Stranger Danger

Chu Wangsun was clearly stronger than him. Not only was he at the threshold of Grandmaster, Xie Taohua could tell that the scholar could cross over to the next cultivation level if he really wanted to. On the other hand, he still had a ways to go before he could enter the Grandmaster stage.

If Chu Wangsun, the fourth ranked warrior on the Human Champions Ranking, was already this powerful, what about the third-ranked warrior, the “Little Senior Monk of Lanke Temple”[1], the second-ranked warrior, “Sacred Son of Demonic Mountain”, and the first-ranked warrior, the “Little Heavenly Master” of Heavenly Master Mansion.

Ever since he mastered his martial arts and entered the Human Champions Ranking, he had never encountered any true obstacles and kept advancing triumphantly. He was even planning on challenging the top ten warriors of the Human Champions Ranking, defeating all of them, and entering the Grandmaster stage as the indisputable champion of the Human Champions Ranking.

But now that he had gotten a reality check, he realized that he still had a long, long way to go.

“Your mastery of the ‘Peach Blossom Celestial Scripture’ is lacking.”

Chu Wangsun remained unmoved despite Xie Taohua’s compliment. He said directly, “You are no match for me.”

Xie Taohua’s main cultivation art was the “Peach Blossom Celestial Scripture” invented by Xie Qingxi himself. He had created it after experiencing an epiphany while observing the life cycle of peach blossoms. A martial art that embodied the power of life and death, growth and decline, its practitioner could grow a thousand flowers in an instant, or wilt them just as quickly. It was quite powerful to say the least.

However, it was clear that Xie Taohua’s mastery of the “Peach Blossom Celestial Scripture” was lacking. To be specific, his understanding of the power of life and death, growth and decline wasn’t good enough to unleash the martial art’s full potential, which was why it had performed rather poorly against Chu Wangsun.

Xie Taohua did not get angry despite Chu Wangsun’s blunt words, however. He even gave him a carefree smile and said, “Thank you for your guidance, Brother Chu. I promise I won’t disappoint you the next time we fight.”

Pei Qiansui grew anxious when he realized that Chu Wangsun was going to let Xie Taohua go. “Are you just going to forgive him, young master?”

Chu Wangsun stopped in his tracks and looked at Pei Qiansui with clear, pure eyes. His gaze was such that Pei Qiansui was suddenly struck by a bad feeling.

“Give me your hand!” Chu Wangsun said suddenly.

Pei Qiansui’s face immediately turned ugly. “Young master, I—”

“I won’t repeat myself.” Chu Wangsun’s voice was indifferent, but it would not take no as an answer. “Give me your hand.”

It looked like a black storm was brewing behind Pei Qiansui’s face, but he ultimately gritted his teeth and extended his hand. His palm was facing upward.

Everyone wondered what Chu Wangsun was planning to do when the scholar summoned a ruler to his hand and struck Pei Qiansui on his palm.

Slap!

The crisp sound resounded throughout the establishment. If the guests were stunned before, now they were positively speechless. For a time, they could only stare at Chu Wangsun and Pei Qiansui with dumbfounded expressions.

On the second floor, even Ye Qing was blinking in confusion and wondering what the hell was going on inside Chu Wangsun’s head.

The ruler was a perfectly ordinary ruler, a wooden ruler to be exact.

The strike was perfectly mundane as well. Besides the fact that it was a little louder than normal, it was exactly the kind of strike one expected a teacher to mete out against a student. Forget a named warrior on the Human Champions Ranking like Pei Qiansui, not even a beginner who just entered the Body Tempering stage would feel any pain from such a strike.

The physical damage was nothing, but the mental damage was a completely different story. His face grew dark and twisted, and his eyes were blazing with uncontrollable killing intent and fury. The entire restaurant turned as cold as ice because of it.

“Do you know why I struck you?” Chu Wangsun asked.

Pei Qiansui bowed his head and said nothing. He simply trembled in place with bloodshot eyes.

“It would appear that you still haven’t recognized your mistake. Even now, you’re attempting to sow dissension.”

Chu Wangsun said indifferently, “Although the Peach Blossom Celestial, Xie Qingxi addresses the Sacred Sovereign as his master, he never slaughtered innocents by choice nor committed vile acts of evil. His disciple, Xie Taohua, had not done anything good since entering the jianghu, but he had not committed evil either. For what reason would I kill a man who has done neither good nor wrong?”

