Chapter 51 What is “Masculinity”?
Perhaps because he was bullied badly enough today, his adoptive parents looked him up and down, then looked away and casually threw him a broken bowl with a large piece of beef in it.
"Eat it! Parasite!"
The tiny centipede swam by silently, took the bowl, grabbed the beef with its hands, and started chewing it in big mouthfuls.
This is a meat-eating country. Meat is extremely cheap, but vegetables are hard to find. Beef is the cheapest and most common food among all meats. It can only be regarded as a roadside snack at most.
It can be said that their behavior of giving centipedes instead of beef as a main meal is not friendly from the perspective of a meat-eating country.
The centipede swam over, quickly finished the job, and then hurriedly left the house.
He knew very well that if he delayed for another half a second, it would inevitably cause dissatisfaction among his adoptive parents, who would target him once again. He had to delay until late at night, and when they felt sleepy, he would quietly go back to sleep, trying not to appear in their sight.
However, although he is alone outside, it does not mean that he will face danger, because he actually has a place to go.
"Here I am."
He kept running until he came to a river. As the sun was setting, the river looked like a huge orange mirror. Occasionally, a breeze blew, causing slight ripples.
On the lawn by the river, a middle-aged man was sitting on a wooden chair. Hearing the panting sound of a small centipede swimming by, he immediately turned his head and found that it was the small centipede swimming by with a gentle look in his eyes and a smile on his lips.
"Here I am."
"Yes. What are you going to talk about today? I want to continue listening to the history of the Fruit Kingdom. Is that okay?"
The middle-aged man by the river was a rare man who showed him kindness.
At that time, he escaped from the bullying of the group of wild children and hid by the river, but the wild children refused to give in. It was the man in front of him who took the initiative to come forward and lie to him, leading the group of wild children to other places.
Later, after they had a brief conversation, the man found that his brain seemed to have not been influenced by knowledge at all.
The man made an agreement with him that every day when the sun set, he would wait here for the little centipede to swim by, impart knowledge to the little centipede, and explain the confusing problems encountered in life.
But today, the man just shook his head.
"I'm leaving." The man's words were like bad news.
The little centipede swam by and the smile disappeared in an instant: "Where are you going?"
"I'm not from the meat-eating country. I come from the watermelon tribe in the fruit country. I should go back to where I belong. There are people waiting for me in my hometown. I've stayed here for too long. If I have the chance in the future, I think I will come back to see you."
Upon hearing this news, the little centipede swam over and hugged the man's thigh, crying out:
"I don't want it! I don't want you to leave!"
The man couldn't bear it, so he let the little centipede swim over, hugged him, and patted his shoulder. After the little centipede swam over and recovered, he decided to slowly start communicating with him.
On the side, a centipede swam by and heard the man reveal his identity, a look of surprise flashed across his face.
His memory has become fuzzy, so he can't remember many details of the past.
It was not until he was on the verge of death that his past memories suddenly emerged clearly in his mind and he suddenly woke up.
It turned out that he had, unknowingly, wiped out the entire clan of his mentor who had taught him for his own selfish reasons.
After making sure the tiny centipede had recovered, the man slowly pulled the centipede away from him and gently but forcefully pushed it away.
He bent down, smoothed his messy hair, wiped away his tears, and said softly:
"The centipede swam by. Please remember what I am going to say next.
This meat-eating country has always advocated masculinity and required every man to look tall, strong and powerful.
They don't allow men to shed tears or look vulnerable, believing that only in this way can they be masculine.
However, they all misunderstood the meaning of the word 'masculinity'.
True "masculinity" means that you are a person who is responsible, fearless, has unyielding perseverance, a calm mind, decisive decision-making ability, and a generous and tolerant heart.
Never bully the weak, and never be afraid of the strong.
This country has a one-sided understanding of this word, focusing only on the form but abandoning the most important core.
But please don't resent those people. Not everyone can understand deeply and think about the meaning of all words.
They have done their best to just superficially understand the meaning."
The man chattered on and on, but unfortunately the tiny centipede swam by and its brain was also tiny.
His brain was running low on memory and he couldn't fully absorb what the man said.
The man said a lot, and finally smiled softly and said the last words to him:
"Even if the world cannot accept you due to a misunderstanding, you can work hard to make yourself stronger.
When you are strong enough, even if they cannot understand you, they will never look down on you or bully you again."
After hearing the last sentence, the little centipede's eyes lit up. He had finally finished speaking.
Looking at his shining eyes, the man was full of satisfaction and asked, "Have you remembered everything?"
The tiny centipede swam by and nodded vigorously, giving a harsh "hmm".
In fact, he didn't listen before, but understood the last sentence.
One must work hard to become strong, at all costs, and make himself strong enough so that no one will bully him.
only……
"I've tried countless methods, but I still haven't discovered any talent for martial arts in myself..."
The tiny centipede swam by, lowered its head, and whispered.
“You’re not without talent, you just haven’t met someone who knows how to develop your talent.”
The man smiled and said.
"Then can you help me develop my talent?"
Hearing this, the man could only shake his head helplessly:
"I'm not from here, and your martial arts style is not similar to ours, so there's nothing I can do.
But I think that eventually someone will be able to dig it out, and you will encounter your own opportunity, it just takes some time and patience to wait."
The brief conversation ended.
The man left. He treated all the wounds on the little boy's body, gave him a lot of trauma medicine, and then left. The lonely little boy stood alone by the river, digesting the fact that the man had left on his own.
The centipede swam silently to the side of the little boy, stretched out his hand, and wanted to touch the little boy's head, but the next second, he missed.
