Chapter 74: Chapter 74 – Family Comedy Drama
The school bell rang, signaling the end of the fourth lesson in the afternoon. Ren Qingqing hastily kept her textbook and pen in her bag and walked out of the cla.s.sroom building.
Ren Qingqing’s roommate had to hasten her pace almost to a jog in order to catch up with her. She lamented, “Qing, where are you rus.h.i.+ng of to?”
“Hurry up, the rest of the school is going to rush to the dining hall very soon and the queue is going to be very long. I want to takeout my food to the dorm quickly,” said Ren Qingqing as she continued walking.
Her roommate smiled and said, “Don’t you always prefer to take your time to go to the dining hall? You were too lazy to even walk when I asked you to run the last time and would rather queue and eat the leftovers. Now, you even want to takeout your food?”
Ren Qingqing’s roommate grabbed her hand and swung it around, saying, “Heh, is it because you want to catch up with the series?”
“Yes, it’s already 6 p.m., Neisser Ren should have uploaded a new video. I can’t possibly watch it on my mobile phone with my limited data plan, replied Ren Qingqing.
“Alright, I shall takeout my food too and make good use of dearest Qingqing’s 24-inch display screen,” said her roommate with a laugh.
Ren Qingqing had spent a few hundred dollars in the first year of university to purchase a second-hand display screen. It was relatively cost-effective and she was the only one in the entire dormitory to own such a display screen, becoming a true “internet addiction girl”.
Both of them returned to their room immediately after taking out their food from the dining hall. Without a doubt, there was no one else in as the rest were still eating slowly in the dining hall.
The dormitory rooms in the school were designed such that each bed and desk were a set, with the desk below the bed. The desk was huge and there was more than sufficient s.p.a.ce to accommodate two people eating after s.h.i.+fting the books on the desk to one side. Ren Qingqing’s roommate set her stool in front of Ren Qingqing’s desk.
Currently, Neisser Ren would upload a new episode of “Over My Dead Body” at 3 a.m., 9 a.m., 3 p.m., and 9 p.m. every day, and indeed at 3 o’clock that afternoon, he had uploaded a new episode, bringing the total number of episodes thus far to 14.
“Over My Dead Body” had only emerged just four days ago but it had instantly become the most streamed video on all video sites. It had started updating since Sat.u.r.day morning and after being forcefully shown on the homepages of the video sites, clicks on it had increased continuously.
Apart from the fact that the updates were extremely frequent, it was also a video series about the legends of the Pract.i.tioners and monsters during the Three Kingdoms and the final years of the Eastern Han dynasty, that was extremely addictive to watch with its extraordinary special effects, actors, details, and plot.
Many people did not understand why Neisser Ren, who had always posted videos about the “records of modern legends”, would suddenly upload such a video series. Nonetheless, with his fame and extraordinary hacking skills (forcefully showing his videos on any website), his new video series still attracted a large audience.
Eventually, the captivating series itself drew the attention of its incredibly huge audience.
Upon clicking the video, the bullet comments appeared and grew longer at an observable rate. Furthermore, the duration of the video pleasantly surprised Ren Qingqing and her roommate – it was 46 minutes long!
Not counting the oPeD, the bulk of the video was still at least 40 minutes long!
For some unknown reason, the length of each episode of the series was different. The longer ones were comparable to a movie at over 120 minutes long, while the shorter ones could be just 20 minutes long.
But as more episodes were updated, the web forums discussing the video series very quickly found a trend – each episode would hint at the time in the video, and almost every episode depicted events that took place within the year and in chronological order!
As such, the series was actually separated into episodes based on the progression of time in the video, and each episode was essentially one year in the video!
Everyone was amused at such an unprecedented way of separating the entire series into episodes.
But that also allowed the viewers to understand the chronology of the entire series. They only needed to know that the first episode took place during the first year of the Chuping era of the Eastern Han dynasty, which was 190 CE. Afterwhich, anyone could count which year it was in any of the subsequent episodes.
The fourteenth episode hence ill.u.s.trated the events in 203 CE.
Recalling the contents of the previous episode, both Ren Qingqing and her roommate smiled in unison.
The main plot of “Over My Dead Body” revolved around the Ren family of Pract.i.tioners, beginning from the time when the entire Ren family suddenly died, leaving three brothers behind.
