Chapter 3 - Degenerated
There were quite a few hospital beds in the not-so-spacious hospital room. Patients squeezed together with their family members as they discussed their daily lives – whose family’s son was disappointing, whose family’s daughter was unwilling to marry, whose family’s son got into a good university...
Fu Li sat on a hospital bed crunching on an apple in his hand. Zhao Sanxiang, who was seated opposite him, had already been silent for ten minutes.
The average person would have long felt uncomfortable after being stared at for so long, yet Fu Li’s ability to adapt was quite good. Not only did he not feel a single bit of discomfort, he even polished off a banana, a peach, and a bunch of grapes.
Kacha kacha.
The apple was almost about to be completely consumed. Zhao Sanxiang finally couldn’t take it any longer and spoke up, “You’re quite hardy, even playing the hero.”
Fu Li tossed the apple core into the dustbin one meter away and replied leisurely, “It’s not like I can watch him die right in front of me.” Although that family did not have any great merits or virtues, they were not bad either. In any case, it had gone smoothly.
To prevent ordinary people from realizing that there was something fishy, he had even specially used an illusion technique to create an effect and make it seem like his entire body had been riddled with injuries. He had already thought it through very thoroughly.
“Sh*t,” Zhao Sanxiang flushed out a packet of cigarettes from his pocket. Before he could even light it, he was given a death stare by the auntie at the neighboring bed. “Brother, look at the wall.”
Zhao Sanxiang looked up. A sign stating ‘smoking is prohibited in hospital rooms’ was hung on the wall. He pinched the cigarette in his hands and then stuffed it back into the box. Agitated, he stood up and told Fu Li, “Stay in the hospital for another two days. I’m going back to the construction site.”
As he walked out of the hospital room, he vaguely heard the people in the hospital room asking Fu Li a question.
“Young man, the man that left just now was your father?”
“No.”
“I thought he didn’t seem like it either.”
Zhao Sanxiang chuckled coldly. Ignorant humans. He was a duck that had lived for two thousand years; he was incapable of having such a foolish son. But what type of yaoguai was this Fu Li exactly? He actually couldn’t tell despite having nearly two thousand years’ worth of cultivation.
When he reached the entrance of the hospital, he looked up and immediately saw a man and woman with ordinary looks walking in his direction, prompting him to take two steps back instinctively.
As the man and woman passed by Zhao Sanxiang, they turned and glanced at him. He hurriedly presented a small booklet to them.
He was an innocent yao who had never done any bad things since the founding of the nation.
“No need to be so anxious,” The middle-aged woman glanced at the proof of innocence in Zhao Sanxiang’s hand and smiled mildly. “We’re just passing by.”
Zhao Sanxiang heaved a sigh of relief. A thought suddenly rose in his mind after he exited the hospital. Were those two searching for Fu Li? With a turn of his head, he looked towards the entrance of the hospital as he hastened his footsteps. As they say, it was better for someone else to die than for one to die. He should make his escape quickly.
Zhang Ke and Xu Yuan walked into Fu Li’s hospital room and was just in time to see an elderly woman stuffing fruits into Fu Li’s arms.
Xu Yuan sized Fu Li up carefully. The other party had a well-proportioned physique and an elegant appearance. It was impossible to tell what breed of yaoguai he was from appearance. The other party didn’t even have a tiny bit of yao qi. If she hadn’t already confirmed the other party’s yao identity, she would have assumed that he was an ordinary human.
It was said that certain yao who were bestowed a chance by the Heavens could easily cultivate a human form despite having low cultivation. Their abilities didn’t differ much from ordinary people, so such yao were very easily mistaken by human cultivators and yao as ordinary humans.
One other possibility was that he was a formidable yao who had already reached a higher realm and returned to his natural state, so no one could see beyond his facade nor sense the yao qi on him.
But... it was impossible for a yaoguai who could only make a living on a construction site to be a formidable yao at the level of a leader in the yao world.
When they first received the report, they had thought that it was a yaoguai causing trouble. But in the end, they realize after investigating the scene that this yaoguai had protected a human at the final moment. The reason why the two of them were here was so that they could give him the money awarded to him for his heroic act. The money wasn’t much, but it was still a form of appreciation from the management bureau.
After listening to them explain their purpose for coming, Fu Li happily accepted the prize money of one thousand yuan, stuffed it into his pocket, and even patted it with a hand.
He had finally broken away from the state of being utterly penniless.
“Thank you,” Fu Li was all smiles as he thanked the two people. He picked up two apples from the side of the bed and shoved it at them. “Come, have some fruits.”
These fruits were delivered by Uncle Zhang’s family, who had also paid for the medical bills during the past few days of his hospitalization. Uncle Zhang had even wanted to give him a thank-you fee but was rejected by him. He was a yao who prized education; how could he accept the money that Uncle Zhang had saved for Zhang Peng’s school fees?
There was a very good human saying – no matter how poor one was, one could not neglect education; no matter how tough things were, children could not be allowed to suffer.
Zhang Ke didn’t accept the apple, but Xu Yuan accepted it with a word of thanks.
“You’re welcome,” The smile on Fu Li’s face was as broad as ever.
Zhang Ke and Xu Yuan didn’t intend to spend too much time on a single little yao. After confirming that Fu Li was a harmless yao, they prepared to report back to the bureau. Dragon qi was richest in the capital, thus attracting congregations of yao. With many yaoguai came many weirdos; some became internet celebrities and were then arrested for selling fake facial masks, while some became thieves and even dared to use their yao abilities to escape from the police after being discovered. There were also those who cheated others’ feelings and absconded after receiving gifts, those who used confusion techniques to swindle elderly people into buying supplements, those who sold fake medicine, and those who created fake identification. Any kind of illegal means that could be thought of existed. These types of yaoguai were still all right; all they did was scam people of their money without harming them. The most savage were evil yao who murdered humans and yao; such yao had to be put on global wanted lists and would be killed without room for discussion.
