UCTOOT CH136.2

The education expert who spoke for him immediately changed his tune: “No problem, Madam.”

The boy was locked in the cold room, staring at that door until he was starving and cold all over.

The boy collapsed on the floor, scratching the door panel with his fingers, shouting unresignedly: “Mom, I was wrong… Mom…”

…

Severe pain in the neck, blood flowing from the neck. Pain indeed addicted him. Xie Wuchi returned to familiar emotions.

In the storage room of the teaching building, a tall boy wearing a custom uniform very elegantly opened a locker. Dark eyes swept inside, unexpectedly seeing a dead lizard.

Behind him came a voice: “He’s the one who gets A+ in every subject? Why can’t we find his family background? Not a poor student selected by scholarship, is he?”

“Doesn’t look like it. The Richard Mille on his hand is real. Maybe the kind whose family is in business, parents have no status.”

The boy turned his face, dark eyes seeing a few classmates in the new class. They were making faces at the lizard corpse in his hand.

“Face is not bad,” a boy said. “Hey, wanna go to the bathroom for a quick one? I’ll cover you from now on.”

“Sure, you look not bad too.”

“What are you doing holding that lizard all this time?”

“You put it there?”

“Yeah, picked it up by the road. Surprise?”

In the washroom, the boy unbuckled his belt, but the next second his neck was strangled. A hand pried open his jaw, and the stinking lizard corpse was stuffed directly into his mouth.

“Mmph—mmph! Splash!” The toilet flushed.

Crash went the door panel. Moments later, the door opened. The boy rushed out covered in blood, crying and shouting, vomiting wildly over the sink: “You madman! Vomit!—”

The boy walked beside him, washing hands, disinfecting.

“Just you wait, just you wait! I’m going to get my dad!” the boy said, covering the blood on his head.

The next day, the boy and his dad bowed and apologized to the youth together. In the principal’s office, the youth thought for a while, looking at the bruised and swollen boy: “I also want to apologize to you. I seemed to be too heavy-handed yesterday. Maybe you were joking; I didn’t need to do that.”

The boy shook his head hurriedly: “No, no! No… it was my fault!”

The youth breathed lightly, picked up his schoolbag, and walked out of the office.

Sometimes, he couldn’t distinguish whether what he said was truth or lies.

Because whether truth or lies, the result was always the same.

…

The room was painted very freshly, making one feel happy upon entering. A pot of green plants sat on the table. Beside the plants were case files and books piled like mountains. A psychologist in a white coat sat in a chair, looking at the young man in a suit sitting opposite, wrist resting on the chair back.

The doctor said: “Wow, rare to see such a handsome man like you.”

“I’m not interested in you.”

The doctor laughed: “Hahaha, good joke. Read your file; your family forbids you from being gay? Psychosexual disorder again.”

“My father’s work and family don’t allow a trace of scandal among family members. After knowing my sexual orientation, they were probably very worried I’d become part of those indulgent groups—promiscuous, drug-using, group parties. They are very nervous. Another reason is both my parents hope I can carry on the family line. For the family, bloodline continuation is very important.”

“And you? I assume you don’t care about your parents’ views. But why haven’t you had any romantic experience?”

“I’m thinking too. When I could be moved by love, I couldn’t get it. And now, you can easily see through a person’s social status, intelligence level, and family education, as well as their purpose in approaching you. At this time, their faces and bodies have no attraction.”

“But you still want it. Teens and twenties are ages dominated by hormones. To put it crudely, most people only have the word ‘mating’ in their brains.”

Xie Xun smiled unconsciously: “Correct, me too, brain only thinking of finding someone to mate.”

“But you are too smart, easily seeing through others’ thinness and frivolity. So at the age most prone to breeding love hormones, you hope to get love but detest people.”

Xie Xun: “Exactly so.”

The doctor laughed: “Maybe when you’re in your thirties, as bodily mechanisms and hormones recede, you won’t think you can’t live without love and will chase fame and profit. But a noble son of your level, born with everything, can’t imagine what you still want to pursue.”

“Mmh, thirties, maybe I’ll pay attention to things other than love.”

