I was forced to cultivate immortality when I just wanted to lie down

Chapter 287 Brotherly Love and Respect, the Corpse of the Kuiba

The Gao family's affair was a mess. With Qin pleading for leniency and Yuan scolding Yuanlong on Qin's behalf, saying that he would be disciplined more strictly, the matter was dropped.

But is Gao Yuanxing someone to be trifled with?

Using his younger brother's name, he harassed respectable women, and afterwards he would jump out and call him a fool for doing something inhuman. Gao Yuanxing relied on the fact that he looked just like his twin brother, so he acted recklessly and always made Gao Yuanlong take the blame and shield him from trouble.

He could still righteously scold his younger brother as an older brother, but the key point was that Gao Yuanlong was deaf and couldn't understand that his older brother was scolding him. Even when he was called a big fool, he would just laugh and scratch his head, thinking that his older brother was just teasing him.

People who are stupid are already stupid, and you're still trying to make fun of them!
So, idiots aren't human, they weren't raised by parents, and they deserve to be laughed at?

Gao Yuanxing said yes.

Sure enough, not long after things calmed down, Gao Yuanxing set his sights on the second wife, Qin Shi, again. This time, he practiced on a maid in the mansion, taking advantage of her body and then framing the foolish Yuanlong.

In any case, Yuanlong is deaf and mute, and cannot prove his innocence.

Master Gao couldn't beat her, nor could he reason with her, so in the end he had no choice but to marry the maid to Gao Yuanlong. After all, the maid belonged to his family, and she would keep Yuanlong company. Perhaps with a maid by his side, Yuanlong would stop doing this sort of thing.
Gao Yuanxing thought to himself, "That won't do. If he doesn't do bad things, his life will be much less fun. That would be worse than killing him."

On this day, when Master Gao was testing his children's studies, he saw that Yuanxing was not even as good as five-year-old Gao Qin. So he often scolded him, but doted on Gao Qin, saying that his family had produced a child prodigy who was destined to become the top scholar in the imperial examination!
Gao Yuanxing was petty and narrow-minded; how could he swallow this insult?
A year later, Gao Qin returned from an outing with his private tutor. The tutor gave him two poems, saying they were written by the six-year-old Gao Qin.

The first poem is "A Spring Outing on the Lake," written in a rather elegant font:

Lotus leaves are layered like green coins, and dragonflies perch on the tips of bamboo poles.

Suddenly, I row my oars, breaking through the duckweed, and laughingly point to the white gulls amidst the clouds and mist.

Master Gao chuckled as he read it. He then looked at the second poem, which was titled "The Silly Brother's Lament":
Chaos knows no skill, and the simple-minded embrace their unadorned truth.

People ridicule the foolish and stupid, but how can they understand the wicked?
Master Gao fell silent, while the private tutor stroked his beard and smiled without saying a word.

Is the true nature of the Gao brothers really as it appears on the surface, something that no one can understand except perhaps a six-year-old child?
Master Gao said yes, and he said no, even if it wasn't true.

Who told him to be an idiot?
"Excellent, a fine poem, a truly wonderful poem!"

The silent Master Gao was once again engrossed in his youngest son's masterpiece.

To be able to compose poetry at the age of six, even if he can't compare to the legendary Goose King or the Yellow Shepherd Boy, is certainly not far off.
Gao Qin's reputation as a child prodigy was beginning to spread, and the entire Gao family adored this young master.

When Gao Yuanxing saw that a concubine's son was so favored, how could he bear it?
Moreover, even his own mother would mention Gao Qin every now and then, asking, "Am I your real son, or is that little bastard your real son?"
Gao Yuanxing gritted his teeth and raged in secret.

One day, he tricked Gao Qin by saying, "Auntie wants you to go to the backyard; she has something important to say to you."

No matter how smart Gao Qin is, he is still just a six-year-old child.

Just as he passed through the Moon Cave, Yuan Xing, taking advantage of the fact that no one was around, grabbed the hammer he had hidden beforehand and smashed it hard, settling the score instantly!

