Chapter 62: Chapter Fifty-Five: [Go Big?]

Listening to Gu Qingyi speak so softly, Chen Yan's eyelid twitched, and he murmured, "The Domain Realm… isn't it unstable? The Zhen Zhen Yu Tai you described—it sounds like… a place of slaughter?"

"Yes, slaughter," Gu Qingyi said, squinting as if drawing in the faint warmth from the sunlight. "How could there not be slaughter? Without slaughter… you die. Many people die. So many people."

She opened her eyes. "I was sent to the Zhen Zhen Yu Tai at fifteen. I stayed there five years, until I broke through to a new realm by feeding my spirit through battle, and only then could I return to the Gu family."

I remember, on the first night I climbed onto that platform, they shoved a weapon into my hands.

For five years, every single day, I stood on the platform's ramparts, slashing and hacking wildly with that weapon.

Even when resting, I slept huddled in the hut behind the ramparts, clutching that weapon.

When the things outside the ramparts didn't attack, I still had to huddle inside, gripping cold blades and swords, trembling as I listened to the howling wind outside."

Chen Yan frowned. "Who's attacking the Zhen Zhen Yu Tai?"

Gu Qingyi shook her head in silence.

Chen Yan thought for a moment, then asked quietly, "Have you… killed many people?"

"No. I haven't killed any people."

This time, Gu Qingyi answered, shaking her head seriously, her voice carrying a chilling edge: "The things I killed… weren't human!"

Chen Yan's heart grew cold at her words: "The Domain Realm… isn't it unstable…"

But Gu Qingyi suddenly opened her eyes, fixing him with a steady gaze: "Chen Yan, will you go to the Domain Realm?"

"I…" Chen Yan had no answer.

According to Gu Qingyi's words, cultivation in this world had a ceiling—you could never reach the Heavenly Human Realm, never rise beyond the mortal cultivator tier.

If that's true, then Chen Yan would inevitably have to go to the Domain Realm if he ever hoped to break through.

But… it was still so far off. He'd never seriously considered it.

Now, having just heard her words, Chen Yan felt even more certain the Domain Realm wasn't some idyllic place.

Seeing Chen Yan silent, Gu Qingyi spoke softly but earnestly:

"Chen Yan, if you don't plan to go to the Domain Realm, then don't ask about these things. Don't learn about them."

She looked at him, her gaze softening slightly, and added slowly: "And… thank you for this drink earlier. This milk tea. It's delicious. Very sweet."

·

From then until noon, Chen Yan said nothing more to Gu Qingyi, silently turning her words over in his mind.

Fifteen years old... a fifteen-year-old girl sent to a brutal, extreme environment, forced into bloody slaughter.

And she endured it for five years?

What kind of life was that?

What was I doing at fifteen?

I was stuck in school, worrying about grades and exams, thinking mostly about how to claim a basketball hoop after class, or eagerly waiting to see what flashy new technique Naruto would learn next… from 1000 consecutive punches to 2000, then 4000, then the one-punch combo…

I once thought Naruto was just a commoner like me, only to realize helplessly that he was actually second-generation—even his previous life was the son of a celestial.

Hmm… what were the girls my age doing at fifteen?

Thinking about sneaking out to try their first manicure, wondering if they could slip away to a concert without their parents knowing, complaining about homework, admiring some boy in the next class who was kinda cute…

What about Gu Qingyi at fifteen?

She said: When blood sprayed on your face, it was still warm…

·

It wasn't disillusionment with the Domain Realm.

Ever since Gu Qingyi first mentioned the Domain Realm, Chen Yan never imagined it as some idyllic cultivation world.

Though he'd read countless webnovels about cultivation, where everyone seemed to pursue the Dao in orderly, peaceful progression, and where rogue cultivators were always swiftly purged by righteous sects…

Chen Yan thought such a world couldn't possibly exist—it defied logic.

As a philosophy major in university, he didn't believe it.

In his view, a civilization could only be a civilization if it had a system of order—rules that defined everyone's roles, restricted what most people could and couldn't do.

To uphold that system, you needed overwhelming force to deter rule-breaking—government, police, army…

Their purpose: to crush violators with iron fists.

