Before long, Lin Pingzhi, overwhelmed by hunger, had no choice but to set aside his pride and beg for food.
Unfortunately, the farmhouse he approached belonged to a peasant woman who had just quarreled with her husband and had been beaten. Filled with anger with no outlet, she lashed out at Lin Pingzhi when he asked for food.
She cursed him viciously, blaming him for stealing one of her chickens. Her words were crude and harsh, and she even grabbed a broom to chase him away. With every insult she hurled, Lin Pingzhi took a step back.
But the woman grew more aggressive, and in her fit of rage, she swung the broom at Lin Pingzhi’s face. Lin Pingzhi, provoked, raised his hand to strike back.
Yet, in that crucial moment, he reconsidered—he had failed to beg for food and was now about to hit a peasant woman? That would be utterly disgraceful.
Forcing himself to withdraw his palm, he used too much force and lost his balance, stumbling backward. His left foot landed in a pile of cow dung, and he slipped, falling flat on his back.
The peasant woman, unaware of the consequences, burst into laughter and mocked him. She even struck his head with the broom and spat on him.
Lin Pingzhi was filled with anger and humiliation. Struggling to stand, he found his face and hands covered in cow dung. Yet, despite such degradation, he did not use his martial skills to take revenge on the woman.
At that moment, the woman disappeared into her house and returned with four cooked corn cobs.
It turned out that after venting her frustration, she felt that Lin Pingzhi, so honest and desperate with hunger, probably wasn’t the chicken thief. So, she made amends.
However, even as she handed him food, she continued to scold him for being lazy and useless. Lin Pingzhi suffered another wave of humiliation and almost threw the corn away.
But upon second thought, compared to the hatred he bore for his family’s massacre, this disgrace was nothing.
Gritting his teeth, he endured it and even thanked the woman.
…
As the scene played out, the livestream’s chat exploded with comments.
【Five Poison Sect Leader Lan Fenghuang: Isn’t the Qingcheng Sect supposed to be an esteemed righteous sect? How is it that their leader’s son behaves no better than Tian Boguang, using his strength to bully a woman?】
【Demon Cult Elder Xiang Wentian: ‘Righteous sect’? What a joke! They’re just a bunch of shameless scoundrels, dressing up their greed with empty words!】
【Demon Cult Elder Xiang Wentian: But for a Qingcheng Sect disciple to so brazenly oppress the weak in broad daylight—do they not even bother to keep up appearances anymore?】
【Sun Moon Cult’s Qu Feiyan: That Yu Renyan was stabbed to death by Lin Pingzhi? Serves him right!】
【One-Word Electric Sword Ding Jian: If the Qingcheng Sect disciples behave so atrociously even when away from home, I shudder to think how they treat common folk in their own territory.】
【Sword Forging Fortress Jian Xiong: Threats, intimidation, slaughter… All for the sake of the “Bixie Sword Manual.” The Qingcheng Sect has truly lost all humanity!】
【Hengshan Sect’s Master Dingyi: Such ruthless slaughter of the innocent—how is your Qingcheng Sect any different from the so-called “Demonic Cults” you condemn?】
【Mount Hua Sect Leader Yue Buqun: I can understand the pain of losing a son, but “a debt has its debtor”—exterminating an entire family is too much.】
【Soaring Swan Fairy Yang Yan: Losing a son? Hah! That was never the point—Yu Canghai always intended to wipe them all out. Otherwise, why gather so many people?】
【Qingcheng Sect’s Gu Hanyang: How could this be? The Qingcheng Sect in Swordsman was never like this!】
【Qingcheng Sect’s Qingsongzi: Ah! What a disgrace to our sect! To think our own sect leader would personally stoop to scheming for a mere sword manual, and worse, fail to teach his son properly. We’ve lost all face!】
【Five Mountain Alliance Leader Zuo Lengchan: Is this… an expert from another Swordsman universe’s Qingcheng Sect?】
【Flying Bat Ke Zhen’e: If I ever come across someone as vile as Yu Canghai or Yu Renyan, I’ll kill them on sight! But Lin Pingzhi… despite his young age, he has the heart of a true hero. Admirable!】
【Four-Browed Swordsman Lu Xiaofeng: As the saying goes: “Only when the granaries are full do people observe etiquette.” In times of chaos, even parents have been known to eat their own children. Moral principles collapse under extreme hunger.】
【Four-Browed Swordsman Lu Xiaofeng: And yet, even when Lin Pingzhi was starving, he never abandoned his sense of righteousness. Truly a man of iron will.】
【Four-Browed Swordsman Lu Xiaofeng: He was beaten and spat upon by a mere peasant woman. With his skills, he could have easily slapped her to death. But he held back.】
【Four-Browed Swordsman Lu Xiaofeng: “When one holds a deadly weapon, the desire to kill follows.” It’s easy to kill, but enduring humiliation without retaliating takes great restraint.】
【Four-Browed Swordsman Lu Xiaofeng: I may not have such restraint, but I respect it.】
【Gentleman Thief Chu Liuxiang: Lin Pingzhi turned out the way he did because of his parents’ strict teachings—a stark contrast to the disgraceful Qingcheng Sect.】
【Sacred Maiden Wanwan of the Yin Gui Sect: How foolish! What’s the point of being a hero? He got beaten and spat on for nothing. If it were me, I’d have slapped that woman dead on the spot.】
【Zhao Qiansun: You demoness!】
【Sacred Maiden Wanwan of the Yin Gui Sect: That’s right, I am a demoness. But even a demoness has more dignity than a punching bag.】
【Yang Guo: Where are all the Qingcheng Sect people? Why aren’t they talking? Hey, Yu Canghai, stop pretending to be dead and come out!】
【Qingcheng Sect Leader Yu Canghai: Slander! This is all slander!】
[…].
The comments flooded in, with people outraged by the Qingcheng Sect’s shameless actions.
…
“Ping’er! My son!”
Madam Lin, seeing her son’s miserable plight, felt a pain so deep it tore at her heart—worse than the tortures she herself had endured.
“Good! That’s my son, Lin Zhennan’s son! Hahaha!”
Though Lin Zhennan was also heartbroken, he was even prouder. Lin Pingzhi had never forgotten his teachings. He had not disgraced the name of the Fortune Prestige Escort Agency!
Then, Lin Zhennan cast a look of contempt toward Yu Canghai.
Yu Canghai ignored him, his eyes fixed on the barrage of damning comments. Seeing the relentless criticism and condemnation, Yu Canghai’s face turned pale. It was over.
The Qingcheng Sect’s reputation was ruined. They had become the target of everyone’s scorn.
“Dammit! Even that hypocrite Yue Buqun is kicking me while I’m down, pretending to be righteous. As if he doesn’t want the Bixie Sword Manual just as much!”
“Once I obtain the manual, I’ll make all these bastards pay!”
Yu Canghai clenched his fists, seething with hatred.