The madness cultivation

The sky was dark and gloomy, with black clouds floating around as though they were moving on their own. Looking up at the sky, one could see clouds trying to obscure the full moon and the stars shining brightly with their glimmering light.

Amidst the clouds in the sky, in addition to the moon and stars, there was also lightning raging, and the rain poured down heavily as if the heavens were grieving.

Looking down from the sky, there were mountains of moderate size with a city beside them. The city was surrounded by stone walls. Yes, this was the city ruled by the Li family.

In the heart of the city stood a mansion, its walls made of stone and its structure made of dark wood. It was a tall mansion, about five stories high. On the sides of the mansion were trees, reaching up to the fourth floor. These trees had green leaves and brown trunks, their thick branches stretching in many directions.

Outside the mansion, there were wooden houses in poor condition. They stood in a long row, unattractively. In front of one of the wooden houses stood two middle-aged men wearing plain gray robes.

"Do you hear someone playing the flute?" asked the man with a thick black beard.

"Flute? Are you crazy? With this heavy rain, who would be playing a flute? If you're going to joke, do it properly," the other middle-aged man lightly slapped the bearded man's head.

The bearded man rubbed the spot where he was slapped in confusion, thinking to himself, "You're right, I must have misheard..."

The other man turned around and opened the door of the house behind him and walked inside.

"It's cold outside. Won't you come in? I've warmed the wine inside," the middle-aged man asked indifferently, crossing his arms and rubbing the sleeves of his gray robe lightly as he shivered from the cold rain.

He rubbed his sleeves for a while and looked at the bearded man, who was lost in thought, before shouting out loud, "Hey, are you coming in or not? The wine will get cold!"

Hearing the shout, the bearded man turned to look, scratching his head in confusion before replying, "I'm coming, don't drink all the wine by yourself."

After speaking, he walked into the house to drink with the other middle-aged man.

Both of them sat on wooden chairs, with a small round wooden table in front of them. On the table were wine cups placed in front of each of them, along with several unsealed wine jars.

The bearded man lifted his cup and drank it down, then placed it back on the table and said appreciatively, "This is some great wine. Where did you get it from?"

The man across from him shook his head slightly before answering casually, "I got it from the City Lord Li. He gives away wine every year on his son's birthday. He gives a jar of wine to everyone in the city, except for the children."

He lifted his wine cup and enjoyed the taste while speaking, then placed it down after finishing.

The bearded man, surprised, widened his eyes and said regretfully, "Gives away wine every year? Why didn't you send me a letter? I've been working hard, I would have liked to try some free wine too!"

He rubbed his head in frustration.

The man across from him smiled slyly and replied, "I don't know, I just didn't want you thinking about the wine while you're working so hard."

The bearded man stopped rubbing his head and looked at the man across from him. He sighed and asked with curiosity about the City Lord's son, "So, what is the City Lord's son called? What kind of person is he?"

When he asked this, the man across from him hesitated, as if he didn't want to answer. He looked out the window and sighed before replying, "Li Xing, he's warm-hearted and kind... but he was born with a deformity on his face, so he has to wear a mask all the time to hide it. He has no friends, and many people in the city secretly gossip about him, calling him a blind fool who only has a good family."

The bearded man listened intently, rubbing his beard gently before saying, "A facial deformity, so he wears a mask? Doesn't that seem odd? He's not blind, so why wear a mask? Wouldn't it be better to just wear a cloth to cover his face?"

The man across from him stood up, grabbed the bearded man's wine cup with force, and said angrily, "Don't say that again, unless you want the City Lord Li to put your whole family's heads on display! The City Lord loves his eldest son more than any of his other children."

The bearded man didn't understand why such a remark would lead to such a serious threat. However, seeing his friend's fearful expression, he knew there must be something more to the story. The bearded man was about to ask, but seeing his friend's demeanor, he held back and swallowed his question.

The bearded man clasped his hands and apologized, "I'm sorry, I haven't been back to this city for many years, so it's not strange that I'm curious, right?"

The man across from him sat back down on his chair, placed his cup back down, and sighed deeply before saying in a stern voice, "I've warned you. Don't ask about things you shouldn't know, remember that."

They continued drinking as if the earlier conversation had never happened.

Half an hour later, the sound of a carriage could be heard from outside. Both of them looked out the window and saw cultivators in various robes, all with different weapons strapped to their backs, flying rapidly through the rain. There were also many luxurious carriages.

The middle-aged man stopped looking out the window and turned to look at the bearded man, who was still staring outside in shock. He said, "These are the cultivators coming for the 20th anniversary of the young master Li Xing. Quite a lot, huh? These are all connections of the City Lord's wife."

The bearded man stopped looking and turned to face his friend. He didn't say anything but was still puzzled about how this was connected to the mask. He hesitated before asking, wanting to clear his doubt.

"So, how does this relate to the young master Li Xing's mask?" he asked, genuinely seeking an answer. If his friend didn't answer, he wouldn't ask again.

The middle-aged man looked at him with serious eyes before replying reluctantly, "When the young master was about seven, he wanted to play with other children, so he asked the City Lord if he could go out and play. But no one wanted to play with him because of the news about his facial deformity. The young master Li ended up hiding and crying alone near someone's house."

"This house had many children, and they were known for having bad habits. Not knowing who the crying child was, they gathered together and bullied the young master Li."

"When the young master Li cried out, the City Lord suddenly appeared from nowhere and killed the children who had bullied him. The next day, he ordered the execution of the entire family of those children."

After hearing this, the bearded man showed a look of shock.