Cosmic-Level Demon God-Chapter 45 - 41: Being Human is Hard, Being a Dog is Tough_2

Chapter 45: Chapter 41: Being Human is Hard, Being a Dog is Tough_2

Old Liang, as usual, carried a half-empty bottle of wine with "Beicang" faintly visible through his hand.

He supported himself on the stairs, slowly moving his body upward.

The corridor on the fifth floor was pitch-black, connected to several single rooms.

A cool night breeze blew in, swaying the clothes hanging on the line, creating a scene reminiscent of an old horror movie.

Old Liang pulled out a flattened pack of Liming cigarettes, took out the last one, held it in his mouth, but didn’t light it.

"I thought, with your cowardly nature, you’d never dare to see me again in this life."

He spoke to the man hidden in the shadows at the end of the corridor.

"Teacher, I’m sorry."

Cheng Ze took a few steps forward but then stopped.

This leader of Beiguan Street, like a student who had made a mistake, stood there nervously.

"Sorry? Haha, hahaha, so many years have passed, Cheng Ze, why are you still such a coward?"

Old Liang took the cigarette from his mouth, his eyes fixed on Cheng Ze in the darkness, laughing continuously: free𝑤ebnovel.com

"What do you have to be sorry for? You attended Sons and Daughters Ninth Middle School, had a good physique, and high talent, so I was willing to teach you a few outdated techniques.

You paid tuition, I taught you skills, it was just business. You later took the wrong path, mingled with a bunch of hooligans, got expelled for fighting, none of that had anything to do with me, your PE teacher."

Cheng Ze hung his head low, his shoulders trembling slightly, losing every bit of the usual resilience that made him unapproachable.

"You didn’t wrong me. Between you and me, it’s just an old cripple who used to be glorious, taking a liking to a poor student with a similar background, foolishly thinking he could nurture him into a great talent.

Those you wronged were your parents who raised you. One drove a truck to deliver goods, the other got up early to set up a stall, all to support your schooling.

In the end, you relied on your fists, fought with so-called hooligan brothers, hurt people, and ended up costing thousands in medical bills."

Old Liang’s face tightened, like cold, hard iron:

"You were detained, didn’t see your parents kneeling, begging for mercy. During the hospital stay, they came daily to handle your mess, deliver food, just to save on hiring a caregiver.

You didn’t see your parents smiling and offering gifts to the principal and every teacher on their way home, hoping the school wouldn’t expel you.

Cheng Ze, your father was once the foreman at a quarry, tall and strong. But for you, he knelt at the principal’s office door, the backbone he upheld his whole life, broken by his own son."

Cheng Ze’s eyes turned red, his mouth opened and closed, but he couldn’t utter a word.

"Conquer a street, wield great courage for wealth! Ze Boss of Beiguan Street, how imposing!

You traveled with relatives, fought for the boss, got involved in a manslaughter case, ended up in prison... the thugs of Old Factory Street would all give a thumbs up, praising Ze Brother’s loyalty and bravery!"

Old Liang, carrying the bottle and the cigarette, his gaze like a knife cutting into flesh:

"Your father, to support the family, drove long distances, didn’t sleep for days, crashed his truck in Wu Village.

You were imprisoned for years, your mother got up early to set up her stall, sold fried dough and buns during the day, and worked in a factory making paper boxes at night, coughed up blood in the cold, couldn’t afford medicine, took the bus every month to visit you, bringing you clothes and food.

Ze Boss, I heard you spend thousands every night on drinks while working at the Midnight Imperial Palace.

If your parents’ spirits were watching, seeing you so successful, surely they would rest easy!"

Old Liang’s eyes burned like hot coals, too intense for Cheng Ze to face.

After a long while, he could only murmur:

"Teacher, born here and wanting to make it, there’s no other way."

This sentence blurted out instinctively, Cheng Ze seemed to cling to a flood of thoughts, his tone hurried:

"I’ve been to Yan City, been to Zhou City, it’s not like this! You know, Teacher, my neighbor Sun Tou across the street, he burned his hands badly while working a boiler, couldn’t be treated, so they amputated him. Trying to make a living, he went to carry coal, only to be crushed to death!

My dad was laid off, every day went out with a sign, asking me to help write it: Cleaning! Window washing! Painting!

The neighbor Aunt Xu got sick, her daughter went to work in a salon, people gossiped, she poisoned herself on New Year’s Eve!

I saw with my own eyes the stretcher covered with a white cloth, lifting her body into the car... Teacher, the rich in the Urban Circle, if they break a hand or a foot, they can get treated in Central City, get prosthetics.

