Chinese animation: Starting with Bad Guys

Seeing the two arguing more and more fiercely, Chi Meng suddenly asked in a trembling voice, almost using all her strength, "Who exactly are you...?"

The madwoman turned sharply to look at her, her eyes instantly reddening, tears streaming down her face like a broken string of pearls, her voice hoarse yet clear:

"I'm your mom!"

Chapter 109 Rules are meant to be broken!

Deep within the Ten Thousand Poison Cave, the poisonous fog was so thick it couldn't be dispersed, like crumpled ink stuck to the rugged rock walls, seeping out through the cracks and weaving an invisible net across the ground, each strand carrying a bone-chilling cold.

Chi Li and You Chuan stood facing each other, the air between the adoptive father and son heavier than the poisonous fog, heavy enough to break a person's spine.

Since returning from Guishizi, You Chuan's doubts had grown into a tangled web, finally breaking free of his restraint and leading to a barrage of questions:

"Survival of the fittest? Natural selection? But you said you would never let your brothers and sisters in Raojiang shed a single drop of blood in war again!"

Chi Li did not get angry.

He stepped forward slowly, his withered hand resting on You Chuan's shoulder. The calluses on his fingertips brushed against You Chuan's clothes—marks left from years of grinding poisons and twisting Gu worms, carrying a faint, fishy smell.

"Your father has his own plans for this matter..."

You Chuan abruptly flung the hand away, his knuckles clenched so tightly they turned white, even the spaces between his fingers were bluish, and the bloodshot veins in his eyes looked like they were about to spill out.

"If war breaks out with the Central Plains, Raojiang will surely become scorched earth! Is this your arrangement to protect the Ten Thousand Poison Cave?"

A furious shout suddenly exploded, like a boulder being smashed into a stagnant pool.

Chi Li's aura suddenly erupted, and the surrounding poisonous mist seemed to solidify under this pressure, forming an invisible wall between the two.

You Chuan felt as if his chest had been crushed by a heavy hammer. He staggered back half a step, his boots grinding against the gravel on the ground with a soft, crisp sound, almost like his bones were being ground together.

But his spine straightened even more, like a wild grass that refused to bend in the gale.

That anger came quickly and went even faster.

The fierce look in Chi Li's eyes faded, leaving only a bottomless calm, like a swamp hiding countless poisonous insects:

"Go, Junior Sacrificial Officer. Fulfill your duties."

On You Chuan's tightly clenched fist, the veins throbbed, and the skin on the back of his hand bulged and shone.

His Adam's apple bobbed, but he didn't say another word. As he turned around, his cloak swept across the stone wall, making a series of soft sounds, as if something had broken.

His back was ramrod straight, but his slightly trembling shoulders concealed both a resolute determination and a tearing pain.

As Chi Li gazed at that retreating figure, a faint glint of light suddenly flashed in his empty eyes, like phosphorescent light suddenly illuminating the depths of a poisonous swamp.

He slowly raised his hand, his withered fingers tracing a line in the air, and murmured, the last part of his voice swallowed by the poisonous fog: "...The God of War has descended upon the world, even the Twelve Caves cannot protect you..."

The mist of Dead Creek Forest drifted past my feet, carrying the scent of grass and dampness. It was much softer than the mist of the Ten Thousand Poison Cave, brushing against my ankles like cotton candy.

Chi Meng nestled between her parents, listening to them recount those distant stories. Her cheeks were warmed by the dappled sunlight filtering through the trees, and even her eyelashes seemed to be glistening with a golden sheen.

Her mother, Xiancan, was once a saint of the Twelve Caves.

Many years ago, Gu King Chi Li was ordered by the Bad Commander to travel with Witch King Chi Li to the Twelve Caves to seek the secret techniques of the Divine Altar of Soldiers. However, on the way, he bumped into Fresh Ginseng. That day, that one glance, became a fate that would entangle them for half their lives.

Later, Xiancan led them into the Twelve Caves, where the two of them each learned the two arts of poisonous insects from the secret techniques. However, she herself was exiled to the Death Creek Forest for the crime of "meddling in the outside world".

"Back then, your dad went crazy and rushed into the woods."

