Sha Xiao gave the young Daotian a Gu recipe, but the boy's face changed drastically, and he flatly refused to follow it.
Sha Xiao's sinister voice drifted over: "Boy, not listening to your grandpa anymore? Don't you want to live?"
The young Daotian stood firm: "Who doesn't want to live? But I have my bottom line. This Gu recipe is far too vile — I absolutely won't do it. Sha Xiao, didn't you want me to get close to that pond? I've already made it into the top eight, so I'm qualified to enter. Won't you regret killing me now?"
"Hahaha." Sha Xiao laughed. "It would be a bit of a pity."
The moment those words left his mouth, the young Daotian's pupils contracted sharply as an agonizing pain ripped through his entire body.
Pain, pain, pain!
In an instant, he nearly collapsed to the ground and rolled in agony.
But he forced himself to endure with every ounce of will, scrambling to an empty corner where he pressed his back against the wall, gritting his teeth, enduring and enduring.
At that moment, Sha Xiao's voice came again: "You're nothing but a tiny pawn. You made it into the top eight and you really think you can negotiate with me? Do you have that much value? Hmph — how many people out there would love to call me Grandpa? That you get to call me that is your honor, do you know that?"
He paused, then added: "Now call me Grandpa. Let me hear it."
The young Daotian's face was twisted in agony, his fists clenched so tight that his fingernails dug into his flesh.
His whole body trembled. Cold sweat poured down his skin — partly from the pain, partly from the overwhelming humiliation and rage burning inside him with no outlet.
"Gr… Grandpa…" After a long, agonizing moment, the young Daotian finally forced the words out through clenched teeth.
"Mm, good grandson. Your voice is too soft though — your grandpa's getting on in years, couldn't hear you clearly." Sha Xiao let out a chilling laugh.
The young Daotian immediately felt the pain lessen considerably.
Sha Xiao had eased up.
The boy's brows shot upward, and a deathly resolve flickered in his eyes. But then he thought of his home, of the woman he loved, drew a deep breath, forced himself to endure, and called out again: "Grandpa!"
"Hahaha, as long as my good grandson is obedient, everything's just fine." Sha Xiao's laughter oozed with smug satisfaction.
"Now, Grandpa wants you to refine a Gu. Can you do it?"
"…I can't!" The young Daotian's face was as white as paper, drained of every drop of color, but he still clung to his principle.
"You little wretch!" Sha Xiao flew into a rage and brutally intensified the pain.
The young Daotian let out a choked whimper and slid down the wall to the ground.
Sha Xiao tormented him for quite some time. Seeing that the boy still refused to yield, he grew genuinely annoyed: "You brat, you've actually got a sense of justice. What a waste. When I watched you fight, you were clean and decisive — I thought you had potential. I never imagined that even now you still don't understand the truth: 'If a man doesn't look out for himself, heaven and earth will destroy him.' What's the death of an infant? If he doesn't die, then you die — and once you're dead, all your wealth, all your desires turn to nothing. Think about it carefully."
The young Daotian had curled up into a shrimplike ball, his entire body drenched in sweat. He had nearly fainted from the pain and now lay crumpled on the ground, utterly spent.
But the corner of his mouth curved upward ever so slightly: "Sha Xiao, forget it. I'm not like you. I will never build my happiness and pleasure on someone else's suffering."
"A laughable principle! In this world, countless things must be fought for, slaughtered for. If you don't fight and don't kill, how can you possibly survive? What on earth is going on in that head of yours?" Sha Xiao's voice was frigid with contempt. "And while you're at it, think about why your own clan exiled you. Heh — wasn't it because the clan had too few resources, and training you was considered a waste? So they used the clan's rules to murder you in broad daylight, nice and proper."
A sharp gleam flashed in the young Daotian's eyes: "I understand that reasoning now. But what others do is their business. If I do it, then it becomes mine. I will never do it!"
"Stubborn fool! Then I'll kill you!!" Sha Xiao was apoplectic, finally reaching his limit — but just as he was about to act, he suddenly froze.
"Oh my poor child, how could you leave me like this!" From the corner, the young Daotian heard the wailing of a woman inside a nearby house.
Then the sounds inside the house grew chaotic.
Others joined in crying, while some shouted in fury, cursing the physician for his incompetence.
The young Daotian and Sha Xiao listened carefully for a while, and gradually understood what had happened.