238: True "meaning"

“This noodle dish is pretty good, isn't it?”

The owner chuckled, saying, “Men from Shanhai Pass should eat fierce noodles!”

“Wouldn’t you agree?”

Xiao Fan twitched the corner of his mouth, thinking, this… it’s indeed very fierce.

But fortunately, after suffering a loss to Xiao Dingdong once, he later learned a Martial Arts technique that could curb such situations.

It wasn’t just because of Xiao Dingdong, but also the perverse methods Xie Linqing used early on, which made the vigilant Xiao Fan believe that he might encounter many such enemies in the future, and he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

At this moment, a refined, sword-wielding man walked over, smiling, “Boss, I’ll have a bowl too.”

After speaking, he directly sat opposite Xiao Fan, a smile on his face, and said, “Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Ouyang Guanyue.”

Xiao Fan’s expression was solemn, because the moment this person appeared, he felt a dangerous aura; this man in front of him was very powerful.

“I know you. Meng Tianzong told me that you are the strongest among the younger generation in Shanhai Pass.”

“What? Did he really say that?” Ouyang Guanyue was very surprised, looking incredulous.

“Ah… what’s wrong?” Xiao Fan was a little puzzled, why was the other party’s reaction so strong.

Ouyang Guanyue secretly clicked his tongue, saying, “I just didn’t expect a dog’s mouth to actually utter ivory. It’s too unexpected.”

“He used to tell me every day that if he also had Myth-Grade talent, he would definitely hang me up and beat me.”

Xiao Fan chuckled, thinking that the way people spoke in Shanhai Pass was really straightforward, a bit unaccustomed, but he seemed to quite like it.

“Then you must be the person Meng Tianzong mentioned, the one who wants to challenge me tonight?”

“That’s right.” Ouyang Guanyue nodded slightly, saying, “I will suppress my Realm to that of a Little Grandmaster.”

“But I will use Divine Intent.”

Xiao Fan frowned, saying, “Good!”

He was quite looking forward to it, because he had never actually seen how Divine Intent was used to fight until now.

Ouyang Guanyue ate his noodles very quickly, finishing a bowl in two swift gulps, but even when he was wolfing it down, he still gave off an elegant and amiable impression.

Finally, the two stood up and walked side by side towards the arena.

On the way, the men living on the street saw the two and immediately shouted playfully.

“Oh, Young Master Guanyue is back? My daughter has been missing you for a long time, when are you getting married!”

“Get lost, Young Master Guanyue is clearly my son-in-law!”

“No worries, no worries, my daughter still has Xiao Fan, don’t she?”

“You’re really not picky!”

“Not picky, not picky, I’m fine with anyone…”

Ouyang Guanyue responded with a smile, calmly walking in the center of the street.

“The people of Shanhai Pass are all quite informal, are you used to it?”

Xiao Fan nodded, saying, “It’s pretty good.”

On the way, Ouyang Guanyue said faintly, “Meng Dazui told me that you also have a bit of border syndrome. If there’s anything you can’t figure out, you can tell me.”

“Meng Dazui? Is that Meng Tianzong’s nickname?” Xiao Fan raised an eyebrow.

“That’s right. That guy, his mouth has no lock, he tells everything, he’s very gossipy. No one in the entire Shanhai Pass knows better than him which woman on this street likes which man.”

“I don’t think you’re the type to get melancholic or tangled up over matters of life and death. Meng Dazui must have told you something he shouldn’t have, right?”

Xiao Fan chuckled, thinking that it was indeed true.

He nodded and said, “Yes.”

Ouyang Guanyue said no more, just walking quietly.

On the street, Xiao Fan looked at the joyous laughter of the surrounding people, his brows furrowing even tighter. He finally asked the doubt in his heart.

“There’s something I don’t quite understand.”

“From the moment I stepped into Shanhai Pass until now, almost everyone I’ve seen has a smile on their face, seeming optimistic.”

“But… aren’t they possibly going to sacrifice themselves tomorrow?”

“Why can they still smile?”

“Is this a disguise for fear?”

Ouyang Guanyue shook his head and said, “Of course not.”

After pondering for a while, he continued, “Let me tell you a story about myself.”

