Lu Wuming had never expected that the answer to his question would turn out to be this.
It was purely for such a trivial reason?
This was the reason that had forged his tragic fate?
He couldn't help but recall his infancy. He hadn't even been able to speak then, yet that woman had looked at him and unhesitatingly snapped his neck. Then, laughing and crying, she had watched his neck heal, finally kicking him viciously twice, angrily cursing, "You damned monster!"
At that time, his consciousness was not fully developed. He could only feel endless pain. As he grew a little older and gained some capacity for thought, he would seriously ponder why it had to be him who suffered. Why did he have to endure suffering? What wrong had he done to experience torment time and time again?
Liu Buli always felt that the first person to dismember him was Shen Muzhi. But in reality, he had never told Liu Buli that he had experienced the agony of his body being minced into meat paste and then slowly regenerating countless times since he was very young.
That kind of pain was truly despair-inducing, especially when he hadn't yet properly adapted to pain. When experiencing that indescribable despair, he didn't even know how to express his sadness and suffering.
He had cried instinctively and tried to shout.
But that only resulted in more severe abuse and torment.
So gradually, Lu Wuming learned to remain silent.
Whether his arm was chopped off or his leg was twisted, his small body was like a broken kite, pierced and destroyed again and again, only to await his own recovery.
It wasn't due to the disappearance of pain, but rather mental numbness.
He knew that no matter how hard he tried, no matter how he expressed his sadness, it wouldn't stop the other person's actions. Since that was the case, he could only try his best to appear quiet. He hoped that by doing so, the torment he endured would be slightly lessened.
However, it wasn't.
The pain continued to spread until that woman died. Among all the despair he had experienced in his previous life, Lu Wuming had pondered the question he had just asked more than once.
He wanted to know why it was him.
He also wanted to know why it was that woman.
Why did the person he could call his father bring that woman so much pain? And why did the person who should have been called his mother, instead of seeking revenge on the true perpetrator, heap all her suffering onto him?
Lu Wuming couldn't understand.
In this life, it wasn't until he met Liu Buli and was with Liu Buli that he gave up on those questions he had pondered for so many years.
But now that he had finally found someone to ask, he hadn't expected that the answer to this question would be so ridiculously simple from the very beginning.
It was purely for a test that she ruined that woman's life and indirectly ruined Lu Wuming's life. Even before meeting Liu Buli, Lu Wuming had seriously contemplated more than once.
He had pondered the meaning of his own existence.
He had pondered...
Perhaps from the very beginning, he should never have been born into this world.
But these were things he couldn't choose.
It was as if he had truly been subjected to the world's most terrifying curse; he couldn't choose to be born, nor could he control his death.
It was like that before, and it was still like that now.
Unfortunately, the Ghost King did not understand his current mood. After a brief pause, he continued, "Actually, that woman, I mean the woman who gave birth to you, she was really formidable, you know? The moment I finished doing those things to her, her body was so fragile it felt like it would fall apart with a touch. But even at that point, she was still trying to beg me, begging me not to kill her, saying she wanted to live. Don't you think humans are a bit ridiculous? If she had simply chosen to die, she wouldn't have had to endure the subsequent pain. But for the sake of that life, she grovelled and begged me, begged me to spare her, begged me to let her live. Even after what I did to her, even after I ate the person she loved right in front of her, she still kept kowtowing and pleading. Isn't that quite interesting?"
Lu Wuming froze.
Then, gritting his teeth, he asked, "You killed her lover too?"
"To be precise, from the beginning, I intended to eat them both," the Ghost King replied earnestly. "But later, looking at that woman, I thought of some interesting things. Then I implemented them, and the feedback she gave me was even more interesting than I had initially imagined. If you look at it from this perspective, then humans do have some value worth preserving."
As if savoring the past amusement, the Ghost King's tone became much lighter.
And at least at this moment, Lu Wuming suddenly felt that the question that had lingered in his heart and troubled him for two lifetimes seemed to have found a perfect answer.
The corners of his mouth slowly curved upwards, forming a perfect arc.
Lu Wuming couldn't help but laugh. It started as a low chuckle, and eventually escalated into uncontrollable, wild laughter.
Hearing his laughter, the Ghost King seemed to sense something was amiss. His voice carried a hint of confusion as he said, "What's wrong? Have you thought of something? Why are you laughing so hard?"
"It's because you are truly too foolish," Lu Wuming retracted his smile and replied coldly. "Do you think that woman was begging you incessantly in that situation just to save her life? Do you really think that for the sake of a life, humans would do anything?"
The Ghost King seemed puzzled. "Then what else could it be for?"
It was to preserve her own life and give birth to the child within her. To inflict the most despairing pain on that child, making him hate his mother while also hating his father.
Because the woman knew very well that she was no match for the Ghost King. Since that was the case, it was better to heap all the hatred onto the child. If the child had the chance to meet the Ghost King, he would surely avenge her.
After going in circles for two lifetimes, Lu Wuming never expected that the ultimate winner would be the woman he had hated the most from the very beginning.