“It’s like this: you are too smart. I can’t give you any psychological suggestion or healing. No one can convince you.”

“…”

Ripples in the swimming pool, magnificent lights hanging on branches. In the villa not far away, the dance party was at its most exciting moment. Everyone was dancing wildly. Piece after piece of music played wonderful carnival tones. Cups clinked, a life of luxury and dissipation.

Xie Xun sat in a chair, drank a glass of wine. Suddenly, a wave of emotion flooded his heart.

Xie Xun lowered his head, calmly looking for medicine, but didn’t find it.

He stood up, ready to ask the bodyguard to bring it. But having drunk a glass of wine, perhaps suddenly, his steps swayed.

Splash— His figure suddenly fell into the water.

Cold water film quickly covered his whole body. The chill penetrating to the marrow was first cold, but immediately like an embrace, waves quietly encircling, wrapping him.

One of Xie Xun’s hands reached out of the water. The coldness blown by the wind was far less warm than in the water.

And that coldness, besides the pool, was also the chill he had experienced from childhood to now.

This cold made him feel the warmth in the water even more.

Xie Xun closed his eyes, seeming to think for a quarter of an hour.

—Otherwise, just don’t get up again.

Suffocation in the skull grew. Xie Xun opened his eyes again. Before him was a desolate forest area in the wild. Several dogs barked at him. He looked up; a village was before him. Steam rose from the thatched cottages of every household. An aunt was hanging clothes, turned to see him, and jumped: “Young brother, when did you come? Do you have business in my yard?”

Xie Xun adjusted for only a moment, then greeted politely and inquired about the origin of this place.

Xie Xun walked on the strange ancient land. Before him was an ancient temple hidden in a pear blossom forest. Xie Xun walked into the temple, seeing moss and spiderwebs, and an old man.

A stele inside the temple read: Under the whole heaven, is there any land that is not the King’s territory.

Since then, he settled in ancient times, changing his name to Xie Wuchi.

Until, under the hillside of Zhou Family Village, he met that young man herding sheep.

You are morbid, paranoid, lacking empathy, but you still obtained the ideal emotion.

Whoosh— Sudden gale on the cliff.

The water film before his eyes faded, disappeared, leaving only the human figure.

The pain was sharp, flesh cut open. Just as Xie Wuchi wanted to stab again, he was violently hugged into Shi Shu’s arms.

Shi Shu held his hand, body shielding him: “Xie Wuchi, I beg you! How can you be like this? Why do you want to hurt yourself? I don’t want the good you give me; I want to be with you forever. I don’t want you to sacrifice yourself for me—”

Xie Wuchi raised his hand. Behind him, Xin Bin rushed up. Tears slid from the corner of his eye: “I want you to return to the place where you are loved by everyone. Being loved by you is my happiness.”

As soon as the words fell, Xie Wuchi took a step back.

The gale howled, hair scattered. The great river below the cliff was surging, white waves boiling, emitting roars and growls.

Xie Wuchi took another step back. A stone was suddenly stepped on empty. Thud! Falling into the river, instantly swallowed by wind, waves, and vortices.

The guard grabbed Shi Shu’s wrist. Shi Shu’s eyes widened. The next second, Xie Wuchi’s gaze moved away from his face. In the next instant, like a kite with a broken string, he was blown off the cliff by the gale.

“Xie Wuchi!!!”

A scream erupted from Shi Shu’s throat. The snatched knife swung at the guard without warning. The guard didn’t expect it, released his hand urgently, but immediately tried to grab again.

—But in that split second, Shi Shu leaped off the cliff without any hesitation.

“You talk about weighing pros and cons, but I am the person least capable of weighing pros and cons.”

Shi Shu jumped off the cliff, grabbed Xie Wuchi’s sleeve, and fell rapidly with him.

