Chapter 37: Walking and Eating All the Way

Su Lin used to really like Dragon Raja, and not just him—several of his friends did too.

Back in high school, on the road home from school after evening self-study every day, they would often discuss what kind of plot developments Dragon Raja would have next, and how long the author who loved to delay updates would drag things out this time.

The funniest part was, when the character Hui Liyi appeared in Dragon Raja III, one friend thought the protagonist was finally going to get a girlfriend.

During breaks between classes, the way he told it with such animated excitement was as if he himself were about to get a girlfriend.

Turns out he snuck a peek at the grand finale during class, and when the teacher caught him, his face still had teardrops on it.

"The longing to become extraordinary is something fantasized about in adolescence and even in adulthood."

Stepping on white jade stone steps, the two were walking along another path toward the peak.

Occasionally they would come across a spiritual fruit tree, and Su Lin would pick a few to split with Lu Mingfei.

Sweet, clear, and moist juice surged from the bite-mark gap in the fruit; Lu Mingfei swore he had never tasted such delicious fruit.

"Munch munch." Lu Mingfei didn't spit out the pit, swallowing the fruit whole: "But I've long passed that phase. If I could, I'd just want to live a stable, peaceful life."

"Really? I've been in that phase the whole time."

Su Lin spat out a date-pit-sized fruit core, then plucked from the ground a spiritual grass densely covered in glistening, translucent fruits, bit down on it in his mouth, and left behind a single thin, soft stem.

"Because if you can become extraordinary, life doesn't have to be so hard, and you don't have to be exploited by those capitalists for money."

Lu Mingfei, who was imitating Su Lin's earlier action and searching along the roadside for the same spiritual plant, froze when he heard this.

"That reason is... actually pretty real, huh."

Su Lin smiled helplessly.

"What else did you think? For saving the world, or for being the center of attention?"

"Or to satisfy some other desires."

Seeing that Lu Mingfei still hadn't found any Ding-Dong Grass among a pile of weeds after a long while, Su Lin pointed to a spot under a tree not far away.

"Then you should have achieved your wish by now?"

"That's right." Su Lin stretched lazily: "You have no idea how great my life is right now."

"When there's nothing to do, I cultivate. When I don't feel like cultivating, I watch anime, play games, read novels. When I get bored of that, I go back to cultivating. Occasionally I go out and interact with society so I don't fall out of touch."

"When thirsty, drink spiritual spring water. When hungry, munch on spiritual fruit. Of course, I can also order takeout—drink cola, eat fried chicken."

"When I don't have to worry about lifespan, don't have to worry about illness, don't have to worry about housing, and all those daily necessities—when I don't have to worry about any of that, every single day is spent enjoying life."

Lu Mingfei imagined it for a moment. Such a life really did sound pretty great, but wasn't the gap between their versions of "extraordinary" a bit too huge?

The moment he thought about how his own "extraordinary" consisted of a stinky little brother who was always eyeing his soul, a bunch of berserker classmates who went red-eyed at the sight of dragons, and an Armaments Department full of explosion maniacs who wanted to stuff alchemy tech into missiles all day long...

'Oh my god, I, Lu Mingfei, swear on the two pieces of fried chicken Finger hid under the bed—I don't want to grab a knife and go dance with dragon ladies one bit. This kind of extraordinary sucks, I guarantee it.'

"So, my story is just a story of a down-on-his-luck kid heading toward the extraordinary." Lu Mingfei pulled up a few Ding-Dong Grasses and stuffed them in his mouth, sucking the sweetness from the tiny fruits.

"It's just that this road to the extraordinary is a little too painful, that's all."

"Nothing in life goes smoothly. When young, we assume gaining is the norm, but as we grow older, loss often accompanies life." Su Lin kept walking forward.

"The girl you had a crush on, the dreams you carried in your youth, friendship, love, family—even your worldview, your values—any of these can suddenly be lost. Most people can hold onto one or two throughout their lives; very few possess them all."

"Resources are limited. To possess something, you need enough resources."

"Where do resources come from? Either you're outstanding enough, or your parents are."

"But most of us are ordinary people, just like you, Lu Mingfei—and many are even worse off than you."

"You want to possess, you want to prove yourself, you want the chance to change—but where in the world do that many chances come from?"

Lu Mingfei suddenly felt Su Lin was getting a bit like that little brother of his who entered philosophical mode—Little Devil Lu Mingze.

But also a little different.

"Not all of them, but there really are quite a few readers who like you a lot. Your popularity vote is even higher than your handsome senior brother's."

"For real?!" Lu Mingfei's eyes went wide; he couldn't believe it.

"Mm, because a lot of people have an unlucky kid living inside their hearts. This unlucky kid sometimes tries hard, sometimes reaps a little harvest, but more often than not, tries hard and still gets nothing."

"But life has to go on, doesn't it? Whether you feel lonely or just bored, you have to keep going."

"Master, I've been enlightened. What you mean is, no matter what difficulty you face, you have to face it head-on, and it'll pass eventually." Lu Mingfei wore a look of sudden realization.

"No, what I mean is, the reason your story blew up is because aside from being able to cheat by calling on Lu Mingze, you're no different from us ordinary folks."

"......"

"......"

People like Chu Zihang, Ye Fan, Xiao Yan—even without special powers, could live quite comfortably in ordinary human society, because they were already pretty outstanding to begin with.

But he and Lu Mingfei were about the same—they were the green leaves and roots that set off the flower.

Su Lin grabbed Lu Mingfei by the collar and leapt up onto a giant tree, where fist-sized vermillion mulberries were now giving off a rich fragrance.

Su Lin shaped his hand like a blade and slashed through the air—actually splitting open the bark, and thick tree honey flowed out from the trunk.

The vermillion mulberries dipped in tree honey were enough to make one forget all the troubles of the world.

"Among today's readers, some want to see you mature, some want to see you cheat, and others want to see you build a harem." Su Lin wiped the corner of his mouth.

"Mm—burp—" Lu Mingfei let out a satisfied burp: "Our old Lu family practices monogamy."

"People like Nono, Hui Liyi, Zero—they want you to take them all."

Hearing this, Lu Mingfei's eyes went wide, his expression froze, and he swallowed hard.

"That really isn't... I mean... uh, you're thinking too highly of me, Lu Mingfei."

That kind of romantic luck—he was afraid he wouldn't even dare dream of it.

Lu Mingfei was silent for a while, then said: "Su Lin, what would you like to see me become?"

"Huh?" Su Lin tilted his head, thought it over carefully, and said: "I don't think I have any expectations for you, actually."

"You just have to be yourself. What you become is for you to choose."

"Is that so…"

"That's how it is, so don't overthink it. Eat more fruit." Su Lin stuffed a few more into Lu Mingfei's hand.