“You are different, however. Your master is the Old Man of A Hundred Virtues, and he is a vile, vile man who has committed countless evils. You, his disciple, are no different from him. You are outmatched by your master only in terms of body count and insanity.”

“You should have died to atone for your sins, but death is the easiest thing in this world. Living, on the other hand, is the hardest. The reason I’m keeping you alive is because I wish to reform you for the better. I will transform you into a righteous man who holds justice and benevolence close to his heart, do what is good for the people, and benefit the country. It is the best way for you to atone for the evils that you have done.”

“Do you understand now?”

The Old Man of A Hundred Virtues Chu Wangsun spoke of was an elder of the Demonic Mountain. The reason he was called the Old Man of A Hundred Virtues was because he performed a hundred good deeds every month without fail. However, his interpretation of good deeds was quite different from your average person.

For example, if the Old Man of A Hundred Virtues encountered a poor man on the streets, he would kill him. This way, his suffering would end, and he would be able to join the cycle of reincarnation and be reborn with a better life.

If someone refused to pay after eating a meal, the Old Man of A Hundred Virtues would burn down the entire restaurant. When asked why he did such a thing, he declared, “The guy can’t dine and dash again now that there is no longer a restaurant, right?”

If someone tripped on their feet, the Old Man of A Hundred Virtues would break their legs so they could never walk again. This way, they would never trip again.

If someone’s money was stolen, the Old Man of A Hundred Virtues would rob them of all their wealth. This way, no thief would ever steal a single coin from them again.

Long story short, the Old Man of A Hundred Virtues’ so-called “good” deeds were one hundred percent evil from a normal person’s point of view. It was also why he was lambasted as a heretic and a monster; one that everyone would sooner see dead than alive.

Pei Qiansui was the old man’s disciple, and while he did not inherit his master’s insane view of good and evil, he was even more vicious than the old man was. He slaughtered innocents in the name of honing his martial arts, and he would commit any and all crimes to further his self-interests. It was why he was notorious throughout the jianghu.

Back in the present, the guests oohed and aahed in realization. Now they realized why Pei Qiansui had become Chu Wangsun’s follower. He was “volunteered” into this position so to speak.

A few seconds later, Pei Qiansui’s killing intent abruptly disappeared like it was never there. At the same time, he replied with a simple smile, “Yes, I’ve recognized my mistake, young master. I swear I will obey your teaching and become a good person from now on.”

On the surface, he looked like the honest farmer boy he pretended to be. But on the inside, he was barely keeping a sea of humiliation, bloodthirst and fury at bay.

If possible, he would carve up Chu Wangsun and everyone in this restaurant and burn their souls on a candle. Only then could he be absolved of his hatred.

But he couldn’t, because he was no match for Chu Wangsun.

Running into Chu Wangsun was a stroke of bad luck, plain and simple. His main cultivation art was called the “Soul Refining Hand”. His hands acted as a furnace that could refine souls. At the adept level, he could extract, refine, and annihilate one’s soul the instant he touched a person’s body. It was extremely scary to say the least.

The way to advance the “Soul Refining Hand” was just as evil. To put it simply, the practitioner must use a living person’s soul and spirit to nurture and temper their hands.

Most people would have second thoughts about using such an evil and inhumane martial art, but Pei Qiansui was raised to adulthood by the Old Man of A Hundred Virtues. He was a man who witnessed all sorts of deaths before he even knew how to walk. As a result, killing was as natural as breathing to him.

When he was happy, he would kill to celebrate his joy. When he was unhappy, he would kill to vent his sorrow. When he was cultivating, well, his martial art couldn’t progress without killing now, could it? When he was idle, he still killed because why not?

Long story short, his daily life consisted of eating, sleeping, and killing. Lots and lots of killing.

One day, he ran into a couple of wandering scholars and noted that their souls and spirits were fairly pure. So, he wanted to kill them and practice his martial art.

Unfortunately for him, Chu Wangsun happened to be passing through the area, and after that… well, there was no after that. Since then, he became Chu Wangsun’s “faithful” follower.

In Chu Wangsun’s words, a sage accepts students from all walks of life. That was why he planned to emulate their ancient wisdom and bring him back to the straight and narrow as well.

What could Pei Qiansui do? He could only accept, of course.

1. Lanke Temple was briefly mentioned way back when Ye Qing was still at Luo Shui. ☜