"Which one of you is the family member? Come over and sign the informed consent form for the surgery."
Yu Fan raised his hand: "I am, but I'm still a minor. Can I sign?"
"I'll sign. I'm the patient's father."
A middle-aged man rushed over, looking travel-worn, and followed the doctor to another room next to the operating room to sign.
"But who are you?" Yu Fan tilted his head, looking at Ruan Qiuping. "What's your relationship with Yu Huan?"
Ruan Qiuping turned to look at Yu Fan, his expression somewhat stiff: "What did you mean by what you just said?"
"What did I say?" Yu Fan thought for a moment, then finally realized and said, "You mean about Yu Huan being a jinx?"
Yu Fan seemed a bit confused: "But it's one thing if you don't know he's a jinx, but you actually thought Yu Huan was lucky? What were you thinking? Were you also fooled by him? ...Oh, I remember now, he likes to trick people. When we were little, he would roll dice in front of me, claiming he could roll sixes every time, saying he wasn't a jinx. But who doesn't know that was just something he practiced? He might have even cheated somehow... And besides, he could only do that with dice. He never won at rock-paper-scissors against me..."
...Dice.
Ruan Qiuping suddenly remembered when Yu Huan was seven years old, and they went to the night market together.
At that time, he said he wanted to see Yu Huan's good luck and asked him to play a spinning wheel game.
Yu Huan refused, saying those spinning wheels were all rigged, and then went to play the dice game across from it.
Ruan Qiuping remembered clearly that Yu Huan rolled sixes three times in a row.
Then Ruan Qiuping also recalled that yesterday, when he was looking for water in Yu Huan's fridge, he found a dice cup that had been polished to a shine from frequent use.
"He even fooled me... Tsk... If I hadn't gone into his room and seen all the talismans drawn by Taoist priests to ward off evil spirits covering the walls, I might have really believed he wasn't a jinx!"
Ruan Qiuping looked at Yu Fan and asked, enunciating each word: "What room?"
Yu Fan took a step back: "Just, just the wooden cabin in the old house where Yu Huan lived as a child."
"Take me there."
Although Ruan Qiuping had been to that place before, he had appeared there out of thin air using the power of his bracelet last time, so he didn't know the exact location of the old house.
Yu Fan frowned, his face full of disgust as he said: "Are you fucking crazy? Why should I take you there?"
Ruan Qiuping suddenly reached out and grabbed Yu Fan's collar, his voice seeming to squeeze out between his teeth: "You will take me there!"
Yu Fan initially wanted to push him away, but suddenly noticed a drop of blood from Ruan Qiuping's hand fall onto his collar. Immediately after, the spot where the fresh blood had landed burned a hole through the fabric.
Fortunately, he was wearing a thick cotton jacket. If it had been thinner, the hole would have burned right through to his skin.
Yu Fan was instantly terrified, his legs almost giving out. Looking at Ruan Qiuping's bloodshot eyes, he suddenly felt this person was as frightening as an evil spirit.
His body began to tremble, his voice almost carrying a hint of tears: "Let... let go of me! I'll take, take you there! I'll take you there!!"
.
"We're here..." Yu Fan looked up at Ruan Qiuping and said softly.
The rain had stopped, but water was still dripping steadily from the eaves of the small wooden cabin in front of them. Weeds grew wild in front of the cabin, as if no one had entered for many years.
"After that incident happened, Grandfather forbade Yu Huan from appearing at the old house again. No one has lived in the small cabin since then. I've only been inside once to take a look."
"...When? What incident happened?"
"It was the day Yu Huan ran away from Grandfather's banquet and was later kidnapped. I remember I threw a toy at Yu Huan, but the toy stopped in mid-air and fell down, as if it had hit a ghost. When I told others about this, no one believed me. In the end, Grandfather had someone check the surveillance footage and found out what I said was true. Not only was Yu Huan a jinx, but he was also friends with ghosts..."
As he spoke, Yu Fan's voice gradually grew quieter. Suddenly realizing something, he looked at Ruan Qiuping and said tremblingly: "...Was... was it you? Are you the ghost that was with Yu Huan? You're very strange, and your blood is strange too..."
Ruan Qiuping lowered his head, his fingers unconsciously pressing on the wound on his right wrist.
