By the Tingtao Pavilion, Chen Xu held an ancient inkstone, listening to a truly absurd and cruel story.

"That foster son of mine, that beast..." Liu Xi's eyes were red, his chest heaving violently as he said, "He, he is not human, he is an Evil Ghost that climbed back from Hell!

I, I originally was not a merchant, I am the son of a Scholar!"

Liu Xi's words turned, yet his demeanor gradually became hazy:

"I was only seven years old that year, my father told me that the Yuan Cang River was in danger of breaching again, and he was going with his peers to form a formation to guard it for seven days.

He gave me a Protective Talisman to wear and instructed Uncle Shi to take me to flee south immediately, as far as possible.

We fled south for seven days, then on that day, we suddenly heard a great roar in the distance. We couldn't see anything, but we could feel that the sky seemed to have collapsed at that moment.

An enormous flood spanned thousands of miles, although we fled seven days in advance, it seemed we had escaped, but in reality, we had not escaped anything.

We continued south, everything on the road became more expensive, and Uncle Shi's money dwindled.

Until one day, Uncle Shi suddenly fell ill, then I learned that in order to protect me from being infected by the epidemic, he often consumed his own Qi Blood, resulting in his contracting the disease.

He told me to drip blood on my Protective Talisman to activate its final protective power and take me to find his childhood friend.

Yes, it was my master, the original Workshop Master of the Cuiqing Dye Workshop, Master Liu's family.

He asked Master Liu to take me in, urging me to find a way to study hard, and when I grew up, to earn fame and not disappoint my father's reputation.

Uncle Shi was gone since then, Master Liu outwardly agreed to take care of me, but in fact, how did they treat me?

His eldest son could study, but I could not.

In winter they wore silk and furs, but I only had a cloth coat and quilted jacket. In summer their young lady cooled off in the flower hall, but I had to learn dye ratios in front of dye vats taller than myself, nearly getting heatstroke.

I was indignant, I bowed and scraped, I desperately tried to please them, though I couldn't study or attend school, at least I could recognize characters..."

During this, he recounted a long section of the unjust treatment he suffered.

The more he spoke, the more indignant he became, his hatred soaring.

But to the others listening, the lengthy tale did not seem to signify how he had been abused.

The alleged heinous Master Liu he spoke of had actually taken him in, nurtured him, and even passed on the secret dyeing formula to him.

Master Liu merely did not raise him to study as he did his own eldest son, but he even married his daughter to him.

What did he do afterward?

"Liu Jun, that wretch, he passed the Advanced Scholar exam and thought himself remarkable, flaunted it to my face.

Ha, what's so great about being an Advanced Scholar? Didn't I just use a little trick to make him foolishly fall into a dye vat and drown right in front of everyone!

It's great that he's dead, now I can go study, boohoo..."

Though Liu Xi spoke of being able to study, he was not happy, instead, he began to cry once again.

He sobbed, "To pacify those old couple's hearts, I voluntarily changed my surname to Liu and my name to Liu Xi.

Even with such a sacrifice, I studied for many years and could not even pass the Advanced Scholar exam!

It must be these fools who delayed my best years, otherwise, how could I have failed everything? My father was a Scholar, after all.

I hate, I hate so deeply..."

He wept and stumbled.

His subsequent words caused even more frowning from the audience, for it turned out that his pent-up hatred had led to more malice.

On a winter night, he secretly blocked the bedroom doors of Master Liu and his wife, causing them to be poisoned by charcoal smoke.

He left them with just a breath and called a doctor to hang onto their lives.

Then he often diluted the medicinal soup prescribed by the doctor, keeping them bedridden and unable to recover.

After torturing them like this for years, he finally revealed to them the truth of their eldest son's death.

Master Liu and his wife breathed their last in resentment.

In the end, only the unaware youngest daughter was left, married to Liu Xi, and so, the Cuiqing Dye Workshop became Liu Xi's dye workshop.

Yet Liu Xi was not happy, instead, he cried more pitifully, murmuring between sobs:

"When did I ever want this wretched workshop? I should not have been a lowly merchant; I should have been like all of you, adorned with honors, embracing elegance, where I, I truly deserved a place."

There was a pin-drop silence among the crowd, all were astounded by Liu Xi's shamelessness.

That a person could be so brazenly wicked was rare in this world, truly an eye-opener.

Many held in their hearts countless angers, just waiting for a moment to unleash them, intent on cursing him till he was drenched in insults.

Yet suddenly, they heard a voice unexpectedly ask, "You claim you should not be a lowly merchant, then may I ask your father's name and your original name?"

"I, I..." Liu Xi's lips immediately clamped shut.

His face flushed deep red, the veins on his forehead bulging, clearly resisting the impulse to answer the question.

Chen Xu, with the ancient inkstone in his left hand and pen in his right, said calmly again, "It seems you do not wish to answer, even resisting the power of the Truth Discerning Talisman.

Perhaps I should add another Talisman, and after finding out your father's name, write down your story to pass down through the ages.

Your father, with his noble spirit, guarded the river for the people of the Seven Prefectures of the South, dying valiantly, and should be remembered by the world.

As for you..."

Before his words were finished, Liu Xi already screamed in panic, "No! You're deceiving me, you said the Truth Discerning Talisman only discerns truth, and I could remain silent on matters I did not wish to answer.

Why did I just unknowingly tell the whole story? That was not my intention.

I only needed to prove that I am indeed Liu Xi, and I have proven it. Aren't you all self-proclaimed righteous people? Help me..."

Chen Xu sighed lightly, "When did I deceive you? Look, you refuse to answer your father's name, isn't it because you simply cannot?

Yet the process through which you murdered your foster father's family, you narrated so smoothly, clearly you already regard this as your proud work.

Just regret that there were no listeners, leaving you unable to tell it.

Fine, since you're unwilling, even if I cast a second Truth Discerning Talisman, it would be useless, so why not let me guess who your father might be?

Judging by your age now, the breaching of Yuan Cang River you mentioned should have been forty years ago.

At that time, the Famous Scholar in Celestial South Dao included the Great Scholar Ji Weizi, Advanced Scholar Jiang Guangyuan, Lv Yan, Zhu Shan, Ban Zhi... Besides, few Scholars dared to partake in such river-guarding feats.

There were a few Scholars then, famously known as the Six Hermits of the Cloud Realm.

I happen to remember all their names, they should be Lu Wei, Shi Rong, Yu Zhan...

Judging by your words, your family's status should not be considered luxurious, thus eliminating those from local prominent families.

And inferring from Uncle Shi being a Qi Blood Martial Artist, your family could not have been without standing.

It's actually easy to guess, your father must have been Shi Rong.

Master of the Iron Flute, Shi Rong, ah, noble throughout his life. Who would have thought, his descendant turned out to be someone like you..."

"No!" Liu Xi could no longer contain himself, trembling all over, shouting in anger, "Be quiet, quiet! No more, no more, I..."

Puff!

He suddenly spat out a mouthful of fresh blood.

The blood spurted wildly from his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, his five senses, as he stared wide-eyed at Chen Xu.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.