Belief

Wang Ming found a place to recover, adjusted himself to peak condition, and continued up the mountain.

As soon as Wang Ming reached the summit, he saw Chang Wei beating Lai Fu.

No!

It was Qiu Qianren taking a beating.

He was being chased by Zhou Botong and Ying Gu, who wanted revenge for the death of his son, while Guo Jing and Huang Rong blocked his path.

Qiu Qianren's situation was extremely perilous at the moment.

Qiu Qianren shouted loudly, "I came to Mount Hua to contend for the title of the greatest martial artist under Heaven. Hmph, you actually want to join forces to harm me, to eliminate a formidable opponent first. Such treacherous and wicked behavior, you actually managed to do it."

Zhou Botong heard this and thought that there was some truth to the fellow's words. He said, "Alright, then after tomorrow's sword discussion, I'll take your dog's life."

Ying Gu, however, cried out sternly, "You hateful wretch, how can I wait until tomorrow?"

Huang Rong added, "Old Urchin, show loyalty to those who are loyal, and be cunning with the cunning. Right now, it's clearly several against one, and yet he still can't do anything to us?"

Qiu Qianren's face turned ashen, seeing that his chances were slim. Suddenly, a desperate idea struck him, and he shouted, "On what grounds do you kill me?"

The scholar-like person said, "You have committed many evils, and everyone has the right to punish you."

Qiu Qianren laughed to the sky and said, "If it comes to fighting, you are ganging up on me, and I am no match for you alone. But when it comes to right and wrong, good and evil, hehe, Qiu Qianren stands alone here. Which one of you has not killed someone in your life, or committed any evil deeds? If so, please step forward and strike. I, for one, will offer my neck to death, and anyone who so much as frowns will not be a true man."

Wang Ming saw the old man dressed as a monk, sigh deeply, and retreat first, sitting cross-legged with his head bowed. This must be the Southern Emperor Duan Zhixing, one of the Five Greats that Wang Ming had never met. He should be called Master Yideng now.

Everyone was cornered by Qiu Qianren's words, and they each recalled the mistakes they had made in their lives.

The four, Fisherman, Woodcutter, Farmer, and Scholar, had all killed people when they were ministers in the Dali Kingdom. Although they had acted justly, they could not avoid making mistakes.

Zhou Botong and Ying Gu exchanged glances, recalling their lifelong hatreds, and felt ashamed in their hearts.

Guo Jing had killed many people in battles during his western campaign, and he already regretted and blamed himself.

Huang Rong thought of how worried she had made her father in recent years, which was extremely unfilial. As for deceiving and tricking others, the instances were too numerous to count.

Qiu Qianren's few words rendered everyone speechless. He thought that a good opportunity should not be missed and strode towards Guo Jing. Seeing him dodge to the side, Qiu Qianren exerted force with his feet, about to dart out and escape the encirclement.

Just then, a person walked over.

"I am here to eliminate evil."

Qiu Qianren said, "Good, great hero, great knight. I am the wicked one, and you are a great, good person who has never done anything wrong."

Hong Qigong said, "That's right. This old beggar has killed two hundred and thirty-one people in his life. All of these two hundred and thirty-one people were villains. If they weren't corrupt officials, local tyrants, or great villains and ungrateful scoundrels, they were. This old beggar is greedy for drink and food, but in his life, he has never killed a good person. Qiu Qianren, you are the two hundred and thirty-second person!"

These words were filled with righteous indignation, and Qiu Qianren could not help but feel his arrogance diminished.

Hong Qigong continued, "Qiu Qianren, your Iron Palm Gang's previous leader, Shangguan Jiannan, was such a hero. He served the country with loyalty his entire life, only dying after his duty was fulfilled. Was your master not also a tough and upright man? You succeeded your master as the gang leader, but you colluded with the Jin people, betrayed the country, and sold it out. What face will you have to see Gang Leader Shangguan and your master after death? You came to Mount Hua, presumptuously wanting to contend for the title of the greatest martial artist under Heaven. Let alone whether your martial arts can truly be the best among the heroes, even if you were invincible in this world, would the heroes of the world submit to you, a traitor who sold out the country?"

These words left Qiu Qianren in a daze, and he began to recall his actions over the past few decades.

Those present also felt admiration for Hong Qigong, thinking that being able to not kill a good person was truly remarkable.

Guo Jing, in particular, felt that the problem that had been troubling him was finally solved, as if he had suddenly opened his Ren and Du meridians, and his entire being had been elevated.

