He remembered everything about himself, including his real name, of course: his name was Jin Tuo, and he was the leader of a large group of demon clans, known as the "Rice King", and under his leadership, this group of demon clans saved many of their kind, but in the end, they all became slaves of the demon seed, and needed the amnesty of the Taoist patriarch to save their lives.

Ashamed to return to the land of demons to face his former subordinates, he turned and walked into the forest, not allowing any demons to follow, he was not sure what he was going to do, he just wanted to wander alone for a while.

To the north of the forest is the land of demons, and to the south is the kingdom of humans, where Jin Tuan wanders aimlessly for several days, thirsty for water from the springs in the forest, hungry for nameless wild fruits, and even eats grass directly.

On the fifth day, he finally threw away the self-blame and shame in his heart, returned to the form of a brocade-tailed horse, galloped through the forest, raced with the deer, and fought with the tigers and wolves, without thinking of anything.

He never counted the days, so I don't know how many days had passed, and suddenly he fell to the ground, and took human form again, and leaned against a tree, and vomited incessantly, so weak that he could not stand up, and the self-reproach and shame that he had thrown away came back with even greater strength, and looked down at him coldly, and without saying a word, he could not lift his head by his gaze alone.

The brocade was all gone, and he lay naked under the tree, the animals of the forest licking his body, the insects crawling on him, and the leaves covering him, and he did not move, until a human voice sounded above him, and he barely raised his eyes.

"Do you want to feed the ants? Your skin is so hard that they bite for days and they don't get a single piece. ”

Jin Tuan saw through the leaves blocking his eyes, and saw an old man who was smiling at him, his face was vaguely familiar, and after thinking for a while, he spit out two words: "Go away." ”

The old man was not interested, "Since you don't avoid insects and beasts, why do you want to drive me away?"

Because you can speak, you are louder than the flying insects that make the most noise. Jin Tuan didn't bother to speak, so he withdrew his gaze, and no longer even thought about who this person was.

The old man probably found it boring, turned around and walked away, and after a while he came back again, brought a dead stake, placed it beside Jintuan, and then sat down slowly, "I used to be strong and powerful, so I have always been strong and powerful. I've done a lot of things I shouldn't have done, and then old age still came, and it came suddenly, and it beat me all at once, one moment I thought I was at the top, the next moment I was so old that I couldn't even control my arms and legs. ”

The old man sighed and looked up at the canopy above him, as if he was envious of the tree's vigor.

"I had big dreams. I thought I could transcend all the strife in the world and bridge the hatred and killing that had lasted for hundreds of thousands of years, but a small spell made me lose my way and my ideals vanished. It's not as much as a leaf. So I joined the fight, using hatred as a weapon, killing as a means, and practicing all the ugliness I had despised before. ”

"But what's the use? another spell woke me up again. Then I realized that what once existed in my heart was not an ideal, but the glory and status obtained after realizing the ideal. I longed for the worship and reverence of all beings, but my strength was insufficient, so I made up an ideal and refused to compete with the strong to make myself invincible. When I finally gained a little strength, I showed my true colors and couldn't wait to join in the fight, to seize the territory and to make disciples. ”

"But the power threw me away, and I was disqualified from fighting. I wonder if there is an ideal in this world, and is it just the self-consolation of the weak? In this way, simplicity is only the absence of anything to fight, greatness is only the absence of rivals, nobility is only the use of walls and guards to block the lowly, and goodness is only because calamity has happened to others......"

Jin Tuan slowly raised his head, brushed the leaves off his face, and looked at the old man in surprise, thinking that this was his hallucination, because the old man's words were almost exactly the same as what he had been thinking these days.

"I reasoned like this, making excuses for my momentary weakness and the great mistakes I had made, and I almost convinced myself. The old man lowered his head and looked at the gray face on the ground.

"Isn't that so?" Jin Tuan couldn't help but speak, "All living beings act according to their own strength and wisdom, some eat grass, some eat meat, some kill, some are killed, those who can fly will not walk on the ground, and those who can live on people will try their best to maintain their status. Isn't it true that there are people in this world who abandon their wealth, but because of them they gain a large number of followers and gain another kind of power, is this not what you once wanted? There are also people who give up their desires, but they are far superior to mortals in terms of longevity and magic, and they no longer even think of themselves as one of the living beings. I have some kind of power, I have its instincts, and I am just a bearer, I can't do anything, there is no right or wrong, it's all power acting through me. Isn't that so?"

Jin Tuan hadn't spoken for too long, and felt the blood flow accelerating with every word she spat out.

"If so, why are you lying here? Your power is not all gone, you are not carrion, but you would rather rot like carrion, the instinct of strength, why can't it continue to manipulate you?"

