Chapter 834: Chapter 513: Desire Is the Ladder of Progress_2
"It’s just a piece of clothing!" Bode shouted.
"Yeah, so I’m asking where it came from, and why do you need to wear clothes?"
He shook his head, ignoring Bode, stood up, and waved to someone closer, "Come here."
The resident was a middle-aged man, in clothes that were worn and full of patches.
Not only him, but everyone around had similar clothes, and they hadn’t had new ones for a long time.
"Do you want a new piece of clothing?" Sage asked.
The man shook his head, without any worldly desire, "As long as clothes can be worn, I have no other requirements."
"I see..."
Sage nodded, raised his hand to unleash a gust of wind, slicing through his jacket like a sharp blade, separating it, and letting the wind blow it to the ground.
Then, he pointed to a white dress on the ground torn apart by the transformation, and said:
"This one’s mine, that one’s yours, now let you choose."
"It doesn’t matter what I choose; patched up, it can still be worn." The middle-aged man remained indifferent.
Hearing this, Bode smiled.
"Is that so? It’s not the same, you know. Your clothes are just ordinary fabric; look at them, full of patches, poorly stitched, and a strong wind will blow right through."
"My clothes are different. They are made from the most expensive fabric on the sea, using the fur of the Sea Antelope. This type of Sea Beast is fast and hard to catch, and only the tuft of hair on its back is the most precious. My fabric is made from the top hair of a hundred Sea Antelopes."
Sage said, "Such clothes, who knows how many of yours it could buy."
A flicker of emotion crossed the resident’s eyes, but he still prepared to shake his head.
"Don’t rush to refuse; this fabric also has a unique feature. Even if it’s torn, if mended properly, it won’t show any seams and will never look old."
"Think about it, clothes that don’t wear out, and if they tear, they can be easily patched without notice, combining breathability with warmth, drying quickly. With this one piece, you won’t need to change clothes anymore; just wear this one."
"Its only drawback is its price, but I’m giving it to you for free now, not a penny needed. Just pick it up and put it on...and then you can have something worth a thousand, ten thousand times the clothes of those around you. Wearing it not only saves you trouble but also makes you stand out."
"But..."
The middle-aged man’s eyes were increasingly conflicted, seemingly suppressed by something as he bit his lip, "I’m still..."
"You don’t have any desires anyway, do you?"
Sage’s tone was as if possessed by a demon, "Choosing any of them is still choosing, after all, they’re all the same."
The middle-aged man had an epiphany, nodded, and uncertainly asked, "Really give it to me?"
"I never speak falsely," Sage bared his teeth.
"Thank you, then!"
The middle-aged man quickly picked up Sage’s clothes and put them on, revealing a smile completely devoid of the indifference in Bode’s eyes, but rather full of...
Joy?
"This is temptation!" Bode angrily said.
"And you using your power isn’t?"
Sage chuckled, "Besides, from the start, when he made the choice, the issue was already clear."
"If there truly was no desire, he should have picked up my clothes immediately because they’re all the same. Just like me, being too wealthy means wearing anything doesn’t matter. Wearing good ones feels justified, and wearing bad ones doesn’t feel impossible. Of course, when unnecessary, I choose to wear good ones..."
He turned his head and said to Bode:
"But I won’t choose. Once people have choices, it means they have desires. Did you think asceticism isn’t a desire? Why insist on wearing rags? If you must choose modest attire to showcase yourself, that in itself is a desire, so..."
Sage’s mouth curled into a smile, "Human desire cannot be fully absorbed!"
"No, that’s not it, it’s not..."
Bode’s face turned pale, his originally resigned eyes now filled with panic and some resentment, "That’s not it! Desires, desires are ugly things, desires..."
"Desires are good things."
Sage interrupted, sweeping his hand to summon a whirlwind that gathered the broken rings into tiny golden beans.
"You all have a chance too!"
He called out to the others, "There’s only one piece of fabric like this, but don’t you want it? Now’s your chance. See the gold beans in my hand? There are ten in total. I’m going to throw them out, and whoever picks them up first can trade with me for this fabric!"
His words gradually changed the looks in everyone’s eyes, but they still didn’t move.
Sage added fuel to the fire, "This is gold! With it, you could buy a new piece of clothing, or some nice patches, add some new wool to make your clothes warmer and more durable, as the weather is about to get cold. I’ll throw them out now; if you grab them, they’re yours!"
A brief silence.
Finally, someone’s eyes flashed with intensity, unable to resist shouting, "Can we really trade the beans for fabric if we grab them? What if it’s fake?"
Snap.
As soon as he finished speaking, a gold bean hit his forehead and fell, caught instinctively by him.
"Good question, a reward for you. Next time the ship comes, take this bean to trade. In the name of disaster, I guarantee you can trade for it!"
