Chapter 39 If no one but me can bully him
In the modern world, humans are not very friendly to other creatures. Bears trapped in cages for bile extraction, pangolins skinned alive, and elephants having their tusks removed alive are all common occurrences.
Humans are used to plundering at the top of the food chain and have mostly lost empathy for other creatures.
When you pour molten iron into ant blood and get a beautiful handicraft, people will admire and appreciate it, but few people will think about how innocent those thousands of ants are.
It seems like it should be this way, but it is as it should be. The law of the jungle and survival of the fittest are the laws that govern the world.
Xu Xingxing is an animal lover, but she is not someone who would demand that all creatures be equal to humans. After all, it took humans tens of millions of years to climb to the top of the food chain, not to be saints.
So she could accept the story at first.
After all, it concerns the life and death of mankind.
The embarrassing thing is that the world of cultivation does not follow common sense, and beasts can even turn into humans.
It was as if someone had cut a hole in the dimensional wall, and Black Cat Sheriff really came to the world and started arresting bad guys. She could no longer see him as a black cat, but instead subconsciously thought of him as the sheriff.
So, she didn't know how to react. It was her first time encountering this and she wasn't very good at it.
Therefore, under Yue Baiyin's sorrowful gaze, she could only stumble over the conflicting part of her heart:
"That...isn't it..."
"Murder." Yue Baiyin laughed, "Isn't it? You think so too, so I can't forgive him."
"Even death is impossible."
"But... it was a war after all, Qi Rongli had no choice..." She was not making excuses for him, but felt that their many helplessness should not be defined so hastily by only one side.
"I've found many reasons for him. At that time, the demon god descended, and the demons' magical power increased greatly. Kunlun hadn't won a single battle, and the Mahayana cultivators were wiped out in a snap. Kunlun was on the verge of destruction, and the human world was on the verge of destruction. Kunlun desperately needed a victory, so Qi Rongli personally offered the Beast Taming Sect on the altar, and the spirit beasts all over the mountain were also sent to the demons' mouths. This was the best solution at the time."
Yue Baiyin held the teacup, the cup was slightly cracked and was on the verge of exploding.
"But is he truly innocent? He used the name of the people to force cultivators to surrender their spirit beasts, tricking them into swallowing deadly poison to temper their bodies. He even chained them to prevent them from escaping during battle! For those few days, Spirit Beast Mountain was filled with wailing, like hell!"
"But he doesn't seem to be wrong. Looking back at the Demon-Chasing Wars over seventy years, Kunlun only won this one time. After this battle, the demon army was defeated and retreated, giving Kunlun six years of breathing space."
"I understand everything, but I still can't forgive him."
"Call me indecisive or too soft-hearted, I can't get over it. I really can't get over it. Whenever I think back to the spirit beasts' eyes that were either ignorant, calm or resentful, I hate them! And I hate myself too!" At this point, Yue Baiyin's eyes were full of bloodshot and his face looked extremely ferocious.
“…”
Xu Xingxing was speechless. She thought she was quite good at comforting people, but now she realized that there were some things she really couldn't comfort.
Even now she needs comfort.
For the first time, she felt a little annoyed at her own excessive empathy. Even though she tried to clear her mind, she couldn't help but put herself in her own shoes over and over again:
What would she do if she were alive at that time?
Would she just let it go and offer Xiao Hei to her without any hesitation?
Will she go with the flow and reluctantly sacrifice Xiao Hei for the sake of the people?
No, I will never do that even if I die.
Even if she herself was eaten by the demons, even if she entered the game alone and was slaughtered by the demons, she would not send Xiao Hei into the monster's mouth.
Not to mention, if anyone dared to trick Xiao Hei into taking poison, she would chop that person to death, regardless of the overall situation.
But if she was Qi Rongli...
She couldn't think any further.
She is not Qi Rongli, and she can never become Qi Rongli.
Qi Rongli is a man who brings peace to the people and helps the world. He is elegant and polite, but also decisive and responsible. If he were born in troubled times, he would be a hero.
But would such a person really care about Yue Baiyin's opinion? Would he really do everything he could to seek Yue Baiyin's forgiveness? Even kneeling before her, a junior?
I don’t think so.
A person with such a strong inner core as him should not care much about what future generations say about him, let alone the hatred and resentment from Yue Baiyin alone.
If that weren't the case, why didn't he apologize for decades before kneeling down? What's the point?
She thought so and asked.
Yue Baiyin looked at her for a long moment, then forced a dry smile: "You know him better than I do."
"He knelt before you today, probably not out of guilt or sadness for the past, but probably... for Ningning."
"His natal spirit beast?" Xu Xingxing had heard this name before. "Did Ningning die like this?"
"How could he, such a cold-blooded man, let Ningning go? Only if Ningning takes the lead will the other cultivators bear the pain and send their spirit beasts."
The two of them were silent for a long time. After a while, Xu Xingxing finally found his voice again: "He personally sent his own spirit beast to its death. It's hard not to feel heartbroken."
"So what if it hurts?" Yue Baiyin sneered, and suddenly opened his hand, separating the two of them from Xiao Hei with a layer of transparent barrier.
Soundproof array?
Xu Xingxing, who was still wondering why he opened this formation a second ago, suddenly understood when he heard his next words.