Wang Ming did not think so. No matter what reason you had, killing is killing. Killing cannot be called justice.

Moreover, what constitutes a "bad person"?

What is the standard for dividing them?

Ouyang Feng killed many people, was he a bad person? But Hong Qigong had saved him many times in his time of need.

As for Ouyang Ke, he abducted virtuous women and injured many innocent civilians with his snakes. However, Hong Qigong let him go out of consideration for Ouyang Feng.

There was also the Immortal Ginseng Old Monster Liang Zi Weng. In his early years, he practiced the method of cultivating Yin to supplement Yang, and he robbed many virgins, breaking their bodies. In the Song Dynasty, where chastity was highly valued, this was a great evil. However, Hong Qigong did not kill him, but merely pulled out all his hair.

If these villains were not killed, then what was Hong Qigong's standard for killing?

The reason he just stated for wanting to kill Qiu Qianren was that he betrayed the established path of the previous gang leader Shangguan Jiannan, colluded with the Jin people, and betrayed the country.

Here, his reason for killing was political. This might explain why he didn't kill Ouyang Feng, Ouyang Ke, and Liang Zi Weng. The evils they committed were all "civil" in nature. Although they defied heaven and reason, they did not involve so-called major right and wrong issues.

His standards for "good people" and "bad people" were self-serving and not pure.

Qiu Qianren's problem today was actually very simple, but it was fatal to those in the martial arts world.

This involved the beliefs of martial artists. If they could not overcome this test, in Daoist terms, their Dao heart would be clouded.

Because, when killing the first person, that vibrant life flowed away from his hands, the flowing blood, the painful wails...

These would turn into nightmares that would haunt him, making him unable to eat or sleep, constantly tormented by nightmares and conscience.

To overcome this hurdle, one needed a reason that convinced oneself.

Some people then styled themselves as acting on behalf of Heaven, and would label others as deserving of death before killing them. Such people were pioneers of the righteous path.

Some had strong inner fortitude—the reason was "he was blocking my way." They would suppress their guilt with their strong inner will. These were the leaders of the dark path.

Some people could not find a reason and chose to suppress their fear with desire, thus they liked to eat meat heartily, drink wine in large bowls, and frequent brothels. These people were usually cannon fodder.

After being lectured by Hong Qi, Qiu Qianren, just like in the original work, jumped off the cliff intending to commit suicide but was rescued. Wang Ming still wanted revenge for that palm strike, but everyone present pleaded on his behalf.

He looked again at Master Yideng's resolute stance in protecting Qiu Qianren, and at Hong Qigong, who was quite pleased with Qiu Qianren's reformed ways. Wang Ming knew he couldn't push things further today.

If he continued to press the issue, he might end up being beaten up by three masters of the same level.

As for what happened after they left Mount Hua, He didn't know.

Perhaps Qiu Qianren fell into a latrine pit and drowned while on the outhouse;

Or maybe he knocked over a candlestick while sleeping at night, setting the house on fire and burning to death.

Wang Ming was completely unaware of any of these possibilities.

If asked, it would simply be an accident!

Even Ying Gu, who had lost her son, had forgiven Qiu Qianren. It would be rather undignified for him to hold onto the fact that he had been ambushed with a palm strike.

Therefore, Wang Ming acted with great magnanimity and let the matter drop.

Qiu Qianren continued to follow Master Yideng afterward.

Wang Ming felt that Qiu Qianren wasn't worthy of being a villain. True villains never saw themselves as villains.

Anyone who admitted to being a villain was just an ordinary person.

True villains had noble ideals, ideals that gave them the courage to face any difficulty.

For example, Zhu Wushi's ideal was to be with Suxin and give her the best things in the world;

Yue Buqun's ideal was to bring glory to Mount Hua and prevent it from ending with him.

In Wang Ming's opinion, Qiu Qianren and Ouyang Feng from the Legend of the Condor Heroes world couldn't even be considered villains; they were just people obsessed with martial arts.

Wang Ming's own ideals were – immortality and going home.

Killing!

Wang Ming felt no guilt. He hadn't killed any ordinary, innocent bystanders so far.

Those who had died by his hand were all martial artists. To put it bluntly, martial artists were all murderers.

The path of martial arts was either killing or being killed.

Once you stepped onto this path, don't talk about being good or bad!

If he were to be killed someday, it would be due to his own lack of skill!

What goes around comes around.