Chapter 58: Emotions

Fu Li wasn’t in very high spirits when he walked out of the toilet to a quiet path on campus. He didn’t feel like talking.

There were many gingko trees lining the path. Leaves dropped with a rustle the moment a breeze arose. Zhuang Qing looked at the leaf on Fu Li’s head. He endured it for a very long time, but still removed the leaf.

Fu Li turned his head, looking back at him. There was a hint of curiosity in his bewildered gaze. His desire to ask questions was written all over his face.

“What do you want to say?” Fiddling with the gingko leaf in his hands, Zhuang Qing sighed. “Be direct.”

“Don’t humans place a lot of importance on love? Then why are they so merciless in the things they do?” Fu Li asked quietly. “There was a resentment-gathering formation in that building. That ghost’s love deliberately killed those students so they would become vengeful ghosts and hate that earthbound spirit who committed suicide, right?”

Fu Li just couldn’t make sense of this. Even if they no longer loved each other, both of them were already separated by yin and yang, why did he refuse to even let a ghost off?

“Because he knew he was in the wrong. That was why he felt guilt and fear. When guilt and fear exceeds a critical level, he will attempt to destroy the source of guilt,” Zhuang Qing had lived for nearly two thousand years in the human world and had seen much of human ugliness and kindness. Therefore, no matter what the outcome was, he could always calmly face it. “Just like someone who owes a debt – when the debt is too large for one to repay, they will have thoughts of making the creditor vanish. This is the human heart.”

“Don’t debts have to be repaid?” Fu Li didn’t understand. “In the same way cultivators like you and I have to repay negative karma…”

“You still don’t understand? Humans are more complex than yao,” Zhuang Qing gazed at Fu Li. “So don’t rashly believe the words spoken by humans. Even if the words said at that time were true, it doesn’t mean it will remain true your entire life. The human heart is very fickle.”

Fu Li’s head drooped as he thought of his pet. His pet had beautiful handwriting, knew how to tell stories, and his grilled meat was much tastier than King Ganglie’s. He asked softly, “Not all humans are like that, right?”

Faced with Fu Li’s expectant gaze, Zhuang Qing had no choice but to nod. “En.”

After leaving campus, Zhuang Qing noticed that he wasn’t in high spirits and thus said, “Let’s go, I’ll bring you to a place.”

“Where?” Fu Li followed Zhuang Qing into the car.

“Didn’t you want to know the thoughts of that earthbound spirit’s ex-boyfriend?” Zhuang Qing buckled his seatbelt. “I’ll take you to see him.” So that he wouldn’t blindly show kindness all day long thinking that everyone was a good person.

After Luo Pingwei was brought back by the team investigating the case, there was a time when he even feigned calm. Until the criminal psychology expert exposed his lies and the police found strong evidence at his house. Only then did he confess the process of his crimes as well as his motive.

Twenty years ago, society was not tolerant of homosexual relationships, which was why it was possible for people to commit suicide when they were unable to withstand rumors. Now, this man had committed such cruel acts for the sake of his deceased lover. His crime could not be forgiven, but it still caused those with more empathy to harbor some sympathy towards him.

“Many vicious criminals appear pardonable when they wear a layer of love and affection,” Peng Hang had finished reading the case records and was opening a cup of instant noodles while cursing. “Bastards, all of them. If there was really love in his heart, there was no way he would have laid hands on those innocent students.”

Even those homicidal maniacs without a shred of humanity loved to say that they had an unfortunate childhood, or that they were abandoned by their ex-girlfriend. In this world, there were plenty of people who were abandoned by their ex-girlfriend or had unfortunate childhoods. If every person were to behave the same way, the hundreds of millions of people within the country wouldn’t even be enough for them to kill.

“Captain is right,” A police officer sneakily took out a ham sausage from the drawer. After being spotted by a colleague, he was left with half of it, scaring him into hastily shoving the remaining half into his mouth. Only after swallowing it did he continue, “If all criminals were pardonable, then did his victims deserve to be harmed?”

“Forgiving the murderer is a matter for the victims in the underworld, us police are only responsible for catching criminals,” Peng Hang was ravenous. He had been occupied from noon till night and hadn’t even had a sip of water, so finishing an entire bucket of noodles in one mouth didn’t feel like it would be a problem for him.

