Chapter 50 Crippled [Second Update] Now that I'm alive, I should make the most of what I didn't do before I died...
Gui Chengzi did not speak immediately.
After a long while, he chuckled softly, "So that's how it is. So... he deceived everyone else, but he couldn't deceive your eyes. You were able to see through his disguise. I didn't realize that you were so young at that time, yet you had more discerning eyes than all the courtiers of the Celestial Clan."
Mu Qingheng remained silent for a long time before slowly saying, "It's not because I have discerning eyes. As a son, how could I not know whether he is my biological father or not?"
"If that's the case, why didn't you report him to the authorities in public back then?"
Mu Qingheng glanced at him. "What age and how mature was I back then? Would someone as shrewd as me be so easily defeated by a child? Of course, he has countless ways to prove his identity and can produce countless pieces of evidence to prove that I'm insane."
That's true.
Gui Chengzi slowly stroked his chin: His once trusted and respected father died on the battlefield, but what returned was a demon wearing the same skin.
Home destroyed, people killed, and a cuckoo usurped the nest. Yet, the bitterness and hatred within had no one to confide in; no wonder.
Gui Chengzi rested his hand on the edge of the table, tapping it intermittently. "He stirred up unrest in the six realms, causing rivers of blood to flow among the common people. He destroyed your family and forced you to be his son in such a humiliating way. I can understand your resentment."
"However, I have another question. Why did you insist on choosing this unorthodox path? Although your physique changes after becoming a demon, and your cultivation speed will advance by leaps and bounds, you have talent, and it's not impossible for you to surpass him through the righteous path of cultivation. Why not endure hardship and wait for the right time to reveal the truth?"
Mu Qingheng pinched the bridge of his nose, and after a moment, he put his hand down. "How could I not know that this was a bad idea? But when I looked at him at the time, he was just too powerful, beyond my reach. There are many talented people in this world. Compared to him, I am nothing. If I hadn't taken a risky path and become a demon, I'm afraid that my spiritual power would never have surpassed his in this lifetime."
Gui Chengzi said firmly, "You're lying."
A glint of light flashed in his eyes, as if he wanted to see through Mu Qingheng's mind inside and out. "You're lying. That's only part of the reason, even a very small part. Don't treat me like some old man from a secluded paradise. I was once a famous figure. I wouldn't dare to be arrogant, but I do have some insight. I know that you didn't only have the option of becoming a demon—you're so intelligent and precocious, you know in your heart that your situation back then wasn't a dead end. There must have been some benefit that only a heart of stone could bring you."
He murmured, “The heart of the bandit is devoid of emotion and love, severing all feelings… But you grew up in the Celestial Clan, and I know their family traditions—compassion for humanity, chivalry and tenderness, loyalty and righteousness, some things are deeply ingrained in your bones. Perhaps only a heart of banditry can help you sever these things.”
Mu Qingheng remained silent.
He had never looked back throughout his life; at first, he dared not, and after developing a heart of stone, he would not. Now, looking back at his tragic and absurd life, it was so full of thorns.
He was inherently weak-willed.
He only learned about benevolence, righteousness, and compassion.
The man and his wife treated him like their own son, and they were extremely kind to him.
His two younger sisters were lovely and beautiful. In fact, when his eldest sister was just born, he almost dared not see her, for fear that he would not be able to resist falling in love with her.
He constantly reminded himself to remember the hatred for his parents and the humiliation of his clan; he must never develop feelings for his enemies or their daughters, and he must never let those things blind him, forgetting his own name and what he should do.
He set countless rules for himself and established many bottom lines.
But... in the end, this heart gradually wavered in the face of the deep affection that had been building day and night.
If one does not expose one's kind and weak heart, and replace it with a demonic stone, one will likely be bound by love and hate for life, and never be able to make a decision again.
But these words don't need to be uttered to strangers.
Mu Qingheng didn't say a word, his long, pale hand silently pressed on his left leg.
He never asked himself how many years he had been asleep, but there was no pain here, only a chilling emptiness. Since he could no longer feel pain, perhaps many years had passed in this world.
He frowned slightly, slowly moved his palm up to his heart, and silently felt it—thankfully, he could feel a relaxed and pleasant joy, which proved that Mengmeng was alright.
Mu Qingheng subconsciously curved the corners of his lips into a slight smile.
Gui Chengzi's expression was cold. When he saw the person opposite him reveal a faint smile for some reason, he let out two strange, ambiguous snorts: "Do you want to kill the Heavenly Emperor?"
He stared intently at Mu Qingheng, at his lips, as if he desperately wanted to extract the answer from his mouth.
"No." Mu Qingheng replied without hesitation.
He will never do anything that would upset Mengmeng again.
However, as a son, he felt he had to give an explanation to Mengmeng and his parents after he had finished his last wish.
