Chapter 22: How Can They Become Villains Like This?

On a sunny and breezy morning, Meng Baixu dyed both cubs’ hair granny gray too.

While dyeing their hair, in order to make sure the two little cubs stayed obediently still, Meng Baixu gave each of them a large naan flatbread. It was bigger than their faces and a little hard; just nibbling around the edge would take a quarter of an hour.

As expected, Wowo and Nangnang had to use both hands together just to hold the big flatbreads. Their long lashes lowered as they worked their little teeth for half a day, only managing to leave a shallow bite mark on the bread.

“Remember, you are demon babies.”

“We are demon babies, oh!”

Baby Meng Wowo and Baby Meng Nangnang, both with soft, fluffy granny-gray hair, repeated in milky voices.

Meng Baixu looked at his masterpiece with satisfaction. He had a feeling that Wen Tingshu’s aesthetic was black hair. Once he saw that his sons had dyed their hair granny gray before they were even two years old, he would definitely be so angry he would jump.

When that time came, wouldn’t Wen Tingshu have to beg him with red eyes to change their sons’ hair back?

“So obedient.”

Meng Baixu rubbed their heads one by one. “Go play with sand.”

It was not that the demonic sect mistreated its young and could not afford high-grade toys. It was that the two little cubs had too much spiritual power and still had not learned how to control it. Their little fists looked only the size of eggs, but any toy that reached their hands would be crushed to powder.

He Shangxian spoiled them terribly and made all kinds of toys for them every day: balls, wooden horses, pellet drums… Their lifespans were extremely short, unless spiritual power was added into the toys to resist the little cubs’ strength.

But that would cause a three-way waste of spiritual power.

He Shangxian did not feel bad for himself; he felt bad for the late Golden Core saint babies. He feared losing even a little spiritual power would affect Wowo and Nangnang breaking through to the Tribulation Crossing stage at three years old.

At the year-end banquet in the twelfth lunar month, the demonic sect higher-ups gathered to celebrate the fact that this year’s secret realm business income had risen against the trend…

The reason seemed to be that the Hengxue Sect had relaxed its clearing of secret realms, but that reason was not positive enough and did not reflect the demonic sect’s own hard work, so everyone tactfully did not mention it.

Wowo and Nangnang had been born in June last year. This twelfth month, they were exactly one and a half years old. The two little cubs sat in raised baby chairs, mixed among a group of demons, making one sunken dip in the height line. The demons ate meat and drank wine, while the two of them each held a meat bun.

If one said the little cubs had great hand strength, that was not entirely true. When holding large buns, they knew how to handle them gently. Their ten fingers rested on the buns, yet they did not press even a single dent into them.

Because fluffy buns tasted better. Once flattened, they would not taste good.

Their love of wheat foods followed Meng Baixu, fully proving that the demonic sect bloodline had not been polluted by the righteous path. Babies who loved wheat foods definitely would not have kind natures.

The people of the Fuguang Sect did not like reviewing the past; they liked looking toward the future. The sect members looked at the pair of saint babies with loving eyes. This was the demonic sect’s future. Twenty years later, they would surely stir up bloody storms in the cultivation world!

“Tribulation Crossing at three years old—I don’t even dare imagine it. It’ll shock the entire cultivation world!”

“Three years old? Breaking through realms is very difficult. Not only does cultivation need to be complete, one’s state of mind must also reach the corresponding level. Great Elder is too impatient.”

“Three-year-old babies don’t have fixed temperaments yet. Five years old is more like it.”

“Speaking of which, Golden Core cultivators can already undergo bigu. The saint babies are already late Golden Core…”

As soon as these words came out, the air suddenly went silent.

In the cultivation world, a Golden Core cultivator who did not undergo bigu was like a mortal child who had not been weaned at seven years old. They would be mocked.

Meng Wowo and Meng Nangnang lifted their heads in confusion. Their innocent gazes turned among the uncles, while their mouths were stuffed full of bun skin and meat filling.

Daddy said this was the year-end meeting, so Wowo and Nangnang had to be serious.

The two little cubs pressed their little mouths tightly shut, not letting the food show.

“Bigu…”

The Great Elder scratched his white hair. As the person responsible for teaching the saint children, he should answer everyone’s question, but…

“Uh, there is… there is such a plan.”

Everyone around him sucked in a cold breath.

You mean these two fair, chubby, jade-carved little babies, who worked hard to eat their meals, have to be cruelly starved for three days?

Although they were extremely wicked people, bad deeds also depended on the situation. There were three things they would not do.

First, they would not force the Sect Leader to undergo bigu.

Second, they would not force Wowo to undergo bigu.

Third, they would not force Nangnang to undergo bigu.

