Chapter 66
Jiangnan City, South City District, the dilapidated residential building where Zhao Lu lives.
Bian Shouyi walked out of the corridor holding a box of bags with an expressionless face.
He stopped at the foot of a residential building and looked back at the walls in the corridor that were covered with small advertisements as if he were recalling something.
A moment later, he came outside the community and hailed a taxi.
"Where are you going, little brother?" the taxi driver asked enthusiastically.
"Suburbs, Old Factory Street."
"Old Factory Street? It's been abandoned for a long time."
Bian Shouyi didn't say much; he just took out a hundred-dollar bill and handed it to the taxi driver.
Seeing this, the driver didn't say anything more.
Okay, you have money, and you have the final say!
The driver took the hundred-dollar bill and stepped on the accelerator, heading towards the southern suburbs of the city.
Not long after the taxi drove out, a black sedan followed from a distance.
The two cars drove one after the other towards the southern suburbs of the city, which had long since turned into ruins.
As the yellow taxi drove into the southern suburbs of the city, an abandoned area with ruins everywhere appeared before Bian Shouyi and the old driver.
This ruin was exactly the mess left behind by the Black Lotus Sect after they caused trouble in Jiangnan City ten years ago.
If it weren't for that turmoil, this area in the south of the city would have been one of the most prosperous regions in Jiangnan City.
But due to the war ten years ago, this place had been turned into ruins.
Plus, some other reasons came later.
As a result, the development center of Jiangnan City eventually shifted to the relatively well-preserved north and east areas of the city.
This caused the area in the south of the city to gradually become deserted, making it a famous old town in Jiangnan City.
The area further south had become a suburb.
And the place where Bian Shouyi wanted to go next was here.
After driving through a deserted area, the yellow taxi finally stopped at a long-abandoned street intersection.
"Brother, we're here."
Bian Shouyi nodded and got out of the car without asking the driver for change, looking worried about something.
As soon as he entered Old Factory Street, Bian Shouyi felt as if he had traveled through two eras.
From a modern bustling city, he came to an old alley full of traces of time.
After turning around several times, Bian Shouyi finally arrived at a small billiard hall.
Looking at the half-open roller-shutter door of the billiard hall, Bian Shouyi's eyes turned cold.
Then he bent down without hesitation and went straight into the billiard hall.
In the dimly lit billiard hall, billiard balls could be seen scattered on the floor, along with some dusty debris.
Bian Shouyi did not linger in these areas. He walked through the main hall and came to a corner deep in the billiard hall that looked like a storage room.
"Shouyi, you finally found me."
Before Bian Shouyi got close to the utility room, a voice came from inside.
When Bian Shouyi pushed open the door of the utility room, what came into view was a small video game room.
There were ten old arcade machines in the room. Zhao Lu, who had disappeared for a long time, was now sitting in front of one of them, playing a very old-fashioned fighting game.
Although this billiard hall had been abandoned for a long time, Zhao Lu found a rusty generator from somewhere and connected the arcade machines in the room to power.
In the dim room, Zhao Lu was skillfully practicing various moves to challenge the boss in the game.
While smiling, he said, "I knew you would find me. After all, I was the one who brought you to this place."
As he spoke, Zhao Lu pulled over a chair and invited Bian Shouyi to sit down and play together.
But Bian Shouyi did not sit down; rather, he carefully placed the bag in his hand on the arcade machine next to him.
Then he walked to Zhao Lu and unbuttoned the cuff of his suit.
Looking at the expressionless Bian Shouyi, Zhao Lu seemed to understand something.
But before he could make any move, a fist suddenly landed on his face.
Bang!
Zhao Lu's body flew out and hit the arcade machine behind him hard.
The arcade machine, which was already in disrepair, fell apart instantly after the impact.
Looking at Zhao Lu leaning against the abandoned arcade machine, Bian Shouyi said coldly, "Why don't you go see your mother for the last time?"
Zhao Lu, with disheveled hair, smiled bitterly and said, "I don't dare to go."
"Don't dare to go?"
As if angered by Zhao Lu's tone, Bian Shouyi quickly walked up to him, grabbed his collar, and lifted him.
Then he tightened his grip around Zhao Lu's throat and pushed him hard against the arcade machine.
"Do you know that if it hadn't been for you, Auntie wouldn't have gone out to look for you so late at night, and nothing would have happened?"
"Now you answer: do you dare not go?"
Looking at Zhao Lu, whose eyes had dimmed, Bian Shouyi seemed to still be unsatisfied and threw another punch.
Bang!
Zhao Lu fell to the ground, staring at the ceiling with empty eyes, as if he had lost his soul.
Maybe he had calmed down, or perhaps he was completely disappointed in Zhao Lu.
Bian Shouyi sat directly on a chair next to him and stopped talking.
It was unknown how long it was before Zhao Lu got up from the ground and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
He said self-deprecatingly, "Shouyi, have you ever experienced the despair of not being able to catch up with others, no matter how hard you try, and only being able to watch them walk away little by little?"
"Have you ever experienced the feeling of being able to see the future but being powerless to change it?"
"You haven't experienced this because you've been a genius since you were a child."
"You are like a mirror, reflecting my mediocrity every time you appear."
"Shouyi, do you know what my classmates called me in private when I was in junior high school?"
Bian Shouyi didn't say anything, just looked at him calmly.
Zhao Lu smiled bitterly and said, "They called me a parasite. My mother is a nanny in your house, and her son is a follower behind you, the young master, greedily sucking blood from your family."
"We didn't think about it that way."
"Yes, it is precisely because I know that Uncle Bian and you have never thought about it that I'm even more unwilling to accept it."
"So there's not a day that goes by when I don't want to prove that I'm not the parasite that's lying next to you."
"Is this the reason why you chose to join the heretical path?"
"Reason? Maybe."
Zhao Lu laughed at himself, then looked up at the ceiling and said with emotion, "But after these past few days, I've figured it out."
"There is only one reason why I want to become stronger, and that is to defeat you."
"Shouyi, I just want to defeat you, even if it's just once."
"I can pay any price for this."
Hearing this, Bian Shouyi was silent for a long time.
"Why do you want to win so much?"
"Why..." Zhao Lu was stunned for a moment, then said in a complicated tone, "Maybe it's because I've never beaten you, so I'm a little unwilling."
"Or maybe it's because if I beat you, everyone will look at me with new eyes."
"Shouyi, can I ask you for a favor?"
"Explain."
"I hope you can fight me fair and square again like we did when we were little."
"Good."
Hearing this, Zhao Lu stood up from the ground, and his originally lonely expression gradually became energetic.
Bian Shouyi stood up and walked out of the video game room, coming to the relatively spacious billiard room outside.
As Zhao Lu followed him out, he caught sight of the plastic bag he had placed on the arcade machine next to him out of the corner of his eye.
The plastic bag was square, and there seemed to be a box inside.
However, Zhao Lu didn't care what was in the plastic bag. He was only thinking about the final battle with Bian Shouyi.
After hiding for the past few days, he occasionally saw Foundation Establishment cultivators flying in the sky on swords.
Zhao Lu knew he couldn't escape.
That was why he chose to come to this shabby billiard hall.
It would be more accurate to say that he had been waiting for Bian Shouyi rather than that Bian Shouyi had found him.
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(End of this chapter.)