“Captain Peng.” A police officer walked into the office and whispered into Peng Hang’s ears, “Someone wanted to ask the suspect Luo Pingwei a few questions. The leader brought them over.”

“Who are they?” Peng Hang wiped the oil on his mouth and picked up his police cap from the table. “Let’s take a look.”

That bastard harmed so many students, was there still someone who came to protect him?

To the outside world, the management bureau was under the security department. Hence, Zhuang Qing brought Fu Li to visit the criminal suspect ‘under the guise of work’. The police could not refuse, though it was mandatory for someone from the police to be present when they questioned the suspect.

“You’re Luo Pingwei?” Seated behind an outdated office table, Fu Li sized up the man before him. His body was fat due to gaming, and he wore spectacles. His skin was on the lighter side. Appearance-wise, he seemed very cultured.

“Who are you?” Luo Pingwei carried himself very well. Nobody would have guessed that a ruthless killer lurked beneath his skin.

“Why did you harm those students?” Fu Li felt that a human like him was truly scary. He was nothing more than a so-called ‘dressed-up animal’. But he often felt that this phrase wasn’t very friendly to them yao cultivators. On what basis should human scum be on equal footing with birds and beasts? Their birds and beasts weren’t capable of such acts.

“I didn’t want to harm them, but if they died, Ah Li would be revived. For the sake of Ah Li, I’m willing to do anything,” Luo Pingwei wiped his tears as he spoke of his relationship with his lover, their deep love, their helplessness, and his undying longing for him the past twenty years.

How fake could a person be?

Fu Li watched this man perform an excellent retelling of their friendship and love. He asked expressionlessly, “But didn’t you use this method because you wanted his soul to scatter?”

Luo Pingwei’s movements paused, and then he continued crying. “He is my only lover in this life, how could I treat him in such a way?”

“Liar,” Fu Li’s jet-black eyes stared at Luo Pingwei. “A human like you loves yourself the most.”

Luo Pingwei felt very unsettled by the gaze of the person opposite him. Faced with his gaze, he seemed to be naked, incapable of concealing anything. The awkwardness made him a bit angry. “You know what? Why should I explain these things to you?”

“Every person has to pay a price for the wrongs they’ve done,” Fu Li stood up, his gaze frosty. “You won’t be an exception.”

“Police officer, he’s threatening me!” Luo Pingwei pointed at Fu Li with his handcuffed hand. “Civilized enforcement of law is emphasized now.”

Seeing that no one paid any attention to him, Luo Pingwei started talking about how he was a doctor from some famous university overseas, and how he wanted to complain about the lack of human rights.

“Not asking anymore?” Zhuang Qing followed Fu Li out of the interrogation room.

“Nothing good to ask,” Fu Li pursed his lips. “Such a pity that he gave up on his life to safeguard the love of such a human.”

Zhuang Qing snorted softly, “You don’t understand love, why think so hard about it?”

Fu Li was silent for a moment. He found that he was unable to refute Zhuang Qing.

When Peng Hang saw Fu Li and Zhuang Qing leave the interrogation room, he didn’t continue proceeding. He sent the two people out of the police station with his gaze, and then returned to the office to continue eating his instant noodles. However, in his heart, he once again discovered something new about Fu Li’s identity.

No wonder Fu Li was constantly changing jobs, and nothing useful could be found despite investigating the relations he’d had throughout his life – it turned out he was someone from the national security department. All that manual labor, security guard and whatnot was merely his disguise for the purposes of investigating cases.

After realizing this, he would reply to any colleagues asking about Fu Li with a ‘don’t know’. Making irresponsible remarks at this time would be harmful. Peng Hang understood very well in his heart what ought to be done and what ought not to be done.

After leaving the police station, Zhuang Qing noticed that Fu Li wasn’t in a good mood. “Let’s go, I’ll treat you to supper.”

“It’s the middle of the night, what good things are there to eat?” Fu Li wasn’t fond of fast food like hamburgers and fries, so he wasn’t interested in Zhuang Qing’s proposal.

“You’ll know when you reach,” Zhuang Qing threw Fu Li into the car.

The car came to a stop in a small alley, where a very small restaurant was located. The restaurant’s signboard was painted white, with the three words ‘Restaurant Night Owl’ painted on it in red. Several customers were scattered throughout the restaurant, all of whom were idle.

