Forge a path to success.

Chapter 312 Desires and Pursuits (The End)
"How did you get here?" Chu Hengkong asked, somewhat surprised. "They actually let you in."

“They have no right to stop me,” Wilbert said.

"It's so great to be rich," Chu Hengkong chuckled. "As I just told you, I'm planning to go on a trip soon, so I'll find someone else for bodyguards..."

“It’s over,” Wilbert told him, just as she always told him after every negotiation that it was “over.”

Chu Hengkong looked downstairs upon hearing this. The sirens had stopped sometime earlier, the police tape that had just been put up had been removed, and the officers were getting into their cars, their steps marked by obvious hesitation. A man dressed as a police chief was yelling into his phone, but to no avail. He slammed the phone on the ground and angrily slammed the car door shut. The sound of a helicopter propeller drifted in and out; the helicopter, which was supposed to be bringing reporters and cameras to film his face, had turned back in the face of such a major news story.

Just like a viewer in front of a television set picking up the rewind button, the crowd flows backward, the machines rewind, and an unseen force reverses all the turmoil, instantly restoring the world to its usual calm.

Chu Hengkong stared blankly at the street beneath his feet, like a child stepping out of his home for the first time.

"How did you do that?" he asked.

“I told them you’re one of my people,” Vilbert replied. “So it’s over.”

"Why?" he demanded.

“The NYPD needs Vellus’s funding, the parties need Vellus’s seats, the president needs Vellus’s support, and the nation needs Vellus’s covenant,” Wilbert said. “Therefore, they have to choose to end it; they cannot afford the consequences of refusing. That’s the rule.”

Chu Hengkong stared blankly at her, as if looking at a complete stranger. That distant gaze made Violet's heart skip a beat, but she remained expressionless, just as she always did during negotiations.

After a long while, Chu Hengkong finally smiled and said, "So you're that amazing?"

“This is not my power.” Vilbert shook her head. “It is money, influence, status, power, the accumulation of resources carried by the group. What is powerful is my identity, the authority to control resources. Every head of the Verus family can do the same thing, and it has nothing to do with whether he is powerful or not.”

She paused for a moment, reluctant to add, "...Besides, from your perspective, you weren't wrong this time."

“Yes, I don’t think I did anything wrong,” Chu Hengkong said. “That gun was pointed at me, that bullet was aimed at my head. If someone else had been in my position at that moment, they would definitely be dead!”

"That person tried to kill me. It's only right that a murderer should be killed!"

He laughed, a wild laugh that now seemed chilling: "Haven't we always been like this? The outcome is always chosen by the other side. If I leave room for maneuver, I'll naturally spare your life. If you dare to kill, you're dead for sure. I, Chu Hengkong, have lived to be 16 years old this year, and I've never let a single person who tried to kill me go!"

Violet fell silent for a moment. She knew Chu Hengkong wasn't just saying things out of anger; this was his rule. This man had never valued life much. When they first met, he killed Lucas without hesitation; during his guard duties, he smashed the heads of assassins with stones. He did these things without any psychological burden, because he always acted according to his own "rules."

In Chu Hengkong's eyes, status was probably the least important thing. He only looked at the "person" themselves and made judgments based solely on their actions. In his eyes, there were no rich or poor, no police or thieves, only people who were kind to him, people who were mean to him, people who wanted to protect him, and people who wanted to kill him.

Everyone must be responsible for their choices. If you choose to take action, don't blame him for being ruthless.

But she added, "That's not always the case."

"why?"

"You can spare his life."

"Of course I can!" Chu Hengkong sneered. "I can even spare Lucas's life. Why didn't you say that back then?"

Vilbert shook her head silently. Chu Hengkong continued, "That person had the right to shoot me, but didn't I have the right to kill him? I could dodge the bullet, I could crush it, I could tear the gun apart without hurting him. In that instant, I had 34 ways to solve the problem without killing or hurting him, so why did I do that?"

"Just because he's wearing a uniform, I should give in? Or is it because I'm strong enough?" Chu Hengkong stood up. "Boss, tell me, just because I'm strong, does that mean I should be held at gunpoint?"

"It shouldn't be."

“I don’t think it should have happened. I’m so capable, and I’m a big shot in the underworld. He should have respected me! But why did he shoot at me?” Chu Hengkong’s smile deepened. “So afterwards I tried to reason with the cops. I said they attacked first, and I was acting in self-defense. I asked them to stop and check the surveillance footage or witnesses… But they still shot, tried to handcuff me, and tried to run me over with their car. What could I do?”

