The King of Curses

Chapter 69: Killing Intention and Sincerity
Cen Dongsheng raised his head and looked at the sky.

The sky, which was originally covered with dark clouds, like the night before a storm, has mostly disappeared;
The sky seemed like a huge curtain, torn into pieces. Behind the clouds was the sky of the real world. It seemed like a day had passed, and the bright sunshine was shining on the ruins covered with vines.

"The vine monster has not disappeared, but the haunted house space has been destroyed and there is little left."

Of course he could guess what was going on.

"Has it been cut off by the 'Blade of Infernal Affairs'..."

Yi Qingyan——

The girl who was the young devil and had not yet become the King of Equality finally awakened the curse inside the haunted house.

Judging from what she said frankly, this might just be a matter of a moment's thought on the other hand.

Since she had set the shackles on herself, it was normal for her to take them off. He was not surprised, and it did not hinder what he was going to do.

Dozens of black shadows gathered around Cen Dongsheng, all of whom were ghosts controlled by the power of "Tiger Soul".

Under the leadership of this group of "traitors", Cen Dongsheng did not take any action, but quickly drove away the other black shadows, and then found the real body of the vine monster near the real school gate.

It turned into a vine, crawling in an unnoticed corner, looking like a tiny insect, trying to sneak away quietly.

If Cen Dongsheng's severe damage to its core caused the vine monster to use all its strength and suck the flesh and blood of living people in a last-ditch effort; then Yi Qingyan's awakening was a severe blow to its head, making it completely scared.

The vine monster was very clear-headed and realized that the two sides were not on the same level at all.

Unlike those evil spirits created and restricted by the owner of the house, the owner himself has the possibility to survive outside the haunted house.

Unfortunately……

Cen Dongsheng found it and stepped on the small vine.

*
"Yi Qingyan...classmate? Is that you?"

Tian Jingwen and Xiao Liting huddled in the corner, looking at the long-haired girl who appeared from the door.

Tian Jingwen had been hiding in the classroom from the beginning; while Xiao Liting was chased by the evil spirit, stumbling all the way in the corridor, and finally returned to this place.

The former hugged "Wei Yanyan", but found that she had turned into the girl who died tragically ten years ago; the latter ran away with "Yang Chao", but when "Yang Chao" took off her human skin, her true identity turned out to be a ghost who had been involved with her, and it could be said that the boy was killed by her.

The lives of the two were hanging by a thread; and now, right in front of them, the female ghost whose body was covered in the smell of rain and mud had her hands chopped off, and the male ghost who looked like a rubber worm had his lower body chopped off, leaving only a part of his body slowly crawling on the ground.

"It's you? It turns out you've been hiding yourself..."

After coming back to his senses from the panic, Tian Jingwen looked at Yi Qingyan with a look of surprise; in contrast, Xiao Liting's face was not very good. She obviously had not forgotten that he had "bullied" her.

The scene just now caused a drastic change in their impression of the slender figure in front of them.

Silent, introverted, and taciturn, these labels that were initially ignored have now become proof of her strength.

Even ordinary people can see that, as both are curse masters, if Cen Dongsheng's style is very different from Liu Xiaochuan's, then Yi Qingyan is simply in another dimension. She kills ghosts so easily that you can't see any movement from her at all.

"You, you are here to save us? Where are the others?"

"Everyone else is dead."

Her tone was light.

"Dead... dead?"

Tian Jingwen was a little surprised, but her next sentence made him even more dumbfounded.

"Yes, I killed him."

“W-why…?!”

In comparison, Xiao Liting seemed to have given up earlier.

"...I told you, this woman is crazy..." She muttered to herself, and laughed nervously, "Hurry up, do it if you want."

Yi Qingyan ignored the two people's reactions and turned her gaze to the evil spirits.

"It's the same for humans and ghosts. The haunted house is about to collapse, and you will all disappear from this world soon."

"Don't...don't stop me!"

Evil ghosts are intelligent, and like humans, they can see the difference in strength between each other.

But the difference is that they tend to be more persistent than humans and are driven by their own core obsessions.

Even though they knew they could not be a match for the human in front of them, "Wei Yanyan" and "Yang Chao" still pounced on Yi Qingyan at the same time.

The result, of course, was that more "body parts" were chopped off and fell to the ground in a mess.

