Chapter 552: Atrocities Can Transform People in Such a Way!
"Almost everyone said that I was gifted because I was able to learn anything very quickly. But, they didn’t know why I was so quick... How could such a young child understand everything so fast? It was only because I longed for that one day... that one day with my mother! It was because I wanted to see her smile! I wanted to make her happier!"
"This may be boring, but it was my only source of hope. However, this only lasted till I was ten years of age. My grandfather had already begun to bring me in contact with tactics and trickery by that time. He had also begun to ask me about my opinions in different matter. He would hurl hate words of criticism at me if I said something inappropriate by any chance. One day, I went hunting with my guard. But, I ran into my master there... I shot an arrow at an antelope, but it didn’t die. Therefore, I rode my horse ahead, and used my sword to kill it. I had somehow managed to control myself from exposing any emotions on my face. However, that was when I suddenly heard someone say..."He’s very cold-blooded! He’s make a great successor!’
"And then... he appeared in front of me. However, he wasted no time after he saw me. He grabbed me, and began to examine every joint in my body. He then asked me if I would like to accept him as my master? My bodyguard came to save me. However, that man didn’t budge. Instead, he even waved his arm to throw my guards down. Then, he came to my family, and said that he would like to accept me as his disciple!"
Li You Ran smiled bitterly as he continued to speak, "That was when I got to know that he was the Cold-Blood Great Master Lei Wu Bei... he was unrivalled in the entire world. My grandfather immediately agreed to make me this man’s disciple after he learned of this man’s identity! But, I didn’t agree to it. And, that’s because I knew that I wouldn’t be able to see my mother once I left with him! However, I was still forced to go with him...
"It had already been two years when I was first allowed to return home from my master’s place. But, I was extremely happy. Rather, I should say that I was ecstatic! After all, I was finally about to see my mother after two long years! I hardly rested while riding the horse back home. I managed to finish a 15-day journey in only 10. And, that’s because I had learnt a lot of new things from my master. And, I had progressed very quickly as well. After all, I was very excited to share this news with my mother. I wanted her to share the joy of my success. And, I didn’t wish to delay it for even a moment. I wanted to hug her... to let her hold me. I had always liked that feeling...
"But, I couldn’t see my mother anywhere when I returned home. I looked for her everywhere, but no one told me anything. Even my mother’s maid was nowhere to be seen. So, there was nothing that I could do about it. I only remember that I felt extremely horrible at that time. I’m making this confession for the first time in my life... I got hold of the Li Family’s butler that night, and I asked him about my mother’s whereabouts. He didn’t agree to speak out at first. So, I pulled out ten fingernails from his hands... and his toenails after that. He eventually agreed to tell me everything. He told me that my mother was dead..."
Li You Ran began to shiver. It seemed as if his tall figure was rustling in the wind. Two tears slowly oozed out of his eyes. Jun Mo Xie had been sitting calmly, and had been listening to him in silence. They were adversaries. However, a feeling of pity had suddenly arisen in his heart...
"My mother used to miss me terribly after I left my house. She dreamt of meeting me every day; she wept every day. She would always request my father to allow her see me once..." Li You Ran’s face had begun to distort, "My father would always get irritated by this. So, he eventually began to avoid her. However, my mother would find a way to see him, and she would then cry for me in front of him. They eventually had a huge fight one day. And, my father... that piece of shit! That... that wretched piece of shit! He went as far as hurting her over something so small. He hadn’t hit her badly, but my mother couldn’t handle the injury. And, she died after a few days...
"Only two months had passed since my mother’s death by the time I got home. Tang Yuan’s father wasn’t the Minister of Revenue at that time. Instead, it was my father. He was trained in martial arts. But, my mother wasn’t. She was a frail woman. However, he had still acted in such an evil manner!"
Li You Ran clenched his teeth. However, Jun Mo Xie had clearly heard his voice squeak. Li You Ran continued to speak in a hoarse voice, "Third Young Master, what would you have done if you had been in my shoes?"
"If I were you...? What would I have done?" Jun Mo Xie genuinely pondered over it for a long time. But, he couldn’t help but force a smile and shake his head. [The mother who gave him birth is on one side. However, the father is on the other. What could he have done?] However, Jun Mo Xie still thought about it for a while in a calm manner. This was the first time that he had been so clueless... However, he was keen to know about it. So, he couldn’t help but ask, "What did you do?"
"Third Young Master... it seems that you’re not as good as me in this respect!" Li You Ran spoke-up with a bitter smile on his face, "People say that Jun Family’s Third Young Master kills people like he’s scathing flax. People say that being blood-thirsty is his second nature! But, you’re no match for me. After all, I’m devoid of humanity!" He smiled cruelly, and his lips begin to tremble. In fact, it appeared as if his teeth were also trembling, "I... I grabbed him... and killed him!"
Jun Mo Xie was left stunned upon hearing this! [Li You Ran was a child of merely 12 years of age at that time... However, he went as far as to kill his own father! This is unimaginable!]