But… in a cultivation world where strength alone ruled?

How could that work?

How could powerful cultivators obey moral codes or laws, never do evil?

What restrained them? No government. No police. No army…

Morality? Don't joke.

If morality alone could sustain civilization, then there'd be no need for laws or violent institutions.

His studies told him the greatest foundation of civilization wasn't moral education.

It was… violence—the violence used as punishment.

The earliest human educational text was China's ancient "Xue Ji"—only two thousand years old.

But whips and sticks, archaeological evidence shows, appeared far, far earlier than education ever did…

A world ruled by individual strength, with no powerful force to punish transgressions—such a world would be beautiful? Ridiculous!

·

At lunch, Chen Yan ordered a pizza. Then he pulled out a phone and handed it to Gu Qingyi—the phone he'd bought earlier while purchasing memorial plaques and candles, on a whim while out.

Along with a SIM card registered under his own name.

He connected the phone to his home Wi-Fi and taught her how to use the food delivery app.

He linked the app's payment to his own account, disabled facial recognition, and gave her the password…

Chen Yan was confident that now, even if he left home for a full day, this adoptive mother of his wouldn't starve herself on instant noodles.

The truth is, Chen Yan used to quite enjoy eating instant noodles, but ever since he endured that Seven-Day Tribulation and gnawed on seven straight days of instant noodles, the current him believes instant noodles are the most evil food in the world!

"I'm heading out this afternoon, I may not be back for dinner tonight. If you get hungry, just order takeout yourself," Chen Yan said to Gu Qingyi, then downloaded a WeChat app on his phone and registered an account—using the number from the new SIM card Chen Yan had just gotten.

"With this you can talk to me anytime, I'm the only friend on the contact list. When you need to find me, you can send me a message—type with handwriting input, or hold down to talk and send voice messages... and here you can do voice calls..."

Gu Qingyi was no fool—a fellow who had cultivated to reach the Heavenly Human Realm before the age of twenty was definitely smarter than the vast majority of people in this world.

In a short while, she had mastered everything Chen Yan had taught her.

Then, Chen Yan headed out.

Today he was planning to go to the Extreme Internet Cafe in the university district to find the proprietress.

The heavy-handed measures he had used against that Uncle Qing had now had a full day to settle—more than enough to let that fellow feel the intimidation.

Today, he planned to find the proprietress, then bring her to meet Luo Qing one more time.

This time Chen Yan planned to step in personally... before, he had still been hesitant.

Now, though... there was a legitimate mother at the Heavenly Human Realm in the house.

What was there to fear!

What Chen Yan didn't know was that the moment he stepped out the door, Gu Qingyi immediately called Gu Geng over, gave him an instruction, and then headed out herself.

·

Chen Yan called a ride-hailing car to the roadside near the Extreme Internet Cafe in the university district. Before the car had even stopped, Chen Yan saw a business van parked across the street, already stopped at the cafe's entrance.

Luo Qing, wearing a baseball cap on his head, climbed out of the car. The bruises on his face didn't seem to have faded yet—if anything, there were a few more grimy-looking scrapes?

But then, to Chen Yan's surprise, the moment Luo Qing got out of the car he stood by the roadside, then politely and respectfully helped four more people down from the business van.

The proprietress, lovely as a flower, and her three ferocious-looking younger brothers!

Chen Yan was stunned. He deliberated for a moment, didn't get out of the car right away, and instead tipped the driver an extra ten yuan when paying the fare, asking the driver to stay parked by the roadside for now.

Across the street, Luo Qing's attitude was very polite—even carrying a hint of deference and eagerness to please. He smiled and said a few words to the proprietress and her three brothers, then nodded and bowed his way back into the car and drove off in a puff of dust.

Chen Yan frowned slightly, then pushed open the door and got out.

·

The proprietress was unlocking the internet cafe's door when Chen Yan's voice came from behind her: "Proprietress, you're all back?"

The proprietress turned her head, saw Chen Yan walking over with a smile, and her face also broke into a relaxed smile: "Little Yan! What brings you here?"

"I was thinking your matter hadn't been resolved, so I came to see if there was anything I could help with."

