Chapter 767: Evil Thoughts (Part 1) [Requesting Monthly Tickets]

"Third Brother?"

"Seventh Brother?"

This was the first time Chao Lian had ever felt such hatred for a martial artist with good eyesight.

He could not only see the inscriptions on the two new tombstones, but even the grain of the wood was clearly visible. This ability shattered any lingering hope he had indulging in self-deception. Chao Lian's mind went blank, and in an instant, darkness enveloped him. When he regained his senses, he had already crawled to the two new graves, collapsing several times from exhaustion: "Third Brother—Seventh Brother—"

"At the tomb of my virtuous younger brother Qi Huichen, your foolish elder brother Gu Ren stands weeping."

"The tomb of my virtuous younger brother Zhu Huiwen, I, your foolish elder brother Gu Ren, stand here weeping."

Chao Lian lay prostrate before the grave, sobbing uncontrollably. But after only a few breaths, he hastily wiped the tears from his face with his sleeve, looked at the two small mounds of earth, and made a firm decision. He closed his eyes, regulated his breathing to suppress his intense emotions, and allowed his martial energy to flow smoothly throughout his meridians. He then calmly stood up.

"Thirteen, you stay here and watch over our two elder brothers. Twelfth brother will go find eldest brother and the others now." Chao Lian tried his best to make his voice sound calm and collected. If he couldn't even fool himself, how could he fool Thirteen? "They must have been careless and left us behind. I'll go find them and settle accounts with them."

Unexpectedly—

Shao Chong retorted, "Twelfth Brother, do I look that stupid? If it were a few years ago, you might have been able to fool me, but now—do you think I don't know where you're going? Do you think I don't know where Big Brother went?"

Chao Lian's carefully maintained expression nearly crumbled.

Shao Chong said calmly, "Let's go together."

Chao Lian naturally disagreed: "Absolutely not!"

Among the thirteen brothers, Shao Chong was the youngest. Though called a younger brother, he was more like a child they had raised with great effort.

The eldest brother, Gu Ren, left him and Shao Chong behind.

How could he possibly take Shao Chong to his death?

Shao Chong squatted before Seventh Brother's grave, bowing his head and accusingly saying, "You liars! When we swore brotherhood, we said we didn't ask to be born on the same day, month, and year, but we asked to die on the same day, month, and year. We asked Heaven and Earth to be our witnesses, so why do you renege on your promise now?"

Chao Lian's hands, hanging at his sides, clenched slightly.

Shao Chong said, "It's too late if you don't agree."

Among his brothers, he was the strongest fighter.

Without him in this battle, his brothers, facing Huang Lie's army with a sixteenth-rank Grand Master in command, would inevitably be at a disadvantage if the battle lines were drawn out, even with the morale boost from fighting with their backs to the wall.

Chao Lian asked him, "What do you mean?"

Shao Chong looked at him and smiled faintly.

Chao Lian was startled and suddenly opened his eyes wide.

He blurted out, "You...you're not Thirteen!"

From the moment he woke up until now, Thirteen's reactions have been too abnormal; he doesn't seem like the younger brother he knows at all.

Shao Chong tilted his head: "How could I not be?"

He gave a wicked smile: "I am him."

Shao Chong had been seriously injured and had witnessed the tragic deaths of his two older brothers, leaving him unconscious. Gu Ren placed him and the unconscious Chao Lian together and used his incantation to provide some protection, preventing his two younger brothers from encountering wolves in the mountains before they woke up.

Shao Chong was the first to wake up.

Upon opening my eyes, I was confronted with the shock of two new graves.

Gong Xichou said that if Shao Chong wanted to truly save his life, he either needed to increase his strength significantly before the seal collapsed, or he needed to find the High Priest to add another layer to the existing seal. Before he was completely free of worries, Shao Chong couldn't afford to experience any major emotional shocks.

This can cause the Gu worms to awaken prematurely.

