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Under a thousand-year-old wisteria tree in we qi forest surrounded by other rare beautiful trees, shrubs, plants, and wildlife, sat a figure who was evidently asleep.

He was half-nude and had several terrible-looking wounds and scars-old and new on his body. His head had been shaved bald, along with his eyebrows. Though asleep, it was clear that this man was in pain. This wasn't the first time that this happened to him. His name is Li Choulou and his courtesy name is Kepa. You might wonder why such person has those names. Well, let's take a look at his face first.

He has two eyes, yes. But one of them is very bi and the other is small. One of his eyes is brown while the other has no color on the iris. Then half of his face seemed to fester but is really not. He was born that way. And then his lips which are very red are very big. At first, glance would be scared or feel contempt towards him.

He was very self-conscious and always stayed in a room cultivating after managing to unlock his first meridian with nothing but a small piece of paper that he saw on the floor while he was cleaning the room. He was 16 by then, at an age when his peers had gone far in cultivation. The moment he turned 16, he was told to compete with some new students. He was very ashamed when the people all around laughed at him and then threw things at him. In the end, he was beaten up badly and wasn't even given good treatment but luckily most of his wounds healed without festering. But that spelled doom for him. He was given a list of places to clean and other dirty work to do. He was made to be so busy that he hardly had time for cultivation. Apart from the constant mocking he received from the students, he also gets beaten by a group of them. Some use him as a punching bag to vent their anger or for leisure. today, he just turned 18, but they still won't let him go.

He has tried escaping but no matter what he does, they still would find him and he'd be beaten until he passes out and his work would double. Now that he had just been beaten again before his wounds of yesterday could have time to heal. So today, both old and new would have reopened. This wisteria tree was the place his mother used to take him to whenever she could before she passed away when he was just 5. His father, the clan leader who hated him right from birth then restricted his movements before finally letting him suffer.

One can say that Li Choulou's father had indirectly disowned him. Li Choulou really wanted to end his life many times but he kept thinking of the promise he made to his mom. He had promised her to live and not surrender. But right now it seemed so hard.

********

5 minutes later.

Li Choulou was woken up by a whip from someone familiar.