The-Chrysanthemum-Codex：Ash's-Ascension

In the hushed stillness of a moonless night, the shadows clung to the earth like a shroud, embracing the secrets that the darkness was sworn to protect. Ash, a thief of unparalleled skill, moved through the night like a wraith, his footsteps silent as the grave, his presence as elusive as a whisper carried by the wind. The grand estate before him was no ordinary manor—it was a fortress of wealth and power, home to the infamous Demon Amon, whose very name could strike fear into the hearts of those who dared to speak it aloud. With the stealth of a panther stalking its prey, Ash slipped through the opulent halls of Amon's mansion, his senses attuned to every flicker of light, every creak of wood beneath his feet. His target was no mere trinket, no common bauble to be fenced in the shadowy markets of thieves. No, his prize was the legendary Eye of Amon—a singular, bejeweled monocle that gleamed with an otherworldly light, said to possess powers beyond mortal comprehension. As Ash approached the pedestal where the Eye rested, his heart raced with the thrill of the heist, the adrenaline coursing through his veins like fire. His fingers, nimble and practiced, closed around the precious artifact, lifting it from its resting place with the gentleness of a lover’s caress. "A thief's touch, and the world is mine," he mused to himself, a smirk playing on his lips as he admired his handiwork. But in his moment of triumph, Ash failed to notice the subtle shift in the air around him. The temperature dropped, the shadows deepened, and the very atmosphere seemed to grow thick with malevolence. It was as if the darkness itself had awakened, stirred by the audacity of his theft. And then, from the very air, a figure began to materialize—an apparition of dread, a being whose form was as twisted and serpentine as the evil it embodied. Amon. Before Ash could react, the demon’s presence wrapped around him like a vice, an invisible force that constricted his breath and chilled his soul. Pain, sharp and sudden, lanced through his body, and his vision blurred, the world tilting on its axis. In the span of a heartbeat, his strength was sapped, leaving him paralyzed, helpless before the wrath of the ancient demon. Amon's voice, when it came, was a low, sinister growl that reverberated through the very marrow of Ash’s bones. "Did you truly believe you could steal from me and escape unscathed, mortal?" The words dripped with venom, each syllable a promise of suffering. Ash’s bravado crumbled in the face of such overwhelming power. Though his voice was lost to the constriction around his throat, his thoughts raced in frantic prayer. Great Elder, I was wrong, I don’t want to meet my end here. Spare me, and I’ll never cross you again! Yet even in his silent plea, his eyes darted about the chamber, searching for any means of escape—a futile hope in the presence of such an ancient evil. The chamber around him seemed to shrink as Amon’s power filled every corner, pressing in on Ash with the weight of inevitability. The demon’s form, now fully manifested, loomed before him—a being of nightmarish proportions, with limbs that twisted and coiled like serpents, and eyes that glowed with the cold fire of damnation. "You, with your roving eyes," Amon hissed, his gaze boring into Ash’s very soul. "You are plotting your escape even now, aren’t you? But know this, thief: those who fall into my grasp do not walk away. You have two choices—become a living statue, a plaything for my amusement, or be sent to meet your end in the eternal fires of the underworld." Ash’s mind raced as he grasped for any means of salvation. His eyes, wide with fear and desperation, locked onto Amon's, his thoughts a jumbled mess of excuses and half-formed pleas. I’m only twenty! I don’t want to die yet! Ash had been a thief since the age of five, caught more times than he could count, but always he had managed to wriggle free with a well-rehearsed plea for mercy. Now, his face contorted with sincerity, tears and snot mingling in a grotesque display of fear. "Don’t kill me, Great Elder, I beg you! I’ll do anything—anything! I’ll even name my firstborn after you!" He shuddered in the silence, his mind spinning wild tales of servitude to a mad god. Amon sneered, his voice dripping with contempt. "You, a father? Don't make me laugh. I can see right through you, wretch. You are nothing but a virgin!" Ash gaped, his shock breaking through the fog of fear. "How did you know?" Amon’s gaze turned calculating, a dangerous glint flashing in his eyes. "Because I am Amon, the all-seeing." He straightened, folding his arms with a look of grim satisfaction. "I have delved into your past, mortal. I have glimpsed every one of your hundred lifetimes. You, who have walked this earth as a villain in every reincarnation—your soul reeks of sin." “Wow! In your previous life, you were a flower thief! Two lifetimes of evil, and you still get reincarnated as a human! Impressive!” Ash shook his head. “No matter how skilled, luck is what counts!” “Luckier than me?” Amon continued groping Ash’s head. “Let me see your life three lifetimes ago!” Like watching a fast-forwarded movie, Amon began to see Ash’s past lives. “Damn! You were a corrupt official three lifetimes ago! You should be in hell! Did Satan miss you?!” “In your fourth lifetime, you were a woman who murdered her husband!” “In your fifth lifetime, you were a rebel!” “In your sixth lifetime, you trafficked children...” ... “Twenty-seven lifetimes ago, you ran a black market!” ... “Forty-eight lifetimes ago, you betrayed your father!” ... “Eighty-one lifetimes ago, you sold fake medicine!” ... “Ninety-nine lifetimes ago, you dug up someone’s ancestral grave, stole their token, and deceived a blind widow!” Amon, no longer happy, slumped beside Ash, patting his chest in shock. “Bro, are you Satan’s son? Every lifetime of yours deserves hell, yet you’re still human!” Ash, nearly asleep from the rambling, sighed. It seemed he had