Chapter 8: A Frightful Night at Stone Bridge

  The river flows eastward, the moon is alone on the willow branch, green silk like snow and dreams, dusk with a hint of sorrow. All for the sake of achieving fame in one night. What's the point now? Why worry? Better to drink strong wine and get drunk!

  It was already night, and the moon was above the willow trees. Liu Yan, however, sat alone on the stone bridge, drinking wine and composing poetry. As for the competition during the day, it had already come to an end, with the West River team unexpectedly losing, allowing the East River team to gain an advantage, which made Guan Zhen and others hate Zheng Yao's East River team to the bone. Of course, Guan Zhen was also dissatisfied with Liu Yan.

  The Hedong team unexpectedly won the "Water Dragon Crystal Cup", but they didn't show much excitement, and instead felt a bit guilty. Both outsiders and some members of the Hedong team thought it was because of Zheng Yao. Ning An was particularly suspicious, and after investigating, she discovered that Zheng Yao used to be a member of the Hedong team. It turned out that Zheng Yao's intention in giving medicine to Liu Yan at the scene was obvious to everyone.

  As a result of the series of propaganda, it was concluded that the Hedong team knew they had no hope of winning and used this despicable method to frame the Hexi team and make them lose.

  As a result, Zheng Yao can be said to be a two-faced master. Within just one afternoon, everyone (except for a few close friends) looked at Zheng Yao with hostility, as if saying that Zheng Yao was a despicable person.

  Zheng Yao didn't mind those things, since the competition was already over and everything had nothing to do with him anymore. He naturally went home to study the Four Books and Five Classics, as he still had next year's imperial examination to worry about!

  As for Zheng Yao's home, it was located by the river. Whenever he had some free time, he would sit in the pavilion and brew a pot of tea, reading books while appreciating the beautiful scenery around him, which indeed had a unique charm. Perhaps due to reading for too long, Zheng Yao started to feel a bit tired. Just at this moment, a loud noise pierced through the night sky, and a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed in the sky, scaring Zheng Yao into immediately wanting to run back to his house.

  As for lightning, Zheng Yao was naturally afraid, and once because of a sudden thunderstorm, he became stupid for five years. With the lesson learned from the past, he would naturally keep a distance. However, just as Zheng Yao turned around with his lantern, he saw that on the stone bridge opposite him, there was a vague figure of a person, and that person's entire body was pressed against the stone pier, looking as if he was about to jump into the river!

  This is awesome!

  Zheng Yao immediately packed up the lanterns and shouted loudly, "Don't be reckless, don't do anything stupid!"

  Seeing that things were going terribly wrong, he didn't dare to think about it and immediately pulled his legs out and ran out of the house. In a short while, he ran from the street outside the house to the stone bridge in one breath.

  "Is that you?" Yan slowly approached, and saw a young man with tattered clothes all over his body, his face covered in bruises, as if he had been beaten.

  "Get back! Don't bother me!" The young man was none other than Liu Yan, who had taken the Divine Power Pill.

  "Liugongzi, don't be rash! Come down quickly, let's discuss things calmly, and absolutely do not act on impulse!" Zhēng Yáo unconsciously took two steps back, persuading him to calm down.

  But seeing Liu Yan's tattered clothes, disheveled hair and dirty face, as well as the many scars on his body, being blown by this piercing river wind was naturally unbearable. Liu Yan convulsed once and said: "Discuss? What is there to discuss? Originally I was the number one talent in the southwest, deeply respected by everyone, with exceptional literary talent, superior martial arts skills, and also the future pillar of the country! But! But because of a competition! Because my physical strength was weaker than others and I had to rely on divine power pills to sustain my life, it ruined my chance to directly participate in the imperial examination in the capital, everything is gone!"

  "Liú Gōngzǐ, don't be like this..." Zheng Yao didn't know how to comfort the other person.

  "It's all over! I've completely become a useless person, a sickly weakling!" Liu Yan shouted, when suddenly another thunderbolt came from the sky, and after a loud clap of thunder, a torrential rain followed.

  "Brother Liu, don't be like this! Everything can start anew, as long as you don't give up and have confidence!" Zheng Yao exhorted, seeing Liu Yan turn his head away, he took the opportunity to move forward a few steps.

  "Everything starts all over again, how many decades does life have? If I start again, who can guarantee that I can take the imperial examination? No! I don't want to! I cannot!" What kind of person is Liu Yan, he has always been smooth sailing, asking him to start again, putting aside his face and becoming a humble unknown little person, how can he bear such a test?

