Chapter 136 – It’s difficult to do good
(Wednesday’s regular Chapter.)
Jun Mo Xie was a born killer…. He had always been calm, cold-blooded and had barely ever shown any affection towards anyone. Even in his previous life, he had only cared for his master, and a handful of his mates. As for his present life, he was only concerned with the well-being of his grandfather, and his uncle. In fact, even Guan Qing Han, his sister-in-law didn’t receive this kind of concern from the hitman, so there’s no point in talking about others. Jun Mo Xie would often show compassion towards people in distress, but when it came to actually caring for them, he’d politely decline.
“Of course, kindness also has its limitations and drawbacks. If I was left standing on one leg someday, then these people will probably be the first ones to abandon me; but if we have the ability, we must bear in mind that a man doesn’t need a reason to save another!”
Even though Jun Wu Yi was baring his emotions undisguised, Jun Mo Xie wasn’t exactly being influenced by them.
But still, he agreed with his uncle’s statement: A man doesn’t need a reason to save another!
The ability to do good deeds isn’t the natural temperament of a cold-blooded heart; however, doing good deeds is a hard task, and one must make sure that they only help people who are willing to help themselves, otherwise both men are consigned to eternal damnation together!
Jun Mo Xie obviously understood this truth far better than his uncle.
“Anyway, why did you come looking for me in such a hurry?” Jun Wu Yi asked.
“Well, I need some Xuan Beasts, low level and high level, preferably at least one beast of each level… as high as level eight if possible.” Jun Mo Xie smiled slyly.
“High level Xuan beasts? You must be dreaming, so wake up Mo Xie!” Jun Wu Yi looked at his nephew with a funny look in his eyes: “And did you just say level eight Xuan Beast? Arranging lower level Xuan Beasts might be possible…. Level four or under. But once you start talking about level five, level six…. Even if we were lucky enough to find any, they’d certainly be riddled with disabilities, or loss of functions. As for level seven or above…….you’re literally dreaming.”
“Only low-levels? That’s also okay, I can make do with them alone. By the way, even if you can find crippled level five or level six Xuan Beasts, get them. As long as they are alive, please send them to me.” Jun Mo Xie looked quite serious: “I require them by tomorrow morning!”
“Understood; I’ll arrange them.” Jun Wu Yi didn’t show the slightest signs of hesitation, so much so that he didn’t even ask Jun Mo Xie’s purposes. He was too concerned with the expenditure of this venture of his nephew’s….. Level five or six Xuan Beasts were immensely expensive… even the crippled ones!
“Thank you very much uncle!” Jun Mo Xie was very serious.
“Well, now that you’re back, help me in taking a look at the children that we’ve managed to bring in. I’ve been busy in evaluating their situation for a long while now, and I could use a second opinion.” Jun Wu Yi’s face looked a bit tired.
“Sure Third Uncle, I’ll take a look.” Jun Mo Xie stepped inside the room.
The thirty-nine children in the room had obviously been washed more than once by now, and had already been provided with beds, and snow-white beddings, but even that wasn’t enough to hide their stench. Apparently, some dirt had already infiltrated their skin, and had embedded itself deep into their bones; cleansing their bodies over such a short period of time was obviously not possible….
Each of these children was thin; as thin as a match. These thirty-nine children had only one thing in common; their limbs were deformed, while their tongues were amputated. In fact, more than twenty of them had been stabbed in their ears, which meant that they were actually deaf and dumb at the same time.
Jun Mo Xie sighed as his blood boiled with rage!
The heavens cannot tolerate such acts! Once I find you, I will make you pay a hundred times over!
These children had already eaten a meal, so there facial color was looking a lot better; they looked a lot livelier now. The moment Jun Mo Xie came in, they immediately realized that he was the man who had saved them, and although they were incapable of saying it, they expressed their gratitude with their eyes.
For the first time ever, whether in this life or the one before, Jun Mo Xie exposed a lukewarm smile to appease those poor children, and approached the one closest to him for inspection.
His speed of inspection was obviously a lot faster than that of his uncle.
Jun Mo Xie finished his inspection after a while, stood up with a heavy face, and winked at his uncle to make a gesture, and the two men stepped outside.
“Some of the smaller ones are hopeless.” Jun Mo Xie gritted his teeth: “The bones of three of them have rotten to such an extent that their entire lower body, including their waist bones have completely rusted…. Their death is just a matter of time now…. even a miracle drug won’t be able to save them. Even though they are still breathing, they are practically struggling on whilst at the door of death. However, with unconditional support, they might be able to carry on for about two more weeks, but these two weeks will be very painful and nothing more than pure torture!”
Jun Wu Yi’s clenched his fists; tightly.
“There are several others whose hands and feet have reached the point of necrosis, and their meridians have been completely degraded. They will probably never recover, and will have to lead an abnormal life.” Jun Mo Xie lowered his voice: “Then there are twelve others… if we cut off their limbs and parts below their waist, then they might be able to live on. But such a life….. they will just be alive… not even men or women; just alive.”
