Chapter 4 — Thanh Bich – Meeting Once in a Hundred Years

I used venom to bite his arm, whipped him with a snake's tail, and even strangled him with my own body - but he still wasn't angry. On the contrary, he softly said: "This is also a kind of... practice." When I was tired of playing around, he was still the same - silent, motionless. In the end, we had to give up and compromise. Then he brought books to teach me how to read and understand religion. Sometimes I pretended to sleep, sometimes I insisted on going out, but he saw through everything immediately. So he started chanting again: "The snake tail turns into human legs, but just having legs is not enough. To become human, the most important thing is to have a 'human heart'." I lazily yawned and teased him: "'Humanity'? I know that! A kind-hearted Taoist like you, why don't you give me a taste of your humanity?" Phap Hue just shook his head: "If you truly have your own heart, you will no longer want to eat the hearts of others." I don't believe it! It's clear that the little Taoist refused to give me anything to eat, and instead presented his moral philosophy. Later, in order to help mortals pray for rain, I voluntarily dissipated two hundred years of cultivation and returned to my original form. Phap Hue thought I was dead, so he hugged me tightly, shedding a single tear for me. Those tears turned into my true heart. Out of appreciation for my efforts, the people built a temple and stele, thanks to which I had the opportunity to become an immortal. At that time, Long Than sent down three heavenly thunders. As long as I can withstand them all, I will be able to fly up and become an immortal. But I no longer have any cultivation left. All it takes is a single thunderbolt and my soul will be scattered. Phap Hue has shouldered the tribulation for me. But he is just a mortal, even if he can resist... he cannot survive. When he was about to die, he personally took out his heart, brought it to me, and said softly: "Eat it, Thanh Bich... didn't you really want to eat my heart before?" My tears fall endlessly. I stared at that heart — I didn't want to eat... I just wanted him to live! But... Phap Hue died in my heart, and I ascended to become an immortal and transformed into a human. Indeed, as he once said - if you have a heart, you will no longer want to eat other people's hearts. I hugged his heart and cried until my heart was broken. But before I could bury Phap Hue, I was summoned to heaven by Dragon God. Long Than transformed me into Giao Long, then ordained me as Son Than to guard a direction. I wanted to return to bury Phap Hue, but before I could leave, my sister cast a poisonous spell on me, causing me to be hit by the secret technique of Black Mountain and die without a complete corpse. Because of that, the true heart of Phap Hue fell into the human world, with no one to protect it. That... is the biggest regret of my previous life. But in this life — I absolutely will not let the tragedy happen again! Phap Hue... should walk the path that belongs to him. Three days as promised, Lam An city was brilliant with five-colored clouds, birds were flying and singing everywhere. People were talking loudly — "Bach Nuong Tu is an immortal who descended to earth, today he will return to heaven!" A golden light shined straight into the sister's hospital, followed by a majestic voice echoing to the sky - "Bach Chi, you have contributed to saving the world, and now you have been specially approved to fly to the upper world. Are you... satisfied?" The older sister immediately knelt on the ground, so excited that she bowed her head and trembled voice: "Thank you Long Than for your grace!" She didn't wait another moment, quickly stood up and stepped onto the rainbow bridge, preparing to welcome the flying price. At that moment — thunder boomed, waves of dark clouds rolled. The old man's voice penetrated the clouds: "Bach Chi, if you want to become a fairy, why don't you say a word to me?" Blinking later, the old man appeared right next to her. I pretended to interrupt, asking for relief, my voice as soft as water: "Old man, don't blame you, maybe you... were so eager to become a fairy that you forgot~" Sister at that time wanted to secretly climb up the rainbow, but the old man acted extremely quickly, immediately sealing the restriction, stopping her. The older sister screamed like crazy: "Long Than! Save me!" I smiled, imitating her honey-sweet tone from before, pretending to be friendly as I spoke: "Oh sister, don't leave in such a hurry, okay? I still have something to say to you~ How can you only worry about becoming a fairy, leaving us without saying goodbye?" The old man glanced at Bach Chi, snorted coldly, then