But others couldn’t understand his choice.
It wasn’t that they didn’t want Jiang Luo to leave the Sect—after all, Feng Li’s control over Jiang Luo was so strict it made even them gape in surprise. They just didn’t expect Jiang Luo to so casually decide to leave the Sect.
Feng Li was the youngest Heavenly Master ever and now the number one figure in the metaphysical world. It was hard enough for outsiders to get a glimpse of Feng Li, let alone to be connected to him. The title “Heavenly Master Feng’s direct disciple” carried great weight in the industry and could easily bring enormous wealth and influence.
And yet Jiang Luo chose to leave so lightly.
Jiang Luo didn’t explain his reasons further, but whatever police officer Lin imagined, he was so moved he almost cried, choking out, “Jiang Luo, don’t worry, the state will definitely be your new support. You just go all out; the state won’t let you have any worries.”
Jiang Luo trusted the institution established by the state. An institution was at its most vibrant right after its birth. The metaphysical world’s top was so corrupt it was going mad—the darkness before dawn.
A better outcome than letting Chi You destroy the metaphysical world was for the state to take over management.
Jiang Luo couldn’t help but smirk.
He and Chi You really were born enemies.
Even though they shared the same goal of destroying the metaphysical world, they stood on opposite sides. Jiang Luo chose to replace the old system with new rules, while Chi You chose destruction and obliteration.
Quite interesting.
Jiang Luo sincerely thought so—this complicated relationship, full of deception and betrayal but with the closest connection, was like an addictive poison.
After agreeing on the rough terms with Officer Lin, Officer Lin hurriedly prepared to leave. He said, “We still have to arrest members of the Qi and Chi families. Every piece of information about Qi Yuan and Chi Zhongye’s self-explosion has been recorded; we still need to verify it all. Oh, and your classmate Qi Ye was also taken by us. He is from the Qi family, and we don’t know if he’s innocent. After a thorough investigation confirming his innocence, we’ll release him soon, so don’t worry.”
Since witnessing his father’s death, Qi Ye had been listless. Ge Zhu sighed softly, “He’s a pitiful person too.”
Jiang Luo thought of Chi You’s grandfather, whose spirit was taken by Qi Yuan.
Pitiful?
Maybe.
But Jiang Luo knew, who hasn’t gone through a few painful things?
The trial ended, and in a little over ten days, it would be New Year. To celebrate, Lu Youyi treated everyone to dinner that night.
They drank a little wine and ate small dishes. Jiang Luo felt lazy from the warmth and steam. With the Qi and Chi families no longer threatening them, his spirit was somewhat tipsy.
Back at their residence, everyone slept well. The next morning at eight, the group went out together to buy New Year goods.
Lu Youyi’s parents did business abroad for most of the year. This year’s New Year was to be spent overseas, but when they called Lu Youyi to tell him, he refused while biting into his bread, matter-of-factly saying, “I want to spend New Year with my friends.”
Luckily, Lu Youyi’s parents didn’t care much about New Year customs. They gave him a big sum of money to wish him a happy new year and left it at that.
Ge Zhu watched this and shed two lines of envious tears.
Among the eight, Ge Zhu, Wenren Lian, Ye Xun, and Jiang Luo had nowhere else to go, so they would stay and spend New Year with Lu Youyi. Kuang Zheng would return home for a family reunion dinner, then come back to accompany them afterward. Cyril had already celebrated Christmas abroad and would join them for New Year. All told, only Zhuo Zhongqiu, heir of a great family, was too busy to join, buried in social engagements.
Zhuo Zhongqiu grew increasingly attracted to the olive branch offered by the state.
The time before the New Year passed quickly. Jiang Luo hid in his room, practicing using the “Character Spirit.” Chinese characters evolved from oracle bone script with a long history. The “Character Spirits” born from the characters had immense power. Jiang Luo couldn’t describe their form or shape but felt their boundless, ocean-like tolerance and powerful, mature tranquility.
It was hard to imagine such a powerful Character Spirit had chosen Jiang Luo in return.
After spending more time in contact with the Character Spirit, Jiang Luo finally understood why it had chosen him. Because the qi inside him was one of the strongest among those who had studied spirit channelling techniques, and he was also one of the rare few who thought of the spirits residing within Chinese characters. The Character Spirit had existed for thousands of years yet remained unnoticed by people—it was equally lonely and isolated. So when Jiang Luo made even the slightest attempt, the Character Spirit immediately responded to him.
After more than ten days of getting familiar with the Character Spirit, Jiang Luo had to admit the truth of the saying that everything has two sides.
The Character Spirit’s power was immense, but precisely because of its strength, Jiang Luo had to expend an extraordinary amount of qi to use it. The more powerful the character, the more qi Jiang Luo needed to invest. Moreover, using the Character Spirit also depended on the target involved.
For example, when Jiang Luo used the characters for “truth” on Qi Yuan and Chi Zhongye, it was easy for him, mainly because their strength was weak, and the damage caused by the characters “truth” was minor.
