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Chapter 1 – I’ll Keep Playing with You
“Tang Xiu, where did you hide the money? Take it out right now!”
“Tang Xiu, even if you need money you can’t just steal it! As they say, ‘Stealing needles when young, stealing gold when old’. You cannot make a habit out of stealing, or else your life will be finished.”
“Tang Xiu, I believe you owe the school three thousand dollars of tuition fee. Are you planning to take that money to pay for it?”
[TN: Using dollars in place of yuan for better flow.]
Roughly a dozen or so people surrounded Tang Xiu and spoke endlessly. Doubt and disgust filled their eyes, and their tones were full of impatience.
Tang Xiu’s face swelled with red, and signs of blood could be seen as he bit on his lips. His eyes became misty, but he firmly said with his neck raised, “I didn’t steal any money!”
“Shangwen, Meiyun, you’ve seen Xiu’er grow up! He’s always been honest from a young age, his studies and personality has always been excellent, and he never lies! Since he said he didn’t steal any money, then the three thousand dollars lost definitely isn’t related to him,” Su Lingyun said. She was begging a middle-aged man and woman in a house as she tightly hugged her son in her embrace.
“Lingyun, we never said Xiu’er stole any money. We just think he hid the three thousand dollars possibly because he wanted you to be less worry.” The middle-aged man turned his head to the side. He didn’t even dare to look straight at Su Lingyun.
“His studies and personality has always been excellent? Hoho. Indeed, before your son entered Starcity Secondary School, his studies and personality had been excellent, but after impressively staying there for only a single year, his marks fell dramatically. He’s placed first in the entire grade if you count backwards, and if it weren’t for your pleading, your son would have probably been kicked out, right?” said the middle-aged woman coldly. She completely ignored Su Lingyun’s eyes of near absolute despair.
After hearing her younger brother, Su Shangwen, and her sister-in-law, Zhang Meiyun, Su Lingyun’s complexion turned pale. Her eyes also became dim and lifeless, but after seeing her son in her embrace, she had no choice but to force up courage and once again attempt to defend her son’s innocence.
However, this time, before Su Lingyun even had a chance to speak, she was interrupted by two sharp voices.
“Aunt, don’t protect Tang Xiu anymore. You can defend him for a moment, but you cannot defend him for his entire life. There are only so many people in the family. You say he didn’t steal the three thousand dollars, so that means the money just flew away on its own?”
“Aunt, the reason why we suspect Tang Xiu is because he’s the most likely who will steal in this house. In your eyes, naturally Tang Xiu’s the most excellent. But you also know the horrible things he’s done in school this year. Copying homework, cheating on tests, starting fights . . . As his cousin, I can’t even raise my head proudly at school.”
The ones who interrupted Su Lingyun were the son and daughter of Su Shangwen and Zhang Meiyun. If one were to say Su Shangwen’s and Zhang Meiyun’s words were spoken rather empathetically and that they knew to soften their tone, then son and daughter clearly didn’t.
“Su Yaning, Su Xiangfei, you are both speaking nonsense and spitting false accusations!” Tang Xiu nearly shouted his throat out.
“Shangwen, Meiyun, please, don’t make things difficult for him! If the money can’t be found, then just act as I’m borrowing it! You also know ever since the car accident a year ago, he became a bit disoriented and can’t take any agitation. If something truly happens to him, I won’t be able to continue living on my own!” she powerlessly begged. When oppressed by her little brother’s family, the tears falling from Su Lingyun’s eyes were akin to connect pearls.
Speaking those words made it seem Su Lingyun used all of her breath.
Thinking the treatment her son received in the past year, she couldn’t help feeling sorrow as she wept soundlessly.
Although her son had lost his father from a young age, he had always been very obedient growing up. Moreover, his grades were particularly excellent, and two years ago, he even entered Starcity Secondary School with the grades of first place in the entire city. During first year, he remained outstanding in various exams and contests, including being placed first in all subjects.
However, due to a car accident during second year first semester, his son’s brain received a powerful collision. As a result, it heavily injured his memory and comprehension skills, and he was even diagnosed to have a mental disability by a doctor. If it weren’t for her pleading, and that the school seemed to have in him a hint of hope, his son would have likely been expelled by the school already.
Seeing Su Lingyun’s heartbroken appearance, the house sank into a short period of silence. Su Yaning and Su Xiangfei even looked at each other, their expressions showing they could not bear looking at that scene.
When everyone’s attention was attracted by Su Lingyun, Tang Xiu, who was held in her embrace, slightly trembled. A tinge of light was also emitted by his eyes.
“Where is this place? Didn’t I die after failing the tribulation? What is going on?” Tang Xiu puzzledly examined his surroundings, his eyes filled with confusion.
Tang Xiu remembered he stood at the top of the Immortal World. He was passing the tribulation of divinity, and as long as he succeeded, he would be able to become a god in the Immortal World, and obtain the qualifications to cross the gate of eternal life.
Doing his best to recall what exactly happened, Tang Xiu’s facial muscles distorted as an extremely painful expression flashed into his eyes. Before reawakening, the last scene he was aware of finally appeared within his mind . . .
It was the most crucial moment of Tang Xiu’s tribulation: when he was near the end, when all of his soul and heart was concentrated on fighting back the divine tribulation. His back was open; he nearly lacked any protection. He was in a completely defenseless state against several good friends of his whose cultivations were just a bit inferior, who were also at the peak of the Immortal World, and who possessed countless divine armaments and god-level talismans.
