My Mother Has a System but Won't Use It

Han Li placed his hand against the concrete steps, letting Liyue lean on his chest. Feeling her faint smell against his nose, he said calmly, his voice sighing, "Indeed, the theory of the existence of Heavens. I am pretty sure that\'s true now. There does exist a powerful force in the very air surrounding us, Monk. A consciousness."

The Monk closed his eyes as if to try and feel for that unknown high consciousness. That omnipresent being called Heaven—was it true?

It had never been proven that such a thing existed. If such a thing existed, where did it come from?

Liyue tightened her arm on Han Li\'s chest; her nails would\'ve sunk into him if he had let her do that—or if his body was weaker.

The monk was indeed ignorant about the Dao Tree or the Heavens as a whole. It was not common knowledge. Yet, the more days that passed, the more Han Li was sure the Heavens did exist. He was rather certain. It was something similar to Soul Sense; it was spread around everywhere. Watching.

Watching, but nothing else.

He even had doubts about other things now.

It was said that when a Cultivator above the Stage of Power Birth or higher dies, their Dao Soul would rise into the sky and become a star. Was that the truth? He wondered.

Maybe the Heavens could easily devour the cultivator that they were dead, and it was putting on a show to make people not be… wary. Heavens were certainly not unintelligent, after all. Maybe it was even more intelligent than a human.

It could all be a ploy. Who knows?

"Can you feel it, monk," Han Li asked, his mind calm. "The Heavens, I mean."

The Monk shook his head and then focused on Liyue.

"I\'ve seen a lot of people, Oh Han Li, and sadly so, I am a very… judgmental monk." The monk sat himself on a higher step, looking far into the wilderness surrounding the mountain they were on. "I judge everyone and everything how I see fit. That\'s who I am; if I think someone is a demon, they are that and that alone. I am rather selfish and wayward indeed. But I am who I am."

"Oh," Han Li looked at him. "You seem to have something to tell… uhm, no, ask of me?"

The Monk nodded. He looked into Han Li\'s eyes, and Han Li\'s gaze grew cold as he saw the slight movement of the Monk\'s mouth. He had chanted a Magic Power.

The chant was almost unnoticeable with how fast he spoke it, but Han Li\'s gaze was far more experienced than the monk\'s. The chant was done.

The Monk squirmed slightly, seemingly uncomfortable, and asked, "Oh Han Li, I have some questions. Please enlighten this monk, if you may."

Han Li asked, tone bland, "You are the Power Born. Why would I not answer?"

The Magic Power must have been… Lie Detection.

But why?

"What do you want to do in life?" asked the Monk.

Han Li jested, "Attain eternal life, maybe?"

"…Eternal Life," The Monk was silent. "So you are a demon who wants to achieve eternal life. But is it worth it? To kill all under heaven, after three years of talking Dao with you, I am heavily doubtful about everything, Han Li. Is it worth it to achieve Eternal Life if you kill everyone and everything to achieve it?"

Han Li blinked.

"Of course, I am not a normal demon, at least not in my own opinion. I am a True Demon. I do have things in this world I care for—I love my mother beyond myself. Even this woman is currently on my lap; I love her too. They are all dear things to me, Monk; I am not an emotionless machine. In fact, I feel emotions much deeper than most Monks could comprehend."

The Monk frowned further in doubt. These were not lies.

"But do you really love these women, Han Li?" The Monk shook his head, confused. He had been confused for a while now. "Your thoughts are arbitrary and crass. You once said you decided to love Liyue, but that was an arbitrary decision. You are allowing them into your heart, and then you might begin to love them unconditionally. But isn\'t that just selfish?"

Han Li frowned. "What is your end goal, Hen Shin." He said with an unpleasant tone, "You seem to be searching for an excuse or something."

The Monk shook his head. "You also know why I am here. I have only had two disciples my whole life, one of them I am not worried about. The other, the woman you well know… Shin Wenyu. She is smitten with you, Han Li; I want you to do something that would make her think otherwise."

Han Li raised an eyebrow, an image of a beautiful Monk woman appearing in his mind.

"Why?" He smirked. His gaze was burning in mockery. "Worried that I would lead her in my blasphemed path of searching for something like eternal life?"

The monk was a bit taken aback, but he nodded. He sighed, "Not only that, I am also worried you would use her. I know, I\'ve seen it myself. You are ungenuine, you are shameless, and you are willing to use anyone.

"At first, I believed you only cared for one person, your mother, that was my judgment on you then, and that is it now. What you said is not a lie; you do indeed love the woman in your lap. Lies don\'t work on me.

"You love Liyue, but I don\'t know; I\'ve judged you incapable of that, Han Li. Can you even love? Your heart is as cold as ice!

"I don\'t care about others. I don\'t even care if my disciple would walk a road different from mine and get herself a husband, but that cannot be you. You are not meant to be; you are a demon, whatever the case is. Your heart is incapable of love other than to anyone other than your mother. Only she can be loved by you."

Han Li sneered, his derision clear.

"You were true. You are obstinate and judgemental with no basis to put your thoughts out."

The Monk nodded. "That\'s why, I will call someone who can prove to me that you indeed doesn\'t love anyone other than your mother. That you only see everyone else other than Yue Li as tools. That proof should be enough for Shin Wenyu to realize what kind of a demon you are."

Han Li frowned for a second, then turned towards the distance. On the top of a temple building, from one of the windows, a woman was looking at him intently. His gaze saw her clearly even though she was far away. She was a beautiful woman—when he first met her, she used to be bald, but here she was, her black hair flowing behind her.

