A heretical cultivator in Bureau 749, I'm the fiercest at pulling out tendons and skinning peop

Nineteen years ago, in the Ailao Mountains, at Lion Camel Ridge.

After the war, Shen Qianjie, Chu Hengdao, Zhou Langchen, and Gouye settled down here.

Life was relatively peaceful.

The three old men and the dog were each busy with their own things.

Zhou Langchen sleeps during the day and goes out at night.

Chu Hengdao sharpened his knife all day long.

Shen Qianjie stayed in the laboratory, tinkering with those bottles and jars.

Dog Lord was responsible for guarding the house and stealing chickens and dogs.

Days passed by like this, uneventful but peaceful.

until that day.

Early in the morning, just as dawn was breaking, Shen Qianjie, carrying a bundle on his back, excitedly climbed up the mountain path of Lion Camel Ridge.

The bundle wasn't big, but it was bulging, and I had no idea what was inside.

He jogged into the village, his face beaming with undisguised excitement, as if he had found some rare treasure.

"Old Zhou! Old Chu! Old Gou! Come out and see! I've brought back something good!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs, and the sound echoed through the valley in the early morning, startling a grove of birds.

Zhou Langchen was dozing off in a rattan chair in the courtyard. He had gone out to rescue prostitutes again last night, and didn't return until almost dawn. He had just fallen asleep when he was woken up by Shen Qianjie's shouting.

He opened one eye and looked at Shen Qianjie's gleeful expression, then grumbled irritably, "What are you yelling about? Is this some kind of funeral wailing so early in the morning?"

Chu Hengdao also came out of the house, holding a whetstone in his hand, slowly sharpening his knife, making a "sizzling" sound.

He glanced at Shen Qianjie, then lowered his head and continued sharpening his knife.

Dog Master squatted on the steps by the door, yawned, stuck out his tongue and licked his nose, and looked at Shen Qianjie with a curious gaze.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Shen Qianjie triumphantly placed the bundle on the table, untied the knot, and revealed its contents—

A swaddled baby.

A baby was wrapped in swaddling clothes.

The baby looked to be only three or four months old, with delicate features and was very cute.

However, everyone present frowned.

Something's off about this kid.

That complexion, that breathing, that faint, almost imperceptible life force—it didn't look like someone who could be raised.

Zhou Langchen leaned over for a look, then reached out and placed his hand on the baby's wrist to check the pulse.

Then, his brows furrowed even more.

"Old Shen, what the hell did you pick up?"

He spoke, his voice carrying a hint of disdain.

"This little child is born with a deficiency of vital essence and energy, and is unable to transform and transport it after birth. His blood and energy will never have a chance to be replenished. His pulse has no foundation, his true essence is gradually depleting, and his yin and yang are about to separate. This child simply cannot be raised. He will kick the bucket in a few years, and no elixir or medicine can save him."

He paused, then added, "Living like this is painful; it's better to die and be free. Just throw me off the mountain."

As he spoke, he reached out to grab the swaddled baby, preparing to take action.

He wasn't joking.

He genuinely felt that abandoning the child on the mountain would be a relief for him.

Rather than let him live in suffering, it's better to end this pain sooner.

Since we can't raise them anyway, why bother?

When Shen Qianjie saw that he was about to make a move, he quickly snatched the swaddling clothes and held the baby in his arms. His movements were incredibly nimble, just like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

"Get out of here, you ignorant fool!"

"Do you know what this is? It's a child's destiny, something only found in ancient books. I barely managed to find it by chance. Luckily, it was half-dead, otherwise no one would have thrown it away. I found it in the middle of nowhere, that's fate. I've already named it Ji Zuodao."

"A child born with a 'child spirit' destiny?"

Zhou Langchen paused for a moment, then frowned and asked in a doubtful tone:

"That shouldn't be the case. Children born under the 'child spirit' destiny are protected by divine energy and are immune to all diseases. How could they possibly be in such a ragged state?"

