Chapter 76: [Too Forbearing to Feel?]

This one round of drinks had Hu Tiangou selling out everything he knew about Chen Yan, clean and dry — though none of it was exactly some closely guarded secret.

Still, Assistant Yan felt the trip had been well worth it.

After the drinks were done, he sent the already drunk Hu Tiangou on his way. Assistant Yan's eyes were clear and sober — an old hand like him, his capacity and his tricks at the table, how could a young whippersnapper like Hu Tiangou ever compare?

Recalling the contents of Hu Tiangou's words in his mind, he picked up a small notebook he carried with him and quickly jotted down a summary on the page.

An hour later, Fang Fang Zong was in his office, listening to Assistant Yan's report while looking at the notes on this sheet of paper.

"…The broad strokes are what I've just laid out, boss. According to what that Hu Shangke said, Teacher Xiao Chen is actually pretty easy to get along with."

Fang Fang Zong stroked his eyebrows.

"Lecherous, fond of money?"

"Mm."

Fang Fang Zong shook his head and smiled: "That's perfectly normal. A man — who the hell doesn't like money?

As for men, how many of them don't like beauties?

Especially a young strapping lad, with fire so strong in him — how could he not think about the girls?"

Saying so, Fang Fang Zong picked up a pen and crossed out the four words 'lecherous, fond of money' written on the paper.

"What does that fellow Xiao Hu know. Reading a few manga is lecherous? Looking at a few suggestive pictures is lecherous?

With Teacher Xiao Chen's abilities, if he were really lecherous, he'd damn well have been living a life of wine, women, and song long ago.

A man — whose computer doesn't have a few terabytes of hard-drive 'teachers' on it?"

Fang Fang Zong was unconvinced, and went on: "Everyone likes money, but Teacher Xiao Chen does love wealth within bounds. Earlier, when Luo Qing paid compensation, when I tried to give him half of it, he wouldn't even accept it.

This sort of person likes money, but isn't greedy."

"Mm, you're right." Assistant Yan nodded at once: "Besides that, there are a few other points Hu Shangke mentioned that I think we can make good use of.

For instance, Teacher Xiao Chen, as a person, is very loyal to his friends — whatever he promises a friend, he never fails to deliver. It shows this man has a bottom line, and sticks to his principles."

"That's a good thing!" Fang Fang Zong nodded, his expression turning serious: "A man without principles can be bought, can be used. But if you can buy him, others can buy him just the same. Only a man of principles can be a friend."

He had Assistant Yan step out first, and Fang Fang Zong kept holding that sheet of paper, reading it over and over.

"Mm, likes big breasts and long legs… damn, I like those too." Fang Fang Zong stroked his chin and sighed: "What a pity — why don't I have a daughter or a little sister with big breasts and long legs?"

Wait, that's not right either.

Given his own looks and build, if he really did have a beautiful daughter with big breasts and long legs, the color on top of his own head probably wouldn't be quite right!

If it were a blood sister, then it would be his own father's hair color that wasn't quite right!

Fang Fang Zong's assessment of his own looks and physique was, in fact, fairly clear-eyed.

With his own wealth, throwing money to land a beauty with big breasts and long legs, and then delivering her right to Teacher Xiao Chen's lips — for him, that wasn't much of a challenge.

The problem was, Fang Fang Zong, well-versed in the ways of the world, knew perfectly well: the more capable a man is, the less readily he'll accept your favors.

If the relationship isn't there, even if you hand him a benefit, he may not be willing to take it.

Besides, there's still that stunningly beautiful young girl at his home.

…Oh, that's right.

Last time he went to visit, wasn't that girl at his home exactly the big-breast, long-leg type?

·

Chen Yan spent three days lying flat at home — not that he was truly lying flat, just that his whole person had suddenly loosened up.

Originally, after getting the secret manual, he'd still been thinking of cultivating hard and becoming a top-tier master.

But now, unable to cultivate the Primordial Spirit, his ceiling had been strangled; even if he trained himself to death, he'd only be at the 【Mortal Cultivator】 tier.

Going further up — Transcendent, Saintly — was simply impossible. This cost Chen Yan a few measures of interest in cultivation.

Still, he was a fellow of an easy-going disposition; after only three days of slackness, he pulled himself together again.

So what if the finish line was short?

Short had its own merits, after all…

If the ceiling was low, then it meant that as long as he put in effort, he could reach the finish line very quickly.

Finish training early and he could lie flat, right?

And… staying at the Mortal Cultivator tier for life wasn't actually a bad thing.

The Domain Realm wasn't exactly a nice place either! He hadn't wanted to go there himself.

Besides, staying in this world as he was, he couldn't have cultivated to the Heavenly Human Realm anyway — the Heavenly Dao of this world wouldn't allow it.

