Zhong Yushu

"200!"

"That's the highest I can go!"

"If you won't agree, just tell them directly. To hell with my dignity!"

Elder Zhong looked utterly shameless, but his narrowed eyes kept secretly sizing Yu Sheng up.

With that little goatee, he looked downright shifty, not like a good person no matter how you looked at him.

"Oh..."

To Elder Zhong's surprise, Yu Sheng showed no intention of haggling further. Instead, he took out that familiar-looking phone and deftly entered the Guard Bureau's number.

"Under the Ink Pavilion's civil law."

"Publicly selling pornographic videos carries fifteen days of detention and a fine of 2,000."

"Under the regulations on penalties for business administration violations, selling counterfeit goods carries varying fines depending on the severity."

"To put it more seriously, that makes you a fraudster."

"For reporting it..."

"5,000!"

As Yu Sheng spoke, he was instantly tempted and decisively placed the call.

Like a bristling hedgehog, Elder Zhong snatched Yu Sheng's phone and clutched it tightly to his chest. "Kid, that's unethical!"

"Settle our own affairs among ourselves!"

"Bringing the authorities into it isn't right."

"Do you think it's easy for an old man like me to save up for his coffin?"

"If people actually found out, how would I, Zhong Yushu, ever show my face again!"

Elder Zhong glared at Yu Sheng, still talking nonstop.

Yu Sheng looked innocent as he pointed at the phone in Elder Zhong's arms. "Um..."

"You didn't hang up."

For a moment, silence fell.

Somewhat stiffly, Elder Zhong lifted the phone and looked at the screen showing the connected call. For a moment, he felt no stir of emotion at all.

Did I just...

Say my name?

I think I did, but maybe I didn't.

The other end was quiet too. After a while, a slightly youthful voice spoke. "Are... are you Zhong Yushu, Elder Zhong?"

"You've got the wrong person."

"Sorry, I was bullshitting!"

"How could I possibly be Zhong Yushu, the great hero of the Human Race!"

He denied it without the slightest hesitation and hung up.

In just half a minute, Elder Zhong had broken into a cold sweat. When he looked at Yu Sheng again, there was something indefinable in his gaze.

This little fellow... is pretty ruthless.

He's fucking playing for keeps with an old man like me.

As the saying goes, one side asks the sky and the other bids the dirt. All I did was try one counteroffer, and this fucker threw sand straight in my face.

How is that fair?

"300. Deal!"

His face full of anguish, Elder Zhong gritted his teeth and deliberately turned his back to the people in the distance. With trembling hands, he pulled three hundred-yuan notes from his pocket and held them out to Yu Sheng at an excruciatingly slow pace, still talking...

"Haven't you heard the stories about Zhong Yushu?"

"I'm a hero of the Human Race."

"I guarded Demon-Suppressing Pass for thirty years."

"I shed blood for the Human Race."

"I fucking... fucking... fuck!"

In the end, Yu Sheng simply took the money in silence, without the slightest hesitation.

Because Elder Zhong was gripping it so tightly, Yu Sheng even had to give it a hard tug.

Under Elder Zhong's despairing, reluctant gaze, he tucked the money into his pocket.

At that moment, all hope vanished from Elder Zhong's eyes. He finally understood that no matter how much he brought up his status, this little fellow would never have a pang of conscience and return his money.

"Tsk, tsk. Elder Zhong really likes this little fellow."

"Exactly. Look how excited Elder Zhong is. He's trembling all over."

"Could he really be some peerless genius?"

"Or... is there hope for the Human Race?"

The veterans who had retired from the front lines watched the scene and voiced their praise.

"How did that big oaf Liu Qingfeng manage to find such a good student?"

"Pah! What could a useless fool like him teach anyone?"

"Ruining a student's future. That's what he's doing."

"A peerless genius like that should be left to me. Years from now, when that child stands at the pinnacle of the world, some of the credit would be mine."

"Heh. Have you no shame?"

Everyone talked over one another, mostly insulting Liu Qingfeng, with a smaller number praising themselves.

Simply put...

They were tempted.

Given Elder Zhong's standing, he had absolutely no need to live in a run-down Veterans' Camp like theirs.

If he wished, the Ink Pavilion would provide him with the finest treatment and let him spend his remaining years in comfort.

But in the end, Elder Zhong had said only this...

"Mobei is where my roots are. After a lifetime of work, it's time I went home for a look."

"Besides... I'm a soldier through and through. I can't get used to living outside a camp."

And so, under everyone's conflicted gazes, Elder Zhong had walked down from Demon-Suppressing Pass alone, carrying a battered bag, just as he had stepped onto Demon-Suppressing Pass with a bag in hand and a young man's hot blood all those years ago.

He had come with nothing and left with nothing.

What he had left at Demon-Suppressing Pass...

Was only the name Zhong Yushu, and his entire life.

"Is there still no chance of Elder Zhong recovering from his injuries?"

Liu Qingfeng, who had just finished cooking and come out, wiped his hands. Looking at Elder Zhong's back in the distance, he asked with a downcast expression.

For a moment, the atmosphere grew heavy.

"Ah..."

"Actually, over at the Ink Pavilion..."

"Elder Sun went into the Demon Domain alone and slew a divine beast."

"With the divine beast's blood and its Demon Core, Elder Zhong could recover."

"But..."

One of the old men sighed and tapped the cane in his hand, seemingly helpless. "But Elder Zhong refused."

"He said that after all these years, he was tired and didn't want to fight anymore."

"Now he's just an old man spending his remaining years peacefully in his hometown, and that's quite nice."

Another, somewhat younger man suddenly interjected. "But we all know Elder Zhong can't bear to use it..."

"After all, Demon Beasts like that are far too precious."

"Even for the Ink Pavilion, killing one while keeping it intact is extremely difficult."

"Elder Sun barely made it back with his grievous injuries. It even enraged the Demon Clan enough to launch several assaults on Demon-Suppressing Pass."

"Perhaps Elder Zhong thinks... those things could produce a top expert for the Human Race, rather than... heal an old fellow like him."

As he spoke, the man's eyes grew moist, and there was sorrow in his gaze as he watched Elder Zhong's back.

"But why wouldn't Elder Zhong deserve it!"

"His father, his beloved, and his child all died at Demon-Suppressing Pass!"

"He even devoted his entire life to the Human Race."

"Who knows how many people are hoping Elder Zhong will return? We even believe that as long as Elder Zhong remains at Demon-Suppressing Pass, the Demon Clan won't be able to advance an inch!"

"Ah..."

With a sigh, the conversation ended there.

Only, the atmosphere had grown somber.