Indeed, that woman was smitten with him. She was an Evolved, and she must be using some Magic Power to listen in on them.

"So it is a show for her to see what a beast I am, huh?" Han Li chuckled and said to the Monk using voice transmission. "I am not against it, to be honest. I don\'t really care for your discipline; I\'ll help you do what you want straightforwardly. I\'ll tell it out loud how I think of her as nothing but another person. Yet, if you want me to do it, pay up.

You can teleport once every year to wherever you want, right? Give this year\'s Teleportation to me."

The Monk took a deep look at him but shook his head. Han Li had indeed said that in the Voice Transmission form because Shin Wenyu might be listening in on them.

To Han Li, what mattered was benefits, not a stranger young girl\'s affection.

She was not his woman; her thoughts had nothing to do with him.

It was good to have her for free, though, but antagonizing Hen Shin would be too much for such a thing.

Calm, Hen Shin shook his head. "I am not doing this for her alone, Han Li. I am going to prove that you are emotionless and incapable of loving others. I am going to prove that only Yue Li truly matters to you. As for the Teleportation, for the courtesy of this event alone, I will give this year\'s teleportation to you."

Han Li had a slight headache. He snapped, "Go on!"

Hen Shin took out a small hair. Then used his power to call anyone from around the Continent on it. Silently, a minute later, he opened his eyes, and a figure made of energy manifested in front of him.

It was a colorless blob.

But unlike Han Li\'s walkie talkie, it began to transform in form and soon turned into an absolutely cold-faced young man.

He calmly put forward a hand, and a feather floated above it. He explained coldly, "Feather of feelings, a treasure of unknown origins. It has only one thing that it can do: it can measure the feelings that a person has—any feeling. If you say you have love, it will be measured; the same goes for anger and any other emotion. Do it quick, I lack time."

Han Li calmly scrutinized it for a second before touching the feather.

Thinking, I love my Mother.

The Feather began to increase in weight and the man\'s eyes became increasingly astonished until he groaned and jumped back.

All over his shadowy form, there was transparent sweat.

Hen Shin asked, "What\'s it?"

"Immeasurable. The feelings are as deep as an ocean, if I try to see its depth, I\'d probably drown myself and they are all deep feelings ingrained deeply in his self. It is a deep love for one\'s parent, one\'s mother. He would gladly take his heart out and put it in his mother\'s hand," The cold man calmly said. Yet, his fear was evident.

He didn\'t seem like he wanted to be here, but was rather, forced to be.

The monk nodded.

Then Han Li once again put his palm on the feather.

He himself was becoming curious about the feather and the person. He would have already rejected to be a part of this but letting him teleport for once was a great opportunity he couldn\'t miss. His strength should raise sooner then.

\'I want to achieve eternal life, attain control over Life and Death.\'

The intensity of this feeling washed over the man and the man stumbled a step back. He shivered and his form turned pale. "The feeling is akin to fire, if I touched it, I\'d burn myself."

Han Li coldly chuckled at this point. Who were they trying this on?

Who was it that they were trying to... trick?

No one other would have realized it. Yet, he could understand it clearly.

Like clouds up above in the horizon, his face darkened. They were trying to manipulate his mind. They were trying to indoctrinate him with beliefs that were not his own. The feather could weigh feelings?

Heh, don\'t make him laugh.

The feather was trying to forcibly change his mind and it was clear to him because of only one thing, instinct. He had already made 299 out of the 300 hundred Magic Powers under the Lust Dao into his Talents and that had given him a clearly different type of instinct.

He could guess, they were trying to transform the Demon into a Buddha. Yet knowing that, the meaning of the man\'s words changed in Han Li\'s mind. They were no longer something judging him:

The feelings are as deep as an ocean, if I try to see its depth, I\'d probably drown myself.

The feeling is akin to fire, if I touched it, I\'d burn myself.

Both of those feelings were beyond the capability of the man to touch. Han Li smirked, using Life Vision on the person before him.

[Age: 200]

That was all he needed to know.

Han Li laughed coldly in his heart. No person that young could hope to have feelings half as deep as him. From his words, it must mean that he\'d need to have emotions as strong as Han Li\'s own for their trick to work.

Yet, they had been badly mistaken about something. Something crucial.

He would have resisted it outright but the Monk\'s gaze had an hidden glint of hope. A mildly uncalm sense of agitation Han Li had missed to spot till now. Losing this guard dog wasn\'t worth it... he couldn\'t fight this out.

Han Li smiled, he was ready to suffer.

"I love Ruo," he said out loud and touched the feather. It was like icy tendrils, the emotions deep enough the other man felt as if he was frozen in the abyss until blood oozed from the side and he stumbled back.

"Emotions are filled with guilt and an intense sense of protection, I can\'t even..." The man coughed blood again. "I can\'t even come close to grasp its depth. The guilt is so simmering I\'d be washed in bitterness if I touch it."

His gaze had changed. Now, his eyes held an irrepressible fear and respect as he once again showed Han Li the feather. Han Li looked at him mockingly, amusingly. While, on the side, the Monk had a solemn expression.

His claim had already lost any meaning it held. Han Li could well and truly feel emotions for people other than Yue Li but it was only one person, Ruo. What about the others?

Was he really not using Shan Liyue and the others for his purposes?

And can those fake feelings be used to turn Han Li into a righteous person?

Away... from the Demonic Path?