GB Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Twenty-eight years ago, the only mountain road connecting Zhu Jiaji to the outside world was not yet infested with bandits. At the end of each month, the townspeople would go down the mountain together to sell goods and buy necessities. Although they lived in poverty, the houses built during the previous dynasty’s tribute were still solid. The families in the town knew each other well, and if anyone lacked something, they would borrow it from their neighbors. In this way, it was a somewhat peaceful small town.

Most of the residents here were surnamed Zhu. The wealthiest family was the Zhu family in the east of the town. The old master of this family had once been a magistrate in another place. After his retirement, he returned home in glory. It was said that he knew many important people, and even the magistrate at the time respected him a little. Unfortunately, although the Zhu family was prominent, they had no sons, only a daughter. So, the old master arranged for someone from the Ge family in the town to marry into their family.

The Ge family was originally a poor family, but they agreed upon receiving money. They sent their second son, Ge Yang, to marry into the Zhu family. Who would have known that the eldest brother of the Ge family used this money to go into business and actually became wealthy. Coincidentally, at this time, the Zhu family’s daughter gave birth to a son. According to the agreement made at the time of the marriage, the child should take the Zhu surname to inherit the mother’s family line. However, the Ge family regretted it.

The eldest brother of the Ge family had a serious illness that prevented him from having children. Feeling that his family’s wealth was now far greater than the Zhu family’s, he wanted to take this child and his second brother back to the Ge family. The Zhu family naturally refused, so the two families argued and fought lawsuits. The magistrate was annoyed by them, but he had received money from both families, making it difficult to drive them away, so he simply waved his pen and changed the child’s name to Zhu Ge Qingtian, letting them fight over it.

If things had stopped there, this child would have had a wealthy life, no matter which family he ended up with. However, the two families still refused to give up, so the magistrate, with gritted teeth, invited a fortune teller. He told them that this child was born to bring misfortune to his parents and siblings and that whoever got him would fall into decline.

The two families thought about it and realized that they had indeed spent a lot of money on lawsuits since the child was born. The Zhu family’s daughter had also died in childbirth. Wasn’t he a jinx? So, now, the Ge family left Zhu Jiaji with the wife-less Ge Yang. The Zhu family was afraid of being cursed, but since they had no sons, they could only leave the child to be raised by an old servant far away.

At the time, the villagers who watched the excitement all said that this child’s birth had been so tumultuous, he was destined to have a bad life.

In fact, anyone who had any contact with cultivation should know that predicting heavenly secrets and judging fate is a power that only cultivators in the Transcending Tribulation stage possess. How could a fortune teller in the countryside see any destiny? However, this place had never had cultivators, so they naturally did not know what cultivation was. Zhu Ge Qingtian’s life was thus determined.

Because the fortune teller had judged him as an ominous person, from childhood onward, whenever anyone encountered bad luck, they would blame it on him. If someone lost something, it was surely because they had passed by his door. If someone fell ill or was injured, and had coincidentally spoken to him before, then it was undoubtedly this child’s fault.

At that time, Zhu Ge Qingtian did not understand. For the villagers of Zhu Jiaji, Old Master Zhu was an unattainable figure, but now, his grandson was a jinx. They suddenly realized that the seemingly prominent Zhu family had a tragedy more miserable than their own, which was naturally great.

So, the villagers comforted themselves, saying that no matter how wealthy the Zhu family was, wasn’t their only grandson still an ominous person? Although they were not as rich as others, at least their families were safe. At the same time, they told the child, “The Zhu family is so pitiful for having given birth to you. Their good daughter died just like that, and her son-in-law also left. What will they do in the future?”

Zhu Ge Qingtian grew up in such an environment until he was sixteen years old. From birth, there had not been a single smooth thing in his life. His family didn’t want him, the people in the town rejected him. He didn’t want to live his whole life like this and swore to change it all. So, he studied harder than anyone else, thinking that if he could have an official title like his grandfather, people would respect him and like him.

Perhaps the Zhu family did indeed have a talent for reading, or perhaps it was the effort of diligent study. He actually passed the imperial exam. When the news first arrived, the entire Zhu Jiaji became lively. However, before they had even rejoiced for a day, the magistrate sent word that the person who had passed the exam was actually Zhuge Qingtian, a distant relative of the Zhuge family. It was just a mistake when the list was posted.

Later, Old Master Zhu used his connections to ask around and learned that the list had not actually been mistaken. It was just that the Zhuge family had paid a large sum for an official title for their relative. The examiner saw his name at a glance and, thinking he was just someone ranked at the bottom and had no background, simply did a favor for the Zhuge family and let their person take his name. As for whether their relative was actually named Zhuge Qingtian, the imperial court didn’t have the time to investigate a country scholar.

“Why did you have to be called this name? This is your fate.”

Watching Old Master Zhu leave with a sigh, Zhu Ge Qingtian went from extreme joy to extreme sorrow and collapsed. When he woke up, he was somewhat crazy, only calling himself Zhuge Qingtian, the only imperial exam passer in Zhu Jiaji.

After he went mad, he stopped studying. He became a laughingstock for two years. Old Master Zhu thought that he still had to leave an heir for his family, so he arranged a marriage for him with a woman from another place.

Zhu Ge Qingtian had been disliked and ridiculed since birth. This woman was the only one who was gentle to him. Looking at her, he thought he had to cheer up. Even if he couldn’t become an official, he could farm and support his wife.

Unfortunately, his luck was not so good. The reason this woman was willing to marry him was simply because she had been a maid who had an affair with her old master and was pregnant. She had no choice but to secretly give birth in this remote place. Later, she found that her old master had sent people to find her, so she thought that this madman was in the way. She lied to him, telling him that she was waiting for him at her mother’s house and asked him to go and meet her on the road where bandits were rampant. Sure enough, he foolishly gave her all the money he had as a betrothal gift and was killed by bandits.

