Striving for Science C112 pt1

Though he could have easily delivered a fatal blow, Dao Nian chose a more entertaining fighting style to make Shen Chang'an happy.

This was undoubtedly the greatest humiliation for the man in gray.

Under the Heavenly Dao, all beings are but ants. His human form was barely holding on, his body becoming a chaotic mass of resentment. Only his brain remained vaguely human. Dao Nian was afraid that killing him outright would affect Shen Chang'an's interest, so he reached out and sealed the mass of resentment within a barrier, preventing it from escaping. Then he walked over to Shen Chang'an, sat down, and pulled him into his arms. "Still want to beat it up?"

"Hmm..." Shen Chang'an hadn't expected Dao Nian to understand him so well. Leaning against Dao Nian's shoulder, he watched the monster struggling in pain within the barrier, and asked him with a puzzled expression, "Even though you've never killed me, I feel like you're full of hatred towards me. Can you tell me why?"

"I won't tell you…"

"You're in so much pain, just tell me so I can be happy." Shen Chang'an felt a sweet, metallic taste rising in his throat. He turned to look at Dao Nian. "Darling, some divine fruit."

Dao Nian conjured a table, piled high with all sorts of fruits, their spiritual energy so abundant it would make cultivators weep.

The sweet taste of the fruit suppressed the metallic taste in his throat. Seeing the monster smashing against the barrier, roaring in frustration, Shen Chang'an laughed, "Are you trying to imitate a headless fly?"

Dao Nian held Shen Chang'an's hand, which was trembling slightly from the pain he was enduring, and silently channeled his spiritual energy into him.

"Dao Nian..." Shen Chang'an thought he had disguised himself perfectly, but he had been exposed so quickly.

"Chang'an, my blood can ease your pain. Don't be so stubborn." Dao Nian used his spiritual energy to neatly slice open his palm and brought it to Shen Chang'an's lips. "Be good, have a little more."

Shen Chang'an couldn't describe how sweet Dao Nian's blood tasted. His body and mind were both telling him that he should drink it, that he was meant to drink it.

All he had to do was lower his head, and he could have everything in the world.

But his remaining rationality told him that while drinking Dao Nian's blood would indeed grant him everything in the world, Dao Nian would no longer be in this world.

"Don't be silly." Shen Chang'an closed Dao Nian's palm. "Science has already told us that blood can't cure diseases. Even if I'm going to be crushed to death, die in pain, or starve to death, I absolutely will not drink my boyfriend's blood again. Give up!"

"But you're like this now…"

"What's there to be afraid of?" Shen Chang'an held Dao Nian's hand tightly. "I'm a Life Dao. As long as living beings in the world haven't lost their will to live, I won't die."

"Speaking of which, I have to thank this... nameless monster." Shen Chang'an found the fabric on his own clothes too rough, so he reached out and tore off Dao Nian's clothes, using them to bandage the wound on Dao Nian's hand. "I know you don't want to use your spiritual energy to heal, so I can only use human methods."

He was very skilled at treating wounds. Before he infiltrated the criminal gang, he had received training, and emergency bandaging was an important part of the curriculum.

"Aaaaaah!" The monster slammed against the barrier, its eyes bloodshot as it stared at Shen Chang'an. "You died a miserable death in every life, never experiencing true love, and you were alone until the very end. Have you forgotten those who betrayed and hurt you? Why don't you hate humanity? Even though you were burned alive by ignorant humans, you still reincarnated as a human to protect them?"

The memories of ninety-nine lifetimes were a lot to process. It took Shen Chang'an a while to recall which life the monster was referring to. In one life, he was being pursued by enemies and was severely injured. He was rescued by the villagers of a small village. After he recovered, he stayed in the village to teach them literacy, martial arts, and hunting. Two years later, a plague broke out in the village. Rumors spread that he was a disaster star, and that the village was being punished by Heaven for saving him.

To appease the "wrath of Heaven," they decided to burn the disaster star alive.

Being burned alive wasn't pleasant, but the dominant emotion Shen Chang'an felt in his final moments wasn't anger or resentment, but sorrow.

Sorrow for the villagers' ignorance, their blind faith in Heaven. Even though he died, the villagers wouldn't survive.

Shen Chang'an still remembered that when he was locked in the firewood shed, awaiting his execution by fire the next day, a few shivering children squeezed through a small hole, hugging him and wanting to cry, but they didn't dare make a sound. They whispered to him, begging him not to die.

They brought him the dinner they had secretly hidden away. The cold night had frozen the food solid, making it completely inedible. He listened to the children's rumbling stomachs and divided the food with them.

"You're not a disaster star," the child with a missing front tooth said, chewing on a flatbread, tears and snot running down his face. "Sir, we'll come and rescue you."

Unfortunately, their rescue plan hadn't been put into action before they were discovered by the adults, who dragged them back.

Until the moment of his death, he remembered those children struggling to untie the ropes, biting them with their teeth, eventually breaking their teeth.

The monster thought he saw the ugliness of humanity, but what he saw and remembered was the hope of humanity.

In every life, he would encounter people with hateful faces and ugly hearts, but he would also encounter those with beautiful souls. Those souls were like shining stars in the sky, visible to anyone willing to look up.

Many years had passed since that life, and Shen Chang'an felt he had done nothing wrong. Humanity had begun to learn to conquer various difficult problems on their own, no longer sacrificing living people as burial offerings, and even rarely saw the so-called "heavenly cursed star."

While there were mistakes, they were not beyond redemption.

"You know, you're... sorry, I forgot you're not human anymore," Shen Chang'an corrected himself. "Can't you be more open-minded, look further ahead, stop thinking about destroying the world, destroying humanity, destroying the entire planet? Don't you watch TV or anime?"

The monster: "..."

Shen Chang'an shook his head and sighed: "People who do this usually end up really badly, but the world is still fine. All those works of art haven't made you wake up, what kind of idiot are you?"

"Dao Nian, I think this guy... looks kind of familiar," Shen Chang'an nudged Dao Nian's abdomen with his elbow. He wasn't sure if it was his imagination, but he felt the pain lessen when he leaned against Dao Nian.

Could this be the power of love?

Could love make one forget all pain?

"He's the tyrant who ordered your death in your first life as a human," Dao Nian saw Shen Chang'an clinging to him, quickly spread his arms, adjusting his posture to make him more comfortable.

"Can you beat him up again?" Shen Chang'an considered this seriously.

"Beat him to death?" Dao Nian pondered for a moment, "It's not impossible…"

"Wait," Shen Chang'an grabbed Dao Nian's hand, "Help me up."

Dao Nian grabbed his wrist and lifted him up horizontally. Shen Chang'an wrapped his arms around Dao Nian's neck and pointed to the monster in the barrier: "Over there."

Through the barrier, Shen Chang'an could clearly see the monster's hideous face: "Did you also interfere with my fate in this life?"

The monster lay on the ground, letting out a hoarse laugh: "What do you want to ask? Your parents' incomplete souls after their death, or that grandmother who wished you dead, or the years of being bullied by classmates?"

"I was wrong," Shen Chang'an wrapped his arms around Dao Nian's neck, his face expressionless, "Someone like you doesn't qualify as a villain, just a low-level scum. No wonder your country was destroyed and your family ruined, and you were despised by the people. A tyrant by birth, even if you live for ten thousand years, you're just a low-quality waste."

When Shen Chang'an was angry, he had no expression. He looked at the crazed beast, and after a long silence, he said: "Your soul is twisted, you're no longer human."

Closing his eyes, he hugged Dao Nian's neck and sighed: "Greed and desire, they easily breed twisted monsters."