Chapter 33 – Dignity Must Be Fought For

Li Guanqi wove through the crowd and spotted several tall, muscular youths surrounding Li Sheng’an. One of them even had a foot planted on him. Li Guanqi’s brows knitted together—he had no idea what had happened.

Li Sheng’an had struck him as a smart person, though he could be considered a “terrible good person.”

Lin Dong might not have known why Li Sheng’an approached them, but Li Guanqi did.

During the ascent up the Heavenly Stairs, Li Guanqi and Lin Dong had only spent a small portion of their talismans. If not for that, Li Sheng’an would never have approached them or acted so friendly.

Now, Li Sheng’an lay on the ground, blood seeping from his mouth as a burly youth stepped on his chest.

The burly youth twirled a jade token between his fingers and sneered. “Shouldn’t you be sending missions as easy as this one my way as a gesture of respect? Hm? Why are you so forgetful?”

Li Sheng’an showed no anger despite the odd looks from the surrounding crowd. Instead, he squeezed his bleeding face into a smile.

“I’m so sorry, Senior Brother Wang! I didn’t know you wanted to take a mission during these two days. If I had, I would’ve fought for it on your behalf so you wouldn’t have to come all the way here yourself,” Li Sheng’an said.

The youth called Senior Brother Wang lifted his foot and laughed. Then, he bent over and patted Li Sheng’an’s face loudly, making the flesh on his chubby face tremble. However, Li Sheng’an’s smile did not falter.

Li Guanqi stood watching, his expression unreadable. He didn’t make a sound.

Li Sheng’an looked up and spotted Li Guanqi. Li Sheng’an’s gaze darkened when he saw Li Guanqi, ashamed to let a close friend see him like this.

The onlookers followed his gaze. Spotting Li Guanqi, a murmur spread through the crowd.

“Hey

...

Isn’t that Heavenly Lightning Peak’s Li Guanqi?”

Senior Brother Wang, whose full name was Li Dachun, turned and saw Li Guanqi. His face fell dramatically and he bowed in a panic, loudly greeting Li Guanqi, “Senior Brother Li.”

Seeing Li Guanqi remain silent, Wang Dachun wasted no time. He signaled his lackeys and prepared to leave—but not before bowing once more and offering his mission token to Li Guanqi.

Li Guanqi burst into laughter. “That belongs to you. Why are you giving it to me?”

Wang Dachun hesitated, glancing at Li Sheng’an on the ground, who looked like he wanted to say something but held back.

Wang Dachun did not want to abandon the mission he had received, so he ultimately stowed the mission token away and hurried off. The crowd dispersed, leaving Li Sheng’an on the ground and Li Guanqi beside him.

Li Sheng’an smiled bitterly and asked, “Why didn’t you want that mission? That was the third mission Wang Dachun snatched from me.”

Li Guanqi stood next to Li Sheng’an and squatted down slowly, fixing his expressionless eyes on Li Sheng’an. “Are you complaining?”

Finally, there was some anger on Li Sheng’an’s face. “That’s right! I am complaining! I have nothing left, so can’t I at least complain to a friend?”

Li Guanqi disagreed. “No, you can’t.”

Li Sheng’an froze. “Why?”

Li Guanqi slowly stood up and looked at him out of the corner of his eye. “What right do you have?”

Li Sheng’an stiffened. He had no idea why Li Guanqi would ask him that.

Li Guanqi continued, “Aren’t you prepared to become a ‘terrible good person’? If that’s the path you’ve chosen, then what right do you have to complain? If this is the kind of person you want to be, you should accept misfortune as fortune.

“Even when someone knocks your teeth off, you’ll swallow it and smile! Isn’t that the path you chose to survive? Since that’s the case, why are you complaining?”

His words struck like thunder. Li Sheng’an was left stunned, unable to speak. Li Guanqi walked to the Mission Pavilion.

“If you want to keep being a doormat, then just stay there. Lie down forever. Swallow every insult, every humiliation, and suffer in silence. But if you’ve had enough, stand up. Settle things with your fists.

“I can’t help you. No one can. The only one who can help you is yourself.”

With that, Li Guanqi turned and left.

Li Sheng’an remained on the ground, his expression shifting through countless emotions. Then, at last, he pushed himself up and left without a word.

At the Mission Pavilion, Li Guanqi accepted a decent assignment: investigating reports of a vengeful ghost haunting a nearby town. The reward was generous at fifty contribution points.

Contribution points could be exchanged for spirit stones at a ratio of one to two, meaning this mission would earn him one hundred spirit stones. This payout was high because three previous attempts from previous disciples had failed.

When Li Guanqi walked out of Mission Pavilion, he heard a commotion.

There, at the entrance, stood Li Sheng’an. His face was still bleeding, the bridge of his nose broken, his eyes swollen, and his lips cracked. Yet when he saw Li Guanqi, he grinned and waved a mission token in his hand.

Li Guanqi’s lips curled into a smile. He patted Li Sheng’an on the shoulder.

***

Afterward, Li Guanqi headed to the Treasure Pagoda and exchanged some contribution points for talismans. Then, with a sword on his side, he descended the mountain.

His destination was Cloud Town, a settlement in the southern region of the land under Daxia Sword Sect’s jurisdiction. The townspeople had long made their living by weaving and dyeing cloth, so the town was home to many dye workshops.

Recently, however, men had been dying under mysterious circumstances, leaving the town in turmoil.

Businessmen who used to frequent this town no longer dared to visit. Once the Daxia Sword Sect received reports about the situation, they assessed its severity and issued a mission.

Li Guanqi was excited, as this was his first time leaving the mountain for a mission.

He had never seen a ghost before, so he was curious what they looked like. Would it be invisible and formless, like folk legends described?

Filled with anticipation, he set off for Cloud Town without delay. The journey was a hundred li, so it took even him one day and one night to arrive.