The villain is right beside me

"It's okay if you don't understand. Let's have some tea first." The old man smiled gently and waved his sleeves. A set of tea sets and a pot of fragrant tea appeared on the table.

The tea was yellowish and fragrant, and looked very old. Mu Qing took a cup and savored it carefully.

Very bitter, the longer the tea is stored, the better. The taste is also a variety of flavors.

But somehow, the heat caused a mist to rise in the corners of his eyes. He then raised his head and fought back the tears that were about to flow.

The old man said slowly: "What did you taste?"

"Bitter." Mu Qing sighed deeply, "It's also a little sweet, a little fragrant, very... hard to describe."

After a long while, the ancestor said softly: "It seems that you have experienced a lot outside."

This sentence stirred up his worries, and Mu Qing had no choice but to nod.

“I’ve experienced a lot of life and death.”

"Yes."

“There is also the sadness of parting with family and friends.”

"Yes."

"There is still sweetness, but there is a beauty who loves you wholeheartedly."

Mu Qing didn't say anything, but the ancestor guessed it: "No wonder."

"You look a lot like me when I was young," the old man said as he poured tea.

"When I was young, I also had a close female friend who never left me, a brother who was full of heroic spirit, and fellow apprentices who talked and laughed with me. We went through many battles, many dangers, and so many more... Now I am the only one left." The old man looked at the other steaming cups of tea with a lingering look, and said lightly, "When I see the teacups, I always feel that they are still alive, still sitting here, laughing, and talking, so every time I make tea, I always pour some for them as well."

At this moment, Mu Qing had a guess in his heart, but this guess was too shocking.

"When I drink tea, I am not drinking tea, but memories, nostalgia, and reluctance. What I drink is a state of mind. Do you understand?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Mu Qing's eyes suddenly became illusory, neither clouds nor fog, but like a dream. What he saw was the passing of time, the passing of years, birth, aging, sickness and death, and the vicissitudes of life...

Faintly, Mu Qing seemed to see a heroic young man, handsome and elegant, meeting a young and beautiful girl amidst the green grass and clear sky.

The boy was handsome and the girl was gentle and tender. They fell in love just by looking at each other. From then on, they were deeply in love and never left each other. They supported each other through thick and thin...

It seems that I see him joining the immortal sect, making a name for himself, meeting his senior brothers, learning from each other, getting drunk together, fighting side by side in times of crisis, giving advice and persuading others when in danger... He takes pleasure in avenging his enemies and dominating the world.

Seeing him and his wife finally get married, having a wedding night, seeing three or five close friends, the world stained with blood, and the struggle between the two...

Finally, he saw his beloved wife die, and was in great pain. He also seemed to see his good friends grow old beside him, close their eyes one by one, and go from being full of energy to being silent and finally turning into a pile of yellow earth. His heart was torn apart again and again...

Faintly, it seemed that several graves covered with green grass appeared in front of me. The setting sun quietly sank between heaven and earth. In front of the graves, an old man in white stood for a long time, looking infatuated and melancholy...

Mu Qing's eyes became moist. At this moment, he suddenly felt the same way. The sadness and melancholy in his heart could not be suppressed.

He recalled the red dress that appeared in the heavy snow. That scene was deeply imprinted in his heart.

I also remembered chatting and laughing with my fellow apprentices, with the sound of laughter echoing in the air.

That was his happiest time.

Everything that happened later shattered the fantasy!

Mu Qing suddenly woke up and found that he was in tears. His tears dropped onto the ground, making a soft sound.

Looking intently at the opposite side, I saw the old man still sitting quietly, looking at me with a pair of eyes that contained infinite wisdom and depth.

"Are you feeling better after crying?"

Mu Qing suddenly came to realize that for some reason, the memories before I traveled through time suddenly became vague and without a trace. Without any restraints, I flew away like a white dove that had broken free from its shackles into the vast world.

The memories of the past are deeply imprinted in my mind, like a huge rock pressing on my head.

With these memories of mine, I put aside the past and truly accept the present me, accept this world, and accept my lover.

I used to be very proud because I came from a different world and a different era. I proudly believed that the ideas, rules and regulations, and immortal cultivators here were not as good as mine. I was a modern person and lived in a civilized world, not like the immortal cultivator world where there was fighting and killing all day long.

Forget the past, what has long gone is gone, look forward, and accept the real you! The real me!

The old man finally smiled. If any old man outside saw him now, they would be shocked! He hadn't smiled like this for more than two hundred years.

"Child, you have too many things on your mind, and you are suppressing yourself. This time, just cry freely, and you will release a lot of your stress."

Indeed, I was always worried about going home and annoyed about the sect, but after hearing these words, I suddenly realized that the heavy and suffocating feeling in my chest had dissipated by more than half without me noticing...

The old man said, "There is a saying: Men don't shed tears easily, but they do when they are sad. Many young people always hold back their regrets, sadness, and grief, thinking that shedding tears is a cowardly act. This is wrong."

"Although these things won't explode at the time, when you are old, human nature will make you nostalgic. And by then, as you grow older, you will become more and more nostalgic, and the things that have been accumulated in your heart for your whole life will come flooding back. It will become the most painful torture for you... and this is... the inner demon!"

"Moreover, this kind of inner demon cannot be controlled! Therefore, the cultivation of a cultivator stops here. The life span of an ordinary person also stops here."

