Chapter 427: Old Naughty Boy
About half an hour later, Xiao Luo and Ji Siying arrived at Tianci Children’s Home in Xiahai City. It appeared to be a children’s home only in name, as, in reality, it was just a fenced-up yard about the size of two basketball courts, with a three-story building inside the perimeter.
The home was dilapidated and looked like a relic of an earlier period of the city. Time had taken its toll on the premises, and there were many cracks on its walls, and a section was even totally overgrown with thick vines.
A group of children was sitting on the stone benches in the courtyard under the sun, having a meal of the porridge. On closer inspection, they were all girls, and they seemed to have some disabilities. Some of them had deformed hands or feet, and several others appeared to have mental disabilities. Their clothes were ragged, but overall, they looked neat and adequately cared for.
“These little girls are orphans abandoned by their families. They were all born with cerebral atrophy, some of them were born with cataracts, and some required blood transfusions to survive. Their parents couldn’t afford to bear the heavy financial burden, so they decided to send them here. Besides these children, the home also caters to several dozen adults afflicted with many forms of physical illnesses or cannot survive independently. Many of them are basically disabled and unable to walk, and they only stay in bed all day long,” Ji Siying said, giving Xiao Luo a brief description of the home’s activities.
Furrows began to form between Xiao Luo’s eyebrows. Looking at Xiao Luo’s reaction, it was hard to imagine the cold-blooded killer that he was. Of course, when he was going against his enemies, he could kill without batting an eyelid, but when it came to certain situations such as this one, he showed deep compa.s.sion.
As they stood in the courtyard, an old man with a head of white hair suddenly came out from one of the rooms. His hair, brows, and beard were all white, his tunic was unb.u.t.toned and sewn up with many patches, his shorts reached to his knees, and he was wearing a pair of flip flops. Most of his upper body and calves were exposed.
The old man turned out to be the white-haired beggar, Hong Ji, that Xiao Luo had confronted at the riverside that day!
When Hong Ji saw Xiao Luo, his expression suddenly changed. His eyes were filled with horror as he stared at Xiao Luo with hostility, and said, “How did you find me? You… what do you what?”
This was in contrast to the calm and confident demeanor that Hong Ji had displayed the other day. He could never forget the night when Xiao Luo ripped off his left arm.
“Don’t be nervous. I did not come with malicious intent.”
Xiao Luo walked up to him and glanced at his left shoulder where his arm should have been, and in its place was just an empty sleeve. Xiao Luo dropped his gaze with a heavy heart and said, “About your left arm… I’m sorry!”
After speaking, Xiao Luo bowed deeply to Hong Ji.
If Xiao Luo had not visited this home himself, he would not have seen what Hong Ji was striving to achieve at the children’s home. Xiao Luo was overcome with remorse and began to regret his actions and even blamed himself for causing such grievous injury to Hong Ji. Xiao Luo had no qualms about harming wicked people, but he refused to hurt people who were kind and loving. There was a saying that went—you can choose not to do good, but do not do evil to a righteous person!
Hong Ji was taken aback by Xiao Luo’s actions. He stared at Xiao Luo for a long time, then smiled and said, “There’s nothing to be sorry about. I provoked you first, so the fact that you did not kill me was already a form of kindness. The person that has to apologize should be me because I sought material possession and was willing to attack someone. Losing an arm was the wake-up call that I needed, and it has prevented me from straying down the wrong path. I think it was worth it.”
“Old man, your realization only makes me feel more guilty,” Xiao Luo responded.
Hong Ji smiled at Xiao Luo, for he was genuinely willing to forgive and forget. “Young people should not allow themselves to be entangled in the past. Instead, they must look to the future,” he said, “Some things that happened have already happened, entangling yourself won’t change it. If you’re always thinking about the past, how will you look toward the future? How will you make your career?”
“Had we first met under different circ.u.mstances, I think we would become good friends,” Xiao Luo said, and he meant every word of it as he felt he could see eye-to-eye with this old fellow.
“For you to come here already makes us friends,” Hong Ji said.
“Really?”
“Of course!”
