Chapter Three: Looking Back is Already a Hundred Years Old

  I'm back again!

  So familiar scenes, so familiar memories!

  Hundreds of years flashed by in an instant, Cheng Jun thought he had already forgotten the taste of this great change when he was a child. But when things came before his eyes again, he felt that the scorching pain, like the feeling of hell, was still deeply etched in his mind, and at this moment, it was like the boiling oil in the pot in front of him, rolling and surging non-stop.

  Carved in bone and engraved on heart!

  At first, he was a proud young man like a sharp sword. Hearing the sarcastic remark in front of him, without any hesitation, he raised his head and poured down the scalding oil in one breath.

  Disaster! Hell!

  Scalding oil instantly destroyed his throat, flowing down to burn his intestines and abdominal cavity. In the end, he was like a burning man. At that time, after experiencing inhuman suffering, he fell to the ground and fainted.

  It wasn't until he woke up more than ten days later that he realized, as a performer, his future was already ruined. Although he had received medical treatment and would not die immediately, his vocal cords were completely destroyed, and he could no longer speak. He had been training since the age of five and made his stage debut at nine, always performing in the theater. Suddenly losing his voice was like falling from heaven to earth; in an instant, he had lost everything.

  In the following days, he didn't want to think about it anymore. It was just human feelings and worldly affairs that had turned upside down, leaving him without a foothold in this world.

  Finally, taking advantage of a snowy night like today, he ran out from where he lived and started his own lonely wandering life.

  After that, learned martial arts, encountered opportunities, entered the Tao, sought immortality, cultivated and tempered himself, step by step, struggling bitterly for hundreds of years, finally reached the pinnacle of the divine continent...

  If it had ended then, it would have been a perfect inspirational legend, and it could have been sung for thousands of years if performed in an opera. Unfortunately, the heavens intervened, and nine top-notch figures engaged in one final high-stakes gamble. He ultimately failed to achieve his goal and died, disappearing from the world. Thinking he would surely be reincarnated, unexpectedly, when he opened his eyes again, he had returned to his youth.

  This is a great dream of the Spring and Autumn period...

  Although Cheng Jun had seen too many incredible things, it was hard for him to believe that rebirth was real. He had thought that this was just a dream, or that he had dreamed of his youth, or that his youthful self had had a very long dream in which he practiced immortal arts and became famous for a time, only to wake up again in reality.

  For a month now, he has been going through the motions, making his own preparations, but deep down inside, there is still a thread of doubt, perhaps this is just a dream, disappearing at any moment.

  It wasn't until this scalding hot oil was placed in front of him again that he fully came to, realizing ——

  Laozi is back again!

  All sorts of emotions filled my chest, there was anger, shock, sourness, but more than that, joy!

  I actually have another chance!

  Once again, countless ideas burst forth in his mind like fireworks, but the most important one was just one!

  Let's try again! This time, I'll kick all the remaining guys down from the rooftop, and only I will be standing at the very top!

  Nothing in the past matters, the Marquis in front of me is just a clown, the only thing that matters is the rooftop. This is Cheng Jun's, later known as "The Lord of Chaos", most important and only dream.

  Go upstairs!

  Waking up from the chaos of flavors, Cheng Jun suddenly realized that there were still people in front of him.

  One, two, three... In Cheng Jun's eyes, these people who had just been performing with their various facial expressions suddenly seemed a bit fuzzy. Who were they again?

  The thin man next to him is Li, the master of the theater troupe. He was bought and taught to learn opera from a young age. In the past, when Cheng Jun was able to make money, the two also had a period of getting along well. However, after he completely fell out of favor, Master Li did many things that made people's teeth cold. At that time, Cheng Jun hated him to death, but after several decades passed, he completely forgot about this person. The path to immortality is fraught with danger, and there are too many things to pay attention to - who still remembers this ordinary, selfish little man from the mundane world? It wasn't until he returned to his youth that he remembered, "Ah, there's still such a person."

