Chapter 3948 Wear Mourning Clothes
Long Chen was extremely irritated by these mouth-sprayers. He had wanted to be low-key, first seeing the situation in the Vermilion Bird Empire before thinking of how he was going to propose. He had thought that he had to know the other side first before he could be sure of victory.
However, now that he was being targeted by these brainless scholars, his fury instantly surged. As a result, he no longer cared about being low-key and whatnot. He directly sat on the stage and challenged those fellows.
“A frog at the bottom of a well cannot speak of the sea, a summer bug cannot speak of winter? You say that my hands are soaked in blood? Then what about the chickens, ducks, and fish that you eat? Are you not soaked in blood as well?
“Sorry, but I’m a vegetarian. I don’t touch meat or fish,” sneered the scholar, seemingly prepared for such an argument.
“So a vegetarian doesn’t kill? Why don’t you look at the bottom of your shoe?” retorted Long Chen.
That person was startled. Seeing everyone look at him, he sneered, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
However, he still lifted his foot. This shoe was completely clean, the bottom so glossy without the slightest imperfection. The Vermilion Bird City was so clean to the point of being untouched by dust.
“And? Did you want to buy my shoe? Sorry, but these shoes are for scholars only. You’ll never wear them in this lifetime,” mocked the scholar.
“Idiot, is a pair of shoes enough to make you ascend to the heavens? I was talking about your other shoe,” said Long Chen indifferently.
The scholar then raised his other foot. The bottom of this shoe was as glossy as the last, but there were some black spots on it. Looking more closely, everyone saw that the black spots were tiny ants that had been stepped to death. Their corpses were stuck to the bottom of his shoe.
“So, tell me, are you soaked in blood now?” asked Long Chen.
“You…! This was only an accident!” raged the scholar.
“An accident? Oh, so you can take lives if it’s an accident! Didn’t that other fellow say that when all lifeforms are equal, we can talk reason? Well, ants are also lifeforms, and they also have families. They have aunts and uncles, and perhaps those with high status and wealth even have multiple wives! Perhaps if they work hard, they can even have a hundred children, a thousand grandchildren! As for you, you killed one with your foot and waved it off as an accident? Do you know how much pain you’ve caused their father, their mother, and their children? If you really want to talk reason, you should take responsibility. A life for a life. Atone for your sins with your death in front of everyone! Otherwise, where is the justice? If you don’t even follow your own principles, who would listen to you talk reason?” demanded Long Chen.
“You…!” The scholar was ashen with rage. He had only stepped on some ants, but this guy wanted him to repay it with his life? Was this guy mentally ill?
“What you? Do you want to talk reason or not? I’m talking reason with you from the viewpoint of the ants. So why aren’t you talking?” demanded Long Chen.
The cultivators all smiled, feeling Long Chen to be quite interesting. It was rare for a cultivator to have such a slippery mouth. Seeing the scholars looking sour, they felt as refreshed as if they were drinking iced mead on a hot summer day.
“An ant can’t talk, so why talk reason to it?” shouted another scholar.
“What did you say?” Long Chen pretended not to hear.
“An ant can’t talk, so why talk reason to it?” said the scholar more loudly.
“What did you say?”
“An ant can’t talk, so why talk reason to it?!” This time, the scholar roared it.
“What did you say?”
“I said that an ant can’t talk, so why…” The scholar shouted as loudly as he could. But because he wasn’t a cultivator, he lost his voice midway.
“I can’t hear what you’re saying, so that means that I don’t need to talk reason with you, right? You didn’t hear the screams of the ants before their death, so you don’t have to talk reason to the ants. Since you say that you can’t hear the ants, I can just say that I can’t hear you. The principle is the same. To put it frankly, it’s just a matter of covering your ears and seeing who is more shameless. Don’t act so superior. Looking at your arrogant expressions makes me want to slap you in the face, if for nothing else than to feel good.” Long Chen shrugged indifferently. His appearance was even more arrogant than the scholars.
Long Chen’s words were a bit rascally, but the logic was there. Just like that, Long Chen continued to con them. Without getting past this con, they didn’t even need to think about talking reason.
“Having me pay with my life is completely illogical. You’ve killed so many lifeforms, so what right do you have to criticize me?!” raged the scholar.
“I’m not the one criticizing you. These are your own criticisms. I’ve killed lifeforms, and you’ve killed lifeforms. Although the quantity is vastly different, talking philosophically, there is no difference. Are you not a pot calling the kettle black?” asked Long Chen.
All the scholars present had ugly expressions. Long Chen was too sinister. Without resolving this matter, he refused to further debate anything. Now, all the scholars had lost face.
“Then according to you, how can such matters be resolved?” demanded the scholar who had stepped on the ants, throwing the problem back at Long Chen.
Long Chen smiled. “I’m also someone who likes talking reason. Paying with your life really does seem a bit overboard. However, if you were to put away its corpse properly and kowtow three times, then wear mourning clothes beside the coffin for seven seven-day periods, it should be about right! If you agree, we can set this matter aside and keep debating.”
“You!” The scholar was enraged. According to the empire’s standards, only when close family passed away would someone wear mourning clothes beside the coffin. Furthermore, most family would only be watched over for seven days. Watching over it for forty-nine days was a treatment fit only for your own father or mother. After the forty-nine days were over, the children would observe mourning for three years.
Although Long Chen didn’t request for him to observe mourning for three years, to stand by the ants’ coffin for forty-nine days was equivalent to treating the ants as solemnly as his own father and mother. That was no different than an insult.
“You brought disgrace upon yourself. You stepped on it, so you must pay for it. You scoffed and looked down on a certain person, attacking them not to talk reason, but to embarrass them and make yourselves appear learned and superior. Since you want to trample someone else to elevate yourselves, you have to be prepared to fall and kneel in dogshit. I’m not someone who accommodates other people’s faults. If someone respects me, I respect them more. If someone takes a bite out of me, I’ll devour them whole. Since you don’t care about your face, I won’t leave you any. If you agree, let’s continue. If you don’t agree, then this debate ends here. It’s all up to you.” Long Chen looked at the scholars indifferently.
Long Chen could see the fury in their eyes, but he didn’t care. If they wanted him in a bad mood, he’d have them in a bad mood. It would only be fair once everyone was pissed off.
“Fine, I agree!”
In front of everyone’s shocked gazes, that scholar peeled off the ants from the bottom of his shoe and kowtowed to them three times.
Everyone was shocked and then looked at the smiling Long Chen. Now, this fellow had fully offended the Philosopher Institute.
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