Zhou Xiao has transmigrated into the world of Honkai: Star Rail, becoming a logistics staff member on the Astral Express. He also obtained a self-discipline system, which grants random rewards as l...
Zhou Xiao was dreaming again.
This time, he didn't dream of that illusion, but rather a very down-to-earth dream about Xiao Hao, about the lower levels of Yalilo No. 6... about Fight Club, about the night Xiao Hao was murdered...
He disregarded everything from the perspective of another "him".
It was as if fate had given him another chance, allowing him to return to that night and save Xiao Hao's fate.
Startled awake, she rushed to the fight club...causing chaos within, only to find Xiao Hao's body...the rescue failed.
repeat.
Startled awake, I rushed to the fight club and wreaked havoc... I saw Xiao Hao's corpse again, and my attempt to save him failed.
Despite the recurring dream, he couldn't change Xiao Hao's fate.
The swift rider, possessing the speed of the wind, is always just one step too slow...
Zhou Xiao looked quietly at his former weak self, his eyes filled with calm.
...
"What are you pretending for! You seemed pretty pleased with yourself when you took the money! Everyone has the right to criticize me, except you! Your hands are stained with the same dirty money as mine..."
"You were standing up for that Xiao Hao, weren't you? I told you! Xiao Hao died in the club! And it's all connected to you taking the dirty money..."
The figure of Scott, whom he had once killed, appeared before Zhou Xiao's eyes, and those words that pierced his heart echoed in his ears once more.
Scott's old face, full of menacing features, pointed at the Windrunner on the ground, who was always a step too late.
He sneered, as if laughing at the man before him who thought himself superior but, like Scott, was touching the dirty money.
In the dream, the Gale Warrior was furious. The fierce gale was like the most ruthless and sharpest blade in the world. Thousands of blades instantly cut through Scott's body, turning him into countless pieces of flesh and blood that piled up into a lump of something that looked like an "Oli Gei" and wriggled on the ground.
Even in its current state, this thing still didn't stop mocking Zhou Xiao...
What good is that anyway?
Zhou Xiao looked at his anger from a third-person perspective and shook his head.
"Brother Zhou Xiao..."
"Brother Zhou Xiao, it hurts so much..."
"Brother Zhou Xiao... can you save me...?"
Even the seemingly dead Xiao Hao, covered in blood, crawled towards the Gale in the dream, as if he wasn't quite dead yet... These scenes served as a reminder of the chain reaction caused by "him" due to that greed.
Self-discipline and adherence to one's nature.
This is the meaning of self-discipline that Zhou Xiaoming realized back then.
Now, he has gained a new understanding of the meaning of self-discipline that he once realized.
Greed, or rather, greed for everything in this world... isn't that part of human nature?
Restraining oneself... is undoubtedly stripping away one's natural desires.
But can that desire really be so easily stripped away?
Take, for example, this greedy desire.
The more you force and restrain yourself, the more likely you are to fall into a trap, thus breeding inner demons. Hidden beneath a facade of integrity will be even greater desires...
This desire may not only be material, but more likely spiritual.
Self-discipline and moral integrity—how difficult it is to uphold these four words...
The first thing to do is to face yourself and accept all your desires.
Take a more relaxed view of your desires... and let things take their natural course.
...
A faint, eerie light flashed in Zhou Xiao's eyes.
Human nature is inherently greedy...
Some people are greedy for material things and money.
Some people are driven by greed for power and influence.
Some people are greedy for ultimate personal strength...
He was no exception...
Just like the question that dying girl asked him near dusk.
If a chance to achieve immortality were truly presented to you... wouldn't you be tempted?
Who wouldn't be tempted...?
In his dream, Zhou Xiao slowly arrived before himself, the man who had wreaked havoc in the fight club. Gazing at his own "handsome" and "imposing" face, his voice gradually softened:
"Self-discipline can't save others, it can only save yourself. Even the fastest, most swift riders... are always one step too late..."
"To gain greater strength, to prevent tragedy from happening again... the only way is for you to become stronger."
"However... everything in this world has a price tag attached... to gain greater power, you must inevitably have to pay a price..."
"This is... the price."
He accepted everything calmly, and the knot in Xiao Hao's heart seemed to have been untied.
...
Humans have one name, and seven costs, one of which is greed.
Zhou Xiao didn't know what was wrong with him, but a sentence flashed through his mind.
Then, with a gentle tap of his left hand, he felt as if he had been subjected to tremendous force, his body tilting backward, and the entire dreamscape tilted as well.
In less than a few seconds, the illusion before his eyes transformed back into the pure black illusion, and the self that he had gently touched and fell down sat down in that familiar pure white chair.
That pure white chair that once confined him has confined him once again.
"?"
Zhou Xiao was somewhat puzzled.
He vaguely felt as if something had been added to the depths of his heart, and the nameless power within him seemed to have grown stronger.
As he was pondering, the illusion before him began to shatter. When he opened his eyes again, he had returned from the dream to reality. He sat up abruptly in bed, a few beads of sweat on his forehead.
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