Chapter 215: Young Master Xiao's Past
He saw his younger self, covered in blood, looking franticly at Rui Zhu after doing all this.
Su Xuezhi , his mother, had not been qualified. Since he was a baby, it was Rui Zhu who had been taking care of him. Rui Zhu was like his other mother.
Rui Zhu looked at him and saw that he still had a lot of cuts on his body, but the maid didn't seem scared. She just smiled.
"Young master, you have grown up."
Pei Chunzheng whispered, "Rui... Auntie."
As they continued to smile, Rui Zhu suddenly started crying.
"What will you do in the future, my young master?"
"Young master, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Rui Zhu tearfully watched him and said "I'm sorry" three times. Then, she picked up the sword from the ground, wiped her neck, and lay down next to her own daughter.
Oh my daughter, oh my little snow lion.
Her daughter was too timid and scared. She had nightmares for days after seeing what Prime Minister Mei did to those people. The road to the afterlife is too long, and it's scary without your father and older brother by your side.
But don't be afraid. Rui Zhu has served you all her life, and she will be with you now.
The young boy's hesitant footsteps, reaching out for a comforting embrace, froze in mid-air. He stood there alone, gazing at the lifeless bodies on the ground, until the crows flew away and the snow started to fall, turning the blood into ice.
Qiao Wan, after searching for a while, finally found Pei Chunzheng.
The young boy knelt silently in the dreamlike realm, his back straight as a statue.
"Who?" The young boy covered his eyes, his dark hair falling down his cheeks. He asked with a hoarse voice, showing no expression.
Qiao Wan hesitated, standing still without daring to move forward.
Although "Immortal Ascending Road" referred to Pei Chunzheng's tragic past in the original story, Qiao Wan had only managed to read a small part of the lengthy novel after staying up for two nights. Naturally, she had not come across the author's lyrical depiction of the "depressing Dark Lord's" painful childhood memories.
She never expected that Pei Chunzheng's childhood was...
After a half-second of hesitation, Qiao Wan chose an adjective.
Grim.
To some extent, his ex-girlfriend didn't meet the requirements, but that's because Pei Chunzheng never let her into his heart.
Qiao Wan always believed that the hardest thing in this world is to truly understand someone else's feelings. Even between close family, friends, or lovers, it's difficult to fully empathize. The pain that comes from experience, unless it happens to oneself, no one really knows how much it hurts.
She isn't very good at comforting people or giving them advice like "everything will be okay" or "you have to face life with a positive attitude."
Everyone has the right to express their emotions, and it's completely reasonable to accept and release these seemingly weak and negative feelings.
Qiao Wan approached Pei Chunzheng, crouched down, and hesitantly faced him.
Then she entered his mind with her consciousness.
Pei Chunzheng moved slightly, but he didn't stop her.
"Demons are rare," Pei Chunzheng murmured, looking down.
"It's because demons can't suppress their nature."
Qiao Wan knew this.
Inside the books of Buping College, there are records.
The demons have always believed that they are the perfect creations of the heavens, smarter than the monsters, eager to learn, skilled in battle, and have longer lifespans than humans.
But the demons have a fatal weakness - their numbers are few. They struggle to control their demonic nature and often suffer from mental instability. The demon realm has tried everything, but they can't change this inherent madness. With their scarce numbers, they frequently end up fighting amongst themselves. The only warriors the demon realm can rely on are the demonic beasts and various other sinister creatures.
Unlike Pei Chunzheng, Wang Ruyi can clearly see that this is an illusion. So, any attempts to alter the illusion would be pointless. Instead, she tries to explore his consciousness.
Before waking up, let's dream first, Qiao Wan thought, pursing her lips.
The young man with captivating eyes suddenly grabs hold of her dress, looking a bit bewildered and embarrassed. He gently embraces her, creating a warm and welcoming embrace that is free from any defenses, grudges, or loved ones.
