Be a proper Taoist priest in The Condor Heroes

The cold glint of the scimitar pressed against Qin Yue's neck, its sharp edge slicing through her delicate skin. A trickle of crimson blood slowly seeped out, winding down her neck, making her pale face appear even more terrified.

She trembled violently, her pupils shrinking to pinpoints as she stared incredulously at her father, with whom she had spent every day.

"Father... what... what are you doing? It's me, Yueyue! The Yueyue you've loved for twenty years!"

Qin Wanshan was panting heavily, blood seeping from the wound on his chest due to his rapid breathing, dark red blood foam hanging from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were frighteningly crazed, like a trapped beast on the verge of despair.

He stared intently at Liu Chengzong, his voice hoarse like a broken gong, each word carrying the pain of being rubbed by grit.

"Liu...Liu Chengzong, do you think I've lost? Hahahaha!"

The laughter was shrill and piercing, causing the lanterns under the eaves to sway violently. The light and shadow flickered in the dilapidated courtyard, making the bloodstains on his face appear even more grotesque.

"Take a good look at who she is!"

The third-rate martial artists present stood silently, their gazes complex as they watched this grudge that had spanned more than twenty years. The air was so heavy it felt like it could be wrung out of water.

"Year of Yihai! Month of Gengchen! Day of Wuzi! Liu Chengzong, do you still remember this day?"

Qin Wanshan tilted his head, looking at Liu Chengzong with a mocking expression. His fingers were so tight that the veins bulged, and he almost broke the scimitar.

"You haven't forgotten you have a second daughter, have you? What's her name again? Oh, it's Liu Yushu, the name you personally chose for her!"

Liu Chengzong's expression changed drastically, as if struck by lightning. His whole body stiffened abruptly, his pupils dilated instantly, and an ominous premonition shot straight to the top of his head like an ice pick.

He staggered back half a step, pointed at Qin Wanshan, his lips trembling.

"Qin Wanshan, what nonsense are you spouting! Yu Shu... she died in the night raid seventeen years ago!"

"Died young?"

Qin Wanshan suddenly burst into wild laughter, his laughter filled with blood and tears, causing blood and foam to splatter from his throat.

"Senior brother! Thirty years ago, at the foot of Yuntai Mountain, we were still brothers who shared a bed and practiced the same set of martial arts! We learned martial arts together with our master, went up the mountain to gather herbs together, and together... fell in love with Junior Sister Qinghe!"

Upon hearing this, Liu Chengzong trembled violently, his eyes instantly becoming extremely complex, a mixture of pain, reminiscence, and guilt, as if he had been dragged back to that long-forgotten era.

Lei Hong and the group of martial arts figures were all stunned. No one expected that the blood feud between these two families would involve such unpleasant old grievances.

"But you know better than anyone who Qinghe loves in her heart!"

Qin Wanshan's voice suddenly rose, filled with bone-chilling hatred, each word like a poisoned steel needle.

"It's me! It's me, Qin Wanshan! But your master was blind. He looked down on me because I'm a humble country bumpkin, and insisted on marrying her off to you, the so-called senior disciple of a prestigious sect!"

His hand tightened suddenly, and the curved knife moved even closer to Qin Yue. The sharp blade had already cut a shallow bloodstain, which frightened Qin Yue so much that tears streamed down her face, and her whole body stiffened, not daring to struggle.

"She didn't want to! She secretly cried to me at night, saying that she only wanted to marry someone who could accompany her to see the moon over Yuntai Mountain, not some young master of the Liu family or a famous martial arts master! But she dared not disobey her master's orders. After marrying you, she was depressed all day long. Not two years after giving birth to Yu Ru, she fell ill from depression. When she closed her eyes, she was still clutching the sour jujube pit that I gave her!"

Qin Wanshan's voice choked with sobs, but a fierce fire of hatred burned in his eyes. His chest heaved violently, and the blood from his bursting wounds soaked through his black clothes.