It's just a pity that I never lived my life as myself.
Be yourself—a person who has never changed their heart, who was born open, kind, and righteous.
Gui Chengzi's expression relaxed slightly, and his tense back slowly loosened. He pondered for a moment, then raised an eyebrow and smiled:
"Alright, I've found out all the answers I wanted to know. Originally, I planned to kick you out after you woke up and cleared up my doubts. But now... I've changed my mind."
He stopped talking after he finished speaking, raising his chin as if to keep everyone in suspense. Mu Qingheng lowered his hand and said seriously, "Even if you didn't say it, I would still do it. I won't stay; I'll climb up myself."
Gui Chengzi froze for a moment. He did want Mu Qingheng to climb up, because he neither wanted him to stay here nor wanted to kick him down—so the only option was to let him climb up.
Whether he can climb back to Earth or fall halfway down is none of his concern.
Mu Qingheng then asked, "You are a member of the Celestial Clan, aren't you?"
Gui Chengzi was slightly taken aback, then said in a cold tone, "What do you care who I am?"
Do you know my father?
"Damn it..." Gui Chengzi couldn't help but curse, glaring at him with great displeasure. "You're so clever, Mu Qingheng. Do you know why you're in such a miserable state? I think it's all your own fault. I advise you not to waste another word on me, or I'll throw you off a cliff right now."
He stood up, put his hands behind his back, and paced back and forth in the room a few times, keeping his head slightly lowered so that Mu Qingheng could not see the expression on his face.
Suddenly, Gui Chengzi stopped, turned around and smiled at Mu Qingheng with an ambiguous expression: "You were born boring, so it doesn't matter if you die. You're so eager to go up there because you want to see your sweetheart, aren't you?"
"You were transformed into a demon by having your heart replaced, but in the end you suffered the consequences—a heart of stone with flesh is not as good as the original heart. Even if you fell in love with someone, you wouldn't be tormented by the pain of your heart being torn apart. Demons are born for love and die for love. I really can't think of any other purpose for you being willing to drag your crippled limbs back, except to see your beloved."
Mu Qingheng looked at him quietly: "What exactly do you want to say?"
"What do I want to say?" Gui Chengzi stared at him, his expression shifting several times before he forced a wicked smile. "I want to say that I should find you a mirror and let you take a good look at yourself now. Look closely at how disgusting your face is with all these scars. You don't even have a normal body anymore. If you crawl back to people like this, they'll not only be disgusted and repulsed, but they might also spit on you. All you'll get is excruciating pain, worse than death. What else can you get?"
Mu Qingheng listened calmly, and finally nodded, saying, "Thank you for your concern."
His tone was calm and sincere, not sarcastic at all, but a genuine expression of gratitude.
Gui Chengzi was dumbfounded and immediately gritted his teeth and said, "I care about you? Are you out of your mind?"
Mu Qingheng did not reply.
Gui Chengzi was right. His heart was completely filled with another person, leaving very little room for others. After expressing his gratitude, he was only thinking about what to do next.
He had promised Mengmeng that he would die a clean death, so how could he dare to appear in front of her again?
But he did survive, and since he survived, he had to finish what he hadn't accomplished in his previous life—if Mengmeng had found the person who killed her in her past life and the calamity had been eliminated, he would quietly find a secluded place and die silently.
But if not, he would definitely kill the person.
Mu Qingheng's gaze casually swept around, and he saw a bamboo stick leaning against the headboard. He pointed at it and looked up at Gui Chengzi, saying, "Excuse me, if it's alright, may I take it with me?"
Gui Chengzi tilted his head and said, "Sure, whatever you want. If you're going to use it to climb up, you've found the right tool. Originally, there was a one percent chance you wouldn't fall, but with this, I might see you fall into the abyss in a few days."
Hearing his approval, Mu Qingheng ignored what he said next, reached for the bamboo stick to support himself, and slowly stood up with his only remaining leg.
But as soon as he stood up and his feet touched the ground, he lost his balance and fell heavily to the side.
Gui Chengzi crossed his arms and watched coldly.
Mu Qingheng remained silent. His palms were scraped and bleeding slightly, but he simply brushed the dirt off without a care. He then picked up a bamboo stick from the ground, braced himself firmly, and slowly stood up again.
He took two steps and fell again.
He then got up without making a sound.
When he fell and got up for the third time, Gui Chengzi still didn't say anything, but he quietly took out a piece of paper as thin as a cicada's wing from his pocket. In the lower right corner of the paper, there was a grain of bright red cinnabar.
Finally, he sighed silently and put the paper back in his pocket.
Gui Chengzi put his hands on his hips and suddenly said, "Let me do the math for you."
