After receiving a good tip, the man was finally in the mood to talk.
“Do you know who you are?” Li Qiye asked while taking and eating one peanut after another from his hand.
“Why are you asking these strange questions? Do you know who you are?” The man stared at Li Qiye.
“Yes, I am Li Qiye, the one who whispers in the dark.” Li Qiye said.
“Li Qiye?” The man scratched his head: “Sounds like a familiar name, I think I heard it before.”
The man clapped and laughed: “I know, this must be a really common name!”
Li Qiye who was sipping the warm wine almost spurted it out after hearing this.
“Li Qiye is not a common name. I am the only one with this name, as far as I know.” He said patiently.
“I don’t think so. Since I found it familiar, I must have heard it so there are other people with this name, don’t be so egotistic. You can’t be the only person with this name even if it isn’t common.” The man said.
“Let’s put my name aside, do you know who you are?” Li Qiye found himself helpless.
“Obviously.” The man opened his eyes wide and said: “I am Midbro.”
“Midbro? Why are you called that?” Li Qiye wanted to touch his forehead to see if he was delirious from a cold. He was frustrated because this guy most likely lost his memories.
“Our family has three brothers and I’m sandwiched in the middle, so Midbro.” The man seemed to be quite pleased, thinking that he was clever with this nickname.
“Uhh…” Li Qiye nearly spat out his drink again and had to wipe his lips while containing the urge to laugh.
“Sigh, maybe I should record your appearance right now. No, you’ll probably try to beat me up later.” Li Qiye murmured sentimentally.
“Beating? I am a cultured gentleman, I do not resort to the fist.” However, the man had an incredible hearing and still caught some words.
Li Qiye recalled when this man stood at the apex and was worshipped by countless cultivators. Now, he became such a cute bartender. Everything became so chaotic.
Li Qiye took a deep breath and ate some more fennel beans before continuing: “Do you know what you’re doing?”
“Can’t you see? I opened this tavern to make a little money to get by.” The man started thinking that there was something wrong with Li Qiye’s intelligence.
Li Qiye could tell that this wasn’t an act.
“Have you ever gone rowing or anything similar?” He asked again.
“Rowing? We don’t even have a small stream here, where am I going to get a boat?” The man shook his head.
‘Is this a detached self or avatar?’ Li Qiye nodded while thinking to himself.
“But now that you mentioned it.” The man clapped and said: “I did have dreams about boating recently, I was rowing a huge boat, massive beyond imagination.”
He looked around and tried to give an analogy of its size. However, he couldn’t come up with a good one and shook his head: “Bigger than the world, even.”
“Was it a good dream?” Li Qiye asked while eating a handful of edamame.
“Don’t just eat the beans, have some five-spice beef too, I guarantee you that it is delicious.” The man said as he added some to Li Qiye’s bowl.
“Can’t say anything bad about your cooking skill.” Li Qiye commented after eating.
“Of course, I was the best cook among us brothers. I never cooked for them either without getting paid.” The man laughed.
“Let’s talk about your dreams again.” Li Qiye smiled and said.
“Well, I do recall dreaming about the boat a lot.” The man tilted his head in contemplation: “Since it’s so heavy, my hands got really sore from rowing.”
“But you still rowed it willingly?” Li Qiye asked.
“Well, I don’t really know how to answer. In my dreams, I was so exhausted and wanted to abandon ship several times. It’s just that I had to reach the other shore no matter what. Of course, this is absurd because the other shore doesn’t exist.” [1]
“This is who you are, always ready to shoulder even the vast heaven.” Li Qiye sighed and said.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” The man gave Li Qiye the strange stare again: “How can anyone shoulder the heaven? And even if I could, why would I? I’m just a wine seller trying to get by, this is the perfect life right now instead of exhausting myself to death.”
“Someone has to shoulder justice and virtue.” Li Qiye said calmly before crushing a peanut shell and blowing it away.
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“Tch, justice and virtue, all justifications to send people to their death. Only an idiot would believe something like that and go for it.” The man said.
Li Qiye stared seriously at him before nodding: “Yes, certain things could only be done by a fool.”
“Anyway, I’m not one to care about the greater good.” The man said: “Those who do grand deeds often have a tragic fate. They end up losing everything and no one will be grateful for it.”
“That is completely true. They will only curse you instead of being grateful. So much hardship only to gain nothing.” Li Qiye sighed.
“You sound like you’re one of them…” The man stared at Li Qiye: “Well, you don’t look the part.”
“I’m the one who instigates others to do so.” Li Qiye smirked.
“Tch, that’s something a despicable bastard would do.” The man said.
“Not the first time I’ve been called a bastard.” Li Qiye nodded: “Too many to count and plus, since I’ve done so many despicable things already, what’s one more?”
“You’ve become shameless to the point where nothing can harm you anymore, pretty much a demon at this point.” The man smiled and said.
“I hope so.” Li Qiye took another sip of wine.
“I can see that you have a lot on your mind. I guess it’s not easy searching for someone in this remote region.” The man said.
“Well, it’s not that hard. I’m just afraid that, you know, people change. They all have their own thoughts and aspirations.” Li Qiye said.
“Isn’t that normal? People want different things. For example, I just want to live a good life, nothing ambitious. I have no problem spending my whole life here.” The man said.
“Never had a big dream before? One bigger than the heaven.” Li Qiye asked.
“No, dreams are useless. They can’t feed you and might even end up being your downfall.” The man shook his head.
“Well, someone without dreams is no different from a walking corpse.” Li Qiye responded.
1. Other shore here is salvation in Buddhism ☜