knife

Chapter 31 Living is fucking hard

"What kind of person was my father? Why do you never want to talk about him?" Li Dachui stared at Zhou Zhi, as if trying to find some answer in his face.

"He is an extremely useless person."

“I don’t believe it,” Li Dachui said resolutely. “If he were really as bad as you say, would someone as stunning as my mother be interested in him? Old man, I bet you also had a crush on my mother, but she ended up with my father, so you’re just jealous and you’re slandering him.”

“Jealousy is certain, but I really didn’t slander him!” Zhou Zhi said, “If your mother hadn’t married him, she wouldn’t have ended up like that.”

"Old man, you said that my mother's cultivation level had already surpassed the Innate Realm and reached a higher level. Wouldn't she be invincible? How could she have suffered such serious injuries? Who else could have hurt her?" Li Dachui asked, puzzled.

“There are heavens beyond heavens, and people beyond people. Above the innate realm, there is naturally another realm.” Zhou Zhi said, “That’s why I have been striving to climb all these years. Only when I reach the level your mother reached back then will I be qualified to seek revenge on those who hurt her!”

"You know these people exist, and you know where to find them, right?"

Zhou Zhi shook his head.

"Old man, even if you reach the level your mother reached back then and find them, how could you possibly be their match?"

“That’s not necessarily true. Your mother was defeated back then because of you, a burden. A pregnant woman, how much fighting power do you think she could exert? And there’s more than one enemy!” Zhou Zhi said, “Moreover, I’ll be in the shadows while they’re in the open, haha, and with you, my cunning little helper, there’s a great chance of revenge.”

"What was my father's martial arts skill level back then?" Li Dachui didn't want to give up hope, so he continued to probe indirectly, trying to find some clues or flaws in Zhou Zhi's answer.

"How high could that scoundrel's martial arts cultivation be? Back then, he was at most a Xuan Yuan level eight or nine, right?" Zhou Zhi snorted, seemingly getting angry whenever Li Dachui's father was mentioned.

“Then he must be outstanding in other areas, otherwise how could he have won my mother’s favor?” Li Dachui said confidently.

"Your mother was a compassionate woman. Back then, she was deceived by that scoundrel of your father, which is why she followed him into that filthy place without hesitation. Your mother was a bright and upright person, while your father, that good-natured man, made grand promises but his actions were full of flaws. In the end, he fell into someone else's trap and was doomed. I can't talk about it anymore; it makes me so angry."

After saying this, Zhou Zhiyi stood up and strode away.

"Old man, we're going to drink Human World again tonight!" Li Dachui shouted from behind. Human World was the old man's treasure, and even Li Dachui didn't have any of it.

"Drink my ass! Mentioning your deadbeat father makes me lose my appetite!" Zhou Zhi's voice came from beside me.

Li Dachui shrugged: "Well, Fatty got all excited for nothing."

Although Zhou Zhi was reluctant to talk much about his father, he must have been an extraordinary man, otherwise, how could he have won the heart of such a capable mother?
He walked back to his usual meditation room, sat cross-legged on the cushion, and looked at the huge character "静" (quiet) that he had written himself on the opposite wall, but he still couldn't calm down.

From a very young age, Zhou Zhi told himself how powerful his enemy was.

To survive, you have to keep getting stronger and stronger.

Thus, his daily life consisted only of cultivation, cultivation, and more cultivation.

Because of his unique physique, Li Dachui's cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds. At the age of fifteen, an ordinary person who could break through to the Qi Control realm would be regarded as the future hope of their family and would be vigorously cultivated. At that time, Li Dachui had already entered the seventh grade of the Profound Origin realm.

That same year, Zhou Zhi threw him out, and he took Fang Xiaomao, Xia Zhi, and a few others to the wilderness.

From then on, Zhou Dao, the young city lord of Tai'an, rarely appeared in public, while the bandit Li Dachui began to make his mark.

Over the course of ten years, Li Dachui, a notorious bandit from outside the Great Wall, has become a force of considerable importance.

As Zhou Zhi broke through his innate abilities, Tai'an City gradually grew into a commercial center outside the pass.

Of course, Zhou Zhi becoming a master of innate skill only gave Tai'an City a superior status; its transformation into a commercial center was due to Li Dachui's meticulous planning.

When Li Dachui left Tai'an City, he made a detailed plan. While he was working diligently as a bandit in the wilderness, Zhou Zhi and Li Kaixin were also focusing on developing according to this plan.

Three years ago, Li Dachui led a group of men to rob a merchant caravan belonging to Linghu Ye. He only wanted to make a fortune, but unexpectedly obtained enough leverage to bring down Linghu Ye.

While Linghu Ye was preparing to send out a large army to wipe out Li Dachui, Zhou Zhi took Li Dachui to Zhenwu City.

