Gentlemen, it's time to enter the Banner of Ten Thousand Souls.

Chapter 137 Listening to Master Tell Stories of the Past
Chen Ye always felt that Mo Ci was not like a demon.

Despite teaching him demonic techniques, he never killed anyone while guiding Chen Ye's cultivation; he simply led Chen Ye to cultivate in the deep mountains and forests.

He spoke harshly, as if he would devour Chen Yesheng alive at any moment, but on his deathbed, he rambled on and on, unwilling to breathe his last.

Whenever Chen Ye asked Mo Ci what bad things he had done, Mo Ci would always boast that his hands were stained with countless drops of blood and that he would grab someone every day to roast and eat.

But this sounds like someone bragging to others after drinking too much; it doesn't sound true at all.

Chen Ye had guessed more than once that Mo Ci was just bragging and was actually just a poor and destitute minor cultivator.

Now that Mo Ci was willing to speak, Chen Ye couldn't help but ask, "Master, let me ask you a question first: have you really slaughtered mortals?"

Mo Ci sneered, then said, "Of course, I have killed 773 mortals who were powerless to fight back. The youngest was seven years old and the oldest was ninety. How about it? Now that you know I am truly a ruthless demon, are you disappointed?"

Chen Ye did not reply immediately, but shook his head and said, "Master, the more you say that, the more certain I am that you are not a truly wicked person. A real demon would not remember things so clearly."

The Banner of Ten Thousand Souls trembled, and Mo Ci was speechless.

Chen Ye comforted him, "Master, things have come to this point, there's no point in being stubborn anymore. It's not shameful to not be a bad person. Since the Qinghe Sword Sect thinks you have a chance to change, I suppose you have nothing to hide."

Mo Ci snorted again and said arrogantly, "That's because Wang Wancheng's swordsmanship wasn't fully developed back then, which is why I escaped. It wasn't that he deliberately let me go."

Chen Ye was speechless. This old man insisted on saving face in front of Su Chun. Wasn't he afraid that Su Chun would complain to him when she got back? Now, if Wang Wancheng were to strike the Ten Thousand Souls Banner with his sword, it would be shattered.

Fortunately, Mo Ci only muttered that sentence before beginning to recount everything from back then.

About three hundred years ago, the mortal dynasty was still surnamed Zhao, three dynasties removed from the present one. Mo Ci was born into a wealthy family, passed the imperial examinations at a young age, married a virtuous wife, and soon had twins, a boy and a girl. He was rich, powerful, and had a happy family; he could be considered one of the happiest people in the world.

But it seems that heaven cannot bear to see the beauty of the world. Mo Ci's family of over a hundred people was slaughtered overnight.

His parents were brutally murdered, his wife was humiliated, his two infant children were killed, and all the family's wealth was looted.

Mo Ci herself was also seriously injured by the murderer, and finally fell into the river and drifted for several days before being rescued.

It took him several months to recover from his injuries, and he wanted to go back to report the crime to the authorities, only to find that his family mansion had already become the property of the prefect. The charge of the massacre of his entire family had fallen on him, and his wanted posters were plastered all over the city.

"The county magistrate who ruined my family and the prefect who wiped out my entire clan—I later learned that it was because when I took the imperial examination, his student was not as good as me, and I took the top spot. So he colluded with bandits to wipe out my family. Not only did he steal my vast wealth, but he also pinned the crime on me, stripped me of my academic honors, and allowed his student to rise to prominence."

Centuries have passed, but Mo Ci still grits his teeth when he mentions it today.

Chen Ye listened with a puzzled look and couldn't help but ask, "Just because of this?"

Mo Ci said in a deep voice, "There is no reason to explain the evil in human nature. If I could guess it, I would rather not have this honor."

Chen Ye was speechless; what Mo Ci said was true.

Many things seem illogical to outsiders, but there are always plenty of wicked and foolish people who act illogically and without regard for consequences. Not everyone considers the pros and cons carefully before committing evil.

Mo Ci calmed himself down a bit and continued, "Later, I realized that I was outnumbered and powerless and could not take revenge, so I went into hiding. Then, I met a cultivator."

Chen Ye interjected, "Is it that demon lord from the Crimson Serpent Demon Sect?"

Mo Ci laughed and said, "That's right. Perhaps they took me in because they saw that I was burdened with a blood feud and had the makings of a demon."

Mo Ci slowly recounted his days of cultivation, which were actually not complicated. He was beaten every day, then cultivated, then was captured to test medicine, and then beaten again.

Mo Ci said lightly, "The suffering I endured back then was ten times that of you. Because my master never intended for me to truly cultivate into an immortal; he was merely preparing a body for himself to possess. But it wasn't all bad. It was precisely because he was so ruthless that I was able to endure the pain of the Qi Refining Body. Otherwise, how could a weak scholar like me have survived?"

Chen Ye didn't ask any further questions, figuring those were all bloody memories. The real demons had far too many ways to torture people, so there was no need to ask.

Chen Ye asked, "And then what happened?"