The activity of the Gu worms will accelerate the breakdown of the seal.

The current Shao Chong is no longer the mentally challenged child he once was.

If it were before, Shao Chong wouldn't have understood what it meant for him and his twelfth brother to be left here, wouldn't have known who was buried under the two mounds of earth, wouldn't have known the true meaning of death... But now, what doesn't he understand? The emotional stimulation is at its peak.

The Gu worm, forced into slumber, was awakened by the allure of delicious food.

Just as Shao Chong was about to lose control, a cold, familiar, and deadly seductive voice resounded in his mind.

Are you sad? Or angry?

You are but a weak ant; you cannot avenge yourself.

[Two of our brothers are lying here, and there might be nine more lying on the other side of the battlefield... Do you know why? Because you're too weak! If you were strong enough, our brothers wouldn't be dead! You're too weak, too weak...]

Shao Chong, you killed Third Brother and Seventh Brother.

[Shao Chong, do you still want to get your brothers killed?]

Shao Chong, you should atone for this!

Shao Chong... give up your body...

The curse-like voices followed him like a shadow, and no matter how much Shao Chong clutched his head in anguish, he could not banish them from his mind.

"It was...it was me...who killed my brothers?"

[Yes, you're the one who killed them. If you hadn't resisted me so much, if you had submitted to me sooner... Shao Chong, the sixteenth-rank Grand Master under Huang Lie might not have been able to kill Third Brother and Seventh Brother, because I could have completely stopped him, but you couldn't.]

【so--】

Do you know who the culprit is?

Seeing that Shao Chong was only shedding tears in anguish without making a statement, he intensified his persuasive tone: "At a time like this, with our elder brother and the others in imminent danger, you're still clinging to your life, still hesitating. You coward—you've truly disappointed us..."

In a daze, Shao Chong saw a black mist emanating from his body, which then transformed into a person who looked exactly like him.

No, there are still differences.

The other person had a pair of eerie, scarlet eyes.

Shao Chong asked him earnestly, "Can you save my brother and the others?"

The red-eyed young man's voice was hoarse, and his laughter was sharp and strange.

Yes, I can.

With red-rimmed eyes, Shao Chong stared intently at the "self" before him. After only three breaths of thought, his eyes still wet with tears, he opened his arms, letting down all his guard. Before losing consciousness, he saw the black mist that had transformed into him grinning maliciously as it reached out to attack.

A sharp pain spread from my chest to my limbs and bones.

It hurts, it really hurts...

Eldest brother, second brother, third brother, fourth brother...

Thirteen is in so much pain, can someone comfort him?

This state didn't last long. Shao Chong clutched his chest and struggled to kneel on the ground. When "he" looked down at his chest, it was completely unharmed, as if the intense pain had been just an illusion.

Faced with Chao Lian's questioning, Shao Chong could only manage a weak smile: "Whether you believe it or not is not important, saving my brothers is the priority."

Just then, a strange sight appeared at the edge of the horizon: two dragons facing each other.

Chao Lian suppressed his worries: "Alright, let's go!"

How could anyone be absent from a sworn brotherhood ceremony involving thirteen brothers?

The two simultaneously channeled their inner energy and propelled themselves into the air towards the twin dragon phenomenon. Two streams of martial energy, each a different color, surged from their dantian, transforming into martial armor that enveloped their entire bodies. Chao Lian sensed this and glanced at Shao Chong beside him. His martial energy was malevolent and ferocious.

If he closed his eyes, he would never have recognized that this was Thirteen.

"Shao Chong" glanced at him lazily.

A sneer escaped his lips: "Don't get distracted."

Chao Lian forced himself to clear his mind of distractions. He didn't know what was wrong with Thirteen, but no matter what Thirteen looked like, he was still Thirteen. Since this battle was likely a one-way trip anyway, he didn't have much time to investigate further, so he could only remain silent.

Two streaks of light chased the stars and the moon, resolutely heading towards the battlefield.