The cook was a middle aged man with very lively eyes. Upon seeing Fu Li and Zhuang Qing, he cordially greeted them.

“What would you two like to eat? This place serves dumplings, noodles, wontons, and mala soup.” The middle-aged man wiped the clean table another time. “Prices are fair and portions are large.”

“What do you want to eat?” Zhuang Qing asked Fu Li.

“Mala soup.” Fu Li added, “With extra vegetables.”

“Sure,” The boss made a sound of agreement. With plenty of vigor, he turned and proceeded to cook mala soup. Fu Li took a few glances at the other customers. These few customers weren’t human; there were cats, dogs, and even an owl.

These customers seemed to be regulars of this restaurant. From time to time, they would joke around with the boss and among themselves. But they took measure of Fu Li and Zhuang Qing even more frequently, seemingly guessing their identities.

Two large bowls of mala soup were served. Sure enough, like what the boss had claimed, the portions were more than enough. The boss had even specially poured two bowls of soy milk for them. Fu Li had originally thought that the boss was an ordinary human, but he very quickly realized that he had a very weak yao scent. However, the scent was very diluted and seemed like it would disappear soon.

The regulars didn’t leave even after finishing their supper and footing the bill. Though they engaged in a lively discussion about their troubles at work, their attention was continuously on Fu Li and Zhuang Qing.

Fu Li vaguely felt that this was somewhat strange. Sure enough, when he and Zhuang Qing finished their meal and left the restaurant, the regulars also got up and left.

“That person’s ancestor was an owl who was very good at cooking Long Feng Soup,” Zhuang Qing started the car and opened the window for the smell of mala soup to disperse.

“What happened after that?”

“Then he fell in love with a human woman. In their tenth year of marriage without children, the human woman inadvertently found out that he wasn’t human.”

“W-What happened after that?” Fu Li was a little anxious. “They separated?”

“If they separated, where did their descendants come from?” Zhuang Qing looked at Fu Li as if he was an idiot. “They were very much in love and didn’t give up on this affinity because they were of different races. Afterwards, the owl requested for spiritual medicine to let them have a child.”

Fu Li seemed to be interested in this story, so Zhuang Qing continued telling it, “Human lifespans are limited. When the human woman passed away from old age, the owl was extremely sad and also passed away not long after scattering his cultivation. The boss of this restaurant is his grandson from who-knows-what generation. Although the abilities of the yao cultivator have long been lost, their culinary skills were passed down.”

“You’ve drunk that owl’s Long Feng Soup?” Fu Li was a bit curious. Did Zhuang Qing not have any objections over the name of this soup?

Zhuang Qing nodded. “Yes, it’s very delicious.”

The car sank into silence. A long while later, Fu Li suddenly had a flash of understanding. “Zhuang Qing, you told me all this to let me know that there are still blissful romances, right?”

“You’re already so old, why are you still so fond of indulging in flights of fancy? I was just telling a random story.”

Fu Li: “Oh.”

It was silent in the car once again, though the silence this time lasted for a particularly long time. Zhuang Qing didn’t utter a single word again even when Fu Li alighted.

After a busy night, Fu Li finally had some time to rest in the day. He bought a large pile of food and knocked on the Kunpeng’s door.

Although there was a ton of food, the Kunpeng didn’t make a fuss about wanting to drink alcohol. If he got this rabbit drunk, he feared that the dragon from the management bureau would once again leap about in a fight with him.

“Kunpeng daren, actually, I have a request…”

The Kunpeng shoved a half-eaten duck’s tongue into Fu Li’s hand. “Don’t ask me to fight, I’m scared of death.” He hadn’t had enough of the many culinary delicacies in the human world, how could he die?

“Kunpeng daren, you’ve misunderstood, there isn’t a fight or anything today,” Fu Li shoved the duck’s tongue back at him, letting the Kunpeng continue to feast on it. “It’s just a minor thing.”

“Why do I feel like you never come to me for anything good?” The Kunpeng looked suspiciously at Fu Li. He still finished eating the remaining half of the duck’s tongue.

“I invited you out for meals in the past, were any of them not good?” Fu Li’s eyes widened. “Am I the kind of yao who lies to others?”

