Revelation of the Way of Heaven

The food at the hotel was absolutely delicious, especially their signature dishes, which were so good that people wanted to come back for more. Among them, the dish that impressed Qin Xiaochuan the most was their unique dish – the secret-recipe duck tongue.

Even many years later, whenever he eats duck tongue, he thinks of those days, the people and the events of that time. These memories all begin with his lingering taste of the secret-recipe duck tongue. Unfortunately, in the countless years that followed, no matter how many duck tongues he ate, he could never recapture that feeling.

What he didn't understand was why, even though the duck tongues were so delicious, no one picked one up and instead kept looking at him.

"The competition is tomorrow afternoon," Xu Yafen asked him. "You shouldn't have any more problems tomorrow, right?"

Before Qin Xiaochuan could speak, Guo Shiyi interjected, "Judging from the way he's eating the duck tongues, you can tell he's definitely fine." She then giggled.

When Guo Shiyi said this, he happened to be chewing a duck tongue and couldn't reply, so he could only nod awkwardly and mumble a "hmm".

Hopefully, he thought, hoping he could get a good night's sleep and get back into shape.

Xu Yafen nodded in satisfaction before continuing, "Actually, I don't need to say much. Everyone has seen the strength of the Conquerors team. I think you all have a good idea of ​​what's going on. I don't have much to say, except for one sentence I want to tell you all."

Upon hearing this, the three stopped what they were doing and looked at her. She sighed softly before saying, "Just do your best in tomorrow's match. If you can't, don't push yourself too hard. Winning or losing is not something you can control, so even if you lose, no one will blame you."

Upon hearing Xu Yafen's words, Qin Xiaochuan and Guo Shiyi exchanged a glance, but neither of them said anything more. Of course, they couldn't say those big words like they did when comforting Guo Shiyi at noon, but even if they did, no one would take them seriously.

Therefore, all three of them nodded silently.

"There's another thing I need to tell you," Xu Yafen continued. "Because many of you are watching this type of competition for the first time, and most of you don't understand the strategies involved, in response to the strong demands from online viewers, the organizers have decided to add two commentators to tomorrow's two matches. You should be prepared for that."

"Commentator?" Guo Shiyi asked, frowning.

"That's right, they're the ones who explain your skills and offensive strategies to the audience at the competition venue. What they say might have some psychological impact on you. Just pretend that these two people don't exist at all."

The three nodded. It was nothing to worry about; with their current mental fortitude, how could they be affected by a few words from others?

Dinner was quickly finished, and Qin Xiaochuan ate most of the last plate of the special-recipe duck tongues. Just as he was about to return to his room after eating and drinking his fill, Wei Feng called him back.

He knew the other person must also have something to say to him. He couldn't understand why everyone wanted to talk to him about life. Did he look like a wise man who had seen through the world?

The conversation took place on the hotel rooftop, which was essentially a quiet open-air bar. In the center was a bar counter selling drinks, and around it were open-air seats. They sat on the side, surrounded by transparent tempered glass, through which they could see the city's night view in the distance. It was a perfect place to while away the sleepless nights.

Because it was late autumn, the rooftop was quite cold, and most people were unwilling to come up there. So there weren't many people on the rooftop, and they were all sitting scattered around, making it very quiet.

They all ordered a drink. The lights above the bar had five colors that changed in turn, shining on their drinks and causing the drinks to change color accordingly. When the drinks had changed color twice and once, Wei Feng finally spoke.

"You should know what I want to tell you," he said.

Qin Xiaochuan picked up the drink on the table, took a sip, then nodded and said, "What else could it be besides tomorrow's match?"

"Actually, I don't want to put any psychological pressure on you, but there are some things I have to tell you."

"Go ahead and say it." He took another sip of his drink.

"You know that it was Guo Xuemei who strongly recommended you to participate in this competition, and she also strongly recommended that you form a team with her. But do you know how much pressure she had to bear for this?" Wei Feng looked at him seriously, and after a while, he continued, "Simply put, there are many people watching her behind this competition, and at the same time, they are watching us."

Qin Xiaochuan frowned, recalling what Guo Shiyi had told him at noon: this competition was not only about their personal honor.

"Thank you for telling me all this. I understand what you mean and I know what to do." Qin Xiaochuan nodded solemnly to Wei Feng.

"As I said before, I don't want to put too much pressure on you. After all, our chances of winning aren't very high. I just hope we don't lose too badly, so that it won't be easy for Guo Xuemei to explain." Wei Feng smiled slightly at him at the end.

"No." He shook his head, staring at Wei Feng, conveying his meaning clearly and accurately, "Compared to Shi Yi, this is not pressure at all, and I will prove to them that Shi Yi's judgment was correct."

Wei Feng stared at him blankly, not saying a word for a moment. Qin Xiaochuan didn't know what the other was thinking. Perhaps he thought he was talking like a child, or perhaps he thought he wasn't as simple as he imagined. Qin Xiaochuan couldn't guess what the outcome would be, but that didn't matter, because tomorrow's result would explain everything.

The conversation with Wei Feng ended quickly, but his test had only just begun. Deep sleep is the best gift for an insomniac, especially when desperately wanting to fall asleep, because that is inherently an ordeal.

Simply put, he still had insomnia.

Sometimes sleep is really strange. When you want to sleep, you just can't fall asleep, but when you don't want to, you might fall asleep as soon as you lie down. That's how it is for him. The more he tries to fall asleep, the clearer the images appear in his mind.

Darkness is alluring. In this endless darkness, people become weak and emotional. The strength you have during the day may suddenly collapse in the darkness, and emotions that you thought you could ignore or even forget will surge back.

Sinking into despair. Yes, you will sink into this emotion, preferably forever. It's a paradox: you're heartbroken to death, yet you're willing to sink into this heartache forever, until you die.

Perhaps only in this way can one achieve true liberation.

Sometimes he wondered if this was the reason for his insomnia. Perhaps deep down he didn't want to fall asleep; he just wanted to wallow in it a little longer, just a little longer, so that he could tell himself that this feeling had truly existed.

What about her?

On this night, was he the only one suffering? He wondered if she was also tormented like him, yet he didn't know why he was tormented, even though everything was over.

No one answered his question; the only response was the sound of a door opening.

Someone has come in.