Daily life of a teacher in the martial arts department

The initiative always lies with the ancestors.

Mu Nandong's talent in alchemy was second only to Ji Chaoge, a transcendent being devoid of blood, tears, and weaknesses. He devoted himself entirely to researching the creation of ancestral weapons and received the secret support of the Seven Luminaries. And in the end, he did succeed, creating "Courage"... But what was the result?

Last time, when Clown A came to the teachers' dormitory, Mu Nandong would have died if Ying Qin Guan hadn't arrived in time—and he only survived because Clown A talked too much and caused trouble; if it had been Ji Chaoge, he would have been killed outright.

This time, there's nothing more to say. They brought "courage," but the moment they handed over their weapons, the clown appeared... All their efforts over the years became futile the instant they surrendered their weapons.

This is the power of the progenitors... No matter how strong you are, no matter how intelligent you are, no matter how much preparation you make, no matter how many methods you employ, no matter how long you strive for it, the progenitors can always conjure up a strange ability that you've never heard of, never seen, and that you can't defend against even if you know about it.

Mu Nandong lowered his gaze... Even with his resolute nature, he had nothing to say at this moment. Should he call it a cruel twist of fate? This happened after he surrendered his weapon... No, it can't be considered a cruel twist of fate. The anti-detachment stance remained, and even if "courage" was still there, the outcome would be the same.

His gaze swept across the scene and fell upon the corpses not far away... They were soldiers from the Doomsday Base that Ji Fenming had killed during his earlier attack. They were still carrying some equipment, with a faint light flickering within them, making them difficult to see clearly.

【“..”】

"You win... I have to admit, you win." The Joker looked miserable and sighed, even the smile on his face disappeared, which was rare for the Joker. Without his exaggerated smile, the Joker was like a platypus that couldn't talk back, completely losing the core of his character.

"What's going on... Ji Chaoge is like this, you're like this, Ying Qin Guan is like this too, none of them take me seriously. I can't fool either of you, and I did manage to fool Ying Qin Guan a little, but as soon as he came out, he tried to kill me. It's terrifying..."

The clown, recalling his failed life, turned into a bitter gourd.

"Thinking about it carefully, my life is full of failures..."

As he spoke, a smile suddenly and slowly appeared on his face... This inexplicable change perfectly illustrated his unpredictable mood swings; he was practically a lunatic.

"But fortunately, I'm a master at regulating my emotions. I always try to look on the bright side and look to the future, so..."

The clown looked at Mu Nandong with a grin.

“Mr. Mu Nandong…why not provide me with some more amusement? Ah—I mean, how can you so easily give up your life? Why not try to escape? Don’t just stand there and accept your fate. No matter how small the possibility, you have to fight back. That’s what I think…what do you think?”

"Perhaps that blond kid, realizing there was no hope of infiltrating, is just using that 'courage' to run back..."

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Losing Courage, Yet Still Having Courage (Part Six)

(PS 2-in-1)

Almost all felines have the habit of toying with their prey. But this habit is not unique to felines; humans, who are at the top of the food chain, also do it, just like the confident spawn-camping in MOBA games or the hateful corpse-whipping in time-traveling games. If humans do this, then the ancestors at the top of the food chain must have done it even more.

The clown once took Ji Chaoge's life. That was after Ji Chaoge deciphered his dream; he did it in an instant, faster than Ying Qin Guan or Mu Nan Dong. Then, a barrage of sarcastic remarks finally broke the clown's defenses, which had remained unbroken for thousands of years, causing him to strike with deadly force. But afterwards, Ji Chaoge reappeared before the clown like a ghost, and the two reached a brief and fragile cooperation. The clown knew that Ji Chaoge wanted to use him, but he didn't care.

Ying Qin Pass, Ji Chaoge.

After breaking through the dream, one of them immediately turned the tables and killed the other, who acted as if "everything is under my control, including my death," which brought the Joker a great sense of frustration. Including Mu Nandong, this was the third person to break through the dream, and the Joker wanted to regain some confidence from him... Ying Qin Guan can fight, Ji Chaoge has many methods and can resurrect, but what about you? You can't do anything, can you?

—As for the "courage" thing, it was just the clown teasing Mu Nandong. Ed is currently infiltrating the doomsday base; how could he possibly bring that back? But a good hunter always gives his prey a glimmer of hope to make the hunt more enjoyable.

So, what choice should be made at this point?

Many people will likely choose to remain indifferent and die in a dignified manner, just like the story Ji Chaoge told Ji Fenming a long time ago.

When there is no way to resist, dying with dignity is the last, powerless yet sacred fig leaf.

But in reality, living is often more difficult than dying, or rather, living requires more courage than dying.

For Mu Nandong, things had clearly not reached that point yet... because he seemed to have no choice; he was doomed on both sides, and the clown was merely toying with him. In this situation, facing certain death, dying seemed to be the last resort for preserving dignity.

But Mu Nandong glanced at the clown and moved his feet.

He turned around and sprinted away without hesitation!

He ran away!

Instead of choosing to die peacefully, they were like prey that knew their fate but still struggled in vain, driven by the instinct to survive, engaging in a resistance that could not be called a rebellion!

