A different view

One image after another flashed through Yu Sheng's mind.

A middle-aged man held a rope, grinning viciously as he approached him step by step.

An old man with a kindly face had cared for him for two days, then turned around and sold him for a good price.

An entire street full of corpses.

He stood in a pool of blood, panting without pause.

And back to back with him stood another figure, just as small and thin.

Seeing Yu Sheng's bewildered expression, Liu Qingfeng suddenly felt a pang of heartache, though he did not know why.

He did not know what sort of experiences could have made Yu Sheng the person he was.

Nor did he know how heartless a father had to be to abandon his child in Sin City for years without a word or a care.

"Perhaps you're right."

"This world has never protected you. Why should I ask you to protect it?"

A bitter smile touched Liu Qingfeng's lips. He unconsciously raised his head, wanting to pat Yu Sheng on the head.

But Yu Sheng shifted sideways and dodged, as though reacting on instinct.

Liu Qingfeng even noticed a razor blade held between Yu Sheng's fingers.

Only, at some point, the blade that had originally been iron had been replaced with a different material.

It looked like a demon beast's bone, ground thin, tough and sharp.

For a moment, Liu Qingfeng's feelings were too complicated to put into words.

Perhaps others saw Yu Sheng as sharp-tongued and selfish.

But at that moment, in a teacher's eyes, Yu Sheng... was just a child.

A frightened child.

Everything he did was an effort to stay alive in this world, like a stubborn blade of wild grass on a fire-scorched plain.

Even when fierce winds blew and hail fell, as long as its roots remained, it would keep growing.

Liu Qingfeng had originally had so much more to say, but in the end, he forced it all back down.

He suddenly felt somewhat sick of being a teacher.

Forcing a child like this to be kind, to work hard, then finally making him stand atop Demon-Suppressing Pass and die without knowing why...

It was just like all those people who had once treated him that way... the people of Sin City.

"Let's talk about something else."

"Do you have any friends?"

Liu Qingfeng let out a long breath, took out a pack of cigarettes, pulled one out, then chose one of the several lighters in his pocket and lit it.

A glimmer seemed to pass through Yu Sheng's calm eyes, and he nodded earnestly. "I do!"

As he said it, even the corners of his lips curved into the faintest smile.

Liu Qingfeng froze, letting the cigarette ash fall.

"Your friend... where are they?"

Liu Qingfeng asked.

Yu Sheng's eyes returned to their usual calm. "She's in Sin City, but she should be able to get out soon!"

"Another 307 days!"

The next person who might get a spot?

Liu Qingfeng nodded. "If someone were hunting your friend down, what would you do?"

"Kill them," Yu Sheng said as though it were only natural.

Liu Qingfeng continued guiding him. "Then what if... everyone in the world wanted to kill him?"

"Then I'd kill everyone in the world."

Yu Sheng spoke again with almost no hesitation.

Liu Qingfeng nodded. "Yes, then you'd kill everyone in the world..."

"So he's actually doing the same thing as you."

"Only, the person you protect is your friend."

"And the people he protects are all the common people in the world."

Liu Qingfeng's gaze fell once more on the middle-aged man who was still busy across the street.

As though sensing something.

The middle-aged man looked up, saw Liu Qingfeng, and waved, a smile spreading across his face.

His smile was honest and simple.

Yu Sheng nodded thoughtfully, almost murmuring to himself, "This... is called protecting?"

"Yes. Only, they don't do it for friendship."

"They do it for the greater good of the Human Race, to carry the torch onward."

Liu Qingfeng stubbed out his cigarette.

Yu Sheng said nothing more, falling silent once again.

The atmosphere grew cool again.

As though suddenly remembering something, Liu Qingfeng looked at Yu Sheng curiously and asked, "If your friend wanted to kill you one day, what would you do?"

"I'd kill her."

"She's very capable. She really could kill me."

"But... she probably wouldn't."

Yu Sheng spoke quite naturally.

Liu Qingfeng froze again. "Why wouldn't she..."

"Maybe... it's instinct."

"My instinct tells me she wouldn't kill me."

"Yes, she definitely wouldn't."

As if trying to prove his own words, Yu Sheng nodded.

It was as though, at that moment, he had returned to that rainy night.

Inside a dilapidated brick house, the two of them huddled in a corner, watching the middle-aged man approach one step... at a time, his face twisted with malice.

In the end...

The two children, only a few years old, stared numbly at the middle-aged man's corpse, their faces and clothes drenched in blood.

"Let's go!"

"I'll take you somewhere else!"

"I'll ask the school to excuse you. We'll stay somewhere else for a few days."

Liu Qingfeng said nothing more. Instead, he stood up and patted the dust off his backside as he spoke.

Yu Sheng nodded lightly.

He never once asked where they were going... or why.

He simply followed calmly behind Liu Qingfeng.

The station.

After buying two tickets, Liu Qingfeng took Yu Sheng out of the city.

Away from the crowds, away from the dust and smoke.

Until the vehicle slowly came to a stop.

This was the outermost reach of the safe zone. Beyond this point, unpredictable risks would arise along the road.

They got out.

They continued walking farther away.

It was already dusk. Beneath the setting sun, Liu Qingfeng's and Yu Sheng's shadows stretched long across the fields.

Like a beautiful painting.

At last, a village appeared in the distance.

Wisps of cooking smoke rose.

Liu Qingfeng walked straight inside.

In the village were young men barely in their twenties, their faces still carrying a trace of youth.

There were sturdy middle-aged men with stern faces.

There were also elderly men in the twilight of their lives.

Yet all of them had one thing in common.

Disabilities.

Some were missing a hand.

Some had lost both legs and could only sit in wheelchairs.

Some had lost their eyes and walked with canes.

There were all sorts.

Yet the village did not feel gloomy. Instead, it was exceptionally warm and welcoming.

Everyone teased one another, occasionally cracking a dirty joke that drew laughter and playful curses.

At the sight of Liu Qingfeng, they paused.

One middle-aged man leaning on a crutch called out with a laugh, "You're only missing one fucking finger. Why do you keep coming to our Veterans' Camp? What, are you so broke you want to mooch off disability benefits?"

Liu Qingfeng smiled. "I brought a student out for a walk."

"A student?"

Liu Qingfeng's words drew everyone's attention, and they all looked toward Yu Sheng a short distance away.

"Tsk, tsk. So you're treating the Veterans' Camp like a zoo."

"What, are we monkeys?"

"If you've got nothing to do here, hurry up and get lost. What's there to see in this dump?"

Several of them cursed with a laugh.

Liu Qingfeng did not mind. "We've come all this way, so we'll stay a couple of days, at least. Speaking of which, whose family hasn't had dinner yet? Let us mooch a meal."

He seemed very familiar with these people.