“That’s true,” The Kunpeng contemplated it carefully. “Speak then.”

Fu Li was waiting for these precise words from the Kunpeng. With a plop, he turned into his original form. His furry front claws held onto a chicken wing as he gnawed on it. “I experienced a strange phenomenon.”

The Kunpeng wiped his hand against Fu Li’s exceedingly fat back. “It is indeed quite strange for a rabbit to like eating non-vegetarian food and to be this fat.”

“Kunpeng daren, you haven’t washed your hands,” Fu Li inched to the side and shook the fur on his body. “I… two days ago at night, I consumed two mouths of dragon flesh by accident and triggered heavenly lightning.”

“You bit Zhuang Qing?” The Kunpeng’s voice by a few notches. “Are you still yao? You can even bite down on an underaged dragon?”

“How is it possible for me to bite my own people? I bit that azure dragon you beat up that time.”

“Good bite!” Kunpeng daren’s mood had always been very flexible. “But no matter how capable you are, you’re just a rabbit. We can let it go if heavenly law isn’t tolerant of us great yao for the sake of balance between species, but why is it that it doesn’t tolerate a rabbit like you either?”

The Kunpeng wiped his hands twice for show before picking Fu Li up and seriously looking him over. Crossing his legs, he stroked his chin. “Looking at you closely, you do indeed look different from a rabbit. But I’ve traveled across the yao world unhindered for tens of thousands of years, and there wasn’t anyone among the great yao who looks like you.” No matter how blithe he was, he still felt that there was something odd about this matter. What rabbit would eat a dragon? Such a thing didn’t correspond with a rabbit’s instincts. Even if plants and animals were to cultivate into yao, they would still possess traits of their original form. He really hadn’t seen anyone similar to Fu Li.

Given the many years he’d lived, not to mention being erudite and multi-talented, he’d also seen quite a few things. Yet, he hadn’t noticed anything fishy about this rabbit. The only special part about the other party was that he’d taken on a human form after attaining a chance from heavenly law. The rest of him wasn’t very different from a rabbit, just that he had a dog-like nose.

The most formidable aspects of the ancient great yao were their bodies. They were the embodiments of Heaven and Earth’s spiritual qi and possessed divine power from birth. Even if other yao cultivators cultivated to death, they wouldn’t be able to surpass them. According to modern speech, they would be considered the darlings of heavenly law during that era.

Clouds forming from an exhale, traveling thousands of miles in a day, displacing mountains and seas in a fit of anger – ancient great yao who didn’t have such capabilities would be embarrassed to be considered a great yao. Small-sized yao cultivators without a single impressive feature like Fu Li were nothing more than weeds by the roadside during those years.

But if he was really that ordinary, why would heavenly law strike him with lightning?

“Not right, heavenly law can even turn Oujiang into dregs, why are you still alive?” The Kunpeng felt that this was the most crucial point.

Fu Li was a bit embarrassed. “Zhuang Qing shielded me.”

“No wonder you’re hell-bent on following a mixed-blood dragon. With the darling of heavenly law, even heavenly lightning will open the backdoor for you,” The Kunpeng tore open a packet of pickled pepper chicken feet. “Since you’re unsure what you are, why not just consider yourself a rabbit? I think rabbits are pretty good too.”

Fu Li changed back into his human form. Recalling how he had gone out of control that night, he felt a faint sense of unease. He lowered his head and bit into the biscuit in his hand. Yet, in his mind was the taste of dragon blood.

It was fresh, tasty, and even contained a certain energy.

“But Zhuang Qing treats you quite well. He even protected you when you suddenly went mad and ate a dragon,” The Kunpeng commented all of a sudden. “If I were him, I would probably have guarded against you. What if you went crazy and bit him that day?”

Fu Li was stunned. He didn’t seem to have thought of this issue. Although he didn’t care about others eating rabbit meat in his presence, those were rabbits without any intelligence. Qing Yan… was a nearly three thousand year old dragon who had a human form.

“It is a blessing for any yao to have followed the right boss,” The Kunpeng glanced at Fu Li from the corner of his eyes. “You have pretty good luck.”

