The Furnace Nobody Wanted

Ci Chao kneels before the man, lowering his delicate, charming face as he tries to entice him. "I'm willing to bear your children."

To beg for a chance to live, he crawls forward two steps on his knees, utterly humble, then lies at the man's feet like a dog. He has none of the bearing of a young master from a prestigious family, looking just like a male prostitute trying to sell himself in a brothel.

He just really wants to live.

Zhou Xiaohen looks down at him from above and sneers. "A worthless life."

He casually raises a hand and gouges out Ci Chao's eyes.

Beneath a thousand ice shards, Ci Chao can no longer see.

As though even letting him look at him would be an insult.

Ci Chao is unworthy.

*

Ci Chao survives. He uses every means at his disposal to pull himself out of the mire, then returns to Zhou Xiaohen with a heart set on repaying him.

He gouges out the man's eyes, tears open his heart and lungs, and takes all his cultivation. He leaves the man bleeding across the ground, less than a dog and no better than mud.

And the man just smiles and says, "I couldn't ask for more."

How strange. How depraved.

Reading note:

A happy ending after a love steeped in hatred.

Theme: Life endures.