The Process of the Times Was Going to Crush Me

This was the first time Le Yu had ever heard someone else's Tribulation.

In Radiance, a Tribulation was intensely private information, a secret that could not be shared even with one's spouse or family. The reasoning was easy enough to imagine: a Tribulation concerned one's Mental Power growth, and once someone got hold of it, it became a weakness they could exploit.

For example, Qian Yuliu's Tribulation was: "Have dinner with Qian Yuya, with no more than 120 hours between meals."

For Tribulations with a single required target like this, that sole target was the Transcender's Calamity Master, which held extraordinary significance for the Transcender.

Before Qian Yuliu had completely transcended his Tribulation, if Qian Yuya were kidnapped and prevented him from eating with her within 120 hours, all his previous progress in transcending his Tribulation would go up in smoke.

To be even more ruthless, while fighting Qian Yuliu, someone could simply cut down Qian Yuya. That would not only deal Qian Yuliu a psychological blow, but even a Mental Power blow—a genuine Mental Power blow. Once an Awakened discovered that their Calamity Master had been maliciously killed by someone else, making it completely impossible to transcend their Tribulation, their Mental Power limit would plummet. They might even never recover, suffering a massive decline in combat strength.

Using a Calamity Master to lure out and kill a target was also a very common strategy in this world. The Statistics Department had used it as well. As far as Le Yu knew, Lan Yan had a list of Calamity Masters in his hands, and that list had played a major role in allowing the Statistics Department to act with impunity and arrest whoever it wanted.

That was why no one told others what their Tribulation or Calamity Master was. Moreover, as long as an Awakened did not say anything, it was very difficult for anyone else to guess who their Calamity Master was.

Quite a few misunderstandings had happened throughout history. Someone would assume that another person's loving wife was their Calamity Master, only to find that the true Calamity Master was their mistress. Someone would assume that another person's only son was their Calamity Master, only to discover that the true Calamity Master was the little beggar at their gate...

What a messy circle.

A Calamity Master was sometimes based on straightforward logic—the person an Awakened cared about most. But sometimes it worked in reverse: the person an Awakened hated most.

When Le Yu heard that he was Qian Yuya's Calamity Master, he knew he could not persuade her.

An Awakened could not distance themselves from their Calamity Master. This was not a force compelling them, but a reflection within their heart. To an Awakened, a Calamity Master was someone they feared approaching but feared moving away from even more. It was not that an Awakened could not leave their Calamity Master, but that a certain person was someone the Awakened could not bring themselves to leave—and so that person became their Calamity Master.

After saying everything she had been holding in all at once, Qian Yuya let out a sigh of relief as well. She picked up her basket and prepared to leave. Le Yu glanced at the sky. The night sky had already turned a deep violet, and countless household lights had come on outside.

He suddenly called out, "Is the medical officer here?"

"Here!" The female medical officer opened the door at once. "Do you need help with something?"

You opened the door awfully fast. It's really hard not to suspect that you were eavesdropping... Le Yu asked, "Can I be discharged?"

The female medical officer picked up the small notebook from the shelf beside the door, glanced at it, and said, "Mr. Qian, you still have another light treatment tomorrow morning, and your body is still recovering. If you move around, you could easily tear open the wounds that have only just healed..."

"What if I use a wheelchair?"

The female medical officer thought about it. "If you stick to the main roads paved with bricks and avoid any bumps, it should be fine."

Le Yu suddenly stood up from the bed, startling both the medical officer and Qian Yuya. However, he waved his hand, sat down in the wheelchair, and said, "Let's go home. I'll come back to the Medical Officer Department for light treatment tomorrow morning."

Qian Yuya did not object. She pushed him out of the Medical Officer Department, and they headed home along the main road lined with streetlamps.

"One Gold Coin for a night's light treatment room at the Medical Officer Department, and we're just wasting it," Le Yu sighed.

"If you're worried about my safety on the way home at night, you don't actually have to come with me. I can sleep in the light treatment room."

"Where would you sleep?"

"On the floor."

"Actually, that bed is pretty big. You can squeeze in with me."

"No. It makes me feel repulsed."

This little sister is becoming more and more blunt... Le Yu sighed inwardly, pondering how he could drive Qian Yuya away.

Although Qian Yuya had not specifically explained her Tribulation, based on Le Yu's understanding of her, it was probably something like "make Qian Yuliu turn from evil to good," "make Qian Yuliu quit while he is ahead," or "make Qian Yuliu die a glorious death."

Clearly, as long as Qian Yuliu remained in Star Engraving Prefecture, neither positive inducement nor reverse provocation could shake Qian Yuya's resolve.

She was determined to witness Qian Yuliu's fate with her own eyes.

However, even after Le Yu and Qian Yuya returned home, he still could not think of a good solution.