Jin Tuan sat up slowly, "Because...... I felt ashamed that I had not been able to lead the demons to victory, but had instead led them to a desperate situation...... No, no, my true thoughts are not like this, I feel ashamed because my strength is too weak to be worth mentioning in front of the strong, and I am no different from carrion in front of them, so I would rather rot here and I am ashamed of myself. ”

"So the power used to dominate you, and now you are the power that dominates it, and you defeat the instinct that the power gives you in another way: you would rather rot than use the remaining power for evil. The old man stood up and picked up the dead wood stake, "So weakness is sometimes very useful, only weakness can restrain strength, I am calm with a decaying body, you overwhelm the power with the will of carrion, the strong in the world climb higher and higher, they are the power of this world, but also the madness of this world, only the weak can pull them down a little and maintain the balance of the world." Lo and behold, my ideals are still there. ”

The old man walked away carrying a stake, passing a few trees before disappearing.

Jin Tuan raised his hand and touched his forehead, he was really feverish, as a big demon who was not too weak, he was actually sick, "Is this all my hallucination?" he asked himself softly, and suddenly remembered who the old man was, "Hong Futian, you are Hong Futian." I've heard you teach about the Cult of the Old Gods, and then you took over Broken Stream City and founded the Honsho - you've also been controlled by demons. ”

But Jin Tuan had never seen Hong Futian after aging, so he couldn't tell if the person he had just seen was really illusory, everything in front of him had not changed, and the weeds where the dead wood stake had been lying were erect, as if they had never been oppressed in any way.

Jin Tuan regained his shame, picked leaves to make clothes, and walked in the direction where Hong Futian disappeared, pondering a question in his heart: if the weak are a constraint on strength. He was born with demonic powers, and since then he has practiced all kinds of demonic arts and Taoism, and he has also been exposed to some demon spells during the control of the demon seed, but they are not deep, and they are added to some shallow ponds, and at a glance, they can't accommodate big fish.

He kept walking forward, and he didn't see Hong Futian's figure again, in fact. He had forgotten about Hong Futian and concentrated on thinking about his own problems, but his steps did not stop, thirsty and hungry. Just grab something and stuff it in your mouth, whether it's a leaf, a fruit, or an unlucky insect or lizard.

After three nights and two days, Jin Tuan heard a strange chanting. Sometimes like a torrential wind, sometimes like a spring water, full of sorrow. But in the middle is mixed with the joy of new life.

He followed the sound, and in a sparsely wooded woodland, he saw a group of women, forty or fifty, old and young, walking slowly around a newly heaped tomb, weeping and singing, each of them taking a jug from the hand of the person who had gone before him, and pouring a little water on the grave.

Their steps were like dancing, soothing and sorrowful, but reserved and elegant, matching the song, when the last woman also watered, they changed their appearance, they took out all kinds of wine jugs and wine bags from their arms, and passed each other to drink, from this moment on, crying is crying, laughing is laughing, everyone has no concealment of the emotions in their hearts.

After a little fuss, the women staggered away from the woods, and only one of them wept bitterly for a while before he got up and followed his companion.

Jin Tuan felt an indescribable shock in his heart, he had seen countless dead people and buried some of them with his own hands, but he had never seen such a funeral.

He asked a woman who passed by him, "Who is the deceased?"

The woman glanced at the man covered in leaves and branches, and showed no special surprise, as if she knew him, "It is a child who has not even had a name since he was born, and we mourn him, hoping that his soul will still have time to find a new place to live." ”

"What does it mean to water before the grave?"

"We plant a handful of tree seeds, and if the seeds grow, it means that the child's soul has a home, and when the tree grows and then withers, the soul will have a chance to become a mother's child again. ”

Jin Tuan had never heard the phrase "What is this place?" you ...... Is it a human or a demon?"

The woman walking in front was shouting, and the woman who spoke hurriedly left, "This is Yelin Town, we are human." ”

Jin Tuan understands where these strange women came from, they are the rumored residents of the Stop State.

The last woman, the child's mother, also walked away, with tears and smiles on her face, she could finally let go of the early death of the baby and the grief in her heart, and continue to live a normal life.

Jin Tuan walked to the grave and looked at the small patch of watered land, a few seeds struggling to grow underneath, he thought.

He sat down, staring at it without blinking, and the sun was setting and rising, and he did not move, and three days later in the morning, he saw the shoots emerge from the ground, and after seven days, the shoots grew to nearly a foot long, and that night was stormy, and at dawn the shoots disappeared without a trace, and there was no sign of the women ever being except for the graves in front of them.

They were also as vague as illusions, and were not surprised by the appearance of strange men.

Jin Tuan stood up, feeling dizzy, he did not go to Yelin Town, but walked out of the forest, all the way to the densely populated place, facing the crowd that greeted him, he raised his thin arm, and said, "Please listen to me tell you about the way of the weak." ”

Soon after, he was mistaken for General Mu in Broken Stream City, and Jin Tuan accepted the title because the two of them looked the same, believing that it was easier to perpetuate a belief than to create one.

Almost three months later, in an unnamed valley near the Imperial Capital, he was ready to face the first test of life and death as a weakling.

(Ask for recommendation and subscription) (to be continued......)