In the first episode, information about the bloodline of the Ren family was concealed, and all other information including the revival of the Reiki sources in the Central Plains was fully revealed. The intriguing angle shown through the story and its refres.h.i.+ng plot filled the fantasy series with unending suspense: In the end, would the Ren family of Pract.i.tioners be able to break free of their own bloodline, and free their descendants from the grasp of Emperor Guangwu? What role would the Ren family play amidst the Period of the Three Kingdoms in the final years of the Eastern Han dynasty?
Unlike her roommate, Ren Qingqing was a serious and experienced gamer who naturally played numerous games about the Three Kingdoms. Although she was not considered a Three Kingdoms fanatic, she was still knowledgeable in the detailed literary texts as well as the major wars and iconic figures of that time.
Just as Ren Qingqing had thought that “Over My Dead Body” was purely a story about ghosts and demons, she was quickly proven wrong.
Earlier on in the series, the Ren family of Pract.i.tioners already had to eradicate the Demon Ghost Troops at Hulao Pa.s.s. Then, in episode five, which was set in the 194 CE, the Ren brothers headed to Xu Province to eradicate monsters. However, the scene that awaited them left them dumbfounded. It was a ma.s.s ma.s.sacre, a scene of living h.e.l.l: dead bodies were strewn all over the ground and demons were roaming about everywhere.
The Ren brothers subdued most of the monsters and also saved a group of villagers. Along the way home, the second Ren brother remained silent throughout.
When they were a day away from home, the second Ren brother suddenly left the team and headed towards Yan Province!
He wanted to kill the cruel warlord, Cao Cao!
The second Ren brother only attempted to kill Cao Cao once – that was when Cao Cao was fighting against Lu Bu. The second Ren brother first hid outside Cao Cao’s camp and tracked his movements, then found out the tent he resided in. In the middle of the night, he infiltrated secretly into Cao Cao’s camp.
The second Ren brother was a Pract.i.tioner versed in the sword. With his sword, no monster would dare to pick a fight with him. In addition, he was an extremely strong and powerful Pract.i.tioner of the Ren family with the Inheritance of Emperor Guangwu, and was not afraid of any living person. Even when pitted against strong monsters, he could fight one to a hundred!
The second Ren brother found Cao Cao’s tent without being discovered. However, just as he pulled out his sword, he could see his sideburns turn grey.
That was why he could only draw the sword once.
After that, all of his hair turned grey.
His sword rapidly slashed through the cloth of the tent from top to bottom, splitting the tent into two. The guards had not even figured out what had happened when the second Ren brother had already fled from the camp at a blazingly fast speed.
He could only manage to glance back once but realized that Cao Cao was still alive – at the moment when wielded his sword, Cao Cao sat up from his sleeping position as if he was sleepwalking, and successfully avoided his deadly blow!
The second Ren brother decided to return home even though he could not accomplish what he had intended to achieve. However, because of his actions, he started vomiting blood continuously along the way and eventually collapsed along the road. Even though he had only brushed the edges of the Laws of the Inheritance, the grip of Emperor Guangwu already brought devastating consequences.
Subsequently, he was saved by Zhang Liao, a subordinate of Lu Bu, but that was another story to tell.
In a short span of thirteen episodes, the Ren family of Pract.i.tioners had interacted with numerous well-known historical figures. They affected the path of the historical figures in one way or another, and they were also affected by them. But that did not hinder the Ren family of Pract.i.tioners from progressing towards their goal: to eliminate all monsters in the world and break free of the shackles of their bloodline.
At the peak of the suspense, the three Ren brothers began to die, one after another.
The curse of their short 24-year-long lifespan struck them like the Sword of Damocles, and they perished as soon as their time was up.
In 198 CE, Ren Woxing, the head of the first generation of the Ren family followed his two brothers into the grave. Before his death, he transferred his abilities and ident.i.ty to Ren Nu, who was only eight years old at that time.
Ren Nu was the son born between Ren Woxing and the Earth Elf of Taibai Plains. He became the head of the family at the age of eight, and he also had six younger siblings.
Fortunately, things were not too hard for Ren Nu.
