The Road He Wanted to Walk

"Then what?" Jiang Nannan asked.

"Then I went in," Xue Lingyun said. "I knocked, and his mother answered. I told her my lunch had fallen into their yard and asked if I could go in to retrieve it. She was quite nice and let me in right away."

"That was it?"

"That was it." Xue Lingyun said, "I went in, picked up the bird, then turned around and saw Yuhao standing there, staring straight at the fish on my rod. His little Adam's apple was bobbing like a kitten that had spotted a fish."

Jiang Nannan laughed again. "Was it really that exaggerated?"

"Not at all." Xue Lingyun spoke with a straight face. "I thought, This kid is really hungry. So I asked if he wanted some. He nodded at first, then shook his head, and his whole face turned red."

As Jiang Nannan listened, the smile on her face gradually softened.

"So I invited him to roast the fish and bird with me," Xue Lingyun said. "As I cooked, I taught him how to control the heat, turn the food over, and brush on the seasonings. He learned incredibly fast. His eyes were sharp, his hands steady, and the fish he roasted looked quite convincing."

"Wasn't that a good thing?" Jiang Nannan said.

"It was." Xue Lingyun nodded. "Later, while we ate and talked, he told me a little about his family. He said he lived near the Duke's Mansion, that he had never met his father, and that his mom had been waiting for that man to return."

Jiang Nannan listened quietly.

"While he was talking, his mom stood beside him. Her eyes were red, but she kept smiling," Xue Lingyun said. "It wasn't a forced smile. She truly wanted to put her child at ease."

He paused before adding, "Back then, I thought people like them shouldn't have to live that kind of life."

Jiang Nannan said nothing, only looked at him.

"Later, I was about to leave," Xue Lingyun said. "Before I went, I pulled his mom aside and asked if she wanted to live somewhere else. I said I could help them move somewhere no one knew them, somewhere they could start over."

Jiang Nannan asked softly, "What did she say?"

"She refused," Xue Lingyun said. "She said she wanted to wait for that man to come back."

After saying that, he paused. There was no emotion in his tone, only a simple statement. "I respected her choice. She had her own attachment. I couldn't persuade her, and I shouldn't have tried."

After a quiet moment, Jiang Nannan suddenly said, "You're actually quite a good person."

Xue Lingyun froze for a moment, then laughed. "That makes me a good person?"

"Of course." Jiang Nannan nodded seriously. "You didn't owe them anything, yet you were willing to help. That makes you good. And when they refused, you didn't get angry or think, 'I tried to help you, and you still refused? How ungrateful.' Isn't that a good thing?"

Xue Lingyun thought about it and realized he really had not thought that way.

At the time, he had only felt that it was something easy to do. If he could help, he would.

If he could not, then so be it.

As for what they chose, that was their own business.

"Maybe," he said.

The two continued walking forward as the lights along the street grew brighter.

Calls from vendors and bursts of laughter drifted over from the distance. The night market had already begun.

Jiang Nannan suddenly spoke again. "Have you helped a lot of people?"

"Not that many," Xue Lingyun said. "If I came across someone I wanted to help, I helped them."

"What makes you want to help?"

Xue Lingyun thought for a moment as he walked. "It's just... when I see someone and feel they shouldn't have to suffer like that, and I have the ability to help, then I lend them a hand. It's not a big deal."

Jiang Nannan blinked. "What about people you don't want to help?"

Xue Lingyun's footsteps paused.

He recalled all kinds of people he had encountered during his travels.

Some had been crushed by fate, yet there was still light in their eyes. Others jumped into the fire pit themselves, and no one could pull them back.

He had never spared a second glance for those who actively courted their own destruction.

"If someone's suffering isn't their own doing," he said, "I'm willing to lend a hand. But if someone insists on walking into a fire pit and can't be talked out of it, I won't meddle."

Jiang Nannan nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "What do you get out of helping people?"

The question stumped Xue Lingyun.

What did he get out of it?

When he helped Huo Yuhao and his mother, he did have selfish motives. That kid would become a Child of Destiny in the future. Leaving a good impression on him could only benefit Xue Lingyun.

He felt no guilt about that sort of investment. Besides, his own fortune was not weak. He would not become cannon fodder merely from getting close to the protagonist.

Making a favorable impression on a Child of Destiny would at least guarantee a boost to his own fortune.

What was more, he had the deductions of Huangji Jingshi. He would not go astray.

But it was not entirely selfishness, either.

That day, standing in the courtyard, he had watched the woman smile gently and seen the light in the little boy's eyes. Something inside him had been stirred.

He remembered the expression on that child's face when he spoke of his father, pretending not to care. He remembered the struggle in the woman's eyes when she heard the words "live somewhere else."

That feeling had nothing to do with investment.

He was silent for a while before speaking. "I don't know what I get out of it, either. Maybe... I just help because I want to."

What he did not say was that he often pondered these things himself.

Whether it was the kind of person who was determined to be a good person, took every matter onto their own shoulders, and ultimately got dragged into a pit they could not crawl out of.

Or the kind of person who believed the strong had to be cold and ruthless, who harmed anyone they disliked, and ultimately ended up with no one around them they could trust.

Neither of those excessively extreme paths was one he wanted to take.

He believed that having power did not mean one had to do only good deeds or only bad deeds.

It meant doing what one wanted to do.

If someone said, "The strong should be cold and ruthless," and he went on a killing spree, or someone said, "The strong should save the world and help others," and he became some self-sacrificing saint, then that would only mean he had no idea who he was and lacked conviction.

He had never considered himself a good person.

For his own benefit, he would scheme, lay plans, and use others.

He had no qualms about doing those things, because he knew exactly what he was doing and was willing to bear the consequences.

But at the same time, he would not forcibly grind his heart into stone just for the words "become stronger."

When he saw someone he wanted to help, he would lend a hand if it did not harm his own interests. When he saw injustice, he would intervene if it did not endanger his own safety.

Not because he wanted to be a saint, but because that was simply what he would do.

And if he encountered someone who provoked him... the corner of his lips curved upward.

He was no pushover, either.

When it was time to act, he never showed mercy.

To him, the heart of the strong was not about doing what others said one should do. It was about knowing what one wanted to do.

Still, he had never said any of this to anyone.

First, there was no need. Second, saying it would do no good. Third... he was only a Soul Elder now. Talking about the heart of the strong might just be him indulging in pointless speculation.

He would talk about it when he truly reached that point.

In any case, the road was his to walk. He could walk it however he pleased.

As he thought this, he suddenly felt that tonight's scenery was rather nice.

The two passed through the city gates and entered the streets of Shrek City.

Dusk had settled in. Shops on both sides of the street lit their lanterns one after another, their warm yellow glow spilling across the stone-paved road.

Jiang Nannan suddenly reached out and grabbed his wrist again.

"Come on." Her eyes curved with her smile. "I'll take you to eat something delicious!"

And just like that, Xue Lingyun was dragged forward by her.