Originated from mountains and seas, life never ends

Qin Xiao looked at the broken ring and was a little surprised.

But it sounds like the person on the other side has no ill intentions, so there should be no problem.

Qin Xiao put away the ring and returned to the dormitory.

Sure enough, the bed was a mess again.

Qin Xiao sighed, rubbed the back of his head, and a hint of annoyance appeared in his half-covered eyes.

The next morning, as soon as Yun Qi opened his eyes, he saw Qin Xiao throwing the bedding of his two roommates who had not returned home all night out of the window.

"Qin...Qin Xiao!" Yun Qi was shocked.

Qin Xiao glanced at him, and seemed to have just realized that he had woken up. He looked normal: "Let's go, we have classes this morning."

Although he said he was preparing for the competition, Qin Xiao was obviously not serious about it and even fell asleep during the preaching class.

In fact, this is not Qin Xiao's fault. It is true that Qin Xiao learned to recognize words from Qin Jiuyuan, but they were all basic daily expressions. He had never come into contact with such dry and complicated words.

The moment Qin Xiao opened the book, he was stunned. There were large blocks of unfamiliar characters, and the sentences did not connect to the previous one. He could only roughly understand the meaning of the text. In addition, the teacher's teaching was like chanting a sutra. He felt sleepy as he listened and fell asleep.

The teacher of the preaching class was a fussy old man with a mustache, a thin body, and a dull look in his eyes. When he saw Qin Xiao sleeping, he glanced past him without a pause, as if he hadn't seen him.

In the next few days, Qin Xiao's classes were full of variety.

First, he caused the cauldron to explode while being burned in the alchemy class, then he mixed up the materials when drawing the magic circle in the law class, and then he spoke frankly and talked about his own opinions in the judicial education class.

At that time, the judicial teacher told them a case:

One hundred years ago, a corpse binder attacked a village of a hundred people and transformed all the villagers into blood corpse puppets to resist an earth realm cultivator who was hunting him.

But those blood corpses were not to be feared at all. They were all wiped out by the cultivator, who also severely injured the corpse binder.

So the Corpse Binder hid himself in the village next door and asked them to pay tribute to him every month for one person to heal his wounds. The villagers were very scared because they had heard about the incident in the previous village, so they gave the most obedient and kind family of four to the Corpse Binder.

They promised their father that they would take good care of his wife and children, promised their mother that they would take good care of her two children, and promised their brother that they would take good care of his sister. Finally -

The girl was carried to the cave on a sickle and a steel fork.

Fortunately, the monk arrived in time, destroyed the corpse binder and rescued the girl.

It is undeniable that the girl suffered unbearable harm, so when she later asked the monk if she could kill the villagers, the monk could understand but still refused.

After all, it was the arrival of the Corpse Binder and his mistakes that caused the girl's family to suffer such a disaster. He apologized to the girl and promised to compensate her.

But the girl no longer believed his promise.

The girl left the village and disappeared.

Later news came that the girl had joined an evil organization and offered every inch of her body to them, just for the power of revenge.

She succeeded, killing a total of 248 people, leaving no one in the village alive.

When she was arrested, she was sitting at the doorstep of her former home, staring blankly at the mountains in the distance.

"Tell me what you think about this matter, and tell me how this girl should be dealt with in the end?" Qiao Zhiyu's eyes swept across everyone's eyes that had not yet come back to their senses, her eyes calm.

"Lin Xiheng, you speak."

"..." Lin Xiheng stood up and was silent for a moment, "I think she should be charged with evil cultivation and sentenced to death."

"She is indeed pitiful, but when she joins the evil organization for revenge, she should have realized this. Besides, there are more than 200 lives... It is impossible that all of them died of sin. There must be innocent people."

"When she directed her killings at innocent people and acted as an evil cultivator, she was destined to be killed in the name of evil cultivation."

Lin Xiheng replied in a deep voice.

As soon as these words were spoken, many people in the classroom showed expressions of approval and nodded thoughtfully, somewhat diverting Jianyue's enlightenment.

Even Qiao Zhiyu nodded slowly.

Yun Qi frowned, feeling a little sad for some reason.

In fact, he also agreed with what Lin Xiheng said. Indeed, no matter what he had experienced, once he dragged innocent people into a disaster, they were no longer innocent people, and there was no problem in treating them as evil cultivators...

But he just felt a little sad.

Qiao Zhiyu called a few more people, and the answers they got were similar to Lin Xiheng's. They all agreed, and some even thought that the death penalty should be imposed.