So... so that blow he had taken for young Yu Huan back then had such serious consequences.
He had even been pleased with himself at the time for secretly helping little Yu Huan.
Ruan Qiuping said hoarsely: "...Continue."
"...Then... then Yu Huan was kidnapped. Originally, Grandfather, Grandfather's intention was to say, don't bother... but Father, out of consideration for Yu Huan's late mother, still reported it to the police... But after this incident, Yu Huan never came here again..."
Ruan Qiuping stepped forward and kicked the door.
Although the small wooden cabin was locked, due to its age, it opened with just one kick from Ruan Qiuping.
Indeed, as Yu Fan had said, the walls of this wooden cabin were covered with talismans to ward off evil spirits. Although they were fake talismans created by those fraudulent Taoist priests in the human world, the four bright red characters for "ward off evil and expel demons" still invaded one's sight overwhelmingly, stinging the eyes.
"Yu Huan was born with bad luck that killed his birth mother. The Taoist priest said he was born with evil in his fate and was an inauspicious person. So Grandfather had the priest find an 'evil-warding eye' and used peach wood, which is said to ward off evil, to build this cabin to suppress the inauspicious energy in Yu Huan's body. The talismans on the wall were originally covered with wallpaper, but it's said that when Yu Huan was six or seven years old, he suddenly discovered these talismans and then, as if going mad, tore down all the wallpaper..."
Ruan Qiuping looked at the talismans covering the walls, his entire heart trembling.
So, this was why Yu Huan didn't enter the main house with his father? This was why as soon as he entered the main house, he went straight to this wooden cabin covered in talismans? He clearly knew this cabin was meant to suppress him, yet he still locked himself in here until the banquet was about to begin.
What kind of emotions was seven-year-old Yu Huan feeling when he walked into this cabin and stayed?
"Whoosh—"
Ruan Qiuping suddenly reached out and tore down a yellowed talisman from the wall.
Then he tore that talisman into pieces, inch by inch.
After tearing it up, he threw the pieces on the ground and reached out to tear another talisman.
The air was so quiet that only the sound of talismans being torn could be heard, one after another, rip after rip, as if it would never cease.
Yu Fan fearfully took a step back, wanting to run away.
But just as he turned around, he heard Ruan Qiuping, who had already torn up more than a dozen talismans, say to him in a very hoarse voice: "...Continue. Tell me everything you know about Yu Huan."
Goosebumps broke out all over Yu Fan's body. He stood frozen in place, opening his mouth somewhat timidly to tell Ruan Qiuping everything he knew.
It turned out that when little Yu Huan ran away from home at the age of five, he didn't yet know he was the family's "jinx". He just didn't understand why everyone avoided him, why his relatives all disliked him, why his half-brother, who was also a child, could live with the family while he had to live alone in a villa on the mountain.
So he ran away from home, wanting to leave this place, willing to follow anyone. He was just tired of living like this.
But it's said that after little Yu Huan was caught running away from home, he was completely confined to that villa. For the entire following year, Yu Huan never went out.
When little Yu Huan was six years old, Ruan Qiuping went to the villa to play with him.
But the day after Ruan Qiuping left, that villa was caught in a mountain fire. One person died, two were seriously injured, and although little Yu Huan survived, he lay in a hospital bed for three whole days. When he woke up, the name "jinx" officially reached his ears.
Ruan Qiuping remembered that he had once discussed with little Yu Huan in that villa why his bad luck didn't affect little Yu Huan.
The conclusion he came to was: Because little Yu Huan was too lucky, the good fortune in his body dispersed Ruan Qiuping's bad luck.
But at that time, little Yu Huan said: It's also possible that I'm inherently such an unlucky person that even the bad luck you pass to me seems insignificant in comparison.
He had refuted little Yu Huan at the time, saying he was talking nonsense.
Looking back now, perhaps it was from that time that little Yu Huan vaguely sensed his unfortunate fate that differed from others.
Yu Huan's luck had always been poor.
What baffled everyone was that starting from age five, Yu Huan would experience one major misfortune every year.
For instance, this year he got into a car accident during the college entrance exam. Last year, he was hit by a shot put on the last day of the school sports meet, fracturing his bone and spending half a month in the hospital. The year before that, on the second day of the school opening ceremony, he tumbled down the stairs and nearly died...