"Even if Heaven takes pity on you and is willing to favor you one more time, allowing you to climb up safely, what then? You only have a pitiful amount of scattered spiritual power left. Once you're out there, even a slightly stronger demon will leave you defenseless. You also have a Shattered Soul Dream inside you. I have to say, how much hatred must the person who poisoned you have for you? You know, using a Shattered Soul Dream to deal with a demon that has developed a fleshy heart is truly brilliant. It adds insult to injury to the excruciating pain. When it flares up, you'll be no different from a dead dog on the street. Even if the Shattered Soul Dream's flare-up isn't long, don't forget that you're also poisoned by the Nine Poisons Bone-Eating Poison. With these two things taking turns flaring up on your crippled body, what can you possibly do?"
After Gui Chengzi stopped rambling on, he immediately added, "Of course, I'm not advising you to stay."
Mu Qingheng's tall and upright figure paused slightly. As if sensing something, he slowly turned around to look at him, his gaze seemingly searching, silently waiting for him to say something next.
Gui Chengzi smiled with satisfaction, "Talking to you is indeed very energy-saving."
"Do you know what treasures are in this Seventh Realm?" he asked again. "Do you know what price you will have to pay to have your shattered soul and fragmented body completely repaired?"
...
This was the first time Mu Meng had returned home after such a long period of seclusion, and it also happened to be the occasion of his nephew's New Year's celebration, so he stayed a little longer.
There are many people from the Celestial Clan who move around every day. She originally wanted Feng Xixue to return to Kunlun Realm and stay there, but he refused.
"Feng Xixue, could you be a little more flexible? You see, although I can't be considered a top expert now, I should be someone no one in the Six Realms would dare to bully. It's not a problem if you don't stay here."
Mu Meng felt a headache coming on. Feng Xixue strictly adhered to male virtues and would never stand with her. He had his own palace in the Celestial Clan, and since returning, he had chained himself up and locked himself inside.
A month has passed, and he hasn't come out even once.
At that moment, she stood outside the window patiently persuading him: "You should leave. Honestly, what kind of behavior is it for you to lock yourself up like this?"
Feng Xixue was very stubborn: "No. Although I am locked up, I am still in the Celestial Clan. If you are in danger, I will be able to sense it immediately."
"...You know, when I'm not in my right mind, I might hurt someone, or I might mistake someone for Sheng Sheng." Just that once, Feng Xixue frowned and rubbed his fingers. His hand had actually touched another woman's wrist. Just thinking about it made him feel a sense of self-loathing.
And this woman was the one in front of him, yet he had no choice but to protect her. Feng Xixue glanced away indifferently, "Besides, when I'm sober, I don't want to be with you."
Mu Meng was speechless and said expressionlessly, "I don't want to be with you all the time either. It's just that some older aunts and uncles always come to persuade me not to torment you all the time."
This is outrageous! Who's torturing whom here?
"Don't worry, I will be in no danger. Even if it's not for myself, but so that you can reunite with your loved one, I will definitely take good care of myself."
Having known Feng Xixue for so long, they could practically be considered friends, right? Over the years, besides cultivating her spiritual power, she had also gained a lot of knowledge and understood that Feng Xixue's mental instability was caused by the torment of unrequited love. Therefore, she sincerely hoped that Feng Xixue could have a good outcome.
Feng Xixue shook her head: "No. You don't know how cunning Mu Qingheng is. I'm afraid that if I let my guard down for even a moment, I'll lose all my clues."
Mu Meng: "Fine, whatever you want."
Too lazy to persuade her any further, and wanting to avoid seeing it, Mu Meng turned and left. But after only a few steps, she bumped into a female official next to her sister.
"Your Highness, you really are here! I couldn't find you in your palace earlier, so I came here to try my luck. Thank goodness!"
She gasped for breath and grabbed Mu Meng's hand anxiously: "Young Master is missing!"
"What happened?" Mu Meng immediately put on a serious face. "When did he disappear? Do you have any clues about where he went? Tell me everything in detail."
As she spoke quickly, she took out a flower that exuded holy spiritual power from her bosom.
"Now that the young master has spiritual power, he sometimes cultivates alone. There was nothing wrong with him, but he went out this morning and hasn't returned. When Her Highness the Princess went to look for him, she found that he was long gone, without leaving any trace. We don't know if he was taken away or if he left on his own..."
Mu Meng nodded: "Don't worry, the Soul Flower hasn't lit up yet, so Ze'er is not in danger. Go and report back to your sister. I will keep a close eye on this Soul Flower. If there is any unusual activity, the Soul Flower will establish a connection, and I will use it to get to Ze'er's side immediately."
"With me here, nothing will happen to Ze'er. Tell your sister not to worry. She is now the Crown Prince of the Celestial Clan and must not be touched without permission."
The female official finally found her pillar of support and nodded repeatedly: "Thank you for your guidance, Your Highness. I understand. I will go back and report now."
...
Northern Xinjiang snakes.
