Devil Venerable Also Wants to Know

Chapter 75: Scars of the Past

Holding the little Yin Hanjiang who was only six years old in his arms, Wen Renhe rode the horse slowly along the road as he moved towards the gate of the border town.

Little Yin Hanjiang raised his hand and touched the bandage on Wen Renhe’s face.

“Is it scary?” Wen Renhe asked.

His face and hands were covered with burns, which were caused by the young Wen Renwu himself.

The Ren family had been beheaded, Wen Renwu rushed back to the capital with the help of Marshal Wen’s guards but didn’t archive anything except collecting the bodies of his parents.

His father’s friends could not help him much but they still prepared a false identity for him and told him to go as far as he could, and never return until the Wen family was absolved of their injustice.

Wen Renwu was still a wanted criminal so in order to not give other people trouble and also protect himself, he ruthlessly jumped into the fire, burning his face. Before it could heal, he quickly left the capital and when he was passing through the checkpoint his bandage was torn off by officers and soldiers who did not believe he had burns, thus traveling with swollen red flesh and blood.

“It’s not scary.” Little Yin Hanjiang shrank in his arms, thinking of the way the young Wen Renwu spent those years.

His whole family was loyal but he was the only one left, he was only a fifteen-year-old boy and not long ago he was still naughty and mischievous boy. But now he was all alone, needed to hide his true name, suppress his bravado and elegance and burn his own handsome face to fight against the world full of malice.

Cultivators could heal any wounds. The first time Yin Hanjiang met Wen Renhe, he was already cultivating for 200 years and had superb strength, just like a god. Wen Renhe who was unmatched in the entire cultivation world was like a physical manifestation of what it means to be strong. No one could have imagined that he had such a past. Even if Yin Hanjiang had heard Wen Renhe mention his past occasionally, he could not associate the two.

Only at this moment, did Yin Hanjiang understand more than ever that his lord was not a god, but a human being with blood and flesh. Wen Renhe also understood more than anyone what pain was.

Little Yin Hanjiang climbed upwards and wrapped both hands around Wen Renhe’s neck, raising his head to kiss Wen Renhe bandage, and whisper: “It hurts.”

“What are you thinking about?” Wen Renhe, nudged Yin Hanjiang head: “It’s been more than three hundred and fifty years ago, how could it still hurt.”

In the soul sea, some specific scenes cannot be changed. After all, it was something that had already happened. When the soul sea of Wen Renwu memories was too emotional, Wen Renhe would also involuntarily synchronize. But since memory was already so bleak, Wen Renhe could maintain a calm state of mind.

Little Yin Hanjiang said nothing, but buried his head in his shoulder and said nothing.

They traveled in this way for a half a year before arriving at the border town. At this moment the border town was no longer the same as back then. All nine cities on the border had been ceded to the invaders.

“Back then, I knew I couldn’t kill that shitty emperor so I ran toward the border. I wanted to assassinate the foreign generals and kill them one by one.” Wen Renhe said to Yin Hanjiang: “There was also my own war halberd in that place so I was bent on returning to the border town and getting my weapon back from home.”

Young Yin Hanjiang’s heart clenched.

He watched quietly as the teenager Wen Renwu did not take the letter of recommendation to become a minor official and instead crossed the city wall alone late at night, relying on his strong martial arts skills. Wen Renwu relied on his legs to run frantically for hundreds of miles, after running for several days and nights, avoiding the foreign army, he finally arrived at the border town.

Teenager Wen Renwu thought of home. Although his family was gone, there were still traces of his life in the border town, there was still his weapon as well as wedding wine his parents prepared for his sister.

But the night he arrived at the border town, he saw the fire from afar.

He killed a single invader soldier and changed into his clothes. When he went into the city he saw an abandoned city in flames.

Dr. Li, Wang Hu and many other people he had known were now corpses laying all over the place. The invader soldiers found Wen Renyan’s wedding red wine in the mansion and were drinking it to their heart’s content.

Wen Renyan was young and still had no idea about marriage, she only knew that marrying someone she should find a person like her father who would spoil her. She knew that her father loved to drink so she especially cherished her wedding wine, thinking about digging it up when she marries in the future and taking it home. She also bragged in front of Wen Renwu all day long that she had good wine, so she became very angry when Wen Renwu stole some of her wine.

The young girl’s wine, which was as precious as her lifeblood, was trampled on and broken, one by one against the door of the dilapidated marshal’s house.

“Kill! Kill them! Burn them and refine them into an oil lamp to light an everlasting soul lamp!” Little Yin Hanjiang’s face distorted as he spoke by Wen Renhe side.

This was Wen Renhe’s soul sea memory so when Wen Renhe fell into a certain emotion, Yin Hanjiang would become isolated from this world. If Wen Renhe could see him, people around him would be able to see him, but if Wen Renhe couldn’t see him, no one would be able to see him either.

At this time Wen Renwu didn’t see Yin Hanjiang, as he looked at this painful scene his hands clenched tightly, his fingernails scratching his palms as he forced himself to endure.

Can’t go, can’t go! He was the only one alive from the whole family, he must live. There was no use killing a handful of people, as long as he was alive, he still had a chance.

He covered his eyes, turned around and ran wildly. Fleeing the town until he was in a deserted place, only to fall helplessly to the ground and curl up, burying his face deeply in his arms and making a wailing sound unlike any a human could make.

Little Yin Hanjiang watched brother Renwu from the side, he could only watch.

