This Damned Thirst for Survival

Chapter 49

As soon as the plane landed, they exited the airport and saw a bus with a banner that read “A warm welcome back to the students who won the competition! — Bai Hua University” banner.

The vehicle is prominently positioned and the banners are so bright and eye-catching that people can’t help but glance at them as they pass by.

Pedestrians: “……”

Qi Ye, who missed the first place again, was so depressed that she couldn’t help but twitch her eyes, “Is this the welcome ceremony at Bai Hua University?”

They boarded the bus with a low profile, and the driver would gleefully pull a cannon at each person they boarded.

Jiang Luo sits expressionlessly by the window with the glittering shreds of paper on top of his head.

Qi Ye sat down next to him and after fiddling with the shreds of paper on his body, he looked up at the top of Jiang Luo’s head, his palms itching, “You still have shreds of paper on your head.”

Jiang Luo fiddled with his hair, shreds of paper falling through the strands, “Any more?”

Qi Ye shook her head and looked at the strands of white hair around his ear and couldn’t help but say, “I was going to ask before, did you dye this strand of white hair especially for you?”

Jiang Luo then remembered the problem of the strand of hair, he glanced at the glass window with a grin on his face, the strand of white hair had indeed come out again, “I’ll find a chance to dye it back in the next couple of days.”

Qi Ye said awkwardly, “That looks good too.”

Jiang Luo doesn’t like it. It was as if Chi You had branded him with white hair, and the mere sight of it made him think of the evil spirit. He had been deliberately ignoring it, but Qi Ye’s reminder reminded him of it.

No amount of neglect can cover it up, and you can’t cut it, so dye it back.

Qi Ye changed the subject, “You know, you’ve become well known in the metaphysical community.”

Jiang Luo raised an eyebrow, “How so?”

Qi Ye has a complicated look on his face.

Before he got on the plane, the Qi family’s judge teacher called him over, imploring him in words to make more of a good relationship with Jiang Luo, and that it would be better if he could get Jiang Luo to come and work for them in the future.

But Jiang Luo is Feng Li’s disciple and already represents Tian Shifu’s people. Qi Ye may be bad natured, but the bottom line principles of being a human being are by no means low.

The Qi family has been keeping a low profile in recent years, but in reality, they have been acting more and more boldly and rampantly. This time, even the disciples of the Heavenly Master dare to dig in, what exactly do they want to do?

He said vaguely, “There are many people who want to know you, and there are good and bad people among them, so you should not believe whatever people say.”

Jiang Luo can’t help but wonder if he’s a fool in Qi Ye’s eyes, “In that respect, I think I’m much smarter than you.”

Qi Ye : “……”

He was annoyed, “Forget it, I’m done talking to you, you can meet whoever you want.”

When he finished, he pulled down his hat and leaned back, his lips taut with sulking.

Jiang Luo shrugged and half of the pink doll’s face poked out of the back seat, Ye Xun followed, ” Jiang Luo , are you staying back at school tonight?”

“Go back,” Jiang Luo said, “the game is over and I should be back from Tian Shifu.”

Qi Ye’s ears pricked up at the words.

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He had never seen Jiang Luo living in the dormitory since he arrived at Bai Hua University.

Soon, the bus arrived at the school. While the others could go back to their dormitories, Jiang Luo, the first place winner of the competition, had to follow Mr Wan to meet the Dean of Natural Sciences and Social Studies.

Jiang Luo had heard a lot about the dean, but this was the first time he had seen him in person. Curious, he stepped into the dean’s office.

In the office there is a set of office couches on which two people are sitting left and right. The other is the owner of the funeral parlour, whom Jiang Luo also knows.

When Dean Xu saw him coming, his serious face suddenly relaxed and he laughed aloud with relief, “Brother Ji, let me introduce to you, this is the student who got the first place in our school, Jiang Luo, disciple of Feng Tian Shi.”

The funeral shop owner had the breath to say, “I know you as a student.”

Dean Xu wasn’t surprised, “You always know a lot of people, when I wanted Chi You to come here to be my teaching assistant, I had to ask you to get in touch with him.”

Stunned, the undertaker warned in a low voice, “Don’t mention him again.”

“It’s okay, Jiang Luo also has some relationship with Chi You, it’s okay to mention Chi You in front of him,” the headmaster waved his hand and looked at Jiang Luo curiously, “I heard from Mr. Wan that you wanted to martyr Chi You after the second level of the competition? I heard from Mr. Wan that you wanted to martyr yourself to Chi You after the second level?”