"Ha Ha Ha!" Li You Ran sneered, "That was very unexpected; right? The first person I killed in my life... was my own father!" Li You Ran’s body trembled. In fact, he began to shiver. It took him a long while to recover his tranquility. However, he sounded even more ruthless and cold now, "That day changed me. It transformed me in my entirety. I became vicious and merciless. I had lost both my parents. And, I was no longer deserving of anyone’s care in this world. After all, I had killed my own father! So, why wouldn’t I dare to kill anyone else I wanted to?"
"You’re very fierce!" Jun Mo Xie knew that he couldn’t have. After all, this wasn’t fierce. Instead, it was inhuman. And, Jun Mo Xie knew that couldn’t have gone to such extremes if he had been in Li You Ran’s shoes.
A parent’s love is deeper than the ocean which can submerge mountains.
[They might’ve made a mistake, but they are still your parents! They’ve created you. They’ve brought you up. Is it right to kill them with your own hands even if they’ve made a mistake? It not surprising that Li You Ran’s nature is so awfully twisted... His malicious nature can scare anyone. This matter had probably had a great affect on him...]
"I picked up that blood-stained knife after that incident, and went to look for my grandfather. I went to him, and told him ’I killed your son! Because, he killed my mother..." Li You Ran continued, "My grandfather was expressionless for a long time. Then, he gave me his first order —’Kill anyone who might spread this matter! After that, I’ll spread the word that your father suffered from an ailment, and died because of it!’
"I killed my father. But, I killed a thousand other men to be buried alongside him. That was when I got to know that my affairs didn’t merely involve me alone. I realized that I won’t be the only one blamed for my deeds. Rather, my actions would drag the entire Li Family." Li You Ran had a bitter smile on his face. "My grandfather beat me up ruthlessly after this incident. Then, he faced me and said —’No matter what you do... don’t ever have regrets!’"
Jun Mo Xie breathed a deep sigh, and thought; [This Li You Ran is extremely vicious. However, Li Shang has given such an outrageous education to his grandson! This entire family is insane!]
[It’s natural for the mother to miss her son! But, the husband didn’t know how to comfort her... or maybe how to take care of her. Instead, he got troubled by it. So, he hit his wife and ended up hurting her badly! In fact, he hurt her so badly that she passed away! Then, the son came back and avenged his mother’s death by killing the father... The grandfather found out that his son was killed by his own grandson! However, he went so far as to tell him... Don’t have regrets!?]
[The Li Family’s people are probably born with an unkind and cold nature! For example... Li You Ran’s father beat his wife so badly that he injured her. And, that too because they had a quarrel! And, Li You Ran went one step ahead and killed his father with his own hands!]
[This is so fu*king absurd!]
"People are so weak-willed! My grandfather didn’t sleep for several nights after this matter. His hair turned white, and he started to develop wrinkles on his face. A few days passed. Then, he told me that ’It fitting for my nature to be ruthless! Passion is important for success. But, it is more important to be ruthless!’" Li You Ran laughed bitterly as he spoke.
Jun Mo Xie was rendered speechless!
[It’s not surprising that Li You Ran is capable of such treachery. After all, he had such a father, and such a grandfather... It seems like expecting him to teach his grandson to be generous and virtuous is nothing more than a mere a fantasy!]
"After that, I returned to Shan Shang after another three years. However, Shan Shang had suffered many hardships during that time. The people had no money to eat or buy clothes. They didn’t even have the money to support their wives and parents. This was a major issue over there at that time. However, it was nothing for my Li Family’s financial power... My master slowly started favoring me more and more. Even my fellow disciples started feeling like the owed me and my family..." It appeared as if Li You Ran was lost, "But, I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy at all!
"My grandfather had already declared me the future Lord of the Family by the time I returned home. So, I started living in my official residence, and began handling the external business of my family. I started keeping extremely busy. However, the people of my family would remind me of my father whenever I saw them. They reminded me of that beast... that piece of shit! That’s why I hated them. But, I had power in my hands now. So, I began to give them a hard time, and started taking them under my control. I would terrify them every time they’d come to me with their sufferings and problems. In fact, I would intimidate them until they wouldn’t dare to speak. And, I used to feel happy in doing this. That’s how I realized that my happiness lay in this!"
Li You Ran grinned, "That’s why I began to love watching others suffer. I started to like controlling people. The more pain they were in... the happier I felt! In short, I liked to make other people cry! But, there were days when I’d let them smile. I would make me feel like I could do anything. In fact, it was refreshing to do it once in a while... My hatred was only directed against the Li Family at first. But, I realized that other people’s pain also gave me pleasure as time passed!
"What was even more surprising was that... The Li Family gradually began to prosper with each passing day after I brought those people under my control! The Li Family began to come together in every aspect... regardless of whether it was business or bureaucracy... This outcome was far beyond my expectation!"
[You brought the worms of your family under your control. So, the family was obviously going to prosper... Moreover, you had dared to terrorize your own brothers and cousins... So, who would dare to play sinister tricks on you? It would’ve been very strange if the Li Family hadn’t prospered after the bloodied methods you used!]
Jun Mo Xie secretly pondered. He had finally understood the matter... [I get it. It must’ve happened like this... The main reason is that Li You Ran killed his own father. That must’ve led to the formation of an inner demon in his heart. And, everything that has followed since then has been a cause-and-effect of this inner demon...]
[The death of Li You Ran’s mother became the turning point in his life! And, that’s the reason why Li You Ran is like this today!]