If he wanted to use a stronger character, like “death,” which could take someone’s life, it would undoubtedly be much more difficult. Taking the life of a blade of grass was easier than taking that of an animal, and taking the life of an animal was easier than taking that of a person. Although spirit channeling techniques were powerful, they were not so powerful as to defy the heavens or be used to kill indiscriminately. From this, Jiang Luo inferred that whoever obtained the power of speech spirits must also have limits.
This was actually a good thing because Jiang Luo vaguely felt that the person who gained the power of speech spirits was exactly the Fated One.
As the New Year approached, the streets and alleys were filled with the scent of fireworks and firecrackers. Jiang Luo and Ge Zhu agreed on a time to visit Dazhao Temple after the holiday and leisurely awaited the arrival of New Year’s Day.
The way young people celebrated was completely different from the elders. In Lu Youyi’s apartment, the most purchased items were large bottles of drinks and various snacks. The fridge was packed with ingredients. Somehow, Lu Youyi even managed to get a few live, wriggling snakes. Jiang Luo prepared to show off his skills and cook them snake meat.
As an excellent chef, Jiang Luo directed a few people to help with the preparations. Once the ingredients were almost ready, he led everyone to the living room to watch TV and make dumplings.
Lu Youyi switched the TV to internet game mode and pulled Ge Zhu into playing. Jiang Luo, with flour still on his hands, came over to ask them to help but saw they were already assigning teammates, about to start a game.
Two player IDs on the opposing team caught his attention: one was “I am your dad,” and the other was “Going to kill you through the internet cable.”
Just the names sounded like elementary school kids.
Lu Youyi confidently said to Ge Zhu, “I’ll carry you to victory. I’ll crush those little kids on the other side until they’re begging for mercy.”
Ge Zhu, a newbie at games, nervously gripped the controller and seriously nodded.
After the game started, Lu Youyi completely let loose. He forgot about carrying Ge Zhu and happily and easily defeated the player named “Going to kill you through the internet cable.” Looking back, he saw Ge Zhu being repeatedly beaten by “I am your dad.”
After dying and respawning several times, even Ge Zhu’s patience wore thin, and he grit his teeth, saying, “Lu Youyi, kill that ‘I am your dad’ first! I think this guy’s got a problem—he’s focused on beating me.”
Lu Youyi, feeling the pressure, nodded seriously.
He was actually a little embarrassed to keep bullying the other team’s kids, but seeing his friend get beaten up so badly, he rolled up his sleeves to fight back. Before charging, he gently sent a thoughtful message to “Going to kill you through the internet cable”: “Little buddy, don’t go head-to-head with me. I don’t want to bully kids. I’m going to fight your teammate first. You better hide.”
In an empty internet cafe…
Seeing that message, “Going to kill you through the internet cable,” who had been getting beaten by Lu Youyi, completely lost his temper.
With a loud “crack,” his mouse was crushed into pieces in his hand.
Huali’s face was expressionless, but his breath grew a bit rapid with anger. His fingers cracked as sharp claws scratched deep marks into the computer desk.
“I’m going to kill him,” he said through clenched teeth, his voice dark and low, “I’m definitely going to kill that human called ‘Have one but no one*’!”
* Youyi but no yi
Ge Wuchen, who was focused on his screen, lazily said, “Huali, why bother arguing with humans? I’ve already killed ‘Qingfeng Daoren’ several times for you to get revenge.”
He sneered to himself, “Qingfeng Daoren? I hate Taoist people the most. Don’t blame me for killing you—blame yourself for having such an annoying name.”
Huali glanced at the death count of “Qingfeng Daoren” and felt somewhat better after seeing it was roughly equal to his own. Still, the killing urge remained. Huali clumsily typed a message: [Going to kill you through the internet cable: Have one but no one, tell me where you live.]
Lu Youyi glanced at the message while fighting monsters: “?”
He was puzzled. “Is this kid really planning to ask for my address and then crawl through the internet cable to kill me?”
Jiang Luo, standing by watching the show, laughed. “Probably just a kid going through the emo phase.”
Lu Youyi nodded in agreement.
Ignoring the message, Lu Youyi kept attacking “I am your dad.” Ge Zhu tried hard to block “Going to kill you through the internet cable,” preventing him from helping “I am your dad” and disturbing Lu Youyi.
Fortunately, their skill levels were similar, and the two fought with almost equal strength.
Huali’s brows furrowed deeper, but a flash of pleasure appeared in his eyes. He was slowly and carefully controlling his character’s clumsy dodging and counterattacking, locked in a fierce fight with “Qingfeng Daoren,” when suddenly a voice sounded nearby, “Huali, it’s been a long time. How come your skill is still so trash?”
With a flick of Huali’s finger, just like that, he was killed by “Qingfeng Daoren.” Watching the screen darken, Huali’s hands trembled with rage, his aura pressing down terrifyingly.
Liao Si touched his nose and sneered, “Oh, sorry, did I disturb you?”