Pei Chunzheng, with a lump in his throat, tried to say "thank you" to Qiao Wan, but all that came out was a muffled "thank you" from deep down his throat.
"I'm sorry."
Although he had killed the man himself, in the end, he had become just like him, emotionally detached and cold.
But soon, Pei Chunzheng couldn't say anything at all.
Because Qiao Wan had woven a dream in his mind.
In the dream, it was New Year's Eve, with his long-lost grandparents and uncles he had never met. His uncle sat on the porch cleaning his gun, while his grandfather drank tea. Rui Zhu stood by, smiling.
His uncle's children were playing with firecrackers in the courtyard.
Just as he finished practicing his sword, he found himself face-to-face with a slender, fair hand. Su Xuezhi smiled at him, her face, usually as cold as wintry courtyard, now wearing a warm smile. She took his hand and gave him a comforting embrace.
A mother's embrace for her son.
Qiao Wan stood up and looked at Pei Chunzheng, who was kneeling silently in the dreamland, his consciousness connecting to maintain this illusion. She continued to walk forward.
With the trumpets and horns split, it was more convenient for her to control both instruments at the same time and explore other people's dreamlands simultaneously.
Behind every respectable person's glamorous appearance, there are things they are unwilling to speak of, to some extent.
Xiao Boyang turned his head in a distressed manner, his eyes flickering, afraid to look at the old man sitting in the cage. He squeezed out a few words through his teeth.
"Go away, you old man. Get lost."
He had been following Xiao Boyang since birth, serving him. Even though he had been dead for many years, not even leaving behind bones, he still refused to let him go. But this old man in the cage, with his empty and bloody thighs, smiled and said that he had never blamed him.
Xiao Boyang clenched the pea seed in his hand and looked at the row of swaying green zombies at the door.
Xiao Boyu and his father did much more than just selling animals.
In the world of cultivation, cultivators are quite peculiar. They often keep things like "ginseng spirits" as pets at home. They raise them for a while, then cut off their limbs to use in medicine, and continue to raise them for the next harvest. It's a never-ending cycle.
Repeating over and over again, they can never escape this prison and hell.
As for the one sitting in the cage, he is an old ginseng spirit. He's been serving and taking care of Xiao Boyu since childhood. He attached himself to the Xiao family, avoiding the nightmarish fate of being kept in a cage.
After Xiao Boyu grew older day by day, he became bored with this old guy who always followed him and reported to his father. No matter how angry or playful he was, even intentionally splashing water in the corridor to make the old ginseng spirit fall in winter, the old ginseng spirit always smiled and stroked his long beard, without any sign of blaming him.
The young master is not naturally bad, he's just mischievous.
Later, the young master sneaked out to play and intentionally took away the old man's ginseng essence. Unexpectedly, things went wrong.
Like many wealthy young heirs, Xiao Boyang, despite changing his appearance to hide his identity, stood out with his extravagant and flashy behavior. He was like a shining ticket, walking through the crowd with the words "rich, come and kidnap me" written on his forehead.
During his first time leaving the protection of the Xiao family, Xiao Boyang immediately experienced the hardships of the world and got kidnapped.
Luckily, nothing major happened in the end. Xiao Boyu received the news and led the Xiao family guards to come to the rescue.
The kidnappers were shocked when they saw the Xiao family crest on Xiao Boyu's sleeve. They never dreamt that the spoiled second young master of the Xiao family, who had been blindfolded and left in a corner, was actually a member of the powerful Xiao family.
Once they realized their mistake, they quickly fell to their knees, begging for mercy while crying uncontrollably.
"Please spare us, young master! We won't dare to do anything like this again!!"
Xiao Boyu looked at his silly little brother in the corner, with no expression on his face. "Get moving."
The guards rushed forward and swiftly dealt with the bandits, as if chopping vegetables. As for Xiao Boyang, he hid in a sack, trembling with fear and even wetting his pants.
