Chapter 1319: Chapter 1318: Sold by the Pound
Saint Sage Master Akumali has only just gone to the Divine Kingdom, and these people...
The First Disciple felt a kind of grief and anger. When he first followed Akumal, Akumal was still just an ordinary man, a little dull-witted in other people’s eyes.
Back then no one believed Akumal’s ideas could illuminate the whole world; only he and a handful of others—the very first Ascetics—thought they could.
As for all those later followers, these disciples, in the First Disciple’s eyes they were no longer so pure.
Some of them were after fame. Once Akumal’s ideas spread, becoming his disciple no longer just made you famous in Nagariel; it made you famous across the entire world.
People would talk about how many disciples Akumal had, what each disciple was good at, what deeds they had accomplished.
That kind of reputation might not immediately change their fate, but it could, bit by bit, alter the trajectory of their lives.
Some came for money. Akumal never refused "offerings," which were also part of the native religious culture.
Put simply, it meant the people donated things to the gods, and the Priests were not allowed to refuse—
It sounded like a pretext the Priests used for not refusing anything, but who cared? It had always been this way for so many years.
Because those things were given to the gods. Priests were not gods; they could not decide on the gods’ behalf. So they had to offer those things up to the gods, and as for whether the gods wanted them or not, that was for the gods to decide themselves.
Offering was a traditional religious culture. Some people believed in Akumal but did not know how to express it; donating money, donating Goldware, was obviously the most direct way.
Akumal did not refuse such donations either. It was not that he was particularly greedy. Up to the day he died, apart from the wages he had earned working for Lynch, there was not a single cent in his own account that came from other people’s offerings.
He handed this money over to his disciples to manage, to cover his daily expenses.
He was not an ignorant man. He knew his daily travels required money, various activities required money, and at times he needed to help people who needed help.
Becoming Akumal’s disciple meant not only having access to money, but also being able to make money.
Some people wanted the chance to be introduced to him in private, and that too required "offerings." So long as power existed, so long as authority was in one’s hands, there was no money that could not be gotten, only lazy people who would not go and get it.
These people had gathered around Akumal for all sorts of reasons. Now, when the First Disciple looked at them, there was something subtly different in his gaze.
The dinner continued. In the dining room, the only sound was the noise of them chewing, food crushed between their teeth.
The atmosphere was a little oppressive. Interestingly, there was already little sadness left on these faces; some even looked remarkably calm.
As the First Disciple ate, he put down his plate. He picked up his napkin, wiped his mouth, and set it beside his plate.
"Although the Saint Sage Master has already returned to the Divine Kingdom, we... still have to continue spreading his ideas."
The others all finished eating as well, and their eyes all fixed on the First Disciple.
In fact, up to this moment, one very critical issue still had not been resolved.
Akumal was dead. Who, then, was the preacher who would inherit his thought?
Whoever could inherit that position would not only be shouldering the banner of spreading Akumal’s thought and spirit, but would also gain immense international renown and status.
Akumal’s death was not simply a matter of him dying. Leaving aside all the complicated matters, whoever became the "successor" would attract much greater attention!
Anyone with half a brain understood this.
The situation in Nagariel now and in the future would be even more complicated. By then it would be hard to say whether anyone could keep themselves outside all the problems.
No one could guarantee that, which meant everyone was facing considerable risk.
Now, there was something that could give them a bit of a sense of security. Who would not want it?
No one spoke. The First Disciple scrutinized each face in turn; in the end he lowered his head slightly and looked at the plate in front of him. "As the teacher’s first disciple, this is a responsibility I ought to take upon myself..."
"Atao..."
The First Disciple’s name was Atao. He too was a commoner. In Nagariel, people whose names began with the syllable "A" were commoners.
They had no surnames. From the nobility’s point of view, these people ought to be classed as low-born; only the privileged classes counted as commoners, and above them were the nobles of the ruling class.
The one who spoke was the Second Disciple. He was obviously different from the others. Though his clothing was also low-key, beneath the plain outer robe was an exquisitely made gown.
He had a surname and belonged to the privileged—indeed, the ruling—class. The Second Disciple was in his thirties. Smiling, he said, "No one can take the teacher’s place in doing this. Not you, not me, none of us."
"All we can do is use our own abilities to do as well as we can. No one can do better than he did."
