MGA: Chapter 1308 – Protecting One’s Dignity
After this, Chu Feng and Li Xiang chatted for a long time. It turned out that the reason why Li Xiang’s body was undamaged even though he was a disciple of the Discarded Bamboo Forest was because he had originally been a disciple of the Copper Bamboo Forest.
He had only been sent to the Discarded Bamboo Forest as a punishment because he had offended someone that he should not have. He needed to be a disciple in the Discarded Bamboo Forest for three years before he could return to the Copper Bamboo Forest to train there.
Furthermore, Li Xiang also had a younger brother called Li Xiao. His younger brother was a genius and also an influential person in the Copper Bamboo Forest.
Thus, no one dared to do anything to Li Xiang.
After Li Xiang was sent to the Discarded Bamboo Forest, he had thought about changing the situation of the people here, and had wanted to help the disciples of the Discarded Bamboo Forest retrieve their dignity. Thus, he had used his own world spirit techniques to help them heal their injuries.
Unfortunately, besides himself, he was unable to protect anyone else.
Not long after he had helped the disciples of the Discarded Bamboo Forest heal their injuries, Li Xiang saw with his own eyes the scene of the Discarded Bamboo Forest’s disciples being violently beaten by the disciples from the Copper and Iron Bamboo Forests until they had once again become cripples before his very eyes.
As for him, he had been unable to do anything other than watch as those people that he had healed were beaten till they were crippled before his very eyes.
Eyes being scooped out, tongues being cut, hands being twisted in the other direction, arms being chopped off and various other bloody scenes were happening to the bodies of the Discarded Bamboo Forest’s disciples. Yet he, Li Xiang, was only able to watch, powerless to do anything.
Seeing the disciples of the Discarded Bamboo Forest undergo that sort of pain, Li Xiang blamed himself incessantly. He felt that it was all his fault. If he had not helped them heal their injuries, they would not have been tormented again.
Feeling grief and indignation, Li Xiang had not left the matter at that, and had gone off to find his younger brother Li Xiao to ask him for assistance. He had wanted his younger brother to help avenge the disciples of the Discarded Bamboo Forest.
However, his younger brother urged him to not meddle in other people’s business, and told him to properly receive his punishment in the Discarded Bamboo Forest so that he could return to the Copper Bamboo Forest after being punished for three years.
Although Li Xiang was very unwilling, it remained that his strength was limited. With no other choice, Li Xiang could only continue to stay in the Discarded Bamboo Forest, unable to do anything. And now, Li Xiang’s punishment of three years was about to be concluded, and he would be able to return to the Copper Bamboo Forest soon.
This was also the reason why he had hoped that Chu Feng would join the Discarded Bamboo Forest. He was able to tell that Chu Feng was very powerful, much more powerful than him. Furthermore, he was also able to tell that Chu Feng was a person with dignity.
Perhaps if Chu Feng were to join the Discarded Bamboo Forest, he would be able to allow the disciples from the Discarded Bamboo Forest to live more comfortably.
The disciples from the Copper and Iron Bamboo Forests had multiple different methods to bully the disciples from the Discarded Bamboo Forest.
Even though the disciples of the Discarded Bamboo Forest were living as cripples, those people were still unwilling to truly let them off.
From time to time, they would come to the Discarded Bamboo Forest and use all sorts of justifications and all sorts of methods to bully the disciples of the Discarded Bamboo Forest.
When they were unhappy, they would come to bully the Discarded Bamboo Forest’s disciples.
When they were bullied by others, they would come to bully the Discarded Bamboo Forest’s disciples.
It was so much so that when they had nothing to do and were bored, they would also come to bully the Discarded Bamboo Forest’s disciples.
It was as if the disciples of the Discarded Bamboo Forest were their playthings, their punching bags.
“I have surveyed the Discarded Bamboo Forest for a long time today and discovered that feces and the like have covered many regions of the Discarded Bamboo Forest. Those ought to also be things that they’ve done, right?”
“Mn, they will always come to the Discarded Bamboo Forest to relieve themselves. They treat our Discarded Bamboo Forest as if it’s a toilet. Furthermore, they do not allow our Discarded Bamboo Forest’s disciples to clean up their waste. They feel that as the Discarded Bamboo Forest is a filthy place, it should be covered with feces.” Li Xiang replied.