Put that way… there actually wasn't much difference.

It was just that his Primordial Spirit was a bit inferior to that of a true top-tier Mortal Cultivator.

He wasn't the sort to go around killing monsters and seizing treasures at every turn. And this world, in truth, didn't have many real masters either.

For instance, that woman called Chu Keqing — same as him, both at the Return-to-Origin Realm, and her cultivation wasn't even as good as his — had still managed to become a local powerhouse, earning herself the illustrious title of 【Old Zi】.

If he himself cultivated up one more tier to the Ascension Platform Realm, that would be enough to swagger through this world unchecked, wouldn't it?

Chen Yan, who had slacked off for three days, began to pull himself together once more and resume cultivating.

His main focus, though, was placed on the 【Sword Finger】 that Gu Qingyi had taught him.

This spell was simple and practical, and its killing effect was no mean feat. It was precisely the offensive method Chen Yan needed most right now.

In truth, what Chen Yan coveted even more was, of course, the impossibly cool 【Formless Calamity-Severing Slash】 that Gu Qingyi had unleashed!

He had also tentatively asked Gu Qingyi, subtly expressing his wish to learn it.

Hearing Chen Yan's words, Gu Qingyi was silent for a moment, then said slowly: "I don't mind teaching you, but you won't be able to master it."

"Why?"

"The Formless Calamity-Severing Slash — I only cultivated it to Great Completion on the Prison-Suppressing Platform. It requires entering the Dao through slaughter, and nurturing the spirit with killing intent to master it." Gu Qingyi said, then asked Chen Yan: "How many lives have you taken?"

Chen Yan said quietly: "Back when the Old Grandma was still around, I killed two chickens in the countryside. Other than that… just a few days ago, I finished off that Mountain-Terror with a coup de grâce."

"That's all?"

"That's all."

Gu Qingyi said nothing more, just tilted her head and looked at Chen Yan, her expression calm: "Stop overthinking all that nonsense in the future."

Having said that, the woman slowly walked away.

Chen Yan opened his mouth... I've been looked down on by this woman!

·

"Tch, the Gu family's Formless Calamity-Breaking Slash can only barely be considered upper-grade. Its power is strong enough, but the hidden dangers are too great, so its grade cannot reach supreme. It's just that this little Miss of the Gu family thinks it's an unrivaled absolute art. Youth means shallow experience."

By the second-floor window ledge of the neighboring villa, the old man leaned back in a chair, lazily crossing his legs, yet pricking up one ear, quietly eavesdropping on the conversation between a man and a woman in the villa opposite.

With his cultivation and perception, a distance of only about a hundred meters was no trouble at all.

Straightening up, he picked up the teapot beside him and took a sip, then lay back down again, narrowing his eyes in thought.

The little Miss of the Gu family has decent talent, but this Formless Calamity-Breaking Slash carries too much killing intent. This set of cultivation methods of the Gu family was originally far too extreme.

At her root, she entered the Dao through killing intent — this is opportunistic behavior. If she keeps practicing, I'm afraid in a few more years, the killing intent will coalesce into a heart demon. In the mild case, her cultivation will scatter; in the severe case, she'll lose her life.

Unless... she cultivates the 【Supreme Forgetfulness of Emotion】!

Using forgetfulness of emotion to slay the heart demon and dispel the killing intent is also a path.

But then again... everyone who cultivates the Supreme Forgetfulness of Emotion is a madman. If one weren't mad, who would willingly cultivate oneself into a cold, lifeless stone?

·

Lu Sisi sat at the desk in her room, holding a copy of Dazai Osamu's "No Longer Human" in her hands.

In truth, she hadn't really been reading it — actually, she used to quite enjoy reading this book.

It wasn't that she particularly liked this Japanese literary master; it was just that, because of her own circumstances, Lu Sisi's outlook on life had been bleak and hopeless, so the cold indifference toward the human world that Dazai Osamu's pen revealed actually allowed Lu Sisi to find a touch of resonance.

The writer Dazai Osamu killed himself in his thirties, and had attempted suicide many times throughout his life. This self-destructive tendency, this drift toward finding no joy in living, actually matched Lu Sisi's earlier mindset.

But now... holding this book, she couldn't really bring herself to read it.

Lu Sisi sighed, put the book back on the bookshelf, and picked up her phone to check WeChat.

These past few days, Lu Sisi would occasionally chat casually with Chen Yan on WeChat — just some meaningless small talk.

Scrolling through the chat history above, a faint smile lingered at the corner of Lu Sisi's mouth.

The content of the conversations really was boring.

But then again... she'd forgotten which website she'd seen this saying on: falling in love is just like this.

