Second Prize: Stubborn Persistence
Award-Winning Review: Period Cup—Review of Reverse Dragon Path
At first, I did not understand what love was. I simply wanted to be with her.
Later, when I no longer had the ability to hold her hand, I wondered whether I could give the person I loved... happiness!
But in the end, when I discovered that I possessed that kind of strength, that I could give someone happiness, I realized there was no longer anyone I could love!
The saddest thing in this world was not for people in love to break up, but to have loved, only to discover that it had all been completely wrong...
You were wrong, and I was wrong.
Delicate red hands, yellow wine, spring filled the city, palace walls lined with willows. The east wind was cruel, joy was thin, a heart full of sorrow, years of separation. Wrong, wrong, wrong.
Spring remained the same, but the person had grown gaunt. Red tears soaked through the silk handkerchief. Peach blossoms fell, idle ponds and pavilions remained; though vows of love still existed, no brocade letter could be sent. No, no, no.
Back when I took the college entrance exams for the first time, I was at home reading Gods and Demons. You can guess the outcome—I naturally had to repeat another year. What a tragedy. o(︶︿︶)o Sigh.
In the second year, I read novels at an average speed of four books a day. Then I stumbled across this one. I had passed by it several times before, and every time I saw the title, I thought of Ascending Dragon. I originally thought someone else had continued it; I never imagined it was written by Pighead~>_<~. When I truly had nothing else to read, I picked it up and was utterly shocked—it really was written by Pighead.
When I saw the protagonist's name, Reinhardt, I was confused. Why had it become a foreigner's name? This was not Pighead's style. Only as I kept reading did I understand.
Reinhardt, who had inherited Yi Chen's bloodline and talents; An, with strength that could shake the heavens; and Alin, a fanatic believer—three people who originally had no connection whatsoever met in the Divine Nest. Fate was fucking ridiculous.
Do you still remember Chapter Thirteen? "Tsar, our great, huge, grand, and magnificent Chekhov has returned!" And look at his description: a mess of yellowish-brown hair that seemed not to have been washed for half a year, a shriveled, skinny body, an extremely old-fashioned and gaudily colored oversized shirt on his upper body, wide shorts below—his zipper was not pulled up, exposing a few yellow hairs down there—and a long thin cigarette clamped between his lips, smoke constantly puffing from his nostrils. Oh, God, such peerless sleaziness! There was nothing like it in heaven or earth, the one and only, no branches elsewhere! This was the first time our great, grand, huge, and magnificent Mr. Chekhov offered himself up in Reverse Dragon Path. I was stunned senseless then, deeply stunned senseless. And our Reinhardt, still a pure and innocent virgin at the time, shamelessly got a nosebleed while watching those classic erotic movies Chekhov played when he attacked websites. Oh, shit.
Then Reinhardt met his real older brother, Yi Tianxing—the peerless bastard, second-generation rich kid, and spoiled playboy. Oh, shit.
Honestly, I never expected that Alin, that chick, would truly live up to the title of fanatic believer. For the sake of that so-called god, she actually... Sigh. Poor, tragic Reinhardt.
Does anyone remember that hotel inside Mount Fuji in Japan? Do you remember that peerless ** thing when they entered the hotel? It was fucking incredible, especially the stuff that surged out of the horse's eye above in time with the music. Oh, shit, Pighead, how did you come up with that? It was the ultimate masterpiece, a true masterpiece.
Do you remember Yi Tianxing's line? "Dear beauty, would you be willing to have a relationship with me that transcends friendship, is not love, and is purely physical?" Incredible. And there was also: "The most glorious moment in a man's life is when I use my hundred-tempered golden spear to pierce those hymens. When I shoot out my essence, that is the most dazzling moment of my life." That was simply too awesome. And when Yi Tianxing confessed to Jing Yinfeng: "Believe me, Yinfeng, I will protect you! As long as you choose me, no one will ever be able to hurt you again! When you bully someone, I'll help you beat them up; when someone bullies you, I'll help you beat them up. When you want to kill someone, I'll help you knock them out; when someone wants to kill you, I'll wipe out their entire family and leave not even a chicken or dog alive!" What an ultimate character. No wonder he had been raised under the guidance of the great, huge, grand, and magnificent Mr. Chekhov.