To die with dignity and composure?

Mu Nandong never believed in these things... Before being accepted by the Seven Luminaries, the Mu family was a powerful and influential clan. After each generation of qualified people died, someone would write their biography. Some were written by their own people, and some were written by their enemies who witnessed their deaths, and then the biography would be sent over.

During his childhood, which was as lonely as a black and white photograph, these biographies accompanied Mu Nandong. One of them was unforgettable and shaped most of his values.

The protagonist of that biography was named Muran, and the biography was written by the person who killed him.

-

That was a thousand years ago, in the middle of ancient times, during a war that at the time had no room for reconciliation. Mu Ran was trapped in a valley by the enemy while marching and fighting. All of his soldiers had died, leaving only a few personal guards. There was no hope of victory, and there was not even a chance to escape.

The enemy tried to persuade Muran to surrender, essentially saying, "I think you're someone important, so you should commit suicide."

—Back then, what choice did he have besides suicide? A renowned general, trapped in such a place, his only option was to raise his sword in grief and indignation, recite a poem that might have a chance to be passed down through the ages, and then cut his own throat, leaving behind a legend of loyalty and righteousness... Out of a thousand people, perhaps nine hundred would choose this path. Of the remaining one hundred, ninety-nine would be fools who couldn't see the situation clearly and would try to beg for mercy and surrender, but that would inevitably fail.

Muran was the last of those thousand people.

He made an incredible and incomprehensible move: with his own side having virtually no fighting ability, he raised his knife and fought back against an enemy that outnumbered him two hundred to the last.

That's a pointless act of resistance. It's like in a MOBA game, where a level 12 Yuumi is the only surviving hero on the team. Everything that can be destroyed has been destroyed, countless super minions are pressing in, leaving only a low-health crystal. Teammates' respawn is a long way off, and five level 18 heroes are blocking the low-health crystal, trying to spawn camp. In this situation, you still rush out and use QA a couple of times...

It was such a meaningless thing that few could understand. But Mu Ran did resist to the very end... The enemy commander, out of sheer curiosity, ordered his men to capture him alive, control him with magic, and interrogate him.

"Why are you resisting to this extent? It's pointless, isn't it?"

—Muran's language has been given some artistic treatment. Because this biography was sent back by the enemy commander, some parts have been deleted or modified. Therefore, it seems very elegant and calm, not like someone who has just finished a life-or-death battle. In reality, after fighting like that and being captured alive, his speech would probably be much more vulgar, but the meaning would definitely be roughly the same.

He said, "How could it be meaningless?"

The commander, puzzled, asked, "What do you mean?"

"Didn't I kill three of your soldiers?"

"Only three people, while I have eight hundred... What can three people change?"

"What if the war goes down to the very end and we're only short of these three people?"

"...That's incredibly foolish. How could you possibly be missing just three? Besides, you killed those three only because of your surprise attack. We never expected you to have the courage to resist... If we had remained vigilant, you wouldn't have been able to kill a single one. In that case, what's the point of your resistance?"

"Knife, sword, spear, halberd..."

"?"

"Weapons... are consumables. Whether you're slashing or fighting, they will lose some durability. If you want to kill me, no matter what it is... a knife, a sword, a spear, a halberd, or anything else, if it strikes me, pierces me, or kills me, the weapon has to actually hit me. Even if I can't block it, it still has to land on this flesh and blood... to consume the weapon's durability."

"..?"

"...Didn't you understand?...No wonder, you wouldn't understand."

"Wait...you mean it doesn't matter if we don't kill any of our soldiers, we should fight back with all our might. Even if it only costs us some weapon durability...is that what you mean?!"

"Humph.."

"...Are you crazy? Do you really know what you're saying or doing?"

"It's crystal clear."

"You could have died peacefully... Look at yourself, covered in wounds, your bones broken, pinned here, kneeling here, unable to live, unable to die, surrounded by hundreds of soldiers, a knife to your throat, you're just livestock to be slaughtered... Do you have any dignity left?"

"...Dignity? I don't know what that is. Is that what I've always been pursuing? Probably not. It's something more important. I don't know how far I can go. But I will fight with all my might, with no way out, without giving myself even the slightest bit of composure. No matter when, no matter where, I will fight until I can't fight anymore... I will kill as many as I can. Perhaps until the very end of the war, I'll be just one short. If I can't kill any more, then let the swords and blades be on my body, wear down their sharpness... I will push myself to the limit. This is the foreshadowing I leave for future generations, for those who share my ideals. Perhaps one day, someone who can change everything will survive because of these worn-down swords, or because of this army that just happens to be three men short... Then this will be my gift to him."

Mu Ran said in a low voice, "This might work, but more likely, ninety-nine percent... or even more likely, it will be completely useless. It won't change history, or even anything at all. But even so, I will do it, because if I don't do it, I will never reach the dawn of victory. No matter how pathetic, how ridiculous, how futile the struggle... I will do it."

"It will continue like this...until death."

The enemy commander remained silent for a long time.