Even if you see two cats fighting on the road, you still want to excitedly tell the other person about it — this is what falling in love is supposed to look like.

The girl was letting her thoughts drift off to who knows where, when suddenly the bedroom door was pushed open.

Her father, Yang Jiaming, walked in.

Yang Jiaming — actually, his identity was from Hong Kong City, and his name also fit the conventions there.

Lu Sisi's father had several brothers, named Jiapower, Jiabusiness, Jiawei...

Mm, if she could have been entered into the family genealogy, Lu Sisi should also have been surnamed Yang.

According to the Yang family's genealogical ranking, Lu Sisi would be of the "Hui" generation. If entered into the genealogy, her name would probably be something like Yang Huixin.

But now, Lu Sisi felt her own name was quite nice, and didn't want to change it.

"Sisi, are you doing homework?" Yang Jiaming sat down beside his daughter, his tone still fairly gentle, though without any visible affection.

"Reading a novel." Lu Sisi shook her head. "It's vacation, I haven't looked at homework."

"I haven't asked about your studies this year. Did you fail any courses this semester and need to retake exams?"

"Not this time, I passed everything." Lu Sisi answered carefully.

Yang Jiaming was somewhat surprised, paused briefly, then said: "Mm, that's great. Not failing any courses shows you really worked hard this semester."

Actually, I've always been working hard too... the girl sighed softly in her heart.

Her father was clearly making small talk for the sake of it. He fished a small pendant from his pocket: "A few days ago, your mother took your little brother and me on a trip. At a temple, your mother had this protective charm prayed for you. Wear it on you to keep you safe."

Lu Sisi hummed in acknowledgment, nodded and took it, but didn't put it on — just held it in her hand.

Looking at the distance and unfamiliarity in the eyes of this delicate, lovely daughter before him, Yang Jiaming sighed inwardly.

Actually, he wasn't one to favor boys over girls, nor did he stop loving his daughter after having a son.

When this daughter was first born, he had once been overjoyed as if he'd found a treasure, had once treated his daughter as the apple of his eye, doting on her dearly.

But later...

His daughter was plagued by constant illness and disaster. Worse still, anyone who got close to her would also be dragged down and suffer undeserved calamities.

Not only his wife, but even he himself had inexplicably been in two car accidents — both times, his daughter had been in the car.

Combined with the fate reading given by the master they found in Hong Kong City, and then connecting it to the actual experiences of those years, it made Yang Jiaming and his wife increasingly afraid, and gradually they distanced themselves from this daughter.

Later, after the little son was born, the relationship grew even more distant.

Among other things, the couple had one unspoken intention: they worried the daughter's ill fortune would drag down the little son, and even more so made the son not get close to this elder daughter.

"There's something I need to tell you. During the Spring Festival, we're going to Hong Kong City..." Yang Jiaming said in a low voice.

"Mm, I understand. I'll stay home obediently by myself, I won't cause trouble." Lu Sisi nodded and said softly.

"... Alright, you're the most well-behaved." Yang Jiaming reached out his hand, seemingly about to stroke his daughter's hair, but his hand hung suspended in mid-air, and in the end, he never let it fall. Then, with a wooden expression, he turned and walked out of the room.

After her father left, Lu Sisi lay on the desk in silence for a while — actually, if one were to say she felt terribly upset, it didn't seem to be that intense.

Over these years, she had grown accustomed to her family's distance.

Especially after she came of age, her parents would take her brother to the Hong Kong City family for New Year every year, usually leaving her alone at home.

In previous years, it might have caused her some quiet heartache, but this year her state of mind seemed subtly different.

Lu Sisi was quiet for a while, then slowly took out her phone and sent Chen Yan a WeChat message.

"During the Spring Festival, will you be in Jin Ling?"

A moment later, Chen Yan replied: "For New Year I'm going back to my old hometown in the countryside."

Lu Sisi's eyes immediately dimmed a few shades; this sense of loss was even stronger than when her father had just told her she'd be spending New Year alone in Jin Ling Prefecture.

But then, Chen Yan suddenly sent another message.

"If you're bored staying in Jin Ling Prefecture, you can come with me to the countryside for a few days. New Year in the countryside is very lively."

The girl's eyes lit up at once!

Eyes sparkling with excitement, the girl quickly stood up, opened the wardrobe, and carefully examined her clothes.

If I go back to his old hometown with him for New Year, I'll definitely meet his relatives, right? What should I wear?

Hmm, this one looks too childish… this one's color is too drab, not lively enough… oh, this one's style is too old-fashioned…

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【Tomorrow is New Year's Eve! Wishing everyone a Happy New Year, and a joyful Spring Festival with your whole family!】

【Notice again: No break during the Spring Festival, updates as normal.】

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