Chapter 57 The First Clash Between Old and New Ideas
The atmosphere on the playground was extremely tense.
Zhu Zhuqing stood alone in the center of the field, her eyes red-rimmed, her body trembling slightly with anger and grievance.
Opposite her stood a row of Shrek Academy students.
"Zhu Zhuqing, you have disappointed me greatly."
Yu Xiaogang stood with his hands behind his back, his face ashen.
"Our Martial Soul Fusion Technique is our biggest trump card for winning the championship. Dai Mubai has already humbled himself and taken the initiative to cooperate with you, so why are you still holding onto those personal grudges?"
"Is personal emotion more important, or is the team's honor more important?"
"If Shrek loses the game because of your willfulness, can you take responsibility for it?"
This series of accusations made it almost impossible for Zhu Zhuqing to breathe.
Zhu Zhuqing bit her lip, her voice hoarse yet stubborn:
"Soul fusion requires trust and mutual understanding. I hate him! I feel disgusted just looking at him! How could I possibly fuse with him?"
"This kind of thing can't be accomplished by simply enduring it!"
"Zhuqing, you can't say that."
Tang San stepped forward and, like an old scholar, earnestly advised:
"The teacher said that there are no useless martial souls, only useless soul masters. Everything depends on one's own efforts."
Similarly, emotions can also be controlled; it all depends on your efforts.
"Mu Bai is, after all, your fiancé. For the sake of the team, you should try to accept him, even if it's only during battle. This is a basic quality of a Soul Master."
Beside him, Dai Mubai crossed his arms, wearing a helpless expression that said, "I'm doing this for everyone's good."
When Dai Mubai saw Ye Liuyun, Xiao Wu and the others walking over, his eyes lit up.
He felt that he had been behaving very well lately, and Ye Liuyun had also been very "sensible" recently, ignoring Zhu Zhuqing, so she must be on his side.
So, Dai Mubai first addressed Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong:
"Xiaowu, Rongrong, you're girls too, help me persuade Zhuqing. I'm not some monster, I'm just practicing a skill, is it really that big of a deal?"
Then, he looked at Ye Liuyun, his tone carrying a hint of familiarity and expectation:
"You've come too."
"Perfect timing, you're a sensible person. You've seen it all these past few days, I've been more than fair to Zhu Qing. Please speak up for me."
"Tell her that at this critical juncture, shouldn't we prioritize the bigger picture?"
Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong didn't know what to say.
All eyes immediately turned to Ye Liuyun.
Yu Xiaogang nodded slightly, hoping that Ye Liuyun would be sensible.
After all, this was related to whether he could lead a team to win the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament.
As long as there was a way to improve combat power and make Tang San and his family famous, whatever it may be, they should try it.
Anyway, it wasn't like he and Dai Mubai's martial souls fused together.
Tang San looked at him, waiting for his agreement.
After all, this concerned the team as a whole; personal honor or disgrace was not important.
Under those morally manipulative gazes, Zhu Zhuqing raised her head, her eyes filled with helplessness and despair.
She didn't expect Ye Liuyun to help her.
After all, this man always kept to himself and remained aloof from matters that didn't concern him.
Ye Liuyun looked at everyone with a blank expression.
How did they end up involving him?
"Why are you all looking at me? I just came to watch the show. If you don't want to integrate, then don't integrate."
"This kind of thing doesn't depend on the wishes of the person involved. Do you expect me to do the spirit fusion?"
A bucket of ice water instantly extinguished the strange atmosphere at the scene.
Yu Xiaogang's face stiffened:
"What did you say?"
Ye Liuyun repeated, not taking it seriously.
"If you don't want to integrate, then don't integrate. What's the difference between forcing a young girl to do something she doesn't want to do and rape?"
Ye Liuyun's question, "What's the difference between this and rape?" was like a resounding slap across the face of everyone present.
The previously oppressive atmosphere instantly froze.
Zhu Zhuqing suddenly looked up, a look of disbelief flashing in her dark eyes.
Someone was actually on her side?
When everyone was pressuring her to "consider the bigger picture," only Ye Liuyun saw her as a person with dignity.
"Ye Liuyun! Stop talking nonsense!"
Yu Xiaogang was so angry that his face trembled. He felt that these words were too harsh and even slandered his noble intentions.
He took a deep breath, trying to explain with more "reasonable" logic:
"Zhu Qing and Mu Bai are engaged, that's a fact."
"Since they're going to get together sooner or later, isn't it only natural that they understand each other? The current adjustment period is for their future happiness."
"Zhu Zhuqing is going to marry Dai Mubai eventually, so what's there to be coy about?"
Ye Liuyun turned his head to look at Yu Xiaogang, his tone as calm as if he were asking about the weather today:
Why should I get married?
Dai Mubai finally lost his temper, took a step forward, his tiger eyes wide open, and roared as if it were the most natural thing in the world:
"Because this is the rule of the Zhu and Dai families! It's the ironclad law of the Star Luo Empire!"
"She was born a member of the Zhu family, and she will die a member of the Dai family! If she wants to marry, she can only marry me, Dai Mubai! That's her fate!"