Yi Qingyan had no intention of destroying them right away. Fortunately, they were not humans with flesh and blood, so they could continue to exist even after their limbs or half of their bodies were chopped off.

"I told you, I have questions."

She jumped onto the podium, sat down, propped her chin up with her hand, and looked at the two people trembling in front of her.

"Whether you want to kill someone or survive, I want to know which of your reasons is more correct."

"...The right person can survive?"

"Ah."

Yi Qingyan nodded seriously.

"Although killing is just killing, if I can tell who is right and who is wrong, I can choose to kill the one who is wrong... The same goes for ghosts."

As long as you convince her, you can survive.

When faced with the desire to survive, people burst out with endless possibilities, including Xiao Liting, who had just given up. She began to kneel in front of Yi Qingyan, vying to explain her difficulties.

Everyone has their own difficulties, even those who have clearly done something wrong, such as "She and I are truly in love", "I was trying to protect my reputation, and I didn't expect things to turn out like that", etc.

The evil spirits were roaring and cursing grimly. They had grudges against the victims, but they had no psychological barriers to killing innocent people. They lived by devouring living people. But they also didn't want to die so easily.

Yi Qingyan listened patiently.

"……I see."

It wasn't until five minutes later that she felt she had her answer.

The girl's expression seemed slightly disappointed, but also as if she had expected it.

If it were eight years later, I'm afraid no one would actually think of arguing about right and wrong in front of Yi Qingyan.

Because the later King of Equality has put her ideas into practice with her actions:

Due to morality, gender, race, class... people always have conflicts because of their different identities and interests.

The way King Pingdeng resolves conflicts is often to kill everyone on both sides.

Kill to stop killing.

Kill all the troubles in this world, kill all the disputes in the world, and create a pure and peaceful world - for King Pingdeng, this is not just a slogan.

Although the scale is completely different, at that time she would usually jump into the most intense battlefield among several major forces and beat everyone together; but now Yi Qingyan is only in front of a handful of people.

However, this value can be seen from her subsequent choices...

"None of you want to die, is that right?"

Yi Qingyan raised a finger.

"Then run away. See if you can survive me."

Tian Jingwen and Xiao Liting looked at each other, then they jumped up and ran towards the classroom door at the same time.

Only two ghosts were left.

"Just kill me."

The female ghost smiled grimly. The wounds on her body were being healed by Yin Qi, but she herself did not move anymore.

The male ghost didn't say anything, but just sat down with difficulty, like a human being.

She lowered her eyes.

"...I see. If you were still alive, I might..."

In the blink of an eye, the evil spirits disappeared.

"Please help me... kill her... kill him... help me... help us get revenge..."

Yi Qingyan didn't answer. She jumped off the podium and left the classroom without looking back.

……

"Distance... expansion..."

When she came to the corridor, her pupils took on the color of the abyss.
Yi Qingyan raised her finger and pointed straight forward.

"It's farther than I thought..." the girl murmured softly.

She had only just released the shackles of her abilities more than ten minutes ago, and this power was more dangerous than she had imagined.

The material world is reflected in her clear pupils in black and white like an ink painting. Just a stroke with a finger can leave a huge, indelible wound.

The foundation of the world is so fragile.

"I...I want to live!"

"Let me do anything! Don't kill me, don't kill me--"

The girl's head flew into the sky.

"Teacher, teacher, I am innocent..."

"You lunatic! Murderer! Murderer—"

The man's head fell to the ground.

……

She looked up at the sky. The bright sunshine made the girl squint her eyes unconsciously.

Although she did not intend to destroy this place, the foundation of the haunted house space was inevitably destroyed after she used the Blade of Infernal Affairs several times.

In the black and white world, the flow of Qi is clearly visible.
Life or death, it is clear.

Yi Qingyan quickly found the final target.

Just downstairs.

The vine monster has turned into a tiny "worm" and is trying to slip away.

She put away her ability, jumped off the platform, and saw the target being stepped on by a shoe.

The young man stood in front of her.

The two looked at each other, speechless for a moment.

*
Cen Dongsheng stepped on the vine monster's shell and snapped his fingers, and the ghosts disappeared in the sunlight.

"Okay, now it's all done."

He took a step towards Yi Qingyan.

But for some reason, the little girl subconsciously took a step back.

"...Brother Dongsheng, have you recovered?"

She noticed that her attitude was a little subtle and spoke quickly.

"Well, it's alright."

