ENG
"From humble start to seek revenge's claim.
Paths may differ, yet burn with the same flame."
In bygone days, there lived a youth in the town, the son of a martial arts master. His father's fondness for drink led to a foolish act that landed the old man in jail, leaving only the youth and his mother struggling to survive. As their situation grew dire, the young man took on any work to make ends meet. The villagers praised him for caring for his mother, deeming him a dutiful son.
In an unlucky year of crop failure, the mother and son set out to seek refuge with relatives. Along the way, a gang of bandits emerged. Eyes fierce, faces scarred, they brandished their blades, demanding nothing but gold. The mother and son, destitute, resorted to begging for mercy. But the bandits showed no mercy and were intent on killing them. The young man, believing their death was imminent, seized a bandit's knife; with a resolute heart, he ended his own mother's life and pledged himself to the bandits. And so, he joined their ranks. News of the incident spread, and people condemned him as a coward, truly a cursed son.
Years passed. One day, the entire gang of bandits was wiped out, leaving no trace. Some said a hero had come to rid the land of evil and uphold justice. Others claimed a guai had emerged in the mountains, bringing a long-delayed reckoning. Debates raged on, but eventually, the topic faded from memory. One day, a man, covered in blood, stumbled down from the mountains, recounting an encounter with a towering bandit, neither human nor guai, wielding a massive blade to rob the roads. His face bore an uncanny resemblance to that cursed youth, yet he spoke of freeing humanity from its burdens.
A young man is the son of a martial arts master. His father drank too much and did something foolish that got him thrown into jail. That left the son and his mother poor. The son took any work he could find to support them, and the villagers praised him for caring for his mother and called him dutiful.
One year the crops failed. The mother and son tried to go live with relatives for safety. On the way they were ambushed by a gang of bandits: scarred men with fierce eyes who waved blades and demanded gold. The mother and son had nothing and begged for mercy, but the bandits were merciless and planned to kill them.
Believing they were about to die, the young man grabbed a bandit’s knife, killed his own mother, and then pledged himself to the bandit gang. He joined their ranks. When the villagers heard what he had done, they condemned him as a coward and called him a cursed son.
Years later the whole bandit gang was suddenly wiped out and left no trace. People argued about who or what had destroyed them: some said a hero had come to purge evil, others said a guai, a kind of demon, had appeared in the mountains. The arguments went on for a while and then people forgot about it.
Then a blood-covered man came down from the mountains and told of meeting a towering bandit who was neither clearly human nor guai and who carried a huge blade that he used to rob roads. That bandit’s face looked uncannily like the cursed youth, and he spoke about freeing humanity from its burdens. The story leaves the identity and motives unclear: the same person might have become an avenger, a monster, or something in between, and the tale highlights how similar suffering can lead to very different, violent paths.