"Nor should this be anyone’s particular responsibility. And if it must be, then it is all of ours."
He phrased it very cleverly. He did not say "I," but instead said "you," and that "you" referred to the First Disciple.
In an instant he united the other disciples in isolating the First Disciple, Atao, turning him into someone who wanted to seize power, or someone trying to grab more authority.
Atao looked at him. He was not angered by this sophistry. He only said calmly, "I wasn’t thinking that way. If you’re all willing to do this together, so much the better."
The Second Disciple bowed slightly with a smiling face and apologized. "I misunderstood you. I apologize for my behavior, Atao."
"I forgive you."
What lay behind that calm voice, no one knew.
The meal broke up quickly. After Atao returned to his room, he stood in front of Akumal’s photograph for quite a while, then began to sit in meditation.
Akumal had loved to sit in meditation. It allowed him to gather his full attention to think over certain issues and then look for solutions or other explanations.
So everyone else also sat in meditation when they encountered problems.
The power of example was limitless; that was the influence Akumal had on those around him.
Atao knew very well what sort of situation lay ahead, and the other disciples understood it just as clearly.
After the Second Disciple returned to his room, he dialed a secret phone number...
Everyone was busy doing their own things, dialing phones or quietly contacting others. They seemed to be engaged in all kinds of unnecessary activities, while pointedly forgetting to mourn, commemorate, or reflect on their Saint Sage Master!
Within a few days, the news that Akumal had been stabbed to death had spread throughout Nagariel. More and more people began to run about over Akumal’s death, looking for the so-called truth.
Led by Akumal’s youngest disciple, they threw stones at the areas where foreigners lived, attacked foreigners who were alone on the streets, and even smashed and looted foreigners’ shops!
In an instant the people of Nagariel seemed to recall certain events from a few years ago. Some began to fall silent, but others began to stir!
The whole of Nagariel Society, because of Akumal’s death, fell into chaos!
"If he knew his death could have such a profound impact on this society, he ought to be satisfied."
In the Federation, Lynch had been invited to attend a policy consultation meeting held by the Federation Government.
Many countries held such meetings regularly, where the top levels of government solicited opinions from the public. In fact, this practice was very good.
It allowed the top leadership to see and hear images and voices that came from outside official channels.
The world was not necessarily full of flowers; it might also be less than satisfactory.
The Federation Government was somewhat worried about developments in Nagariel: whether the situation there would harm the legitimate interests of Federation Merchants, and whether limited intervention was necessary.
Lynch, as a senior figure in the United Development Company and the "issue expert" who had pushed for the grand development of Nagariel, was not an unexpected invitee to such a consultation.
At this moment, after a brief round of discussion, it was already Lynch’s turn to speak.
Present were many high-ranking figures of Federation Society; besides the top levels of the Federation Government, there were senior members of Congress and a large number of Senators.
If there was anything that could, in one stroke, touch the Federation people’s nerves, it was, without a doubt, Nagariel.
When Lynch proposed the policy of "using all of Nagariel’s strength to feed the Federation people," its effectiveness and feasibility had already been proven by the passing of time.
Once the situation in Nagariel slipped out of control, it would deal a heavy blow to the development of every sector in the Federation.
The first to be hit would be those capitalists who had set up factories in Nagariel. They would take the first wave of impact.
Then, after losing a source of cheap, rough-processed supplies, the processing and manufacturing industries would face soaring prices for parts and raw materials. In the end, the Federation’s entire industrial production and economy would be dragged into the vortex.
Precisely because everyone knew how frightening this could be, so many people had shown up.
"Mr. Akumal’s death is a sorrow for the entire world."
Lynch looked at the well-dressed ladies and gentlemen as flashbulbs kept popping, each burst of light casting the lines of grief etched on his face into sharp relief.
"This is a loss for the world!"
He stressed the point.
Then he slightly raised his voice. "But I believe Mr. Akumal would not want us—the entire world—to fall into paralysis because of his passing."
"I had a deep friendship with Mr. Akumal. When he came to the Federation to refine his theories, I gave him great help."
"I know what sort of man he was. More than anyone, he wished for peace in the world, and he actively spread that idea—those great ideas!"
"Yet some things, though great, are not necessarily right..."