The proprietress was clearly in much better spirits than the past couple of days—the joy of relief in her eyes was impossible to hide.

"Little Yan, the matter's already been resolved," she said, having already opened the door: "Come in and sit for a while, have some water."

"Alright." Chen Yan, curious how the matter had been resolved, nodded without showing anything on his face.

The proprietress's three brothers gave Chen Yan a flat, unremarkable greeting, then went inside and headed upstairs—Chen Yan wasn't particularly warm toward the three brothers either.

Helping the proprietress was because of the bond from four years of university.

Those special privileges of free internet, and on who knows how many nights, a free bowl of steaming-hot noodles—this woman, whether she realized it or not, had been using him as a vessel for the feelings she wanted to pour into her dead little brother.

Chen Yan had no parents from childhood on, growing up under the care of the Old Grandma.

One can imagine—a child with no parents, in childhood, in school days, must have endured plenty of sneers and exclusion from peers, and was once at the bottom of the schoolyard discrimination chain—those who haven't been through it truly cannot understand that bitterness.

So Chen Yan's personality was such that he treasured all the more any kindness actively offered to him.

However... this kind of bond existed only with the proprietress herself.

As for her three brothers, forget it.

Though these three weren't exactly great villains.

No great evils, but small offenses never ceased—in the end, they weren't good sorts either.

Chen Yan had no goodwill toward people like this.

Who the hell would feel goodwill toward three layabouts who idled their days away, did nothing proper, and fought and brawled?

·

Sitting in the internet cafe, the proprietress handed Chen Yan a can of cola. Chen Yan took it openly, opened it and took a sip, then listened as the proprietress began to tell her story.

Early this morning she had received a call from Luo Qing. His attitude was extremely amicable; he expressed willingness to settle, even offered to proactively withdraw the case, and a letter of understanding or the like went without saying.

So the two sides arranged a time to meet at the police station.

Luo Qing, the aggrieved party, took the initiative to withdraw the case, stated he would not pursue the matter further, and wrote a letter of understanding.

The three brothers' offenses didn't reach the criminal threshold; the police station, considering they had already been detained for several days after the incident, simply closed the case and released them.

The proprietress had even proactively offered to compensate for medical expenses and the like, but Luo Qing refused all of it.

He even enthusiastically drove the four siblings home himself.

Halfway there, the proprietress felt as if she were dreaming, and even a strange thought popped into her head:

This fellow called Luo Qing, suddenly so easy to talk to, letting her brothers off, not even taking a cent in compensation, and being this enthusiastic?

He couldn't have taken a fancy to me, could he, have some ulterior motive?!

So on the way, in the car, the proprietress kept carefully maintaining her silence, trying to respond to Luo Qing as little as possible.

Chen Yan turned the matter over in his mind, guessing that perhaps Luo Qing had been scared off by his little stunt, had thought things through himself, and after reviewing who he had recently offended, had set his suspicions on the proprietress's three brothers and proactively made peace?

That was a possibility, but the fact that Luo Qing could actually guess it was the proprietress's three brothers was also beyond Chen Yan's expectations.

But it was fine—him not having to step in saved some effort.

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Chen Yan stood up to take his leave, and the proprietress, in good spirits, saw Chen Yan to the door.

Chen Yan didn't say anything more about advising the proprietress to properly discipline her brothers and keep them from causing trouble again—he wouldn't say something like that.

He was only twenty-two; the proprietress's three brothers were all older than him.

What standing did he have to say such stuffy, preachy words about disciplining others? It would only annoy people.

With this matter settled, Chen Yan planned to head home early—he wondered whether Gu Xiaoniang had ordered takeout yet.

Before he could even hail a cab, though, he got another call.

"Teacher Xiao Chen," Director Fang's voice on the phone was very grave: "There's something I'd like to discuss with you, to see if it's convenient for you."

"Please go ahead, Director Fang." Considering the New Year goods gift yesterday and the big dinner that evening, Chen Yan's attitude was very polite.

"Mm, regarding that house renovation project from before, I feel the previous repairs weren't thorough enough. I want to do a much larger-scale renovation this time!"

Huh?

Chen Yan was stunned.

·

【Could I get some votes please~】

·