Seeing this, the centipede swam over, smiled helplessly at himself, and withdrew his hand.
This was the first time in his long life that he experienced pain.
Although he had a hard life before, it was all physical torture. He had even begun to slowly get used to being bullied.
However, this time, it was a mental torture.
However, Centipede Swimming knew very well that not long after the man left, there was a huge turning point in his life——
He encountered the confession mirror.
——
"Little ghost, you seem to need some help?"
The little centipede swam by, and when he was bullied again, he fled to the river as usual.
But this time, there was no man to cover him, and the wild boys found him quickly.
Perhaps it was because of the sadness of losing his man that he suddenly could no longer tolerate such a life.
He resisted! He resisted with all his might!
So he faced the biggest crisis in his life - he was going to die.
In the past, if he didn't resist, the wild kids would be more careful and not dare to go too far.
But his resistance made the wild children lose their minds and the little centipede swam away and fell on the lawn by the river covered in blood, quietly accepting the arrival of death.
The night gradually darkened, and stars emerged one after another, emitting the bright light of the sun.
The little centipede swam over and looked up at the sky, suddenly feeling sad and angry in his heart.
Why? !
Why did fate treat him like this?!
He clearly didn't do anything wrong, so why should he accept the injustice around him just because of his feminine face?! He has to endure unwarranted bullying?!
Why? !
Why did he finally encounter a ray of light, but it disappeared in an instant?!
Why was it that he only longed for warmth, but the warmth he experienced was so short-lived that it felt like a beautiful dream. This was even more painful than never having it at all?!
Perhaps it was his inner grief and indignation that finally touched the heavens and successfully attracted the attention of foreigners.
The answer to the mirror was that before he died, he listened to the sound of the centipede swimming through his heart, rushing towards him from thousands of miles away.
Seeing the little centipede lying on the ground without saying a word, Da Gong Jing had no choice but to transform into two hands to help the little centipede heal its wounds.
Her hands were still green, with a lot of dark purple patterns on her skin. In the dark night, this skin color looked a bit weird.
The centipede swam past and thought that Da Gongjing would take out the only remaining ointment in his arms to help him apply it to the wound. However, the next second, he watched Da Gongjing "Pooh" several times on his hands.
Centipede swam by: ???
Her hands were covered in gray-brown saliva, and she consciously rubbed them together before touching the wound where the tiny centipede had swam.
After a while, a tiny centipede swam by, its entire body covered with the saliva that Dagongjing despised.
Seeing this, the centipede couldn't help but twitch his eyes.
He was in a trance at the time and had no idea how the Dagong Mirror helped him heal his injuries.
Good god, so this is how I helped him?!
He asked why he felt sticky all over after he recovered, and he thought it was because of the stickiness of blood itself.
However, the saliva of the jellyfish was very effective. After a while, the little centipede swam over and was completely healthy. He was full of energy and vitality. It was completely impossible to tell that he had been bullied to the point of being on the verge of death.
"Thank you."
The little centipede swam over and said.
Although the scene before him was extremely terrifying and the person who rescued him was not a human, so what?
How many of the people he met were friendly? Aside from the man who imparted knowledge, the humans he encountered were no better than a mirror with a green face.
"No need." Da Gongjing waved his hand and got down to business: "Kid, do you want to make a deal with me?"
"trade?"
"You give me your essence and blood every month, and I will give you the information I know. I can fulfill your wish and help you become stronger! Are you willing?"
At the word "become stronger", the tiny centipede swam by and suddenly his eyes lit up.
The centipede that was watching swam by and couldn't help laughing at the scene before it.
I didn't feel it before, but now it seems that Da Gong Jing was quite pretentious at that time. The scene in front of me seemed like the devil was deceiving the ignorant boy, leading him step by step into the abyss.
"I do!"
The little centipede swam over and agreed without hesitation. Da Gongjing was stunned and asked, "Don't you have anything to ask me?"
She was just about to start speaking the lines she'd memorized for thousands of years? Your bluntness made her recitation seem unnecessary.
"No need. As long as I can become stronger, I will accept any price. You can take whatever you want!"
Faced with such generosity, Da Gong Jing fell silent.
After a long moment, she silently chose to skip the previous deception and began the routine inquiry: "You want to become stronger, what is your goal?"
"Number one in the world! I want to be number one in the world."
In response to the ambitious words spoken by the little centipede, the mirror remained expressionless, and cursed in his heart: Little brat, you have a big appetite!
"Yes, I will fulfill your wish. But, kid, let me be frank. If a situation arises that threatens my life, I will abandon you without hesitation. Do you understand?"
"clear!"
A centipede that was watching swam by and couldn't bear to listen any longer after hearing this.
Because he knew what would happen next.
In order to become the best in the world, he brought disaster to all quarters and made enemies everywhere. This was something that should have been borne by him alone, but in the end, among those who died, Da Gongjing's life was also lost.
He shook his head, and the scene in front of him formed a black vortex, and his memories disappeared bit by bit.
In an instant, the environment changed from the riverside lawn to the Imperial Master's Mansion.
He looked down at the sword on his chest, and the blood almost dyed his chest red.
He looked up at Xigua Tangqiu, who was stabbing him in the heart. The corners of his mouth curled up slightly, and a trace of regret suddenly flashed in his eyes. His body fell backwards little by little.
He thought, if he could go back in time, he would make another wish...
Thinking of this, Da Gongjing's face suddenly appeared in front of him, and his eyes became much gentler in an instant.
As for what wish he wants to make...
The centipede swam over and closed his eyes, feeling the intense cold enveloping his body.
It's all fine...as long as Da Gong Jing doesn't die from this...
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