If such a thing had happened to Fang Yuan and not Fang Zhen, he would not have been bothered in the slightest save for the decline in his ability. The scorn or praises of the world meant nothing to Fang Yuan, but Fang Zhen was not like that.
To Fang Zheng, the whispers, the taunts, the mockery- it all was too much to handle.
"Heh, look at him, was so high and mighty- but heaven brought him down!"
"Fang Zheng, you're back to only being Rank 1 Initial Stage? Even the D-grade talents have left you behind!"
"A Gu Master with no gu worms- what a joke!"
"Fang Zheng, you failure, when I was your age I was already sixteen years old!"
"Fang Zheng, why can't you at least be as good-looking as your brother?"
"Fang Zheng, I'm sorry to hear about what happened to you... but I need you to pay me back for lunch that time, okay? Half a primeval stone will do."
The only thing that people wanted to see more than a genius, was to see a genius fall!
His aptitude had fell from 80% to 46%, meaning that his prospects for the future were greatly limited.
He had gone from soaring high in the skies to once again trailing behind in his brother's shadow, like he had been doing until then in life. Was he fated to always be second-best to his brother? Encountering the Lord of the Mysteries had caused him to enter a circle of inevitability- one where he continued to be nothing better than a cheap knockoff of his brother.
Fang Zheng was so worried by all of this that he started having the strangest dreams.
"Fang Zheng, good that you arrived here," the clan elder said to him one day. Next to him was a strange person who had a lot of hair- did they have some kind of disease? The hair covered almost every part of their body, even their eyelids. "Unfortunately, since you're no longer an A-grade talent, you can't protect the village. And so, we needed to find some other way to defend the village. This is a female hairy man, and we've decided to make a military alliance with them. The hairy men are extremely powerful and our only hope of surviving against the Bai and Xiong clan. However, this alliance came with a price. She demanded... your hand in marriage. Please don't resist, Fang Zheng, we need you to do this for the sake of the village."
Fang Zheng was shocked. So, all that hair wasn't some kind of disease?
"What? But... but... I don't wanna marry a female hairy man!"
"Fang Zheng, this is all for the good of the village, please don't resist," Uncle said.
"Yes, we all need to make sacrifices for the village. If only you were still an A-grade talent this wouldn't have to happen, but who can change what fate does? Now, this is the only way that we can reliably save ourselves," Aunt said.
"Also, didn't you always want us to treat you better? Here, we're treating you just like a princess- by marrying you off to secure a military alliance," Uncle said. "You can't possibly complain about that."
"B-But, I always wanted to marry Shen Cui!" Fang Zheng protested. "She's the only woman who'll ever be in my heart!"
"It's okay, my love," Shen Cui said, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I will cherish you in my heart always, even if you marry someone else. For this village, we have to sacrifice our love, no matter how pure and noble it is."
The female hairy man licked her lips as she saw Fang Zheng. He shuddered at the thought of what was going through her mind.
"NO....!"
Three Months Later
Fang Zheng found his lower abdomen suddenly swelling up, not knowing what it was that caused it. He was also nauseous and vomiting constantly. That was, until someone else noticed.
"Oh, husband, it looks like you're finally bearing the fruit of our love!" his 'wife' said. "You're pregnant!"
"What?!" Fang Zheng said, astonished. "But... I'm a man!"
"Don't you know? When it comes to hairy men, the males get pregnant instead of the females!" she replied. "Oh, I hope that it's a boy!"
"NO....!"
Six Months Later
Fang Zheng held his newborn son in his arms. The baby was squirming after he had exited Fang Zheng's belly, drooling all the while.
"Nine months of staying in my body making me suffer- and he looks like his stupid mom!"
"Guague..." the baby said in response, oblivious to what Fang Zheng was thinking.
Five Years Later
"Papa! Papa!" Fang Zheng's son said, watching him leave. "Where are you going?"
"I've mastered a new immortal killer move son- it's called 'Patriarch Goes to Fetch Milk' a technique that combines the profundities of both movement and stealth. Don't worry, I'll be back after I've gotten the milk, okay? Looks like we've ran out."
"Okay!"
Fang Zheng then left, never to return.
Fang Zheng then woke up in a cold sweat.
'That was such a bizarre dream!' he thought to himself. 'It's okay, I can relax... there's no way something like that would ever happen.'
While he was thinking such and rolled over in bed, going back to sleep, there was harsh knocking at his door.
"Fang Zheng! You rascal! Open up!" his uncle's voice could be heard loud and clear.
Fang Zheng felt that he had just woken up, although it had been a few hours judging from the daylight. He opened up the door to see his uncle and aunt there, glaring at him angrily. They had not looked at him like that since before the Awakening Ceremony.
"What's going o-" before he could finish, his uncle slapped him across the face.
"Scoundrel! You dare ask what it is that you did wrong after what you did to Shen Cui?"
"What? What happened to Shen Cui? I didn't do anything to her-" If anything, Fang Zheng became worried that something or someone had done something to hurt Shen Cui- not realizing that this was clearly a setup. He even though that it might've been Fang Yuan disguised as himself.
"Liar! Let's see what she has to say for ourselves!" Fang Zheng was dragged downstairs.
Downstairs, Shen Cui had her face buried in Mother Shen's arms, and she was sobbing. Mother Shen glared at him.
"Shen Cui! Tell us what you told me earlier- don't worry about Fang Zheng, I won't let him harm you... this I swear upon my honor!" Uncle said.
Shen Cui looked up, face bedew with tears. "He... Fang Zheng he.... he used to force himself on me... he's done it multiple times. I... I asked him to stop but... he wouldn't. He said that if I ever... complained, he would kill me. He said that he had always wanted me, and that now... he was a Gu Master... he would make me suffer if I didn't agree... and stand down... as he violated me!" She then burst into tears and then buried her face in Mother Shen's arms once again.
Her performance was so convincing that if Fang Zheng had not known the truth, he would've instantly believed her.
It was only now that he realized that he had been set up.