Dual cultivation makes you stronger, everyone else is a prodigy, and I'm the only one slacking

Yu Luoning opened her eyes again. She was in a space filled with gray mist, and Yao Lao was standing beside her.

The ground beneath their feet was like water ripples, with concentric circles spreading outwards.

"Where is this?" Yu Luoning asked, frowning.

The old doctor chuckled softly, his voice low and ethereal: "Where it is doesn't matter. Let's continue with our previous question. Didn't you say that healers are not responsible for the good or evil of those they save? In that case, let's continue this game."

The old apothecary stared intently at Yu Luoning, remaining completely still.

At that moment, Yu Luoning saw a group of people appear out of thin air in the gray fog ahead.

On the left stood a child who looked about seven or eight years old, while on the right stood a group of children of similar age, their expressions bewildered and their eyes filled with fear.

The old doctor pointed to the child on the left and said, "This child has an evil nature. If you save him, he will surely kill all these children one day. Will you save him or not?"

Yu Luoning's lips moved slightly, but she couldn't utter a single word.

The old apothecary stared at her expression and suddenly laughed hysterically.

"Who will you choose? Little girl, if you dare to be dishonest with this old man, I will kill you right now."

Yu Luoning's fingers trembled slightly.

At that moment, the child on the left staggered toward her, his voice trembling with tears, "Sister, I'm in pain, I don't want to die, please save me."

She looked at that young face and felt a tightness in her chest.

Yu Luoning closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and pointed her finger at another group of innocent children.

The old apothecary chuckled softly, "It seems your choice is very clear."

Yu Luoning didn't speak. Was it to save one child or a group of children? Naturally, she chose the latter without hesitation.

The next moment, the illusion before her eyes dissipated, and the gray mist surged again. This time, the person standing in front of her was no longer a child, but Shi Shangxu.

Yu Luoning's pupils contracted. At this moment, Shi Shangxu was dressed in green, looking at her with a gentle expression. However, Shi Shangxu's body was stained red with blood, and his breath was so weak that he could disappear at any moment.

Yu Luoning's eyes widened, and although she knew it was just an illusion, she still trembled all over.

The old apothecary laughed and said, "This time, what will you choose? If you save him, he will surely massacre the city and slaughter all living beings. Will you save him or not?"

Yu Luoning was stiff all over, feeling her hands and feet were ice cold, and she had no idea how to choose.

She also knew perfectly well that Shi Shangxu would not do anything to harm others.

"That's complete nonsense. My cousin is an upright man; how could he possibly do such a thing?"

"Ha, don't try to change the subject. I have my own ways of making him actually do such a thing."

Yu Luoning pinched her palm with her fingertips, staring intently at the hateful old man.

This old man not only gets caught up in his own internal struggles and gets stuck in a rut, but he also forces others to go crazy with him.

Yu Luoning suddenly felt no sympathy for him at all.

Out of the corner of her eye, she suddenly glanced to the other side and saw countless people standing in the gray fog—old people, women, and children—watching her silently with an inexplicably suffocating gaze.

On one side is her lover, and on the other side is a group of innocent people.

Yu Luoning's breathing was labored, and her gaze was complicated.

The old doctor suddenly laughed, but the laughter grew colder and colder.

He said, "What? Weren't you speaking so eloquently just now? Why are you afraid to answer now that it's your turn?"

She looked at Shi Shangxu's gentle features, her eyes welling up with tears. She gritted her teeth and pointed her finger firmly at Shi Shangxu.

The old apothecary's eyes flashed with turmoil, his voice laced with suppressed rage, "Why? You knew he would massacre the city and harm even more people, yet you still saved him?"

"I know he won't."

The old apothecary abruptly flicked his sleeve and roared hysterically, "But my rules tell you, he can!"

Yu Luoning glared at him and said coldly, "Even if he could, I would still choose him. If he really does something heinous in the future, I will personally kill him to pay for the lives of the people, okay?"

"You don't seem to have understood my assumption."

The old apothecary slowly approached, staring intently at her. "I told you, you can't stop it, even so. Faced with a choice destined for despair, will you still stubbornly choose him?"

Yu Luoning remained silent and ignored him.

The old man practically kidnapped her with a robber's logic, posing such an extreme hypothetical scenario and forcing her to choose.

What is her relationship with the people of that city? Why does she have to bear the burden of other people's lives?

She's not some savior, so why should she judge her lover based on a disaster that hasn't happened yet? In Yu Luoning's opinion, this old man has gone mad and is a bit delusional!

The old apothecary continued to stare at her, his cloudy eyes filled with a deep, unfathomable light. "You really are a ruthless girl. Of course, what do the lives of the people in this city have to do with you?"

"What if both of them are people you care about?"

The next moment, a gray mist rose around them, and when the mist dissipated, the other side of Shi Shangxu became Cui Xiu.

The scenes between heaven and earth change.

Yu Luoning was shocked to discover that Cui Xiu and Shi Shangxu were standing on opposite ends of a giant scale, with raging fire and an endless abyss beneath their feet.

"Now tell me, who will you choose to save? Whoever you choose, the other will die because of your choice," the old apothecary's voice rang out again.

The air fell into a deathly silence. Yu Luoning was surprised to find that everything around her was so real. Cui Xiu and Shi Shangxu were truly suspended in mid-air on opposite ends of the white bone scale.

Yu Luoning unconsciously clenched her teeth, wondering just how powerful this old man was.

In her eyes, Cui Xiu was a being with great supernatural powers and boundless magic. Could it be that he would be so weak and helpless after losing only 30% of his evil corpse essence?

Cui Xiu, who willingly accepted being placed on one side of the scale of bones, raised an eyebrow slightly.

In this gamble where lives are at stake, he also wanted to see who Yu Luoning would side with.

At this moment, Yu Luoning was filled with shock and panic.

A surge of overwhelming anger welled up inside him.

That damned old man, he saved the wrong person ten thousand years ago, and he's been feeling guilty and infuriated ever since. Why should he put her on the hot seat now?

No matter which one she chooses, she will be letting one of them down.

If she were to betray Shi Shangxu, her heart would be torn apart; if she were to betray Cui Xiu, not only would her conscience be troubled, but her life would also be in danger.

On the other side, the old apothecary looked at the multiple-choice question he had set up with satisfaction.

In an instant, his pupils seemed to see his past self from ten thousand years ago through Yu Luoning.

No matter what she chooses, the deep-seated guilt will haunt her for the rest of her life.

The old man's voice echoed in the empty space. His voice was old and cold, devoid of any warmth. "I won't give you much time to choose. Only the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. If you still can't make a choice after that, I will make my move and reduce the three of you to ashes."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old doctor casually waved his hand, and an incense burner appeared in front of him, with a stick of incense stick inserted in it, and the green smoke was rising in wisps.

Yu Luoning stood frozen in place, staring intently at the spark at the top of the incense burner. She clenched her fists so tightly that her nails dug into her flesh, but she was completely unaware of it.

At this moment, she wished a bolt of lightning would strike down from the heavens and kill them all, saving her the trouble of making any choices.

After writing so much, I've finally brought up what I wanted to write about: a choice between two options.