Jiang Luo thought about that time, the very time he tried to drown in the bath for the first time since he got the Yin Yang Ring. It was not the first time he heard about Mr. Wan’s big mouth, he just didn’t expect that even the dean knew about it.

Jiang Luo reluctantly smiled, “Yes.”

The funeral shop owner looked at him in surprise, “You and Chi You are?”

“We’re lovers,” Jiang Luo lowered his eyes, sadness light but shadowed, “Dean, can you tell me more about Chi You?”

His eyes were slightly red and he murmured, “I miss him so much.”

The Dean sighed, “You kid …… I hear you still want to find out how Chi You died?”

Jiang Luo said with a straight face, “Yes.”

The funeral shop owner and the dean looked at each other.

After making sure Jiang Luo’s words were not false, the funeral shop owner slumped on the sofa, breathless, and said, ” Chi You actually had this kind of relationship with you …… No wonder, no wonder. No wonder you could notice something wrong with that little bead when that Yuan Tianzhu first came into my hands last time.”

Jiang Luo asked, “Boss, what exactly is this Yuan Tianzhu?”

The funeral shop owner said lazily, “What, your master hasn’t told you yet?”

Jiang Luo shook his head.

The undertaker laughed sarcastically, “Also, I’m afraid that even if the Heavenly Master knew what it was, he wouldn’t tell you little doll. But seeing as you and Chi You are so close, it won’t hurt me to tell you.”

“This Yuan Tianzhu,” he said, turning the bead in his hand and reciting “Fu Sheng” before continuing, “is something that was obtained against the heavens, and there are only four of them in the world. According to the Six Masters, this Yuan Tianzhu is a treasure from the heavens, seeing the decline of the Xuanxue world, to help it regain its former prosperity.”

The dean sneered and slapped the table heavily, “F*ck him, do you really think four beads can save the entire metaphysical community?!”

The funeral shop owner said, “Don’t you interrupt yet.”

He looked at Jiang Luo and said quietly, “Yuan means the origin of all things in heaven and earth, which means the root. Heaven, on the other hand, means innate, and when these two words are linked together, they mean innate origin. Let me ask you, have you thought of anything?”

Jiang Luo looked back surreptitiously at the past, you are talking in the clouds, who can understand what it means?

The undertaker added a veiled hint, “Add the word human before this innate essence.”

The innate nature of man.

Jiang Luo has a headache, he presses his brow, suddenly his expression freezes and he looks up slowly, at the undertaker and then at the dean.

” Is Yuan Tianzhu made from the natural origin of man?”

The dean and the funeral shop owner did not nod or shake their heads, but the look in their eyes already told Jiang Luo the answer.

Natural Born Origin.

Is it not the soul of man?

Jiang Luo’s voice was so soft as if he was afraid of disturbing something, ” Yuan Tianzhu has four pieces, representing a man whose soul was torn in pieces and made into Yuan Tianzhu ?”

He instantly recalled the description of Chi You in the original text.

The soul is mutilated and divided, as if a man had no five senses and no limbs.

Yuan Tianzhu, made from the soul of Chi You.

*

After leaving the dean’s office, Jiang Luo walks slowly in the hot sun.

July has passed, and while it was not hot in western Hunan, Bai Hua University is in one of the country’s famous “melting pots”, and even in August the sun makes you sweat when you go out.

Jiang Luo was sunburnt for a while, slowly coming back to his senses from the shocking secret he had just revealed.

At this moment, he thought of nothing else but how strong Chi You was when his soul was incomplete, and how much stronger he would be if he could collect all four Yuan Tianzhu.

As Jiang Luo once said, death didn’t make Chi You weaker, it made him stronger and more mysterious, as if he had broken free.

When he was at his strongest, Jiang Luo’s own safety could not be guaranteed, not to mention that of the entire metaphysical community.

Jiang Luo originally admired Chi You’s character, but now he’s more interested in crushing the pretentious evil spirits underfoot.

He and Chi You were now enemies, and if the enemy became stronger, with that madman’s methods, Jiang Luo could imagine for himself what would happen to him.

The worst of it is that Chi You tortured him to death, as in the original.

But is Jiang Luo willing to be tortured by him?

That’s certainly not possible.

Jiang Luo kicked the stone in front of his feet and watched it roll into the grass, his lips suddenly lifting in a smile.

He would never have given Chi You the chance to get the rest of Yuan Tianzhu.

