NOVEL NEXT Chapter 15: On the Villain’s Values
Chapter 15: On the Villain’s Values
Question: How should one make a fortune after transmigrating to ancient times?
Answer: Recite ancient poems, copy famous works, and invent things.
In fact, Wei Changtian really wanted to emulate online novel protagonists by inventing and creating things, from glass, cement, and gunpowder, to even steam engines, bringing the light of technology to this backward world.
However, the reality was that these things were a bit too technical for Wei Changtian. If he had to invent something… it would be black stockings, short skirts, high heels?
Indeed, lust is the primary driving force of productivity.
Since he couldn’t invent anything, he could only take the first two routes.
Fortunately, Wei Changtian had experienced a solid nine years of compulsory education and had a bit of the artistic treasures of five thousand years of Chinese civilization in his mind.
It’s not the right time to recite poems, but copying books was no problem.
Anyway, it’s all about making money, so the sooner you start, the better.
As for which of the Four Great Classics to copy… he couldn’t remember “Dream of the Red Chamber”; “Water Margin” and “Romance of the Three Kingdoms” were too low in martial arts, not fitting the setting of this world; only “Journey to the West” was suitable.
“……”
“……This Golden-Hooped Rod weighs thirteen thousand five hundred jin, it is the treasure of the East Sea Dragon Palace, but the Dragon King did not know its magical properties……”
“……Thus, Sun Wukong hid the Golden-Hooped Rod in his ear and acquired this handy weapon……”
Wei Changtian lay on the bed, talking as he thought, and before long he reached the part where Sun Wukong got the Golden-Hooped Rod.
And the number of listeners around him kept increasing.
Initially, there was only Lan Jingyao, then Qiu Yun and Yaun’er joined, and later a little girl and a big black dog joined as well.
“……That’s it for today.”
Smacking his somewhat dry lips, Wei Changtian turned his head for the first time and was immediately startled by the four women and one dog staring at him intently.
“Hey, when did you all get here?”
“Ah……”
Qiu Yun snapped out of it and lowered her head embarrassedly: “Yaun’er and I came in to add oil to the candle and found it interesting, so we stayed.”
“Oh, and you?”
Wei Changtian looked at Wei Qiaoling, who was lying on the big black dog’s back: “Why are you here?”
Wei Qiaoling was still immersed in Sun Wukong’s world, her eyes wide open: “What happened next? What happened after he got the Golden-Hooped Rod? Big brother, keep going!”
“I’ll tell you tomorrow.”
Wei Changtian said helplessly: “If you want to listen, come early tomorrow.”
“Oh……”
Wei Qiaoling shook her little head regretfully and finally remembered her mission: “Oh right, big brother, dad and mom sent me! They told me to give this to you!”
“Big Ghost! Spit it out!”
“Awroo!”
The big black dog yelped miserably, hurriedly opened its mouth as if relieved, and then a porcelain bottle quietly slipped out of its mouth onto the ground.
“……”
Wei Changtian and Lan Jingyao were dumbfounded, while Qiu Yun and Yaun’er looked unfazed, using a handkerchief to pick up the bottle.
“Father said to take one pill a day to heal the wound quickly!” Wei Qiaoling boasted. “I even overheard Father and Mother talking! Big brother, do you want to hear?”
Wei Changtian was momentarily taken aback: “Go ahead…”
“Okay!” Wei Qiaoling reported faithfully: “Father said this time you have brought shame to the Wei family, and Mother agreed!”
“Then Father said it was good for you to take a beating, and Mother told him he was talking nonsense!”
“Then Father admitted Mother was right, and Mother said she would punish Father by making him be on top today…”
“Stop! That’s enough!”
Seeing Qiu Yun and Yaun’er trying to hold back their laughter, Wei Changtian quickly interrupted: “No need to go any further!”
“What’s wrong…” Wei Qiaoling, although puzzled, pouted and stopped speaking.
She dawdled for a while, realizing there was no more story of the monkey to listen to, and lost interest in staying.
