Chapter 154: Chapter 152: Persistent Sage... Never Give Up...

(A/N):

Drop a meme here that you find funny. Or reflects your mood.

Guys I hope you put more comments and power stones... Which will encourage me...

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For a few moments Sage Veenadhara simply stood there.

The rejection had already struck him harder than he cared to admit.

Yet before he could recover, the two merchants completely ignored him.

Devara clicked his tongue lightly toward the bulls.

"Come on, boys."

The bulls immediately resumed walking.

The cart creaked forward.

The wheels rolled across the dusty road.

And just like that... They started leaving.

Leaving.

As though the great Sage Veenadhara Kashyap was nothing more than a roadside distraction.

The sage stood frozen.

"...."

Watching the cart move farther and farther away.

Then realization struck.

His challenger was escaping.

"WAIT!"

Veenadhara hurried forward.

His robes flew behind him as he rushed ahead and planted himself in the middle of the road once again.

The bulls stopped.

One of them looked particularly annoyed.

The other seemed to be questioning its life choices.

Devara slowly looked down at the sage.

His face remained calm.

Shakuni meanwhile was struggling so hard not to laugh that he had started examining a random clay pot with tremendous concentration.

Veenadhara straightened himself.

"You cannot leave!"

Devara blinked seeing the sage once again blocked the path.

"Why not?"

"Because I challenged you!"

The answer came immediately.

The disguised king scratched his moustache thoughtfully.

"That sounds like your problem."

A nearby villager listening from inside a house nearly fell off his chair.

Veenadhara’s eye twitched.

Again.

The sage pointed dramatically.

"If you wish to pass through this road, you must first accept my challenge."

Devara nodded slowly.

-Nod!

"As I thought."

The sage smiled. Finally.

Reason.

Understanding.

At last the merchant was seeing sense.

Then Devara casually pointed toward another road.

A narrow pathway winding through flower fields.

"If not this road..."

His voice remained relaxed.

"...then I’ll use that one."

The sage’s smile vanished hearing the answer of Devara.

"...."

The cart slowly turned.

The bulls obediently changed direction.

Devara muttered under his breath.

Just loud enough for Veenadhara to hear.

"The world isn’t so poorly designed that it has only one road."

The sage froze.

"...."

His blood pressure immediately rose.

A vein visibly appeared on his forehead.

Somewhere inside a nearby house, a villager whispered,

"He said it."

Another villager nodded.

"He actually said it."

Veenadhara spun around.

The cart had already begun heading toward the alternative path.

"No!"

The sage practically sprinted.

His veena bounced against his shoulder as he ran.

Before the cart reached the new route, Veenadhara threw himself into the path again.

The bulls stopped.

One of them let out a long suffering snort.

Even the animals seemed confused by the situation.

Devara raised an eyebrow.

The sage pointed accusingly.

"You cannot use this path either!"

"Why?"

"Because I challenge you!"

The merchant looked genuinely curious.

"So every road belongs to your challenge?"

Veenadhara opened his mouth.

Then paused.

"...."

Then opened it again.

Devara continued to ask.

"What about that road?"

He pointed elsewhere.

Veenadhara immediately turned.

"I’ll block that one too!"

The answer came before he even thought about it.

Silence followed.

"...."

"...."

"...."

The sage slowly realized what he had just said.

Meanwhile Devara looked at him.

Then at Shakuni.

Then back at the sage.

A small smile appeared beneath the enormous moustache.

Shakuni finally lost the battle with his smile.

A cough escaped him.

-Cough! -Cough!

Then another.

Then he quickly covered his mouth.

The sage ignored him.

His entire focus remained on Devara.

Because something felt different.

Normally people feared him.

Respected him.

Admired him. Or hated him.

This merchant was doing none of those things.

Instead...

He seemed amused.

As though watching a child stubbornly guarding a toy.

The realization irritated Sage Veenadhara even more.

"No matter where you go!"

The sage declared dramatically.

"I shall follow!"

"Until you accept my challenge!"

Devara looked genuinely impressed.

"You have a lot of free time."

The sage puffed out his chest.

"I am a great sage."

Devara nodded his head in understanding.

"Which explains why you’re spending your afternoon chasing pottery merchants."

The words hit like an arrow.

Several villagers hidden behind windows immediately covered their mouths.

One old farmer silently sat down before he injured himself laughing.

Veenadhara’s face turned red.

"...."

For several seconds no words came out.

The sage had challenged kings.

Scholars.

Poets.

Musicians.

Philosophers.

Yet somehow this moustached merchant was proving harder to deal with than all of them combined.

Meanwhile Devara simply sat atop the cart.

Watching. Observing.

Learning from the reaction of the sage.

Every reaction. Every expression.

Every twitch. Every boast.

Guru Durvasa had been right.

The sage possessed knowledge.

Talent.

Wisdom.

Skill.

The problem was that all those gifts had become trapped behind a mountain-sized ego.

And Devara was beginning to suspect that defeating Veenadhara in a contest would accomplish nothing.

The real challenge would be convincing him that the world did not revolve around Sage Veenadhara Kashyap.

Unfortunately for the sage... That lesson had already begun.

And he didn’t even realize it yet.

The entire day became a nightmare for Sage Veenadhara Kashyap.

Not because somebody challenged him.

Not because somebody defeated him.

Not because somebody insulted him.

But because somebody completely ignored him.

For a man like Veenadhara, that was far worse.

The villagers secretly watched from behind windows and slightly opened doors.

They had never witnessed such a thing before.

Usually when Veenadhara arrived, people either accepted his challenge, argued with him, feared him, or tried to avoid him.

This merchant was different.

The sage would challenge him.

The merchant would ignore him.

The sage would boast.

The merchant would ignore him.

The sage would recite poetry.