On the seventh day after Zhu Ge Qingtian’s death, this woman from another place suddenly died in a flower sedan chair. The people of Zhu Jiaji then discovered that she was pregnant, and they also found letters in which she colluded with her former lover. After figuring out the cause and effect of the matter, they sighed that this mad scholar was indeed a lifelong jinx. They then dispersed with their after-dinner gossip.

This was Zhuge Qingtian’s life before death. Although he lived for eighteen years, there really wasn’t much to remember. He had crawled up from the mass grave, wanting to see the woman for the last time to tell her that he had died and couldn’t marry her, that she shouldn’t be sad and just find a good family to marry into. However, before he could even speak, she was so frightened that she confessed everything. He was very upset, so he killed her and from then on, he became a companion of wandering ghosts and never entered Zhu Jiaji again.

“At the time of the woman’s death, the new magistrate had just taken office. This new magistrate was a cultivator. He said that the mad scholar had never had a moment of peace in his life and that his resentment after death had lingered for a long time. He had transformed into a spirit of vengeance and wanted the entire Zhu Jiaji to go to the underworld with him. The only way to quell the ghost’s resentment was to sacrifice young women to fulfill his wish to get married…”

The innkeeper’s voice was still trembling, but Zhuge Qingtian seemed to have completely not heard it. He was just squatting on the ground, poking at a watermelon rind with his finger. He thought, the people here really hadn’t changed. No matter what bad things happened, they would blame him. Even if he had become a corpse, he was still the source of all misfortune.

He had always been the outcast in Zhu Jiaji and had long stopped expecting any good treatment. He just thought that he was dead, so maybe these people should be a little kinder to him. But the result was still the same, and he was ultimately a little upset. However, he couldn’t be too upset, once his emotions spun out of control, he would kill.

The corpse’s sharp fingernails dug deeply into the watermelon rind. Zhuge Qingtian lowered his head, unusually quiet.

He lied to his “wife.” He had actually met a white-clothed youth. This person was clearly the same age as him but was very powerful, easily severing his head. He didn’t understand why he would encounter such a thing when he was just in the mass grave. So, he was angry and injured the youth, making him cough up a lot of blood. But he had not killed him.

Zhuge Qingtian was just crazy, but not stupid. The wife was clearly looking for that youth. From the past, all the bad things had always been blamed on him. He was afraid of being recognized as a murderer. If that happened, his “wife” would also hate him, wouldn’t she?

Although this man, who hadn’t even told him his name, kept kicking his head away, for some unknown reason, he made him feel much better than the villagers who had never hit him. He had never met such a person, so even though he knew how powerless a ghost’s explanation was compared to the accusations of the entire Zhu Jiaji village, he still tried to explain: “Wife, I’m not a vengeful ghost. I’m Zhuge Qingtian, I passed the imperial exam, and I didn’t kill that youth. Please don’t dislike me…”

“If I’m not mistaken, the Soul-Injuring Bird should be in the government office.”

Unfortunately, the black-clothed man said these words, and then walked past him as if he had heard nothing.

The headless corpse squatting on the ground did not move. He was suddenly very grateful that he didn’t have a head now. That way, even if he was upset, no one would be able to tell. At least, on the outside, he was still playing with the watermelon rind, looking like he was very happy.

Sigh, if he had known, he should have held the watermelon in his arms and protected it well. Now that the man had left, he didn’t know how long it would take before someone brought him something…

However, just as he thought he had been abandoned again, the man’s usual cold voice came over, “What are you squatting there for? Don’t you want your head anymore?”

His “wife” didn’t abandon him! His “wife” was even preparing to find a head for him!

With just one sentence, all of Zhuge Qingtian’s distress dissipated. Sure enough, this man was not afraid of him. In his eyes, Zhuge Qingtian was the same as everyone else. Even if he had a cold attitude, at least, in front of his “wife,” he was not a demon bringing misfortune.

He thought that he had to let his “wife” know how happy he was. But he didn’t have much experience in getting along with people, and he didn’t even know what to do to be liked. He could only follow Qian Ren’s past behavior and proposed excitedly, “Wife, buy me another watermelon, and I will stand still and let you kick me.”

Qian Ren naturally did not believe Zhuge Qingtian was the vengeful spirit, a claim used to fool the country bumpkins. The origins of the three great Ghost Gods of the Ghost Domain had long been thoroughly investigated by the Xuan Sect. The vengeful spirit was also a once powerful figure in court. How could he resort to having a few country girls sacrificed? He understood at once that this was just an ordinary scam where mortals were using the name of ghosts and spirits to commit crimes.

Killing a few people was nothing to a demonic cultivator. But seeing Zhuge Qingtian tugging at his sleeve and making that strange request, and thinking that this man had probably tried so hard and clumsily to be liked by those around him when he was alive, he ultimately didn’t shake him off. He simply grabbed his arm and dragged him forward, sighing softly, “Let’s go, idiot. I don’t feel like kicking you today.”

The night outside was dark, the perfect time for a demonic cultivator to commit crimes. Looking at the solitary moon obscured by thick clouds, Qian Ren thought that after completing the mission, he should hand Zhuge Qingtian over to the sages he trusted. They demonic cultivators only knew how to kill and did not know how to be gentle and kind like the righteous knights.

He, who was used to merging with the cold night, could not do the good deed of warming people’s hearts.

The author has something to say:

Zhuge Qingtian: Wife, I know that you didn’t tell me your name because you want to be called wife. Don’t give any other reasons, I won’t listen!

Qian Ren’s internal monologue: How should I tell him the embarrassing fact that as a famous demonic cultivator, I never thought there would be anyone who doesn’t know my name…

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