Afterwards, Gao Yuanxing handed the blood-stained hammer to his younger brother Yuanlong, letting his simple-minded brother play with it. He then wiped his hands and pretended to be reading in his study, acting as if nothing had happened.

When Master Gao saw his youngest son, Gao Qin, die suddenly, and then saw his foolish son, Yuanlong, clutching a hammer like a precious treasure, his heart clenched.

孽 孽!
Master Gao was filled with sorrow, but when he asked about Yuanlong, his foolish son could only laugh silly, completely unaware of what had happened.

Qin attempted suicide and nearly died by running into a wall, but was fortunately rescued.

After the funeral arrangements for his youngest son were completed, Master Gao would often see Gao Yuanlong lingering outside the courtyard where Gao Qin had lived.

Master Gao questioned why no one had chased the fool away, but Old Ding, the gatekeeper, sighed, "I watched the second young master grow up. Although he's simple-minded, he's not a bad person. He's just anxious because he hasn't seen the young master, so he came here wandering around. Master, how could the second young master do such a thing?"

Old Ding, with his hands behind his back and his body hunched over, didn't wait for Master Gao's response and went back to the gatehouse on his own.

Master Gao stood there for a long time.

That night, Master Gao repeatedly looked at the poems written by his youngest son in his study. After reciting "The Silly Brother's Lament" over and over again, Master Gao immediately ordered someone to summon his eldest son.

Gao Yuanxing had barely entered the study, and before he could even sit down, the wealthy Gao suddenly asked, "Was it really Yuanlong who killed Qin'er? I want to hear the truth!"

Gao Yuanxing reacted quickly, feigning confusion as he asked, "Why do you say that, Father?"

Seeing that Master Gao was still staring at him without saying a word, Gao Yuanxing's heart was pounding, but he remained calm and said, "I don't know what Father is talking about, but I have never done anything to deceive Father."

Gao Yuanxing's eyes reddened as he said, "I am deeply distressed because of my brother Qin's matter. This morning I went out for a walk and met a Taoist priest who claimed to be a diviner. I told him about my sorrow and asked him to cast a divination. Father, do you know what that man said?"

Gao Yuanxing answered himself, "That Taoist said Yuanlong was stupid and Qindi was precocious. This is because Qindi stole Yuanlong's good fortune, which is why Yuanlong treats Qindi this way."
The Taoist priest also said, "Extreme intelligence is often a curse; those who are exceptionally intelligent often suffer divine envy and are prone to premature death."

Seeing that Master Gao's face was extremely pale, Gao Yuanxing immediately comforted him, saying, "Father, don't be too sad. Some things are perhaps destined and cannot be changed by human effort."

Master Gao watched his eldest son leave, then summoned the gatekeeper and servants, asking, "Did the eldest son go out this morning?"

Everyone shook their heads, saying they hadn't seen it.

Master Gao fell completely silent.

Less than half a month later, Qin Shi, grieving the untimely death of her son Gao Qin, grew increasingly haggard and eventually died of illness in her bed.

Yuan was Gao Yuanxing's biological mother and was as close as sisters with Qin. After Qin died, she suddenly questioned Gao Yuanxing: "Why did you harm your brother? Yuanlong may be stupid, but he would never harm Qin'er!"

Gao Yuanxing tried to use the same trick again, but Yuan slapped him across the face: "When you were young, you always blamed Yuanlong for your mistakes. I am your biological mother, how could I not know your nature? If I had known this, I shouldn't have given birth to you!"

Enraged by these words, Gao Yuanxing removed his mask and said bluntly, "So what if I killed him? I am the eldest son of the Gao family! I am your own flesh and blood! This family business should belong to me, but you favored a concubine's son. Am I your son, or is that bastard your son?!"

Madam Yuan trembled with anger: "You know you are the eldest son, and you know the future family business will all be yours! The reason why my husband and I are good to Qin'er is because this family business is not his. That's why we feel indebted and want to make it up to him on your behalf. How can you not understand this?"

Upon hearing this, Gao Yuanxing retorted, "This family business is mine to begin with, so how can I owe it to anyone? That bastard should never have lived in the Gao family!"

