Questioning Heaven, Desiring the Way

The next day, after Lihua and Taohua were done helping Gu Suihan to wash up and get dressed, they took the money that he gave them and left the inn excitedly to go shopping.
He even told them very sternly that they were not allowed to come back until they had spent every single cent.

Reality proved that regardless of era, human females were always obsessed with buying things1.
The two maids happily went shopping with a maid sent over from the Li family.

Meanwhile, Gu Suihan went on a little trip himself and snuck into the Li family residence again without anybody knowing.
After getting into the memories of one of the maids easily, he began to understand the situation better.

Li Yu was a little rash, had poor luck, and didn’t have a spiritual root that could help him to cultivate, but looking at his situation, he…actually matched the MC template of some of those weak to strong novels on Earth.

Except that his surname wasn’t Xiao, and he hadn’t traveled in time.

When he was in the Lower World, the stupid weapon spirit living in that broken dagger had been so carried away being that typical “Old Man Shifu” that it ended up perishing as well in the end.
That weapon spirit had actually regarded the equally dumb Liu Ming as its disciple.

This time, Gu Suihan decided to part with a tiny wisp of his spiritual sense and create yet another “Old Man Shifu”.
After all, if another shit-stirrer with all the makings of an OP MC suddenly appeared in Fengyang, a city that was slowly getting murkier by the day, it would make things a lot more convenient for him.

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As for who this MC was going to be, Gu Suihan had his eyes set on Li Yu.
Firstly, this fellow had proven to be a rather resilient one.
According to the memories of that maid, three years ago, this young man’s fiancée had insulted him and called him a piece of trash, and that’s why he swore to leave and only return after he had succeeded out there.
He eventually found a little success and could barely be considered to be returning home with great treasures in tow, like the Chinese saying for those who left their homes to seek greater fortunes.
Unfortunately, he ran into robbers, and even more tragically, he ran into Gu Suihan.

He had made such MCs so many times now.
In fact, he had learned this technique from some old fellow from a particular sect.
It was supposed to help one understand the laws of nature better.
Of course, the experimental subjects were all those nerds who stuck themselves at home all day.
The process was simple.
He had to alter the target’s memories, then create an illusion at a different level based on the nature of the target and give them a cheat of sorts.
Then, he would purposely lead them in such a way as to see if this target could get some inspiration during his cultivation process, which would, in turn, help him to understand the laws of nature.

Otherwise, how else would he have understood so many laws after just cultivating for a little over a thousand years?

Of course, whether he reached his aim or not, as long as one became an experimental subject for him, that subject was most likely going to die.
After that, the dead subject would go into the process of samsara.
His soul would be split, regrouped, and he would be born again.
Anything left behind would be described as “inspiration” by those authors, slowly perfected and turned into novel after novel.

The difference this time was that Gu Suihan wanted Li Yu purely to be a distraction and shield at the same time.
With a bright light like Li Yu, who would attract all sorts of hatred toward him around, it would be much easier for Gu Suihan to do what he wanted quietly.

The interesting part was that Li Yu was just like a particular character of a novel with the surname Xiao – they both had a girl who showed them extra concern from a young age.
You could say they were childhood playmates.
But the girl in question here was actually Li Yu’s younger cousin.

“This sounds vaguely like the novel, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils by Louis Cha…soap opera material,” sighed Gu Suihan to himself.
He glanced at the young lady bathing in her bathroom, flicked a finger, and shot some qi at her, which knocked her out immediately.
He looked at the mounds on her chest that were just forming and sighed.
How rich your family was decided how early one would go through puberty after all.

Even as these frivolous thoughts ran through his head, a rune slowly formed around his fingers before he thrust the run into her head.
He slowly came out from her subconscious after 15 minutes and gently put a finger onto her slim and fair finger.

Then his body slowly faded from sight and disappeared, like he had been nothing more than an apparition.

The bathroom remained silent, and there was mist in the air.
The seemingly messy pattern on the strange-looking ring on the young lady’s finger suddenly gave off a reddish glow.
A very small pair of eyes slowly appeared, like a demon that had been watching humanity all this time.
It was filled with evil, greed, violence…

……

“Uhhh…” Fang Rou slowly opened her pretty eyes, and a look of confusion filled her large pupils, as though she was wondering why she had suddenly fallen asleep.

“Is it because of Brother Li Yu?” She started panicking and quickly cast a drying spell on herself.
Like an elegant fairy, she shook all the water off herself, put on a dress, and sprinted toward the ancestral hall.

“Mother will watch over me,” murmured Fang Rou as she grabbed the bangle on the table and glanced at the very ordinary-looking ring around her finger.
She pursed her lips, and a look of determination spread across her face.

“Xiaorou, excellent timing.
Everyone else has already gathered in the hall, and I was about to go look for you.” Just when Fang Rou was almost at the hall, she turned a corner hurriedly and saw a young man wearing a green shirt with the Dao Origin Sect emblem on it ahead of her.
He turned, smiled gently at her, then slowed down to walk next to her.

“Thank you, cousin.” Fang Rou bowed slightly and followed him a little stiffly.
But she was unable to hide the worried look on her fair little face.

“Let’s go to the front.” The young man noticed the expression on her face, so he took her soft hand in his and squeezed through the crowd.

