In the year 3234 of the lunar calendar, eighteen-year-old Lucian entered The Capital for the first time.
High school education combined
University courses trained students into a set of lethal martial arts techniques, followed by the development of various
The cultural courses were various administrative management subjects, similar to the cadre training he had participated in during his previous life.
The Imperial Academy was not only a top-tier university, but also an institution for training the ruling class.
Lucian belonged to the
In his first monthly exam after entering school, Lucian achieved a score ranking around two-thousandth in his grade, placing him in the lower tier.
He wasn't discouraged; this was simply a difference in educational resources, and Lucian didn't consider himself inferior to others. Knowing his shortcomings, he needed to work even harder to cultivate his
Since he couldn't afford to take
He only slept for one hour a day, ate ten meals, and defecated eight times a day.
With his amazing perseverance, his ranking steadily improved by thirty places every month thereafter, and he became a celebrity in the school during the second half of the semester.
Some busybodies gave Lucian a derogatory nickname, "straight-tongued," which would be used by strangers on the street, followed by laughter.
It was as if those words possessed some kind of magic, capable of making people laugh and making the person who shouted them appear humorous.
Lucian never cared about this. He had lived forty-five years in total across his two lifetimes, experiencing death, hunger, and hardship.
Apart from life and death, everything else was trivial.
When the school learned of the incident, the school leaders praised Lucian and gave him an extra monthly allowance for
Lucian's grades began to steadily improve by fifty places each month. When he entered the top one hundred in the whole school, all the ridicule disappeared.
A girl named Cecilia Thorne began to frequently contact him, but Lucian resolutely refused in order not to interfere with his studies.
In his senior year, Lucian ranked twelfth in his class, and his ranking never improved.
The top ten were all geniuses whose talent and wealth far surpassed Lucian's; they could not be caught up to simply through hard work.
That year, Cecilia Thorne became entangled with Lucian again.
Over the past four years, Cecilia Thorne had a string of boyfriends, sometimes as frequently as one a week, and sometimes even two at once. Her chaotic behavior had been publicly criticized by the school.
But she had a powerful background; her father was a military commander and had not been dismissed to this day.
Lucian kept his distance, hoping the other party wouldn't cause him any trouble.
To be fair, judging by Lucian's aesthetic standards, Cecilia Thorne's appearance was about a seven out of ten, which didn't count as ugly.
But relationships are always mutually beneficial, and Lucian didn't need her beauty, which was as rotten as a persimmon. The Lu family had risked their lives to send him to The Capital, not to have him depend on a lowly woman.
"Lucian, don't push your luck!"
In a corner of the school, Lucian was blocked on a path, facing a woman who was gritting her teeth and had a ferocious look in her eyes.
"I've been pursuing you for three years, what more do you want?"
Three years—the words made Lucian's temples throb.
He had been suffering from insomnia for years, and for the past three years he had not only had to fight the side effects of his
Because of her status, he had repeatedly tolerated her and greeted people with a smile.
Despite his discomfort, Lucian shook his head and said, "Cecilia, I made it clear to you from the beginning that I just want to focus on completing my studies."
"I don't care, you have to promise me today! Otherwise, I'll make you regret it!"
Cecilia Thorne's shrill voice attracted more passersby, and groups of students stopped to point and whisper about the scene.
Her hysterical state intensified Lucian's disgust.
Was that an idol drama?
He turned to leave, and Cecilia Thorne immediately reached out and grabbed him, even baring her teeth and claws as if to pounce on him.
Smack!
Lucian slapped Cecilia Thorne across the face, coldly looking at the stunned woman, and said, "Idiot."
After saying that, he turned and left, ignoring the even more hysterical voices behind him.
The day after Lucian returned from his posting shift.
Zachary handed Lucian a note with a phone number on it, saying, "This is Cecilia Thorne's number. Try to apologize; things might turn around."
Lucian took the note and said, "I will consider it."
This time, Zachary did not mention resolving Lucian's situation.
Prior to this, a powerful figure in the border defense system named Leon Chandler used his connections to try and contact the Marquis of Northriver to resolve the issue.
It was inappropriate to continue suppressing Lucian's resume and achievements. The system wasn't all that good, but it wasn't completely corrupt either.
Only a lapdog like Luther Sterling would go to such lengths to curry favor with the Thorne family.
The Marquis of Northriver simply replied, "Yes, I understand."
Then nothing more was heard from them. Maybe someone would resolve it after a while, or maybe the other party simply didn't care.
Zachary believed the latter was more likely; otherwise, wrongful convictions wouldn't be so difficult to overturn. A powerful figure like a military commander wouldn't target a nobody, and similarly, wouldn't admit wrongdoing for a nobody.
His daughter made a mistake, but so what? What could anyone do about it?
Zachary understood, but still offered words of comfort:
"Don't be so pessimistic. It's not that the Marquis is holding you back. He doesn't even know about this. It's all because of his daughter's willfulness."
Even he himself thought the words he was saying were somewhat naive.
"Don't feel too burdened. At worst, you can quit your job and leave this system. With your education and life experience, you'll be able to thrive anywhere."
Having said this, Zachary got up and left Lucian's room.
As the door closed, the room returned to darkness, with a ray of the setting sun falling through the gap in the curtains onto the table, on the lotus flower formed by the ashtray and cigarette butts, with wisps of smoke still swirling around it.
Lucian smoked one cigarette after another, his gaze fixed on the note, reading it over and over again.
In the end, he let it go.