After being brought back home, Xiao Boyang stayed in bed for three days straight before finally regaining some energy. It suddenly dawned on him that he hadn't seen the old man, who was full of wisdom, for a long time.
"Where is that old guy?"
Xiao Boyu was busy and gave him a stern look. Indifferently, he replied, "He has been kicked out."
"But weren't you annoyed with him? Well, since you got kidnapped and it was his negligence, it was better to send him away from the mansion, too."
"I see you're not so young anymore." Xiao Boyu laughed and said, "Since we've gotten rid of one old guy, how about big brother finds you two beautiful maid sisters?"
Young Xiao Boyang blushed, feeling embarrassed and ran away without any dignity.
After that, for a long time, Xiao Boyang always thought that the old man ginseng spirit was really driven away. Anyway, his family is rich, even if he is driven away, they would definitely give him enough money for his retirement.
This old man ginseng spirit, he has no abilities, no children, loves to drink, and is only valued for his flesh and blood. If it wasn't for his attachment to the Xiao family, he would have been cut open countless times. Xiao Boyang also worried about what would happen to this old fellow once he leaves the Xiao family. But this worry gradually dissipated as the days went by.
Until that day, Xiao Boyu and his father's captive in the house escaped and crawled onto the top of the wall, screaming for help in agony.
The thing on the wall had a woman's face but a snake's body.
"What is this?" he asked.
"It's a captive," Xiao Boyu frowned and replied. "It's none of your business, go back and sleep."
"Why are these things in my house?"
"They're just staying temporarily, they will be sent to the north later."
The north... isn't that the demon realm?
Although Xiao Boyang was small in age, he quickly realized that something was wrong.
The woman on the wall...
Her upper and lower bodies were stitched together, like a patchwork of half human and half demon, forcibly combined.
"You want to send these things to the demon realm?!!"
Xiao Boyu immediately became annoyed, saying, "Can you just say that so casually? A simpleton should just be a simpleton, huh? Now you want to play the hero?"
Feeling angry, Xiao Boyang sneaked into the dungeon where people were being held captive.
As soon as he looked, he became frozen in place.
It was like a bloody hell. In the depths of this hell, he saw the ginseng spirit with both legs severed, lying in a cage with blood-stained long beard, eyes closed as if dead.
He confronted Xiao Boyu, who made fun of him and called him naive and foolish. This person who sells things for profit is not someone you care about, right? He thought that this person saw potential in you and wanted to benefit from it.
Although Xiao Boyu was a bit reckless and always called him a fool, Xiao Boyang never doubted his father and Xiao Boyu's love for him. But it was this attitude of taking things for granted and not caring that made it even harder for him to accept.
Xiao Boyu got fed up and said, "Alright, here's the deal. I'll give you a chance. If you dare to bring him out of the dungeon, I will let him go."
The dungeon was filled with creatures that were neither human nor ghost. Some were crying, while others were cursing. Would he be able to make his way through the depths of the dungeon and carry out the old man's spirit?
He couldn't do it.
He couldn't... face the old man's spirit.
It was all his fault. He couldn't face him.
Just two days of hesitation, and the next day, the old man's spirit died.
Before he died, Xiao Boyu might have felt a bit of sympathy and let him meet for one last time.
The old ginseng spirit in the cage weakly opened his eyes, with a dirty pile of white beard under his chin.
Seeing his guilt and timidity, he said, "Little Master, have you come to see this old servant again?"
He had known all along that these past few days, Xiao Boyang would often hide by the door to secretly watch him.
Seeing the fear and dread in the young boy in front of him, the old ginseng spirit smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, Little Master. Even though I have turned into this, I am still your old thing."
Finally, he let out a gentle sigh.
"Little Master, I never blamed you. Go on, don't look anymore."
And then, as soon as he left, he took his last breath.
The old ginseng spirit had no children of his own, he raised him like a grandson.
But what had he done? He implicated him, he frightened the old ginseng spirit, who had become like this, he was afraid.
He wasn't human.
