It wasn't until much later that I realized this.
Li Feng's tragic life stemmed from the fact that he was never given the right to choose. Every step he took was dictated by others.
When he was born, Li Qiang's family abandoned him.
He was fated to live, but what could an infant do?
The orphanage was chosen for him by Chen Shiren, who knew it was a bad place but deliberately sent him there due to a personal grudge.
The orphanage was shut down due to violence, and Li Feng was sent back to the village. The old village secretary was forced to keep him, leaving him no choice but to ingratiate himself with others for a meal.
Schooling, what was the point of good grades? Without tuition, no school would accept him.
One door of survival was closed, and the door to his future was also shut.
His life was destined to be thus.
...
Now, Wang Ren was using him as a tool again. Li Feng had no choice but to play the role of a killer in this scheme.
Having understood all this, I offered Li Feng a choice.
A choice in the truest sense of the word.
If he chose revenge, he would remain a tool in this scheme, and his fate might seem unchanged. But the intrinsic nature of it would be entirely different. It would be his own choice.
If he chose to give up, he might offer me some solace, and I would have more confidence in facing Wang Ren. But honestly, Li Feng would benefit the most; his future life would be a happy one.
I leaned towards the latter but offered no advice to Li Feng. I was not Li Feng, and while I could sense the suffering he endured in his brutal life, I couldn't truly empathize.
Therefore, no matter what choice he made, I would accept it wholeheartedly.
...
Li Feng also realized this was the first choice in his life. His eyes were filled with confusion. He ran his hands through his hair and then bowed his head in pain, suppressing the intense agony within.
Seeing him, I patted his shoulder, "Cry if you need to."
From childhood, Li Feng had always been the sensible, pitiable child. His pain had been suppressed for too long. Finally, Li Feng could no longer hold back his suffering and cried out hysterically.
...
Of course, the concealment was not one-sided. We already knew about Chen Shiren. The main issue was Li Feng's mother. When she learned that her newborn son had died, she became despondent.
Years later, Li Feng's mother learned the truth from Li Qiang's dying father: the child had been abandoned in the mountains.
Li Feng's mother, who had long endured in silence, finally had a falling out with Li Qiang and left the Li family. She became a nun in a temple in Beijing. Li Qiang, to protect his career, continued to conceal the matter. He publicly claimed to respect his wife's faith and that he would never divorce her, no matter how long she stayed at the convent.
To the outside world, Li Qiang maintained an image of being alone, upright, principled, and magnanimous – a righteous prosecutor. In reality, Li Qiang was corrupt, took bribes, had multiple mistresses, and even several illegitimate children.
...
Li Feng, by plotting against Chen Shiren, had already learned the truth from him. Over the years, through continuous investigation and evidence gathering, Li Feng had long confirmed that Li Qiang was his biological father. He also knew his mother did not know he was alive and had already become a nun in a convent to atone for her sins.
...
In this choice, Li Feng gave up revenge. He asked me for a favor: a ten thousand yuan reward for him, which I was to donate as incense money to the nunnery.
Li Feng didn't go; I did.
After making the donation, I specifically met with Li Feng's mother.
I could feel her genuine remorse for the rest of her life. Her devout attitude was not feigned. She sat cross-legged, chanting scriptures. I took a prayer mat and sat beside her. She looked up at me with surprise.
"Reverend Mother, I know a friend from the mountains. We are business partners. He wanted me to tell you that he is living well and with great perseverance. Even though life has been unfair to him, he still chooses to be a good person."
"He… what is his name?" Li Feng's mother's voice trembled.
"Li Feng."
"Li… Feng…"
"He is an orphan. I heard someone found him in the mountains."
After I finished speaking, Li Feng's mother was no longer calm. Her eyes welled up with tears as she looked at me. I nodded at her and placed a business card on the prayer mat.
As I turned to leave the Buddhist hall, Li Feng's mother asked, her voice trembling, "Is it him?"
"Yes!"
Once again, I heard weeping. Li Feng's tears made me feel a sense of release, but Li Feng's mother's cries filled me with a heartbreaking sensation. I don't believe in Buddhism. I don't believe chanting scriptures can bring peace of mind. I firmly believe this method only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. I believe that to cure a heart ailment, one must address the fundamental issue.
...
As I walked out of the nunnery, I unexpectedly saw Wang Ren. I walked towards her, and she said calmly, "Let's go, have a cup of tea."
There was a Zen-style teahouse nearby, filled with ambiance. It complemented the adjacent temple, making it particularly unique. Most people who came here to drink tea were well-off, seeking spiritual solace. They occasionally listened to the temple bells…
This time, Wang Ren didn't order her usual black or white tea. Instead, she asked for a cup of jasmine tea. The tea here had an aged aroma. The jasmine tea, brewed with an iron pot and boiling water, was exceptionally fragrant.
"Tang Nan, you haven't disappointed Old Jiu. His judgment is good; you are a promising young man."
"I've always been like this."
"Do you think you've won?"
Teacher Wang Ren asked me seriously.
"In terms of the rules, I haven't won, because I've already conceded. But in terms of philosophy, I can boldly say, Uncle-Master, your predictions are nonsense."
Hearing me say this, Teacher Wang Ren didn't get angry. Instead, she laughed, "You still haven't won."
"Li Feng will no longer kill people."
"That's not the end."
"That's not the end?"
"Indeed. Let's continue our discussion about 'demons'."
"Isn't that in the past?"
"The earliest 'demon' originated from my brother, Tao Yue. Tao Yue was prescient in his schemes. If Tao Yue's brother had been born in this era, he might have called himself a prophet. But in that era, culture wasn't as prosperous as it is now, so 'demon' emerged to fit the times. The one who truly wanted to pass down this concept was Huang Youdao's brother. But he lost his soul due to paternal affection. The one who truly wielded the ability of a 'demon' should be my senior brother, Zhu Guang."
"Uncle-Master, why bring up this person's name again?"
"My ability follows the 'Dao' first, then the 'Fa'. The Dao is my own, but the Fa belongs to others. You've already seen that my insistence on the 'future is guilty' theory is merely a proposition, the ultimate game theory of your Uncle-Master Zhang Si. But I am different from him. I don't just have that; I also understand 'demons'."
I understood and asked earnestly, "Your implication is that this current outcome is something you foresaw, and it falls within your scheme."
"I am not a small 'demon'. I can see more futures. This is just one of them, the one I least wished to see, but it has still happened."
"What will happen?"
"A tragedy."