Begging for mercy was useless, and he was determined not to.
If the matter could be resolved, Zachary would give him a clear answer, and the station leaders would not be vague either.
Lucian had no grudge against them, and they weren't that bad; they just did things that harmed others without benefiting themselves.
Suddenly, his phone vibrated. The caller was Lucy, Lucian's niece. She was only two years old when her father sacrificed his life, and was now sixteen.
As Lucy's only male elder, the girl had been close to him since childhood, and Lucian also played the role of a father to some extent.
"Hey, Lucy, what's wrong?"
"Uncle Lucian, Grandma is going to be hospitalized again."
"How much do you need?"
Lucian wasn't too alarmed when he heard the news, because his mother had to be hospitalized for several months every year.
His mother's heart disease was incurable, so she could only be hospitalized for treatment whenever her condition worsened, and then discharged again once her condition improved.
On the other end of the phone, Lucy and his sister-in-law could be heard talking.
"My mom said it's ten thousand credits, and also, is Uncle Lucian coming back for the Dragon Boat Festival?"
"I have to work overtime, so I won't be going back."
"You have to work overtime again. You've worked overtime during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays for four years. You didn't come back for the New Year this year either. You only come back for Qingming Festival. I almost don't recognize you anymore!"
"
"Really?"
"It's true."
After chatting for a while, Lucy reluctantly hung up the phone, adding as a final note, "You must come back for the Mid-Autumn Festival."
Lucian checked his phone and found that he only had five thousand credits left in his bank card, so he had to borrow five thousand credits from Zachary.
After transferring the money, he returned to his room, sat at the table, and stared at the note for a long time.
Then, as if possessed, he dialed the number.
Beep...
"Hey, who are you looking for?"
A soft, effeminate male voice came out, and Lucian said, "I'm looking for Cecilia Thorne."
"Honey, someone's looking for you..." The phone rang intermittently, and after a moment a haughty voice came through.
"Hey, who are you?"
"It's me, Lucian."
"Lucian?"
She paused for a moment on the phone, seemingly having forgotten.
"I remember now, why did you call?"
"..."
Lucian tried his best to stop himself from crushing the phone. When he opened his mouth, his throat felt like it was blocked with phlegm, and he managed to squeeze out a few words with all his might.
"What happened back then... it was my fault... it was my fault."
"I would have forgotten about it if you hadn't mentioned it. I'm a bit busy right now, let's talk later."
The phone call ended, and the room fell silent. Outside, the rain started pouring down again.
Boom!
A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and Lucian had already stood up. The flip phone was crushed in his hand, and he was unaware that the glass had pierced his skin.
The Marquis of Northriver was unaware, and Cecilia Thorne had forgotten, that a little bit of power-driven capriciousness had left him stranded in a remote mountain village for four years!
He had stepped over the lives of his father, uncles, elder brothers, and cousins to leave Southgate, and was ridiculed all the way. In the end, he was nailed to death by a single sentence from a despicable person!
He thought he was being targeted, but in the eyes of the culprit, he was completely insignificant!
Rumble!
The thunder and lightning couldn't quell the murderous intent in Lucian's chest. He opened a drawer and took out a pistol; its dark, cold luster was reassuring.
The firearms and ammunition at the border station were strictly stored. These were three bullets he secretly kept after killing a drug dealer.
He had made up his mind long ago.
Lucian's eyes darkened, and he cocked his pistol with a click.
Extraordinary beings were not cultivators, and Cecilia Thorne was not a
Lucian didn't rush off immediately. Instead, he went back to bed, stared at the ceiling, and became increasingly calm.
At this moment, he was unusually calm, silently calculating in his mind:
I can't take public transportation to Caldwell City, and I can't be too hasty in revealing myself. It won't be difficult to find out Cecilia Thorne's location; the Thorne family should be on guard.
But there are only those who steal for a thousand days, not those who guard against thieves for a thousand days.
A wave of fatigue washed over him; he needed to get some sleep.
It had rained last night, and he hadn't slept for forty hours. He was taking advantage of the rain stopping to get a short respite.
With his eyes closed, Lucian lost track of time as his consciousness plummeted into the mental world.
The darkness stretched as far as the eye could see, and his feet felt like they were in a quagmire. A constant stream of noise squeezed into his ears.
Lucian walked forward, and land could be vaguely seen ahead. But he had been walking for more than ten years and had never set foot on the other side.
He simply could not stop; if he stopped, he would hear more delirium and fall into the unconscious thoughts that arise from the sleep of all beings.
Or perhaps become trapped in the lingering memories of their exes.
Thud!
Lucian suddenly felt the muddy feeling under his feet disappear, replaced by the solid feeling of stepping on some kind of stone floor.
He seemed to have crossed the quagmire of his spirit and arrived at the other shore he had been gazing at for more than a decade.
The surroundings quieted down, and for the first time in twelve years, his ears were finally at peace.
Suddenly, the melodious sound of a yellow bell instrument came from behind.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Lucian suddenly turned around, and what lay before him was no longer the dark mire of the mind, but instead a magnificent palace with carved beams and painted rafters.
Court officials in their official robes and caps knelt outside the palace, while inside, white gauze and vermilion curtains held the Three Thousand Books.
A figure, appearing and disappearing in the shadows, sat in a high seat, with a thick beard, long eyebrows, and a dragon-like appearance.
"The gathering of three flowers at the top is an illusion, and the soaring clouds beneath one's feet are not real either."
(End of this chapter)
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Translator and Editor - Husband
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