He couldn't understand... absolutely couldn't, couldn't even imagine what was going on in that blank mind. But he was still deeply moved by such willpower...

"...Incredible, Mu Ran...Incredible, I have nothing more to say. I will kill you and then write your biography, using this knife. I will keep using it until the moment it breaks...If one day I die because this knife breaks, that will be your revenge against me, Mu Ran. I'm waiting. If your resistance is truly effective, I will be the one to witness it, to witness your will. I will watch, even if it costs me my life."

-

Later, the enemy's commander died in a battle. Whether the worn-out sword had any effect, and whether the deaths of the three soldiers had any impact, the truth of all these things has long been lost in the torrent of history. But Mu Ran's will has been passed down, through the thin back of this paper, across the long span of a thousand years, and left to Mu Nandong.

Forget about elegance and composure, forget about sacrificing yourself heroically. If you have a chance to struggle, struggle to the very last moment, no matter how ugly or pathetic it may be. Even if your opponent thinks you're like a mad dog, they'll still hope that when the knife falls, your scalding, fresh body will melt and sever the blade.

Mu Nandong sprinted towards the Doomsday Base. This direction wasn't ideal; there wouldn't be any reinforcements from there, and Ed had been gone for a while. Mu Nandong couldn't possibly catch up with him. But it didn't matter. Facing the Primal One, it didn't matter which way he ran.

He was in good health and maintained a certain amount of exercise, so he was quite fast, but that was useless against the Joker.

The clown stirred up a storm behind him, shouting excitedly like a medieval nobleman riding a horse with his guards on a hunting trip, his eyes revealing his desire for the hunt.

"Run!" the clown shouted. "Run! Maybe you'll survive!"

A violent wind swept behind him, causing immense physical exhaustion... This was probably one of the clown's tactics. After running only a few dozen meters, Mu Nandong felt utterly exhausted... His chest felt like it was about to explode. Even though it was only the beginning, he felt a burning pain from lactic acid buildup throughout his body. He started to feel cold, his head throbbed, and his throat tasted metallic... He had only run a few dozen meters, but it felt like he had run a marathon; his body was on the verge of collapse.

The Earth Mother Goddess is constantly being teased for her foolish abilities, but even so, she is still a progenitor, and her methods are beyond the reach of non-progenitor beings. The Joker's direct combat strength is tragically low. Yet, even so, he is still a progenitor, capable of taking the life of someone like Ji Chaoge...

It would be a grave mistake to think the Joker has no fighting ability whatsoever. While his strength is indeed low, that's in comparison to the exceptionally powerful and rare Protoss figures. When facing ordinary people, the Joker still displays overwhelming power.

"Huff...huff...huff..."

Mu Nandong was breathing heavily. Every step he took was a torment and torture to his body. A wave of nausea washed over him, and Mu Nandong even felt that if he stopped, he would vomit his insides.

Mu Nandong's steps slowed down... No matter how strong his will was, it was about to be worn down at this moment.

His escape might have been a form of numb resistance... But was this numb resistance meaningful? In his final moments, a renowned general was reduced to such a wretched state, a prisoner, unable to live or die. He had only killed three ordinary soldiers; as for the claim of weapon durability, it was merely a matter of spirit, with negligible potential impact.

What about Mu Nandong? His escape was perhaps even more meaningless than Mu Ran's resistance. Mu Ran's resistance killed enemy soldiers and left behind a biography, but Mu Nandong was facing the progenitor.

"What are you running for? Does it make any sense?"

The clown shouted... He had just advised Mu Nandong to run away. But after Mu Nandong started running, he started barking like a dog. To put it bluntly, the clown didn't care whether Mu Nandong ran or not; he just wanted to break Mu Nandong, make him despair, and make him question the meaning of life.

"Stop...stop and you won't have to suffer! Courage isn't on your side. You have no chance of winning, just like your father!"

Chapter Sixty-Nine: Losing Courage, Yet Still Having Courage

(PS 2-in-1)

"We're about to be crushed."

It was not a surrender or defeat after the will to fight had been worn down, but a faithful statement of objective facts.

It felt like all the bodily fluids in my body had been replaced with lactic acid, so sour that I wanted to tear my body to shreds. With every step I took, I could hear the sound of liquid flowing through my brain. The next sensation was as if someone had pried open my brain and stuck a red-hot iron rod in to stir it.

The chest cavity seemed to have disappeared, and the cold wind rushed in, passing through the gaps between the ribs and blowing directly into the chest, sweeping through the internal organs and then flowing through the whole body. A bone-hanging knife ripped out all the essence and blood from the body.

This body... is being subjected to unprecedented unfamiliarity and pain.

Mu Nandong was breathing heavily, staggering, and his expression was completely out of control, almost like a strange creature. The clown was shouting and yelling behind him, proclaiming his identity as a hunter.

Undoubtedly, they became prey, manipulated by the hunter, and misled by a glimmer of hope that was out of reach, revealing a pathetic, powerless, and weak image.

Mu Nandong didn't want to stop... but his pace did slow down. He was about to fall. How could humans fight against the progenitor? The hidden boss might only be revealed in the next version, or the version after that.

"Who goes there?!"