Back then, Meng Baixu had found the method for bigu himself from a book and stubbornly starved himself for three days.

Gulp.

Amid the silence, Meng Nangnang picked up the goat milk on the table and drank it with gulping sounds.

Baby drank so fast, so wonderfully.

The Great Elder moved his gaze away with difficulty. He was not going to be this sinner.

“The task of supervising Wowo and Nangnang’s bigu will be handed to Left—”

The Left Protector smiled. “That is your matter.”

The Great Elder said, “Handed to Liu—”

Liu Xishi said, “Sect affairs are busy.”

Unable to throw away this hot potato, the Great Elder looked troubled.

Meng Baixu swept his gaze over his helpless subordinates. “When it comes to forcing people into bigu, the Hengxue Sect is best at it.”

Wen Tingshu had nearly forced him into a second round of bigu. With such an iron heart, Wowo and Nangnang’s bigu could be handed to him too.

“Right, right, right!”

The Great Elder seemed to see a savior. “This kind of matter that makes one fall into unrighteousness must be done by the leader of the righteous path.”

Everyone sighed in relief and looked even more lovingly at the saint babies, who were still ignorant and only knew how to eat.

“Sect Leader is wise! Let the saint babies remember that it was the Hengxue Sect that stopped them from eating! Plant the seeds of hatred from childhood!”

“There is no greater grudge than this.”

“Twenty years later, they will take revenge on the Hengxue Sect and stir it into chaos.”

“Eh? Did I wake up early?”

A red-robed evildoer suddenly appeared at the door. He was beautiful like a demon; one look and you could tell he was very villainous. He happened to be the complete opposite extreme of Meng Baixu’s pure and beautiful goodness.

The man was called Shi Wumi, an old subordinate and top confidant of Meng Fuguang. He specialized in doing Meng Fuguang’s dirty work, such as seducing righteous path heroes.

Twenty-five years ago, Meng Fuguang wanted the Qingyun Sword Sect’s land to use as a place for the Fuguang Sect to practice swordsmanship. But the Qingyun Sword Sect was protected by the righteous path. If they seized it by force, the Hengxue Sect would interfere.

So he sent Shi Wumi, who became the young master’s wife for eight years and finally deceived it into his hands.

When Shi Wumi rolled up all the Sword Sect’s family assets and left, retribution came—the ex-husband suddenly broke through two realms in a row and became stronger than him.

Because Meng Fuguang suddenly disappeared at that time and could not receive him, Shi Wumi escaped from his ex-husband back to the Fuguang Sect with heavy injuries. He entered seclusion on the spot and only woke up today.

When he fell asleep, the little Sect Leader Meng Baixu was only two years old. He Shangxian had sworn solemnly, telling him to sleep in peace. The little Sect Leader had excellent bones and roots, and twenty years later, he would certainly stir up bloody storms in the cultivation world, avenging Shi Wumi and Meng Fuguang.

He had leaned at the door for a while just now and discovered that everyone was still looking forward to “twenty years later.”

So he actually had not slept very long. Only a few days had passed?

The healing effect after only a few days was this good?

Shi Wumi was delighted. This meant he had underestimated his own strength. He had thought he would have to sleep for twenty years.

He, Shi Wumi, had returned.

Shi Wumi lifted his eyes and discovered that in the center of the elders’ table sat a pair of tiny little things, as well as an extremely pure and good-looking beauty. One big and two small sat there, leading the entire sect’s atmosphere astray, making it seem as if this was not the demonic sect’s old nest, but a righteous path temple.

The Fuguang Sect had lost two great generals in a row. Had it now declined to the point where even baby demons were accepted?

Could children this small do bad things? They could only eat.

And that great beauty—was he a new honey-trap undercover candidate the elders had chosen? Shi Wumi felt he was very suitable to go to the Hengxue Sect and seduce Wen Tingshu.

The identical twins were truly adorable, so adorable that he wanted to bully them.

Seeing that the two little cubs were eating so deliciously, Shi Wumi felt a wicked thought arise. He walked over and snatched the steamed bun from one cub.

“Give it to me.”

Cry, little cub.

Meng Wowo looked at his empty hand, then raised his head to look at Shi Wumi. With a very good temper, he said, “Okay.”

The gege looked like he was about to starve to death.

Seeing this, Shi Wumi backhandedly snatched the other cub’s steamed bun too.

“Yours too. Give it to me.”

Meng Nangnang blinked and pushed the whole plate of steamed buns on the table toward Shi Wumi.

There are more here, oh.

Meng Baixu: “…”

No, babies. Although you are a pair of Wowo-Nangnang dough balls, why are you also a pair of cowardly little buns?