——

Qian Yong's injuries were severe.

Although his outward appearance showed no signs of injury, his internal injuries tormented him constantly. His dantian was weak and powerless, and even a few circulations of his martial energy through his meridians would cause him excruciating pain and break out in a cold sweat. However, martial artists are known for their thick skin and tough flesh, and they are the most capable of enduring hardship and forbearance.

He diligently circulated his martial energy to nourish and repair his meridians.

After a long while, he exhaled a breath of stale air.

As soon as he got up and loosened his muscles, a series of teeth-grinding crackling sounds rang out inside his body. He looked down and clenched his fist.

"The recovery rate is about 40%."

He was not satisfied with the tortoise's crawling speed.

He wanted to recover faster, and if he had the chance, he would go and mess with that trash Zhang Yongqing and smash his dog head in with one punch!

A short while later, his bodyguards came to call him.

"General, breakfast is ready."

As the number of refugees increased, even burly men like Qian Yong were occasionally seen, so he no longer needed to hide. The only problem was that with the increasing number of refugees, food became an issue. These past two days, there wasn't a single patch of green to be seen on the road.

Yan Prefecture was hit by floods, and Gan Prefecture was embroiled in a chaotic war.

Seventy percent of the millions of people in the two states have become refugees.

These refugees not only faced exploitation by the coalition forces, but also threats from other refugees, with murder and robbery being commonplace.

However, Qian Yong and his group looked tall and imposing, and so far no one has dared to rob or steal their goods.

"Coming right away."

Qian Yong did not ask Shen Tang and his group of five (plus the scholar surnamed Cui) how they could provide food for a hundred people without any logistical support.

It's good enough to have something to eat.

Who cares whether the food was laid by a rooster or a hen?

He had just sat down and taken a sip of his salted soup when he caught a glimpse of a graceful white figure out of the corner of his eye. The soup he hadn't yet swallowed gushed out with a "pfft," and if his personal guards hadn't reacted quickly, the whole pot of soup would have been ruined. Qian Yong's expression was as if he'd seen a ghost in broad daylight.

The guards, not understanding what was going on, also looked up.

Click—

A precious pottery jar has cracked.

The clear soup in the earthenware pot spilled out and extinguished the fire.

The graceful white figure seemed to sense Qian Yong's gaze and looked over. It was a beautiful and radiant face, with skin as white as snow, which made the bright red eyeliner under her eyes even more striking. Qian Yong felt embarrassed and wiped his water-stained hands on his clothes.

He couldn't help but mutter to himself.

He said that the woman surnamed Shen was too beautiful.

He was so beautiful he didn't look like a typical man.

"Damn it, what's the point of a man being so good-looking?"

Unexpectedly, this man surnamed Chen not only looks like a woman, but now he's not even bothering to pretend, wearing a woman's dress—layered and flowing, like a fairy. Anyone who didn't know better would think a celestial being had descended to earth. Fleeing from a disaster? Why be so conspicuous?

"Has Lord Shen returned from outside?"

Shen Tang: "Mm."

"You went to check on the refugee situation again?"

Shen Tang's emotions remained largely unchanged: "The people's lives are full of hardship."

Qian Yong tore off a small strip of dried meat and stuffed it into his mouth: "Alas, Lord Shen is still young. He won't be so sentimental when he's older. People get wiser with age. What kind of birds haven't they seen after living a long time? When I was young, I was just like you, worrying about the country and its people all day long. But after I got bruised and battered, I realized that these are things that a sage should consider."

Shen Tang asked him, "And what about you?"

Qian Yong grinned, revealing a murderous smile: "I'm a butcher. What do butchers do? Kill! Kill one if one comes, chop down two if two come. Either kill until you can't kill anymore, or wait for another butcher to kill me."

Slaughter is the most irrefutable secret to survival.

Shen Tang said calmly, "But I am not a butcher."