Yuan was so angry that her vision blurred. She dragged Gao Yuanxing to the mourning hall to kowtow and apologize to Qin.

Gao Yuanxing refused to comply and, in the ensuing scuffle, slapped his own mother to the ground.

Gao Yuanxing looked at Yuan Shi, who was lying on the ground crying, but ultimately did not choose to go forward to help her up.

That evening, a gasp suddenly came from the mourning hall.

The First Madam hanged herself!

Moreover, they used the white cloth of the mourning hall and hanged themselves in front of Qin's coffin.

In his grief and indignation, Master Gao wanted to drag Gao Yuanxing to report him to the authorities, but Gao Yuanxing refused.

If you won't let me live in peace, then you can forget about living either!

Not satisfied with killing Master Gao, Gao Yuanxing took advantage of the darkness to slaughter everyone in the mansion, whether they were on night duty or asleep. Afterwards, Gao Yuanxing set fire to the house, pretending that his family had drowned in the night.

The fool Gao Yuanlong looked at the hellish scene before him and could only cry out.

Gao Yuanxing felt annoyed and looked at Gao Yuanlong with uncertain eyes. Although this fool was stupid, he trusted him extremely and regarded him as his only family.

Suppressing his murderous intent, Gao Yuanxing fled with his mentally challenged brother and valuables that very night.

Although Gao Yuanlong was simple-minded, he was quite strong and repeatedly helped his brother drive away bandits and avoid disasters.

One day, the two arrived in the capital and encountered an old Taoist priest from the Celestial Master's Mansion. The priest took a mirror and looked it up at Gao Yuanxing.

Wow! There are four and a half shadows!
That's really rare. How come there's still half a shadow?
Master Lu calculated with his fingers and realized that Gao Yuanxing was "born with evil spirits" and was a natural "material" for cultivation.

Just a few months after being born, Gao Yuanxing choked his younger brother Gao Yuanlong in the crib until he went into shock and became mentally disabled.

In the end, it was Yuan who discovered it in time and separated the two. The younger brother, Gao Yuanlong, survived, but he was left with only half a life. At that time, a knowledgeable fortune teller said that Gao Yuanlong had lost one of his three souls and would inevitably become mentally disabled when he grew up.

Madam Yuan knew about this, as did Master Gao, but they never told anyone else, not even Gao Yuanxing. This was because the child was too young to understand, and also because the deed was done, and they didn't want it to affect the child's future.

Looking at the fine young man before him, Master Lu felt that this child had a bright future and a promising future.

However, if you want a brighter future, you must clear away the obstacles in your path beforehand.

Master Lu displayed his divine abilities before the people, completely impressing Gao Yuanxing with his Taoist skills.

About two years later, one day Master Lu suddenly summoned his esteemed disciple and said with a kind and benevolent expression, "Lingfeng, would you like to take this a step further?"

Going a step further? Gao Yuanxing's eyes lit up: "I humbly request your guidance, Master!"

"I ask you, how many spiritual veins do you have now?"

"Four and a half."

"No, there is no such thing as half a word on the path of cultivation. Four and a half is four. Given time, you will surely achieve something with your talent, but you are far inferior to someone with five spiritual veins."

Gao Yuanxing then asked, "How can this disciple repair the damaged spiritual veins?"

Master Lu chuckled and shook his head: "Silly disciple, you have to figure this out yourself. How can your master help you?"

After leaving the Celestial Master's Hall, Gao Yuanxing pondered deeply and suddenly had an epiphany!

“My father died, my mother is gone, and my bastard brother is gone too, which is why I have three shadows. Adding my own, that makes four, and the remaining half belongs to my brother Yuanlong.”

“I asked my master how to fill in the missing shadow, and he called me a silly disciple and told me to figure it out myself.”

"Foolish disciple, foolish Yuanlong?"

After Gao Yuanxing had an epiphany, he seemed to have lost a few pounds, and he walked with a brisk pace.

“Yuanlong is my younger brother. We have been brothers for over twenty years. I can’t bear to see him leave. I have to find a way to make him stay with me forever.”