How can you become villains like this?

Meng Baixu’s brows locked tightly. The people of the Fuguang Sect treated Wowo and Nangnang too well. Whatever they wanted, they had. Food was abundant, overflowing even. There was no way to stir up Wowo and Nangnang’s desire to protect their food.

He had to take them out to train and let Wowo and Nangnang understand how dangerous people’s hearts were.

“Shi Wumi!”

The Great Elder scolded him. “How can you snatch the saint children’s things?”

Shi Wumi was a little disordered. “Saint children?”

He Shangxian said, “This is the Sect Leader. Hurry and greet the Sect Leader. Sect Leader, he has been asleep for twenty years and failed to recognize Mount Tai.”

Shi Wumi: “???”

Meng Baixu had known of this person since childhood. Shi Wumi had been heavily injured for the sect, so naturally, he would not fuss over his rudeness.

“It’s fine. Shi Wumi is a great meritorious official of our sect.”

As someone who had also gone undercover in the righteous path, Meng Baixu felt sympathy from shared experience.

“I heard you used honey traps with unfailing success?”

Shi Wumi subconsciously answered modestly, “No, no. I failed to seduce Wen Tingshu.”

Meng Baixu frowned.

His father had even sent Shi Wumi to seduce Wen Tingshu?

“At which step did you fail?”

Would Shizun treat every undercover agent this well? Would he cook for an undercover agent every day too?

The Left Protector coughed once, reminding Shi Wumi to speak carefully.

Shi Wumi was embarrassed. “I failed to meet him.”

Wen Tingshu never went down Hengxue Mountain, so how could Shi Wumi have had the chance to meet him?

This was terrible. The first time he met the new Sect Leader, he had exposed his uselessness.

Hearing this, Meng Baixu’s eyes curved.

It seemed the Sect Leader himself had to personally go out after all.

“You had it hard too.”

Half a shichen later, Shi Wumi finally understood everything.

“So this is the new twenty-year plan?”

Shi Wumi pointed at the two baby cubs that were like milk-scented sticky rice cakes.

Meng Fuguang had died too early.

Meng Baixu said, “Mm-hm.”

“Sect Leader is wise.”

Shi Wumi bowed to Meng Baixu. Since the matter was already settled, he would swear to defend every decision of the Sect Leader to the death.

***

At year’s end.

Zhongli Yun also reported the Hengxue Sect’s major events of the past year to the Sect Master.

Originally, Wen Tingshu did not listen to reports and had gone into complete seclusion. But the storybooks Lanshe had ordered for him—he could not refuse those, could he?

Zhongli Yun used the chance to deliver the storybooks to see the Sect Master. Today, the person delivering the storybooks said this was the last one.

Next year, Wen Tingshu might truly enter seclusion, so Zhongli Yun seized the chance to mention the arrangements for next year.

Zhongli Yun said, “Next year will still focus on cultivation, and we will no longer send people to clear secret realms?”

Wen Tingshu said, “Mn. Lanshe has only just taken office. Don’t make things difficult for Lanshe in the sect. If income drops sharply, his subordinates might not be convinced.”

Zhongli Yun suspected that even fifty years later, Meng Baixu would still be “newly appointed, weak, small, and helpless” in Wen Tingshu’s eyes.

“Also, next year is the three-year recruitment period again. Do you plan to recruit…”

Wen Tingshu pondered. “Once every three years?”

Zhongli Yun thought he understood. Could it be that Wen Tingshu had walked out of his shadow and planned to choose another disciple?

Wen Tingshu said, “Do you think the cultivation conference could also be held once every three years?”

Zhongli Yun: “…”

So he wanted to ask again whether the demonic sect would come, right? It was not him who would be tired, after all.

This was the method he had come up with after two years of seclusion?

If word got out, the demonic sect would probably curse him as cowardly and useless every day.

Zhongli Yun said sharply, “I feel he will not come.”

Wen Tingshu said, “Mn?”

Zhongli Yun said seriously, “Because, Sect Master, you fought his father. Did you or did you not do this?”

Wen Tingshu said, “…Mn.”

All Wen Tingshu’s life, he had acted uprightly and sat straight. There was not a single thing he had done that he did not dare acknowledge.

Love dragged the Immortal Venerable down into the mortal world. In the past, Wen Tingshu had been the lofty Sect Master. How would Zhongli Yun have dared joke with the Sect Master like this?

He made something up. “Among mortals, when one’s father dies, one does not change his will for three years. Converted to a cultivator’s lifespan, that should mean at least one hundred years of not changing one’s will.”

Wen Tingshu: “…”

Did that mean he had to cut ties with the righteous path for one hundred years?