He raised his hand and pointed at the doctor.

He saw disbelief appear in the doctor's eyes and a hint of understanding within it. This understanding made Su Ming remember something, but it was soon overcome by grief.

The doctor fell to the ground, breathing his last…

Su Ming threw his head back and laughed brokenly. As his laughter echoed in the air, it seemed to act as a response to the forlorn calls of the woman in the rain…

On that night, the doctor wasn't the only one who lost his life. The four midwives and everyone else were the same. When the morning arrived and the rain ended, their corpses had already been buried in the darkness.

With Su Ming's status in the county town, he only needed to spend a rather large sum of money to resolve this matter. Everyone's lives continued, and time slowly pa.s.sed. One year, three years, six years…

The baby girl slowly grew up. She was an obedient little girl that was full of youthful vigor, but she was not loved by her father. When they were alone, she could only see her father's aloof gaze.

Her only companion was the son of the teacher in her house. He was a boy who learned with her. He had been born several months before her and had grown up alongside her.

Su Ming did not like the little girl, because she was too similar to her mother. It made him remember his deceased wife, and an intense pain like that of his heart being ripped apart would strike him.

He loved to silently stare at the sky during rainy days. He would watch the rain fall and the world be enveloped by a curtain of water. Then, without realizing it, he would remember everything that had happened a few years ago.

On one rainy night, Su Ming stared at the rain, and at the instant he closed his eyes, the world was reduced to pieces and turned into a gigantic vortex. When he opened them again, the fragments instantly merged together and regrouped.

He was no longer the little girl's father, but a thin middle-aged man with a scar on his face who dressed in long robes. He was very knowledgeable, but had an ugly face. Due to it, he had been repeatedly treated as a liar, and he had never been able to achieve his ambitions. He could only become a teacher in a house that belonged to some official in a county town.

"Teacher, when man does plenty of good, the heavens will always reward them, is it true?" A clear, puzzled voice reached Su Ming's ears. He lowered his head and saw two children sitting in front of him in the room used to teach.

The two children were about six or seven, and they were a boy and a girl. The one who asked the question was the little girl. Her eyes were full of innocence as she stared at Su Ming.

He only had two students. One was his son, and the other the daughter of the official.

He had always taught his son to be kind and to do what was right, to live like a pine tree and never give up. He had also taught the little girl who was not loved by her father to be independent, to not be sad, and to grow up kind…

"Of course it's real. Doing good is the way to become a proper human being. If everyone did good, there would no longer be unkindness in the world. Remember this, people are born kind. We do not do good for the heavens, but instead, when we help others, we will receive a baptism of our hearts," Su Ming said softly with a smile.

"I know, I know. Grandpa, I saw someone fis.h.i.+ng yesterday, so I asked the old fisherman to let go of the fish. This is an act of kindness," the boy immediately said loudly with a laugh.

"All things in the world have souls. The kindness you performed today saved a life, and you will surely be rewarded in the future," Su Ming said with a smile.

This time, he no longer retained a single one of his past memories. Even the hint of doubt in his heart from the previous cycle had disappeared without a trace. He had truly become someone of this world.

"Then when I see someone fis.h.i.+ng in the future, I will also do good."

It seemed like the little girl did not want to admit that she had lost to the boy. She cast a glance at him and pouted.

Su Ming stared at the two children's expressions, and a smile appeared on his face. When the sun gradually set, he ended his cla.s.s for the day, and based on his habit, he went to one of the noodle stalls in the county town. He sat there and ordered a bowl of noodles with hot soup. It tasted pretty good, which was why he seemed to always come to this place.

The owner of the noodle stall was an old man with a head full of white hair. He was dressed in gray robes, and he had always made his own noodles over the years. Even if he sometimes had a worker, the younger person would only be in charge of helping and a.s.sisting him.

When he only had a few customers, the old man would smoke his pipe while sitting on the large stone by the stall. He would use the gra.s.s on the side to weave gra.s.s puppets while he watched the pa.s.sersby around him. Occasionally, he would drink some wine with his customers. His eyes were slightly muddled, but every single time Su Ming looked towards the old man, he would have a strange feeling.

It was as if he could see a hint of compa.s.sion in the old man's eyes, along with the anguish behind it.

This hadn't changed over the years, but Su Ming did not ask. He liked this place. He loved sitting at the noodle stall and drinking hot soup while watching the people in the world outside. It was a good time to think about his life.

On that day, when Su Ming put the bowl down, he raised his head and saw that the old man was staring at him as usual. Su Ming remained silent for a moment before he suddenly spoke.

"Old man, why do you always look at me? This isn't something that has happened just once or twice. Over the years, every single time I come here, you stare at me."

The old man tapped the tobacco pipe against the ground. As he smiled, he spoke softly, with words that carried a profound meaning. "It is not I who is staring at you, but you who is staring at yourself."

Su Ming stared at the old man. After pondering over his words for a moment, he found himself unable to understand the meaning behind them and shook his head.

"You don't understand, huh? Heh heh, I am watching and waiting for the day you will no longer come and… another you arrives."

Su Ming frowned. Just as he was about to speak, he heard the old man mumble to himself.

"The fisherman always comes here, because I buy his fish. Only with it can I make the soup for my noodles taste like seafood… Not all children are kind-hearted by nature. Only when they are taught to be kind will they try to persuade the fisherman to let go of the fish they caught...

"The heavens have Dao, and Dao has reincarnations. If that child was not dragged away by the fish, the wife of the official would not have been possessed and forced to give birth. If that was the case… the doctor would still be the doctor and not a corpse… The official would also still be the official. He would not have become a man who did not love his own daughter.

"If that was the case, he would also not have the teacher teach his own daughter, but would instead teach her himself. Perhaps he would not teach her how to perform deeds of kindness, and she would not persuade the fisherman to release the fish...

"And because of it, the teacher would not be around, and his son would also not be around…"

When Su Ming heard this, his heart trembled. He suddenly stood up and stared at the old man in a dumbfounded manner. He could vaguely feel like something in his mind was about to break, but at that moment, the old man sighed softly. He stared at Su Ming with a complicated gaze. This gaze made him feel like… he was staring at a bronze mirror which reflected himself.

"You have yet to arrive at the moment when you gain the epiphany. Go on, be on your way…"

The old man shook his head and tapped the tobacco pipe in his hand against the ground. Immediately, a bang rang in Su Ming's head. The world shattered to pieces during that instant and turned into a gigantic vortex.

It spun with loud rumbles, and the fragments of the broken world regrouped to form another scene in the same world—a new cycle of life and death.