This Damned Thirst for Survival

Jiang Luo soon finished reading the information.

Ji Yaozi was born in the countryside to a peasant woman. His mother drowned when he was three years old, leaving Ji Yaozi with no one else in the family but his mother, who left him an orphan. When his mother died, he was orphaned and sent to the county orphanage, where Ji Yaozi stayed until he was five years old.

After the age of five, Ji Yaozi was accepted as a disciple by a Taoist monk, and when he reappeared, Ji Yaozi was the owner of a funeral parlour.

Ji Yaozi did not go to school, and there is very little information that can be found. But I really don't see anything wrong with it just by looking at the available information.

But Ji Yaozi and Feng Li knew each other, knew a lot about the Fates, and had a great relationship with the Fates and Taoist Master Wei He.

He also knew all about the prophecies of the predestined, and even knew the character of the predestined well enough to doubt them.

All the details prove that Ji Yaozi is a man of great depth. But what makes Jiang Luo even more interested is that the day Chi You stormed the Lian family, all the Lian family members were taken back by him, why were the Fates and Ji Yaozi the only ones missing?

How did Ji Yaozi escape? Was he with the fatalist?

Jiang Luo's mind is full of doubts.

In retrospect, Jiang Luo discovered something else. Ji Yaozi was so confident in his craft that he said no one else would ever see through the secret of the Dementor Pendant, and Jiang Luo believed him. Jiang Luo believed this, but the Fated One saw right through it. He saw through it and let Jiang Luo see inside his soul pendant on purpose.

Jiang Luo had previously thought that it was just a case of the Fates being too strong and noticing something was wrong. But thinking about it differently, the Fatalist might not have seen through the disguise of the Dementor's pendant. But he knew Ji Yaozi, and thus the apparatus Ji Yaozi had refined.

Jiang Luo puts down the information and absently touches the Yin-Yang ring in his hand.

The Yin Yang Ring that the Predestined Man refined, Ji Yaozi can also refine it again ...... He and the Predestined Man, there must be a relationship that Jiang Luo has not yet learned about.

"He's back at the funeral parlour?" Jiang Luo thought for a moment, "I'll go and meet him later."

Ye Xun interjected, "I'll go back with you."

He stroked Xiao Fen's long rabbit ears lovingly, "It's time for Xiao Fen to be repaired by Kuang Zheng."

"Good," Jiang Luo smiled and looked to the others, "Do you have any thoughts about that 'vegetable woman' that Black said last night?"

Ge Zhu murmured, "All I can think of is the story of Bi Gan digging his heart out in the list of feudal gods."

Zhuo Zhongqiu smiled, "Coincidentally, I thought of this story too."

In the book of the Gods, Jiang Ziya divined that Bi Gan would have his heart cut out, so he cast a spell on him in advance to ensure that he would not die after his heart was cut out, and told Bi Gan to ride home quickly and not to talk to anyone on the way.

On his way home, Bi Gan met an old woman who was selling hollowed-out vegetables. Curious at heart, Bi Gan thought that she too had no more heart and asked, "What if a man has no heart?"

The old woman returned, "If a man is heartless he will die."

Bi Gan was horrified by these words and remembered Jiang Ziya's advice, but it was too late as he felt a twinge in his chest and abdomen and was instantly killed.

Hei Wuchang's first reaction to their saying, "When you meet a woman with vegetables, don't talk to her", was this story.

Jiang Luo also thought of this story, but the more he thought about it, the heavier his thoughts became, unsure of what exactly Hei Wuchang's quote implied, "If it's really the story of Bi Gan's heart being cut out, what is Hei implying? Is he telling us that the predestined man is not a true god and that he will die as soon as the predestined man is made to realise that he is human? Or is it that the Predestined Man's main point is to cut out his heart?"

The crowd pondered, and Wen Renlian said, "There is another way of saying that if Bi Gan asks the woman who sells vegetables, if the woman answers, 'One can still live without a heart,' then Bi Gan can also live. Does this mean that if a predestined person wants to become a god, he also needs to ask the next person if he can become a true god, just like the fox Fengzheng did?"

"Perhaps it's implied that it was an old woman who killed the predestined man?" Lu Youyi brainstormed.

Ge Zhu sighed, "That old woman was changed by a demon."

