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Chapter 125: Life (Handsome guys and beautiful girls, vote now!)
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Dou Mei had forgotten how she came into this world and her previous memories. All she knew was that her current name was Wang Yu, the only son of the local Wang family patriarch. He could get anything he wanted, so his heart became increasingly empty. He spent his time bullying men and women, creating chaos within a ten-mile radius. However, the Wang family patriarch doted on his only son and spent money to bribe officials, so all his misdeeds were suppressed.
However, the good times didn't last long. The patriarch of the Wang family suddenly died, and the Wang family lost its pillar. The younger generation was still idle and lazy. Before long, Wang Yu squandered most of the family's wealth, and the rest was either divided up by relatives and powerful people or stolen by servants.
In just six months, the Wang family fell apart, leaving only Dou Mei alone. From being a young master to now having to carefully budget even for meals, Dou Mei felt no sadness or dissatisfaction despite the ups and downs of his life. Instead, the emptiness in his heart grew stronger and stronger, causing him immense pain.
This kind of life lasted for about ten years. During those ten years, he ran out of money, so he became a commoner and started working in the fields every day to make ends meet.
At first, many people laughed at him, but later everyone gradually forgot about it.
Over the course of ten years, he married and had children. At the same time, he used the money he earned from farming to start a business. He happened to meet a benefactor who gave him some help, and he quickly rose to prominence, gradually restoring some of the former glory of the Wang family.
By the age of forty, Dou Mei was already incredibly wealthy, with countless wives and concubines, and a house full of children and grandchildren. However, he still felt empty inside, unsure of what he wanted to do. He seemed to have forgotten his original identity.
One day, Dou Mei was admiring the flowers in the garden when a servant suddenly informed him, "There is a Taoist priest outside the gate requesting an audience, saying he can relieve your worries!"
"A Taoist priest?" Dou Mei pondered for a moment, then ordered someone to take him to a side hall.
Dou Mei sat in a chair, and an old Taoist priest with a mustache and a thin build followed her into the house. He was wearing a faded Taoist robe, and had a kind smile on his face. He was very approachable and made a good first impression.
"This humble Taoist greets the Master!" The old Taoist bowed, his mustache twitching upwards as he said with a grin.
"Why do you say you can relieve my sorrows!" Dou Mei cut straight to the point, showing no interest in chatting with the old Taoist priest. Her heart was extremely empty, and she was increasingly disgusted with this boring world. However, she would not choose to die until she found something to fill the emptiness in her heart.
The old Taoist priest had a weathered face, but when he heard Dou Mei's question, his smile became even brighter, as if he had become more than ten years younger, and his originally hunched back straightened up.
All that could be heard was his loud voice: "Does the layperson feel extremely empty, unable to be filled by either sorrow, pain, or joy!"
Upon hearing this, Dou Mei excitedly stood up from her chair, grabbed the old Taoist priest's hand, and said excitedly, "Taoist priest, do you have a solution?"
The old Taoist priest smiled without saying a word, and with a slight exertion of his arm, he broke free from Dou Mei's grasp, took a step back, and created some distance.
Dou Mei was stunned when she saw the old Taoist priest open his hands. But when she saw the smile on his face, she realized what was going on and quickly signaled to the servant beside her to bring one hundred taels of gold and hand it to the old Taoist priest.
However, the old Taoist priest did not take it, but looked at him with a smile. Dou Mei thought that the old Taoist priest was not satisfied, so she sent someone to bring another hundred taels, but the old Taoist priest still did not accept it.
No, although he was dissatisfied, in order to fill the emptiness in his heart, he gritted his teeth and asked in a low voice, "How much does the Taoist priest want? As long as I can give it, I will definitely not refuse."
The old Taoist priest took the whisk in his hand and waved it gently. He bowed again and said, "Mundane things are of no use to me. Now I have calculated that you and I are destined to meet, so I have come to tell you that I want to resolve the emptiness in my heart. You will know tomorrow night when you go to the desolate mountain."
"Taoist Master!" Dou Mei was about to ask again when a strong wind suddenly swept through the side hall, making it impossible for Dou Mei to open her eyes. When the wind subsided, the old Taoist priest had disappeared.