Mu Qing murmured, "When life is good, you should enjoy it to the fullest."

"That's right." The old man smiled with relief.

The old man taught Mu Qing through the illusion of his past memories, which brought about a drastic change in Mu Qing's attitude towards life!

Mu Qing knelt deeply in front of the old man and kowtowed. It was the first time that his unruly heart was so impressed by someone.

In his life, he knelt before his parents, knelt before the sect, respected Yunxi, and respected Laowang. There had never been a person who made him show such an expression of sincere admiration.

Mu Qing suddenly remembered something and asked, "Excuse me, what is your current level of cultivation?"

"When I was young, I started practicing at the age of ten, built a platform at the age of fifteen, entered the sea of ​​reincarnation at the age of forty, and transformed into an infant at the age of one hundred and ten. Until today, I have been stuck in the state of great perfection of the infant transformation for seven hundred years."

Mu Qing was shocked: "Then you..."

The old man smiled and said, "You want to ask me why I can't break through? Haha... If I wanted to break through, I would have already broken through to the Body-Severing Realm. I just can't reach the peak of the Upper Body-Severing Realm, but I am firmly at the peak of the Middle Body-Severing Realm. But I tried my best to suppress my cultivation and not break through."

"When you reach the Body Slashing Realm, you will break through the bottleneck of a thousand years of lifespan. However, every hundred years there will be a small heavenly tribulation, and every time you break through the thousand-year bottleneck there will be a big heavenly tribulation. Even breaking through this level is only to extend your lifespan by a hundred years. If you break through again... I'm afraid... I will have no tea to drink in the future... But now, the bottleneck that I have suppressed for seven hundred years is about to break through... It's really distressing."

Mu Qing was shocked. His guess was right. He asked in surprise, "Are you practicing the Way of Love?"

The old man stared at him, and finally smiled: "Why do you think I called you here today?"

Mu Qing stood up in shock. At this moment, he was a little out of control. He stared at the ancestor with his eyes wide open, and felt a storm in his heart!

Even Lao Wang couldn't help but shudder! He opened his eyes and looked at the ancestor of the Samsara Path with a look of horror in his eyes.

No one would have thought that the founder of the Way of Reincarnation would actually be practicing the Way of Love that defies the heavens!

Now Mu Qing may not really understand what the true path of love is, and how difficult it is to truly be a loving person. But Lao Wang, who has experienced countless thousands of years of ups and downs in the world, knows deeply that the path of love... if you want to succeed in cultivation, it is harder than ascending to heaven!

But this ancestor of the Wheel of Reincarnation, who practiced the Way of Sentient Beings, actually broke through to the peak of the Infant Transformation Realm, and he was still suppressing his cultivation with all his might, otherwise, he would have actually reached the Body-Chopping Realm!

Why are there so many people who practice the path of ruthlessness in the world? Is it really because practicing requires abandoning distracting thoughts and cutting off the seven emotions and six desires? Not necessarily. Those who practice the path of ruthlessness cannot let go. Their obsessions are too deep. Once they become demons in their hearts, they will never recover.

The path of love... every step is filled with inner demons!

Mu Qing sat there for a long time... a long time...

Ten days and ten nights...Mu Qing finally woke up. He had been immersed in thoughts for too long and his brain was still in a mess.

"Lao Wang, do you understand?" Mu Qing said, but the old man had already left the house.

"No one can explain this kind of artistic conception. You just need to experience it yourself." Lao Wang said.

Mu Qing was silent for a while, then said: "The so-called ruthless way is to kill for the sake of killing. If you disagree with someone, you will draw your sword and fight him. Over time, your heart will naturally become as cold as ice. Everything will be considered from the perspective of life and death. Strength is the most important thing, and the strong are respected! Over time, you will become arrogant and self-centered, and your nature and heart will be lost."

"The path of compassion also kills and robs, but the starting point is different. If someone doesn't offend me, I won't offend them. If someone offends me, I will kill them without guilt! This is also self-centered, but this self includes a lot."

“So from here, we began to distinguish between the sentient and the non-sentient paths. After the distinction was made, there were differences.”

"The arrogance, conceit and bloodlust of the ruthless path are the inner demons, but this has a great benefit, which is to cut off all worries and focus on reaching the peak. Therefore, the ruthless path is faster to cultivate, but it has its limits. Although with my current cultivation level, I don’t know where this limit is, but I can feel that such ruthlessness and lack of loyalty will definitely not develop endlessly in the future. Because it is not in line with the way of heaven..."

"Since ancient times, no one has been able to reach the pinnacle of the Way of Love, because... The Way of Love requires deep love and an eternal spiritual sustenance. Some people get lost halfway, or collapse, or their true love is worn away by time, and they forget the past and stop for life. The reason why some people cannot cultivate the Way of Love is because they don't love deeply enough! They don't love deeply enough! Therefore, once their partner passes away, they can still reminisce for a short time, but after a long time, they will forget..."

"This is why the elder thinks so. His way of love is his, and his way of love is... deep love! If you love deeply, you will never forget!"

"But, I still can't understand it now, but so what? I have my own way! My way is - to protect!"

"Protect my loved ones! Protect my relatives! Protect the people or things I should protect! This is my path of love!"