"Later, he met Wang Wancheng of the Qinghe Sword Sect." Su Chun's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she seemed to be very interested in her master's past.

But Mo Ci's next words made Su Chunyi somewhat embarrassed. He said, "Wang Wancheng was just a novice sword cultivator at the time, and his cultivation level was much lower than my master's. We fought fiercely for two days and two nights, and he almost lost. If I hadn't intervened at the crucial moment and betrayed my master, Wang Wancheng might have been gone."

Hearing this, Chen Ye was puzzled and hurriedly asked, "You also saved Senior Wang's life? But how did you end up being the one being hunted down? Why have you been keeping this a secret all this time?"

Mo Ci sighed, "I didn't save him, I only saved myself. It's not something to be proud of to join forces with outsiders to kill your own master. What's there to say?"

Mo Ci continued to explain the rest of the story, but there weren't any major twists or turns.

Although Wang Wancheng successfully exorcised the demon, he was also injured. Mo Ci dared not befriend this sword immortal, so he fled.

Years later, Mo Ci returned to his hometown and found that the dynasty had long since changed.

However, the enemies from back then did not suffer any calamities. Instead, they remained wealthy and powerful under a new emperor, and not only died peacefully in their old age but also had many children and grandchildren.

Mo Ci sneered, "They're still living in my house, and they haven't even changed the stone lions in front of the door. I thought that after so many years, I would have almost forgotten this hatred, after all, that prefect is already dead. But when I saw how happy and content their family was, I couldn't help but want to kill them. So, I did it."

"I killed the oldest one first. On his ninetieth birthday, I took off his head and stuffed it into the outhouse. Come to think of it, this old guy wasn't much older when my family was destroyed. Few of the people at the birthday banquet were related to what happened back then."

"But I hated them! I wanted to wipe out their entire clan! So I did, from the oldest to the youngest, I killed them all, none of them could escape. With each person I killed, I thought of a relative. In the end, I didn't even spare the children."

“That day I killed 773 people, several times more than my family’s original population. I know that the massacre of my family had nothing to do with them, but when I saw them living in my house, living the same life as I did back then, I couldn’t help but hate them, so I couldn’t help but kill them all.”

After hearing what Mo Ci said, Chen Ye and Su Chun could only sigh.

Mo Ci was moved by the sight of the scene, which led him to kill and become obsessed. It's really hard to tell right from wrong.

Should the sins of our ancestors be punished on their descendants? If so, what crime have those young children committed? If not, the culprit is dead, so can a mere word make the victims let go of their hatred?
Chen Ye asked, "Master, is it because you killed and exterminated a clan that the Qinghe Sword Sect is hunting you down?"

"That's right, it's still Wang Wancheng. He tracked down my whereabouts, learned about the massacre of my family, and came to kill me. Although his swordsmanship is still not good enough, he still forced me to possess his body several times, and then I met you."

"The person you possessed?"

Mo Ci laughed and said, "Hehe, are you worried that your master will kill innocent people again? You can rest assured about that. I only choose people who are about to die. Even in times of peace and prosperity, many people starve to death or die of disease. You can find them easily. Moreover, these people are discreet enough to evade the pursuit of the Qinghe Sword Sect."

No wonder Chen Ye looked like a beggar when he met Mo Ci, and no wonder he kept hiding in the deep mountains and forests, never daring to go to crowded places.

Everything fits together.

Su Chunyi had never imagined that she had such a complicated relationship with Chen Ye's master, and couldn't help but ask, "So, when Master learned that you were hiding in the Ten Thousand Soul Banner, he stopped pursuing the matter?"

Mo Ci laughed and said, "He couldn't figure out who was right and who was wrong. After all, I saved his life once. Later, he probably reported it to your sect leader. I don't know what the final result was, but he ignored me and repaired the Ten Thousand Soul Banner before sending it back."

Upon hearing this, Su Chun immediately understood and explained, "This is one of the rules of our Qinghe Sword Sect. If one cannot distinguish right from wrong, one should not easily interfere in other people's grievances, nor should one decide the life of others based on one's own likes and dislikes. That is why, when I first met you, sir, I asked you to teach me what good and evil are."

Chen Ye also remembered that Su Chunyi's first question was whether helping evil people was also an act of evil.

Chen Ye's answer was that other people's karma should be settled by those people themselves.

When one is successful, one should help others; when one is unsuccessful, one should cultivate one's own virtue. As a mere cultivator, Chen Ye should not arbitrarily interfere in the karma of others.

However, the Qinghe Sword Sect had higher aspirations and wanted to seek justice for everyone, but justice is easier said than done.

After a long silence, Chen Ye couldn't help but say, "So, my master and I are really legitimate heirs of the Crimson Serpent Demonic Sect?"

Chen Ye had just told Su Chunyi about the identity of the Venerable Master, which was practically equivalent to betraying the patriarch. This was truly the style of the Demonic Sect.

Mo Ci laughed and said, "Hahaha, if you calculate it that way, you're not wrong. Besides, betraying one's master and ancestors is a tradition of our Crimson Serpent Demon Sect."

(End of this chapter)