Yun Qi turned his head slightly, inexplicably wanting to see Qin Xiao's expression at this moment. Perhaps he wanted to find someone who had the same idea as him, so he instinctively turned his head to look, only to find that Qin Xiao was leaning over the desk, closing his eyes and sleeping soundly.

Yun Qi: ...

Qiao Zhiyu obviously noticed it as well. Veins popped out on her forehead and a drop of water shot straight towards Qin Xiao's forehead.

In a flash, Qin Xiao suddenly opened his eyes, and instinctively raised his hand to raise a dark lightning. A vertical electric spark flashed by, evaporating the water droplets in an instant.

Qin Xiao's sharp and cold eyes shot towards the woman on the stage. After seeing the figure clearly, he was stunned for a second before reacting.

This movement attracted the attention of the entire class, and they all fell on the evil cultivator who had a somewhat confused look on his face, with different expressions on their faces.

"Qin Xiao, get up." Qiao Zhiyu's face was cold.

Qin Xiao paused, held his chin helplessly, and stood up obediently.

"Tell me what you think."

Qiao Zhiyu crossed her arms, her eyes sharp: "Since you slept in class, you must have a mature opinion on this kind of incident, right?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a few chuckles from below, as if mocking someone.

Qin Xiao was a little dazed. He had no idea what she was talking about and could only stare at her.

"It's okay, just say it openly, no one will laugh at you." Qiao Zhiyu said, glancing at the child who had just laughed.

The audience fell silent.

Facing the gaze of the whole class, Qin Xiao remained silent for a long time.

Yun Qi closed his eyes. He could tell that he hadn't heard anything, so he couldn't help but hold his chin with his hand.

"What? You didn't hear?" Qiao Zhiyu asked grimly with a murderous smile.

"...Sorry." Qin Xiao's expression remained unchanged.

Qiao Zhiyu: ...

Qiao Zhiyu closed her eyes, suppressed her anger, and repeated: "...Answer me, what do you think?"

"..."

After listening to this, Qin Xiao raised his head thoughtfully, looked at the ceiling for a moment, and slowly looked at Qiao Zhiyu.

"I think...she's right."

Qin Xiao replied.

Qiao Zhiyu's heart skipped a beat and she couldn't help but frowned, but she didn't refute: "Go on."

Lin Xiheng wanted to refute, but he held back under Qiao Zhiyu's serious gaze.

"...There's nothing to say." Qin Xiao didn't quite understand, "It's just karma."

"But she massacred more than 200 people. Don't you think it's a bit cruel?"

"……well enough?"

The image of that sunset appeared before Qin Xiao’s eyes. Under the blood-bright light, torches rose and went out one after another, and there were crazy shouts.

That was the first time he saw the outside world, vast and boundless, yet full of murderous intent.

"More than 200 people! In your eyes, that's just okay?!"

Lin Xiheng suddenly stood up and yelled, "Do you have any conscience?!"

"...It wasn't me who did it, why are you so excited?" Qin Xiao came back to his senses and glanced at him.

Lin Xiheng clenched his fists and wanted to say something, but Qiao Zhinan stopped him with her hand.

"You just mentioned cause and effect. Can you explain it in detail?" Qiao Zhinan looked at Qin Xiao and asked in an effort to keep her voice calm.

"Because... the people of that village broke their promise. They had promised to protect the man's family, but they went back on their word and let them die alone... As a result, they all died."

Qin Xiao saw that Qiao Zhinan was not satisfied, so he rubbed the back of his head, struggling to organize his words. After thinking for a moment, he spoke again.

"How should I put it...I just feel like the girl has no other choice."

"She wants revenge very much, but she doesn't have the strength. The monk rejected her revenge plan and didn't guide her in any other direction. So what else can she do?"

"She can only seek power, regardless of the outcome. She ignores the seeds of hatred when they sprout and grow, and then feels pity and compassion when they bear evil fruit... It's pretty fake, isn't it?"

"The girl didn't have the strength to resist the threats from the villagers at first, which means she was a weak person. When the weak were bullied, she had no ability to seek the protection and guidance of the stronger ones, and no stronger ones came forward to fight for her."

"So... when she had no other options and chose to join the evil organization to achieve her goals, from her perspective, there was nothing wrong with that, right?"

"She has no way to get powerful cultivators to do these things for her, nor does she have the ability to become a disciple of a powerful person. If she wants to achieve her goal, isn't this the only way for her to become an evil cultivator?"

"Because she had never been exposed to a third option other than life or death, her family had no choice but death under the intentional or unintentional coercion of the villagers. So it was only natural that when she gained power, the path she gave back to the villagers would only have two options: life or death. She could not accept their happy life, and could only choose to let them die in pain."

Qin Xiao remained expressionless in the face of Qiao Zhinan's increasingly complicated gaze.