After the last bit of Yin Qi was refined, the Caixin Middle School in reality was about to return; golden light fell on the two of them, illuminating the nearby ruins.

The man noticed that there was a subtle distance between the two.

"Have you awakened your own curse?" he asked.

"Ah."

"After awakening, what did you do?"

“…to kill someone.”

Yi Qingyan answered in a low voice.

"I have killed everyone in the school."

Although it was an expected answer, Cen Dongsheng couldn't help but sigh after hearing it.

"Can I ask why?"

"I told Brother Dongsheng that once I accept this power, terrible things will happen."

She grabbed one of her arms and turned her head to the side, as if she didn't want the other person to see her face.

"That's the reason. From now on, I can't stop killing people."

"..."

Cen Dongsheng didn't say anything.

"I know this is not good, so I have been patient, and have been patient... Even now, although I just want to kill someone, I still want to find meaning in this behavior."

"Then, I asked those people... those who would be the first to be sacrificed questions. If what I did was meaningful, maybe I could find... answers from them."

"So did you find the answer you were looking for?"

"……No."

She shook her head.

At this moment, Cen Dongsheng, who had been silent just now, suddenly approached. He stretched out his hand like before, wanting to touch her head——

Yi Qingyan was startled and took a step back in panic to avoid this "sudden attack"; but his hand took the opportunity to push the girl's hair away.

This time, he saw it clearly.

The expression on the girl's face finally matched the confusion of her age.

“Why are you hiding?”

Cen Dongsheng asked even though he knew the answer.

"Brother Dongsheng, you, you still don't understand after listening to what I just said?"

The little girl's big black and white eyes widened, she clutched her arms, and her body trembled slightly with excitement.

"——I'm worried that I might kill you too!"

……

"..."

For a long time, neither of them spoke again.

The sun was shining brightly overhead and the campus was silent. The breeze brushed past his and her faces and then calmed down. At this moment, even the swaying shadows of the trees in the distance stopped shaking.

Cen Dongsheng looked at the girl who was hugging her arms and lowering her head, as if she was suppressing something, and suddenly laughed.

"I know."

He said, taking another step towards her.

*
Cen Dongsheng recalled the old dream that he had relived not long ago.

In a flashback, King Pingdeng once said that she didn't like others to "give meaning" to her actions, because killing is just killing, and as a result, some people will always misunderstand her actions, thinking that she is a messenger of justice on their side because she killed someone;
But today, Yi Qingyan, who has not yet become the King of Equality, said that she wanted to find meaning for her actions.

Is this a contradiction?

There is no contradiction, because the meaning she demands and the person she wants to convince is just herself.

Yi Qingyan's attitude at this moment finally gave him the answer. It was about a question that made countless people curious and confused:
What is King Pingdeng’s true intention?
Or in other words, what is her real obsession, the desire represented by her life ban?

As we all know, fate is a reflection of a person's inner desires; at the same time, it will also stimulate a person's desires in turn.

Therefore, every "ancestor" seems so self-centered because they readily accept the strong and almost obsessive desire represented by the special life ban.

Based on the words and deeds of the King of Equality, most people think that she is trying to achieve the so-called "absolute equality", while others believe that this desire symbolizes a kind of paranoid justice.

But the truth is actually simpler than anyone imagined.

"Avici Hell" - the desire it represents is pure and terrifying.

That is... "murder".

The most contrary to social order is the impulse hidden deep in the dark side of everyone's psychology. Even if a person has a kind and gentle character, there will definitely be a moment in his (her) life when he (she) has the intention to kill someone or something.

"It would be nice if this guy/that guy died", "I want to kill them all" -

This kind of thought will be suppressed in peaceful daily life, but if an emergency occurs, it will surge into people's minds driven by strong emotional impulses, causing people to do cruel things.

This desire lurks in the collective subconscious of human beings, spreading imperceptibly among groups, and eventually triggering large-scale violent conflicts and even wars.

If "Infernal Hell" symbolizes the primitive impulse in the human heart that is a mixture of the desire for destruction and the desire for ruin, then Yi Qingyan, who has been affected by endless murderous intent since childhood and has been able to endure until now, may really be the most suitable host in the world.

Because in the end, she did not become a simple "King of Killing", but became the "King of Equality"——

It was she who took the initiative to give special meaning to this ability and this desire; this was also the answer that the future Yi Qingyan found for herself.

(End of this chapter)