Violet closed her eyes: "You can—"

“I can be arrested first, sit in the police station for a while, go through the formalities, and wait for the family lawyer to come and discuss it. I can be symbolically detained for a few days and then come out to see the light of day again. I have no criminal record. I am innocent, that’s great!” Chu Hengkong said, “But I did nothing wrong in the first place, why should I wrong myself like this? Just because it’s the rule?”

He said, word by word, "Why should I follow their rules?"

Vilbert found herself surprisingly calm, perhaps because she had long anticipated this day. Having dreamt countless times of scenes like "Chu Hengkong massacring New York" or "Chu Hengkong slaughtering the White House," she felt reassured by the small scale of the event when it actually arrived.

“I told you you could spare his life.”

"I've never heard you say that when dealing with assassins."

"In this world, cops and hitmen are different."

"They're all the same to me."

She spoke, just as Chu Hengkong had taught her countless times before, uttering words that left no room for argument.

"Ah Kong, the world doesn't follow your rules."

Chu Hengkong lowered his gaze and smiled silently.

"Of course, there's another set of rules in the world. These rules are law, order, authority, technology, money, or whatever else... Unfortunately, most people accept this set and take it for granted that it's right. A few, like you, can clearly grasp the key points and use the rules as your own advantage."

“My rules couldn’t solve those problems before, but yours can.” Chu Hengkong shrugged. “That’s rare, boss. Today you are the real strongman, stronger than me.”

“You can continue your sarcasm and use your harsh words to describe well-known facts. But nothing you say will change the situation,” Vilbert pointed out. “You’re taking your anger out on me. You’re so angry at your own powerlessness that you won’t even say ‘thank you’ to me.” Chu Hengkong was silent for a moment. Vilbert sneered, “Chu Hengkong, why don’t you just start a massacre? Can those cars and guns stop you? Since you’re so angry, you can just start fighting in the street, carve a bloody path, and storm your apartment building into the NYPD headquarters. After all, they attacked first!”

"What's the point?" Chu Hengkong said indifferently. "What's wrong with the other cops? Maintaining order and arresting criminals is their purpose. Why should I harm those who are loyal to their duties?"

He sat down again on the edge of the rooftop, looking down at the familiar metropolis. The crowd below him looked like tiny ants; after only a dozen minutes, no one cared about the emptied building anymore. In the colossal city of New York, the previous farce was merely a discordant note; the prosperity created for everyone was the only constant melody.

Everyone was engrossed in their own affairs—their work, their families, their debts… that was life as the public perceived it, while he looked down at it all like a child looking at a castle in a sandpit.

"Should I thank you for still having the most basic sense of reason?" Wilbert said coldly.

A flash of anger appeared in Chu Hengkong's eyes: "I didn't—"

“I know you don’t want to be a god among men.”

Chu Hengkong was stunned for a moment, and Vilbert seized the opportunity to walk towards him: "Hengkong, I've been thinking about what you really want. I once thought you wanted respect, status, wealth, and identity, but if you were an athlete or an actor, you could easily become a top-notch person in the world. But you didn't, so that's just the surface. What you want is something deeper."

"Then why don't you do it? Because it would tarnish your martial arts? Because it would bury your adoptive father's teachings? But delivering takeout would be no problem?" Vilbert looked him straight in the eyes. "I don't think you and Chu Tongchen are such shallow men. You're unwilling to do it because it has no 'meaning'."

Chu Hengkong frowned, seemingly wanting to reprimand her for investigating him without permission. But he swallowed his words, perhaps because he had already anticipated her investigation.

“The old man also said that it’s meaningless,” Chu Hengkong said. “Everyone has their own ‘meaning.’ A programmer’s meaning is to write programs, a musician’s meaning is to compose music. The higher the talent and ability, the greater the ‘meaning’… So what is the meaning of a martial artist? What is the meaning of someone like me who is good at fighting?”

He laughed: "I remember something the old man once said very clearly. He said that practicing all this time is just to determine a winner! We practice martial arts and become stronger, ultimately for the sake of 'winning'... But what happens after the victory?"

Wilbert never imagined such a day would come; the omnipotent man seemed as sad as a child in her eyes.