“That’s true. Zhuang Qing might look a bit cold on the surface, but he’s quite nice by nature,” Fu Li didn’t even continue eating his biscuit as he started listing Zhuang Qing’s good points. “Magnanimous, steady, responsible, kind, high cultivation, loyal…”

“Stop stop stop…” The Kunpeng said with resentment. “With how delighted you are, anyone who isn’t in on the situation would think that you’re praising your son. Can you, a rabbit, give birth to a dragon?”

“He’s young, not yet an adult. To be this good, of course he should be praised more,” Fu Li said confidently. “Youngsters should be given more encouragement.”

The Kunpeng was too lazy to pay any heed to him. With a shift of his buttocks, he back-faced Fu Li and continued gnawing on chicken feet.

He wanted to lament countless times – pickled pepper chicken feet was really, really, really humanity’s greatest invention.

After finishing the snacks, Fu Li got ready to leave. The Kunpeng cast a few glances at him and called after him.

“Cultivation depends on the heart of the cultivator. Regardless of whether you’re a rabbit or some other yaoguai, you are still you,” It was rare for the Kunpeng to be this solemn. “The world is very large and changes occur anytime and anywhere. What you are isn’t important, you don’t have to take it to heart.”

Fu Li stared blankly for a moment before smiling. “Many thanks, Kunpeng daren.”

“Scram, scram. I want to sleep.” The Kunpeng stamped his feet and rolled on the ground. In a low voice, he complained, “Young yao have so many worries.”

When Fu Li left, the Kunpeng sat up on the ground, his expression grave.

Capable of turning the green pythons raised by Oujiang for over ten thousand years into ashes, eats dragons, attracts heavenly lightning…

The Kunpeng thought back to several thousand years ago when the humans had just started flourishing. There was once an absurd rumor in the yao world claiming that there would be a new yao beast born very soon, and who would supersede the great yao several thousand years later. At that time, he had assumed that it was an ignorant little yao who deliberately created such a rumor out of fear of them. He hadn’t believed that there was any truth in it at all.

In fact, it wasn’t just him who didn’t take it seriously. So had the other great yao.

Five thousand years had passed since that rumor circulated. Based on the rumor, it could be inferred that the yao beast who would supersede them should have spread its name throughout the entire yao world hundreds or thousands of years ago. There was no way it would remain obscure with no news about it even till today.

If the yao beast capable of superseding the ancient great yao was really like Fu Li, then it would be the most comical thing to occur in the yao world.

If that were the case, it would be Zhuang Qing who corresponded more to the rumored new leader of the yao world. It was just that the current cultivation world had degenerated a little, so being the boss wasn’t particularly grand.

On the tenth of August, the leader of Qingxiao Sect’s, Zhao Xiu, reached the great age of a hundred and fifty years. Zhao Xiu was a human cultivator of outstanding talent in the cultivation world, and a person of good moral standing and reputation. Not only did the human cultivators respect him to some degree, even the yao cultivators were very respectful towards him. On the third day before his birthday, there was already a birthday congratulatory message for him on the front page of the cultivators’ forum. On the forum, a few juniors of the cultivation world discussed the glorious achievements of the Qingxiao Sect. Not only did the Qingxiao sect not put a stop to this, some of their disciples even sneakily ran over to expose a few of the Sect’s minor faults.

Everyone was chatting when the topic shifted to the big shots that would attend Zhao Xiu’s birthday feast.

A little yao who had just transformed into its human form timidly left a comment: I heard Chief Zhuang Qing of the management bureau is extremely powerful, will he attend Sect Leader Zhao’s birthday feast?

Yao cultivator A: Hehe

Human cultivator B: Hehe

Half-yao C: Hehe

Disciple of Qingxiao Sect: Chief Zhuang Qing is very hardworking. If he were to come, he would definitely bring light to my Qingxiao Sect’s humble dwelling. However, Chief Zhuang Qing doesn’t appear to be fond of participating in such events, so I’m afraid he will not come. But on the off-hand that he does, it is not illegal to dream a little.

A certain sect’s disciple who had conflicts with the Qingxiao Sect: Hehe, a certain sect is relying on their two disciples working in the management bureau to boldly daydream. Just watch, if Chief Zhuang attends Sect Leader Zhao’s birthday feast, I’ll live-broadcast myself eating phones on the forum.

Disciple of Qingxiao Sect: ……

So angry, but there was no way of retorting.