Hong Ji smiled, and his whole face brightened up. He gestured toward the door and said, “Come in, even though this is a humble place, but there is still tea that I can offer to our guests.”
“Don’t you hate me?” Xiao Luo asked.
Hong Ji shook his head, and with a sigh, he said, “What’s the use of hating? Can hate give me back my arm? Can hate help all these people here in this home, provide them with food and clothing?”
“Old man, you are certainly an interesting person. Regardless of whether you are telling the truth or lying, this card is for you. The pa.s.sword is six eights, take it as a form of compensation,” Xiao Luo said, as he took out a bank card from his pocket and handed it over to Hong Ji.
“Young man, you have to think of your own career path, you don’t have to do this. Take it back,” Hong Ji said, waving his hands.
“Don’t you need it? The one million dollars in here could help this home out for a long time, “Xiao Luo responded.
“Huh? There is one million?”
Hearing this, Hong Ji gasped, and he instantly grabbed it with speed so fast that the card disappeared in a flash, like a conjuror’s sleight of hand. Before anyone knew it, he had already hidden it in his pocket. “Why didn’t you say so earlier that there was so much money here? I almost made a mistake and lost a million dollars!” he cried.
Huh…?
Xiao Luo and Ji Siying looked at each other, speechless and barely able to suppress a laugh. Hong Ji was quite a character—only a moment ago, he expressed the lofty ideals of a virtuous man, but they were cast aside for an offer of money in the next instant.
Xiao Luo cracked up, for it seemed that his mouth said one thing while his hand did another. “Old man, you could at least uphold your honor and maintain that image as a virtuous person,” he said.
“Having the image of a virtuous person image doesn’t bring in the money. I thought you were some working-cla.s.s guy and didn’t have much money on your hands. But if you can offer a million dollars, then surely, it’d seem you are the big boss. Did you mention about compensation earlier? Give me another few million. When it comes to money, the more you give, the better, and I will never refuse. If possible, you could invest in the reconstruction of the entire home,” Hong Ji said, rubbing his index finger and thumb together with a mock look of grimness on his face.
Ten thousand, a hundred thousand, rebuilding the home?
Xiao Luo laughed lightheartedly as the feeling of guilt began to fade. “Old man, aren’t you being a little shameless here?” he teased.
“Ah, Look at the way you young people speak… that is really not a nice thing to say. You can’t do that in society, or you will lose many opportunities in this world,” Hong Ji responded.
Xiao Luo smiled without replying. He was just an old naughty boy, Xiao Luo thought, serious for a moment, then cynical the next.
“Old Ghost Hong, I am here today to determine the winner. It’s to be a fight to the death!”
Suddenly, a booming voice thundered across the courtyard. It was delivered with an internal force so powerful that it caused their eardrums to hurt.
Then, a figure dashed in through the gate like a gust of wind, so swift that it appeared like a time-lapse of after-images, reaching the courtyard in a fraction of a second. He was a tall man with a dignified mien and was dressed in white robes. He had very fair skin and completely white hair and a beard, with a high pointy nose and deep-set eyes that looked sharp and alert.
“Old Poison, you have come at the right time. I was feeling frustrated, and I didn’t have an outlet for my anger!”
Hong Ji said, cast his playfulness side, and locked his eyes on the ominous-looking visitor.
“Come on, then, I’m glad to be of service! It’s now time to fight… wait a minute, what happened to your left arm?” the white-robed old man asked. He was surprised to see Hong Ji’s condition and immediately restrained the inner power within his body.
“Ah, I thought it was getting in the way, so I cut it off… why do you care about this? Are you my son too?”
Hong Ji sneered at the white-robed old man. He turned to Xiao Luo and then took out the bank card. “Young man, I will return this card to you. Since you want to compensate me, promise me one thing. If I am unfortunately killed by him, you must help me to continue maintaining this home,” he said, “Don’t let all the people from this home have nowhere to go except back to the street to beg. Even though I am the master of the beggar sect, I hope our sect will cease to exist one day. When it’s gone, that means that our countrymen will be living good lives!”