Ye Liuyun tilted his head, as if he had heard a joke.
He didn't look at the enraged Dai Mubai, but simply uttered a sentence:
Why should I get married?
"Is being single not a good thing?"
These words stunned the entire audience.
In the Douluo Continent, especially in large families and traditional concepts, it was taken for granted that women depended on their families and husbands.
Never marry? That was an anomaly.
"Absurd!"
Tang San, who had been standing silently to the side, finally couldn't hold back any longer.
As someone who transmigrated with memories of his past life, he was deeply ingrained with the feudalistic ideology of the Tang Clan, which was the "truth" of his world.
He frowned, looking at Ye Liuyun with a serious expression, as if he were looking at a rebellious madman:
"Ye Liuyun, your remarks are simply outrageous."
As the old saying goes, "Of the three unfilial acts, the greatest is to have no offspring."
"Men should marry when they come of age, and women should marry when they come of age. This is the basic principle of ethics and the way of Heaven."
"If a woman doesn't get married, raise children, and have offspring, what value does she have? Since Zhuqing is engaged, she should uphold the virtues of a wife and fulfill her responsibilities, instead of throwing a tantrum here."
The moment those words were spoken, the air seemed to freeze.
Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong turned their heads sharply, staring at Tang San in disbelief.
They always thought Tang San was gentle and refined, but they never expected that he would have such disgusting thoughts in his head, treating women as reproductive tools!
"You?"
Xiao Wu opened her mouth, her eyes filled with disappointment and unfamiliarity.
Ye Liuyun didn't want to deal with Tang San, this old-fashioned guy; there was a generation gap between them.
His gaze pierced through the crowd and landed directly in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes.
Those eyes were clear, sharp, and piercing.
"Zhu Zhuqing."
Ye Liuyun's voice wasn't loud, but every word struck Zhu Zhuqing's heart:
"Did you live this long just to get married?"
Zhu Zhuqing was startled.
In the past ten years or so, no one had ever asked her this question.
Her family taught her to compete, her sister taught her to survive, her fiancé taught her to obey, and her teacher taught her about the big picture.
No one ever asked her what she lived for.
"No…"
Zhu Zhuqing subconsciously shook her head, the confusion in her eyes gradually dissipating, her voice changing from trembling to firm:
"Of course not!"
She even smiled unconsciously.
"Who comes into this world to get married and have children for someone else? Isn't that ridiculous?"
Ye Liuyun remained expressionless and continued to ask:
"Then what do you live for?"
Zhu Zhuqing was stunned.
Why?
For the family's honor? No, she hated that cold-blooded family to the core.
For her parents? They'd only use her as a tool for a political marriage.
To help others win the championship? That was definitely not her intention.
She searched her mind and finally realized that those so-called "responsibilities" were just shackles imposed on her by others.
Stripped of all that, all that remained was that still-beating heart.
She took a deep breath, raised her head, looked at Ye Liuyun, and said in a tone she had never used before, weak yet firm:
"For... myself."
I want to become stronger, I want to survive, I want to breathe freely.
Even if it's just so I can get a good night's sleep, it's for my own sake.
Ye Liuyun shrugged and said matter-of-factly:
"Since it's for your own sake..."
"Then why do you take other people's opinions seriously?"
"In life, we don't need too many other people's opinions."
Boom!
It was as if a thunderclap exploded in Zhu Zhuqing's mind.
Those moral shackles that had always bound her.
Tang San's theory of womanly virtue, Yu Xiaogang's sense of team righteousness, and Dai Mubai's fiancée's vow.
At that moment, they shattered completely, turning into dust.
Yes.
Since I only live for myself, what do these people's nonsense even mean?
"Pfft."
Zhu Zhuqing suddenly laughed.
She arrived at Shrek Academy with a heavy purpose, and lived a very stressful life every day.
When she learned for the first time that there was a way to escape the family, her fear of death lessened somewhat.
But now she felt a real sense of relief and liberation.
"That's right."
Zhu Zhuqing wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, raised her chin, and resumed her proud and aloof demeanor as the Netherworld Cat.
She glanced at the group of men opposite her, their faces grim, and finally fixed her gaze on Dai Mubai, whose expression was congested. Her tone was sarcastic:
"Dai Mubai."
"Since the Martial Soul Fusion Skill requires mutual understanding and complete freedom of resentment."
"Then you'd better not contact me."
She extended her slender finger and pointed to Oscar and Ma Hongjun, who were standing by watching the show:
"You and these two cronies who often go to the brothels and pleasure houses in Soto City with you must be on the same page, right?"
"After all, you two are birds of a feather and soulmates."
"You guys go practice."
"Who knows, we might even master some kind of 'trinity' divine skill that would shock the entire continent!"
After saying that, Zhu Zhuqing didn't look at anyone again and turned to leave.
Only Dai Mubai remained standing there, his face as black as the bottom of a pot, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked.
Oscar and Ma Hongjun looked at each other, wanting to laugh but not daring to, feeling internally injured from holding it in.
Tang San, meanwhile, was still frowning, pondering where he had gone wrong with his "sage's wisdom" earlier.
Does a woman not have the right to marry?
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[end of the chapter]