How could Jiang Luo refuse to make things worse for his enemies on their way back to life?

I’m afraid that when he ruins his plans, the evil spirits will be as angry as they were once when he pierced Bai Yefeng’s puppet body, and will have to restrain themselves.

Jiang Luo laughed stifledly, a slight shiver running down his spine. When he looked up, he locked eyes with a few birds in the trees.

The birds seemed to be watching him in silence, their bean eyes dark as if they could understand Jiang Luo’s movements.

The smile on Jiang Luo’s lips remains unchanged as he stares at the birds for a moment, shifting his gaze to the left where a summer cicada on a tree trunk is also watching him silently.

In the school, Chi You cannot enter because of the feng shui pattern of exorcising demons and suppressing evil spirits, but the small animals controlled by Chi You are not affected by the feng shui pattern.

Jiang Luo strolls forward and extends his hand towards the bird, which tilts its head and spreads its wings to his fingertips.

“Cutie,” Jiang Luo whispered softly, “you wouldn’t be Chi You the dog, would you?”

The bird did not move.

Jiang Luo gently stroked the bird’s head feathers with his fingertips, but the bird suddenly pecked at the red mole on his left hand, and Jiang Luo was quick enough to choke it.

The bird squeaked twice and broke free from its bonds and grip, flapping its wings and flying away.

Jiang Luo collected the talisman paper and lazily headed for the dormitory, snickering as the wind blew away, “Peeping Tom.”

*

After the competition, the school gave them a three-day holiday. When Lu Youyi’s parents found out that he had been injured on the way to the competition, they took the plunge and chartered a spa manor and invited the whole class over to rest and relax.

Jiang Luo realised how wealthy Lu Youyi was and he exclaimed, “Is this the world of the rich?”

Lu Youyi sat on the sofa eating chips and urging them to pack their bags, “Actually, our family is just average.”

Ge Zhu said heartbreakingly, “I beg you to stop.”

Lu Youyi’s parents even sent a car to see them off after they had packed their bags and walked out of the school. The three luxury cars were extremely impressive, as ordinary people can only earn money for tyres for the rest of their lives. When Jiang Luo got into the car, ordinary students from Bai Hua University stood in front of the school and watched, while others took out their mobile phones and filmed videos of them with admiration on their faces.

Jiang Luo : “…… I finally feel how happy rich people are today.”

Lu Youyi sighed sadly: “Money is not everything, you don’t understand the misery of having money.”

Ye Xun : “You can shut up.”

The spa estate was in the countryside and they arrived at their destination at 2pm. The staff at the estate took their luggage and the manager of the estate was waiting for them and greeted them warmly.

Lu Youyi hugged the manager and introduced him, “This is my cousin’s uncle.”

Uncle Cousin smiled and said, “Hello guys. We’ve prepared the cut for you to have fun in the next few days, in addition to the indoor and outdoor spas, there are also steam rooms and saunas and massage rooms. Apart from that, the entertainment area and the cinema are next to the restaurant, so if you need anything you can just ask the staff, don’t be polite.”

When he finished, he had other things to do and left in a hurry on his feet.

Jiang Luo followed Lu Youyi towards his room, the outdoor hot spring pool he walked past was surprisingly not really occupied, ” Lu Youyi , did your parents really charter this place?”

Lu Youyi laughed twice and scratched his head, embarrassed, “This is actually my family’s property. I was too embarrassed to tell you, but at this point, I can’t help but tell you. In fact, this hot spring manor is not going to be open for the next few days, because something weird has happened. My parents wanted me to come and take a look, but I was afraid I couldn’t handle it personally, so I called you guys here.”

Crowd: “……”

Lu Youyi justified, “We are all acquaintances, so it’s too polite to give money. Surprise?”

“……”

Ge Zhu laughed miserably, “Might as well pay for it.”

Ye Xun circled his sleeves and said, expressionlessly, “Don’t stop me.”

Jiang Luo said thoughtfully, “I’ll hold Xiao Fen for you.”

Only after beating Lu Youyi up did the crowd breathe a sigh of relief and have the leisure to ask, “What’s the weirdness going on here?”

Lu Youyi covered his blue eyes, hissing and huffing, and said, “The last few nights, someone heard music playing on the estate.”

“The sound of playing music?”

“Yes,” Lu Youyi said, “first there was the sound of lively and joyful music, and then there was miserable and sad mourning music. According to those who heard it, it was like ……” he paused and whispered, “the two roads of joy and mourning collided.”