"I watched helplessly as the woman I loved married you, watched her go from a radiant smile to a life fading away. I've held onto this hatred for twenty years! You, Liu Chengzong, are living a life of unparalleled glory, blessed with both a son and a daughter, and revered by thousands. But what about me? I could only hide in the shadows, watching your retreating figure, licking my wounds, enduring it year after year! Do you know how I've been living?"

He pounded his chest violently, spraying blood and foam even further, his eyes filled with a mixture of madness and pain, looking like a madman.

"I lived like a dog, pandering to the Mongols, accumulating power, all so that one day I could destroy everything you possess!"

Su Yan stood to the side, his face as calm as an ancient well, but his heart was churning as he watched everything unfold. He could feel the overwhelming hatred in Qin Wanshan's words—the obsession of unrequited love, the madness of being toyed with by fate, the blood and tears accumulated over twenty years. But no matter how intense this hatred was, it was nothing more than the illusory fruit of obsession, burning others and himself in the process.

"Later...you remarried and had a second daughter, Liu Yushu."

Qin Wanshan's voice suddenly lowered, carrying a sinister smile, like a viper flicking its tongue.

Seeing you holding that swaddled baby, so overjoyed, felt like a red-hot needle piercing my heart! I hated it!

Qin Wanshan looked at Liu Chengzong with a ferocious smile.

"Remember that assassination attempt seventeen years ago? Hehehe, I arranged it!!!"

A blood-stained hand stroked Qin Yue's fair, tear-streaked face, and said something inexplicably.

"I'm protecting everything you've lost..."

His hatred surged like a raging tide, causing his wounds to reopen, and a mouthful of blood sprayed onto Qin Yue's skirt, its crimson color glaringly bright.

"You know what I'm raising! A knife! A knife that will one day plunge into the heart of your Liu family! Hahahahaha!"

"Dad! Don't scare Yue'er!"

Qin Yue's face was pale, and tears blurred her vision. She understood, yet it seemed she didn't. She gripped Qin Wanshan's sleeve tightly with both hands.

Liu Chengzong trembled all over, his blood surging like waves.

He pointed at Qin Wanshan, his knuckles white, his lips trembling as he couldn't utter a complete sentence. A mouthful of blood gushed out, splattering onto the bluestone slab in front of him; he had suffered internal injuries.

"clang!"

Liu Chengzong used his long sword to support himself, his face pale. Liu Yuru cried out in alarm and helped Liu Chengzong up.

"father!!!"

"Ryu Seung-jong! I haven't finished yet!"

Qin Wanshan laughed even more maniacally, his eyes filled with twisted pleasure.

"Remember Qixia Villa? I personally set up that game! Hey? Where's your youngest son, Liu Yufeng, today? He's brought honor to the family, hahaha!!"

Qin Wanshan laughed loudly, his laughter echoing through the night sky, filled with the exhilarating joy of avenging his great enemy.

"I told you long ago that I would ruin the Liu family's reputation, and now I've done it!!! From now on, when you mention the Liu family, hehehe..."

Qin Wanshan gave Qin Yue a strange look, then reached out and ruffled her hair. The gesture was eerily gentle, but his words were like icy daggers.

With a deafening boom, Qin Yue felt as if she had been struck by lightning. Her legs went weak, and she collapsed to the ground, clutching her lower abdomen tightly with both hands. Her eyes were vacant and lifeless, and she murmured to herself.

Qixia Villa! She knew this place all too well. If she had considered it paradise before, it was now hell, a hell of torment!

She realized something. She looked at her father, whom she had once held in such awe and love, in disbelief.

"I don't believe it... I don't believe it... Ahhhhh!!!"

She even tried to crash into a pillar, but was pulled back in time by the Beggars' Sect leader, yet she continued to struggle and was completely broken.

Liu Chengzong's already pale face suddenly flushed red, his eyes widened, and he fell straight backward.

Liu Yuru held the unconscious Liu Chengzong, frantic and at a loss, tears blurring her vision. She turned to look at Lei Hong, her voice trembling with sobs.

"Chief Lei, please, save my father!"

Lei Hong hurriedly stepped forward to check Liu Chengzong's pulse, his brows furrowing slightly.