  "Listen to me!" Zhang Yao suddenly shouted, and instantly made Liu Yan, who was almost frantic, calm down. "What is this? In the past, wasn't I also a genius admired and worshiped by people? At three years old, I recited poetry; at five years old, I wrote essays. Who didn't know me? Moreover, the hopes of several generations of my family were placed on me. It can be said that I was the one who received all the love and pampering. But! A ruthless thunderstorm, a ruthless lightning bolt took away everything from me, making me stupid for five years. Five years! Exactly when a young man is growing up vigorously, think about what kind of situation this is?

  "But facts are facts, what has happened cannot be changed! All one can do is accept it. I am often ridiculed, often insulted, and often bullied, but haven't I still managed to survive? Human life is precious, when you want to end your life easily, have you ever thought about whether you would be doing justice to your parents if you died like that? When you see the surging river water, have you ever thought about whether it's worth dying like that and having no place to rest?"

  What did Zhengyao say was also a question of Liu Yan. Haven't you been saying this to yourself these days since you woke up?

  "If you've thought it through and think that death is the only way to solve these problems, then I absolutely won't try to persuade you anymore, go jump in the river! If you've come around, then give me your hand and follow me home!"

  Zheng Yao then stretched out his hand towards Liu Yan.

  Liu Yan stood still, thinking carefully, and everything that Yang had said was correct. Although he had lost his parents at a young age and was later adopted by a wealthy family, they too had perished in a shipwreck, leaving him alone. But which family's parents did not wish for their children to be born easily? Which family's parents did not hope for their children to become dragons?

  Thinking of this, although he had to suffer a bit, relying on his own abilities and talents, he would definitely make something of himself one day, for the country and for himself. He shouldn't take his own life lightly, so he got up and slowly reached out his hand towards Zheng Yao.

  Zheng Yao saw the situation and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, he immediately walked forward.

  Suddenly——

  Liu Yan's legs had gone numb from crouching on the stone pedestal for too long, and his feet suddenly slipped out from under him. His entire body lost its balance and slid towards the center of the river, as if it was going to fall into the water without listening to his commands.

  "Hold on!" Just as Yao's eyes were quick and his hands were swift, he grasped Liu Yan's arm with a strong pull, but his own arm was scraped by the corner of the stone pedestal, and fresh blood flowed out.

  "Let go! Otherwise you'll fall into the river too!" Liu Yan shouted loudly.

  At this moment, Liu Yan's whole body was already suspended in mid-air. If it wasn't for Zhang Yao exerting all his strength to pull Liu Yan's arm, he believed that Liu Yan would have fallen into the turbulent river and been submerged by the torrent.

  "No! I won't give up! You can't give up either! You have to believe, have confidence, and have hope, then you can succeed! Come on! Don't give up!"

  Zheng Yao's right arm was stained with bright red blood, making it unbearable to look at. The pain made Zheng Yao almost bite his teeth to pieces. The beads of sweat rolling down his forehead were what moved Liu Yan to feel a thousand emotions.

  "Zhēng Yáo, you're an outsider, yet you've managed to make me not give up. I, Liu Yan, am truly ashamed! Alright, I won't give up!" Liu Yan was completely moved by Zheng Yao's actions, and his confidence surged up immediately. Although he had no strength left in his body, at this moment, he no longer had any thoughts of dying.

  "What are you doing?!" At this time, Ning An came out again, which was very untimely.

  But Ning An saw that Zheng Yao wanted to push Liu Yan into the river, but was tightly held back by Liu Yan.

  This trouble is here again!!!!!

  "You fool! If you make another move, I'll report you to the authorities and have you arrested!" Ning An shouted sternly without inquiring into the rights and wrongs of the matter.

  At this moment, there is no one else who can help her, so he said, "Quickly call someone to come and assist, if no one comes to assist, I won't be able to hold on and she will fall into the river!"

  Ning An was also at a loss, not knowing what to do. This fool's words were half true and half false, and he didn't know whether to believe him or not. Just then, three people suddenly rushed out of the Li mansion - Zhang Cheng, Yuan Haiyun, and Li Chengfeng.

  Three people saw that Reng Yao's arm was already covered in blood, and they immediately rushed over. With a joint effort, they managed to pull Liu Yan back just as he was about to fall into the river. At this time, both Zheng Yao and Liu Yan seemed to have used up all their strength, and when Liu Yan was finally rescued, both of them fainted.

  "First carry the two back."

  Li Chengfeng said bluntly and immediately came to help. The five of them, including Ning An and Xiao Xi, finally managed to carry Zheng Yao and Liu Yan into the Li Mansion.