After they finally managed to get themselves right in front of the crowd, Fang Rou only threw him a grateful glance without even saying thank you out loud.
She looked through the slats of the hall’s panels and saw the haggard Li Yu in the middle of the hall, his body covered in bloodstains.

“Brother Li Yu…” Fang Rou stopped herself in time before calling out to him.
Seeing the sheer number of wounds all over him made her feel an excruciating pain in her heart.
Her thin lips were so tightly pursed that they had begun to bleed, but she didn’t feel it at all.

“Li Yu, you walked out on this family three years ago and ruined the Li family’s reputation, and now, you almost brought disaster upon us.
What do you have to say for yourself?” said an old man seated on the chair reserved for the oldest person in the family in a steady voice after clearing his throat.
His face was covered in deep wrinkles and his all white hair looked like the aerial roots of a very old tree.

Li Yu scoffed and spat out some blood in his mouth before responding in a hateful voice, “Humph! That stupid bitch insulted me first that day.
How is it my fault now? I left home because I was the one who couldn’t hold my anger in.
Didn’t that give the family a way out of the situation without falling out with her family? It’s just too bad that I have the worst luck.
I came back with great treasures but ran into robbers.
The plans I had didn’t work out and some unforeseen circumstances came my way.
That’s how I got to this point.
All of you have already come to a decision, haven’t you? What’s the point in talking?”

“Humph! How dare you argue back? What an obstinate child,” said the old man with a loud snort as his eyebrows furrowed deeply in anger.
He glared frostily at the young man in front of him who continued to keep his head raised and refused to kneel.

“Since things have come to this, just announce the decision made by the elders of the family,” said another old man with a long sigh as he glanced at Li Yu and stroked his gray beard.

Li Xingjian watched everything unfold with no expression on his face, but he wasn’t feeling good inside.
After all, the young man in the middle of the hall was his own flesh and blood, yet he had been the one who had pushed his son into a corner.
His emotions were conflicted for that moment, but after the moment had passed, he slowly hid away the sadness and bitterness he felt.

He took a deep breath and his face tensed up as he said, “The head of the family and the elders have come to a unanimous decision on the punishment that Li Yu must face for the multiple wrongdoings he has committed.
One, he shall be chased out of the family and cannot receive any financial aid from any member of this family.
Two, he shall be removed from the Li family genealogy.
Three, his dantian shall be destroyed and his meridian channels shattered.
The main tendon of his hands and feet shall be severed…”

“Stop!” Fang Rou couldn’t take it anymore.
She forced her way into the hall and stood in front of Li Yu, then looked pleadingly at the esteemed elders of the Li family before falling to her knees with a loud thud.
Her voice cracked as she said, “I beg you, please, let Brother Li Yu off.
He cannot cultivate to begin with and it will be hard enough to survive if he leaves the family without any money.
If you also severe his tendons and destroy his dantian and meridian channels, he wouldn’t even be able to learn the sort of martial arts that ordinary folk learn, which would leave him with no way to survive!!”

As she spoke, she hit her fair forehead against the hard and cold stone floor again and again.
Tears poured down her cheeks, turning into colorful pearls before shattering as they hit the floor.

“Rou’er…” The faces of Li Xingjian and the rest instinctively relaxed when they saw who it was.
This young lady was the daughter of a concubine, but she was born with much talent and had already hit Beginner Foundation Establishment even at this young age.
She was destined to become one whom the family would rely on in the future.
The elders on the brink of death were usually a lot more forgiving toward the younger generation with potential to become great.

But the person whom Li Yu had offended this time was an Origin Core cultivator whom nobody knew anything about.
Even if they let Li Yu off this time, they would definitely look like they were merely trying to protect one of their own.

Someone at Origin Core wasn’t anybody that great in Fengyang, but that depended on who you were talking to.
The Li family lived in a more secluded part of the city and was depending on a business that was started by their ancestors.
It was getting more and more difficult to keep the family going and the family was declining day by day.
They didn’t even have an Origin Core cultivator in the family right now.
The only ones holding the fort were these elderly members who were still stuck at Peak Foundation Establishment and they couldn’t hold up much longer either.

If they became enemies with an Origin Core cultivator at this point in time, they would be completely destroyed.

“I…I’m willing to take the punishment for Brother Li Yu.” Fang Rou wasn’t a young child who didn’t understand the consequences of her actions.
She knew exactly what was going on.
She wasn’t hoping that Li Yu could be let off completely either.
She just hoped to share the burden with him, even if she could only share a little of it.

“Rou’er, don’t plead with them! I’d rather die than accept their pity! Moreover, this is pity at the expense of yourself!” Li Yu pulled Fang Rou to her feet and pulled her behind him to protect her as he glared angrily at the rest of his family.

“I think…that’s possible.” To everyone’s surprise, the young man who was walking to the hall with Fang Rou earlier suddenly took a step forward and spoke thoughtfully, “My esteemed elders, Rou’er’s giftedness is an extraordinary one.
She’s only cultivated for a few years and she’s already made it to Foundation Establishment.
If we could use that to get on good terms with that Origin Core cultivator, that would do the Li family much good…”

He didn’t go on, but nobody in the hall was stupid.
They immediately realized what the young man was driving at.
Their eyes lit up and the gears in their heads began to turn quickly.

TL/N: HUMPHH EXCUSE ME ↩️