IWOL Chapter 83: Psychological Counseling

“Yes, my space power was disturbed by an energy from an unknown source, which made me lose surveillance of Dong Zheng’s situation for a short time,” Fu Zhe said. “I guessed that it might be Luo Yan. Even if you didn’t come see me now, I was planning to ask Dong Zheng about it tomorrow.”

Cui Zuojing said, “That takes skills. If you look at it this way, her power is stronger than yours.”

“Right. My guess is that she is nearly free and that she’d already lifted her second seal. Did she reveal her current whereabouts to Dong Zheng?”

Cui Zuojing shook his head. “She gave no indications of her location, so I still preferred that she give Dong Zheng some kind of advancement through the illusion.”

Fu Zhe let out a sound of agreement. As he pondered, his fingers rubbed the rough surface of his book cover and he placed his black flute on the table.

“At least I have more clues now. The rest is just a matter of time.” Cui Zuojing was very optimistic. It’d only been three months since he came back and so many good things had already happened.

“Yes.” Fu Zhe smiled slightly. He suddenly thought of something, and told Cui Zuojing, “Pay more attention to Wang Que these days. Her condition isn’t too good.”

Cui Zuojing understood. “What dreadful thing did you do in the illusion?”

“I never create fear.”

Cui Zuojing naturally pushed aside his own thoughts on the matter and answered him with half a sentence. “Yes, yes, yes, you just dig for fear. The little girl is frightened and now you want me to help clean up the mess. Just great.”

Fu Zhe said, “I’m not asking you to clean it up, just for you to pay more attention. Her counseling will be entrusted to Victor since she isn’t as wary of him. It’s getting late. You should go and take a rest. Don’t worry about the seal. I’m still researching it.”

Cui Zuojing had long wanted to know why he hadn’t even felt the power of time yet. It had only happened once when he and Victor arrived on the seemingly endless train, when Victor had transformed backward from an aging cat into a young one. He suddenly became more energetic. “Do you have any idea?”

“Just a little bit. My initial guess is that you’d left the Pure White Realm for eight years and so you need to pay a certain time-debt in order to truly fit here…The details aren’t clear yet, but don’t worry.”

For Cui Zuojing, the term time-debt was quite novel. But, since Fu Zhe told him not to worry, he didn’t ask anymore and went back to rest.

For many people, this was a sleepless night.

“Actually, the reason you chose to abstain wasn’t just because Dong Zheng might not be able to hold on for much longer.”

Fu Zhe’s voice still echoed in Wang Que’s ears. She buried herself under her comforter but couldn’t escape the pervasive chill and encroaching darkness—

“No matter what you experienced before, no matter your past or your secret pain, here, you must throw away your cowardice.”

“If you don’t want to harm other people.”

The night breeze was moist, signaling a precursor to rain.

The sky was blemished with low clouds that cloaked the moon and stars, hanging so low that they seemed as if they could be reached by a mere stretch of a hand. Sitting on the rooftop, Dong Linhai took a deep breath and released it in a heavy sigh.

This constantly noisy teenager seemed to understand what melancholy was. He sat on the rooftop for a long, long time. When they first arrived in the Pure White Realm, they had a rooftop on top of their apartment, and this was one of the requirements when Dong Zheng was looking for accommodations in District XII.

Although they usually lived in Fu Zhe’s castle, Dong Linhai would come out and stay in the apartment from time to time. The castle was simply too boring.

Dong Zheng deceived him in such an upsetting way—Yes, Dong Linhai regarded it as deception; he’d used his unconditional trust against him.

Why do it like this?…In the final level of the competition, he definitely wouldn’t be able to win. Since his older brother could win, then why lie to him?

He sighed heavily again.

Allen finished his shooting practice and ran out to be with the hot spring proprietress. By the time he returned, it was already midnight.

He was a little tired, but on the whole, he felt refreshed. Sometimes, love had this magical power. He and Kazama Hori had met each other for less than a month, but they felt as if they’d been together for a long time.

When he entered the castle, Victor was jumping down the stairs one step at a time. He had slept a lot during the day, and now he was energized.

Seeing Allen return, Victor said, “Linhai isn’t in his room. He’d been in a bad mood since the competition ended. I wanted to talk to him, but I couldn’t find him anywhere.”

“He’s not in his room?” Allen glanced at the time, which showed that it was half past one in the morning.

“I think I might know where he is. Wait for me to find him.” Allen entered the kitchen and came out with two cans of beer in his hands.

Dong Linhai let out a big yawn.

He felt a little sleepy, but he didn’t want to go back to sleep.

He sighed.

“Young man, what makes you so sad?” Allen’s deliberately artificial aria came from behind him. Dong Linhai hadn’t expected anyone else to come up and turned his head to look at him in surprise.

“You didn’t come back. Uncle got a little worried so I came out to look for you.” Allen sat down beside Dong Linhai and handed him a beer. He looked at the buildings in District XII and the streetlights below. The faint wind blew, lifting his spirit. “This weather is really comfortable.”

Dong Linhai made a sound of acknowledgement, pulled back the can tab with one hand, and took a large mouthful with his head tipped back.

“Have you been to the United States?” Allen suddenly asked.