Today's car accident and the kidnapping when he was seven years old were events that happened when Ruan Qiuping was present.
Every other accident occurred on the second day after Ruan Qiuping left.
The happiness of that day, the laughter, the interactions, the embraces - each and every memory flooded into his mind.
Those memories that were as warm and precious as a heater to Ruan Qiuping had now turned into scalding lava, burning Yu Huan to pieces, leaving him in unbearable pain.
The last talisman was torn to shreds, floating down to the ground.
No more talismans remained on the wall, only traces of adhesive left behind.
Ruan Qiuping walked out of the wooden cabin.
Yu Fan followed.
Ruan Qiuping stood in front of the wooden cabin, stretched out his hand, and used magic to start a fire.
In no time, the entire wooden cabin was engulfed in flames.
Qi Yue silently appeared in front of Ruan Qiuping again, and Yu Fan instantly fainted to the ground.
Ruan Qiuping looked at Qi Yue.
The wooden cabin behind him was burning fiercely, its flames reflecting on Ruan Qiuping's face, flickering a bright red glow: "You knew all along, didn't you... That's why you said my record book didn't match the facts."
Qi Yue nodded.
"Is it because... is it because of the luck-concealing ball? Did something go wrong with the luck-concealing ball? Did I infuse too much bad luck into the ball I gave him?"
Qi Yue was silent for a moment, then said: "Yes, but also no. The bad luck you infused into the luck-concealing ball was normal, even a bit on the low side. If it were just that, Yu Huan should have been blessed with good fortune and continuous luck in this mortal life. The problem lies in the drop of blood you let fall into the luck-concealing ball."
"...Blood?"
"Yes, and it's fortunate that this blood-tainted luck-concealing ball belonged to Yu Huan. If it were any other immortal undergoing mortal trials, they might have died as soon as they were born."
"When... did you all find out?"
Qi Yue said: "The teacher discovered it soon after receiving the luck-concealing ball."
"You discovered it soon after receiving the luck-concealing ball, so why didn't you tell me? Why didn't you make a new one!"
Qi Yue frowned and said: "This was the result of our deliberation. Yu Huan, as a soon-to-be-appointed God of Fortune, bears a great responsibility. The more miserable his life in the mortal world, the higher his magical powers will be after successfully completing his trial. Besides, you unintentionally dropped blood into the luck-concealing ball, which also indicates that this was the tribulation Yu Huan was meant to endure. This is his fate."
Ruan Qiuping's fingertips trembled with anger: "So you mean to say... my interactions with him in the mortal world, causing him to have accidents year after year, is also his fate?"
Qi Yue nodded.
Ruan Qiuping looked at Qi Yue, gritting his teeth as he said: "Then go save him, give him back the leg that's about to be amputated. Then tell me that everything is fate! Then tell me that after the accident, he's still lucky enough to keep both legs, and that's also his fate!"
Qi Yue shook his head: "No, I can't interfere with the fate of those who have descended to the mortal world."
Ruan Qiuping was almost driven mad with anger.
"Why?! Why is it that when I changed his originally lucky life, it's considered his predetermined fate, but when you use magic to make his future life slightly smoother, it's not allowed?!"
Qi Yue: "Ruan Qiuping, don't forget, Yu Huan is undergoing a trial. His fate can only be changed to become more difficult, not smoother."
Ruan Qiuping coldly looked at Qi Yue and said: "Who the hell believes your nonsense!"
Yu Huan's surgery ended at ten in the morning, and he only woke up in the evening.
Ruan Qiuping originally didn't want to enter the hospital room, only wanting to quietly look at Yu Huan through the window at the door.
But as he was peeking, he met Yu Huan's eyes.
Yu Huan mouthed for Ruan Qiuping to come in.
Ruan Qiuping hesitated for a moment, but eventually pushed the door open and walked in.
He did need to go in; he still needed to retrieve a drop of his own blood.
Even if his magical powers were poor, even if only one-tenth of his weak magical power remained, Ruan Qiuping could still manage to retrieve a drop of his own blood.
As soon as Ruan Qiuping walked in, he instinctively glanced at the hospital bed.
The space where the right leg should have been on the bed was empty, flattened downwards.
Ruan Qiuping's steps faltered, his breathing becoming shaky.