Jiang Luo accidentally overthinks things.

The old woman who changed into a demon killed Bi Gan, is this a hint that only Chi You, who can possess people and manipulate them, could have manipulated the puppet to kill the predestined person?

There were more than three of them, and in a few moments all sorts of possibilities were presented, each of them with a good deal of truth. Jiang Luo is dazed and confused, increasingly unsure of what Hei Wuchang's hint means. He simply asked Sai Liaoer, "What do you think Hei Wuchang's hint means?"

Sai Liaoer is holding her face in, "I have no memories of spending time with Hei Wuchang ......"

"Never mind," Jiang Luo whispered softly, "Sai Liaoer, think with your senses, don't let us lead you astray, use your intuition to feel what Hei Wuchang means."

Sai Liaoer felt it carefully and said periodically, "I think ...... I think he meant the simplest kind."

Jiang Luo asks, "A predestined person without a heart must die?"

Sai Liaoer nodded apologetically. Somehow, Sai Liaoer felt that Hei Wuchang would say all the complicated words to Sai Liaoer in the simplest way because he did not know Chinese. At least after Sai Liaoer had heard the story of Bi Gan's heart-digging, he only understood the most superficial layer of the story and naturally interpreted it to mean that a fatalist without a heart must die.

Jiang Luo nodded slowly, thoughtfully, "I see."

Perhaps Hei Wuchang's meaning is really not that deep.

The predestined are false gods.

As many people have told Jiang Luo, the predestined are not gods.

Before becoming gods, predestined people were also human.

"What if a person is heartless?"

"If a man is heartless he will die."

When a predestined person has no more heart, he dies.

But could it really be that simple?

Jiang Luo could not figure it out, so he simply put it aside for the moment.

In the afternoon, he and Ye Xun returned to Bai Hua University.

Ye Xun went to the smith to find Kuang Zheng, while Jiang Luo went to the funeral shop near Bai Hua University.

Wreath after wreath is piled up in front of the funeral shop and the door is half open. Jiang Luo pushes his way in and sees Ji Yaozi cleaning the contents of the wooden shelves with a basin of water.

It's late spring and the weather is pleasantly cool, not too hot. But Ji Yaozi is wrapped in a thick coat and when he turns around at the sound of voices, he smiles before he sees Jiang Luo, "Yo, what are you doing here?"

Jiang Luo circled him twice, "Are you hurt?"

Ji Yaozi wondered, "What am I wounded for?"

Jiang Luo looked at him curiously, and Ji Yaozi looked back in confusion. Jiang Luo suddenly said, "Something has happened to the Lian family."

Ji Yaozi was so shocked that the rag in his hand fell to the floor, "What happened to the Lian family?

The more incredulous he became, the more Jiang Luo's brow furrowed, "You don't know? It was you and Daoist Master Wei He who took me there that day when I went up to the mountain to look for the Destined One."

Ji Yaozi was in a bit of a trance, "I know, but I saw you go in and then leave with Taoist Master Wei He. I went back to my room to catch up on my sleep and after I woke up, I was taken down the mountain by my host ...... After I left, something happened to Lian's family?"

Instead of answering, Jiang Luo asks, "Where did the predestined take you?"

Ji Yaozi hesitated for a moment, looked around and lowered his voice, " Chang Baishan ."

So after being beaten by Chi You and escaping, the Fates did not forget to take Ji Yaozi and return to Chang Baishan together?

Jiang Luo looked Ji Yaozi up and down strangely, making Ji Yaozi's heart shiver, "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Jiang Luo said, "You really don't know anything about what happened on the mountain?"

Ji Yaozi shook his head, hating to break his brain open to him, "I really don't know!"

"Come with me," Ji Yaozi put down what he was holding and led Jiang Luo into a confined hut, "what happened on the mountain?"

Jiang Luo was in no hurry to say, "You start by saying why the predestined person is taking you."

Ji Yaozi looked away, "How can I know what he wants?"

Jiang Luo looked at him steadily for a few seconds, " Wei He Daoist was left behind, as were the younger members of the family who were treated as gods by the Fatekeeper, but you were the only one taken away. I didn't notice how close you were to the Fatalist when we were on the mountain, so how come he took you with him when it came to a crisis?"