turned to praise me: "Thanh Bich, fortunately you told me, otherwise this brat would have really sneaked away and become a fairy!" "Isn't that an exaggeration, old man?" I pretended to be obedient, smiled sweetly and said: "You and your sister were both raised by me, my cultivation level and spiritual power were originally... also mine." Hearing that, the old man nodded with great satisfaction: "It's still our Thanh Bich who knows how to behave! Bach Chi, I had already prepared human hearts for you to eat and transform into, but I didn't expect you to find your own way to become a fairy." "In that case... all of your cultivation, give it all to me! Consider it a form of filial piety." Long Than on high of course does not care about this. After all, Bach Chi has not yet officially stepped on the rainbow bridge, much less passed through the gate of heaven, he is still just a mortal. Long Than is busy adjusting the destiny of heaven and does not have time to care about small matters in the human world. Seeing that Long Than did not intervene, the older sister looked at the stream of spiritual energy continuously leaving her body, crying and screaming: "Phap Hue! Phap Hue save me... save me!" The old man continuously absorbed her cultivation base, his expression full of cold greed. He's always taken advantage of us - waiting for us to completely eat a human heart, then he'll suck out all our spiritual energy, like I... did in my previous life. When her spiritual energy gradually ran out, she revealed her true form, a giant snake tail causing the people in the hospital to panic and run away. Right at the moment when everything was hanging by a thread — Phap Hui appeared. Obviously I used magic to imprison him, but... because of my sister, he still broke the shackles and rushed forward. I frowned slightly, my heart filled with an indescribable bitterness. Phap Hue cast a talisman, hitting straight at the old man. The old man dodged in time, saw that it was him who was coming, his face immediately changed, he turned and shouted at me: "Thanh Bich! Didn't you say the Taoist had disappeared? Why did he appear here?!" I shrugged, smiled calmly and replied: "Old man~ you are love, I am also love, words of love... how can you believe it?" The old man's face immediately turned into extreme anger, rushing straight towards me, intent on killing and exterminating people. Even though I have practiced for thousands of years, facing an old demon like this old man, I know that I am far from being an opponent. Right second That moment of life and death - Phap Hue rushed forward, blocked the other person, taking the full blow for me... The two men faced off, the battle immediately broke out. Just when I was about to help Phap Hue, Hua Xuyen suddenly appeared. He jumped out with a proud look on his face: "Stupid snake demon, didn't you always say that I don't read books and only know how to fight? Today I will open your eyes and see how powerful my Hua family's martial arts have been passed down for decades! Look here, I will destroy that old demon woman for you to see!" He is also part of my plan. In his previous life, he acted without mercy, killing his sister with one knife - so he was definitely a cold-blooded person. If I eat his heart, I'm afraid I'll become an indifferent person who will become extinct. But that - I don't want it. We want to keep our humanity, our heart, and our own choices. That's why I didn't eat his heart — but let him join the fight. Only by joining forces can we control the old demon Black Mountain. After a fierce battle, we successfully sealed the old man. Hua Xuyen pulled out a gourd magic weapon, reached out to take the old man inside, and said firmly: "I will refine her into a medicinal pill, see if she dares to cause trouble again." Old man Hac Son, once a prestigious old demon from one side, even though he was conquered, still refused to give in, roaring full of resentment in his gourd: "Thanh Bich! You vile demon! Dare to collude with the Taoist to secretly plot against me! Just wait!" The curse was full of poison, filled with anger and curses, echoing as if it wanted to tear the air, as if the next second it would break free and tear me apart. Facing that curse, there are hundreds of emotions in my heart that are difficult to name. There was a time when I respected the old man very much. However, what he did forced me to choose to stand on the opposing side. Faced with that hostility, I just shrugged and sighed, casually saying: "Come on... rest, old man." Having said that, I closed the lid of the gourd and sent him on a path of no return. In the gourd, old man Hac Son's curse still echoed faintly, like the last echo of a time of faded majesty.