In the end, he couldn't move forward.
He just stood there.
"Ruan Ruan, come here," Yu Huan called to him.
"It's okay, Ruan Ruan, come here. I want to see you," Yu Huan smiled at him again.
Ruan Qiuping took two more steps forward, standing by the bed.
Yu Huan reached out his hand towards Ruan Qiuping.
Ruan Qiuping's lips trembled, and then he hid both his hands behind his back.
"...Does it hurt?" Ruan Qiuping asked shakily.
Yu Huan put his hand back under the blanket, shaking his head with a smile: "It doesn't hurt. If I didn't see it with my own eyes, I wouldn't even feel that I've lost a leg."
Ruan Qiuping took a deep breath. He seemed to be trying his best to remain calm, but each breath he took was slightly trembling. He felt as if his body was immersed in warm water, causing him to be unable to see clearly what was in front of him no matter how wide he opened his eyes.
Yu Huan: "Ruan Ruan, when will you come next year? I still need to repeat a year. If you come in the first half of next year, I might not be able to take you to eat the bread at University A, but we can drink alcohol then."
Ruan Qiuping looked up at Yu Huan and said: "Yu Huan, do you know why you got into a car accident?"
Yu Huan said: "Because the driver was driving while fatigued."
"No," Ruan Qiuping said, "It's because of me. It's all because of me. All your accidents from childhood to now, all your misfortunes are because of me. All the pain, all the harm was brought by me."
Yu Huan was silent for a moment, then looked up at Ruan Qiuping. As if he hadn't heard what Ruan Qiuping had just said, he smiled and said: "Ruan Ruan, my mouth is so bitter. Does Ruan Ruan have any candy?"
Ruan Qiuping opened his mouth, then said: "I'll go buy some for you."
"Then I don't want it anymore," Yu Huan hurriedly said. "I don't want it anymore, Ruan Ruan, don't go."
"...Ruan Ruan, how long can you stay here this time?" Yu Huan asked again.
Ruan Qiuping looked down at his bracelet and said: "Four hours."
"For these four hours, will Ruan Ruan stay with me?" Yu Huan moved his head slightly on the pillow, smiling as he said, "I'm injured, you know. Will Ruan Ruan stay with me?"
Ruan Qiuping didn't speak, just silently looking at Yu Huan.
As he looked, his gaze fixed on the cartilage of Yu Huan's left ear.
There was a small mole there, its color as bright and vivid red as if it had absorbed blood.
Ruan Qiuping suddenly remembered that when he met Yu Huan for the second time, he had seen this mole on his ear cartilage.
Why didn't he recognize then that this mole was actually his blood left in Yu Huan's body?
Did he really not recognize it, or did he not want to recognize it?
The first time he met Yu Huan, he learned that Yu Huan was not on good terms with his family, so he had run away from home.
The second time he met Yu Huan, he learned that Yu Huan was alone, locked up in a villa on the mountain.
The third time he met Yu Huan, he saw Yu Huan being bullied by his younger half-brother.
Did he really not know that Yu Huan actually had no good luck, or was he pretending not to know?
If Yu Huan was truly so lucky that he was completely immune to the bad luck on Ruan Qiuping's body, then Yu Huan would surely be lively and cheerful, with a happy family, seemingly blessed with all the love in the world. How could he run away from home? How could he live alone? How could he be bullied?
Was he really so stupid that he couldn't see anything, or had he been deceiving himself all along?
Was it because he was too eager to interact with people? Was it because he was too lonely? Was it because he was too selfish? Was it because he wanted too much to interact with others like a normal person, to hold hands with others, to embrace others?
These desires covered his eyes, covered his ears, and covered his conscience, making him turn a blind eye to all unreasonable things and ignore all the suffering Yu Huan endured.
Because he was too despicable.
Ruan Qiuping looked at Yu Huan and suddenly said very softly, "Little Yu Huan, do you remember that Christmas day when we played the guessing game, and everyone said the answer was Santa Claus, but you called out my name?"
Yu Huan nodded, "I remember."
Ruan Qiuping said, "Then, like Santa Claus, let me give you a gift too, okay?"
"What gift?" Yu Huan was a bit curious.
"Close your eyes," Ruan Qiuping said.
Yu Huan obediently closed his eyes.