The man was dressed in black, with his dark hair flowing down his back, and his face was covered with a strange layer of snake scales from his temples to his chin.
A nonchalant smile played on his lips as he glanced indifferently at the child in front of him: "Hey, why aren't you crying?"
Mu Zeyu raised his chin: "Why should I cry? You're the one lying. You should feel ashamed. If anyone should cry, it's you."
The man sneered, "Well, the descendant of the Celestial Clan does have some backbone. But he's too stupid, unable to recognize even a little illusion, and was easily fooled. Let's see how much arrogance you'll have left after falling into my hands, Qiu Xuan."
"That's because I haven't learned that yet. Once I learn illusion magic, I'll be able to easily see through your tricks," Mu Zeyu pouted. "But I'm not stupid. Even if I had to do it all over again, I would still follow you if I saw Aunt Mengmeng being kidnapped by you."
Qiu Xuan scoffed, "If this isn't called stupid, what can you do if you come along?"
Mu Zeyu counted on his short, chubby fingers: "If I don't follow you and go back to get reinforcements, I might not be able to find you in the end, wouldn't that be a lifelong regret? But if I follow you, even if Aunt Mengmeng is really captured by you, Mother still has my Soul Flower, and she will come to save us immediately if there is any danger; and if Aunt Mengmeng is not captured by you, then I will have two Soul Flowers, and someone will come to kill you no matter what."
Qiu Xuan's face darkened, and he said with a sinister smile, "Alright, then let's see if my snake gu is faster or their soul flower is faster!"
He raised his hand, and a strange, purplish-black aura gathered in his palm. Upon seeing this, Mu Zeyu swiftly pulled something from his robes, held it out, and roared, "Treasure!!!"
He was quite imposing, which startled Qiu Xuanzhen.
Upon closer inspection, his expression darkened further—the little brat was holding an ordinary piece of spirit jade, devoid of any spiritual power, and hardly qualifying as a weapon.
He angrily raised his hand again, but before he could gather his spiritual power, he felt a pain in his chest as a bamboo stick pierced through his body from behind.
Such powerful and overwhelming spiritual energy was something he had never seen before, let alone dared to imagine, in his lifetime.
Qiu Xuan spat out a mouthful of blood, and the bamboo stick was suddenly pulled out. Before Qiu Xuan could even let out a scream, he closed his eyes and died.
After he fell, the figure of the person behind him was revealed.
The man was dressed in a light blue robe, with a tall and graceful figure. His black hair, which fell to his waist, was gently lifted by the wind. His left hand, which held a bamboo stick, was long and strong, and as beautiful as jade.
He was just a bit plain-looking, with a few messy, faint red marks on his side. Apart from his bright, star-like eyes, which were exceptionally beautiful, his other features could only be described as handsome.
But this did not diminish Mu Zeyu's admiration for his savior. He knew the extent of the snake's spiritual power; it was probably on par with his mother, but still far inferior to Aunt Mengmeng. If they were to fight, Aunt Mengmeng would probably need five moves to defeat it.
But this person could kill instantly with a single move, and the snake didn't even know when he had appeared behind it.
"Uncle! You're so amazing!" Mu Zeyu's eyes lit up, and he ran over quickly on his short legs. His way of expressing affection was always to hug someone's leg, and this time was no exception. He habitually hugged the other person's leg—
I ended up with nothing.
Uh... this uncle doesn't have legs...
Mu Zeyu raised her little face and looked at the man with admiration: "Uncle, you are really special."
The man initially ignored him, but after glancing at him, he stopped looking.
He looked at him carefully once.
He looked at her eyebrows, eyes, cheeks, and chin one by one, and finally a gentle warmth appeared in his eyes.
He saw the jade pendant in Mu Zeyu's hand, his long eyelashes trembled slightly, and after a moment of silence, he asked, "What's your name?"
When asked his name, Mu Zeyu answered happily and loudly, "Mu Zeyu!"
The man put the bamboo stick aside. "Come here, let me hug you."
Such a wonderful thing happened! Mu Zeyu was a little shy, but he still happily let the man bend down and pick him up.
He could sense that his uncle liked him very much from the first time they met, because he held him very carefully and steadily, just like his own father would hold him.
Mu Zeyu hoped his uncle would ask him more questions, but he just held him. His broad body was extremely warm and reassuring, yet he remained silent, not uttering another word.
"Uncle," he called softly.
The man smiled slightly, his handsome eyes lowered to look at him, and he said softly:
"Call him uncle."
What does "save" mean? Didn't he already save him? Why does he need to call for help? Mu Zeyu had never heard such a strange address before. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to do as he pleased: "Uncle..."
"Ze'er!"
He had just uttered a single word when he suddenly heard a clear, anxious voice. He immediately beamed and waved towards the source of the sound: "Aunt Mengmeng, I'm here!"
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