There is no Redemption for A Scum Villain

Chapter 22

"I can't believe you actually did this," Shen Qingqiu said. He looked over the rim of his fan, his eyebrow raised high as he watched the large group of youths down below digging holes into the ground with their bare hands.

"Whose idea was this?" Liu Qingge asked after suddenly appearing next to them.

"This idea came from Shen-shidi," Yue Qingyuan replied and gazed lovingly at Shen Qingqiu. He had been looking like this ever since the two got married or rather the morning after. Liu Qingge was too oblivious to understand what this suggested and so he only nodded understandingly.

Before Shen Qingqiu was even able to explain that he had merely been joking back when he had made this suggestion, Liu Qingge already spoke up again.

"This is indeed a fine idea," he said and crossed his arms in front of his chest, "We won't only be able to survey their endurance, but also be able to investigate their spiritual foundation. It also helps sort out the ones who don't take this process seriously and won't trust our judgment."

Shen Qingqiu was disturbed. How could it be that everyone thought about it this way and didn't realize how nonsensical this whole thing actually was. As he thought this, he noticed that he had practically qualified for the last category with this. He looked down upon the youths and saw a few giving up. Another few looked disdainfully at others who were still diligently digging as if they thought them stupid to be doing this.

Shen Qingqiu had to admit that it was not only easy to ascertain the capabilities of the youths, but also their personalities to some degree. This did help sort out those whom they would definitely send back home if they hadn't given up and left already. Shen Qingqiu scanned the rows of youths with his eyes narrowed, trying to spot someone who struck him exceptional.

All the children were either mediocre or had talent in only one aspect like endurance, personality or their spiritual talent. Shen Qingqiu was about to avert his eyes in disinterest when he felt as if his eyes had been blinded by the sun itself. He would almost have stumbled at the sight, but he quickly composed himself for the sake of not losing his image in front of those youths.

He looked at the kid he had spotted. It was a boy of around fourteen. His features looked rather feminine if one ignored his eyes. The kid was dirty and malnourished, but his eyes shone like gemstones. He was digging a hole as if his life depended on it, not even once pausing to wipe away his sweat. But what was striking about this kid was not just his looks and endurance, but rather his spiritual prospects. This kid had talent that would have been enough to bring out ten good cultivators and all of that was stuffed into that small body.

A bitter taste rose in Shen Qingqiu's mouth. It had been quite a while since he'd last felt this way. One of his eyelids started twitching as wave after wave of pure jealousy flooded his system. Suddenly he felt a hand grabbing his own that pulled him back to reality. Yue Qingyuan had noticed his expression shift and tried to keep him from having a relapse to his former behavior.

Shen Qingqiu took a deep breath and his eyes started clearing. For a moment he had forgotten that he no longer lacked the abilities that he should have, regardless of when he started to cultivate and when he finally obtained them.

He looked at the kid again. The boy took a small break the second Shen Qingqiu looked at him. He looked exhausted. After only a few seconds he looked down at something on his chest. It was a green pendant that was obviously meant to be a jade guanyin, but was clearly a fake. The youth reached up to touch it for a moment and then started digging again with renewed strength. The kid dug even faster than before.

Shen Qingqiu was genuinely impressed. When he ignored the slight jealousy in his heart, he could even say that this was an adorable boy. And an opportunity to learn.