Confession and "Preaching"

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Confiding and "Preaching"

At dusk, the firewood in the hearth crackled, bathing the stone house in a warm yellow glow. Chen An sat cross-legged beside the straw mat, while Little Black—the enormous dog whose entire body was pitch-black—lay quietly by his legs, its chin resting on its crossed forepaws. The piercing wound around its neck had formed a dark-brown scab. Beneath the covering of newly grown flesh, its trachea rose and fell faintly with each breath, and no more bloody foam seeped out.

Its gaze was as still as water, reflecting the leaping firelight like an ancient spring whose depths could not be seen.

"Little Black," Chen An said, stroking the warm fur behind its ears. His voice sounded especially clear in the silence. "Did you know? When I first came to this Primordial World, I thought I wouldn't survive three days."

He paused, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the newly grown, fine fur along the edge of Little Black's bandages.

Outside the window, the Safe Zone's barrier shimmered with a faint silver light in the night, cutting off the roars of Demonic Beasts beyond the courtyard and turning them into distant background noise.

"Back then, I was afraid that even taking a sip of water would attract Demonic Beasts. I slept with my ears pricked up, and the slightest stir of wind or grass would wake me." Chen An's voice was hoarse with reminiscence. "I was like a startled bird, thinking that danger lurked everywhere in this world. All I wanted was to curl up in this Small Courtyard and get through each day as it came."

A very soft rumble came from Little Black's throat. The tip of its tail brushed across the straw mat as if in response.

"Later, I cleared a vegetable garden and planted some seeds." Chen An's tone gradually eased. "Watching those tender sprouts break through the soil, turn green day by day, and grow taller was when I understood that no matter how dangerous a place was, as long as you were willing to work with your hands, you could always find a way to survive."

He pointed at the Clay Jars piled in the corner. "It's like making pottery. The first batch shattered completely, and the second came out crooked and lopsided. But by the third attempt, I had bowls that could hold water."

His gaze fell on Little Black, carrying a plain sincerity. "You're the same. When I saw you in that thorn thicket that day, covered in blood, I thought... you couldn't be saved. But look at you. It's only been a few days, and your wounds have already closed. New flesh has grown back, too."

Little Black raised its head. Its brown-black pupils stared at him. There was no bewilderment in its eyes like that of a beast, only a profound stillness that bordered on insight.

"So," Chen An lowered his voice, as if sharing a secret, "hiding all the time won't help in this Primordial World. You have to take action and try. Even if you fail a hundred times, as long as you succeed once, the road ahead will open up."

He paused, then lightly tapped the tip of Little Black's nose. "And don't always think you have to fight alone. Look at me. I grow crops, make pottery, and fetch water all by myself, working myself to the bone. If... if I could have someone to help me, someone like you..." He smiled. "If we guarded the Small Courtyard together and looked out for each other, wouldn't life be a little easier?"

"Unity makes strength." He summarized it in the simple, almost slogan-like philosophy unique to modern people. "One person can't go very far, but a group can withstand the storms. Just like... just like those plants." He pointed toward the tender shoots swaying in the night wind in the vegetable plot outside the window. "A single stalk can be pulled apart with one tug, but if they grow into a whole patch, even the strongest wind can't knock them down."

His words were plain and unremarkable, even carrying a hint of naïve bookishness. To Chen An, they were merely a summary of survival experience, principles he had chewed over in solitude to comfort himself.

However, Little Black—the Demon Commander Ji Meng—was lying by his legs with a storm raging in his heart!

The five words "Unity makes strength" fell into his ears like a thunderclap exploding in the ninth heaven!

In the Demon Court, strength was the only law. The Demon Emperor, Eastern Emperor Tai Yi, ruled over ten thousand demons through overwhelming absolute power and bloodline suppression.

Among the great demons, they fought over territory, resources, and even the Demon Emperor's favor. Every conflict was filled with open and covert schemes and mutual oppression. As for so-called "unity"? It was nothing more than the strong driving the weak, a temporary alliance bound together by shared interests, ready to collapse at any moment because of greater power or greater benefits.

Beneath the Demon Court's glory ran an undercurrent woven from the ambitions and selfish desires of countless great demons. There had never been any true "unity of purpose."

Yet this seemingly cultivation-less "mortal" had actually exposed, in such a calm tone, the chronic illness that the Demon Court had been unable to resolve for ten thousand years!

What shocked Ji Meng even more were the words "take action and try" and "the road will open up."

Which living being in the Primordial Wilderness did not cultivate by following ancient methods and proceeding step by step? Inheritance manuals, heavenly treasures, and blessed lands were all regarded as insurmountable rungs on the ladder. But what about Chen An?

He used the most ordinary mud to make pottery, the most common herbs to heal wounds, and even grew vegetables in this Small Courtyard, where the spiritual energy was thin—or so it appeared to Ji Meng! He did not care about "ancient methods" or rely on "inheritance." He simply used his own hands to try again and again, truly carving out a haven of life in this dead end!

How could this be merely a mortal's way of surviving? This was clearly supreme wisdom that broke shackles and opened a new path!

Ji Meng's thoughts raced like sparks:

Spiritual energy perception: He secretly circulated his remaining demonic power and sensed this Small Courtyard. The moment he did, his heart shook violently! The spiritual energy within the Safe Zone was pure, condensed, and docile, vastly superior to the violent and mixed spiritual energy of the Primordial Wilderness outside! Its purity even far surpassed the core forbidden ground of the Demon Court in his memories—the Sun Star Palace! This was absolutely not naturally formed. It was the result of being organized and purified by some supreme rule!

Words and actions confirmed it: Chen An's simple words about "taking action and trying" and "failure being the mother of success" now sounded to Ji Meng like every word was a pearl of wisdom, secretly aligned with the principles of the Heavenly Dao! Wasn't it precisely this unconventional spirit of daring to put things into practice that had created such a pure spiritual energy environment in this dead end?

Guessing his identity: How could a mortal control such pure spiritual energy? How could he casually expose the root of the Primordial Wilderness's factional conflicts? How could he possess such wisdom of turning decay into wonder? There was only one explanation—the person before him must be a supreme existence traveling the mortal world and returning to simplicity! His seemingly ordinary actions were all a mortal-bodied demonstration of the profound meaning of The Great Tao is Simplest!

Once he understood this, Ji Meng felt a chill shoot from his tailbone straight to his crown, only to be replaced by indescribable awe and delight. He had actually been fortunate enough to be saved by such an existence, personally fed soup by him, bandaged by him, and given a name by him! How could this be merely "Little Black"? This was clearly an opportunity and title bestowed by a supreme existence!

He carefully reined in the last trace of a Demon Commander's pride and wariness, lowering his head even farther onto Chen An's knee. An utterly docile whimper spilled from his throat, and the tip of his tail ingratiatingly brushed across the back of Chen An's hand. His posture was as devout as a pilgrim's.

Chen An simply assumed that it understood his consolation. His heart warmed, and he continued rambling about homely ideas like "keeping a low profile keeps you safe" and "contentment brings happiness." To Chen An, these were merely summaries of survival experience. To Ji Meng, however, they became subtle words and great truths containing the principles of Heaven and Earth.

The Sage is enlightening me... Ji Meng sighed inwardly, engraving every word Chen An said deep within his soul.

The firelight swayed across the stone walls, stretching the intertwined shadows of the man and dog. Chen An confided the hardships and hopes of survival, completely unaware that the obedient "Little Black" beneath his knees had already begun to revere him as a god. In the cold night of the Primordial Wilderness, a "sermon" that transcended understanding was quietly altering the course of a Demon Commander's fate.

(End of Chapter Thirty-Eight)