The merchant would ignore him.

The sage would play his veena.

The merchant would still ignore him.

By midday, Devara had parked the bullock cart beneath the giant banyan tree.

After that, he spent his time doing everything except listening to the sage.

At one point he sat on the grass and started carving shapes into a fallen branch.

Veenadhara challenged him.

Devara nodded politely.

-Nod!

"...."

Then continued carving.

Later he started making tiny animals from leaves.

A rabbit.

A cow.

A bird.

A turtle.

The village children watching secretly from windows became fascinated.

Sage Veenadhara challenged him again.

Devara simply held up the leaf turtle.

"Look."

The child hiding behind a window giggled.

The sage nearly exploded.

A little later Devara was lying comfortably under the shade of the banyan tree.

One leg crossed over the other.

Chewing on a blade of grass.

Watching clouds drift across the sky.

Veenadhara stood beside him.

"Challenge me."

Devara looked at a cloud.

"Challenge me."

Devara pointed upward.

"That cloud looks like a cow."

The sage’s eye twitched.

Five minutes later.

"I Challenge you."

"That cow cloud now looks like a goat."

Ten minutes later...

"I Challenge you."

"Interesting."

"What?"

"The goat became a potato."

The sage gripped his veena tightly.

Nearby, Shakuni had completely abandoned any attempt to help.

He sat under another tree enjoying the spectacle.

Even the villagers had begun placing silent bets on how long it would take before the sage burst from frustration.

As the afternoon continued, Veenadhara followed Devara everywhere.

Like a shadow.

An extremely annoying shadow.

When Devara drank water.

The sage challenged him.

When Devara fed the bulls.

The sage challenged him.

When Devara stretched.

The sage challenged him.

When Devara stared at flowers.

The sage challenged him.

At one point Devara spent nearly half an hour watching ants carry food.

The sage stood beside him waiting patiently.

Convinced he would eventually accept.

He did not.

By sunset, Veenadhara looked as though he had aged another ten years.

The beautiful orange glow of evening spread across Mallikavana.

The flower fields shone beneath the fading sunlight.

Birds began returning to their nests.

The villagers were still secretly watching.

Nobody wanted to miss what happened next.

Because everyone could see it.

The sage was nearing his limit.

Finally... He snapped.

"ENOUGH!"

The shout echoed across the village.

-Flutters! -Flutters!

-Flutters!...

Several birds flew from nearby trees.

Devara lazily opened one eye.

"....."

Veenadhara pointed dramatically at him.

His beard trembled with frustration.

His robes were covered in dust from following the merchant around all day.

"If you are truly a man..."

He took a deep breath.

"Then accept my challenge!"

Silence followed.

"...."

"...."

"...."

Even the villagers held their breath.

Devara remained lying beneath the banyan tree.

For several moments he simply stared at the sky.

Then he let out a sigh. A very long sigh.

-Sigh!

The sigh of a man whose afternoon nap had finally become impossible.

Slowly he sat up.

The villagers immediately became excited.

Shakuni sat straighter hearing the sage’s words.

Veenadhara’s eyes lit up.

At last. Finally. Victory.

The sage crossed his arms proudly.

"I knew you would eventually accept."

Devara brushed grass from his clothes.

Then stood.

Stretching casually.

The sage’s smile widened.

Around them, villagers began peeking further from their windows.

Word spread rapidly.

The merchant had accepted.

The merchant had finally accepted.

Soon dozens of eyes secretly watched from every direction.

Devara looked at Sage Veenadhara.

The sage immediately straightened.

His confidence returned.

His smile returned. His pride returned.

"...."

At last things were proceeding properly.

Then Devara spoke.

"I’ll accept."

The sage looked victorious.

"But."

Immediately Veenadhara frowned.

"But?"

Devara raised a finger.

"I have conditions."

The sage laughed confidently.

"Anything."

The villagers immediately exchanged knowing looks.

That was exactly the kind of thing somebody says before regretting it.

Devara continued to explain his condition to the sage.

"First."

"If you ask a question and I answer correctly..."

The sage nodded his head he was confidence.

"Then I get to ask one."

The sage blinked.

That seemed reasonable.

"Accepted."

His answer came instantly.

Devara continued with a smile.

"If I answer your question..."

"You cannot dismiss my question later."

The sage waved his hand dismissively.

"Naturally."

He was already convinced victory was inevitable.

Devara nodded his head hearing the confirmation.

"Good."

Then he smiled slightly.

The same smile Shakuni immediately recognized.

The smile that appeared whenever Devara had already planned five steps ahead.

Unfortunately for Veenadhara...

The sage noticed nothing.

He was too excited.

Too eager. Too confident.

At long last, he had found a challenger.

And in his mind, the outcome was already decided.

The villagers, however, felt very differently.

Because for the first time all day... The merchant looked interested.

And somehow that worried them far more than Sage Veenadhara’s challenges ever had.

The entire village seemed to be holding its breath.

"...."

"...."

"...."

The sun had nearly disappeared beyond the horizon.

Golden light painted the flower fields of Mallikavana.

The massive banyan tree stood quietly at the center of the village.

Beneath it sat two men facing one another.

On one side was Sage Veenadhara Kashyap.

Master of music.

Master of poetry.

Master of riddles.

A man whose pride had grown alongside his reputation.

On the other side sat a simple pottery merchant.

Or at least that was what everyone believed.

Around them, hidden behind windows, doors, walls, and rooftops, countless villagers watched.

Even Shakuni sat quietly nearby.

A small grin remained hidden beneath his enormous fake moustache.

Sage Veenadhara adjusted his robes.

A confident smile spread across his face.

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(Author note:)

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Don’t forget to review guys...

Guys I have a new fic which named: Karuppan: King of Openings.