They use touchscreen phones, their computers are connected to the internet, their streets have cinemas, selling soda and popcorn..."

Cheng Ze bit his cheeks tightly, a gleam returned to his eyes, looking straight at Old Liang:

"I want to live that kind of life too! I don’t want to struggle in the mire of Old Factory Street anymore! Those years, I didn’t just fight for the boss, I also collected debts for him.

I burned others’ houses, broke the limbs of those who couldn’t repay debt, and those who still couldn’t pay, I turned into cement shoes... You told me when teaching boxing that thugs from Old Factory Street are like wild dogs, hoping to become house dogs to gnaw on bones.

But to be kept, you have to bite, the harder and more loyal you bite, the more your master likes it."

Old Liang sighed softly, his tense face relaxing:

"This is the logic of being a dog, you don’t need to tell a cripple like me.

I’d rather live harder, but at least stand with a straight spine for a while."

Cheng Ze retreated into the dark shadows, turned his head, not looking at the limping man who taught him to block and stand.

He shifted the topic:

"Teacher. I’ve seen A Shi, he’s much stronger than me."

Old Liang nodded, seemingly understanding what Cheng Ze meant:

"He studied hard, got into a school in the Urban Circle, worked diligently to save money, enrolled in my training class. Learned techniques, but had no desire to compete in the ring... He was not only stronger than you when young but also stronger than me.

When I was learning, my master told me, Old Martial artists are passionate, like harboring a weapon in their chest, ready to draw and see blood when encountering problems.

This is both a strength and a weakness. I couldn’t control it, so I ended up crippled, you couldn’t bear it, so you became a dog."

Cheng Ze responded with a hum, not arguing:

"Recently, I returned to Old Factory Street, always wanting to see you again.

These years, traveling, boxing, imprisonment, release, it wasn’t as glorious as others said, and there were moments of disgrace, being chased by enemies through several streets.

I’m not afraid of anything, just worries about dying in a foreign place, no one to take care of my body."

Old Liang rubbed the cigarette between his fingers, smelling the tobacco:

"Rest assured, I ate plenty of your mother’s free breakfasts back then, if that day comes, I’ll take your urn to Changshan Cemetery."

Cheng Ze smiled silently:

"Thank you, Teacher. I know you look down on me, not wanting to suffer and be poor isn’t a reason to be a thug and bite people.

But if I had to do it all over again, I think I’d still take this path, just in a different way, to let my parents live a few good days.

Standing in the mire, wanting to climb ashore and clean yourself off, it’s too hard."

Old Liang remained silent.

Cheng Ze stepped back to the stairway:

"The big boss’s son is preparing to take on the redevelopment project of Old Factory Street. It was his idea to turn Sons and Daughters Ninth Middle School into a sports school.

Brother Hao is very domineering, Teacher, if you can endure it, don’t start conflicts, he might not respect me."

Old Liang self-mocking:

"What can a cripple fight for? If he wants the school, let him have it. The Qin family in Yan City can cover the sky with one hand, their reputation precedes them, I’ve heard, I know I can’t provoke them."

Cheng Ze nodded:

"Brother Hao has big ambitions, building a sports school to train fighters, and also plans to take over the factory area in Dangyang East Suburb."

Old Liang sneered:

"Not satisfied being the local emperor of Yan City, reaching out so far to grab a piece of the Urban Circle? They say ’Half the world of Chen and Lin, full streets of Qin and Zheng", the Qin of Yan City and the Zheng of Zhou City, always under Chen and Lin. Such a big appetite, be careful not to snap your teeth!"

Cheng Ze lit a cigarette, smoked it silently.

He bowed deeply to Old Liang, then turned and left.

"Goodbye, Teacher."

Old Liang’s voice echoed through the corridor, reaching him:

"If you can retreat, do so, A Ze. My master once said, in ancient times, when rich families kept dogs to guard their houses, when the dogs got old and useless, they would be slaughtered and divided."

Cheng Ze didn’t stop or turn back.

Moments later, he got into a waiting car downstairs, the headlights piercing the way ahead.

"Who’s that with the high beams!"

Glancing back at the speeding car, Qin Shi muttered under his breath, then headed towards the staff dormitory.

Taking several steps at a time, quickly climbing the stairs.

"Master Liang! My Life Force has increased again!"

Old Liang finally held back from lighting that Liming cigarette.

Looking at Qin Shi who came here in the middle of the night, his face showed a genuine smile:

"Come in and talk."