Qian Yong admired Shen Tang's quick temper and willingness to fight, but he also disliked some of her out-of-place attitudes. He jokingly asked, but actually mocked, "Is Master Shen a saint?"

Shen Tang glanced at him indifferently: "Everyone can be a saint."

Before Qian Yong could say anything more, he heard a familiar voice roar: "Damn it—Uncle Qian, get out of the way!"

He suddenly turned his head and saw a Shen Tang in the distance.

However, Shen Tang was dressed in coarse linen and had a sallow complexion; if thrown into a group of refugees, he would be hard to spot. Qian Yong was startled and immediately stood up and retreated. Fortunately, Shen Tang, dressed in flowing white, did not make a move.

Qian Yong spread his arms wide to block his personal guards behind him.

Look at this, then look at that, and blurt it out.

"—Hey, Mr. Chen, what are you up to now?"

This question is truly unfair to Shen Tang.

She was furious: "How could this be something I, your ancestor, have done?"

Having said that, Shen Tang raised her hand and conjured a long weapon, pointing it at the imposter: "Demon, why don't you reveal your true form in front of your ancestors!"

The commotion alerted Jiang Sheng and his group.

Everyone looked at the two lords who were exactly the same—no, not exactly the same. The one in white, Shen Tang, had an icy expression and a cold temperament. Even when a long weapon was pointed at him, he could remain calm even if Mount Tai collapsed in front of him. Could this be the real and fake Monkey King?

"You imposter, of all people to impersonate, you had to impersonate me! You're like someone who's got a bright light on in the toilet—you're asking for trouble!"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Sheng and Ning Yan knew without needing to distinguish who the true master was, while the other, Shen Tang, dressed in flowing white robes, clearly had no intention of speaking, instead raising her hand and conjuring a sword.

A sword that everyone is very familiar with.

It was named the Sword of Loving Mother.

Shen Tang suddenly widened her almond-shaped eyes.

You must know that after she entrusted the Imperial Seal to Kang Shi, she could no longer conjure the Compassionate Mother Sword, because the Compassionate Mother Sword was the Imperial Seal itself. Although the Compassionate Mother Sword of the person before her lacked the aura of the Imperial Seal, it was exactly the same as the real Compassionate Mother Sword, without the slightest difference.

"Demon, who exactly are you?"

Dressed in flowing white robes, Shen Tang said, "I am you."

Shen Tang was amused by this clumsy lie: "How come I didn't know I had an avatar left outside?"

Bai Yichentang: "I am your evil thought."

Shen Tang was naturally confused: "Huh?"

This time, Qian Yong and the others were shocked. Jiang Sheng and Ning Yan each created a barrier of literary energy to separate the two lords.

Only Shen Tang is not in the right state of mind.

"Important people often have short memories. You've already forgotten me after just one meeting with Wen Gong?" The voice of Bai Yi Shen Tang made Shen Tang's smile freeze.

"You...you, how did you get out here?"

Even Qian Yong, an observer, couldn't stand it anymore.

"You don't care how it got out, it's here to kill you!"

He wanted to ask God what had happened in the last few decades, why were sixteen great super-creations popping up one after another?

The sixteenth-rank Grand Master is fine...

How old is this guy surnamed Shen?

Shen Tang: "...Aren't you me as an adult?"

Damn, so he lied to her before?

The word "malice" sounds inherently unpleasant.

Bai Yichen Tang: "All living things are like blank sheets of paper at birth, but as they grow older, they become stained by the filth of heaven and earth and are burdened with evil thoughts. I am your adult form, but I am also the embodiment of your evil thoughts."

Shen Tang: "...And who is that three-year-old toddler?"

Bai Yichentang: "Your kindness."

(σ)σ:*☆

Tangmei: How do we kill him?

P.S.: What if reincarnation exists?

Gu Ren: "Hey, Huang, you got sent down so quickly? Little cutie, all alone?"

That day, Huang Lie was surrounded and beaten by ten of his brothers.

(End of this chapter)