Chapter 15: Liu Changqing and Evil
Page (1/3)
“What... what did you say? Junior Brother Huang, he...”
The strange man, pressed tightly to the ground, his face filled with unwillingness and anger, suddenly froze:
“How could he possibly let you do this?”
Liu Hu shook his head again:
“That’s exactly the point—you don’t understand human nature at all. You don’t know how treacherous this world is. I think the reason you’ve become this neither-human-nor-ghost figure is probably all thanks to your junior brother. Haha.”
At this, Liu Hu’s face twisted with jealousy as he continued:
“If your cultivation talent were mine, I’d never be as pathetic and useless as you! Being toyed around by your own junior brother!”
“Junior brother...”
After learning that his mother had been killed by someone, the strange man’s spirit suffered yet another heavy blow.
Scenes from the past played backward in his mind, voices echoed in his ears, and the white world before his eyes began to blur beyond recognition...
His name was Liu Changqing. From a young age, he was exceptionally handsome, renowned throughout the neighboring towns as a striking young man.
At twelve, a passing immortal noticed his innate foundation and took him to an immortal sect to cultivate.
At thirteen, he began Qi Refinement.
At fifteen, he laid the foundation.
By twenty, he had reached the ninth level of foundation establishment, just one step away from the Golden Core stage.
His talent, even among a sect full of prodigies, stood out like a crane among chickens—unmatched.
With his striking appearance and almost demonic cultivation aptitude, Liu Changqing had always lived smoothly within the sect. Many female disciples admired him, and numerous male disciples sought to associate with him.
Yet Liu Changqing was never arrogant because of this. On the contrary, in the eyes of his fellow disciples, he was a genuinely good person.
He was humble and courteous, never engaging in fights.
He would do his utmost to help any fellow disciple who asked.
He did not indulge in frivolities but cultivated in austere dedication and focus.
Liu Changqing believed that good deeds would be rewarded; those who worked hard in spring would reap bountifully in autumn.
He believed his future would improve through his efforts and kindness.
But one day, misfortune struck.
During a mission with his fellow disciples, Liu Changqing was poisoned by a deadly toxin while protecting his junior brothers and sisters.
The poison ruined his appearance and shattered his cultivation foundation, turning him into a hideous cripple.
A month later, this cripple was sent back to his birthplace, Liu Family Village, by the sect. The one who sent him was the very junior brother he had fought desperately to protect during the mission.
At first, Liu Changqing felt no regret.
But now, he wavered.
Was all of this truly by his own willing consent?
Bang!
A snowball struck the strange man’s forehead, the icy touch pulling him back from his memories into reality.
He felt sharp pain in his back; the white world turned to red.
In this world, a group of children, their faces flushed red, stood nearby, pelting him with snowballs.
“Hahaha.”
Laughter of various kinds surrounded him, drowning out his ears.
The strange man’s eyes dimmed, his soul gradually numbed.
After an unknown length of time, the laughter finally ceased.
He heard Liu Hu’s voice:
“Alright, that’s enough for today. Don’t kill this guy, or the immortal will blame us. Kids, everyone, head back. We’ll come again tomorrow.”
Page (2/3)
The pressure on his back vanished. The strange man saw a group of people pass beside his line of sight and surround the coffin shop owner.
For reasons unknown, Liu Hu and the others did not harm the owner.
They merely stared at him for a while, then bypassed him, taking the others and the children back to the village.
After the people of Liu Family Village left, the strange man, lying in the snow with a mouthful of snow, did not get up.
At this moment, he felt somewhat disheartened.
If every day was lived in such a world, perhaps... the Nine Nether Realms would be his best resting place.
The strange man gave up struggling; he chose to quietly await death’s arrival.
Before that, there was one thing he still wanted to understand.
Why were these people—those he had sincerely treated and been so kind to—so cruel to him?
What had he done wrong?
Shh! Shh! Shh!
As these thoughts lingered, the sound of a hoe digging soil reached his ears.
He turned his head with great difficulty and saw the coffin shop owner holding a hoe, filling dirt into the grave pit.
The strange man felt an inexplicable pang of sorrow.
In the end, apart from his mother, the one who treated him best was a coffin shop owner he had only known for a day.
How tragic, truly tragic!
If there were a next life, I, Liu Changqing, would definitely...
“Dreaming of rebirth? You’re not the protagonist of a novel. Don’t be delusional.”
Liu Changqing’s reverie was interrupted by Wang Chu.
Somewhat frustrated, he returned to reality and found that Wang Chu had already filled the grave pit.
Wang Chu stood nearby, looking down at him as he spoke.
Liu Changqing was not angry at Wang Chu for shattering his beautiful dream. On the contrary, he was grateful:
“Thank... thank you. Now I can die without regrets.”
From above came Wang Chu’s question:
“Oh? Truly die without regrets?”
Liu Changqing fell silent. After a few breaths, he replied:
“I... I don’t understand. Why... why do they treat me like this?”
Wang Chu shook his head, as if disappointed:
“Is that all?”
“Hmm...”
Wang Chu was silent for a moment, then answered:
“It’s simple. Because your kindness is too cheap. In this world, no one likes something cheap.”
The strange man was confused:
“Then how can kindness not be cheap?”
Wang Chu threw down the hoe and clapped his hands:
“Also simple. Add some evil to your kindness. You need to add a lot of evil.”
“Evil?”
The strange man’s eyes widened slightly:
“Add evil, and they won’t treat me like this?”
Wang Chu said:
“As the saying goes, extremes breed opposites. Pure kindness is evil to yourself and to your loved ones. Only by adding the right amount of evil can kindness be genuine.”
Page (3/3)
The strange man pondered this carefully:
“Is... that so? So that’s... how it is.”
“Stand up.”
The commanding voice came from above.
The strange man was stunned for a moment; his once gentle gaze turned fierce:
“Add evil...”
He struggled to support his body with his arms and rose from the ground:
“Add evil...”
Wang Chu took out a pearl and a book,
“Take this.”
The strange man instinctively took the items, muttering:
“Add evil...”
Hiss!
The moment the pearl touched the strange man’s palm, it vanished. The next moment, a shining black symbol blossomed on his forehead.
Then, a black crack appeared, swallowing the strange man...
An hour later, when Wang Chu placed a wooden memorial tablet before the mound of earth,
The black crack reappeared and spat the strange man out.
No—this was not the strange man.
It was Liu Changqing, a tall, handsome cultivator.
Compared to before, Liu Changqing’s eyes no longer held any mercy but terrifying black energy.
His cultivation was no longer foundation establishment but the Golden Core stage.
Twenty-two years old, Golden Core.
“Add evil...”
After emerging from the black crack, Liu Changqing kept muttering the phrase.
Wang Chu spoke:
“Write your mother’s epitaph.”
Liu Changqing nodded obediently, walked to the wooden memorial tablet, and with his finger wrote four pitch-black characters on the blank stone:
“The Tomb of Xu Youyu”
Then he knelt and kowtowed three times before the tombstone.
Rising from the snow, Liu Changqing continued murmuring:
“Add evil...”
Wang Chu took out a suona horn,
“Go. Add evil.”
Liu Changqing looked toward Liu Family Village:
“Add evil!”
Whoosh!
A black shadow surged toward the clustered houses like a wolf charging into a flock of sheep.
At dusk, the setting sun dyed the sky blood-red, and the world resounded with the sound of the suona.
...