"What is the significance of my victory?" Chu Hengkong said softly. "If I lived a thousand years ago, I could have killed generals before the battle and captured flags in the midst of the fighting. My victory could have led to a great victory in a campaign, and people would have praised me as a peerless general. I could have been ennobled and granted a title for my military achievements."

If I lived five hundred years ago, I could at least be a chivalrous knight-errant, righting wrongs and restoring justice to the people. I could personally kill corrupt officials and restore peace to the land. I could also infiltrate the palace alone to slay the tyrant who was harming the world.

People will remember my name, they will revere me, they will respect me. Wherever I go, local heroes will spontaneously welcome me, and people in need will turn to me for help, for everyone knows my power and understands that only I can help them! Even after my death, people will still sing my story, they will write my deeds into history books, and pass them down for thousands of years to come!

"But what about now?" His emotions gradually rose. "Does the battlefield need me now? Can I overthrow the current ruling class? I am powerful, but I am not an omnipotent superman. I am just a man who is good at fighting. In the face of the steel torrent of industrialization, in this metropolis of tens of millions of people, what is a man who can fight?"

He pounded his chest and shouted at the girl, "Vilbert, tell me! What am I to you?!"

His eyes held an emotion heavier than anger; it was sorrow.

Violet couldn't blame him. Upon seeing that book, she suddenly understood. She understood why Chu Tongchen resolutely refused to pass on his martial arts skills, and why Chu Hengkong preferred to wander alone.

Because they have no meaning in this world.

These men yearn for the life of warriors in historical novels—drawing their swords, achieving great deeds, and making a name for themselves throughout the world. They want to stir up trouble in the world, to be a "great man" with a clear conscience, regardless of success or failure. However, there is no place for great men in the 21st century. They can kill many outcasts, and they can acquire money and status through their skills, but they can never walk the world according to their own rules, nor can they make the world remember them.

Their names will not be passed down to the world 100 years from now, just like the countless duckweeds that come and go in this world.

“It still exists,” Wilbert said, “you just don’t know it yet.”

She took two deep breaths, preparing to tell the biggest lie of her life.

“When Zhuan Zhu assassinated King Liao, a comet struck the moon; when Nie Zheng assassinated Han Kui, a white rainbow pierced the sun; when Yao Li assassinated Qing Ji, a hawk struck down in the palace.” She said, “If a scholar is truly enraged, two corpses will lie prostrate, blood will flow five steps, and the world will be draped in mourning.”

Chu Hengkong was stunned: "This is..."

"This is a passage from the 'Strategies of the Warring States, Wei Strategies IV,' which is also included in your hometown's textbook. The King of Qin used his power to intimidate Tang Ju, saying that the emperor's anger could kill millions. Tang Ju replied, 'Do you know what anger is like for scholars? Once a courageous and resourceful scholar becomes angry, he will leave behind your and my corpses, and then the whole world will be dressed in white mourning clothes.'"

"So Tang Ju drew his sword and stood up, and the King of Qin yielded. Because he knew that Tang Ju would really kill him..." Wilbert said slowly and deliberately, "and his status and wealth were meaningless in the face of Tang Ju's martial prowess."

Chu Hengkong gazed at her quietly, and the light returned to his eyes, which had been clouded by sorrow.

“Times have changed, Akong. You can’t be a general, nor can you be a knight-errant, but there are always scholars in the world. Their perseverance and bravery can influence those who hold power, and they are still famous for their anger.” Vilbert reached out to him. “That’s what you’ve seen with your own eyes. Even in the 21st century, there are still assassins in the world.”

“Vilbert, this isn’t funny.” He shook his head. “It’s ridiculous.”

“Make a deal with me.” She took another step forward, her fingertips almost touching the boy’s clothes.

"You will become my killer, my snake. In return, I will make the world know your name."

"You come to slay my enemies, and I will make you famous throughout the world!"

She looked up at the boy, her slender frame revealing no sign of weakness. In that instant, she exuded an undeniable, dignified authority, like a young emperor reaching out to a general, declaring that he would one day join her in conquering the world. That self-assured aura slightly startled Chu Hengkong, who thought that perhaps the history books were true; there were indeed figures in this world who inspired an irresistible urge to follow.

When you see someone reach out to you like that, even if she's just a girl, how can you have any reason to refuse?
Chu Hengkong then grasped the girl's hand and smiled without a trace of gloom.

“Okay, boss,” he said. “It’s settled then.”

From that day on, he became the Serpent of Sacrifice.

(End of this chapter)