Also in this instant, in Shi Shu’s mind, suddenly [Ding—!] the System reminder sounded:

[Player Xie Xun, Player Shi Shu lives at stake, System early settlement begins]

[Min Tribe remnants all captured, “Hedong Academy” successfully protected, Player · Shi Shu achieved Hidden Achievement — “Spark of Civilization”]

*[Unlocking Hidden Civilization Achievement Bar Loading—]

[S-Rank Achievement · Befriended Special Character: Xiao Shu, through Xiao Shu & Yuan Guan side quest, accumulated Civilization Points — “Ethnic Integration”]

[S-Rank Achievement · Befriended Special Character: Pei Wenqing, elicited New Policy, accumulated Civilization Points — “Institutional Reform”]

[S-Rank Achievement · Befriended Special Character: Yinkun, killed extremist, accumulated Civilization Points — “Guarding Cultural Vein”]

[S-Rank Achievement · Befriended Special Character: Song Sinan, joint Tuntian (military farming), accumulated Civilization Points — “Land Development”]

[A-Rank Achievement · Befriended Special Character: Lin Yangchun, through managing plague, accumulated Civilization Points — “Medical Progress”]

[C-Rank Achievement · Befriended Special Character: Mother and two children, introduced high-yield crops, accumulated Civilization Points — “Promoting Production”]

[Player · Shi Shu’s actions have produced profound positive impacts on the current world]

Wind blew. Shi Shu felt his chest hit by a heavy object, eyes wide open. System loading, like being in a cinema, scenes appearing before his eyes one after another—

Ancient temple blue lamp, dead of night. Through that round window, he and Xie Wuchi—one sitting at the desk reading, one lying on the bed crossing legs. Shi Shu looked up, smiling at the scroll in front of Xie Wuchi.

Night change in the monk temple. Two standing together in the pitch-black jungle, secretly looking at the center of conflict, the confrontation between the Heir Apparent and the Abbot before the pagoda torch.

Clear sky and scorching sun, leading a donkey. Xie Wuchi standing on the road to manage the plague in Shukang Prefecture. Shi Shu cupping water to drink by the river. Two gazes meeting, one high one low.

Plague in the city. Shi Shu holding a medicine pot, gauze on forehead. Xie Wuchi holding a sword behind his back, leaning against a wooden pillar, looking at the medicine dregs in his bowl…

—Scenes flashing rapidly. From slow loading at the start, gradually becoming dynamic scenes one by one, reflecting in Shi Shu’s pupils—

Xie Wuchi suffering from plague, face pale, leaning against pillar cutting wrist to let blood; Shi Shu leaping from the Red Embroidery Pavilion, crashing into Xie Wuchi’s arms, the Xu brothers at the end of the crowd; small boat swaying on Laoshui River, Shi Shu lying on the bed board, Xie Wuchi leaning down, slender fingers pressing on his lips…

Then, Shi Shu looking at the tattoo between his legs. Next, Shi Shu sitting on the carriage board, looking down at the copper coins Xie Wuchi threw with a turtle shell, the boy’s handsome face clear…

Prince of Liang’s birthday, Shi Shu sleeping in Xie Wuchi’s bedding, hearing his night talk with the Heir Apparent; buying a new courtyard; Xie Wuchi taking out the account book to directly advise the Emperor on New Policy, toppling the powerful eunuch Feng Lu, detained in Wutai participating in “Ten Days Gambling”, Shi Shu carrying food to visit him in Wutai prison. Turning around, Xie Wuchi wearing vermilion round-collar silk robes, appointed Censor, Lantai Konghe, beginning to inspect the national New Policy…

Then, scorching sun, Shi Shu and him sleeping on the station’s wooden board, sleepless at night; midnight, awakened by him, walking together to Dabai Ridge, encountering bandits lying in ambush, Shi Shu carried on his back, walking past mass graves to the villagers’ settlement.

Torrential rain in Qian’an Prefecture, crowds shouting in the storm “Quickly harvest rice! Dry the rice! Grain rotting in fields will incite civil mutation! Will rebel!”, while large households remained silent… That dark blue forest with a round moon, Shi Shu lying in soft summer grass, hearing cicadas, hand guided to stroke Xie Wuchi’s chest and abdomen…

“Just enjoy.”