Ji Yaozi caught the point and asked, "A crisis point? What crisis point?"

Jiang Luo seemed not to have heard Ji Yaozi's question and continued, "Earlier I asked you why the Predestined One gave Yuan Tianzhu to you, and you didn't tell me why. You are also on good terms with Feng Li, the son of the Predestined ......"

He slowly wore a thoughtful expression.

Ji Yaozi's heart thudded and beads of sweat instantly formed on his forehead, he felt that Jiang Luo was about to guess. Ji Yaozi was so ruthless that he took a step forward and told the secret he hadn't planned to tell for a long time, "Because I am also the son of a predestined person."

Jiang Luo: "......"

He was eerily silent.

When Ji Yaozi saw that he did not say anything, he felt a little bit smug while being nervous. He was confident that Jiang Luo hadn't guessed his relationship with the predestined man. Ji Yaozi had been fooled by Jiang Luo so many times, and when he finally got the upper hand for once, he would have been grinning broadly if he hadn't been trying to maintain his elderly posture.

After a long time, Jiang Luo said slowly, "Old Ji, you're already in your forties, aren't you?"

The question is just a polite one. Jiang Luo, who has just read Ji Yaozi's profile, of course already knows how old Ji Yaozi is. Ji Yaozi was born forty-seven years ago, seventeen years older than Feng Li, who is now just over thirty.

If Ji Yaozi and the Fatalist were to be considered father and son, 9.90% of people would consider Ji Yaozi to be the father of the Fatalist.

Ji Yaozi heard his implication and his face turned blue, "You kid, it's ......" damaging enough.

Jiang Luo was actually taken aback too.

The fact that Feng Li is the son of the Fatekeeper is shocking enough, but he did not expect the Fatekeeper to have another son. Jiang Luo's image of the Predestined Man as a pure and noble man was completely distorted and crumbled in his mind, and he wondered why the Predestined Man would have two sons if there were no mundane desires.

Do you have to be so pretentious to become a god?

Jiang Luo will never understand the idea of a fatalist.

He enjoyed the sensation of making love to the evil spirits that tore at each other, the shudder that penetrated from flesh and bone to the soul, and which, when recalled, gave Jiang Luo a somewhat addictive thrill.

Jiang Luo snapped back to his senses, he coughed softly, his throat tickling, it was hard to imagine that he could even associate Chi You at a time like this ...... he was in a state that really seemed like, well, missing a man.

Jiang Luo changed his mind and asked, "Has the fatalist become weak?"

Ji Yaozi was a little disappointed to see how quickly he calmed down after just a moment of shock, and he couldn't help but reply, "I don't know. When we got to Chang Baishan, he left me behind and I never saw him again. It was so cold on Chang Baishan that I almost froze to death, and the Fatekeeper didn't give me a shirt or a blanket, so I still haven't recovered from the freezing weather. But he took me away from Chang Baishan a week ago and I don't know where he is now."

Speaking of which, Ji Yaozi remembered what he had asked earlier, "What exactly happened to the Lian family that you said had happened?"

Jiang Luo smiled lightly, "It's all right now."

When Ji Yaozi saw him like this, he knew that he did not want to talk about it. Ji Yaozi was not one to pursue the matter, so he did not ask further, "You came to me today to ask about the predestined man?"

Jiang Luo nodded, "Now that you've finished, I should go too. Lao Ji, if you have any other news about the Fatal Man, let me know in a hurry."

Having said that, Jiang Luo was ready to leave. Ji Yaozi walked him to the door and Jiang Luo took a few steps out of the funeral parlour when he suddenly turned around and asked, " Ji Yaozi, what was your mother's name?"

Ji Yaozi wondered, "Why do you ask? Her name is Zhao Zhirong."

"To give birth to a smithing genius like you, she must have been a very impressive person, right?"

Ji Yaozi lost her smile, "You think too much of my mother, she is just an ordinary woman in the countryside ......"

His words came to an abrupt halt.

If it was just an ordinary woman, how was it possible to conceive a child with a predestined person?

Ji Yaozi's expression changed, and by the time he looked back, Jiang Luo was gone.

Is Jiang Luo reminding him of something ......

Ji Yaozi's expression was stony as he closed the shop on the spot, booked a train ticket back home and left in a hurry.

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