Chapter 652
Chapter 652
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>Translator: Ryuma
>Chapter: 652
>Chapter Title: The Stage
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Chapter 652: The Stage
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> “Alright, alright, I’m done laughing. Don’t go, dear.”
Under Luo Jinhua’s tugging, Lv Juren finally sat down on the recliner.
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> The recliner was a bit cramped for two people to lie on, but neither of them minded.
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> “Dear, actually, I don’t regret marrying you. You’re a bit of a coward, sure, but you’ve got a good heart.”
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> Lv Juren lay there, listening as his wife opened her heart to him.
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> “If it were anyone else who struck it rich, they’d be off looking for a concubine, but not you.”
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> “Back when Xiu’er was born and they saw it was a girl, your dad’s face went as black as the bottom of a pot, but you were grinning like a monkey.”
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> At this point, Luo Jinhua suddenly remembered something. Her neck craned up, a sly look crossing her face.
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> “Hey, did your dad say anything? Like, after he dies, he’s definitely leaving this theater to you? Something in writing, maybe?”
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> “Ahem.” Lv Juren cleared his throat lightly and rolled over. “Why drag my dad into this?”
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> “Tsk! How can you not pay attention to this? I’m telling you, your little brother might seem like a fool, but he’s sharp as a tack. Don’t let him take all the good stuff at the end.”
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> Lv Juren suddenly sat up, his expression turning puzzled.
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> “Don’t try to run off every time this comes up! Without this theater, when we’re old, are we begging on the streets together?”
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> “No, listen. Why’d the singing out front stop?”
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> Hearing this, Luo Jinhua tilted her head to listen and realized the theater up front had indeed gone quiet—no more singing, just some commotion instead. “What’s going on? Did the show flop?”
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> “You stay here with Xiu’er, don’t move. I’ll go take a look.”
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> Lv Juren got off the recliner and headed for the side door.
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> But just as his hand reached for the latch, the wooden door was kicked open in an instant. A large group of people burst in—white cloths on their heads, black bands over their shoulders.
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> Leading them was an old beggar with sores all over his face. Lv Juren had seen him at the market entrance.
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> Right now, he clutched a kitchen knife, swinging it menacingly as he charged forward and hacked straight into Lv Juren’s chest.
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> Hearing Lv Juren’s cry of pain, the old beggar laughed with vicious satisfaction.
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> “You rich folks, dressed in silk from cradle to grave—you feel pain too, huh?! Do you know what hunger is? Do you know what suffering is? Do you know what it’s like to be humiliated and looked down on?!”
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> “Heaven’s unfair? Then today we’ll change Heaven itself!! Make you taste what it’s like to be poor!!”
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> Feeling the searing agony, Lv Juren stared at the mob before him. The usually timid man shoved the old man aside and turned to shout at Luo Jinhua on the recliner. “Jinhua!! Run!!”
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> After yelling at her, Lv Juren turned to block the mob trying to cut her off. But at that moment, a blacksmith’s hammer smashed brutally into his head.
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> Bone couldn’t withstand iron. Lv Juren’s skull caved in, his body went rigid, and he toppled to the ground.
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> “Dear!!! ” Luo Jinhua screamed in collapse, charging toward Lv Juren’s body heedless of the Law Cult followers.
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> A burly old woman rushed up from the crowd, scissors in hand. Eyes blazing with hate, teeth gritted, she plunged them into Luo Jinhua’s neck.
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> “I’ll make you enjoy your luxuries! I’ll make you enjoy them! We’re both women!! Why do you get the blessings while I suffer?!”
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> As the light faded from Luo Jinhua’s eyes, the old woman yanked out the scissors and headed toward Xiu’er, who was sobbing on the ground.
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> Just as she raised her hand to strike, the old beggar—still smarting from Lv Juren’s shove—rushed up and scooped Xiu’er into his arms.
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> “What are you doing?! She’s just a kid! Is your heart made of stone?! You’d kill even a little one like this?!”
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> “Get out of the way!”
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> “No!”
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> As the two stood locked in confrontation, the others rushed into the back courtyard to loot.
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> Seeing this, they immediately dropped their quarrel and hurried after them, afraid to be too slow and miss out on the good stuff.
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> Before long, though, everyone trudged back out onto the street, faces dark with disappointment.
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> Clearly, the theater’s back courtyard held little of value.
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> “I know where their house is! Follow me, everyone!”
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> Hearing this, the whole crowd surged down the street.
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> A ruffian with dragon tattoos on both arms casually set the theater ablaze as they went.
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> The old beggar, carrying the wailing Xiu’er, trailed at the rear of the crowd.
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> Life had always been hand-to-mouth for him, and his stamina wasn’t what it used to be. Carrying a child, he was falling behind.
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> He thought about setting Xiu’er down, but a glance at the chaos around him made him grit his teeth and press on.
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> But just then, he heard a commotion up ahead.
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> “Demon!!”
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> “It’s a demon!!”
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> “Don’t be scared! Our Lord Yu’er is almighty—a mere demon’s nothing! Charge!! Kill it!!”
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> Before the old beggar could figure out what was happening, a burst of blood mist exploded from the distant crowd.
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> Then, the people fell like stalks of rice in a field, dropping in swaths.
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> Finally, he saw what it was.
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> A red-robed Daoist covered in writhing black tendrils.
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> The Daoist wore a copper coin mask over his face, and his single eye held two pupils. Each black tendril ended in a bloodied blade, making him look every bit the monster.
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> The moment the old beggar laid eyes on it, he had no time for anything else. He simply raised his bloody kitchen knife, shoved the child behind him—and in the next instant, his entire body split open.
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> In the gushing blood, Li Huowang spotted the crying Xiu’er and paused slightly.
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> He hadn’t expected to encounter anyone from the Lv Family Troupe under these circumstances.
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> Xiu’er, face flushed red from sobbing, toddled over to Li Huowang. She tugged hard at his hem with one hand, pointing toward the theater with the other.
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> A tentacle wrapped around Xiu’er as Li Huowang leaped onto the rooftiles and rushed in the direction she indicated.
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> It wasn’t long before Li Huowang spotted the Lv Family Troupe’s theater signboard.
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> The once gold-and-silver-inlaid wood was now engulfed in roaring flames.
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> Seeing the collapsing interior, Li Huowang gritted his teeth and charged inside.
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> The stage, too, was wrapped in fire.
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> A white-haired old man stood on the crumbling platform, half-crying, half-laughing in mad ecstasy as he bellowed out opera lines.
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> Beside him lay the corpses of his son and daughter-in-law.
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> “A full moon rises early in the east! I think of my aged mother back home! Serving the lord is like a sheep beside a tiger—loyalty fulfilled, yet filial piety forsaken. Stars shift at the second watch’s end, restless in seat or bed, never betrayed Guxian’s folk, yet why the golden summons now? The watchtower chimes the third watch’s close, a full moon lights the steps!”
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> Lv Zhuangyuan had gone mad.
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> (End of chapter)