Xie Wuchi leaning down, lips lingering… For the first time, through a third-person perspective, Shi Shu saw everything of himself and Xie Wuchi. However, the scenes were still flipping extremely fast, loading everything from these nearly four years—

Next was the failure of New Policy, Xie Wuchi becoming a prisoner, exiled three thousand li. Shi Shu wrapping cloth strips around his fetters, washing his face and body. Late night, Xie Wuchi hugging him tightly, skin touching, kissing his nape, slender fingers brushing over the boy’s fair bones and flesh…

Snow falling on the road, Shi Shu running down from the mountaintop, Xie Wuchi wearing cangue and lock, face covered in dust behind; New Year of that winter, Shi Shu hugging Xie Wuchi all afternoon, coaxing him to eat hawthorn, teasing him to laugh, comforting his sick body, setting off a firecracker, red paper scraps falling in the room, spending New Year in ancient times with him for the first time.

Next was Senzhou, Xie Wuchi befriending Zhao Shirui in the surveillance office; heavy snowstorm, a courtyard. Shi Shu taking Laifu and Du Zihan to shovel snow on the grain road covered in snow. Xie Wuchi riding through the blizzard to take him home.

Those nights in Senzhou winter, Shi Shu was hugged in his arms without fail, force-kissed then sleeping naked together, even kissed awake by him. Shi Shu was very confused, also half-refusing half-accepting; after all, they were brothers.

—Shi Shu watched the rapidly flashing scenes, layers of ripples rising in his heart, filled with emotion—The System changed the scene, turning to broader and heavier scenarios.

Commander on the city tower in bitter winter, soldiers fighting below, ruins of grain burned in snowy pine forests… Blood left by the word “Hate” carved on Song Sinan’s wrist… Shi Shu fleeing Dasheng Prefecture, walking in the shady mountain path, glancing back at the city tower.

Years flowing in an instant. Early spring clear, civilians transporting grain in the teahouse trembling discussing Commander Xie. Shi Shu drinking that bowl of hot tea, glancing back, the robes of a high-ranking general galloping past brushing his nose tip. Xie Wuchi stopping on the plank bridge that collected bridge tax, holding a horse whip and turning around.

Northern Min war started. Batches of dark-skinned civilians affected by war wandering on the road. Shi Shu standing at the intersection organizing order, shouting loudly: “Follow us! Go to the new Tuntian station! Don’t be afraid, General Xie gives us villages to live in, won’t be homeless!”

Shi Shu pulling grass and cutting trees with refugees. They opened up wasteland. In the future, cities and villages would be built on the barren land before them, population prosperous, commerce flourishing, people living and working in peace.

Border army struggle for merit had long begun. The pro-war faction gained the upper hand in court. Major military regions began swallowing each other’s territory. Xie Wuchi eyeing Feng Chongshan’s Taiyin Prefecture covetously, until the Yunzhou Rebellion erupted.

Shi Shu sitting on the carriage, carried all the way to Yunzhou; weather scorching, soldiers all exhausted. Shi Shu lying on the mat, hearing the rumbling trebuchets in the nearby city tower, unable to sleep… Door creaked lightly. Xie Wuchi, off duty, still wearing fine armor, entered, letting Shi Shu touch his hot body.

Flames of war flying in the city, arrows raining on the tower, corpses thrown into the tower, plague spreading… That corpse pit holding tens of thousands, flies sweeping like black mist, fire burning soldiers’ bodies, human bones bursting in flames.

Shi Shu in the scene looked blankly at all this, blood seeping from the wound on his back, staggering back to the dusty small town.

Xiao Shu’s face emerged. Shi Shu stared at this group of people, thoughts in his heart seemingly becoming firmer. So he carried his bundle, walking onto the road to the Min area seeking cooperation. But beside him appeared a figure, Xie Wuchi sleeping with him in the fox demon wild temple, deep kissing him in the wild house.

The softness in Shi Shu’s heart seemed to be moved. His brow knitted slightly, watching the scenes before him—

He and Xie Wuchi holding hands, advancing within the Min blockade. Min civilians also laboring hard in the fields, whipped. Routed Min soldiers drinking heavily in the city, mourning relatives, ashamed to return to the grassland.

