Start with everyday skills and grind your way to immortality.

Deep inside the main room, the shadows were so thick they seemed impossible to dispel.

The strong stench of blood mixed with the odor of aged alcohol assaulted the nostrils.

Chen Qian stood three steps away, looking at A Qing.

She knelt there in the pool of blood that had long since congealed and turned black.

Her hands were tightly wrapped around her mother's cold, stiff body, her cheek pressed against her mother's chest, her eyes wide open but unfocused.

His pupils were dilated, unable to reflect Chen Qian's figure or the tragic state of the room.

It was a kind of deathly stillness where the soul had left the body, leaving only an empty shell remaining in the world.

Chen Qian turned and walked out of the main room, but returned a moment later.

In his hands was a cold, hard, and blackened vegetable pancake, and a rough porcelain bowl with a chipped rim.

He placed the item in front of Aqing, making a soft "clatter" sound.

Aqing didn't react at all; not even her eyelashes trembled.

Chen Qian stared at her for a couple of breaths.

The feedback from observing words and expressions was a deathly silence.

Her consciousness was rapidly fading, she was shutting herself off, and her mind was made up to die.

"That won't do."

A cold glint flashed in Chen Qian's eyes.

He suddenly bent down, grabbed Aqing's blood-stained collar, and forcibly pulled her away from her mother's corpse.

"Look at me!"

The sharp shouts did not stop.

"Snapped!"

"Snapped!"

Two extremely loud slaps echoed in the deathly silent main room!

Chen Qian didn't hold back; the two slaps were extremely heavy, directly turning A Qing's blood-stained face to one side, and even causing blood to seep from the corner of her mouth.

Intense pain is the most direct way to awaken a person.

When I was a child, I would get slapped twice, and even the most rebellious person would have to behave for a couple of days.

Aqing's body trembled.

Her unfocused pupils finally showed a slight sign of focusing amidst the violent tremors.

She slowly turned her head, staring blankly at the man in front of her, and then reached out to touch her burning cheek.

Chen Qian thought she would cry, scream, and break down.

But he guessed wrong.

Aqing stared at him, stunned for a long time, as if she finally recognized who the person in front of her was.

Her chapped, blood-stained lips suddenly twitched upwards in an extremely unnatural manner.

She smiled.

It was a broken smile, a million times uglier than crying.

"Young master, it's you."

Her voice was light and airy, like a wandering soul murmuring in its sleep:

"My mother... is gone."

She lowered her head, looked at the cold body in her arms, then raised her head again, still wearing that heartbreaking smile, and softly said:

"My home is gone too."

There were no heart-wrenching accusations, no bloody descriptions of the process.

Only these two simple sentences.

But it was like a heavy hammer blow, slamming into Chen Qian's heart.

Chen Qian fell silent.

There's no need to elaborate further.

His gaze swept across the scene.

The marks on her mother's neck, and Aqing's torn collar.

And then there was Zhang the butcher, lying in a pool of blood, his belt half-undone, chopped to pieces.

This scene is simpler and clearer than any language.

[Auditory recognition experience points +1]

[Experience in reading between the lines +1]

A gambling-addicted stepfather, a mother who was beaten to death, and a stepdaughter who fought back in desperation.

The plot is simple, yet cruel.

There were no demons causing trouble.

There is something, but it is the human heart that is uglier than demons.

"It's alright, it's over."

Chen Qian listened quietly, his expression hidden in the shadows, making it impossible to see clearly.

Aqing gently shook her head.

She released her mother from her arms and used her small, blood-stained hands to slowly gather her disheveled clothes together, her movements so slow it was heartbreaking.

Then, she raised her head, looked at Chen Qian with her empty, large eyes, and spoke in a calm tone as if she were talking about someone else:

"Young sir, you should go and report this to the authorities."

"According to the law, a son killing his father is a heinous crime, punishable by being cut in half at the waist."

She even thoughtfully pointed outside the door:

"Go and call the night watchman, or go to the yamen (government office). You're a scholar; if you report the murderer... perhaps the yamen will even give you some money."

"I won't run away. I'll stay here and watch over Mother."

"To see her one last time."

