I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 197: Chapter 141: Disappointed People, Blank Paper, Rampaging Heart Demon

"’You guys’... who are you?"

As Zheng Xiu asked this, his fists clenched and his muscles tensed. He quietly suppressed the faint killing intent that began to rise.

But upon hearing this, Ruchen tilted his head with a loud CRACK from his neck. His face was a mask of disbelief—one eye wide open, the other squinted. With a peculiar expression, he asked quizzically, "Brother Zheng, did Kui Lang shoot you in the head or something?"

"..."

’My ass.’

The corner of Zheng Xiu’s mouth twitched. The tense atmosphere he had worked so hard to create was completely shattered by Ruchen’s single remark.

"I see."

A moment later, Ruchen scratched his bald head. A look of sudden realization dawned on his face as he finally understood.

Ruchen’s expression suddenly changed, prompting Zheng Xiu to take two steps back and watch him warily.

Why would Zheng Xiu ask such a question?

It all began when he first met Ruchen.

His first encounter with the Playful Monk was perhaps the most bizarre spectacle Zheng Xiu had ever witnessed: a perfectly respectable Monk had disguised himself as a courtesan, snuck into a brothel, and prepared to entertain a male client. Although the act was never consummated, the image of Ruchen in women’s clothes was seared into Zheng Xiu’s memory.

It was utterly bizarre.

Then, as they traveled together, Ruchen continued to exhibit all kinds of strange behaviors.

Sometimes, he was bashful and blushing, like a young bride;

At other times, fierce and aggressive, like a mountain bandit;

And at others, pure and innocent, like a child in the street.

But the most common version was the Ruchen of the present: dead serious and resolute, a proper Ascetic Monk.

If it had happened once or twice, Zheng Xiu might have dismissed it as Ruchen simply having a fit. But it occurred so often that he felt "having a fit" was no longer an adequate description.

This was "being sick."

Seriously sick.

Combined with the fact that Ruchen could perform Miracle Techniques from different Paths, Zheng Xiu had a reasonable suspicion: several "personalities" had emerged within him.

When this outrageous possibility first occurred to Zheng Xiu, he initially found it unbelievable. But then he considered that the fundamental nature of cultivating a "Path" was a form of method acting. He wondered if it was possible that, in the process of playing different roles, Ruchen had lost himself and given birth to "new personalities."

"New personalities," each walking a different Path, growing more and more distant from one another.

The reason Zheng Xiu chose this moment to confront Ruchen was that he was about to make a huge gamble.

For some reason, the aura of Feng Bei’s Ghostly Realm was growing weaker, and Zheng Xiu could feel the connection between them fading. He had to be certain that his new Post Station, [Ascetic Monk], was secure. He needed to confirm that Ruchen’s "major illness" wouldn’t jeopardize his upcoming journey south.

A man’s heart is difficult to fathom, let alone that of a seriously ill man. He had to be on his guard.

Zheng Xiu could only be at ease if Ruchen’s "major illness" was merely a side effect of being a Mystic Monk, one that Ruchen himself had under control.

Ruchen put his palms together and smiled. "So, Brother Zheng, you’ve seen me in that unsightly state when I’m ’troubled by my Heart Demon.’"

Zheng Xiu froze for a moment. "Troubled by your Heart Demon?"

A carefree smile spread across Ruchen’s face. Now that Zheng Xiu had brought it out into the open, it was as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders in an instant.

Once a secret is discovered, it’s no longer a secret. Ruchen was instantly relieved.

"Brother Zheng, your perception is truly like a torch. So you already saw that I am plagued by a Heart Demon."

"I only felt that something was strange. I don’t know the details."

Ruchen began, "This story begins about three years ago. Three years ago, when I opened my eyes, I found myself collapsed in General Town, in front of the door of a blacksmith surnamed Hua."

"At the time, I didn’t know what had befallen me. I had forgotten my past, forgotten everything that came before."

"He would become Ruchen’s adoptive father, an ordinary blacksmith named Hua Qianshou."

"Later, my adoptive father told me that when he found Ruchen, Ruchen was covered in wounds, his life hanging by a thread. So he kindly took him in, applying herbal medicine and feeding Ruchen porridge to heal him. Under my adoptive father’s meticulous care, Ruchen survived."

At this, Ruchen lifted his robes and turned his back to Zheng Xiu.

Ruchen’s back was covered in scars. Some looked like they were from a sword, others from arrows, and a few looked like burns.

They looked like wounds sustained during an escape.

"My adoptive father took pity on me, helpless and alone as I was. He worried that my enemies were hunting for me, so he had me take on a new identity. He adopted me as his son and announced to the townspeople that his son, who had been lost for many years, had finally come home."

"The truth is, my adoptive father’s biological son had died in the army more than twenty years ago during the Northern Barbarian Chaos. His body was never recovered. For two decades, my adoptive father was a silent, withdrawn man who did nothing but forge metal. He was, you know, the best blacksmith in town when it came to horseshoes. The neighbors just thought he was eccentric. When he adopted me, they whispered that he’d gone mad from longing for his son, but they all turned a blind eye. They played along, even coming to our door to offer congratulations."

"Then, somehow, my adoptive father started to believe it himself. He gritted his teeth, sold off his valuables, and hosted a ten-table banquet. At that reunion feast, my father drank six whole jugs of wine. He got roaring drunk, hid in his room, and just cried and cried and cried, calling out another name."

"That night, from the other side of the door, I called out to him—’Dad’—and he suddenly stopped crying."

Zheng Xiu stared, stunned, and sank to the ground.

Suddenly, looking at Ruchen’s forlorn expression, he found himself wishing he had a pot of wine to warm.

But alas, he had none.

Ruchen smiled, a carefree air about him. "Later, my adoptive father gave me the name ’Huahua.’ He said that when he found me at his door, I was deliriously repeating a single word: ’Hua.’ Perhaps this was the fated connection between us. My adoptive father was convinced that my real name must contain the word ’Hua,’ so he gave me that name, hoping that one day I might recover my memories and find myself again."

"For the following year, I learned to smith alongside my adoptive father in his workshop. But that winter, he contracted consumption, and the doctors in town were powerless to help. I heard there was an eminent monk at Yunliu Temple, so I carried my adoptive father up the mountain on my back. At Yunliu Temple, I met Master Dengdeng. The Master said I had a karmic tie to Yunliu Temple and wanted to accept me as his disciple. As for my adoptive father’s illness, he said it was the will of Heaven, that my father had only ten days left. And just as he predicted, ten days later, my father was gone."