Then he saw a man descend from the sky and stand beside Wen Renwu with a lofty attitude, he said: “I was originally attracted by the bloody aura of this town, thinking of catching a few resentful souls to cultivate, but I didn’t expect that this dead people wouldn’t have enough resentment. I thought I had made a trip for nothing, but I didn’t expect to meet such a good seedling as you.”

Yin Hanjiang could see that this was a demonic cultivator or rather nascent soul realm demonic cultivator.

Hearing someone suddenly speak, Wen Renwu hid all his sorrow and raised his head to ask coldly: “Who are you?”

“I should be considered a god for you mortals, hahahahahahahaha!” The demonic cultivator laughed proudly and said to Wen Renwu: “How about it? Do you want to take revenge? I have a set of cultivation methods for the Slaughter path, which is different from the path I cultivate. It’s a pity to throw it away, so I need someone to try it out, do you want to practice?”

Wen Renwu actually refused, by saying: “No matter how high the individual strength is, it can’t beat thousands of troops. My family’s martial arts are high enough so I don’t need yours.”

“Hahahahahahaha! Just some martial arts? ” The demonic cultivator baited: “In the battlefield, swords have no eyes, even if your material arts are high, you will die. But this technique is different.”

“I won’t worship a master.” Wen Renwu was not stupid, this encounter had made him feel very defensive.

“I don’t need you to worship me either, I just want to see the power of this cultivation method.”

The demonic cultivator said, “Look at what is written on the general outline of this cultivation method, the Killing Dao is the supreme cultivation method of the demonic path. The person who has accomplished it will become the number one cultivator of the demonic path and no one in the cultivation world will be able to beat him. Tsk, tsk, how could they brag about it when in the last sentence it is said that throughout the ages, there have been more than a thousand people who have cultivated this method, but no one has cultivated the nascent soul realm and they still dare to brag that this method is supreme? Why should I believe it?”

“How about it, do you want it? If you want it, just hand over a drop of your heart blood.” The demonic cultivator tossed the book in front of Wen Renwu.

The demonic cultivator turned the first page over and placed it in front of Wen Renwu’s eyes who only with a glance became attracted to this mysterious cultivation method recorded there. But after reading only a few lines, the demonic cultivator closed the book and spread his hands viciously to Wen Renwu.

“I’m not hiding anything from you, I can use this drop of your heart blood to control you, if you succeed in forming a nascent soul. Then I can seize your nascent soul and switch to Slaughter Path. But if you fail to achieve a nascent soul or you will not survive the heavenly tribulation and die, I will be able to dig out your golden core and make a potion.” Demonic cultivator said: “But either way, you will have enough time to improve your strength and take revenge, how about it?”

Wen Renwu hesitated for a long time before finally reaching out his hand and offering a drop of his heart blood and taking the book.

The demon cultivator smiled and flew away, Wen Renwu seeing that these people could actually fly clutched the cultivation method given by that person even more, with a deformed face and gloomy eyes.

“Brother Renwu.” Little Yin Hanjiang hugged Wen Renwu’s legs firmly, no matter how much he shouted just now he could not wake up.

“Don’t worry, it’s okay, it’s all over.” Wen Renhe put down the book and bent over to hug little Yin Hanjiang who nodded and said: “It’s just a memory of what happened more than three hundred years ago, am I not alive and well now? It is also true what this demonic cultivator said, “whoever cultivated this method will have the strength of 100.”

Who knew that little Yin Hanjiang would wrap his arms around him and murmur: “A-wu, my a-wu.”

Not venerable but a-wu.”

At this moment Yin Hanjiang was suffering with Wen Renhe with all his heart, it was not the respect of the past when he put him above other people or the loyalty of a subordinate who wanted to guard his master. What he wanted was to protect Wen Renhe with his own small body from the endless malice in this world.

“Don’t cry, Renwu didn’t even shed a tear.” Wen Renhe touched little Yin Hanjiang’s head and unexpectedly found that the scars on Yin Hanjiang’s face and body had disappeared.

Dr. Li said when he was treating little Yin Hanjiang before that if the treatment didn’t go well this child would definitely be scarred and his leg would be lame. But this was Wen Renhe soul sea, not Yin Hanjiang so if Yin Hanjiang wanted to heal, he could completely recover. But he didn’t, he was scarred and crippled just like Dr. Li said, he was also gloomy and rarely spoke so no one knew what he was thinking.

Unexpectedly, his injury has now healed on his own accord, Wen Renhe examined his smooth little face and asked: “Why did it suddenly get better?”

Yin Hanjiang touched his face and was also puzzled. He did not have any thoughts of wanting to be cured, yet he slowly recovered without realizing it.

Both of them didn’t understand it, Wen Renhe thought for a long time but couldn’t make sense of it so he just touched Yin Hanjiang’s head and said: “It’s great that you are recovering.”

He looked at Yin Hanjiang intently, feeling the emotions of that year again, making Wen Renhe realize why he had left Yin Hanjiang on the mountain unattended after saving him.

To him, Yin Hanjiang was an unfinished oath. The moment Wen Renhe picked up Yin Hanjiang, his old dusty memories awakened and evoked the pain in his heart. History was repeating itself in front of him, and looking at this young child, he didn’t know how to comfort him.

All Wen Renhe could do was to give him all that he had not received. A body that was healed, a safe environment, a cultivation method that was absolutely safe, a sword that could enhance his strength as well as… a border that already became stable when Yin Hanjiang became an adult.

So he once again clad himself in armor and went into battle, for the sake of the realm that he could not improve for a long time as well as a child so it would no longer harm this world.

Edited by: Ninja

Proofread by: Nio