  Li Ban's host, the scholar at the table, seemed to recall that this man was surnamed Zhang and had met him a few years ago when he was still in his prime. Of course, it was just like meeting other noble guests, exchanging a few pleasantries, and receiving some silver coins. However, afterwards, it surprised Cheng Jun that at the time when he was on the verge of death after being scalded with hot oil, only Zhang Gongzi had invited a doctor to treat him, which saved his life. From this point alone, he was much stronger than his companions who had been with Cheng Jun since childhood. However, at the time, Cheng Jun's heart was full of resentment and he acted impulsively, only remembering that without Zhang Gongzi, there would not have been this disaster, so when he left, he also took advantage of the opportunity to rob him, taking his silver and rolling it up.

  Only this person... Ma Gongzi...

  There was only this person, Cheng Jun still remembered. For dozens of years, he would dream of this person in his sleep, and he couldn't help but want to chop him into pieces, tearing him apart. This hatred lasted for decades until he returned to his hometown and slaughtered the entire Ma family, finally erasing it.

  It was fortunate that he had not yet entered the immortal path at that time, and what he did was still a game of quick revenge in the martial arts world. After he entered the Tao, this karma had long been settled and did not become one of his heart demons.

  It never occurred to him that after hundreds of years, he would come back again and face Master Ma. The hatred from being eaten by him in life and sleeping on his skin in death had dissipated a lot, leaving only a feeling of disgust - two lifetimes of reincarnation, and this guy is still so annoying.

  So how should we play?

  Marquis saw Cheng Jun as if no one was there, so angry that he jumped like thunder, but also thought that he looked really handsome and didn't make a big deal about it. He said, "Hurry up, are you going to drink this oil or follow me? Master is busy with millions of things, how can he have the leisure to spend so much energy on a little actor like you?"

  Cheng Jun glanced at Li Ban, seeing that he was drenched in sweat but didn't say a word. He couldn't help but smile. He had thought before that if he wasn't so impulsive and slowed down a bit, would someone else have helped him out of this situation? Now it seemed that still wouldn't work. In that case...

  Walking slowly over, Cheng Jun said with a smile: "Master Ma, don't be in a hurry. Although I won't sing and won't go back with you, I have a small gift here to give to the young master as compensation for the debt, how about it?"

  Young Master Ma laughed and said, "You're just a lowly actor, what good things could you possibly have? In my opinion, the only good thing about you is yourself. Why don't you follow me back home obediently? Isn't that better than selling your smiles every day here?"

  Cheng Jun smiled and said, "Whether it's good or not, let's take a look first." He reached into his sleeve and pulled out a yellow paper, unfolding it in front of him. On it was written a curved symbol in bright red ink.

  Ma Gongzi originally had some expectations that he would take out something, but at this time, he looked and burst out laughing: "What thing, toilet paper?"

  Cheng Jun smiled and said, "You think it's useless? It's not used like that. Come, let me show you its benefits." As he spoke, he lightly swung the unassuming yellow paper, which seemed to flash once, and with a whooshing sound, it was thrown into the scalding hot oil pot.

  There was a loud crash, and the oil pot seemed to have thrown in an ignited firecracker, suddenly bursting open with a huge noise, crackling and popping, flames soaring into the air, burning up to one zhang high, golden red tongues of flame almost burning through the roof, heat waves surging, blue smoke filling the air, a smell of burnt oil spreading everywhere.

  Ma Gongzi was shocked and pale, shouting "Fire! Fire!" and screaming as he fled from his seat. Li Ban Zhong, along with Zhang Gongzi and several young servants, rolled and crawled out in a panic.

  Cheng Jun smiled and stared at Master Ma, then laughed: "Don't run away, the best part hasn't been shown to you yet." He rushed forward, ignoring that the iron pot had already been heated red-hot by the fire. With both hands inserted into the flames, he scooped up the handle of the pot, lifted it up, chased a few steps, and together with the fire and oil, poured everything onto Master Ma's head, laughing: "It's all yours, no need to look for it."