Xiao Fan listened intently.

A look of reminiscence appeared on Ouyang Guanyue’s face as he said, “Actually, I met the Great General once.”

“But at the time, I was a little tipsy and didn’t know it was the Great General. Then I drank with him and talked a lot, a lot about Shanhai Pass.”

“What impressed me the most was a question he asked me.”

“The Great General said the truth of the world is cruel.”

“The Creator inscribed in the genes of all living beings the desire for power, madness, aggression, and bestiality.”

“He also inscribed the desire for survival. These things force us to fight, make us face pain, separation, and death every day, making the lives he created disappear.”

“Before the Creator, we are tiny ants, even toys, but we are also living, thinking Human Race, so… what should we do?”

A smile appeared in Ouyang Guanyue’s eyes as he continued, “I answered the Great General.”

“But we can live every day as if it’s our last!”

Xiao Fan was startled.

Ouyang Guanyue’s smile deepened.

“When a person lives every day as if it’s their last, you will find life is full of wonder.”

“You no longer worry about failed confessions; anyway, tomorrow you might be gone.”

“You no longer fear, no longer dread. You dare to flip the bird to those who once oppressed you and tell them to go to hell.”

“You dare to say that long-overdue ‘I love you’ to your parents.”

“You dare to eat and drink heartily, enjoy life, boast freely, and revel in the joyous hours of the night!”

“Precisely because everyone in Shanhai Pass is accustomed to the fact that they might die tomorrow, they treat every day that follows as a Treasure Trove.”

In Xiao Fan’s eyes, at this moment, Ouyang Guanyue’s eyes held light, held hope.

His smile became even brighter under the moonlight.

“Therefore!”

“Everyone’s smiles are not a disguise for fear, but genuine joy from the heart, because they survived.”

“They must live well for those who didn’t survive, to fulfill their wishes, and if they die, they pass their wishes to the next person.”

“Before the Qi Resurgence, there was a saying that was very good.”

“A person is only truly dead when they are completely forgotten.”

“As of today, tens of thousands of people have already sacrificed themselves. They just stopped breathing, but we all remember their names, all carved on the monument at the other end of Shanhai City, recorded in the archives, and there are people who will complete what they couldn’t, and will tell their wonderful stories to the next person.”

“As long as this Legacy remains, everyone is still alive, in our hearts.”

“We always believe that those departed Souls are now watching us from the sky, and when we raise our cups to the bright moon, our shadows will become three.”

“So for us, death and sacrifice are not fearful at all. Only dying without value, being forgotten, is what we truly fear!”

At this moment, Xiao Fan, standing behind Ouyang Guanyue, suddenly felt that this vast, loess-toned city was filled with a warmth that no amount of grim news could ever cover.

Only those who are infinitely close to death truly understand the weight of life.

Xiao Fan, standing in the empty street, suddenly felt the ground beneath his feet to be more real than ever before.

Around him, a faint “Divine Intent” gradually rose, and a captivating power surged. Ouyang Guanyue, ahead, paused, his face filled with shock.

In the distance, Jiang Shenyi’s expression was even more spectacular.

Because he witnessed something he had never imagined in his life!

After studying Divine Intent for so many years, he could almost conclude that the potential of each Divine Intent also varied in strength!

And his Divine Intent was absolutely the strongest in the entire Human Race!

Although he believed Xiao Fan could comprehend his own Divine Intent, to make him stronger, he chose to share his “Divine Intent” with him, and Xiao Fan successfully received it!

But at this very moment!

The Divine Intent he had given to Xiao Fan was eliminated!

It was eliminated by the Divine Intent generated by Xiao Fan himself!

This indicated that the “Divine Intent” Xiao Fan was about to birth was even more powerful than his own!

Damn it, it was even stronger than him, the Grand Marshal who had been fighting for six hundred years!

“What… the f***?” Jiang Shenyi couldn’t help but curse!

But suddenly, his expression darkened.

Because after recovering from his shock, he suddenly realized that if this Divine Intent was even fiercer than his own, it would be extremely difficult to form!

To put it more seriously, if Xiao Fan were to encounter some severe mental trauma in the future and this Divine Intent were to be extinguished, he might become crippled!