Ruan Qiuping reached out his hand to summon the drop of blood attached to Yu Huan's ear bone.
But that drop of blood had entered Yu Huan's body along with the misfortune ball, and it had been with Yu Huan in the human world for nearly 18 years. It no longer responded to Ruan Qiuping's call.
There was a fruit knife on the bedside table. Ruan Qiuping picked it up and made a deep cut in his own palm.
The brand new fruit knife immediately turned charcoal black, and even the tip of the blade curved upwards.
Fresh blood dripped onto the floor like water, leaving another patch of blackness on the floorboards.
In the next moment, the blood that kept dripping from Ruan Qiuping's palm, the blood that had fallen on the floor, and the blood that remained on the blade all floated in the air, constantly moving towards Yu Huan's ear bone.
Finally, the drop of blood on Yu Huan's ear bone heard the call of its master and its kindred. It moved slightly, then flew out of Yu Huan's skin and merged with the other blood.
Ruan Qiuping finally breathed a sigh of relief.
He waved his hand, recalling all the blood.
"Ruan Ruan, is it done?" Yu Huan asked.
"It's done," Ruan Qiuping hid his bloody hand behind his back again.
Yu Huan opened his eyes and asked with some confusion, "Ruan Ruan, what gift did you give me?"
"Good luck," Ruan Qiuping said, smiling as he looked at Yu Huan's clean ears.
As long as I take away the bad luck, it's like giving you good luck back.
Yu Huan blinked, seeming a bit bewildered.
The blood on Ruan Qiuping's hand was becoming hard to stop. He gripped his injured hand tightly and said, "You go to sleep first, I'll go out for a bit."
"Where is Ruan Ruan going?" Yu Huan asked nervously.
"I'm going to buy you some candy," Ruan Qiuping said.
"Ruan Ruan, don't go!" Yu Huan called out urgently.
"I'll be back soon."
.
Ruan Qiuping had originally really intended to buy candy for Yu Huan.
Since he had promised to buy candy for Yu Huan, he didn't want to break his word.
After leaving the hospital, Ruan Qiuping ran to the nearest convenience store. He said to the owner who was standing on a ladder arranging goods, "I want to buy candy."
"Alright," the owner said, coming down the ladder. "We have lots of candy here, I'll get you some of each kind."
"Okay."
Just as the owner's foot touched the ground, he suddenly slipped. With a loud bang, he fell to the ground, his head hitting the shelf behind him hard.
"Grandpa, are you okay?" A boy who had been sitting at a small table nearby doing homework suddenly ran over, hurriedly helping his grandfather up.
The owner stood up with his grandson's help, rubbing his head and muttering, "How strange, did I run into the God of Misfortune or something? How could I fall like that!"
Ruan Qiuping's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he turned and walked out of the convenience store.
Heavy rain suddenly poured down, and people on the street began to run in a panic.
Some people ran too hastily and bumped into each other, both falling to the ground.
They patted themselves off and stood up with frowning faces, complaining, "What bad luck today..."
The street was filled with a cacophony of voices.
"Such bad luck, why is it raining again?"
"It always rains when I don't bring an umbrella. Am I in retrograde these days?"
"I hate rainy days, why is everything going wrong today..."
...
"Bang!"
Two cars suddenly collided in front of Ruan Qiuping.
The huge impact startled the passersby.
One driver got out of his car cursing, "Damn bad luck, what the hell is happening today?!"
Ruan Qiuping stood frozen in place.
Suddenly, as if he had just realized something, he started running frantically.
He didn't know where to run, he just knew he had to run.
Run towards somewhere with no people.
His whole body was soon soaked through.
All the surrounding sounds disappeared.
There was only one voice in his mind.
Leave this place.
Leave this place.
Leave this place.
His breathing gradually became rapid, his chest felt a bit tight from running so fast, raindrops fell on his head and flowed down his cheeks into his collar.
His wet clothes made a heavy, soggy sound as he ran.
He finally stopped in an empty alley.
It was completely deserted here, no one would be affected by his bad luck.
Ruan Qiuping leaned against the wall and slowly crouched down, tightly covering his face.
His whole body began to tremble slightly.
.
When Ruan Qiuping returned home that day, it was already dark.
"Why are you back so late today?" Ruan Shengfeng took out the already cold dishes.
