Chapter 36: Parting Ways

  It's probably the damp environment that's putting me in a bad mood, or maybe it's my shivering body that's making me lose direction. Anyway, all I can think about now is leaving this place and going home to soak in a warm bathtub, then snuggle up with my wife for a good night's sleep. The next day, I'll wake up, turn on the computer, and play those endless online games. Life is so good, why do I have to stay in this crappy place with a bunch of psychos?

  Peng Peng blocked the only exit at this time and said to me:

  "Brother-in-law, we need you now. When I first joined, I didn't understand anything either. Even now, I haven't learned much, and what I know is not as much as what you've read in books. But I chose to persist. Do you remember that essay we studied in school? A person's life should be spent like this: when looking back on the past, he won't regret wasting his years or feel ashamed of being mediocre; at the end of his life, he can say: my entire life and all my energy have been dedicated to the most magnificent cause - fighting for human liberation. Of course, we're not that great, I just want to say don't leave regrets for yourself. Youth is capital, if you don't take advantage of it to make a splash when you're young, you'll regret it when you're old. This path has already been taken, and I hope you can see it through. Even if you don't contact us again after leaving, I won't say anything, because you are our partner."

  "Should partners keep everything from me? Should they knock me out and leave me lying there alone? I'm not angry about what you've done, but I feel like I'm being kept in the dark, unable to breathe. I wish you good luck, and be careful, my sister and I will wait for you at home to have dinner together."

  I pushed Pong Pong away, dodged into the stone seam, and the coffin and Pong Pong stood where they were, watching my back. This road was surprisingly smooth, without any sense of oppression. The sharp edges that had pierced my body and made it ache on the way here had also lost their edge at this moment. I didn't know what to say now, nor did I know what to think about. Nor did I know why I had such a big breath, which was still stuck in my chest and couldn't be vented out.

  When I arrived at that broken entrance, I saw that mysterious person again. He was still standing with his back to me in that grey cloak. As if he had been waiting for my return.

  "You're back, have you given up?" He spoke first, but I just couldn't recall whose familiar voice it was.

  "I didn't even try, what's the point of giving up?"

  "You've come through the tough roads before, why give up when you're close to the truth? What are you afraid of? Is it losing face in front of two people younger than you?"

  "I don't understand what you mean, get out of my way, I want to go home."

  "Can you still go back on this road? It's been like this since childhood, and even after growing up, it hasn't changed. The saying that personality determines fate is indeed correct."

  "Since when? Who are you? Are you someone by my side?"

  "What's the difference between you and me? What's different about us? All living beings are equal, everything is fate. Go back and help them, their current environment is more difficult than yours, do you know that? If you don't go back, this organization will really collapse, and the Qian Long Meng Zhi, a hundred-year-old sect, will also disappear. What you're carrying on your shoulders isn't just your own face, but the prosperity of the entire sect."

  "Stop dragging me into this nonsense about righteousness and responsibility. You're even bringing up the country now, but I don't care about any of that. All I want to do is go home, I don't want to bear any damn responsibility." I took another step forward.

  "Not daring to take responsibility is your problem, and it's the problem of all post-80s. Maybe you were spoiled too much when you were young, which made you lose your fighting spirit and sense of ambition. Instead, you have a selfish and arrogant mentality. To put it simply, you're a coward."

  "Get out, I don't want to hear your nonsense anymore."

  "If you admit with your own mouth that you are a coward and afraid of everything in this tomb, I will let you pass immediately."

  "I'm so angry right now, and I'll take it out on you."