around the pitch-black space and suddenly smiled. "Xu Wu, you're so cunning."

To be able to see through the most secret negative emotions in his heart and amplify them.

Ever since he was a child, the thing he wanted least was to become a burden to his grandfather.

And as for his birth and his parents... He touched the ring on his hand, thought of the bottle of rose essential oil he had made before bed, and said, "One cannot choose their birth. Whether my parents died early or abandoned me, the one who raised me was Grandpa. And there are others now who are good to me, whom I call my parents. So, it doesn't matter."

Life is a one-time thing. Since he was already here, there was no point in dwelling on the circumstances of his birth. What mattered was the future.

Crack.

The sound of the seed cracking was heard.

The surrounding darkness suddenly receded completely. A gentle breeze blew past, carrying waves of floral fragrance. He found that he had once again become a seed, surrounded by warm soil. Then, sunlight shone down, he cracked open and sprouted, slowly breaking through the earth, and saw the sun for the first time.

His consciousness gradually emptied. He comfortably sank into the warmth given by the sun, striving to absorb nutrients and grow slowly.

In the early morning, an international flight landed at B City airport.

In first class, an old man suddenly turned his head to look at the B City sky, raising his eyebrows in surprise.

"Grandpa, what is it?" The young man sitting next to him saw his strange expression and asked curiously, also looking out the window, but he couldn't see anything. He guessed, "Could it be that Evil Demon that appeared a while ago is causing trouble?"

"Evil Demon?" the old man retorted in a strange tone, then suddenly stood up and huffed coldly, "There's no Evil Demon, but I do see something of an auspicious omen. That bunch of guys frantically called me back, saying some Evil Demon had appeared. I think it was all a trick to get me back! Let's go, time to settle the score with them!"

The young man was stunned. He looked hard at the sky outside again and scratched his head in confusion. "Auspicious omen? Where? Why can't I see it..."

Yu Zhen's advancement meditation this time lasted for a full twenty-odd days, which translated to about two or three days in the outside world.

Fortunately, Yin Yan was prepared this time. He had informed Chou Feiqian in advance, using the excuse that Yu Zhen was secretly preparing New Year's gifts for the family to placate them and spare them from worry.

Yu Zhen came out of the pagoda at noon. Compared to the hesitation and uncertainty when he went in, he seemed much more composed coming out this time.

Yin Yan was waiting outside the pagoda. He didn't ask much when he saw him come out, only tilting his head to gesture and say, "Wash your hands. It's time to eat."

Hearing this, Yu Zhen didn't move. Instead, he turned to look at the slowly fading Black Tower and called out, "Xu Wu."

The Black Tower disappeared completely, and a white cat appeared, rubbing against him while flicking its tail.

Yu Zhen crouched down to greet it, then reached out... and pressed down on its head.

"You little rascal." He rubbed Xu Wu's small head vigorously, a cordial and kind smile on his face, but his hand misbehaved and moved toward its hind legs. "How dare you make Grandpa look so miserable... I've been curious for a while, as a pagoda-turned-cat, do you have a gender? Here, don't move, let me confirm."

Xu Wu froze and tried to turn and run.

However, the current Yu Zhen was no longer the Yu Zhen of the past. With his cultivation advancing a stage, his physical fitness had made a qualitative leap. He caught it effortlessly and went to pry its legs apart with a savage grin.

"Meow? Meow meow meow!" Xu Wu struggled, pleading for help from Yin Yan who was standing at the door.

Sensing its intention, Yu Zhen's teasing actions hesitated slightly, and he also turned to look at the doorway.

As the old saying goes, you have to consider the owner before you beat a dog. By the same token, you should also consider the owner's face when you tease a cat.

"Don't play for too long. I'll go get the rice," Yin Yan said, ignoring Xu Wu's plea for help, then turned and left.

Yu Zhen retracted his gaze with satisfaction and extended his wicked claws toward the poor little cat.

Xu Wu's eyes widened in shock as it struggled helplessly. "Meeeoowww—"

After tormenting Xu Wu and eating a full meal, Yu Zhen was completely satisfied. He excitedly ran into the Revolving Vessel to feed the orchids and the small seedlings, then ran out again and dragged Yin Yan out the door.

"I've figured out what to do with the Merit Plants. We don't need to use existing plants; seeds will do."

The mall wasn't far, so the two walked out. Yu Zhen was somewhat hyper, his face flushed. He explained the idea that had popped into his head during meditation as they walked. "Merit Plants, right? They just need to carry Merit. Plants grow from seeds, so we can just nurture the seeds with Merit. After they sprout naturally, we can find people who possess merit to plant them. Wouldn't that also count as Merit Plants?"

"Also, didn't you say the construction site is next to a school? Could we try to organize an event for the children to come and adopt a plant for free, and appropriately borrow some of the children's youthful energy? Of course, the prerequisite is that we must ensure the children's safety."

"I've already thought it through. The Bodhi Lotus is so effective, it would be the perfect medium for nurturing the seeds. But I'll need your help with this. We need to decide in advance how many plants the leisure center's landscaping needs, what types of plants, and what sizes. I need to buy the seeds according to the list and start cultivating them ahead of time."

As Yu Zhen spoke, he became embarrassed again, his voice growing quieter. "And then there's finding people to do the planting, organizing events, and all that. That would probably require using the Yin Family's connections..."

Yin Yan had been listening quietly. He finally spoke up, saying, "This was the Yin Family's project to begin with. You're helping me, so you don't need to feel burdened."

That's what he said, but in the end, with all this work, he was the one who would benefit the most.