Chapter 62: Leading the Way

(The fourth installment of this lavish update is here! Can you all support Old Bei? In these final few hours, could you offer your precious monthly votes?)

Next, Fatty and Zhuge Xuan started going at it. I couldn't stop them, and eventually, I gave up trying to persuade them, letting the two of them spar it out.

Fortunately, Fatty was already down to his last breath, and within a few minutes, Zhuge Xuan had him soundly defeated. After some groveling apologies and a promise to gift her several sets of designer clothes once we got out, Fatty finally managed to save his own skin.

Once things settled down, everyone was exhausted. All that was left to do was eat, drink, and rest.

Peanut volunteered to keep watch, allowing Fatty and me to sleep soundly. When I woke up, I saw Peanut still sitting by the smokeless stove, smoking. Fatty was practically comatose, while Zhuge Xuan was leaning far away, though I couldn't tell if she was asleep.

I walked over and sat down beside Peanut, unsure of what to say. If I opened my mouth, it would surely be a barrage of questions, and I didn't want to annoy him right now.

After we exchanged a few silent glances, I finally couldn't hold back anymore.

"What exactly were you laughing at earlier?"

Peanut thought for a moment and said, "I was laughing at my own hard fate."

"What? Your hard fate?" I asked, surprised.

In just a few days, Peanut had mastered the art of smoking. He flicked the ash off his cigarette and continued, "I’ll likely have to keep walking this path with you. Tell me, isn’t that a hard fate?"

I felt a surge of defiance, wanting to argue, but I realized Peanut was stating a fact. Never mind him—whenever I thought about the things I’d done along the way, I’d never succeeded at anything. Not only was I unlucky myself, but I always dragged others down with me.

I had assumed by "the path ahead," Peanut meant the way out, but thinking about it, that didn't seem right.

"Hey. What do you mean by that? What path ahead?" I asked immediately.

Peanut gave me a mysterious smile. "You’ve been dying to know what your father and I are doing, haven't you? If there were an opportunity—if your father, his associates, myself, and perhaps even more people were all to go to the same place—would you be willing to come along?"

"Heh, of course I would! This is..."

I was internally wondering if that could even be possible, but when I saw Peanut's expression, I sensed something was off. It was strange; this guy had never wanted to talk to me about those things before. Why the sudden change in attitude?

Seeing my suspicion, Peanut chuckled.

"Heh, are you scared?"

I frowned. "No, but damn it, the contrast between your attitude now and before is just too stark. Weren't you the one telling me not to get involved? Why the sudden change of heart?"

"Perhaps I’ve come to see things the same way your father does," Peanut said calmly.

"What do you mean?" I felt his words were incredibly peculiar.

"When it comes down to it, I’m just like your father. Neither of us wants to let things get out of hand. But the mess has already been stirred up, and even if we wanted to suppress it, we couldn't. You are the only male heir of the Yuan family; there’s no way you can hide from this. It’s better that you start doing what you ought to be doing."

Peanut’s words seemed to suggest he had come to terms with this, but for some reason, I still felt his motives weren't that simple.

That’s how people are: when you know nothing, you’ll fight tooth and nail to find a clue. But once someone says, "Hey, the clue is right here. Take it," you don't really want to believe them.

I pondered for a moment and decided not to dwell on that issue, continuing instead: "Peanut, since you feel that way, there is something I hope you can tell me."

Peanut smiled and exhaled a puff of smoke. "Go ahead."

"I don't understand the things you’re doing at all, but what I want to know most right now is: why are you and my father doing this? I mean, what is your ultimate goal?"

This was the core question I had distilled from the complex web of doubts after Fatty had prompted me.

Peanut mused for a while, then said in a low voice, "There are many things we don't want more people to know. That’s why your father has always lied to you, and why I have withheld so much from you. It’s unavoidable, because those matters cannot be explained in a few simple sentences. Can you understand that?"

I thought to myself that if I could understand that, I wouldn't be Yuan Jie, but on the surface, I nodded.

Peanut didn't commit to a response and continued, "However, out of all the questions you could ask, this is the one that neither your father nor I need to hide anything from you."

I didn't understand what he meant, thinking that if he could tell me the result, there was no need to keep anything else from me.

"Truth be told, my goal and your father’s goal are actually different. And yet, the final destination is the same. We... are both searching for that goal."

I expected Peanut to continue, but he stopped right there.

"Ah, that's it?" I was stunned.

Peanut nodded and laughed again. "Maybe I wasn't clear enough. I mean, everything we do is actually a search for the ultimate purpose behind these events. The Great Luo Feng Shui, the Map of the Four Directions of Mountains and Rivers, and so much more—these things have been influencing us ever since we appeared in this world. As we follow in the footsteps of those who came before us, we are all searching for the ultimate reason why these things exist.

Yuan Jie, believe it or not, neither your father, myself, nor anyone else involved understands everything—not the outcome, nor what is happening right now. You aren't the only one plagued by questions; I just happen to know a little more than you do.

By comparison, your father is perhaps the most clear-headed of all of us."

I couldn't help but lean forward. "What do you mean by that?"

Peanut looked into the deep darkness before us. "I have a feeling that your father may have already touched upon something. Behind all those plans of his that I can never seem to fathom, he might be trying to change a few things before the ending begins."

"The ending?"

"Exactly. We all have our own endings. These endings were destined a long, long time ago, and no one can change them. But your father—or rather, two generations of the Yuan family starting from your grandfather—seems to have stepped ahead of the rest."

In truth, I couldn't fully comprehend what Peanut was saying. It was like listening to a fortune teller talk about destiny; he could explain it in a way that anyone could understand, but you could never grasp the key to it.

However, I was certain that what Peanut said now was true. So, I pressed on: "Then, what kind of conflict exists between you and my father? And that 'big girl'—why is it like she has a blood feud with our Yuan family?"

Peanut said, "The animosity between the family that woman represents and your Yuan family isn't a matter of just one or two generations. If you trace it back to the source, it’s impossible for me to be clear about it. To me, it’s not important, either. However, the reason that woman wants your Yuan family wiped out is actually because her father died at the hands of your grandfather."

"Ah!" I was shocked, thinking, *Damn, this really is a blood feud for killing her father.*

"Of course, these are just rumors I’ve heard; you can't take them as absolute truth. But there is one thing that is certain." Peanut looked at me.

"What’s certain?"

"In this current timeline, she cannot pose a threat to your Yuan family. Although what she is doing is swimming against the tide, she can never escape her own ending."

Staring at Peanut’s expression, I suddenly felt that he believed a bit too much in this "ending destined long, long ago."

Materialist education taught us that there is only probability in the world, not fate. So, I wasn't really keen on these things. But perhaps because these words came from Peanut, I found myself deep in thought.

After a while, Peanut spoke again: "Let me tell you one more thing."

I couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement. I hadn't expected Peanut to be so proactive in discussing these things with me, so I leaned in even closer.

"Do you remember that legend about Yelang I told you in Sichuan?"

I nodded vigorously. Peanut continued, "That ship I spoke of is real. Although I am still investigating many things, I believe that as long as we find that ship, we will be able to see that ultimate goal."

Hearing this, I couldn't help but furrow my brows. Carefully recalling the contents of that letter, I suddenly felt that Peanut’s guess might be correct. My father and grandfather might have known something truly extraordinary, and they were, in every sense, ahead of all these people.