Besides his not-so-friendly younger brother, Han Renshan also had a stepsister named Xiaodie, brought by his stepmother, who treated him with great affection.
On the table were good meals and dishes, but under his stepmother's watchful eyes, none were for Han Renshan. Xiaodie would always secretly hide some and then quietly hand them to Han Renshan, urging him to eat quickly.
This childhood innocence and camaraderie became Han Renshan's sole hope for continuing his life in this household.
When Han Renshan was nineteen, his stepmother, Madam Huang, wanting to claim a few strings of betrothal money, planned to marry off Xiaodie, who was only fifteen, to a coarse man from another village.
They said it was marrying off the daughter, but it was really no different from selling livestock.
The coarse fellow did not have a good reputation. The reason he was proposing this time was that just the year before, he had accidentally beaten his wife to death.
In these times, when the common people did nothing, the officials did not intervene. As the year turned, the coarse man already had plans to marry a new wife.
Upon hearing of this, Xiaodie wept day and night, refusing to comply at all.
Han Renshan saw all this and felt immensely troubled in his heart.
Finally, one day, Han Renshan used the money he had painstakingly saved and bought a scarf for his stepsister Xiaodie, saying, "I see others bring a new piece of cloth as a gift for the bride to make new clothes when proposing. I don't have money, can't afford new cloth, so I could only buy this scarf. Will you follow me?"
Xiaodie nodded, then shook her head.
Han Renshan asked her what she meant by nodding and shaking her head. If you are willing, I will take you away, and then we can live our own life.
Xiaodie understood Han Renshan's meaning, but this time Xiaodie only kept shaking her head.
She cried inconsolably, "Brother... two years ago, I begged you to take me away, but you didn't agree. Now that I'm not clean anymore, I'm not worthy of you, how come you're just now willing to say this..."
Hearing this, Han Renshan's head buzzed, and he stood there dumbfounded.
"What do you mean by this?" he stammered and asked.
Xiaodie gave a sorrowful smile, wiping her tears, said, "My biological brother bullies me, my stepfather bullies me, my biological brother, stepfather, and mother all gang up to bully me. How is this a home? It's the eighteenth level of hell!
They're all not human, they're beasts, evil spirits! They torment me daily!"
"Only you, brother, saw me as a human, but now... how am I worthy of you."
Hearing this, Han Renshan felt completely shattered, unable to utter a single word.
Seeing this, Xiaodie felt even more wretched, thinking her brother despised her and didn't want to talk to her.
That day, Han Renshan sat outside the whole night.
The next morning, as if he had made a decision, he walked quickly back home, excitedly knocking on Han Xiaomei's door, no response.
His father, Han Laojiu, and stepmother, Madam Huang, swore from inside the main house, asking why he was knocking so early in the morning, calling it a mourning ritual!
The two came out only to see Han Renshan burst into the girl's room, standing outside trembling.
Hanging inside from a red scarf Han Renshan had given was Han Xiaomei.
Han Laojiu and the stepmother cursed with foul words from inside:
"Dead girl! Raising you to this age only to lose money! Dead? Bah! Even dead, don't think the family will spend on a coffin, better throw you on Chaotic Tomb Ridge to feed wild dogs!"
Han Renshan's lazy younger brother, rubbing his eyes, added, "Dad, Mom, burying her is a waste, might as well see if anyone needs a ghost bride, a yin marriage could at least bring in some change..."
Hearing this, Han Renshan's brain thumped, and picking up the hatchet he usually used for chopping wood, he somehow just wanted to hack everything before him clean!
After killing them, Han Renshan didn't flee, allowing the authorities to capture him. The circumstances took their own course, and on the day of the execution, there happened to be bandits raiding, who incidentally saved him too.
Han Renshan followed the bandits to their lair and gradually became bloodthirsty and murderous, his heart turning cold as stone.
Whenever slightly displeased or found anything unsightly, his blade would be drawn!
He thought quite simply, believing that by doing so, he would eventually carve out the world of peace he dreamed of!
Just like that, killing and killing, Han Renshan became the Holy Master of the Celestial Heart Sect.
During this time, a master from the Celestial Master's Mansion saw his exceptional bone structure and wanted to convert him into a Daoist, but Han Renshan refused.
He was someone who aspired to rule the world, why would he become a Daoist?
That was not something he was meant to do!
Nonetheless, before leaving, the Daoist left him two things: a cryptic prophecy and a secret technique for tracing dragon veins.
The prophecy said he had the fortune of an emperor, and if he ever succeeded, he must not forget the kindness formed today.
In the end, the Daoist added specifically, "Saint Master Han lacks fire in his fate, the fire is weak, must avoid water, and must not be near water bodies."
Han Renshan snorted at this, dismissive.
Weak fire avoiding water? Ridiculous!
The fire in his heart, sooner or later, would burn the entire world; why fear a few drops of water?
Xu Qing continued reading, Han Renshan's heart ablaze, body weak in fire. He recruited Bai Luo, who also annihilated his own family, Jin Luo, who killed his parents over gambling, and Qing Luo, who poisoned an entire troupe...
These people, like him, felt injustice, were of the same path, and should join forces to achieve great things!
By then, Han Renshan was already ensnared in madness!
Later, Han Renshan came to the Jin Sect.
The Jin Sect happened to be at a river mouth, a key location for canal transport, where the Baisha River's waves never ceased.
And the character "Jin" also has water, and there's no place more in line with the Celestial Master Mansion Daoist's prophecy regarding water than the Jin Sect!
Indeed, in just ten years, the raging fire ignited by the Celestial Heart Sect was completely extinguished by the ubiquitous, invisible water of the Jin Sect!
And today, ten years later, Han Renshan finally met the man who extinguished the fire in his heart.