Immediately after, just as he barely endured the nine levels of lightning tribulation, what he faced was a formless yet most terrifying tribulation of the heart—coincident with the Demonic Tribulation, the good friends of his who were initially protecting him actually, in absolute coordination, sent a fatal strike towards him.
Of those people, outrageously, it included his lover of several hundred years, Xue Qingcheng.
Under their coordinated attack, Tang Xiu’s fate was nearly already decided. Even, before his body completely shattered and his consciousness was completely lost, those people had already impatiently rushed up to take the dropped mysterious ancient book that he incidentally found within an ancient demonic remains—the Supreme Art of Quintessential Space.
“Human nature is so revolting. Before an absolute secret divine art, camaraderie and affection are all so!
“But, since I failed the tribulation, I shouldn’t have had any chance to survive. My body should have become dust, and my soul should have scattered away. Yet now, what is happening?”
Within a daze, a familiar woman’s fragrance wafted into Tang Xiu’s nose.
Inhaling, when he smelt that fragrance, an expression of extreme enjoyment appeared on Tang Xiu’s face. His emotions too gradually calmed down.
He only slowly turned his head around after a good while, facing the woman who was hugging himself.
A gentle countenance clearly appeared in front of Tang Xiu. It was familiar and close, and in comparison to the complexion in his memories, there seemed to be a trace of a faint mark of a “fishtail” at the corners of her eyes.
“Inner demon! Damned inner demon! I’m already died, so how can I be disturbed by this inner demon!” Tang Xiu quickly shook his head, and forced himself to avoid looking at the face he thought of for over ten thousand years.
But when he looked at the others in the house, he couldn’t help but be taken aback.
Of the myriad of years within the Immortal World, Tang Xiu had experienced countless sentimental tribulations, both big and small. However, after so many, even though Tang Xiu severed himself from all of his relatives, the only one he could not give up was his mother. So, in future sentimental tribulations, only Tang Xiu’s mother appeared, not any other relatives.
“Are the ones in front of my eyes not my inner demons?” Tang Xiu looked at his surroundings suspiciously. He also started muttering.
Then, after a huge explosion went off in his brain, the memories Tang Xiu didn’t touch for ten thousand years instantly opened. At the same time, enigmatic memories appeared in his mind.
“I’ve actually returned to the Earth I so long desired? Ten thousand years passed in the Immortal World, but only one year passed on Earth?” Only after a long while did Tang Xiu understand what happened.
The enigmatic memories that appeared in Tang Xiu’s mind was all of his body’s accumulated memory in the year that had passed.
In the car accident a year ago, although Tang Xiu’s physical body was fine, his soul was injured. That caused his intellect to drop which in turn caused him to experience horrid days at school. He was absorbing information like an observer, but he would very rarely participate in activities.
However, all of the information was stored in Tang Xiu’s head, letting him clearly know what had occurred in the past year on earth.
The single strand of Tang Xiu’s injured soul had travelled to the Immortal World, and entered the body of a wealthy grandson of the Immortal World’s Vermilion Bird Holy Sect’s manager. There, he lived a life of ten thousand years, all full of excitement. He lived a life of a dream-like ten thousand years!
He just had never expected when he was schemed against and died in the Immortal World that the strand of soul would once again return to the body on earth. At this moment, only a year had passed since the accident.
“Fairy Wanhua, Emperor Danqing, Zither Demon Jiuyao, on the day I return to the Immortal World will be the moment you will all die!”
Recollecting the bits and bobs of his life in the Immortal World, and when the final section of memory reappeared in his brain, Tang Xiu nearly screamed out with gritted teeth.
Tang Xiu’s furious roar broke the silence in the house, attracting everyone’s gaze over.
“Xiu’er . . . You . . . What happened?” Su Lingyun was the first to react to it. She hugged Tang Xiu in panic and asked him with an anxious face.
Seeing Tang Xiu’s facial muscles twisted, then recalling his body’s state, the people in the house all revealed regretful expressions, then all cast their blaming gazes and Su Shangwen’s family.
Clearly, they never expected Tang Xiu to suddenly “go mad”, and judging by the present circumstances, it was even caused by his own family. They couldn’t help looking at one another, feeling a pang of guilt.
“Tang Xiu, don’t bother acting here. Fairy, emperor, demon? You think you’re playing a game? I’ve never heard of any game that has bosses like Fairy Wanhua, Emperor Danqing, Zither Demon Jiuyao.” Just as the entire house’s people were all lost at what to do, a cold snort rang out. It was from Tang Xiu’s cousin, Su Xiangfei, as he sneered.
“You damn retard, you now know how to feign insanity? I was almost tricked by you. Don’t think we’ll ignore the three thousand dollars by pretending to be pitiful. I’ll say this clearly to you mother and son: if you don’t take out the three thousand dollars today, don’t even think of stepping out of this door!” After a brief moment of panic, Zhang Meiyun secretly looked at Tang Xiu. After a short instant, she became furious and fiercely shouted at him.
After Tang Xiu’s roar, he himself knew he lost a bit of control. Then, he felt his mother’s anxiousness and panic, so he hurriedly organized his emotions and quickly consoled her, saying he was fine. That scene coincidentally entered Zhang Meiyun’s eyes, and naturally, it infuriated her.
“The offsprings of a rat continue digging holes.” Tang Xiu coldly glared at Zhang Meiyun, then his eyes landed onto Su Xiangfei’s body. He said indifferently, “Su Xiangfei, are you certain you want to keep on playing this game? If you feel that this is rather interesting, I won’t mind playing with you!”