"As a bystander, I think neither side did anything wrong. The villagers wanted themselves and their families to survive, so they chose to sacrifice others. This is normal. Not many people are generous enough to sacrifice their lives for others."

"Those villagers, whether they were the masterminds or accomplices in forcing the girl's family to death, or just stood by and watched... They did nothing wrong, because their goal was to keep themselves and their families alive."

"There's nothing wrong with wanting to live."

"Those who forced them, those who watched, they all hoped that it was not them who were sacrificed, that it was not them who died. There was nothing wrong with not wanting to die. There was nothing wrong with the girl's revenge in the future."

"That monk killed the Corpse Binder out of his position, and rejected the girl's request out of pity for ordinary people. There was nothing wrong with him."

"If there is anything wrong, it is the pity of the monks later. Pity is wrong."

Qin Xiao's eyes were calm: "If he had taken the girl in from the beginning, given her guidance, taught her to cultivate herself and eliminate hatred, perhaps the final result would have been different."

"He had the power to change, but he didn't. So he has no right to pity and blame the girl after the result happened."

“Neither the girl nor the villagers had a choice. There was no other way to achieve their goals. But the monk was different. He had the ability to change the outcome, but he gave up.”

"It would be fine if he had no reaction after what happened, but pity and regret are the last emotions he should have. Because this ending was caused by himself."

After Qin Xiao finished speaking, no one spoke for a long time.

Yun Qi's pupils contracted and dilated as he stared at the young man standing in the sun. The shadow almost covered his entire body, with only the eyes faintly visible under his bangs.

He didn't know how to describe his mood at the moment. He just felt his scalp tingling and a warm breath going up along his lower dantian and straight to the tip of his heart.

"…So, what do you think about the treatment of that girl?"

After a while, Qiao Zhinan finally started to ask in a hoarse voice.

"I think...not guilty."

……

A gentle breeze blew by, and the trees beside the road began to shed their leaves. The broad leaves slid down along the traces of the wind. The young man below seemed to sense something, and he raised his head slightly and pinched off the tip of a leaf.

"What you said... is really good."

Another boy next to the boy suddenly spoke up with a bit of admiration: "This is the first time I think from this perspective."

"I am just thinking from the perspective of the three parties." Qin Xiao let go, and the fallen leaves fell down. "If you want to judge right from wrong, you must first put yourself in their shoes. Although it is impossible to empathize with them 100%, people from different standpoints will naturally see different problems and gain different things."

"...Since you think so, why did I always feel that you didn't do this before?" Yun Qi was a little puzzled.

Qin Xiao also felt strange: "Why should I put myself in other people's shoes?"

Yun Qi: “…Ah?”

"Today I did this because she asked me. There is no need to judge right or wrong on weekdays." Qin Xiao glanced at him, his tone mixed with a bit of shocking indifference, "I just need to think from my perspective, that's enough."

"Is that so... Indeed." Yun Qi thought for a moment, smiled, and lowered his eyes, "After all, most Qi cultivators are still selfish."

Qin Xiao didn't say anything else.

"By the way, how about we spar from tomorrow?"

"why?"

"The competition is about to start, and I'm nervous..." Yun Qi touched his chest, depressed, "and I'm also curious...about your strength."

Qin Xiao glanced at him and said without thinking too much: "I know."

"Then it's settled?"

"……Um."

……

"What are you standing here for?"

Cheng Nuo passed by Wen Shuxuan and looked up inadvertently, and saw Qiao Zhinan standing at the top-floor fence, looking into the distance, unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

Qiao Zhinan lowered her head slightly and smiled at him: "I'm thinking about how to teach the children."

"Oh, what's there to think about..." Cheng Nuo was not interested in this. He exchanged a few words and left.

After he left, Qiao Zhinan looked into the distance again, and kept recalling the words of the special boy during class in her mind.

Is it because of... me?

Qiao Zhinan looked at her finger, and suddenly the image of a girl in ragged clothes appeared in front of her.

What she didn't say was that it was she who led people to capture the girl that year.

She will never forget that day.

The setting sun cast a golden glow on the ground. The gloomy sky was half bright and half dark, and the girl sat at the dividing point of yin and yang, her body covered with hideous blood, but her eyes were exceptionally calm, quietly waiting for their arrival.

Such a terrible massacre by evil cultivators should have attracted the attention of nearby Qi cultivators. She appeared there because she was reminded of the girl she once was. She revisited the place and didn't expect such a thing to happen.

She stood in front of the girl, her heart trembling uncontrollably.

Of course the girl was killed in the end.

Until the last moment before her death, the girl didn't even look at her.