"He suffered a backlash of qi and blood, which damaged his internal organs. I have some healing pills here. Let's stabilize his injuries first, and then find a doctor to treat him."

He took out a brown pill from his pocket and handed it to Liu Yuru, his tone calm yet steady.

"Treat the wounds first. Qin Wanshan has been captured. We can deal with the rest later."

Lei Hong sighed, his gaze falling on Qin Yue, hesitant to speak. This revenge born of love turned to hate ultimately implicated two generations, leaving behind only endless pain and embarrassment.

Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats and clashing armor came from outside the mansion. Soldiers from the Mongol government escorted the county magistrate to the scene, and the head constable shouted loudly.

"By order of the Wanhu Prefecture, arrest the traitor Qin Wanshan who has colluded with the Jin dynasty! Everyone, lay down your weapons!"

The head constable led his men in and rushed in. Seeing the corpses all over the ground and the way Qin Wanshan had kidnapped Qin Yue, he immediately shouted coldly.

"Take it down!"

Several constables stepped forward with chains, but Qin Wanshan suddenly released Qin Yue, letting out a wild laugh that was filled with relief and twisted satisfaction.

"Liu Chengzong, though I have fallen, your Liu family will never have peace! This ill-fated relationship will haunt you for the rest of your lives!"

He did not resist, letting the constables approach, but the moment the chains locked his wrists, he suddenly channeled his remaining internal energy, attempting to shatter his heart meridian and commit suicide.

The constable was prepared and delivered a precise kick to his dantian, causing his internal energy to dissipate and his martial arts to be completely destroyed.

Qin Wanshan screamed and collapsed to the ground, staring at the starry sky and the moon obscured by dark clouds.

His face was still filled with maniacal laughter, laughter that was full of despair and distortion.

"Qinghe, I've gotten my revenge... I've finally gotten my revenge... Did you see that?"

The constables dragged Qin Wanshan out, his laughter fading into the distance, leaving only a mess inside the Qin mansion and flickering lamplight.

Qin Yue slumped to the ground, her eyes vacant as still water, tears streaming silently down her face, muttering something repeatedly to herself, like a puppet devoid of its soul.

Su Yan stood under the eaves, looking at the dim light of the Qin mansion and listening to the faint laughter of Qin Wanshan in the distance, feeling a mix of emotions.

In my past life, I often came across Buddhist classics in short videos saying, "A single attachment leads to endless suffering."

Looking back now, every word seems to pierce my heart.

Qin Yue's empty eyes and Liu Yufeng's obsessive thoughts, which he was unaware of, ultimately became sacrifices to this obsession.

What wrong did they do?

They were born onto a chessboard of hatred, becoming pawns manipulated by their own obsessions. Is this tragic fate, spanning two generations, a cruel arrangement of destiny, or the inevitable result of human obsession?

Qin Wanshan's hatred was not just about unrequited love.

After Qinghe's death, Liu Chengzong remarried and had children, but this "letting go" was, in his eyes, a betrayal of his deceased wife and a humiliation to himself.

He lived as a ghost, guarding Qinghe's memories, polishing that sour jujube pit until it was as smooth as jade, while his enemy had already started a new life. This injustice became the fuel for his obsession, burning for twenty years, and now he has burned himself to ashes as well.

The deeper the love, the more intense the hatred; so intense that one would gamble one's entire life on it, and so intense that one would use one's own daughter as a weapon—it was that tragic.

Buddhism says, "All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows."

Does Qin Wanshan not know that even if he takes revenge, he cannot reverse the flow of time? Does he not know that even if he kills the entire Liu family, he will still suffer the same pain?

He knew, he knew everything, but he was caught in this illusory bubble of life, carrying too much love, hate, and grudges.

fate?

It is merely a reflection of the human heart.

When attachment arises, countless eons will be born; when attachment ceases, the Way returns to its constant state.

Su Yan sighed softly, turned to look at the night sky outside the courtyard. The moonlight was hazy, and the road ahead seemed long. In this chaotic world, grudges and affections entangled her like a spider web; who could truly remain unburdened?