encountered a lunatic today. Unlucky! “Great Elder, with your skills, can you tell me what I was a hundred lifetimes ago?” Ash joked. “Let me rest first!” Amon, drenched in sweat, took a few minutes to rest before he touched Ash again. “Damn it! A hundred lifetimes ago, you were a laborer!” “Hey, finally a good person!” Ash laughed. “Good person? Hmph!” Amon glared at him. “You were a laborer building the Great Wall, cutting corners and causing it to collapse! And you blamed a widow named Meng Jiang, claiming her tears brought down the Wall!” Amon circled Ash a few more times. “No, someone like you needs physical purification! I don’t trust sending you to Satan.” He raised a fist the size of a sandbag, ready to crush Ash. “Great Elder, please have mercy!” Ash panicked, not wanting to die at the hands of a madman. “With your vast powers, surely there’s another way to punish me?” “Another way...right!” Amon’s eyes lit up. “You’re a villain of a hundred lifetimes! Perfect for this technique! Get up and acknowledge me as your master! You are a perfect candidate for the Chrysanthemum Codex.” Before Ash could fully comprehend the weight of Amon's words, the demon reached out, his clawed hand glowing with an eerie light. In a swift motion, he pressed his hand to Ash's left buttock, leaving behind a searing brand—a cluster of thirty-six flower buds, etched into his flesh like a curse. "Consider this your initiation, thief. The Chrysanthemum Codex is a sacred text of perverse power, designed to corrupt the purest of souls. But for you, it will be your path to redemption. Ash, excited, asked, “Great Elder, how do I train?” “Simple!” Amon wiggled a finger in front of Ash. “The Chrysanthemum Codex embodies the concept of misdeeds! Usually, I use it to corrupt the good. But for you, a villain of a hundred lifetimes, you must do good deeds. The more and greater the good deeds, the faster the flowers will bloom.” “That simple?” Ash couldn’t believe it. “No other secret techniques?” “Heh heh, none! But look at the flowers’ pattern...” Under Amon’s guidance, Ash saw the chrysanthemums arranged in a Bagua formation. “This is the Bagua Chrysanthemum. Each trigram you open grants benefits. You’ll figure it out, it won’t disappoint!” Ash couldn’t stop grinning, hardly believing his fortune. “And the first benefit: immortality. You’ll never reincarnate again. Essentially, eternal life!” Ash was ecstatic. Was all his suffering being repaid today? “Great Elder, just doing good deeds will suffice?” He wanted to be sure. “Correct! It only counts the good deeds, no matter how many bad ones. Just don’t do evil while doing good! But...” Amon’s eyes gleamed, teasing Ash, “you’re still a virgin, right?” Ash nodded. “Bad news. The Chrysanthemum Codex is a virgin technique. You can’t be with women until it’s fully mastered!” Ash’s face fell. Amon continued, “And it gets harder. At first, helping an old lady cross the street helps a lot. By the eighth trigram, saving humanity might be required!” Ash cried out, “How many years will it take to do that many good deeds?!” “No rush, you’re immortal! Take your time. A few thousand years should do.” Amon eyed Ash’s lower body. “One warning: don’t be with women before master it. Or the Codex will castrate you!” “You...that means I’ll be a virgin for thousands of years!?” Ash yelled. “I quit! Let me out of this!” Amon stood up, removing the robe from Ash. “Too late!” Ash stood, begging, “Great Elder, I’m a villain of a hundred lifetimes. Aren’t you ashamed to have me as a disciple?” “You think you’re bad? Can you out-bad me?” “But I’m just a thief!” “You’re nothing. You can’t steal fate like me. You’re not even close!” “But...” Ash, desperate, said, “I’d rather be a monk than a eunuch!” Amon laughed. “Do good for the sake of women, then. Farewell!” Amon vanished into the air. Ash first felt shock, then cursed, “Crazy old man! I’m still a virgin! Now I’ll be one forever...” Turning, Ash saw the chrysanthemums on his buttocks and fumed. “That crazy old man calls himself a god?!” Ash’s mind reeled as the implications of Amon’s words sank in. The demon’s eyes gleamed with malevolent glee as he continued, "And remember, mortal, until the Codex is complete, you must remain pure. A single act of lust, and the Codex will ensure that you are 'cleansed' in the most permanent of ways." Ash’s heart pounded in his chest as he realized the full extent of his predicament. "You mean… I’ll be a virgin forever? That’s impossible!" Amon’s laughter echoed through the chamber, a sound that sent chills down Ash’s spine. "You would be wise to take this curse seriously, mortal. For as long as the Codex remains incomplete, you are bound to its rules. A thousand years, a million—it matters not. Time is irrelevant to a soul trapped by the Codex." Ash’s despair turned to anger as he glared at the demon. "You expect me to do good deeds for eternity? You’ve got to be kidding me!" Amon’s eyes narrowed, his voice turning cold and menacing. "You have no choice, thief. Either you complete the Codex, or you will suffer a fate worse than death. Now go, and remember—every act of kindness brings you one step closer to freedom. But stray but once, and you will pay the ultimate price." With a final, mocking laugh, Amon vanished, his form dissipating into the shadows as if he had never been there at all. Ash stood frozen in the darkness, the weight of his new reality pressing down on him like a mountain. He glanced over his shoulder, the outline of the thirty-six flower buds still glowing faintly on his skin. A heavy sigh escaped his lips as he muttered under his breath, "A demon’s apprentice, forced to do good… what kind of twisted joke is this?" ……………………………………………… From then on, the world knew of a strange man who did good deeds by day and stole by night. Soon after, Ash’s first chrysanthemum half-bloomed, and then he heroically died saving someone. “Crazy old man! You lied about my immortality!” The next day’s headline read: “Thief’s Final Cry for Justice!”