Fresh Ginseng nudged Chi Li's arm, her fingertips still damp from the forest, her tone slightly reproachful, yet her eyes sparkled with laughter:

“I deliberately hid and refused to see him, hiding in the aerial roots of the old banyan tree, watching him step into the mud and not be able to pull his feet out, watching him sneeze from the miasma, and each time he returned soaking wet, his clothes still covered with thorns from the forest, hanging like a hedgehog.”

Chi Li smiled bitterly.

"I wanted to build a thatched hut outside the forest and spend my whole life with you. But you did the opposite, you wrapped Chi Meng, who had just been weaned, in a swaddle and left her at my door. There was a crooked little butterfly embroidered on that swaddle, you must have embroidered it."

For Chi Meng's sake, and for the sake of all the children in Raojiang no longer suffering from the ravages of war, he and Chi Li stood side by side for ten years, ending the internal strife and building the Ten Thousand Poison Cave.

But before the foundation of the Ten Thousand Poison Cave was secure, Chi Li gradually changed.

"He always said that he would lead troops to the Altar of Gods and Monsters to protect the Cave of Ten Thousand Poisons for eternity."

Chi Li's voice lowered, her fingertips tightening around the blade of grass on her knee:

“I treated him like an older brother, and I never thought... that what he wanted was not protection, but to devour him.”

"A silly boy is a silly boy!"

Xian Shen hummed softly, reaching out to brush away the bits of grass clinging to his clothes. Her fingertips brushed against the white hair at his temples, but she paused, a tenderness welling up in her eyes:

"They got scammed but still helped the person count the money."

Chi Li suddenly pointed to Qin Chuan, who was munching on a melon on the swing, and his eyes lit up: "But my junior, our future son-in-law, will surely end the chaos and bring peace to the Central Plains and Raojiang."

"Dad!" Chi Meng's face flushed red, as if it had been dyed by the sunset in the forest. She reached out to cover Chi Li's mouth, but Qin Chuan gently pinched her cheek.

The warmth of his fingertips made her eyelashes flutter. She secretly glanced at him, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but turn up.

Fresh Ginseng's scrutinizing gaze fell on Qin Chuan, and what she saw made her heart tremble.

With her power above the Great Heavenly Realm, she couldn't see through this young man's true strength at all. His aura was like the mist in the Dead Creek Forest, seemingly gentle, but unfathomably deep.

Qin Chuan gently stroked Chi Meng's flushed cheeks and smiled, "We can discuss ending the chaos later. Right now, the most urgent task is to help the two seniors reunite with their families."

"The rules of the Twelve Caves..." Xian Shen shook his head, his fingertips unconsciously twisting the hem of his clothes: "If I leave this place, they will not kill me, but Chi Li and Chi Meng will surely die."

Chi Li was saddened upon hearing this, his knuckles touching his brow. So this was the reason his wife had avoided him for so many years. He should have realized it sooner.

Chi Meng's eyes were red and swirling with tears. One of the tears fell onto the back of her hand, burning her and making her shiver.

"Rules are meant to be broken." Qin Chuan gently stroked the top of her head, his voice as steady as a mountain. "Your little brother's fist is just right, hard enough."

Chi Meng immediately stopped crying and smiled, nodding through her sobs. Yes, she still had her all-powerful older brother!

“Young man, the twelve lords of the twelve caves are all peerless experts above the Great Heavenly Realm, and the chief lord is even more unfathomable.”

Fresh Ginseng said coolly, but his tone held a hint of inquiry:

"No matter how hard your fist is, can it be harder than the rules of the Twelve Caves that have been in place for hundreds of years?"

"Even a fist harder than Yuan Tiangang's won't work?"

A glint of light flashed in Qin Chuan's eyes.

If he were to fight Yuan Tiangang again now, he would be absolutely certain that he would beat the old bastard to a pulp.

"How arrogant!"

Fresh ginseng scoffed, but his heart skipped a beat.

Yuan Tiangang... he's a figure even the Twelve Caves have to be wary of, and this kid dares to compare himself to him?

"If you don't believe me, senior, you might as well give it a try."

Qin Chuan calmly stood up, his hands behind his back, a corner of his clothes fluttering in the wind through the woods.

"Alright! Then let me see what you've got!"