When the first generation of the Ren family went on missions to eliminate monsters, they took in many people into their village and offered them protection and a place for rest and recovery. When there were no adults amongst the Ren family, the villagers who were once saved by the Ren family would willingly take care of them. There was even a villager entrusted by Ren Woxing who would handle all the daily tasks of the Ren family, and thus Ren Nu did not necessarily need to make any decisions.
As such, Ren Nu could make full use of his time to set out to train.
Before the age of 14, the Ren family Pract.i.tioners were not allowed to set out on expeditions to sp.a.w.n areas of the monsters, but that did not mean that they could not leave the house.
In fact, even without training, the potential of the Ren family Pract.i.tioners would already increase naturally as they grew older. The only thing that they needed to learn was their special abilities.
Although he was just a kid and was still training on his special ability, Ren Nu already possessed the power to subdue almost any other person.
Throughout his training journey, Ren Nu could make use of the Hungry Ghosts and bandits along the way to practice and experiment with his abilities.
During his training journey, Ren Nu met a group of cousins who were, to his surprise, Pract.i.tioners with “Inherited Abilities”.
The goal of the cousins was to make use of that power to punish those who were evil. Thinking that it was too striking for a young child like him to be alone in the wild, he decided to conceal his abilities and followed them to learn more about the happenings in the world.
Ren Nu teamed up with the group of cousins and journeyed across the land. Episodes nine to 13 all revolved around Ren Nu’s journey.
In comparison with the solemn journey of the initial Ren family of Pract.i.tioners, weighed down by their fates, the story of Ren Nu’s journey was more light-hearted and brought more laughter. Very soon, the three of them became known throughout the Central Plains, but naturally also made many enemies.
Episode 14 was similarly a continuation of the story of Ren Nu’s journey, frequently making Ren Qingqing and her roommate burst into laughter –
After an intense battle, the young female cousin was poisoned and upon verification by the young male cousin, he was flabbergasted, saying, “Isn’t this the peculiar aphrodisiac poison that causes death if the infected person does not perform s.e.xual intercourse within 15 minutes?! We have no time to spare, this is a responsibility that I, as your cousin, have to take. Ren Nu, go to the side and take a dump first…”
At this moment, Ren Nu plucked out a bunch of gra.s.s from the soil. With his “Level 3 Healing Ability”, he infused a cure in the bunch of gra.s.s and said, “Don’t worry, I have the cure!”
The young male cousin was speechless.
Returning on their journey, they encountered a tiger spirit and a poisonous snake in an intense battle. The three of them crowded around to watch them but were noticed by the poisonous snake, and so they collectively killed the snake.
However, the tiger spirit was also on the verge of death. Before it died, it ran back to its lair and held its cub in its embrace as it looked intensely at the three of them.
The young man understood its intentions and asked, “Are you afraid that no one would take care of your child if you die, and want me to take care of it for you?”
The tiger spirit nodded her head and he immediately banged his chest, saying, “No problem! I will definitely take good care of your child…”
At this moment, Ren Nu plucked another bunch of gra.s.s from the soil and said, “Don’t worry, I will be able to heal it!”
Once again, the young male cousin was speechless.
Along their journey, they also encountered a powerful Pract.i.tioner robbing the people of their valuables. The young male cousin immediately went forward but was quickly knocked to the ground by the powerful Pract.i.tioner.
The powerful Pract.i.tioner said, “Hmph, you have angered me, but it seems that you have some potential. If you are willing to become my disciple, I will let you and your friends go.”
The young cousin let out a face of agony. He said, “I will not bow down to you… but for the sake of my friends…”
At this moment, Ren Nu wielded his blade from with his fingers and immediately slashed the powerful Pract.i.tioner to death. He cried out loudly, “I didn’t expect the amulet I picked up on the street to be so powerful.”
The young male cousin was left speechless yet again.
40 minutes went by very quickly. At the end of the episode, the three of them were in an old house for the night. Ren Nu suddenly said to his two companions, “I am leaving.”
“I will not be coming back ever again,” he finished.
The two cousins were stunned and tried to persuade Ren Nu to stay, but they knew he was extremely serious about it.
