Chapter 176: No Lowly Fates, Only Lowly Hearts

Chapter 176: No Cheap Lives, Only Cheap Hearts

The moon's lingering light clung shamefully to the horizon.

The sky still wore the aspect of not-quite-dawn, yet the Eighteen-Step Slum was already astir with rustling voices.

Labor slaves, not yet roused from heavy sleep, pushed open their doors with numb faces, converging into a stream in the narrow, cramped alleys, following the same repetitive routes day after day toward their respective workplaces.

As the gloom in the alleyways gradually faded, points of light also began to kindle in their hollow eyes.

When the flow of people reached the dilapidated shantytowns on the slum's periphery, the labor slaves' eyes were already brimming with inexplicable contempt.

These lazybones have sunk so low as to live on the slum's fringe, yet still know not to strive. Look, it's already the Hour of the Rabbit, they don't seize the time to earn money, yet still have the nerve to sleep soundly?

Truly rotten without knowing it!

Footsteps hurried outside the courtyard; inside, desolate silence.

Inside and out of that thin iron-sheet wall lay two utterly different worlds of joy, anger, sorrow.

A dim bulb swayed overhead, its halo failing to stir a single ripple in those dead-silent eyes.

Zhou You lay supine on the bed, no obvious injuries on his body, just two lifeless eyes fixed straight on the ceiling.

He was awake.

In truth, the instant Li Jun's fist shattered the Arhat Temple's Yellow Millet Buddha Land mainframe, he had already awakened.

But Zhou You would rather he had never woken from that long dream.

He who once loathed the Arhat Temple with every fiber now prayed to remain forever within that Yellow Millet Buddha Land.

To live beneath those continuous mountains, to live amidst those verdant meadows.

Even if temples suppressed the peaks, even if Buddhas occupied the firmament.

At least there were no loathing eyes, no ugly, stinking mechanized bodies.

There were herds of cattle and sheep and free breath.

And Zhou Sheng, his only kin.

But an illusion is ever an illusion; the deepest dream must eventually end.

Even a Yellow Millet Dream has its day of timeline reset.

The tear glands not stripped away during his mechanized transformation produced a single tear, silently sliding down the youth's eye corner.

"Jun-ge, I'm awake, but... is there still a chance my brother might wake up?"

"Souls aren't my specialty, so I can't give you an answer."

Li Jun's tone was rigid to the point of heartlessness.

"If even you can't answer, then there is no answer, is there?"

Zhou You's voice trembled, his gaze suddenly turning misty.

"What difference does an answer make? What difference does no answer make?"

"I—"

Zhou You's lips moved, but he couldn't form a complete sentence.

"What? Feel life has no meaning? If you want to die, you can kill yourself right now!"

"Don't think about owing me an apology by dying, no need. I entered the Arhat Temple today purely because I was pissed off, wanted to use those bald donkeys to vent!"

Suddenly, the youth's throat tightened; he was actually lifted by Li Jun with a single hand.

Eyes like fire evaporated the moisture gathering in the youth's eyes; the agony of suffocation drove away the sorrow coiling around his heart.

"While you whimper here, do you know He Zangjia is out there risking his life?"

"We're all living day to day; who has the mood to watch you wallow in self-pity?"

Li Jun's words were like an incomparably sharp knife, stabbing into Zhou You's heart one by one.

"Zhou You, I'll tell you plainly: the Arhat Temple may have fallen, but the people who killed your brother are not dead!"

"Revenge? I'm just a baseborn who can't even enter a Sequence; what do I have to take revenge on the lofty Buddhas?!"

The youth's face flushed red, voice hoarse, his words devoid of their former spirit.

"Take a gun, take a blade, take your fists and your life! It's never the life that's base, only the heart!"

Li Jun roared: "If you still have balls in your pants, then cast aside your worthless pride and dignity, climb the ladder by any means, use every thought to defy fate and change your destiny, advance in Sequence, exact vengeance!"

"What good does killing do? An eye for an eye—"

"Fuck that 'when will the cycle of vengeance end'! A kindness must be repaid, a grudge must be settled."

Li Jun spat disdainfully, "When will it end? Kill until not a single enemy remains, kill until no one makes a sound—then it ends naturally."

Having said this, he flung his hand, tossing the youth mercilessly into the corner.

"How do you compare to He Zangjia?"

Zhou You slid slowly down the wall, collapsing onto the ground. Wretched as he was, his eyes no longer held the dead silence from before.

"Inferior."

"Since you know you're inferior, then go learn, go curry favor, go cling. Rotten must know its own rot! He Zangjia is the best opportunity you can grasp, and your best arm for revenge."

"If you can't even seize the chance for revenge, you might as well go die now."

A speech sharp as knives, heavy as drums.

Piercing the heart, deafeningly awakening.

The youth lowered his head, silent for a long while, then suddenly spoke softly: "Then what about you? Even He Zangjia wants to cling to you, why should I seek far what is near?"

Li Jun started at the words, the coldness on his face gradually melting.

Finally, he had seen the light.

"Me? Wait till you advance in Sequence. Otherwise I'm afraid you'll be beaten into scrap metal before you even learn how to flatter properly."

No sooner had the words fallen than a ray of morning light suddenly shot into the room.

The horizon brightened, the long night finally over, the rising sun ascending slowly.

"Not just lecturing, but pointing the way too. If I'd met a life mentor like you back then, I wouldn't have ended up like this."

A frivolous voice suddenly rang out.

At the same moment, Zhou You's head, about to jerk up, suddenly drooped down, and he fainted completely.

Li Jun slowly turned his head, cold eyes looking at the uninvited guest appearing in the courtyard.

A black robe-skirt, white inner lining, silver thread woven into flying fish patterns on the right shoulder, a mechanical insect-bird perched on the left.

The man's features weren't exactly handsome; he didn't wear the empire's popular topknot, but tied a strange ponytail at the back of his head.

His whole aura was languid, actually bearing some resemblance to He Zangjia.

Flying Fish Robe, Embroidered Spring Saber, Xi Ting Lang.

The comer had absolutely no intention of hiding his identity.

Li Junlifted his foot and stepped out the door. "If you call me Brother, I could offer you some pointers, too."

"Brother."

The man grinned, his mouth opening in a rapid string of address: "Brother Li, Brother Jun?"

Gazing at that face, so earnest and warm, the murderous intent flickering in Li Jun's eyes faltered, stunned into a momentary pause.

Why did this man refuse to play by the rules?

"Are all the Embroidered Uniform Guards of Chongqing Prefecture this shameless?"

"Listen to advice and you'll eat your fill, eh? Calling out a title won't cost you a pound of flesh. Though my rank is a touch higher than yours, the master is the one who has attained the Way."

Li Jun couldn't be bothered with the man's banter and cut straight to the chase. "Here to avenge Yu Kou?"

"A shameless degenerate of the Daoist sect, nothing more. What is he worth, that I would come all this way just to avenge him?"

The man spread his hands, perfectly composed. "Besides, I can't beat you. Wu Qi the Lone Tyrant could take two of me with ease."

Li Jun sneered. "You're an honest one, aren't you."

"No choice. My conduct is built on a foundation of sincerity. Otherwise, I wouldn't have friends scattered across the four seas and five lakes."

He shifted his weight, his slouching frame straightening, fists cupped in a formal salute.

"Allow me to introduce myself properly. Wang Xie, Chief Banner Officer of the Second Division, Embroidered Uniform Guard, Chongqing Prefecture."

The man blinked, smiling. "Old Wei's friend."