"Where is the Taoist priest?" Dou Mei turned to the servant beside her and asked.
"Master, where did this Taoist priest come from? Weren't you admiring the flowers?" The servant was somewhat puzzled, but seeing the anxious expression on Dou Mei's face, he answered meekly.
"What!" Dou Mei was startled. When she looked again, she realized that she was not sitting in the side hall, but had been admiring the flowers in the garden. It seemed that everything just now was a dream.
"A barren mountain..."
Dou Mei muttered to herself, then sat on the stool in a daze, remaining there until the afternoon.
The following night, after making inquiries, Dou Mei came to the desolate mountain alone. The vegetation was barren, there were no wild animals, and even the haystacks were dry. It was terribly desolate.
Several hours later, Dou Mei searched the desolate mountain carefully, but found nothing. She couldn't find a single person, as if the old Taoist priest was playing a trick on her, or even if it was all just her imagination.
Dou Mei sat on the mountaintop, gazing up at the starry sky. Countless brilliant stars shone brightly. All things decay, but the stars endure forever.
"Humans are so insignificant..."
Just as Dou Mei was marveling, countless bright stars slowly sank closer and closer to her. The stars connected together, forming an enormous human face. The face was indistinct, but one could feel its majesty and grandeur. All things submitted to it. It was like the master of this world, the supreme ruler of destiny.
"This is it..." Dou Mei felt the immense pressure and supreme majesty, and the emptiness in his heart gradually subsided. For the first time, he experienced satisfaction. At the age of forty, tears streamed down his face as he knelt on the ground and kowtowed devoutly.
The face in the night ignored him, or rather, couldn't see him, just as a person wouldn't care whether an ant on the roadside was actually worshipping him. So Dou Mei's calls had no effect whatsoever, and she could only watch helplessly as the face disappeared.
Dou Mei watched the giant human face depart with a sense of loss, and the emptiness in her heart surged again. This feeling was more painful than death, because even death could not free her from this emptiness.
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The next day, the locals had another topic of conversation: after distributing his fortune to his sons, the patriarch of the Wang family disappeared.
No one knew why he divided up the money or why he left; everyone thought he was possessed!
Many years later, people discovered a simple Taoist temple on the desolate mountain. Inside the temple was only an old man with his hair in a topknot. Every day, he would worship a faceless statue. Even if someone asked him, he would not answer, but would simply burn incense and meditate quietly.
Thirty years later, the old man was nearly a hundred years old. He ate wild vegetables and tofu every day, and all his teeth had fallen out. Since there were no miracles at the Taoist temple, there was naturally no incense offering. Most of the time, he prayed alone in front of the statue of the god.
But he was different today. His face was covered with age spots, he walked unsteadily, and his eyes were so cloudy that he could hardly see. Even so, he still knelt before the statue of the god and prayed devoutly, as if only in this way could he find peace in his heart.
The old man sat on a prayer mat, his body already plagued by illness. He struggled to light an incense stick, knelt down devoutly, and said weakly, "I am Wang Yu. I have served you for fifty-nine years. My life is fulfilled, but I am about to die and will no longer be able to serve you."
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Chapter 126: Experimentation and Manufacturing
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After the old man finished speaking, he kowtowed devoutly, then propped himself up to meditate. This should be the last time he meditated. Looking at the temple that had been his companion for fifty-nine years, although it was dilapidated, he felt happier and more content than when he was living a life of luxury in the royal palace. He had found a faith that filled the emptiness in his heart. His life was fulfilling. He only hoped that after he died, he could serve before that great being.
The blood flow slowed down, and the old man felt colder and colder. Every detail of his life flashed through his mind, from being pampered as a child to the decline of his family, from getting married and having children to distributing his wealth to serve God. The old man felt that his life was complete except for one thing.
"Great being, may I know your name?" The old man lowered his eyes, drowsiness began to wash over him, and as soon as he closed his eyes, it would be eternal sleep. So, in the last moment of his life, the old man raised his head and asked the statue.