Only then did Linghu Ye realize that the bandit Li Dachui was actually Zhou Dao, the young city lord of Tai'an City.

There is no other way.

Unless Linghu Ye is capable of taking down Zhou Zhiyi as well, it will be impossible to touch Li Dachui. No one wants a master of innate cultivation to be spying on them all day long, ready to stab them at any moment.

The two sides reached a compromise.

Linghu Ye's secret will not be revealed, and Li Dachui will continue to live a carefree life.

Of course, if given the chance to kill Li Dachui, Linghu Ye would never miss it.

If you die in an accident, Zhou Zhi cannot be blamed for it.

For example, in the deal three years ago, Li Dachui led his troops in a surprise attack on Wutu, creating an opportunity for Xiao Changche to pursue and kill the Northern Yuan Left Wise King.

In that battle, Linghu Ye and his men tried several times to take down Li Dachui, but failed each time. Instead, several experienced assassins fell victim to Li Dachui's blade.

It was precisely because of that battle that Li Dachui's true strength was exposed to the world.

A powerful military force combined with a city of immense wealth creates an overwhelming force.

Even if Linghu Ye wanted to take action against Tai'an City, he couldn't now.

Killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of your own is definitely not something Linghu Ye would be willing to do. If he were to do it, he would inevitably be the one to fall next.

Since we can't eliminate them, we have no choice but to cooperate.

Moreover, Xiao Changche was more of a headache for Linghu Ye than Li Dachui.

This person is a local representative, and is a natural adversary of outsiders like Linghu Ye.

And this person is not easy to find fault with.

Xiao Changche was a very pure person, so pure that if Linghu Ye caused him trouble, everyone outside the pass would think that Commander Linghu was eliminating dissidents.

This is not easy to do.

Commander Linghu sees the area outside the Great Wall as his future base, so this reputation is of utmost importance to him.

Fortunately, Xiao Changche is quite obedient and single-mindedly wants to deal with Beiyuan, so he is still easy to coax.

By controlling the size of his army and managing his financial supplies, Xiao Changche was a tiger with a gag in his mouth.

Zhang Ruo's arrival gave Li Dachui a chance to break the deadlock.

Everything is going smoothly right now, and things are progressing step by step according to my plan.

Li Dachui is now a solid ninth-rank Xuan Yuan.

The reason why Li Dachui was able to hide his strength from Chang Jian, Xiao Changche and others, making them unable to see his true strength, was due to the special nature of the cultivation technique he practiced.

However, Li Dachui harbors another secret, a secret that even Zhou Zhi has no way of knowing; it belongs solely to Li Dachui.

Thinking of this, Li Dachui sighed.

Having too many secrets is really not a good thing, especially when you are surrounded by a group of extremely capable people.

Li Dachui had no idea how people at the Innate Realm perceived the world differently.

When asked, Zhou Zhi couldn't give a clear answer either, only saying that when Li Dachui reaches that level, his perspective on the world will naturally be completely different.

This made Li Dachui a little uneasy.

I must not let Zhou Zhi notice anything amiss with me, otherwise, who knows if this old man might just kill this prodigy in one fell swoop.

Zhou Zhi never revealed what his parents did back then, but based on what Zhou Zhi had done over the years, Li Dachui had more or less guessed some of it.

If it's merely for self-preservation, then by cultivating martial arts to a certain level, one can at least roam the martial world freely.

But Zhou Zhi had other plans.

He took him to the area outside the Great Wall, and then Tai'an City was established. When he had achieved some success in martial arts, he sent him to secretly develop his martial power. During those years of hard work, whenever there was a fierce battle, Li Dachui knew that Zhou Zhi was secretly protecting him.

Now that Tai'an City has become extremely powerful, Zhou Zhi has made no secret of his desire to seize control of the area outside the pass.

If Zhou Zhi is right, and one day he becomes the King of the Pass, what will he do next?
Need I say more?

Of course, we should lead our troops into the interior and vie for supremacy.

Then it will be clear who your enemy is.

Damn old man!

Do you think I can't find out if you don't tell me?
You underestimate me.

Putting everything else aside, Li Kaixin alone is a huge flaw.

Because the fat man was a eunuch.

Moreover, the fat man said that he had been with his mother since he was very young.

So, who in this world could possibly be a person who could employ a eunuch?
Some things are better left unthought; thinking about them gives you a headache.

Instead, by taking things one step at a time, steadily and practically, you might unknowingly get closer and closer to your goal.

No one has an easy life.

They're all struggling!

The only difference is the reason and goal of their struggle.

Living is fucking hard!
But being alive is fucking fun!

This is especially interesting for Li Dachui.

(End of this chapter)