Chapter 151

Chapter 151

With several pairs of eyes staring fixedly at her, Deng Liqian seemed to feel tremendous pressure. Her eyes were rimmed in red, and she looked utterly pitiful.

But after doing something so vicious and shameless, she had no choice but to confess.

Otherwise, I wouldn’t mind using other methods to make her talk…

Just as the ordinary authorities had no way to uncover Deng Liqian’s crime, they would likewise have no way to discover any other methods I might use.

She had already used gu to harm someone, and her grandmother clearly knew a little of the gu arts as well. Naturally, I considered this a conflict within the esoteric world.

If they refused to submit, then it was only proper for me to use whatever methods of the esoteric arts I pleased!

Deng Liqian’s grandmother probably understood that perfectly. That was why, after seeing my talisman fire effortlessly wipe out her entire swarm of gu insects, she hadn’t dared utter another word.

“I’ll talk. I’ll tell you… The truth is, Yao Nan never bullied me or did anything bad to me. Just the opposite. You were too good to me.”

What?!

Yao Nan had calmed down slightly moments earlier, but now she was even more shocked and furious.

She shot to her feet from the stool and stared at Deng Liqian in disbelief.

“I was too good to you? You said I was too good to you! So you used those terrifying gu insects to hurt me? What kind of fucking bullshit is that?”

Perhaps Yao Nan truly was so shocked and hurt that she actually swore.

Beside her, Wang Dachun exclaimed in disbelief, “Deng Liqian, is there something wrong with your head?”

I alone gave a cold sneer.

“It’s perfectly normal. It’s only the old story: a little kindness earns gratitude, while too much kindness breeds resentment.”

The moment Deng Liqian said those words, I had already guessed her state of mind.

Sure enough, she continued…

“That’s right, Yao Nan. You were too good to me. When I ate lunch at the cafeteria and couldn’t bear to spend money on meat, you would buy a meat dish and give it to me.”

“When my gloves tore and my hands were cold in winter, you took it upon yourself to give me a warm new pair.”

“When I needed new stationery but couldn’t bring myself to ask my family for money, you gave me supplies of your own that were still almost new.”

“I was a fan of celebrities and wanted to buy their posters. It took me a whole month to save two yuan, but when you bought them for me, you refused my money… You even smiled and said it was only two yuan, so I didn’t need to pay you.”

At that point, Deng Liqian suddenly jerked her head up and stared fixedly at Yao Nan.

She stopped crying. Her gaze and voice both turned fierce and agitated.

“Maybe you thought you were being a good person, but… did you ever understand how I felt? At first, of course it felt good. But gradually, I started feeling like a beggar–a beggar who needed your charity!”

“I even started asking myself why. Why do you get to have a wealthy, privileged family, a pretty face, a beautiful voice, and excellent grades? Why does everyone like you too?”

“Why were you born with all of that while I got nothing? During school breaks, you can travel to other places and visit the county seat or the city for fun. All I can do is stand on the street selling the shoe insoles my grandmother makes.”

“I really, truly hate this world! And I hate you too. I hate having you beside me, shining so brightly that I look completely worthless by comparison. You thought I would be grateful for your help, but I never was…”

“Hmph!”

I snorted heavily and stared coldly at the increasingly agitated Deng Liqian.

“So for this New Year’s gala, you planned to use gu insects to rob Yao Nan of her voice. Then she wouldn’t be able to perform her solo, and you–the girl everyone considers almost as good a singer as Yao Nan–could replace her. Is that right?”

By now, Deng Liqian knew there was no possible way to escape responsibility, so she stopped trying to hide it.

She nodded. “Yes! That’s exactly what I thought. As long as she couldn’t speak for the next few days, I would get to perform the solo that everyone would be watching. I…”

Smack!

A crisp slap landed across Deng Liqian’s face.

The blow was hard. Five distinct red finger marks immediately rose on her cheek.

But… neither I nor the furious Yao Nan had struck her.

It was Deng Liqian’s grandmother!

The equally hot-tempered old woman stared at her granddaughter and cursed furiously.

“You’ve made me furious! Your father died young, and your mother ran off with another man. Do you think it was easy for an old woman like me to raise you? And you–you actually stole the secrets of gu. Those waters are far too deep for you to handle!”

As she spoke, real tears began streaming from her eyes.

The sight made me sneer even more coldly inside.

She didn’t care about Yao Nan, the victim, at all. She was merely afraid that her granddaughter’s secret study of the gu arts might bring backlash upon her. Worse still, any true esoteric practitioner who came after the girl could now act without guilt or restraint…

After all, when most righteous practitioners developed a grudge against an ordinary person–unless it involved some deep and irreconcilable hatred–they still had reservations about using occult methods.

But if the other party also knew a little magic, then once relations broke down and conflict erupted, both sides could use ruthless methods in the fight.

The slap had hurt Deng Liqian badly. Weeping, she shouted, “But Grandma, don’t you use gu too? Just now, right in front of Wu Zhong, you released a whole swarm of strange insects that obviously weren’t normal. He only burned them all away with one blast of fire. I just secretly read that strange old book under your bed, and then…”

She clearly felt wronged.

The old woman’s expression changed. She seemed to want to cover Deng Liqian’s mouth but didn’t dare move.
The corner of my mouth curved into a meaningful smile.

