He greeted people with a smile, he swindled and deceived, he stole, he cheated, he did every vile thing he could.
Except, before he stole money and tricked people out of money, now, he stole treasures and conned people out of spirit stones.
If discovered, he would merely get a beating, and after the beating, he would continue to greet people with a smile.
He thought his life would go on like this, until a woman appeared.
She was a senior disciple from another peak. They met due to a misunderstanding. At that time, outside his father's sect, he was being chased by a victim for stealing. He fled in a panic and accidentally ran into a female disciple dressed in sect robes, only to be robbed.
He didn't intend to get involved, but the pursuers behind him were close, and it was too late to change routes. So, he gritted his teeth and charged forward, pushed away the villain, and even stabbed him.
As he ran, he thought, he was a thief, the other person was a robber, neither was a good person. Was this what they called "black eating black"?
While running, he saw the female disciple behind him also running with him, her face full of panic, clearly mistaking the people chasing Liu Tao for those chasing her.
Fine, if you want to follow, follow. If you fall, I won't care about you.
Finally, they managed to shake off their pursuers and stopped, panting, by a small stream.
Liu Tao washed his face with the stream water and gulped down several mouthfuls before standing up to look at the other person.
This woman looked good, and her figure was also nice. She seemed a few years older than him.
Of course, what attracted Liu Tao was not her body, but the jade pendant hanging on her and the magical artifact she held in her hand.
There was no one around here. What if... he robbed her?
Liu Tao began to contemplate.
The woman still didn't know that she had just escaped from the clutches of one robber, only to fall into the hands of another.
However, just as he was about to draw his knife to rob her, the woman suddenly knelt down with a plop, thanked him for saving her life, and said he was a good person.
A good person?
Liu Tao was stunned. In all his life, this was the first time someone had called him a good person.
This feeling almost made him shed tears of joy.
This was the first time in his life that someone was grateful to him, that someone recognized him.
In the past, all he received were disdainful glances, bullying, and aversion, contempt, and disgust.
He put down his knife and started talking with the woman. At this time, the woman realized that Liu Tao was also a disciple of the same sect, her junior brother.
She smiled, calling him "junior brother" repeatedly, and occasionally playfully teased this shy and awkward junior brother.
After returning to the sect, their interactions gradually increased. They often met in secret, almost to the point of calling each other dao companions.
The sister's gentleness reformed Liu Tao. He decided once again to turn over a new leaf and become a new person.
But he forgot, he was just a蛀虫 (zhùchóng -蛀虫, worm, often meaning parasite or something that gnaws away), just a lowly life, not worthy of any happiness.
All the beauty in this world had nothing to do with him.
All the evil in this world was inextricably linked to him.
One evening, with a heart full of happiness and joy, he went to find his senior sister again. He arrived at the back mountain where his senior sister resided. As he passed the grove where they often met in secret, he faintly heard lewd moans from within.
Having never tasted the sweetness of love, he couldn't suppress his curiosity. With a lewd smile on his face, he crept closer.
However, the scene before his eyes struck him like lightning, leaving him stunned on the spot.
The woman in the grove was scantily clad, revealing a large expanse of snow-white skin. Her expression was hazy and seductive, lost in lust, while a man behind her was thrusting wildly.
No matter how hard Liu Tao tried, he couldn't reconcile the licentious woman before him with the pure and beautiful senior sister in his heart. Yet, the scene before him told him that all of this was real.
He had stumbled upon something that concerned him directly.
That woman was indeed his senior sister, and that man was the disciple who had beaten him black and blue before. Da Feng Novel Network
He charged forward in anger, roaring, questioning, his eyes filled with tears, his heart feeling as if it had fallen into an ice cave.
The pair of scumbags showed no panic upon seeing him, leisurely getting dressed.
Liu Tao angrily asked his senior sister why she treated him this way.
His senior sister replied that she had never liked him.
From the first time they met, she had realized Liu Tao was planning to rob her. For her own life and chastity, she had bowed and thanked him, so that he would feel guilty and not rob her.
After returning to the sect, she feared Liu Tao would retaliate, so she continued to play along.
The man beat him up and thoroughly humiliated him.
"Don't even bother to piss and look at yourself, you're worse than a dog, and you still dare to covet Senior Sister? How ridiculous. You actually took it seriously when I was just playing with you, you really don't know your place."
Liu Tao listened to his senior brother's humiliating words, and watched his most beloved senior sister grovel like a bitch in front of that man, her subservient posture stabbing his heart like thousands of steel needles.
The physical pain was not even one ten-thousandth of the pain in his heart.
Yes, he was just a piece of scum whose life was cheaper than a stray dog. How could he have expected there to be beauty in this world? It was truly laughable.
He was dazed, he was frantic, he continued to steal, to cheat, to rob. The difference was, there was no longer any trace of good intention in his heart, not a shred of hope left.
During the Foundation Establishment stage, he was beaten and expelled from the sect for robbing fellow disciples.
He became a rogue cultivator.
He returned to the capital and killed all the hooligans and beggars who had bullied and abused him before.
That was the first time he had killed anyone. It turned out killing was so exhilarating.
He killed people and robbed them in the capital, swindled and deceived. He had no moral bottom line. He would do anything for profit.
Occasionally, in the quiet of the night, he would wonder what kind of person he was living to become.
Later, he realized that in this ugly world, he could not live like a human being.
"If that moment truly comes, then General Feng will have no choice but to fight to the death, and we will live and die together."
General Feng's voice pulled Fang Liu Tao, who was lost in his memories, back to reality. The reason he was on the city wall was not because he was particularly patriotic, but simply because he had been conscripted.
After all, he had been hanging around the capital all along.
Feng An snorted, not even glancing at the Emperor.
As the head of the Five Elements Hall's branch in the Kunxu Realm, he was also the strongest person in this realm. He usually paid no heed to the emperors and sect forces of this world. In his eyes, these people were all mere pushovers.
"General Feng, if it's really no use, why don't we just... surrender."
The Emperor looked at Feng An apprehensively, cautiously testing the waters.
Upon hearing this, Liu Tao let out a snicker.
It was truly laughable. Even the Emperor had no intention of defending his own country and people. Why should he, a mere rogue cultivator, a hoodlum, a scumbag, have any reason to stand here and fight the demons to the death?
"What?"
Feng An abruptly turned his head, his gaze sharp as he glared at the Emperor, his eyes seeming as if he wished to flay him alive.