The Most Vicious Heart Belongs to a Woman

A wave of intense dizziness hit him. The disbelief in Zhang Heng's eyes gradually turned to acceptance. He knew he was about to die.

"Xiaohua..."

Slowly turning his head, he looked at Zhang Xiaohua, whose face was already streaked with tears, and gave a bleak smile. He could not help calling his wife's name. Though he was startled and confused, Zhang Heng ultimately understood her.

Zhang Xiaohua lowered her head, her eyes bloodshot and her whole body trembling. She did not dare meet the eyes of the man who had walked beside her all this way.

"I'm sorry... I want to live..."

Zhang Heng smiled faintly, his smile filled with love and his eyes utterly devoid of hatred.

"I understand."

As death approached, his memories played slowly through his mind like an old film.

Ever since childhood, he had been someone abandoned by others. After his father died, his mother married into a small family. Before long, his younger brother and sister were born, and the entire family poured all their love into the newly arrived children. As for him, because of his status, he was nothing more than an invisible nobody.

Even so, there had still been a light in his heart—namely, the red-haired girl next door.

The girl had never disliked him for being quiet and withdrawn. Instead, she patiently comforted and guided him time and again, like an older girl from next door, though she was actually two years younger than him.

Soon, it was time for his class advancement. Perhaps his deceased father was watching over him, because Zhang Heng successfully awakened as a Mechanic, a powerful advanced class!

Unfortunately, aside from a single word of praise, he never received any further response from his mother. It was as though, as he grew older, he and that woman had become increasingly distant.

Then, the girl disappeared. Overnight, her entire family vanished without a trace, and the light in Zhang Heng's heart went out with them.

After accidentally discovering his mother's diary and a notebook left behind by his father, Zhang Heng finally learned that his mother had been taken by force by his father. The day his father died had been the happiest day of her life.

Perhaps because he was still her own flesh and blood, that woman had not abandoned him and had instead kept him by her side. But that was already the greatest concession she could make.

From that night onward, Zhang Heng left home. His heart was resolute—he would surely become a legend in this world, and when that day came, everyone would kneel at his feet.

Before he knew it, his youth had passed. In his young adulthood, he thought it would be nice to establish a family of his own, if only for the prestige.

Then he reached middle age, and thought that joining a family and becoming an elder would be good enough...

At the age of thirty-five, he encountered that red-haired woman again. However, the place where they reunited was a brothel.

Zhang Heng did not ask how she had lived over the years. Instead, he spent his savings treating her injuries and took her out to level up. Though life remained hard, at least there was finally something to look forward to.

To protect her better, he began studying his father's notebook. He hoped to find a way to become stronger within its pages...

Zhang Heng wanted to reach out and touch Zhang Xiaohua's face one last time.

But halfway there, his hand slipped down.

Zhang Xiaohua looked at Zhang Heng, who had collapsed in her arms, and tremblingly touched his face before letting out a heavy sigh.

That was right—she loved him. But her past experiences had made her choose to live, even if it meant carrying guilt for the rest of her life.

"I've fulfilled your condition." Zhang Xiaohua slowly raised her head, her eyes bloodshot as she looked at Cao Xiaochun and spoke in a trembling voice.

"That's right. You did very well. But I'm a student of No. 3 Middle School."

"I'm sorry that you had to endure such pain before dying."

Cao Xiaochun let out a heavy sigh and spoke calmly.

Squelch!

Krah condensed an ice spike in her hand and viciously stabbed it into Zhang Xiaohua's chest. With a light flick of her wrist, a still-beating heart flew out, only to be instantly frozen before slowly falling into Cao Xiaochun's hand.

Zhang Xiaohua clearly had no time to react before losing consciousness and slowly collapsing to the ground. Their bodies embraced one another as blood flowed around them, like a red spider lily.

Binuoxiu casually tossed out a Fireball. In the end, the two of them turned to ash.

"Why?"

"Xiaochun, what are you..."

Having witnessed everything, the others clearly did not understand Cao Xiaochun's actions. Why had he not simply given them a quick death?

"You can think of the Gu Master class as something similar to a Necromancer. Many of the materials it requires may violate certain moral boundaries."

Cao Xiaochun smiled, first glancing at the others. After spending this time together, he felt that these four could be trusted, so he believed he should explain.

"The number one poison of the second advancement, the gu insect Love's Parting."

"The recipe requires one stalk of Vitality Grass, one hundred widow spiders, one hundred red-needle scorpions, and a Heart of True Love."

"There are two kinds of Hearts of True Love. A man's heart causes hallucinations, while a woman's heart is the most poisonous. This saying comes from an old proverb."

"Throughout the ages, nothing has been more poisonous than a woman's heart!"

"Actually, I hate this feeling too. That's why, after obtaining the materials, I gave them a quick death as fast as possible."

Cao Xiaochun spoke indifferently. Even if he had to choose again, he would not regret what he had done.

After all, once he entered university, the dungeons he would enter would be truly dark. Sometimes, strangers were even more terrifying than monsters. Murdering others for their treasures was commonplace. Therefore, before taking that step, Cao Xiaochun felt that he had to strengthen himself.

Because he feared death, and he also wanted to reach the very top!

After saying that, Cao Xiaochun fell silent. Some things only needed to be said once. If they could understand, then they would be his companions from now on. If they could not, then their paths would simply diverge.

"Damn, Xiaochun, you're really planning to become some big villain, huh? But I'm clinging to your thigh no matter what. Don't you dare leave me behind."

Xu Laoba was stunned for a moment before walking up to Cao Xiaochun and lightly patting his shoulder. He did not believe his brother was some bloodthirsty person. Since it was required by his class, some things were unavoidable.

Take the necromancer they had just mentioned—terrifying, right? It was inherently an evil class, yet there were quite a few in the imperial palace of the Nine Provinces. After all, this world itself believed in the law of the jungle!

"My class isn't much better. I might even become a demon in the end, so I don't really have an opinion on it."

Li Hanyi crossed her arms and curled her lips. Although the scene just now had made her deeply uncomfortable, it was merely the reality of the future.

"Hehe, even villains need defense. Then I'll be a shield of darkness in the future!"

Li Wenbin smiled. Because of his personality, he had been mocked plenty since childhood, so he was more open-minded about such things.

"Then I can make dark cuisine!" Hong Jianjun glanced at the other three and quickly chimed in. He had finally found an opportunity to rise—how could he possibly let it slip away?

"Enough with this darkness nonsense. This is clearly great light. If you lose the competition, you should bear the consequences of failure."

"These students aren't dead yet. Bandage them up and throw them out of the dungeon. We're all high school classmates, so we should show a little compassion."

"Once that's done, we need to explore Dragon Nest. If we drag this out too long, it won't be good for us."

Cao Xiaochun smiled. He suddenly realized that there did not seem to be a single good person in this team!

He did not agree with terms like villain or darkness. Damn it, he was obviously a man of great love!