He circled around Shen Qianjie, looking the baby in the swaddling clothes up and down, and the more he looked, the more he felt something was wrong.

"Wait!" He suddenly stopped, his expression changing. "Damn, could it be the Sick Child?"

"Damn it, throw it away, throw it away right now!"

Zhou Langchen looked disgusted, as if he had seen a pile of shit.

"That sickly boy is a jinx! Wherever he goes, bad luck follows! If you leave him on the mountain, we'll all suffer along with him!"

He was planning to have some fun that night and then play a few rounds of cards. If he got bad luck from the little jinx, he'd be doomed.

It should be noted that the sick child also has another name: the calamity child.

Chu Hengdao and Gouye, who were about to approach upon hearing the words "child spirit's fate," both took a step back upon hearing the words "sick child spirit."

Dog Lord wished he could rip out the tongue that had just licked the cub.

His expression and actions were as if he had just licked a mouthful of shit, and he was filled with deep regret.

Shen Qianjie rolled his eyes at their expressions and began his educational session:

"A bunch of illiterate people, what kind of jinxes are they? Don't they have any culture at all?"

He cleared his throat and spoke slowly and deliberately, in an academic tone:

"The sick child is surrounded by turbid, decaying, and sickly energy. He is born with the power to attract misfortune. Like attracts like, all the calamities in the world will actively approach him. The disaster will first befall him, and the aftereffects will affect others. It is not that the child spreads bad luck to harm others."

After he finished speaking, he glanced at everyone triumphantly, his expression as if he had just published an SCI paper.

After listening, Zhou Langchen remained silent for a few seconds.

Then he spoke up: "Damn it, is there a difference?"

"Isn't it still a case of trouble wherever we go? The three of us were prepared for five trials, are you thinking the difficulty isn't enough and want to increase it?"

The Five Difficult Realms are a major hurdle on the path of cultivation.

It's already dangerous enough, but if you have a jinx by your side when you're undergoing tribulation, the difficulty will not just double or triple.

That's straight to hell mode.

Shen Qianjie felt a little guilty after hearing what he said, but she still stubbornly insisted on saying:

"Look at you, you coward! Anyway, I'm going to keep him around and study his ability to absorb calamities. Maybe we can even develop the ability to resist calamities someday."

Are you confident?

Zhou Langchen glanced at him sideways.

"Tch, don't underestimate me."

Shen Qianjie raised his head and said in a tone that said, "I'm the best in the world."

"Dog Master merely reiterated the effects of the Heart-Stealing Demon Technique from Jinshan Temple, and I've already figured out almost everything. In terms of fighting, I'd probably be slightly inferior to you; but in terms of scientific research, I'm miles ahead of you. You'd have to kneel down and lick my shoes. Do you know the true value of a medical doctorate?"

"Still confident? Let me tell you, I'm absolutely certain!"

That night.

From the village of Lion Camel Ridge, the cries of babies could be heard.

The crying was loud and high-pitched, carrying a stubborn "I'm not going to sleep" attitude, echoing in the night sky and carrying far and wide.

Shen Qianjie held Xiao Ji Zuodao in his arms, humming an off-key lullaby.

But that little Ji Zuo Dao didn't buy it at all.

He cried even louder.

The sound was like someone scratching a blackboard with their fingernails; it sent chills down your spine and gave you goosebumps all over.

Shen Qianjie carried him from the east end of the laboratory to the west end, and then from the west end to the east end, going back and forth countless times. His legs became thin and his arms ached, but Xiao Ji Zuodao just wouldn't stop.

He cried so bitterly, so heartbreakingly, so violently, it shook the earth.

Shen Qianjie felt her eardrums being torn apart bit by bit by the crying.

He finally broke down.

He carried Xiao Ji Zuodao out of the laboratory and knocked on each door for help.

"Help! Help! Help me!"

His voice echoed through the night sky, carrying a sense of despair, as if saying, "I'm about to die."