Genshin: A Bastard Life Simulation (Patreon)

V1 Chapter 30: Devouring Deceiver

Rostam wants to be my brother?

When he becomes successful later, can he do without my help?

Li Xingshan hardly needed to think and quickly answered, "I choose the first one!"

【You readily accept Rostam's invitation, and you both promise to fight together to protect Mondstadt in the future.】

【11 Years Old: You and Rostam become a well-known pair of good friends in the area. People say that the two of you could become accomplished knights and physicians in the future.】

【12 Years Old: Your research in medicine once again reaches a bottleneck. No matter how intelligent you are or how high your talent is, the lack of advanced equipment and resources severely limits your learning. You know that only by continuing your studies at Mondstadt's Knights of Favonius Headquarters can you advance your medical skills. However, the high tuition fees are beyond what your family can afford.】

【13 Years Old: In order to nurture talent in the village, the village chief gathers funds. However, these funds are only enough for either you or Rostam to receive a higher education. For the sake of fairness, the village chief decides to use a draw to determine who will receive this opportunity. On the night before the draw, Rostam finds you and tells you that he's decided to give up his chance to you. You just need to draw the right-side lot to qualify.】

【Regarding Rostam's words, you feel complex emotions. The next day, the drawing ceremony begins. Faced with two lots, you decide...】

【1. Draw the right-side lot.】

【2. Draw the left-side lot.】

Do I really need to make a choice?

Could it be that this is a test to see if I believe Rostam's words?

Indeed, Rostam is my good brother, a good friend, but this drawing ceremony concerns both of our futures.

They're both exceptionally talented individuals, but this time, the one who draws the winning lot will have a bright future while the other will likely remain in this impoverished village, leading an unremarkable life.

"I... choose the right-side lot."

Finally, Li Xingshan chose to trust Rostam.

【You chose the right-side lot, only for Rostam to win the opportunity. At that moment, you were greatly struck. If he had wished, you might have directly given the opportunity to him. However, you hadn't expected to be deceived by your most trusted friend. A seed was planted in your heart. You decided never to trust anyone again.】

【Achievement Unlocked: Devouring Deceiver】

【Effect: When you lie, there's a 10% chance that the other person will unconditionally believe your lie. When others lie to you, there's a 10% chance that you can see through their lies.】

Was I... deceived?

A sense of inexplicable disappointment washed over Li Xingshan. He didn't really care about getting the opportunity, but being betrayed by his closest companion was something he found hard to accept.

【Due to the immense blow you received, you locked yourself away and didn't leave the house. During this time, Rostam tried to reach out to you multiple times, but you never met him, not until he left for Mondstadt.】

【14 Years Old: Instead of becoming disheartened by the incident, you decide to learn unparalleled medical skills and then head to Mondstadt to seek “revenge” from Rostam.】

【You construct a "medical laboratory" in a cave outside the village, filled with various creatures for your research. You've been attempting surgeries to replace the organs of rabbits, but you've been unable to succeed. You study through the night, eventually falling asleep due to exhaustion.】

【Who would have known that when you wake up in a daze, there's someone standing at your lab table? You were about to stop them, but to your surprise, they've managed to complete the surgery you've struggled with.】

【However, what surprised you even more was that the person who completed the surgery while you were asleep was none other than the grave digger you met in the forest years ago, the one with the decaying and twisted face you could never forget.】

【But curiosity overcame your fear. You questioned him about his origins and medical lineage. He told you he was once a physician at Mondstadt Cathedral, but he was expelled from Mondstadt due to researching forbidden medical arts. He found you to be talented and wanted to take you as his disciple. Your choices are...】

【1. Sternly refuse.】

【2. Hastily agree.】

Suddenly, a strange individual appears and wants to be your teacher?

This kind of third-rate martial arts novel plot made Li Xingshan unsure of how to proceed.

Refuse?

Wouldn't the other party be angered and possibly even kill me on the spot?

After all, I didn't choose the talent 【Start Over Again】 this time, and the talent 【Die of Old Age】 can't prevent me from being killed.

"I... I choose the second one."

There's no other way; I'll agree for now and find a way to escape later.

【You agree to become his disciple. He expresses great happiness and tells you he'll impart all of his lifetime's knowledge to you.】

【15 Years Old: The "Strange Physician" tutors you, and your medical skills indeed undergo rapid improvement. He tells you that his medical arts involve the greatest form of medical treatment—the art of resurrection. Being able to bring deceased creatures back to life is the pinnacle of medical arts. However, you consider his claims to be nothing more than delusions.】

【Until one day, right before your eyes, the "Strange Physician" "resurrected" a rat that had been dead for half a day. It's only then that you're forced to believe his words.】

Resurrection art?

Isn't this more like magic than medicine?

【16 Years Old: The Strange Physician can resurrect many animals, but he can't resurrect humans. To study how to resurrect humans, he often excavates new graves and steals corpses. You finally learn the reason why he was digging graves years ago. He wasn't a grave robber but a corpse snatcher.】

【While you know that stealing corpses is wrong, facing these excellent "medical tools," your obsession with medicine overcomes your resistance, and you start researching medicine using the corpses.】

【17 Years Old: Soon, you've learned almost all of the Strange Physician's knowledge. He tells you that much of his essential information is locked in a secret chamber in Mondstadt Cathedral. He hopes you can enter Mondstadt Cathedral as a physician to access that information. You tell him that you don't have the qualifications or resources to enter Mondstadt Cathedral. He merely sneers and tells you he has a way; you just need to wait patiently.】

【18 Years Old: An unexpected plague sweeps through your hometown. You realize that despite all your medical learning, you're helpless against this plague. Soon, almost all the villagers, including your parents, succumb to the plague. Strangely, only you... remain completely unaffected by the epidemic.】