“Oh? So you have a book about cultivating gu insects and practicing the gu arts? Excellent. As it happens, I have a little interest in the subject myself.”

“Young master, I…”

“Ma’am, since your granddaughter says you’ve hidden a gu book in your house, you must possess a fairly good cultivation method. And yet you haven’t even crossed the threshold, and your abilities are utterly pathetic. Clearly, your talent is exceptionally poor. What use is keeping the book?”

I looked at her with a smile.

But that smile probably sent a chill through her heart.

Sure enough, the old woman knew she couldn’t conceal the matter. She immediately humbled herself and spoke submissively.

“Young master, please be magnanimous. My granddaughter secretly read a gu book passed down by our village and barely managed to imitate a few crude methods for raising and refining inferior gu insects. She never had any truly malicious intention. She only wanted her classmate to lose her voice for a few days. It would have recovered afterward.”

Deng Liqian also hurriedly nodded like a chicken pecking grain and defended herself.

“I never wanted Yao Nan to lose her voice forever. I only wanted her to be mute for a few days so I could replace her as the soloist in the gala. She would have recovered on her own after a few days. Yao Nan, you have to believe me.”

She gazed pleadingly at Yao Nan, seemingly hoping her former “good friend” would speak on her behalf.

But Yao Nan was innocent, not stupid.

She merely snorted and turned her head away, refusing to look at Deng Liqian.

I nodded too and spoke with complete seriousness.

“That’s right! I don’t understand gu insects, but I know roughly that every method of planting gu has a corresponding way to remove it. With sufficiently precise control, the practitioner can even set a duration and have the gu release itself automatically.”

Hearing this, Deng Liqian and her grandmother both seemed to relax slightly.

But I immediately continued.

“Unfortunately, you, Deng Liqian, merely followed a book and barely produced some low-grade poisonous gu. You don’t even understand the basic principles. Therefore, you neither know how to remove the gu nor could you possibly set a time for it to release automatically.”

My voice turned stern…

“Worse still, you couldn’t even control the number of gu eggs you placed in her thermos. In the end, they would inevitably have caused Yao Nan irreversible damage. She would have lost her voice for the rest of her life! She would have become truly mute.”

“If I hadn’t happened to discover it, and if I hadn’t happened to possess at least a little cultivation and used talisman fire to force those gu insects out, Yao Nan absolutely would have become mute!”

At those words, Yao Nan and Deng Liqian both looked utterly horrified.

Yao Nan touched her throat, shaken by how narrowly she had escaped.

Deng Liqian shouted, “Xiaonan, I truly didn’t mean to! I never wanted to make you mute for the rest of your life.”

But I merely stared at her coldly…

Later, Wang Dachun described my eyes as resembling a snake’s. Even though he was on “my side,” he said the sight made his skin crawl with fear!

Deng Liqian’s grandmother collapsed dejectedly onto a stool and let out a heavy sigh.

Then she looked at me and pleaded.

“If this old woman gives you that gu book, can you… can you guarantee that you won’t punish my granddaughter?”

Yao Nan was the victim and therefore the person who rightfully possessed the power to decide.

But I genuinely wanted that gu book, so for the moment, I took it upon myself to decide for her.

I looked at Yao Nan and said softly, “I’m sorry, Deskmate… I’ll make it up to you later.”

Without waiting for her answer, I turned to Deng Liqian’s grandmother and enunciated each word.

“Under the rules of the esoteric world, anyone who deliberately uses occult techniques to cripple another must repay the injury twofold. Anyone who causes such an injury unintentionally must suffer the same in return. In reality, Deng Liqian was certain to render Yao Nan mute. My appearance was nothing but an accident. Naturally, the rules of our world apply.”

“Give me that gu book and tell me exactly where it came from. In exchange, I can decide on Yao Nan’s behalf to spare Deng Liqian. I won’t make her mute, nor will I cause her any other lasting injury.”

The old woman pleaded, “Can’t you spare her from punishment altogether? Can’t we pretend this never happened?”

I shook my head. “No.”

Seeing her hesitate, I added flatly, “This is actually very fair. You should be grateful I’m not a rogue occultist. Otherwise, I could simply take the book by force. I am willing to make this trade only because I am a righteous practitioner. A life for a life, a debt repaid in full–those are the natural laws of the world.”

All right… Master had said that our lineage was actually in a rather miserable position.

The evil factions didn’t care for us, and the righteous factions didn’t love us.

Neither side wanted us.

But I considered myself righteous. Anyone who disagreed could come bite me!

At last, the old woman nodded. As if finally letting go, she murmured to herself.

“Very well. Leidong Miao Village is gone anyway. I married a Han man and continued my bloodline. Once I die, Leidong Miao Village will disappear completely. What use is there in keeping an ancient gu book I can’t even read?”

She told us to wait while she went into the bedroom to retrieve the book.

Throughout that time, Yao Nan glared furiously at Deng Liqian. Deng Liqian didn’t dare meet her eyes. She merely lowered her head and twisted her fingers together in silence…

Before long, Deng Liqian’s grandmother emerged from the bedroom.

She carried a book in her hands.

The book wasn’t made of paper!

Instead, it was bound in some kind of black hide.

One glance told me the book was anything but ordinary.

Leaving it in the hands of two ordinary people who clearly possessed no talent was indeed a waste, at least to some extent…