Ruan Qiuping didn't say anything.
His face was excessively pale, his head hung low, and he walked towards his room with an exhausted look.
Because he had burned down a mortal's house this time and exposed his identity in front of Yu Fan, he was kept after school by the teacher for criticism.
But as soon as the Recorder of Fate opened his mouth, Ruan Qiuping started arguing with him about the misfortune ball incident.
The Recorder of Fate was somewhat different from Qi Yue.
Even when Qi Yue did something wrong, he always thought he was right, always felt he represented justice and rules.
The Recorder of Fate at least knew he had done something wrong, and faced with Ruan Qiuping's accusations, he was indeed a bit guilty.
But guilty as he was, he still refused to restore Yu Huan's injured leg.
"Yu Huan's leg has already been amputated, and this has been recorded in the Book of Fate. No one can change it. If we defy fate and go against nature, forcibly giving Yu Huan a pair of good legs, then the tribulation Yu Huan has gone through this time will be nullified."
.
"Qiuping?"
Seeing that his son didn't answer him, Ruan Shengfeng frowned, "What's wrong today? Did something happen?"
Ruan Qiuping's complexion was so poor it looked like he might faint at any moment.
"What's wrong with you? Quick, eat some Spirit Fruit to replenish your spiritual energy." Ruan Shengfeng hurriedly handed over a red fruit.
Ruan Qiuping shook his head and said, "I'm going to sleep."
Ruan Shengfeng suddenly noticed that his son's palms and wrists were covered in wounds that hadn't been treated yet. He asked worriedly, "What happened to your hands? How did you get injured?"
"It's nothing."
"How can such big wounds be nothing? Come here, sit down, let me treat you."
Seeing that he couldn't refuse, Ruan Qiuping sat down on the stone bench beside him, allowing Ruan Shengfeng to treat his wounds.
While treating Ruan Qiuping's wounds, Ruan Shengfeng used magic to move the Spirit Fruit to Ruan Qiuping's uninjured left hand.
"Eat it quickly, your face looks frighteningly pale."
Ruan Qiuping looked at the Spirit Fruit in his hand and said, "I'll eat it next time when I practice."
After finishing treating Ruan Qiuping's wounds, Ruan Shengfeng sat on the stone bench opposite him and suddenly asked, "Do you really eat these when you practice?"
Ruan Qiuping nodded, "Eating these things is more effective when practicing."
Ruan Shengfeng looked at Ruan Qiuping and took out a small box from his pocket, "Then eat this too next time you practice."
Ruan Qiuping was stunned for a moment looking at this box.
This was the Golden Essence Soul-Condensing Pill that Ruan Shengfeng had given him half a month ago. It was very rare, and he didn't expect Ruan Shengfeng to have another one.
Ruan Qiuping took the box, "Thank you, Dad."
Ruan Shengfeng's expression was a bit strange. He looked at the box, then at Ruan Qiuping, and said, "Qiuping, do you know what kind of pill this is?"
"Golden Essence Soul-Condensing Pill," Ruan Qiuping said calmly. "You gave me one last time too."
Ruan Shengfeng: "How did you feel after eating it last time?"
Ruan Qiuping was silent for a moment, then said, "It felt very good. It's indeed an extraordinary pill, but it's useless for me."
"Why is it useless for you?"
"Have you forgotten? My luck is poor, and so is my aptitude. Since I reached a bottleneck 100 years ago, my cultivation has stopped growing. No matter how I cultivate or what pills I use, it's of no use."
"So you don't eat any Spirit Fruit, don't drink any spiritual soups, and every time I give you something that could help increase your cultivation, you always find excuses not to eat it, is that right?"
Ruan Qiuping was stunned for a moment, then looked up at Ruan Shengfeng.
Ruan Shengfeng pointed at the box of pills in Ruan Qiuping's hand and said, "These aren't actually new pills I got. Dongdong found them in your drawer when he was playing in your room today. Why didn't you eat them and instead lied to me saying you did?"
"...Eating them would be useless, just a waste."
"You have to eat them before you can say that! How do you know they're useless if you haven't even tried them?"
