Forge a path to success.

Chapter 202 A Good Book

The next day, early morning.

Chu Hengkong slept exceptionally well last night, and he had to admit that the girl who had fallen from grace had a point. Perhaps he was truly tired of living alone, to the point that even in this dreadful environment, he found solace in the company of others.

He got up half an hour earlier than Ji Huaisu, and instead of disturbing his sleeping partner, he went downstairs alone for some morning exercise. As he left the building, he felt unusually guilty and looked back, hoping no one else had seen him.

Vande nestled on the sofa, secretly observing the leopard with his leopard-gazing tube.

"What are you looking at!"

"I'm watching that scumbag's shameful back view," Vande clicked his tongue. "Ah, certain people, I won't name names, spent the night in the same room with that girl, and this morning they sneaked out to find another girl!"

"Keep your voice down, you bastard!" Chu Hengkong felt a deep headache coming on. "I'm going to..."

“I understand, buddy,” Van Der said earnestly. “You’re going there to lose your virginity.”

"go away."

Chu Hengkong flung his wrist out, slamming the Eye Demon flat onto the sofa, who let out a gloating laugh. He turned his back to the small house and hurried away, looking like a prime minister fleeing a humiliating defeat.

It was still early, and as usual, the streets were mostly filled with people shrouded in mist. Those lifeless losers would always look at him with muddy eyes, offering advice that was blocked from the world. Chu Hengkong tightened his clothes, bracing himself for their entanglement.

After walking for a while, they still couldn't hear the voices of the people in the fog. The settlement was unusually quiet today; the streets were deserted, and it seemed the people in the fog had all gone out, their figures nowhere to be found. Seeing this strange phenomenon, Chu Hengkong considered a possibility.

He changed direction and headed towards the church on the edge of the settlement. A man dressed as a priest was standing at the door, closing the heavy wooden door behind him.

“Good morning, Mr. Chu,” Bernhard greeted calmly.

"You let them go?"

“While you were away, I held funerals for them. These souls suffer even more than the residents of Ying Shi Town; they yearn deeply for peace.” Bernhard’s fingers traced the spine of the Book of Revelation. “And where else are there souls who need my help?”

"Take a look at your book," Chu Hengkong sneered.

"The book records the fates of all living beings, but it doesn't mention the souls in the Heavenly Prison," Bernhard frankly stated.

Chu Hengkong originally didn't intend to pay attention, but after thinking about his experiences along the way, he changed his mind.

“You may go to the valley at the bottom of the sand sea. There are many people from the mist who remain there, tormented by nightmares but unable to escape them, and have no choice but to seek the blessing of the Black Moon.”

He was surprised to find emotion on Bernfar's face. It was a deep-seated hatred and profound anger. That expression made Chu Hengkong realize in an instant that the funeral procession hated Black Moon; they were mortal enemies.

"We can only turn to the blasphemous dead moon for help..." he sighed softly, "How pathetic... how hopeless..."

"Thank you for letting me know. I will do my best."

Bernfar left in a hurry, like a believer rushing to martyrdom. Chu Hengkong watched the priest walk away, a vague premonition in his heart that at least for the time being, he didn't need to worry about Bernfar becoming an enemy. Generally speaking, for funeral processions, burying the dead is always far more important than dealing with the living.

He walked along the road toward Qingxia's red house, knocking loudly on the door, bracing himself for the eccentric girl's antics. But once again, he found nothing; the house seemed empty. He strained his ears and heard children's laughter coming from the entrance of the settlement.

Almost all the children in the settlement ran to the entrance, jumping and laughing around their warrior captain. Qingxia single-handedly pulled several large carts, piled high with the exotic beasts they had hunted. The warriors were unloading the precious food while chanting slogans, and the warrior captain carried a basket of roasted meat, using the aroma to amuse the children.

"Who wants to eat meat?" Qingxia said with a half-smile.

"Me!" "I want to eat!" "Soldier commander, give it to me!" The children all raised their hands.

“What can we do? After all, no one gets to eat if he doesn’t work…” Qingxia smiled and stretched out her hand. “Then let’s do this! Let’s see if your strength has improved. Those who train well will get meat to eat.”

"Come on!" The young soldiers, always bold, didn't waste any words and eagerly threw punches. Their attacks struck Qingxia's palms like cotton balls hitting steel. Qingxia gently shook her hand and lifted the child up as easily as lifting a chick.

Chu Hengkong, watching from the sidelines, felt a bit smug. This scene reminded him of Wu He, who had been beaten like a chicken by Qingxia.

“Little Matti… just because he didn’t slack off, he got half a piece of meat.”

"I will continue to work hard..." the burly boy said, pursing his lips.

"Huh? You're slacking off! All you get are scraps of meat."

"Yes, sir." The skinny boy slunk away.

"Vita, you're not bad. You have two pieces of meat."

"Great!" the little girl in the helmet exclaimed.

To outsiders, these children appeared identical, easily picked up and put down, like frozen chickens being mass-produced on an assembly line. However, Qingxia could recount their recent progress in detail, and the children listened without uttering a single complaint. Chu Hengkong guessed that similar tests might be held regularly, hence her thorough understanding of these children's situations.

The small basket of roasted meat was quickly divided up, and the children scattered. Qingxia grabbed the last piece from the bottom of the basket and waved it at Chu Hengkong.

"Do you want to eat?"