And our Reinhardt seemed so innocent and adorable by comparison. Even his first time was set up by that group of old vampires, and he did not even know who he had slept with. Wahahaha. And do you remember that legendary lovemaking scene between Reinhardt and the goddess Wei?
The entire Holy See was nearly destroyed—it was simply too intense. That was nothing like lovemaking between lovers; it was practically a fight to the death. "He could even hear the cavernous tissue of his little brother crying and moaning. If not for the dragon power supporting it from within, he believed he would already have undergone surgical removal. When Wei wrapped her two thighs around him like that, she probably had over ten thousand tons of brute force." Mm, for the details, go read Chapter One Hundred Seventy-Two. Wahahaha. It was absolutely speechless-inducing. That love scene was the greatest of all time.
And what about An's mount, Hurricane? His line, "Was it a dream, or was it not a dream? Zhuangzi dreamed of a butterfly—who could tell what was real and what was illusion?" instantly stunned Jackson, Farrow, and the others. The line, "Those who love war will perish; those who forget war will be endangered," made both Reinhardt and Yi Tianxing ashamed of themselves. And then there was, "War is the greatest driving force behind the progress of human society." Tsk tsk.
Later, the discussion between Hurricane and Yi Chen about why people lived truly left everyone dumbfounded. Hurricane swept Yi Tianxing with a mocking glance. "That's right, I am a pig, but I am a pig demon of excellent breed. I think. I keep thinking, because only thinking makes me feel that I truly exist, though perhaps even that existence is merely an illusion." Later, Pighead used this pig to speak a profound truth: "The only purpose of living is not to die! That is the most fundamental goal. Because only by not dying can one possibly find the ultimate answer." Though it was only a novel, it stated the goal of every one of our lives. No matter what we did, it was all so that we could keep living. We earned more money to eat better, dress better, use better things, and have prettier women than others, more women than others. Everything that seemed profound was actually very simple. Pighead truly lived up to his name. Through the casual chatter of a pig, he revealed the purpose of our lives. Thank you, Pighead, because seeing this made me understand why we lived. Though it was simple, it was direct. Anyone could understand it at a glance. Those who read it sincerely would remember it in their hearts; those who did not could treat it as a joke.
Reinhardt, Yi Tianxing, An, Wei—there was also a Wei in Gods and Demons, sigh—Hurricane, every character in Reverse Dragon Path rose before my eyes one by one. Some things could not be forgotten. Looking over the whole work, whether it was what Reinhardt did or what Yi Chen did, everything they did was, just as Hurricane said, merely for the sake of surviving, for the sake of living without constraints.
And does everyone remember that incredibly powerful ending? It was simply amazing. I originally thought Yi Chen was going to fight them to the death, but then there came a sudden huge twist: the Heavenly Dragon Clan returned. Oh yeah. Absolute dominance! Countless hundreds of millions of Heavenly Dragons returned—absolute dominance, absolute tyranny, absolutely fucking awesome! The Blood Emperor and the God of Seasons could not do a thing about it. Especially Old White Dragon's line: "You little girl, you nearly shattered my claw just now, causing my body and spirit to suffer extremely serious injuries. You must provide compensation that satisfies me." I nearly spat when I saw that line.
All in all, it gave me an enjoyment unlike anything ordinary. But even the best books had a day when they ended. Reverse Dragon Path had ended, but I believe Pighead would have even better books waiting for us. Wahahaha.
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Pighead's Comment: Actually, Pighead was a very traditional and simple person. So every time Pighead saw those filthy, vulgar characters in his books, Pighead blushed...
People had always asked me who Chekhov was based on. I thought, did he need a specific real-life model? There were so many computer-playing brothers in China, and those little tricks in there... right? Everyone understood! Right? (To be continued)