Ruan Shengfeng sighed and said, "Qiuping, I still remember how happy and hardworking you were when you first learned that becoming the God of Misfortune would allow you to control your own misfortune. You practiced every day from morning till night, and when you weren't practicing, you'd go to the mountains to pick Spirit Fruit to eat. You were the most motivated child I'd ever seen... But since you said you hit a bottleneck in your abilities over a hundred years ago, I haven't seen you work that hard again.
"Don't you want to be deified, to personally control the misfortune around you? Do you really want this misfortune to cling to you for life, to never be able to touch others, to always bring misfortune to others?"
The image of Yu Huan lying in the hospital bed flashed through Ruan Qiuping's mind. His lips trembled as he said, "I don't want to bring misfortune to others..."
"Then eat this Golden Essence Soul Condensing Pill!" Ruan Shengfeng said.
Ruan Qiuping looked at the pill in his hand, his expression somewhat bewildered. "...If I eat this pill, will I stop bringing misfortune to others? If I eat this pill... the next time I encounter an accident like that, will I be able to prevent it? Will I be able to stop him from losing his right leg?"
Ruan Shengfeng didn't quite understand what his son was saying, but he still said, "Eat it. After you eat it, your cultivation will grow faster, and you'll be one step closer to deification, one step closer to controlling your own misfortune."
Ruan Qiuping slowly put the pill in his mouth.
"Swallow it," Ruan Shengfeng said.
Ruan Qiuping swallowed the pill.
The moment the pill went down, a surge of abundant spiritual energy instantly filled his dantian.
Ruan Qiuping seemed to suddenly realize something. His eyes widened as he said, "Dad, I'm going to practice now."
"Go quickly, practice well, son! Make the most of this pill's effects as soon as possible!"
Ruan Qiuping turned and instantly teleported to the forest where he often practiced.
Ruan Qiuping's expression changed. He staggered to a tree, then with his left hand holding the trunk, he stuck the fingers of his right hand down his throat, forcibly making himself vomit up the pill he had just swallowed.
Although the pill had been vomited out, only a third of it remained. The rest had already been absorbed by Ruan Qiuping's body.
Ruan Qiuping sat on the ground, circulating his energy, trying to expel the increased spiritual power the pill had just given him. The veins on his forehead bulged, fallen leaves danced in the air, and energy surged chaotically.
"Puh—" Ruan Qiuping spat out a mouthful of blood.
The spiritual energy had already merged with his body and could no longer be removed.
Ruan Qiuping exerted all his strength, using his spiritual power to strike himself hard. The blow sent him flying, his back crashing into a tree trunk. He spat out another mouthful of fresh blood and collapsed to the ground.
But the spiritual energy in his body still didn't dissipate.
Yet he still didn't give up, striking himself with spiritual power again and again. He was slammed into trees, smashed into the ground, violently thrown high into the sky only to fall back down. When he fell from the sky, a broken piece of wood on the ground pierced sharply into his flesh, the pain feeling as if his heart had been instantly pierced through. He kept coughing up blood; the blood from his mouth, the blood flowing from his back, all pooled on the ground, burning the lush green grass into a patch of scorched black.
But it was all in vain.
In an instant, Ruan Qiuping felt all the strength leave his body. He fell back helplessly, lying on the ground looking up at the sky. The pill was indeed of excellent quality; enormous spiritual power surged chaotically within him, merging with his original cultivation. His physical state reached its peak at this moment, and the injuries he had just sustained had no effect whatsoever on his spiritual power.
For ordinary immortals, such a great increase in cultivation would be an excellent thing. For Ruan Qiuping, it only made him feel dizzy and disoriented.
He just lay there quietly on the ground, not diligently practicing or trying to maximize the pill's effects as his father had said.
Instead, just as he had done for the past hundred years, he used the excuse of coming here to practice as a pretext to lie on the ground lost in thought.
When Ruan Qiuping was very young, he had felt very sad about the misfortune that clung to him. So, ever since his father told him that if he worked hard to improve his cultivation, he could be officially appointed as the true "God of Misfortune."
After becoming the God of Misfortune, he would be able to freely control misfortune.
Just as the Wind God could control the wind and the God of Water could control water, once he became the God of Misfortune, misfortune would become his power and weapon, rather than a source of pain.
So he began practicing tirelessly, even to the point of sometimes fainting from overexertion.
After waking up, he would eat something simple to fill his stomach, then continue practicing.
This routine continued for one hundred and six years.