Before the fresh ginseng finished speaking, it had already made its move.

With a sudden jerk of her arms, the wrapped gauze transformed into a flurry of flying fluff, carrying a sharp glint imbued with miasma.

The ground beneath their feet trembled violently as countless black rats burst forth from the earth, their fur glossy and their teeth gleaming green.

This is her unique skill of controlling rats; she can even gnaw through ordinary iron armor.

The rat swarm surged into Qin Chuan like a black tide, blocking out most of the light in the forest.

Faced with this terrifying offensive, Qin Chuan simply smiled calmly.

He raised his right hand slightly, his five fingers spread wide, and an invisible wall of energy suddenly formed. A faint light flowed across the surface of the wall, blocking out even the stench of the rats.

The surging horde of rats crashed into this barrier, falling one after another with a series of crisp, cracking sounds, as if they had hit an impenetrable wall, unable to advance any further.

Xian Shen's pupils contracted sharply, and she made a hand seal with her fingertips. Suddenly, the rat swarm changed direction and climbed along the edge of the air wall, trying to attack from above—this was her killer move in rat control, "Rat Encirclement," which even the chief of the cave praised highly back then.

Qin Chuan raised an eyebrow slightly, seemingly in approval.

With a slight twist of his wrist, the air wall suddenly rose higher and tightened inward, as if an invisible hand had gripped the entire swarm of rats.

The rats squeaked in terror, as if squeezed by an invisible force, and turned around in unison, frantically burrowing back into the ground like a receding tide, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.

Even the cotton-like gauze floated back down to the feet of the fresh ginseng, the miasma on it completely dissipated.

Dead Creek Forest returned to silence, with only the wind rustling through the leaves, as if whispering about the thrilling events that had just transpired.

Fresh ginseng gazed at Qin Chuan, her fingertips trembling slightly.

She had clearly hidden three "mother-child Gu" among the rats, intending to probe his secrets, but the barrier of energy silently dissolved them, even severing the Gu's aura.

This level of strength... it really does vaguely resemble the figure of Yuan Tiangang, the Bad Commander?

"Now, is this fist hard enough?"

Qin Chuan stood with his hands behind his back, his clothes fluttering. He caught a glimpse of Chi Meng's bright eyes out of the corner of his eye, and the corners of his mouth curved into a smile.

Chi Meng cheered and jumped into his arms, her arms tightening around his neck, her voice full of pride and admiration: "Big brother is the best!"

Chapter 110 The False Deity in the Fallen Flower Cave, the Real Illusion Deep Within the Painting Valley

Fresh ginseng stood at the edge of Dead Creek Forest, where sunlight poured down like a golden waterfall, causing her long-unseen pupils to suddenly contract.

For nearly twenty years, she has not stepped out of this perpetually gloomy forest.

She slowly squinted, letting the long-awaited warmth spread through her limbs and bones, and every pore on her skin seemed to stretch out like a seed that had been parched for a long time and was finally met with rain.

She stretched lazily, her bones cracking softly, as if she were melting in the warm sunshine.

"Senior Fresh Ginseng, it's time to set off."

Qin Chuan stood not far away, the sunlight kissing his well-defined profile, outlining a golden edge, even the stray hairs at his temples shimmered.

Chi Meng hopped over like a happy little deer and grabbed Qin Chuan's arm: "Big brother, you said the Twelve Caves moved to Painting Valley? I've never even heard of that place!"

Chi Li frowned, his fingers unconsciously rubbing the Gu pouch at his waist, and said in a deep voice, "To get to Painting Valley, you must pass through Falling Flower Cave."

"Falling Flower Cave?" Chi Meng tilted her head, the silver ornaments in her hair jingling with her movements. "Dad, you said that the girls there dress up beautifully every day, just waiting to be married off by the gods! They wouldn't possibly side with the Witch King, would they?"

Qin Chuan shook his head slightly, a hint of worry flashing in his eyes: "That's not what Senior Gu King is worried about."

He recalled the Corpse Ancestor Hou Qing—the Corpse Ancestor had originally intended to go to Huagu to find the Twelve Caves, but he backed out in front of Luohua Cave, unable to bear the group of women who were so deeply entangled in feudal superstition.