In a dark and damp cave, the interior was shrouded in darkness, with only faint green flames flickering around, their dim light illuminating a shadowy figure.
At this moment, he was surrounded by a series of sinister ghosts. The broken bones around him were faintly being shaped by this ghostly power, emitting a sinister aura that made him look extremely creepy!
His face was contorted with rage, his teeth clenched tightly, his eyes filled with hatred. "Li Changfeng! You're the one who caused all this trouble! I swear!! I'll make you pay a thousand times over!!"
"Hehehe! Ghost Shadow Boy! Isn't this actually a good thing? Your bones and muscles are completely shattered and rebuilt! This way, your cultivation of the Ghost King Sect's Yin-based techniques will definitely be even more powerful!" Suddenly, a sinister shadow appeared beside Ghost Shadow and laughed.
The Ghost Shadow's face was grim as it roared angrily, "Why? Why don't you possess me? That way, that brat would surely die!"
The sinister figure shook his head upon hearing this. "It's not that I don't want to! It's that I dare not! He has a powerful protector by his side. He's been watching you closely. If you make any move, he'll definitely make his move, and then it will be the end for both of us!"
Ghost Shadow's face darkened upon hearing this, and he gritted his teeth, saying, "That damned brat is really lucky! I didn't expect him to have a powerful protector! If my weapon hadn't been so inferior, he would have died at my hands long ago! It seems Father needs to get a better weapon!"
The gloomy shadow shook his head upon hearing this, "Your weapon is inferior, but he can't use his true energy either! If he could use his true energy, you would be dead within a hundred moves! You and him... are far too different!"
Ghost Shadow's face immediately turned extremely ugly upon hearing this. Now, after hearing what this sinister shadow said, he suddenly realized that Li Changfeng had not used a single trace of true energy at all, but had relied entirely on brute force to clash with him. Even so, at most he could only fight Li Changfeng to a draw.
He had to admit that the gap between him and Li Changfeng was too great. His face turned extremely ashen, and he said in a deep voice, "Shadow! Use the best Yin Soul to rebuild my bones and muscles. I must not lose to him again next time!"
Shadow chuckled upon hearing this, "Hey! That's better! I'll find it for you right away!"
Three years have passed in the blink of an eye.
In a restaurant in the capital, Li Changfeng sat in a chair, sipping fine wine. His face was weathered, and his brows were full of stories. Over the years, he had traveled around and encountered many things.
Having witnessed the hardships and cruelty of people in some places, he helped solve some injustices whenever he could, but there were some things that Li Changfeng could not help with no matter what he did, and could only let them fend for themselves. Such things weighed heavily on Li Changfeng's heart.
At the same time, his understanding of Buddhism had reached a bottleneck, and his mind had become quite resilient after years of experience. However, there was one thing that had been bothering him for a long time, like a knot in his heart, which made him look dejected.
He didn't come to the capital to participate in any martial arts competition; he simply wandered here aimlessly...
Evening.
Li Changfeng was forcibly kicked out of the restaurant by the waiter, who yelled, "You damned drunkard! Don't ever come back! You don't have enough money but you still want to drink so much fine wine! If it weren't for Patriarch Wu's birthday celebration today and the fact that he didn't want to see blood, you would have been beaten to death long ago!"
Over the years, Li Changfeng has donated all his wealth to poor people, keeping only enough for himself. This time, his inability to pay for the drinks was a helpless act.
At this moment, Li Changfeng was swaying on the side of the street when he accidentally bumped into a handsome young man in white. The young man's face was full of smiles, and he didn't seem angry even though he had been bumped into.
He slowly stood up and smiled, "Brother! Why are you so unhappy? Is there anything you can tell me? I'd be happy to help you out!"
Upon hearing this, Li Changfeng shook his head. "You don't understand! You just don't understand! And why are you so happy?"
The young master smiled faintly upon hearing this, "Life is a long journey, and there is never a smooth road! The time a person lives is neither too long nor too short. There are joys and sorrows. If one is always in sorrow, what is the point of living!"
"Enjoy life while you can! That's the only way to live. Forget the bad things! Do something you like, and you'll be happier. Isn't that great?"
Li Changfeng gave a bitter laugh upon hearing this, "I wish I could be as optimistic as you, but unfortunately I can't! I'm very confused right now, and I have no idea whether what I'm doing is right or wrong!"
The young master smiled slightly upon hearing this and patted Li Changfeng on the shoulder. "Alright! Since I can't help you, you'll have to fend for yourself. I want to tell you that when you encounter something you can't solve, just follow your heart! Don't forget your original intention, just do what you think is right, and have a clear conscience!"
After saying that, the young master laughed loudly and slowly left, quite dashingly!
Upon hearing this, Li Changfeng shook his head. "Idealism? Wasn't that my long-held belief? It was just that incident that shattered that belief!"
Li Changfeng gave a bitter smile, lay down in the corner, and slowly recalled what had happened before...
One year ago.
Li Changfeng encountered an extremely vicious villain who not only slaughtered everyone in a village, but also used extremely cruel methods to kill them. He actually cut everyone in the village into human sticks, hung them up, treated their wounds, and left them to die in the sun, suffering all kinds of torture.
Enraged, Li Changfeng vowed to hunt down the damned villain. After a two-week search, Li Changfeng finally found the man and beat him to the point of near death. "You've committed such a heinous act! It's an outrage against heaven and earth!"
Upon hearing this, the villain burst into loud laughter, "Hahaha! Master! In your life of punishing evil and promoting good, have you ever truly understood the truth of the matter?"
Li Changfeng frowned. "What are you trying to say?"
"I was just like you at first! I wanted to be a chivalrous hero who punishes evil and upholds justice! But then something happened that made me see the wickedness of the world! Let me tell you a story!"
"Once upon a time, there was a family skilled in beast taming. Four members of the family came to a village plagued by rats. With their beast taming skills, they drove away all the rats. The villagers were overjoyed and immediately prepared a feast for them!"
"Who knew that they were afraid that these beast-taming families would use their ability to control the rat plague to blackmail them, so they poisoned the food and wine. The four of them were caught off guard and were all poisoned. Thanks to the desperate efforts of their parents and sister, the younger brother was able to escape. In the end, they were all surrounded and killed!"
"Even after they died, they were cruelly stripped naked and left to dry in the sun on the trees outside the village. Now you should know who that younger brother is! Don't you think they deserved to die?!"
Upon hearing this, Li Changfeng's expression changed drastically. His eyes were filled with shame and confusion as he looked at the villain. He wanted to step forward and help the villain up, but the villain held a knife to his neck.
"Don't come any closer!! Master! I know you're a good person! Not all evil people are born evil. Let me give you a piece of advice: Don't try to persuade someone to do good if you haven't experienced their suffering! There's a cause and effect behind everything!"
After saying this, the villain smiled slightly, then slit his own throat, lying on the ground dead. Li Changfeng's eyes narrowed at the sight, and he shouted, "No!!"