According to the law, although there is a capital offense for a son killing his father, it is not entirely hopeless.

According to the old custom of keeping one's parents alive, if it can be confirmed that the butcher killed his wife first and then plotted against her, and that she resisted to protect her reputation.

With Chen Qian, a scholar, as a witness, it's not impossible to overturn the case and sentence the defendant to exile, or even acquit him.

But he only had eight days.

Eight days later, the paper sedan chair from the Li family of Heishan will come to claim their lives.

He needs to use every minute and second to cultivate, brew medicine, and become stronger.

Where would I find the time to argue with those bureaucrats?

Where would they find the time to go to court and give that tedious set of false testimony?

To save a neighbor, he blocked his only way out?

He can't.

Chen Qian turned around and looked at the last bit of light outside the door that was being swallowed by darkness.

After a short while, he let out a soft sigh.

"Report to the authorities?"

"Ah Qing, you're not stupid. You know what kind of people our county government is like."

"Once you're in the government office, they'll just throw this scoundrel into a mass grave and call it a day. But what about your mother?"

Chen Qian pointed to the female corpse on the ground, his words like knives, each one piercing the heart:

"That's evidence in a murder case. The coroner has to examine the body, open it up, and strip it naked to check. Once the case is closed, it's just a matter of rolling up a tattered straw mat."

"If you go in, your poor mother won't even have a grave, and she'll suffer humiliation even in death."

"Is this the dignity you wanted?"

Aqing's previously empty eyes suddenly trembled.

She wanted to die because of despair.

But she absolutely did not want her mother to be humiliated after her death.

"besides."

Chen Qian's voice rang out again.

"I'm helping you, not out of any neighborly affection. Ah Qing, you need to understand, I'm doing this for myself."

"First, I don't have time."

"If we report it to the authorities, the police will come to our door and seal off the scene. I am the only eyewitness and also your neighbor. You know the procedures of the yamen: questioning, signing documents, and guarantor. It takes at least ten days and sometimes up to half a month."

"I have a life-or-death matter to attend to, and I can't afford to waste a single moment. I can't let those bailiffs block my door every day and ruin my plans."

At this point, Chen Qian lowered his voice considerably, revealing a resolute determination to make his final arrangements:

"Second...and most important."

"Ah Qing, the fact that you dared to kill this beast shows that you have an unyielding spirit deep down."

"My brother is too honest, my sister-in-law is too weak, and Xiaoyu is still too young."

Chen Qian's voice was low and resolute, conveying a sense of finality as he made his last arrangements:

"I'm going somewhere in a few days, and I might not come back alive."

"But now, I want you to live."

"From this day forward, your life is no longer your own."

"If I don't come back, you keep an eye on the neighbors for me. Whoever dares to bully Xiaoyu, whoever dares to touch my brother and sister-in-law..."

Chen Qian pointed to the corpse on the ground, his eyes flashing with a cold light:

"Take this knife and kill those people just like you killed him."

"Give me back my life. Will you take this deal?"

The air seemed to freeze.

Chen Qian stared directly into the girl's empty eyes, speaking slowly and clearly, word by word:

"Everything your mother did."

"I just wanted you to live like a weed."

"We must live."

Aqing stared blankly at Chen Qian.

She didn't know why this once gentle and refined young man had suddenly become so unfamiliar.

Those eyes were so... reassuring.

Chen Qian did not urge him.

[Observe words and expressions]

In an instant, the girl's subtle changes in expression were magnified infinitely in his eyes.

There was no glimmer of lies, no evasive prevarication.

The emotions that followed gradually coalesced into one.

half an hour.

Aqing didn't say thank you, nor did she mention those so-called righteous laws again.

She simply released her cold mother from her arms.

With trembling hands, he picked up the greasy rag from the ground and vigorously wiped the blood and tears from his face.

The movements were very forceful, and they didn't care about getting scraped.

It was as if they were erasing that cowardly past.

"Do."

Her voice was very soft.

"I want to live."

No unnecessary words.

Chen Qian stood up, turned his back to her, picked up the dulled butcher knife, and weighed it in his hand.

Every word was spoken with resounding force.

"make a deal."

"Starting today."

"Your life is mine now."