“No need to compete with you for food.” Chu Hengkong shrugged. “Why hunt so many prey?” Generally speaking, Qingxia or the other warriors wouldn’t hunt too many exotic beasts; they needed to ensure a stable food source around the settlement. Qingxia tossed the piece of meat into her mouth, muttering, “Too many guys have come out of the deep jungle, muah muah muah. And if Grandpa went out, he probably received some news… muah muah muah, he might be taking action, ugh.”

Chu Hengkong had a headache: "Swallow what you're eating before you speak!"

"Therefore, we should store as much food as possible."

"Where is the cause and effect?! It's all masked by the chewing sounds, I can't hear anything at all!"

Qingxia swallowed the meat with a gulp and said seriously, "Time flies, and there's no time to lose. If there's anything that hasn't been resolved, we need to get it done as soon as possible!"

"You don't have to use allusions here. Every time you use a word, I worry whether you really understand its meaning."

Qingxia chuckled and beckoned, pulling the assassin towards their home. Chu Hengkong sighed, repeatedly telling himself to be mentally prepared, not to have any expectations of centaur knowledge, and certainly not to get angry after a few words. Qingxia's personality was just like that; he was there to repay a debt of gratitude, not to cause trouble.

They entered and sat down beside the straw mat bed (Qingxia's house didn't have chairs, so she didn't need them). The red-haired girl rubbed her hands together excitedly, her ears twitching with anticipation. Chu Hengkong kept a tense expression, as if negotiating, and seeing Qingxia's attitude, he concluded that things wouldn't end well today.

"What are your requirements?" he asked stiffly.

"Before that, I'd like to ask you a question," Qingxia said earnestly. "How should I apologize to Ji Huaisu and Qingye? I went to see them before, but I was turned away... Was it because there weren't enough thorns?"

First, there's the topic of an apology, which means she took what I said before to heart, a good sign. Chu Hengkong nodded.

"...No, what does this have to do with thorns?"

“I read in a book that to show sincerity, one should carry thorns on one’s back to apologize,” Qingxia said seriously. “So I carried two bundles of thorns to them to give them as a gift.”

Less than half a minute into the formal conversation, Chu Hengkong couldn't hold back any longer: "That thing isn't a gift, it's a torture device, you idiot!"

Qingxia covered her mouth with her hand, greatly surprised.

"What!? So a sincere apology means binding me with thorns?!"

"I've had enough! You better sit down and listen to me properly!"

Chu Hengkong's imposing aura was so terrifying that Qingxia couldn't help but sit up straight. All the resentment that had accumulated up to this point due to his bizarre use of allusions finally erupted at this moment. He pounded on the table like a teacher and quickly recounted the relevant stories from the biographies of Lian Po and Lin Xiangru that he still remembered.

Qingxia listened attentively, nodding frequently, like a model student eager for knowledge. After Chu Hengkong finished speaking, he plopped back down on the straw mat and angrily demanded, "Did you understand?!"

"Oh..." Qingxia pondered, "So thorns are used to hit people..."

"Can we focus on the central idea instead?!"

Qingxia slammed her hand down: "So, does the story of the Jing people crossing the Yong River refer to the thorns that whipped them across?"

"I'm more surprised that you would know such an obscure story than that I understand why."

Luckily, he had skimmed through "Lüshi Chunqiu" back then, otherwise he probably wouldn't have been able to catch this joke at all.

Chu Hengkong recounted the story of the Chu people crossing the Yong River in a few words, but Qingxia's reaction gave him a deep headache: "Where did you get these stories from? Have you ever seen other Earthlings before?"

Qingxia's ears twitched: "I don't know which dust island Earth is. I read these stories in books."

"Book?"

"Yes, it's a book I found on the beach when I was little." Qingxia turned her gaze to the side. "It has lots and lots of interesting stories inside!"

Chu Hengkong followed her gaze and found several crumpled, thread-bound books on a bookshelf not far from the straw bed. The books were yellowish-brown, roughly bound, and had no names on the covers; they looked more like old notebooks than "books."

With Qingxia's permission, he took down a book and carefully turned the pages. The wordless book had been soaked in seawater, and many pages had holes from worms; it was easy to break the pages if one wasn't careful.

The mighty Yangtze River flows eastward, its waves washing away the heroes of the past. Right and wrong, success and failure, all vanish in the blink of an eye... So many events, past and present, are now just tales told with a laugh.

The first page features Yang Shen's poem "Linjiang Xian," followed naturally by the familiar opening lines: "It is said that the world, after a long period of division, tends to unite; after a long period of unity, tends to divide..." Even those who haven't finished reading the Romance of the Three Kingdoms should be familiar with these opening lines. What follows is naturally the Oath of the Peach Garden and the first act of merit in slaying the Yellow Turbans...

Then he turned to the next page, the title of which was clear from the beginning: "Master Zhang prays to ward off the plague, Grand Marshal Hong mistakenly releases demons."

"…………"

Chu Hengkong rubbed his eyes hard, repeatedly comparing the pages before and after to make sure he hadn't picked up the wrong book. He told himself to stay calm and maintain his wildest imagination. Turning to the next page, he saw several lines of handwritten annotations that connected the preceding and following texts, explaining that the demon's true form was originally a monkey that sprang from a stone…

"Qingxia, tell the truth." He closed the book, his expression gentle. "This book wasn't originally like this, was it?"

Qingxia looked out the window and whistled loudly.

"Clear flaws!!!"

(End of this chapter)