Everyone is a novice at being human.
Zhao Shuning is one of the lucky ones. She has the chance to make a fresh choice and live a new life.
On that day, after seeing off the group led by Viper from the cave, she left.
Before leaving, she didn't forget to remind everyone not to show up too soon. It would be best for them to appear after Wu Long's group reached the second altitude.
The twenty - person group all obeyed the girl's instructions.
Among them, Viper was the leader.
After that conversation, Zhao Shuning just learned that actually, Viper wasn't born vicious. It was the influence of his childhood that made him not trust anyone, not even his closest relatives.
That night, they were sitting in the cave.
The others were all sound asleep. Zhao Shuning was still worried, so she returned to the cave again to check on everyone.
This time, she was almost scared out of her wits.
At the entrance of the cave, there was a young man in a cyan robe, his head tilted back, staring at her with wide - open eyes.
Fortunately, when Zhao Shuning came, she used her spiritual power to float above. It was dark at night, and Viper didn't see clearly.
"Who are you? Senior?"
Zhao Shuning nodded and softly asked in her girlish voice, "It's midnight. Why aren't you resting?"
Viper put down the hammer in his hand. With a respectful look, he whispered, "I can't fall asleep. I want to sit at the cave entrance, enjoy the cool breeze and think about some things."
Zhao Shuning gave a knowing smile. She asked Viper, "Do you want to sit up there with me?"
There was a glint of joy in Viper's eyes. He looked at Zhao Shuning and said, "Is that okay, Senior?"
Zhao Shuning nodded. In a short while, Viper's body was wrapped in abundant spiritual power and was sent straight to the cliff edge.
By the time he arrived, Zhao Shuning was already sitting on the cliff edge, swinging her legs, looking quite relaxed.
"Senior, you look a bit—"
"Too young, right?"
"I was being rude."
"It's okay. I've always been like this, and I've lived like this for years."
Viper understood. He thought this senior in front of him must have had a rare form of dwarfism. Her age must be quite high. Judging from her voice, she should be two years older than him. But what about her height?
"Senior, it's okay. You'll grow taller in the future."
Zhao Shuning was a bit confused. She didn't know what Viper meant by this for a moment.
But she didn't refute either. She never delved deeply into things that didn't concern her.
After Viper sat down, there was another long period of silence.
Zhao Shuning looked at the young man in front of her and thought that at his age, he shouldn't be so full of sorrow.
The young man had a lot of complicated concerns.
"Senior, actually, I also have a lot of troubles."
Thinking that Zhao Shuning didn't show her true face in front of everyone because of inferiority, after thinking for a long time, Viper slowly began to speak.
"Hmm?" Zhao Shuning obviously seemed absent - minded and didn't listen carefully to what Viper was saying.
"Senior, I've never told anyone about those things. If you're willing to listen, I'll tell you, okay?"
Zhao Shuning nodded. She didn't really intend to pry into others' privacy. But if he was willing to talk and she happened to be bored, she might as well just use it to kill time and have some fun.
When Viper was very young, he had already taken the spiritual power test.
At that time, Viper had a nice name, Xiao An. Xiao An was a well - behaved child since childhood, and his parents had loved and cared for him.
But everything changed after the spiritual power test when he was ten.
Xiao An's parents never really hoped that their son would become an elixir master. After all, they had been poor for so long.
But after the spiritual power test, when they knew that Xiao An was an elixir master, their family's life changed completely.
First, a distant relative of theirs took them back to the big mansion.
From then on, Xiao An and his parents lived a life without worry about food and clothing.
Later, Xiao An's parents gradually became stricter with him. Every time Xiao An failed to improve his spiritual power or complete the tasks assigned to him, he would be beaten and kicked by his father.
And his mother also changed.
She no longer spoke to Xiao An in a gentle voice.
She would scold Xiao An over and over again, scolding him for being naive, scolding him for only knowing to be with small animals all day, scolding him for not caring about the feelings of their family.
Xiao An's mother would cry and plead with him, hoping that he wouldn't ruin the prosperity and wealth they had just obtained.
As time passed, there were fewer and fewer smiles on Xiao An's face.
After a while, he even forgot how to smile.
The uncle from the distant relative gave him a code name, Viper.
From then on, the people in the family, including his parents, seemed to forget his original name. Whenever they saw him, they would call him Viper.
At first, he would resist and emphasize his own name. But later, he gave up.
In the face of interests, everyone changed.
One day, when Xiao An skinned the rabbit that had accompanied him for a long time and showed it in front of everyone, they not only didn't blame him for being cruel but also praised him for being decisive and said that he would surely achieve great things in the future.
Slowly, even he himself forgot that he once had a name.
Later, he became arrogant and tyrannical.
If an ordinary person blocked his way when he was on a mission, he would surely fly into a rage.
Once, an ordinary thief snatched the money from a mother and son who had been begging hard. As soon as the thief turned around, he bumped into Viper.
Viper didn't say a word at that time and just dislocated the thief's hand.
People who didn't know only said that he was cruel and that he didn't even spare ordinary people.
You see, doing good deeds doesn't necessarily get you gratitude from others.
Viper didn't even bother to defend himself or clarify things.
Later, after he participated in the trial at the Misty Rain Tower, he fought his way through and reached his current position by using ruthless means.
Only by constantly sending back new spiritual stones to his family could he get a word of comfort and praise from his parents.
"Senior, you see, maybe in my parents' eyes, I'm just a tool for trading. Actually, people like me are the most pitiful."
Zhao Shuning stared at Viper with wide eyes.
She didn't understand why Viper would dig open his own wound, showing it to her in all its gory details.