Ten-day market of God’s birthday, vendors gathering in the city. Remnants of the Min area looking south, weeping at dust and smoke. Mothers on the grassland also looking south, worrying about children. Grassland disconnected after defeat, people cutting the alliance with sharp swords. Whoosh— fire rose, raging flames burning from waist-high autumn grass. People on the grassland riding horses, fighting for territory, sounds of slaughter shaking heaven and earth.

Long arrows, scimitars, Min King reciting Jing poetry, Prince with a Jing face but deep hatred… Alien tribes divided, returning to Xie Clan of Yanzhou. While in the court, criticism boiled over. Groups of officials in vermilion robes rolling up sleeves shouting: “Xie Wuchi has disloyal heart! Requesting His Majesty to strip his military power!”

Columns of spear-wielding troops setting off from the Eastern Capital, trampling rolling dust, heading toward Yanzhou. Carriages rumbling, carrying pots and stoves, dust trampled from earth. Rain falling from eaves, Xie Wuchi witnessing black words on white paper of the edict, only turning away, galloping toward the front line of recovering Min and Jing…

—Shi Shu’s heart shook. Wolf smoke rose in the scene, everything beginning to change. Horns blowing in the north wind. Envoys of Northern Min and Great Jing exchanging letters. Fingers on the map, using a knife to cut down the paper marked with boundaries of “Taiyin Prefecture, Bu Prefecture, Yong’an Prefecture”—

Civilians in the city gathered, shouting angrily, blocking the city gate not allowing cession officials to enter. Blocking the gate again, resisting Wolf Soldiers knocking to enter. But Clang, the gate opened. Wolf Soldiers entered the pass, Central Plains fell, blood shadows splashing in the city. Dead end, broken skeletons piled under the city tower.

Blood-red curse spreading like plague across the Central Plains continent. From a village to a county town, then from county to prefecture, until blood red stained the entire Great Jing map. A raging fire burned the map to ashes. After smoke dispersed, ruins of cities, dead civilians, crazy soldiers, fanatical desire for revenge, roaring confrontation between armies.

Xie Wuchi standing on the city tower, overlooking the ten thousand li of rivers and mountains, holding a chess piece, dyeing the blood-red map inch by inch back to its original color, back to his mountain and river veins, until the last trace of blood red disappeared from the map.

Eastern Capital’s three thousand prosperities, ten thousand feet of red dust, Buddha statues bowing heads. Once the city broke, pitiful thousands of prosperities, high positions and generous salaries, city full of nobles, refined decency—all just ghosts under the blade, maggots squirming in blood, rotten meat stepped under one foot by Xie Wuchi.

National polity shaken, city broken! Emperor fleeing west, world swaying in wind and rain, accompanied by corpses everywhere. Finally, Xie Wuchi stood with head bowed on the mountaintop, thousands of iron cavalry behind him dark like a mountain range. He overlooked the eaves and pavilions of the Eastern Capital city before him, holding a bright yellow abdication edict dripping with imperial blood…

—Sheathing blades, city gates closed again.

Scene turned. Orioles singing and birds tweeting. Shi Shu stood under the steps of Hedong Academy, raising his handsome fair face, looking at the prosperous pavilions before him.

Sounds of reading came, light and shadow pale under Bodhi trees. Every passerby walked lightly, smiling; inside Tuntian station, a limping woman picked fresh green vegetable leaves into a basket, turning to tell her daughter: “Keep the winter melon and pumpkin, send to Brother Little Shu when he comes back from war.”

Woman pushed open the door. Outside the fence, paths crisscrossed, chickens and dogs heard each other, full of greenery, branches laden with heavy yellow fruits.

New houses rising in the city, restoring the appearance before war; scenes leaping over thousands of mountains and rivers, to the far, far Min area. After the war, women on the Guiyi Grassland received sent-back wealth, pockets full of candies bought from the south Eastern Capital, pastries, plates and porcelain carved with Jing patterns.

Amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, hope of new life gathered.

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