I only heard Yue Baiyin ask:
"If you were him, would you let Xiao Hei die?"
"Get lost! Bah! How dare you talk like that?"
Xu Xingxing cursed out loud in response to the pressure. The question she had been resisting was directly revealed to her by Yue Baiyin, making her feel as nervous as if she was called upon by the head teacher to answer a question in front of the whole class.
"Don't be afraid, he can't hear you, just say what you think." Yue Baiyin said.
Xu Xingxing looked at Yue Baiyin's inquiring and uncertain eyes, and the panic disappeared completely in an instant, and she even felt a little angry because of his uncertainty.
She met Yue Baiyin's eyes and spoke each word with certainty: "If I were born at that time, I would die before Xiao Hei."
She had just involuntarily deduced this hypothetical scenario countless times.
In the end, she found that this was the only answer that made her feel most at ease.
A cool breeze blew into the house, Xiao Hei's sleeves flew inward, and the sunlight shone on his head, making him look bright. Such a good person, such a person who had suffered so much, she really couldn't bear to let him get hurt again.
She continued, "Master, the greater good of the world means less to me than my family and close friends. I admire people like Qi Rongli, but I am not him. The people around me are the meaning of my life. I am willing to sacrifice my life for his. If he must die, I will die before him. I cannot tolerate anyone taking him away for any seemingly legitimate reason, whether that person is Qi Rongli or my father."
No one can do it. From the moment he covered her eyes when they were full of blood, from the moment he saved her from the sky full of thunder and lightning, she knew that even if he spent the rest of his life as a dog, she would always be with him, protect him, and make sure he had no worries.
The house was quiet. The sun outside rose to its zenith, the clouds became thinner, and the air became warmer.
Yue Baiyin stared at her intently, his eyes filled with shock, envy, and even a flicker of tears, but they disappeared after a moment, and he sank back into memories: "Ningning came to Kunlun because she was seriously injured and nearly died while saving Qi Rongli. At the time, he was just a mortal. He knelt every step of the way from the bottom of the mountain to the top, and then knelt in front of the Beast Taming Sect for three days and three nights. Only then did my uncle relent and rescue Ningning."
"Look, not only do people's hearts change, but even the hearts of those who cultivate immortality are fickle. He was the one who gave Ningning life, but he was also the one who sent Ningning to death. Although your words are sonorous now, who knows if you will change in the future?"
Xu Xingxing frowned, feeling that his questioning was simply picking a fight. "Master, I've never heard you mention your spirit beast. Is he like Ningning?"
This question was quite harsh, but Xu Xingxing felt that he had been deliberately bringing up things she wanted to avoid, and kept saying nonsense like she sent Xiao Hei to death. She felt a little unhappy, so she wanted to poke at his scars.
Yue Baiyin was stunned, but not angry. A trace of helplessness and bitterness crossed his face. "My natal spirit beast is an old black turtle. I let it go, but it returned without telling me. In the end, it died saving dozens of spirit beasts, causing me to lose half of my cultivation. This silly turtle, have you ever seen such a stupid beast? It's lived for thousands of years in vain."
She looked at Yue Baiyin and felt that she was being too aggressive. She poured a cup of tea for both Yue Baiyin and herself, pulled a chair over and sat down opposite him.
"Then don't worry, Master. I'll let Xiao Hei go. With his temperament, he'll definitely run faster than anyone else. You asked if I'll change, I can't guarantee it, but I do know that my heart is small and my path is narrow. Those who get in will find it difficult to get out. Besides, my greatest strength and weakness is that I'm protective of my own people. No one else can bully him except me."
She clinked her teacup with Yue Baiyin's, then drank the tea in one gulp. She then continued, "Master, instead of hating Qi Rongli, you should hate the unforgivable Earth Demon Clan, hate the utterly evil Demon God! If it weren't for him, if it weren't for them, you wouldn't have been forced into this. Instead of pushing yourself into a dead end and hating your teammates, it's better to blame the real enemy right in front of you."
"Hate the demons?" Yue Baiyin looked at him, muttering, then becoming extremely angry. "Of course I hate the demons! I hate Qi Rongli, it's true, but I don't hate him as a demon. How can it be the same? I hope all demons die. I wish I could tear out the tendons and bones of the demon god Hou Yuan, but as for Qi Rongli, I just don't want to see him."
"That's right. Just transfer some of your hatred for Qi Rongli to the demons." Xu Xingxing said seriously, "Hatred is tiring, especially when it comes to hating someone close to you. Why force yourself to do this? If Ningning and Xuangui were still alive, they wouldn't want you to live such a miserable life."
Yue Baiyin raised his head and drank the tea, then snorted coldly, "I'm stubborn? If you were me, I wouldn't necessarily be able to let it go."
"Master, you don't have to be sarcastic." Xu Xingxing smiled, "But you're right. If I were you, I would be so stubborn that I would die, and no one would be able to persuade me."
"...What nonsense are you talking about?" Yue Baiyin was speechless for a moment, "You are quite good at persuading me."
"There's nothing I can do. Those who comfort others may not necessarily be good at comforting themselves."
The atmosphere between the two of them eased slightly, but they didn't notice the boy standing at the door, whose body was becoming increasingly stiff.
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