Chapter 163: Chapter 142: The Story of the Tree

Ever since raising the rebel flag, the people of Yizhou City have been somewhat apprehensive.

Although they nominally sided with the hero who slew the villainous thugs, the hero’s attitude left them uncertain—though the hero hadn’t left Yizhou City, he showed no intention of ruling over them.

This left the citizens of Yizhou City feeling bewildered, especially the prominent families, who were even more indecisive.

They tried to send gifts, but all were returned; they attempted to invite him to the governor’s residence, yet he withdrew into the old barracks and never came out—if once or twice it signified mere courtesy, then after more than ten days, even the dullest person would have seen this obvious refusal.

"So why are you refusing? Isn’t being a hero a good thing?"

Yang Xuan, the old Yang, was the first to find Du Chengfeng, and this old man was also the most anxious.

"Although geographically, Yizhou can’t be considered a suitable place to start a rebellion, we lack geographical advantage but have the people’s support, don’t we? Furthermore, the time is right, with the Southern Chen’s smoke and war everywhere..."

"No, no, no, I really didn’t mean that."

Seeing that the old Yang was even more anxious than himself, Du Chengfeng couldn’t help but shake his head repeatedly.

"It really isn’t the case. I just feel... alas, it’s hard to explain such things."

Old Yang shook his wheelchair away, only feeling that Du Chengfeng must have something wrong with his head.

Perhaps persuading him again next time might be better; whether the Yang family can thrive once more entirely hinges on this.

The second to find Du Chengfeng was Cui Yuan, but rather than looking, it was more of an encounter—in passing, after the usual passionate sparring, Du Chengfeng and Cui Yuan took a break.

"I believe that if sir becomes this hero, it would not be a bad thing."

Lying on the ground, Cui Yuan thought for a moment and gave his opinion.

"After all, being a hero means fame, and fame means more fights to engage in, more fights mean more battle experience, which is beneficial for strength enhancement."

Speaking of which, Cui Yuan couldn’t help but lift his head in puzzlement.

"Haven’t you always done this, sir? Why at this time do you have doubts?"

"It’s not that..."

Du Chengfeng scratched his head, quite distressed.

He truly didn’t know how to explain to Cui Yuan, as even his own feelings were indeed a bit vague.

After sending Cui Yuan away, having not grasped that feeling for half a day, Du Chengfeng simply picked up some appetizers and went to the home of Carpenter Li.

"If you don’t want to do it then don’t."

After three rounds of drinks, the wine-breathed Carpenter Li forcefully patted his shoulder.

"No matter what you do, brother, I will support you. Whether you want to be a hero, rebel, or remain like now, not want to be a hero—at worst just leave, there’s no need to live so exhausted. Truly, there’s no need."

"Not to the point of leaving..."

Though he said this, Du Chengfeng still felt somewhat relaxed.

Even though this Carpenter Li couldn’t do much, he was the first to offer him complete trust.

The only problem was, Carpenter Li’s alcohol tolerance was particularly poor, three drinks in, he had already crawled under the table.

And so Du Chengfeng could only carry the remaining cheap wine to Liu Bolun’s place.

"So why is it that you don’t want to be this hero?"

Semi-drunk, Liu Bolun paused, then beckoned Du Chengfeng to sit down. 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"Can you tell me your reasons?"

"Feeling... unfit, maybe?"

Du Chengfeng scratched his head.

Indeed, being a hero might be a good thing, or rather it should be an excellent thing. The entire city was praising him, exalting him, calling him the hero who saved Yizhou City, raising him high; whatever he wanted, someone would bring it, he wanted a place to stay, even the governor’s residence was cleared for him, everyone was expectant, expecting him to become the hero of Yizhou City, to govern everything in Yizhou City.

Yet, so many days past, this sensation of universal attention was something he still couldn’t quite adjust to.

"Perhaps you might call me wishy-washy, but this feeling is indeed quite unaccustomed."

Drinking cheap wine, Du Chengfeng lifted his head to gaze at the sky.

Just like that day when people raised him in mid-air, they clustered around him, lifting him high, suspended in the air, nowhere to gain leverage, hands pushed against his back—he had turned his head with great effort, but by then he was already lifted high, the blinding sunlight made him squint, while the faces of those below, he could not see a single one clearly.

"That’s roughly the feeling."

Du Chengfeng sighed.

"It’s not that I can’t face it, just... quite uncomfortable."

"Is it... Well, indeed."

Liu Bolun scratched his head.

"Do you remember the story about the big tree I told you?"

"...I remember."

Du Chengfeng nodded, not quite sure why Liu Bolun suddenly brought this up.

Back then, he had already given the answer, one only needed the power to uproot the tree, then even those who wanted to chop it would need to first face his blade.

"Then let me tell you another story about a big tree, not that previous big tree."

Drinking wine to moisten his throat, Liu Bolun continued.

"Long long ago, there was another big tree, grown lush and leafy, straight-trunked; nearby farmers discovered the tree, occasionally picking up firewood beneath it, the tree didn’t mind those fallen branches, these were already useless to the tree, helping out others was a good thing."

"Mm..."

Accompanied by Liu Bolun’s tale, Du Chengfeng continued to listen.

At first, just a few farmers came to collect firewood, for their fires back home, later, gradually more children came to the tree picking fruit, but only one or two. The tree itself was indifferent, as these were trivial matters to it, being loved, being useful to people made the tree happy instead.

Years passed, the children gradually grew up, learning to use tree branches as wooden swords, sparring with companions. Only fallen dry branches clearly weren’t enough, so they climbed the tree, breaking off branches.

This time, the tree still felt nothing, these to it were merely trivial matters.

Even to make it easier for these children, the tree allowed its branches to grow ever straighter.

Time continued, those once-children grew ever older; with age, their needs increased, like poles for hoes and shovels, or sticks to mount spearheads, sometimes they required rafters to build houses, and those straight branches from the big tree were perfectly fitting.

"Finally, people cut down this big tree, using it as the beams for a shrine... after all, this big tree had accompanied them for so long, it deserved this honor."

Here, Liu Bolun sighed.

"I still remember, last time you said, as long as the big tree was willing to uproot, it could survive... So what about now?"

Liu Bolun raised his head to look at Du Chengfeng.

"When do you think this tree would be able to uproot itself?"