Chapter 14 Talking about Thieves
Chapter 14 Talking about Thieves
Wei Tuzhi, one of the twenty-eight constellations, has been staying in the mortal world for longer and longer periods of time recently. The gods in heaven all speculated that he might have fallen in love with a girl, so he used the excuse of being on a business trip to stay away from heaven for a long time.
When Taibai Jinxing heard about this, he found Wei Tuzhi and asked him why he stayed in the mortal world for so long. Wei Tuzhi said, "It is my duty to make sure that the mortal world's warehouses are well stocked. I was only catching thieves in the lower world and did not do anything other than my duties."
Taibai Jinxing laughed when he heard this and said, "Your lie is too clumsy. Everyone knows that the underworld is now peaceful and prosperous. How can there be so many thieves for you to catch?"
Wei Tuzhi said: "It seems that Senior does not understand what a thief is."
Taibai Jinxing said: "How could I not know? A thief is someone who steals things. Could there be other thieves?"
Wei Tuzhi said: "Those who steal other people's property can only be called thieves. Of course, there are many other thieves."
Taibai Jinxing became interested after hearing this and asked, "Then tell me, what other thieves are there?"
Wei Tuzhi said: "Those who harm others in daily trivial matters and do not abide by normal order and rules are called thieves."
"A person who deliberately harms the interests of others in order to pursue his own interests is called a traitor."
"A person who forcibly seizes the interests of others and takes them for himself is called a thief."
"Those who are cruel and violent and who harm others are called thieves."
"Those who commit crimes, specialize in evil deeds, oppress the good, and do all kinds of evil are called evil thieves."
"Those who commit evil in the water are called water bandits, and those who entrench themselves in the mountains are called mountain bandits."
"Those who do not appreciate the kindness of their parents in raising them, and are unwilling to support and show filial piety to their parents when they are old, are called thieves in the family."
"Those who are idle and do harm to the people in their village are called village thieves."
"Those who sell out the interests of the general public for their own benefit are called traitors to the people."
"Those who sell out their country and nation for their own benefit, collude with foreign nations, and bring harm to their own country and people are called traitors." "Those who repeatedly harm the interests of others without repentance are called habitual thieves."
"People who don't know how to think about problems and distinguish right from wrong, but just follow what others say and spread rumors, are called stupid thieves."
"People with a belly full of black water who often do things at the expense of others for their own benefit are called squids."
"People who slander and defame others with fabricated stories and harm good people are called greedy thieves."
"People who are addicted to alcohol, become crazy when drunk, and cannot control themselves are called drunkards."
"People who steal other people's works and claim them as their own without any real knowledge are called plagiarists."
"People who are stingy, selfish, and don't consider others at all are called chicken thieves."
"People who have no principles in dealing with people, go with the flow, cannot respect themselves, lack faith and give up on themselves are called self-thieves."
"To be anxious and worried about being discovered after doing something bad is called a guilty conscience."
"You commit evil deeds and then put the blame on others in order to avoid responsibility. This is called the thief crying thief."
"To serve an evildoer without feeling ashamed is to recognize a thief as one's father."
"If one wants to harm others, but fails once and then tries again and again, this is called a thief with an undying heart."
"No matter where you go, you are always thinking about stealing other people's things for yourself. This is called a thief who never leaves empty-handed..."
Taibai Jinxing was sweating profusely as he listened to Wei Tuzhi enumerating the thieves in the world. He no longer had the relaxed and playful expression he had just now. He said with emotion, "Today I know how many thieves there are in the world! The star officials have worked hard to catch the thieves. I will go back to the heaven and ask the Jade Emperor to assign more people to the star officials. Let's catch the thieves and the leaders of all the thieves in the world, and make the world free of thieves!"
(End of this chapter)