I Will Defy Heaven and Change My Fate!

Chu Qiguang added, "This affliction cannot be put off; it must be treated as soon as possible. If any lingering aftereffects take root, I fear he may retain canine traits for the rest of his life, and he won't even be able to practice martial arts." Recalling what he had endured over the past few days, Wang Cailiang grew frantic with anxiety. "Father, did you hear that? If we wait any longer, I won't be able to practice martial arts! I'll still have the nature of a dog!" "Three hundred taels of silver..." Wang Chengwang stroked his chin. "Nephew Zhou, ah... what are the chances that my son will neither relapse nor worsen?" Seeing his father hesitate like this, Wang Cailiang suddenly remembered what Chu Qiguang had told him earlier. ... "...Some families couldn't bear to part with their silver, and in the end they drowned their own children..." ... Though Wang Cailiang believed in his heart that his father would never abandon him over a sum like three hundred taels, the more he thought about it, the more uneasy he grew. He rushed forward, gripped Wang Chengwang's arm, and cried, "Father, do you really want to watch your only son be ruined like this? If something happens to me, it won't be a matter of three hundred taels of silver anymore! "In the future, who else in the Wang family can shield you from the wind and rain but your son? "If you won't give me the silver, I'll go to Grandmother!" Wang Chengwang's head throbbed from the shouting. He finally let out a long sigh. "All right, all right, I'll pay the silver." In truth, Wang Chengwang had only been wondering if he could bargain the price down a bit. But seeing his impetuous son make such a scene, how could he possibly haggle with Chu Qiguang now? His heart bleeding, he had no choice but to part with the three hundred taels. Wang Chengwang then led his servants to the cellar and brought out thirty silver ingots totaling three hundred taels, packed them into a cloth bag, and placed it before Chu Qiguang. Though it pained him to spend three hundred taels, now that he had given it, Wang Chengwang wanted the silver to achieve the greatest possible effect. Once the matter of the money was settled, Wang Chengwang instructed the servants to lay out a banquet and invited Chu Qiguang to take a seat alongside Wang Cailiang and himself. Dishes of fish, meat, fruits, vegetables, and pastries covered the table. Maidservants attended at their sides, singing boys performed ballads, singing maids played the pipa and zheng, and Zhang Da had also been summoned by Wang Chengwang to help liven the mood. Chen Gang had come along with Zhang Da, but the moment he caught sight of Zhou Ergou, he grabbed a stone and tried to rush forward to bash him, only to be stopped by Zhang Da and given a sound thrashing. "What do you think you're doing?" Zhang Da cursed as he struck him. "He is Master Wang's guest now! Who are you to lay a hand on him?" Zhang Da looked apologetically at Wang Chengwang and Chu Qiguang. "It's my fault for not disciplining him properly. This blockhead only knows how to throw stones at people. Please don't lower yourselves to his level." Clutching his bruised head, Chen Gang glared resentfully at Zhou Ergou. He simply could not understand how Zhou Ergou—who had lived next door since childhood and had always been bullied by him—had become an honored guest at Master Wang's table. Wang Chengwang glanced at Chen Gang. "Get out." The sullen, indignant Chen Gang was promptly shoved outside by the pageboys. None of the remaining party—neither Wang Chengwang, nor Chu Qiguang, nor the merrymaking Zhang Da—seemed the least bit disturbed. Playing drinking games, calling forfeits, and sharing roaring laughter, host and guests enjoyed themselves to the fullest, and time flew by. Shivering in the cold wind beneath the eaves nearby, Qiao Zhi looked down at Chu Qiguang, who was thoroughly at ease amid the warm wine and hot dishes. By the end of the meal, he seemed to have forged deep bonds with everyone, addressing them as brothers. *As expected of you... Chu Qiguang,* Qiao Zhi thought to himself. *But this time, I will definitely defy heaven and change my fate.