The two people had just walked out of the hospital room when they received news from headquarters about the appearance of a heart-devouring yao who had already taken the lives of two people and was currently on the run.
“Damn, did all these yaoguai conspire or what. They know that Captain Zhuang went out of the country recently, so they’re all coming out one after another,” Zhang Ke looked at the murder scene, an extremely ugly expression on his face. In the current world, there were already not many yaoguai who dared to commit crimes so brazenly.
In the hospital room, Fu Li had gathered together with everyone to watch television. The news was reporting on a murder case that had occurred at a certain location, warning residents to take note of safety when out.
“Aiyoyo, the deceased is only twenty years old.” An auntie slapped her thigh and cursed, “Murderers are really good-for-nothings. Imagine how sad the relatives of this child are.”
While listening to the uncles and aunties curse the unknown murderer, Fu Li, who hadn’t watched much television, paid very serious attention to the television. He smoothly grabbed a peach from the bedside cabinet and started nibbling on it.
Fu Li stayed at the hospital for another two days before making arrangements for his own discharge. Uncle Zhang’s family didn’t allow him to leave the hospital, but he didn’t want to waste money, so he could only leave the hospital on the sly. While completing the discharge procedures, he was even chastised by the principal doctor for not taking his health seriously.
Fu Li heaved a sigh of relief after leaving the hospital. Humans were truly impressive life forms. He remembered how a very long time ago, the physician’s legs would tremble upon seeing him. Now, they even dared to criticize him. Furthermore, not even a single statement of criticism was repeated.
He glanced at the sky. The setting sun painted the entire land a red so intense that it was a little strange.
Fu Li switched to carrying the plastic bag with one hand and then walked into a small alley.
Quite a few people were seated in front of a food stall, including middle-aged men in flower shirts, elderly men in sleeveless garments, and even dolled-up young ladies. Fu Li’s appearance caused many of these young ladies to steal countless peeks at him. Those with more courage even took out their phones to take photos of him.
Fu Li was aware of these girls’ gazes. He held fast to the principle of not looking at what was contrary to propriety and silently ate his noodles with a lowered head.
The food made by humans was also becoming more and more delicious. They were truly an extraordinary race; forever improving and raising the respect yao had for them to a whole new level. Fu Li held up the huge bowl and drank all of the noodle soup, down to every last drop. Then, he took out a shoddy paper napkin from the napkin box and wiped his mouth.
He had just stood up to pay when a bowl flew to the side of his foot. Fu Li turned around. Several youths with multi-colored hair were surrounding the girls and saying something, even going so far as to snatch one of the girls’ handphones.
“Ge just wants to make friends with you, yet you don’t give us any face. Isn’t that a bit too unreasonable?”
The girls were scared into sobbing. The boss at the side let out a few words of persuasion, but the few hooligans turned a deaf ear to him. A ladle clutched in his hand, the boss wanted to step up and stop them, yet was somewhat fearful. The other diners didn’t dare to provoke the hooligans either, causing the atmosphere to become incomparably rigid.
“You already lost all your face by doing something like bullying girls, what more face do you want?” Fu Li stepped in front of the girls who had been scared into trembling and slapped aside the fingers the hooligans were pointing at the girls. “A civilized person should behave civilly.”
“Where did this nosy idiot come from? Scram,” The hooligan in the lead just finished cursing when his entire body rolled out.
The color of Fu Li’s eyes was very light. Under the mandarin yellow light of the streetlights, there seemed to be a faint layer of gold light over his pupils. He smiled broadly at the few hooligans. “Scram in this way?”
The hooligans who only dared to bully girls took a few steps back in fear.
Two minutes later, the hooligans were all tied up awaiting the arrival of the police. Out of all the rescued girls, the girl with the most courage was called Ting Ting. Seeing that Fu Li was leaving, she hurriedly stopped him. “Handsome, what’s your name?”
The corner of Fu Li’s mouth curved upwards. He raised his chin and said profoundly, “Please call me Lei Feng.”
Ting Ting, “What?”
By the time she came to her senses, the handsome guy calling himself ‘Lei Feng’ had long since disappeared to who-knows-where.
Fu Li walked through the dimly lit alleys, his head swimming from the complicated roads. He rifled through his pockets and took out a Migu Branch. He tapped the edge of the branch and the branch turned, pointing towards a direction.
The Migu Branch seemed to have pointed Fu Li towards a shortcut, so certain roads he passed by were extremely narrow and had practically zero signs of human habitation.
Bang.
When a human suddenly fell in front of him, he halted his footsteps and stooped over to take a look.
Wasn’t this the person who gave him the prize money two days ago? Why did he fall from above? He looked up. A tall and sturdily built person was standing on the fence, a strange red light in both eyes.
“Quickly, go!” Zhang Ke recognized Fu Li. He forced himself to stay calm as he stood up and blocked Fu Li. “You aren’t his opponent.”
“Nobody is allowed to leave. All will remain and be my dinner,” The evil yao let out a joyful laugh and jumped off the fence. There even streaks of blood on his white, furry face.
Fu Li cocked his head, once again sighing at how the yao world had degenerated.
In this age of peace and prosperity, even a Zhuyan dared to come out and bully others.
They had degenerated, truly degenerated.
The yao world’s face had been completely lost by these disappointing things.
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