One-Eyed Monster

Chapter 36: Chapter 36 A Voice (Part 1)

Qi Liu was the sixth son of a groom in Governor Rostov’s Mansion. According to his old father, who was also a groom, he had two elder brothers and three sisters. However, Qi Liu had never seen any of them. His father, reeking of alcohol and his voice always slurred, would often tell him stories when drunk; how his two elder brothers tragically died on the battlefield, how one of his sisters perished helplessly in the bitter cold of a Deep Winter Season, and how the other two became maids in the homes of the upper class.

”I always wanted to change your fates,” his old father would often say, his voice thick with unshed tears and the smell of cheap wine. He would heave sighs, heavy and sorrowful, like old wine held too long in the mouth, unable to be swallowed.

But fate is predestined, and we can’t change that, Qi Liu would think, most of the time staying silent, absorbing his father’s drunken musings.

Those days were like the Deep Winter Season, freezing to the bone and devoid of any warmth from the sun. If one wasn’t careful while walking, one might slip on the ice-hardened paths and break an arm or a leg.

”I always wanted to change your fates,” his father would slur. ”The King’s conscription order... it seemed like a ray of hope. Your second and third brothers, driven by my whip, put on the helmets of the Kayne Empire’s Guardian Army. Honor, pride, hope... that was all I felt at that moment. I thought I had finally changed my children’s destiny! They would gallop across battlefields, win glory for the Empire, and never again have to shovel stinking horse dung like their old man...” His father’s drunken ramblings were always long, but Qi Liu would listen patiently. No matter how many times he had heard these repeated stories, he would still listen to every word.

His father’s lamentations accompanied Qi Liu year after year. From his father’s tearful, drunken recounts, he learned that his two elder brothers, lacking proper Fighter training, could only serve as cannon fodder on the battlefield, charging at the very front. Because they were poor, they wore the standard leather armor issued by the Empire, devoid of any alchemical coatings or Spellcraft protections. His brothers didn’t even possess their own weapons; they could only use the common spears provided by the Empire. In the brutal Guardian War, his two elder brothers, like most who perished in that conflict, charged at the vanguard, dying heroically but obscurely. Their bodies were never recovered. The only solace his father received was the two bags of gold coins sent by the Empire as compensation.

Under his father’s bed, there were four dust-covered bags of gold coins. Even when they had no food, his father never touched a single coin from them. Qi Liu knew that in his father’s heart, these gold coins represented his lost children. The two bags of gold coins for his sisters were ”gifts” from members of the upper class. His father had always dreamed of marrying his daughters into good families. He flattered the Housekeeper for opportunities, spending all his earnings to have his daughters attend various beauty pageants, all in the hope that men from the upper class would notice them. Yet, men of the upper class would never marry a groom’s daughter. They would only satisfy their fleeting interest and then purchase them as maids. His father had never imagined that his efforts for his daughters would only result in another two bags of gold coins, their fate of being ordered around unchanged...

”I always wanted to change your fates. But in the end, I sent my children into a cage, into Hell...” Every time he reached this point, his father would be overwhelmed by tears. He would use his calloused, rough hands to wipe away the tears that streamed down his weathered face, his broad chest heaving with uncontrollable sorrow.

It’s not your fault, the grown-up Qi Liu would think, gently covering his father with a blanket once he quieted down. His father had shoveled horse dung his entire life, from the stables of small merchants in the county to the stables of the Government Mansion; he had sacrificed far, far too much for his children. Some people’s fates are predestined; we can’t force it. The tragic experiences of his brothers and sisters were a constant pain in his father’s heart, and a deep, indelible mark on Qi Liu’s own.

Some people’s fates are predestined.

Qi Liu believed his life would be spent as a groom, shoveling horse manure alongside his father. When he came of age, he might marry the daughter of the old woman who tended the kitchen fires (provided his job as a groom went well and he had decent savings). Then, he might even bribe the Housekeeper to inquire about his sisters’ whereabouts. Perhaps, while delivering horse manure to the fuel shop, he might find an opportunity to visit his sisters, who by then might have become old maids in some upper-class household.

This was the future Qi Liu envisioned. He had lived this way for so many years. He led horses for the Governor’s Mansion, fed them, shoveled their dung, and comforted his grieving father. His father’s annual lamentations had made him accustomed to listening and enduring. fre.ewebnov el.com

Whenever he was ridiculed or teased, he would always hear a voice comforting him: Some people’s fates are predestined.

Yes, we just can’t force it... Qi Liu firmly believed. This conviction remained even after he was enrolled in the Yonder Travel Academy.

That academy was founded by Luona’s Governor Rostov. Governor Rostov’s impassioned speech still lingered in Qi Liu’s memory, even though he was only eight at the time.