“Heh, they are truly lacking in virtue. Do they truly think themselves to be geniuses?”
Chu Feng laughed coldly. The disciples from the Copper and Iron Bamboo Forests were, after all, only disciples from the three lower tier bamboo forests. To the people from the three upper tier bamboo forests, they too were nothing more than trash.
Yet, this bunch of trash actually dared to humiliate the disciples from the Discarded Bamboo Forest. They were truly too excessive, too intolerable.
“You said that you encountered senior Hong Qiang when you first arrived at the Discarded Bamboo Forest. In that case, he must know about the bitter experience that the Discarded Bamboo Forest’s disciples are experiencing, no? As the elder in charge of this place, are you saying that he has never once done anything about it?” Chu Feng asked.
He wanted to know exactly what sort of individual Hong Qiang was, that he would not care about the Discarded Bamboo Forest even in their current state.
Could it be that the otherworldly expert that he had encountered in the Eastern Sea Region was merely a trash-like existence in the Holy Land of Martialism?
Could it be that, even with his own territory being defecated and urinated upon by others, his disciples being humiliated by others, he would not do anything about it?
“I have also asked Lord Hong Qiang about that question before. However, he only answered me with one sentence.”
“‘One’s dignity is one’s own. If one is willing to discard dignity and willingly accepts humiliation for meager benefits, then disciples like those are unworthy of being his Discarded Bamboo Forest’s disciples,’” Li Xiang said.
“He only said those words?”
Chu Feng was a bit glad. That was because the words spoken by Elder Hong Qiang were the same as what he was thinking. It meant that it was not that Hong Qiang was incapable of protecting them, but rather that he decided to not help them because he felt that this bunch of disciples failed to live up to his expectations.
“No, after he said those words, he added another sentence. He said, ‘You are the same as them; if you like staying here, then stay here and continued to receive all kinds of torments and bullying.’”
“‘If you don’t like staying here, then you should leave as soon as possible. Although you’ll lose some cultivation resources, you will, at the very least, be able to regain your dignity.’”
“He left after saying those words and I have never once seen him again. Everyone said that he entered closed-door training.”
“Originally, I wanted to chat with him again when he came out from his closed-door training. Although he does not care about the Discarded Bamboo Forest, nor does he care about the disciples of the Discarded Bamboo Forest, and seems unworthy of being the person in charge, I always feel that Lord Hong Qiang is not as useless and cowardly as he might appear. In fact, I feel him to be mysterious.”
“Unfortunately, his closed-door training this time around is longer than usual. For three entire years, he has not once reappeared.” Li Xiang shook his head in a disappointed manner.
“What senior Hong Qiang said does indeed contain deeper meanings,” Chu Feng nodded his head. He then asked, “In that case, about how long were his closed-door training sessions before?”
“It is said that the time he would be in closed-doors training varies between one, two and three months. Even when he would stay for the longest period of time, it would merely be half a year. However, this time around, he has truly been in closed-door training for much longer.”
“Thus, in the past three years, the Discarded Bamboo Forest has been the most miserable. Back then, although the disciples of the Discarded Bamboo Forest were bullied nonstop, no one dared to urinate and defecate all over the Discarded Bamboo Forest.”
“However now, after Elder Hong Qiang has disappeared for three years, there is now nothing that those people do not dare to do,” Li Xiang said with a bitter smile.
Although he had only been here for three years, he had seen with his own eyes how the disciples of the Iron and Copper Bamboo Forests had grown more and more intense in their attacks and humiliation of the Discarded Bamboo Forest.
“Sigh, when even the elder in charge is gone, it is only normal for them to be bullied,” Chu Feng sighed. However, he no longer blamed Hong Qiang.
He felt that Hong Qiang was most likely the same otherworldly expert from his impressions. Merely, his character was somewhat eccentric.
“Junior brother Chu Feng, if you can protect this place, you’ll protect them, right?” Suddenly, Li Xiang asked. His eyes were filled with hope.
“Me?” Chu Feng was a bit surprised. He did not expect Li Xiang to suddenly ask that.
“I can tell that you are different from us, that you are a person with dignity. I know that those with real dignity will not only protect their own dignity, they will also protect the dignity of their fellow peers and even the dignity of their fellow disciples,” Li Xiang said.