“Big brother, I’m taking Big Ghost back!”
Wei Changtian was more than eager for her to leave quickly, nodding hastily: “Alright! Go on then! Qiu Yun, Yaun’er, please escort Qiaoling back!”
“Yes, young master.”
The two women left the cleaned porcelain bottle behind, then escorted Wei Qiaoling out… followed closely by a large black dog that almost blended into the night.
“Ahem!”
Noticing Lan Jingyao’s surprised look, Wei Changtian awkwardly explained: “Well, children speak without restraint. Qiaoling is actually quite cute…”
“Big Ghost!”
A distant, disgruntled shout came from outside the window.
“Even a monkey can become an immortal! Why are you so stupid?”
“What are you staring at? Hurry up and transform!”
“……”
Wei Changtian: “Haha.”
…
“In fact, the people of the Wei family are not what I thought before.”
In the room, Lan Jingyao poured a glossy, round pill from the porcelain bottle and handed it to Wei Changtian along with a cup of cold tea.
Wei Changtian took the pill and, with a smile, asked: “What did you think? That the entire Wei family should be murderous demons?”
“Not quite that exaggerated.” Lan Jingyao hesitated: “But the rumors…”
“The rumors are true. My parents, and myself included, have killed many people.” Wei Changtian admitted frankly, “And many of them didn’t deserve to die.”
“…”
Lan Jingyao hadn’t expected Wei Changtian to speak so nonchalantly about such matters. She couldn’t control her emotions and blurted out, “Don’t you feel guilty?”
“Guilty?” Wei Changtian didn’t get angry. Instead, he pointed to a tuft of fur on Lan Jingyao’s lapel and asked, “What fur is that?”
Lan Jingyao looked confused: “Snow fox.”
Wei Changtian continued, “Do you feel guilty wearing a coat made of snow fox fur?”
Lan Jingyao, being intelligent, immediately understood Wei Changtian’s point. A hint of struggle flashed in her eyes as she softly argued, “But it’s an animal…”
“So what if it’s an animal?” Wei Changtian chuckled, “Isn’t it a life? The pigs, cows, fish, and ducks you eat every day, aren’t they lives?”
“When you eat their meat, do you feel any guilt?”
“……”
Lan Jingyao was silent. She felt that Wei Changtian’s words had some truth, but she couldn’t accept it, ultimately muttering a single word.
“Sophistry…”
“Think what you will.” Wei Changtian replied calmly, “I just wanted to tell you that, in the eyes of some people, the weak are nothing more than beasts.”
“……”
Lan Jingyao’s eyes widened, murmuring, “But, but it shouldn’t be like this…”
“Perhaps it shouldn’t.” Wei Changtian thought to himself that this woman had a lot of ideas despite her limited abilities, and then he added, “But it’s the strong who decide these things. No amount of criticism or pleading from the weak will change that.”
“If you want to change the rules, you first have to defeat the ones who make them.”
……
The next day.
Just at dawn, Wei Changtian, who had been fighting in his dreams all night, was awakened by the sound of a dog barking.
As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw that it was indeed Wei Qiaoling, the little troublemaker.
“Big brother, big brother! Get up and tell us a story!”
“Tell a story?” Wei Changtian looked at the sunrise, still halfway up the sky, and couldn’t help but laugh and cry: “Qiaoling… I told you to come early, but not this early!”
“Huh?”
Wei Qiaoling pouted, throwing a tantrum on the floor: “No, no! I want to hear the monkey’s story!”
Wei Changtian hurriedly tried to soothe her: “Be good, be good. Big brother has things to do today. I’ll tell you the story when I come back this afternoon.”
Wei Qiaoling pouted: “What could big brother have to do!”
“Well…” Wei Changtian was momentarily speechless.
He couldn’t exactly say he was going to embarrass the Wei family further.
But just as he looked up and saw Qiu Yun and Yaun’er standing at the door with a basin, ready to help him wash and dress, an answer suddenly came to mind.
Perhaps before, he wanted to become stronger just to deal with Xiao Feng.
But now…