”This will change everyone’s fate!” the Governor had thundered, standing in the central plaza of the Twin Star Grand Hall at the Government Administrative Office, facing the myriads of assembled citizens.

Eight-year-old Qi Liu had felt no stirrings in his heart, for another voice already resonated within him: Some people’s fates are predestined; these are just deceiving tricks.

But Qi Liu had never expected that this academy would be open to everyone, not charging the exorbitant fees like other schools in the Imperial Capital.

And so, he, the son of a groom, was sent there. His father still wanted to change his fate. The lessons from his brothers and sisters had done little to alter his father’s stubbornness. Qi Liu even wondered, Will Father only truly understand the meaning of ’fate is predestined’ when I become the fifth bag of gold coins?

Accompanying him to the academy was Young Master Hustace, who was two years his junior. Every day at dawn, his father would have the carriage ready, waiting to take the Young Master to the Yonder Travel Academy located in the outskirts.

Whether summer or winter, the morning wind always carried a chill. Little Qi Liu would sit on his father’s lap, shivering from the cold. A flicker of envy for the Young Master in the carriage behind would touch him, but it was only momentary; he knew some people’s fates are predestined.

Young Master Hustace rarely spoke at the academy. Besides, he hardly had any opportunity to converse with others, as he was always accompanied by attendants. Anyone who approached, whether adult or child, would invariably be scared off or driven away by the League Guards by the Young Master’s side. As the son of a groom from the Governor’s Mansion, Qi Liu was one of the few who could get close to the Young Master, even though his only responsibility was to deliver his meals.

The disparity wrought by fate was obvious. The Young Master received private tutoring at the academy, while Qi Liu and the others learned in a large hall. The Young Master could freely access every corner of the academy, whereas they were told which areas were off-limits and which things they couldn’t touch.

This situation caused many to grumble in private, but Qi Liu felt not an ounce of jealousy, for he knew this was all simply fate.

At the academy, Qi Liu learned to read and count. Later, he also studied Physique Technique, Spirit Sensing, Spellcraft Identification, Alchemy Equations... The sense of accomplishment from learning didn’t change him much; he still existed like a piece of wood. He saw some around him dance with joy after identifying a Spellcraft, and observed the dejected faces of others who couldn’t practice the Physique Technique. It wasn’t that he lacked their emotional depth, but rather he felt it wasn’t worth it. He wouldn’t care about his faint aura before the Spirit Power Stone, nor did he worry whether his body was suitable for practicing the Physique Technique. He firmly believed he was destined to be a groom; attending this academy merely made him a slightly different kind of future groom.

He did the same things every day, without any complaint. Each day, the Young Master’s League Guard would shout at him, ”Smelly kid, hurry up! The Young Master has been hungry for a long time!” Faced with such scolding, he would always respond with a smile and then jog away. Every time the Young Master finished eating, he would mumble his complaints, ”Why does no one come to play with me?” Facing these complaints, Qi Liu would also offer a smile, reassuring him that a solution would always be found. Whenever a few wealthy young masters stopped him, asking him to deliver a letter to the Young Master, he would respond with a smile and then politely refuse. And every time these rich young masters, angered by his refusal, resorted to punches and kicks, he would still manage a smile and then calmly depart...

Qi Liu wouldn’t complain, because each time, a voice would linger in his ear. At first, it was: Some people’s fates are predestined. Then: No one can force fate. And later: Fate will always find a way to get you back on track...

Fate will always find a way to get you back on track. And indeed, Young Master Hustace no longer had to complain about having no one to play with. The League Guards’ cordon collapsed under the lure of gold coins, and the wealthy young masters, eager to curry favor with Young Master Rostov, were not stingy with their bribes to the League Guards. Those wealthy young masters no longer beat Qi Liu for not delivering letters, as they could now approach the Young Master openly, even if he paid them little attention. And Qi Liu, he was still steadily on the path to becoming a groom...

One evening, another thought echoed in Qi Liu’s ear: Fate sometimes likes to play tricks, too. His father was steadily driving the carriage, which carried Young Master Hustace and a League Guard, along the main road back to the Imperial Capital. They hadn’t gone far when the League Guard in the back tapped on the carriage, signaling them to stop.

”The Young Master wants the boy who brings his meals to come in and sit for a while,” the League Guard from the back of the carriage called out through the front window.

Without a second thought, his father, overjoyed, pushed him toward the back of the carriage, but Qi Liu felt nothing. As he slowly sat down opposite the Young Master, his heart remained as calm as a rippleless surface of water.

”I think you’re different from them,” the Young Master said softly. His smile was like a fine drizzle in early summer, landing on one’s face, ticklish, a sensation that seemed to reach deep into the heart...