Gao Yuanxing had many ideas. At that time, the Celestial Master's Mansion happened to have personnel dealings with the Yin Corpse Sect. What kind of place was the Yin Corpse Sect? It was a famous sect that could 'bring the dead back to life' and turn them into zombies.

His foolish younger brother was already foolish; if he became a zombie after death, he would only be more obedient.

Hey! I'm so smart!
Gao Yuanxing acted immediately, applying to visit and learn from the Yinhe Ancient Road, while also sparing no effort to promote academic discussions between the two schools.

The two Gao brothers were originally twins, and now their shadows have merged into the same person. It can be said that Gao Yuanxing is Gao Yuanlong's 'fate master'.

Such experimental subjects are extremely rare, and the Yin Corpse Sect even discovered loopholes in zombie cultivation from them. Even when Gao Yuanlong underwent tribulation, it was with the help of Gao Yuanxing's destiny.

This means that even if Gao Yuanlong undergoes the Golden Armor Corpse Tribulation, he will not encounter Heavenly Strike Divine Lightning; at most, he will only suffer Yang Lightning or Yin Lightning Tribulation.

Gao Yuanxing sent Gao Yuanlong to the Yin Corpse Sect for nearly twenty years, during which time no one knew how much suffering his brother had endured.

Anyway, when Gao Yuanxing left the Yin Corpse Sect, he had an extra golden-armored zombie by his side.

After watching Lingfeng Daoren's revolving lantern, Xu Qing pondered to himself.

Even the golden-armored corpses artificially cultivated by the Yin Corpse Sect are no good; they couldn't even withstand one axe blow from him.
If Gao Yuanlong could still move, he would definitely jump up and point at Xu Qing's nose to curse him.

You're a corpse, I'm a golden-armored corpse—the difference is greater than that between a top scholar who has passed the imperial examination and a mere child just starting elementary school. For a corpse to fight a golden-armored corpse is as easy as cracking sunflower seeds.

What good is his shell?
However, when Xu Qing stitched up Gao Yuanlong's body, he discovered that the physical strength of this golden-armored corpse was significantly weaker than when he was still a golden-armored corpse.

He was confident that even at the same level, Gao Yuanlong was still no match for him.

"The Yin Corpse Sect's method of raising zombies is still not good. To raise zombies well, one must first become a zombie; otherwise, one will always be an outsider."

Gao Yuanlong's story overlaps significantly with Gao Yuanxing's, and the only part that Xu Qing should pay attention to is the one or two decades he spent undergoing reformation at the Yin Corpse Sect.

Xu Qing learned the exact location of the Yin Corpse Sect in the Yin River and also saw the Yin Corpse Sect's trump card: a massive army of zombies.

What surprised Xu Qing the most was that a Kui Ba's corpse was buried beneath the Yin Corpse Sect's grounds.

As a result, the area occupied by the Yin Corpse Sect became the best place to raise corpses in the Yin River Ancient Road.

"The corpse of the Kui Ba."

Zombies are corpses that have mutated into monsters. So, is the Kui Ba buried under the Yin Corpse Sect really just a corpse?

Besides Kui Ba, Xu Qing also heard news about the Land of Gods Returning to the Ruins within the Yin Corpse Sect.

The last time he heard of the gods returning to the void was in Qianzhou, from Lu Xiu, the top scholar in the imperial examination, who spoke of the Wenchang Emperor and the two deaf and mute boys.

What he heard now was the divine title of the Dragon Tiger Mystic Altar True Lord.

The corpse of Kuiba, the place where gods return to nothingness.
Xu Qing had a vague feeling that the two were related, but he couldn't verify it.

These secrets, sealed away for thousands or even tens of thousands of years, are probably not known much even by the Celestial Master's Mansion.

After the two corpses were exorcised, the obscure and difficult-to-understand runes in the Scripture of Salvation increased, and Xu Qing also received a reward for the exorcism.

A low-grade dismemberment technique of the Heavenly rank.

A superior version of the Earth-based Immovable Dharma.

(End of this chapter)