I'll discuss it with Yin Yinyin tomorrow... Le Yu lay on the bed, feeling that two heads were better than one. Besides, Yin Yinyin clearly had a belly full of bad ideas. Maybe he would have some wonderfully shameless suggestions.

It was like a poor student who had not done their homework deciding which top student to copy from tomorrow. Le Yu's worries immediately scattered, and he fell into a sound sleep.

The next morning, Le Yu got up and moved his body around. Although he could not feel any pain, judging from the condition of the flesh around his wounds, he should have no problem taking a few steps without a wheelchair.

After leaving the room, Le Yu saw Qian Yuya eating breakfast on the first floor. She was not surprised to see him walking and asked, "Should I take you to the Medical Officer Department?"

"No need. I can go myself."

The two ate breakfast in silence. Qian Yuya finished first, picked up her schoolbag, and prepared to leave. When she reached the door, she suddenly paused. A few seconds later, she said, "I'm leaving."

Le Yu blinked and hurriedly chewed and swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth, nearly choking on it.

"Be... be careful on the way."

Qian Yuya went off to school, perfectly satisfied. Le Yu stared blankly while eating his steamed bun for a while, then suddenly covered his face and let out a long sigh toward the heavens.

That bastard Yin Yinyin had really been right!

Qian Yuya might genuinely not want to leave her brother now!

After their sincere conversation yesterday, Qian Yuya's impression of Qian Yuliu had risen almost in a straight line.

Although, to Qian Yuya, her brother was still the "evil Running Dog" who worked for the Statistics Department and acted as its accomplice, as the saying went, "When a saint commits one evil deed, he is guilty; when a sinner commits one good deed, he becomes a saint." Le Yu's desperate attempts to persuade Qian Yuya to go to Flame Capital last night had greatly improved her opinion of him.

"Although Qian Yuliu is a bad person, he really is good to me."

Wasn't that exactly the irresistible, roguishly charming character type women fell for?

Le Yu sighed and lamented repeatedly. After finishing breakfast, he carried the wheelchair and walked to the Medical Officer Department. It would not matter if he did not return the wheelchair, but Qian Yuliu's reputation was already bad enough. Le Yu had no intention of adding "even stole a wheelchair" to his list of accomplishments.

On the way, Le Yu noticed that the crowds seemed somewhat panicked. Many people wore worried expressions as they hurried back and forth, though some had become visibly excited. For example, when Le Yu passed a coffin shop, the owner suddenly took the initiative to greet him, as if Le Yu were about to patronize his business.

When Le Yu passed the lecture square, he understood the reason for the strange atmosphere in the streets.

"From this day onward, Star Engraving Prefecture is entering a state of emergency war preparations. The city is sealed, travel is prohibited, and all six gates are closed!"

Beneath the Radiant Bell Tower, the teacher standing on the platform shouted, "Everyone, please do not panic. This is merely a technical adjustment by Star Engraving Prefecture and will not affect your normal lives. Aside from being unable to enter or leave the city freely, nothing about your lives will change..."

A city lockdown order!

Even Le Yu, who had been born in peaceful times, instantly understood that something major was about to happen. The opening and closing of a city affected trade and production. How could the prefectural government not know what enormous losses a single day of lockdown would cause? Yet despite the massive losses, the prefectural government had still resolutely issued the lockdown order!

And they had not even said how many days it would last!

Even Le Yu sensed that something was wrong. The ordinary people who lived through these turbulent times had long since learned to sense changes before they happened. They understood that a disaster capable of destroying their peaceful lives was about to arrive—

War!

Le Yu thought all the way to the Medical Officer Department, only to see Chen Fu waiting for him at the entrance.

"The department head told me to inform you that you must return to your post immediately after completing your treatment. We're going to be busy in the days ahead."

"What exactly happened? Why was the city sealed?"

Chen Fu looked around and confirmed that no one was paying attention to them before speaking to Le Yu in a low voice. "The Coastal Army has split apart. One side supports Lu Zhong, the governor of Morning Wind District, while the other supports our Prefect Ding. This isn't exactly new. Prefect Ding was able to ignore orders and proclamations in Morning Wind District precisely because of his military strength and the support of Star Engraving's wealthy merchants. But this time, the Coastal Army's conflict isn't a private dispute. They've openly broken apart... Lu Zhong and Prefect Ding have truly fallen out this time. War could break out at any moment."

The army had split apart?

A political struggle between a governor and a prefect?

War could break out at any moment?

What am I supposed to do?

Can Qian Yuya still leave Star Engraving Prefecture?

Are all my little schemes really going to be crushed beneath the wheels of the times?

All sorts of miscellaneous matters instantly crowded Le Yu's mind. He thought in silence for a long time, then finally let out a long breath.

"Why am I even worrying about this crap? This isn't my problem at all..."

P.S. Mount & Blade II is out!