56: Master Da Ai

"A devil?"

"What devil!"

Xiao Sheng's tone was firm as he continued confidently, "I am no devil, but a practitioner of the Way of the Saint. Everything I have done before was to redeem the wicked of this world."

"I have put my own cultivation on hold and set aside my pursuit of the Demonic Path and Evil Cultivators."

"I have persisted in this path despite risking backlash many times, yet they actually refer to me as a 'devil'."

"Fellow Daoist, do not listen to rumors. I am absolutely no devil; I am truly a person with great love in my heart!"

Zhou Yan stared blankly at Xiao Sheng. Clearly, what this man said felt incredibly sincere and upright.

He always felt that while the individual words weren't false, not a single sentence formed by those words could be trusted.

"May I be so bold as to ask how you perform this redemption?"

To avoid misunderstanding Xiao Sheng, Zhou Yan decided to get a better understanding first.

At this, Xiao Sheng grew excited and began to actively share his philosophy of redemption.

"Fellow Daoist, you may not know, but the words of the Saints are the truths of the world."

"If I say this, you might think I'm pedantic, but they really are useful!"

"Oh?"

"Do tell more."

Zhou Yan also developed some interest in this.

In the records of the Qingxu Grotto-Heaven, there were indeed fragments mentioned regarding this.

Many extraordinary Saints and sages had been born in this world, some even writing books and establishing theories with insights that coincided with those of the Blue Star civilization.

But most of them were merely in Mortal bodies, without the cultivation to move mountains or fill seas; at most, they were wise men with advanced ideas and keen vision.

Because of this, their words were not considered secrets, nor did they touch the interests of any major power, so they were naturally allowed to circulate publicly for anyone to read.

If it were anything deeper or more secret, Zhou Yan likely wouldn't have had the chance to see it.

But now Xiao Sheng was saying, "The words of the Saints hold great utility."

Could it be that what he had seen were always just superficial fragments?

Was the true essence, just like the "Burning Mantra," already hidden away by those old fogies and kept secret?

Seeing Zhou Yan's interest piqued, Xiao Sheng became even more enthusiastic.

"The Saint said: At the beginning of life, human nature is fundamentally good."

"People are all kind at the moment of birth, so those demonic and Evil Cultivators, mountain bandits, and wicked thugs are not absolutely evil beings."

"In their hearts, there must remain the goodness that was born with them."

"As long as we awaken it, we can redeem them."

Hiss—this priest really has something. As expected of a man of the Dao, he analyzed the method of redemption from just a few words?

Xiao Sheng looked at Zhou Yan's thoughtful expression, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

"So, we just need to practice the words of the Saint and let them return to the 'beginning of life'."

"So as long as they regain their Pure Heart, it should..." Zhou Yan was about to chime in but was interrupted before he could finish.

"So as long as we let them return to the living state of an infant, we can restore the goodness in their hearts."

"Huh?"

Zhou Yan's voice didn't interrupt Xiao Sheng's speech; clearly, Xiao Sheng was already immersed in the perfection of his own philosophy and couldn't pull himself out.

"During this time, I gathered all the demonic and Evil Cultivators and bandits I captured and established a Goodness Return Camp."

"I make them drink milk every day, crawl like babies, and live in a sea of various toys to experience the purest joy of childhood."

"Whoa..."

What did Zhou Yan just hear? Is this really something a human would say?

At the thought of a bearded man like Iron Second Ox being forced to dress as a baby, drinking milk and playing with rattles every day, a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, making him feel completely uneasy.

But Xiao Sheng wasn't finished.

"Unfortunately, they weren't grateful. They refused to accept my kindness return plan and even started to resist."

"Resisting me is one thing; after all, their cultivation was restricted, so they couldn't kill me anyway."

"But they actually wanted to commit suicide. That was truly terrifying."

"Out of options, I had to place several talismans on them, forbidding them from killing each other or committing suicide."

"To correct such wrong thoughts, I had no choice but to change from a loving mother to a strict father, using Five-Thunder Talismans to help them dispel those improper ideas."

"Heh... ah!"

Zhou Yan checked the map again; Xiao Sheng's marker was still neutral, but he unconsciously tightened his grip on his bow, a drop of cold sweat sliding down his temple.

"Every time I use a Five-Thunder Talisman, my heart aches. Although they were villains before they came, once they enter the camp, they are all just children."

"The electricity hits their bodies, but the pain is in my heart."

"Fortunately, after many shocks and recoveries, they finally became briefly pure. It seemed my plan was finally going to succeed."

"Until Iron Second Ox rebelled again!"

"I don't know what method he used, but he actually broke the cultivation Restriction and the constraint against harming others, and killed everyone else!"

"This is simply appalling! I only left for a brief moment, and he committed such an evil deed!"

Saying this, Xiao Sheng beat his chest and stamped his feet. Zhou Yan didn't know if he was upset because his plan failed or because of the lost Karma.

"But I still believed there was a sliver of goodness in his heart, so I activated a backup measure to track him."

"And then... it was the scene you just witnessed."

Zhou Yan could roughly imagine what had happened.

A group of unscrupulous thugs were locked up by Xiao Sheng for a social experiment, nearly collapsing under the dual torture of mind and body.

And one of the demonic cultivators, who could have escaped alone and had a great chance of staying away from Xiao Sheng's clutches, had an Epiphany and became a Saint at that moment.

He didn't leave by himself but chose to kill all the despairing people.

Carrying the Restriction that prevented suicide, he became the last person trapped in a desperate situation.

In this wild mountain range, the most likely outcome was being caught by Xiao Sheng again to continue enduring inhuman torture.

But he did it anyway.

Perhaps it was truly fate; at the moment of his realization, heaven opened a door for him, letting him meet Zhou Yan and complete his final redemption.

Zhou Yan now knew where that Karma came from. This wasn't some Xiao Yuansheng; he was practically Xiao the Beast. It was terrifying.

It's lucky this kid became a priest; if he were out in society, it would definitely be no good for anyone.

"Ahem, Fellow Daoist."

Zhou Yan coughed, interrupting Xiao Sheng, who was still immersed in his own emotions.

"I wonder if any other Fellow Daoists have said anything about your philosophy?"

"Yes."

"Quite a few people have told me things like 'kill but do not torture' or 'there should be a limit to hating evil'."

"But my master said..."

"A practitioner of the Dao must have clear thoughts! If you hear something that doesn't sound right, don't pay it any mind; we don't need to put up with that nonsense."

"I have always practiced this saying."

"Then did your master never say anything about the problems with your philosophy?"

"He did, but it didn't sound right to me, so I just cleared it from my thoughts."

Ethics and the Rule of Law—the value of having 'Ethics' first is still rising!

"Sigh."

"Now my last achievement has also been sacrificed. Aside from a pitifully tiny amount of Karma, I've gained nothing this time."

Zhou Yan didn't know what to say to this. After all, although what Xiao Sheng did was bizarre, it could still be considered punishing evil.

Even if he said more, the man would just clear his thoughts of it.

Better to keep moving.

"I'm sorry, Fellow Daoist, that I couldn't be of help. I truly have no idea about the origin of that Karma. I need to continue my journey to Jiangzhou Prefecture now, so I won't disturb you further."

For someone so straightforward and stubborn, the best way was simply to ignore them.

"Fellow Daoist, please wait."