* Not until the second watch of the night, around nine o'clock, did Chu Qiguang finally excuse himself from the banquet on the grounds that he still had cultivation coursework to attend to. Staggering with every few steps, he made his way toward home. Wang Chengwang instructed the servants to carry his drunken son back to his bedchamber, then stared in silence toward the direction where Zhou Ergou had departed for a long time. The housekeeper stepped up from behind him and murmured, "Master, do you think the young master's affliction could be Ergou's doing..." Wang Chengwang's gaze hardened, cutting the housekeeper short. "It couldn't be him," he said coldly. "And even if it was, it cannot be." Housekeeper Wang blinked in surprise, then nodded after a moment's thought. Wang Chengwang continued, "Have Zhang Da keep in contact with the master from the Imperial Heaven Sect. Don't let that connection lapse." ... Once he had put the Wang manor behind him, Chu Qiguang instantly sobered up, and his unsteadily swaying legs regained their brisk, nimble stride. Qiao Zhi leaped excitedly onto Chu Qiguang's head, swishing his tail back and forth without pause. "We have silver! We finally have silver! Three hundred taels of silver!" Chu Qiguang hefted the bag of silver in his hand. Had he not been practicing martial arts and strengthening his physique recently, carrying three hundred taels of silver would not have been so easy. Hearing Qiao Zhi's excitement, Chu Qiguang replied, "This is only the beginning. Next, I need to use the Wang family's connections to get me into the county seat, then sit for the martial examinations and secure an official post in the imperial court..." Today's events had only reinforced his earlier judgment. Scooping Qiao Zhi into his arms, he stroked the cat's head and said with a sigh, "Master Qiao, this world is crawling with monsters. Mortals fear and despise them, yet are mostly powerless against them. "Whoever can master monsters will be all the more capable of thriving in this world like a fish in water." Qiao Zhi shivered. At those words, an all too familiar dread welled up from the depths of his memory, as though fate itself had seized him by the scruff of the neck, causing him to tuck his tail instinctively between his legs. He looked back at Chu Qiguang and saw him gazing down with a face full of earnest sincerity. "Master Qiao, you'll help me, won't you? We'll climb upward together until we can take command of our own destinies—and reshape this world into the kind of place we like along the way." *Climbing to the top... is also to find the Secret Register of the Purple Mansion that brought me into this world,* Chu Qiguang added in his thoughts. Yet in Qiao Zhi's eyes, Chu Qiguang overlapped more and more with that terrifying figure in his memories, growing more frightening by the second. Swallowing hard, Qiao Zhi told himself over and over, *Qiao Zhi, oh Qiao Zhi, look at how pathetic you are. What are you so afraid of? The kid still can't beat you in a fight right now! Don't be afraid of him! Don't fear him!* *The best way to conquer fear is to face it head-on!* Bolstering his own courage, Qiao Zhi fixed his eyes on Chu Qiguang and asked, "Then do you know why hardly anyone in this world is willing to join hands with demons and monsters?" Drawing upon what he had learned in recent days, Chu Qiguang analyzed, "First, the Heavenly Master Sect is the state religion of the Great Han Dynasty, believed in by nearly everyone. And within the doctrine of the Heavenly Master Sect, humans and monsters can never coexist; they treat monsters and demons as enemies and take their extermination as their sacred duty. Over the past two hundred years, revulsion and terror toward demons and monsters have become etched into the very bones of the Great Han's common folk. That is the power of faith. "Second, to the imperial court, demons and monsters have always been an unstable force. In particular, the northwestern steppes, the northeastern frontier towns, the southeastern coast, and the southwestern mountains—the entire Great Han Dynasty is effectively surrounded by the demon race. Ever since the dynasty's founding two hundred years ago, the demon race has repeatedly caused chaos. "Demons and monsters... have always been the court's greatest internal peril. "That is why the two major powers—the Daoist monasteries and the Demon Suppression Bureau—exist specifically to hunt down demons and monsters both within the court and across the realm. And that is why anyone ever caught colluding with demons or monsters has been crushed by the court with thunderous force." Hearing Chu Qiguang analyze it with such impeccable clarity, Qiao Zhi asked in astonishment, "Then why are you colluding with me?"