Then, the young guy suddenly stood up and left, saying, “I am going to take a dump outside, so you two can talk…”
Only Ren Nu and the young girl remained in the old house. Due to the large number of deaths on the Central Plains, they could easily find an abandoned house that they could live in after packing it up. While it was an old house, it had undamaged roofs. The blushed faces of the two teenagers could be seen in the faint light of a fire burning only from firewood.
Upon seeing the scene, Ren Qingqing and her roommate took a deep breath as they became anxious awaiting what was next.
In the past few episodes showing their entire journey, there seemed to be an ambiguous romantic relations.h.i.+p between the two cousins initially. But ever since Ren Nu appeared, that ambiguity and romance faded into oblivion.
On the contrary, Ren Nu matured and grew taller extremely fast over the two years, and by the time he was 14, he already looked like he was 18.
There were numerous flirtatious exchanges between Ren Nu and the young girl, as well as occasional extraordinarily sweet moments between them. They looked the part as a couple, given their small age gap.
Suddenly, the girl said, “Actually, you have always been helping us throughout our journey. Compared to us, you are much more powerful, am I right?”
Ren Nu nodded his head.
“Do you not have anything you want to tell me?” asked the girl.
Ren Nu hesitated for a moment and shook his head.
“What if I say… that I want to go back with you?” asked the girl as he looked intensely at Ren Nu, the light in her eyes gleaming even brighter than the moon.
“There is a village just outside the place I live in,” said Ren Nu calmly. He continued, “It is a very safe and peaceful place… You can stay there.”
The girl said, “You know… you know what I am trying to say. You know that I am hoping for an answer that will make me happy.”
“I know, but I just hope that, your happiness would not turn into misery in ten years’ time. You… should receive much more happiness than that.”
“I need to go back and be responsible for my family. It is entrusted to me by my dead ancestors, and it is also the wish of my brothers and sisters. I cannot always be beside you, and I will not be able to live to see our grandchildren running around us, and that is exactly why I cannot give you a satisfactory answer that will make you happy…”
…
…
When the young guy returned, only the girl remained in the old house.
“He left…?” asked the young guy. He sighed and said, “I had thought that you would be able to get us an impressive son-in-law. He is such a strong and powerful Pract.i.tioner… The little overlord of the early days was not even as strong as him.”
The young girl remained silent for a moment and laughed sarcastically, saying, “What little overlord… the undefeatable Lu Bu is not as strong as him!”
The young guy did not react for a brief moment. He nodded his head and said, “Fine, fine… You are right. Either way, I cannot defeat him, and neither can I defeat you.”
“Let’s go home,” said the young girl suddenly. She continued, “Brother Zhi, it’s time for us to go home too.”
“Sure, let’s proceed as you wish,” he replied. He continued, “However, Sun Ce died three years ago, and Sun Quan is now the General Who Attacks Barbarians and Administrator of Kuaiji. If you return… our family would not reject General Sun’s proposal for betrothment with you, unless you leave Jiangdong with Mother.”
He asked, “Do you really wish to go back after escaping for so long?”
The girl asked, “Will I be happy if I marry General Sun?”
He replied, “Only the person who is drinking the water will know if it is hot or cold. But in such a chaotic world, becoming the spouse of a young general would grant you safety and a comfortable life. You would not need to worry about being attacked, and I guess that is the most fortunate thing…”
“In that case, I, Bu Lians.h.i.+, am willing to fulfil our family’s wishes,” said the girl, her eyes gleaming.
The scene remained etched in Ren Qingqing and her roommate’s memories.
When the scene reappeared, it was already eight episodes later.
In episode 22 of “Over My Dead Body” which was set in 211 CE, a grey-haired Ren Nu recalled the young girl’s gaze as he was about to die.
Two sentences appeared on the screen as narration:
“In the autumn of year 211, Ren Nu pa.s.sed away at the age of 22. Military Successes: Annihilation Battle of Guandu, Annihilation of two large ghost monsters at the Red Cliff.”
“In the spring of year 238, Bu Lians.h.i.+, the spouse of Sun Quan, the Emperor of Wu, pa.s.sed away. In February the same year, she was honored as the Empress. She bore two daughters who were adored by Sun Quan. Bu Lians.h.i.+ was one who did not grow jealous of the other wives of Sun Quan and was highly respected by the people.”