Jun Wu Yi held his breath as wave of cold air washed over his face.
“As for the rest, their condition is much better; maybe they weren’t subjected to those jars for long, or maybe there was some other reason, but their deformities aren’t as serious. As long as their bodies are nursed properly, their hands and feet could be broken once, and then grown again with the help of careful medical treatment. In fact, this re-growth could be accelerated with the help of proper medication. Later, we could break off their limbs again, and then we could use Xuan Qi to cleanse and reopen their meridians. After re-growing their limbs the second time, they might be able to recover to a very good extent.”
“However, conducting this treatment for even a single person would cost several million taels of silver, and even that won’t ensure the success of the treatment. In fact, my biggest concern and our biggest hurdle will be breaking their bones twice. We won’t simply be breaking their bones, we’ll also have to ensure that their meridians don’t get affected, and we’ll need to ensure that their meridians continue to flow uninterrupted…. Such treatments are extremely painful, and…..”
Jun Mo Xie’s eyes deepened: “Ordinary people cannot bear so much pain. And even after such a painful medical procedure, their best and most optimistic chance is to be capable of achieving sixty percent of a normal human’s functionality!”
Jun Wu Yi gasped!
Jun Wu Yi had already experienced the medical expertise of his nephew first-hand, and trusted his judgement completely. So basically, even if he was fortunately enough, and was able to save some of these people, even then they wouldn’t be able to lead a normal life, and would still live a life of relative torture and misery!
“If Third Uncle must save them, then I will advise that you be prepared to spend millions of taels of silver in advance by the most conservative estimate; and I’m not even taking into account the cost of the medication post their treatment yet. Even after a successful treatment, the body of the patient will be at its lowest possible functionality, and the physical conditioning of the patient will require expensive drugs, which will be very essential in restoring their physical abilities, and we’ll need to provide them with all this throughout their medical treatment. In other words, just the cost of the post medical treatment is expected to cost fifty thousand taels per head, which is considered an astronomical amount in most other families!”
“Uncle, I hope you don’t take my words to heart? I know that our Jun Family has a very deep and rich patrimony, but you have to recognize the problem here…. as the head of the house. Once you tread on this path, and continue to destroy the other dens of sin alongside, you will receive many such children…. Do you think we will be able to save them all? If you wish to provide salvation to all such children, then I believe that you will need the support of more than just the Jun Family. In fact, even the entire Tian Xiang Kingdom will not have enough power to bear the burden of such an immense financial expenditure.”
“If Third Uncle insists on bearing this responsibility till the end, then there will only be one end result: The Jun Family will eventually be destroyed along with such children.”
“I do not oppose the Third Uncle’s benevolence to do good deeds, but in this matter, you must stop here! You cannot initiate this instance!”
As Jun Wu Yi listened to Jun Mo Xie’s calm and cold-blooded analysis, his face started becoming more and more serious, and a fresh wave of depression started to wash over his soul.
It’s difficult to do good!
Jun Mo Xie sighed deeply. If a family as influential as the Jun Family took the initiative for a charitable cause such as this one in the previous world, and called upon the community to set up a fund, they could have easily established orphanages or similar such places for the support of such children, and would have been able to provide them a good life regardless of their physical condition; but was such a feat possible in the feudal monarchy of this world?
The answer was undoubtedly ‘no’!
Even if there was no issue of money involved, failure to carry out such a campaign successfully would be very embarrassing for a family of the Jun Family’s caliber; and in case the Jun Family was able to succeed alone in their venture, then they would gain the support of the public masses, which would only agitate the royal family!
Under such a feudal system, even doing excessive good deeds could lead to a complete disaster!
“Just as you say, I will not take this initiative very far…. tomorrow I’ll make arrangements for the children in the warehouse to be sent over to the manor. As for these people…..” Jun Wu Yi had already bitten the bullet: “I cannot stop halfway now! I cannot allow them to return empty handed after bringing them to the Jun Family’s home! But it’s just this once!”
“Well, that’s the Third Uncle’s decision, but there are about fifteen or so children who are a lost cause at this point…. Uncle must immediately make arrangements to make their life happier as long as they are alive, and when the moment comes….. Uncle must relieve them of their pain! They will not be able kill themselves, and even though it seems very cruel, but for them, death will be no short of freedom! But Uncle, please remember your words…. Just this once!”
Jun Wu Yi nodded sadly.
“In addition to arranging for their treatment, you must leave two personnel with them, who must be willing to relieve them of their suffering when the moment comes….. Uncle, you mustn’t be soft-hearted in this regard…..” Jun Mo Xie continued: “Third Uncle, I would like to ask if this will cause any problems with respect to the financial condition of our family? I know I speak out of turn, but……”
No matter the world’s setting, no one can develop a family without money; you need to have money, and you need to channel it wisely! A family must make these decisions collectively since a family is a continual system. But once the younger generation is forced to ask such questions to their elders, the situation can be very embarrassing for the latter, since they are facing the concerns of their successors.