One hundred and fifteen years ago, he accidentally fell into the forbidden room of the library and learned a little-known secret.
The previous God of Misfortune had perished over a thousand years ago.
But no one knew exactly how he died, so people vaguely referred to it as "dying from bad luck." After all, the death of an immortal was inherently unfortunate, so saying he died from bad luck wasn't really wrong.
It turned out that the book recorded that the previous God of Misfortune had died by suicide.
He had even taken out his own immortal pill and crushed it to powder in the very first year after his appointment.
Perhaps because the God of Misfortune was born with a bitter fate, even the way of transcending tribulation when becoming deified was different from others.
When others faced tribulation, it was their own tribulation.
When the God of Misfortune faced tribulation, the tribulation was the lives of his loved ones.
.
"I won't become a god, nor will I face tribulation."
"I'll just remain a useless, unlucky waste forever."
Ruan Qiuping looked up at the sky and said softly.
The sky had completely darkened. The night sky in the celestial realm was much more beautiful than in the mortal world, with brilliant stars and the Milky Way stretching across the heavens.
As he gazed, Ruan Qiuping thought the stars in the sky looked as beautiful as Yu Huan's eyes.
Twinkling and bright, clear and cheerful.
Ruan Qiuping suddenly remembered the first time he met little Yu Huan. Yu Huan was only five years old then, and when Ruan Qiuping said he carried misfortune, little Yu Huan didn't believe him at all. He innocently held Ruan Qiuping's hand and said, "Give your misfortune to me then."
Who would have thought those words would come true, and he really did pass his misfortune on to Yu Huan.
Ruan Qiuping also recalled that before the accident, Yu Huan had told him with great anticipation that after becoming an adult, he wanted to do something very important.
What could it have been?
Ruan Qiuping thought hard for a long time but couldn't figure it out.
And now he would never know the answer.
After the accident, Yu Huan lay in a pool of blood. Ruan Qiuping tried his utmost to heal Yu Huan with magic, but no matter how hard he tried, he failed.
At the time, he was cutting his own wrists, letting his blood corrode the bracelet, while hating himself for why his magical power was so weak. Yu Huan was injured, and he could do nothing.
Ruan Qiuping remembered feeling utterly desperate then. His heart felt almost split in two – half of him furiously blaming himself for being such a useless immortal with such weak spiritual power, while the other half knew deeply that he could never possess powerful magic.
A few stars in the sky twinkled.
As if Yu Huan was winking at him.
Looking at this patch of stars that resembled Yu Huan's eyes, Ruan Qiuping said softly.
"Little Yu Huan, you've seen it too, haven't you?"
"I can't face tribulation, nor can I become a god. What a useless immortal I am."
"Little Yu Huan, do you know how selfish and despicable I am? To draw warmth from you, I pretended not to see your misfortune. I'm too vile; I can't even compare to the Santa Claus in your world."
"Little Yu Huan, I'm not your finish line either. Thinking about it, I don't even qualify as a stumbling block for you. I'm like a mountain that suddenly appeared as you were running, completely blocking your path."
"Little Yu Huan, you don't even know what I've done to you, yet you keep waiting for me year after year, still mistaking me for someone important. You're very smart, but in this one thing, you're the most foolish. You're foolish in your inability to judge people, mistaking bad people for good ones."
"Little Yu Huan, I'm sorry. I said I'd buy you candy, but I didn't keep that promise either. There's not a single thing I can do right. Actually, I did go buy candy later, but I was afraid that if you ate the candy I bought, you'd become unfortunate, so I didn't give it to you."
"Little Yu Huan, I'm sorry, but I won't be able to come play with you anymore."
"After you come of age, I won't be able to go drinking with you. After you get into A University, I won't be able to eat bread there with you either."
"I shouldn't have dared to think about interacting with you in the first place."
"I'm sorry. I was wrong."
"I'll stay far, far away from you."
"I won't bring you misfortune anymore, nor will I bring you pain."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
"I'm sorry."
...
Ruan Qiuping apologized to the night sky over and over again.
He must have said it dozens or hundreds of times, until his entire throat became hoarse.
"...I'm sorry."
The last time he opened his mouth, no sound came out at all.
His body curled up into a ball, crouching on the ground, he finally couldn't hold back and burst into tears.