“I’ve been to Hawaii.” Dong Linhai’s parents would take him to Hawaii for vacation every three years. He would have gone again this year after his college entrance examination, if not for the car accident.

“My hometown is in California. California, have you ever heard of it? It’s on the west coast of the United States and can be regarded today as one of the best states in the United States.”

When speaking of his home state, Allen’s voice became more gentle than ever. He seemed to have returned to that place again. Warm summer days, golden beaches, and a small town with food trucks selling cold drinks on the street. “My house is right by the sea. Every day, after school, I would play football with my classmates. When I get tired, I would move the deck chair over and watch the sunset with my dad.”

“Later, I got a girlfriend from Mexico. She was coming to China, and I came with her, regardless of my family’s objections. At that time, I lived in Xiamen. The climate in Xiamen was very similar to my hometown. It was very warm and had a beautiful sea.”

Dong Linhai sipped his beer and listened silently. He remembered that Allen had mentioned his Mexican girlfriend before.

“She planned on going back to Mexico after finishing up university in China. She wanted me to go back with her, but this time, I refused.”

“I did so much for her, gave up so much. I left the United States and gave up the opportunity to go to Brown University. But, she wasn’t willing to give in at all. So…in the end, we broke up.”

Dong Linhai couldn’t help but said, “She’s too much, right? She’s not thinking about you at all.”

Allen shrugged. “Yeah. I was really angry at the time, but now I felt very lucky to have broken up with her. Otherwise, who knew what else I would have lost in the future for her?”

Dong Linhai was amused by this timely discussion of preventing loss. He sighed heavily.

“Are you still upset about what happened at the training?”

Dong Linhai whispered, “I don’t know why. To be honest, if it were you or Brother Hang who pitted me, I would never be like this. I would have quickly gotten over it. But, because it was my brother who did it, why does it feel so uncomfortable?”

“You take Dong Zheng too seriously.” Allen hit the nail on the head, “Actually, this is really nothing. From the very beginning, all of us knew we would eliminate each other in the end.”

“I don’t have complaints about him eliminating me. But, the way he did it made me feel used. He took advantage of my trust in him.”

Dong Linhai paused and continued, “Since I was young, my parents always told me to learn from him because he was really good. He was eight years older than me and started his business soon after I entered junior high school. At that time, if I failed an exam, I would pull him over to attend my parent-teacher conference. When I get into trouble, I would subconsciously find him. And, no matter what he was up to, he would always find time to come over.”

“Later, when we had the car accident and came to the Pure White Realm, we became each other’s only relative and support. He’d always protected me. So, when brother was in the most critical condition, I used the only method I knew to save him…He got Cui Zuojing.”

“When I was upset because of my ability, he was also the one who comforted me. As long as he asked me to do anything, I would definitely do it because I believe that he wouldn’t hurt me.”

The first drop of rain finally fell, leaving a cool trace on the skin.

But neither of them seemed to want to go back and hide from the rain, as if such a light rain was nonexistent to the two rough male.

Allen touched his chin thoughtfully. “This may be the crux of the problem. Fu Zhe said that trust isn’t a bad thing. But, unconditional trust is not a good thing either. There are times when people are helpless. What if Dong Zheng was forced to do something wrong and, if you trust him unconditionally, wouldn’t this be a bad thing?”

Dong Linhai didn’t say a word. He thought for a while and felt that Allen’s words were indeed reasonable.

“Worship is sometimes not a good thing. No matter where they are, what people need the most is to choose their own direction. Don’t be too sensitive. You’re both blood brothers. Dong Zheng has always taken care of you. So, you have to believe that he has no other meaning…If you are really upset about it, then ask him and clarify the matter. You won’t have any results if all you do is sulk and obsess over it.”

“Mmn!”

Because the rain was getting heavier, Dong Linhai got up from the ground and patted his butt. Holding an empty beer can in his hand, he lifted his arms over his head, stretched out his waist, and took a deep breath. This time, when he exhaled, his body relaxed.

“Thanks, Brother Len. I feel much better after talking to you. I’ll talk to my brother when I have time.”

“You’re welcome. It’s getting late. Let’s go back. We’ll be training as usual tomorrow, so if we get too affected, we’ll be miserable.”

Allen slapped his shoulder twice. Then, they both clutched each other, braving the fine rain and laughing and joking as they left the rooftop.

Early the next day, both Allen and Dong Linhai really did wake up late.

Cui Zuojing heard what Victor said last night and probably understood what had happened. Dong Zheng also lost too much blood yesterday so, although he insisted he was fine, Cui Zuojing still refused to let him participate in the training.

Just kidding. If Dong Zheng ended up fainting, wouldn’t he have to suffer along with him?

Wang Que’s condition was also very poor. The little girl had large, dark bags under her eyes; it was quite obvious that she hadn’t rested well.

Seeing that Lin Hangzhi was the only energetic one, Cui Zuojing realized that the morning training might not be possible. He pretended to sigh and said, “Hangzhi still needs to go for a run. You’re too weak and have to practice. You others…go and practice your shooting.”

Dong Zheng said, “I’m really okay.”

Cui Zuojing pushed him lightly and smiled, “You need to be honest, otherwise if you want to pit yourself, you’ll implicate me.”

Dong Linhai looked at these two people and felt a little uncomfortable in his heart. He covered his mouth and let out a big yawn.