49: Chapter 49 Mom Teaches a Lesson in Slippers

"This family member, please stay cal—"

"Move aside!"

The woman didn't even glance at them, merely waving her hand dismissively. That Aura, a mixture of cooking fumes and sky-high rage, actually forced the two sturdy Special Police to instinctively step back.

She strode across the police line, her slippers slapping against the asphalt, making crisp "patta patta" sounds; each one felt like it was stepping right on the heart of Great Sage Equal to Heaven.

Held by two Special Police, Great Sage Equal to Heaven's legs were already weak, and now, seeing that familiar figure, he began to tremble as if electrocuted.

"Mom..."

He hadn't even finished the call.

"Snap!"

An incredibly crisp cracking sound echoed through the quiet street.

The woman didn't waste any words; she had somehow already snatched the pink plastic slipper into her hand, turning it into a pink blur that struck Great Sage Equal to Heaven's butt with pinpoint accuracy.

It was a heavy, powerful blow, so forceful that the two Special Police holding Great Sage Equal to Heaven felt their arms shake.

"Ouch—!!!"

Great Sage Equal to Heaven let out a howl ten times more miserable than when he had faced Gu Changan earlier.

"Mom! Mom, don't hit me! It hurts! It really hurts!"

"Hurts? You still know how to feel pain?!" The woman backhanded him with the slipper again, this time striking his outer thigh directly. "You didn't know it hurt when you were playing monkey on the roof? You didn't know it hurt when you were throwing glass down?!"

"Snap! Snap! Snap!"

The frequency of the attacks was astonishing, and every strike was a critical hit.

At this moment, Great Sage Equal to Heaven finally understood that the Five Finger Mountain and the Buddha were all fake.

The slipper in his mother's hand was the true Karma weapon.

"I'll let you be the Great Sage Equal to Heaven! I'll let you shatter the heavens! I'll let you carry the abyss!"

The woman hit and scolded him, spittle flying, every word carrying the piercing power unique to menopause.

"You don't study properly, instead you learn to play that cosplay stuff! It would be one thing if you just wore a skirt, but you took a broken steel pipe to smash glass?! Is that glass? That's money! That's your dad's and my coffin money!"

"Mom! So many people are watching! Save me some Face!" With his hands cuffed, Great Sage Equal to Heaven couldn't cover his butt and could only struggle to twist his body to avoid the hits, his Face covered in snot and tears.

The Demon King who had just been so majestic and wanted to challenge the Heavenly Court was now like a sickly chicken with its neck pinched.

"Face?!"

Hearing these words, the woman was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on; her rage meter instantly exploded.

She grabbed Great Sage Equal to Heaven's ear, which hadn't been washed for days, and twisted hard, forcing his head to tilt to the side, facing the hundreds of onlookers and cameras.

"You still want Face?! The whole city heard that broadcast just now! Bedwetting to Seal the Black Dragon? Wanting to find a rich woman to mooch off of? Great Sage Equal to Heaven, what kind of Face do you still want? You've already thrown your Face on the ground and crushed it yourself!"

Great Sage Equal to Heaven closed his eyes in despair.

Social death isn't scary; what's scary is your own mother helping you recap the entire process of social death.

An uncontrollable burst of laughter erupted from the crowd; countless phones were held high, and the camera flashes lit up the area.

There was no need to guess; tomorrow's trending headlines were definitely already booked: "Shock! Wild Great Sage Encounters Bloodline Suppression, Buddha Turns Out to be a Housewife," "From Havoc in Heaven to Slipper Stewed Meat: The Fall of a Chunibyo Teenager."

Gu Changan stood to the side, watching this scene with an expressionless Face.

He didn't stop it immediately.

For this kind of giant baby who was an adult but clearly still mentally unweaned, the beatings from society and the education from family were often more profound than legal statutes.

Not until the woman was tired of hitting him, or perhaps realized that Great Sage Equal to Heaven's butt was truly swollen, did Gu Changan lift his wrist to check the time, then straightened his trench coat and stepped forward.

His black leather shoes made steady, solid sounds on the ground.

He walked straight up to the mother and son who were staging an all-out brawl, extended a gloved hand, and gently blocked the pink slipper that was about to fall again.

"This parent."

Gu Changan's voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable, cold, metallic texture.

"Although corporal punishment is an internal family matter, the suspect is currently under police control. If he is beaten up before being transferred to the detention center, it will be very difficult for us to handle."

The woman froze, the slipper in her hand stalling in mid-air.

She looked up and saw Gu Changan's cold, oppressive Face, as well as the fully armed Special Police around them; the shrewish energy that had been burning just a moment ago was instantly extinguished, as if doused by a basin of cold water.

"Um... Officer..."

She scrambled to put on her slippers, tugged haphazardly at her chicken essence apron, and the fierce expression on her Face instantly collapsed, replaced by the panic and helplessness of an ordinary middle-aged woman facing authority.

With a "waah," she actually started crying first.

"Officer, comrade! Is this child possessed?!"

She grabbed Gu Changan's arm as if grabbing a life-saving straw, her fingernails nearly digging into the fabric of his trench coat.

"Although he's usually a bit stupid and loves reading idle books, he's so timid he can't even watch a chicken being slaughtered! Why did he suddenly go crazy today? Was he possessed by some dirty thing? You're the one who handles this, please save him!"

Gu Changan looked down at the hand gripping his sleeve but didn't shake it off.

He activated his "Sin Judgment Eyes," his indifferent gaze sweeping over Great Sage Equal to Heaven's entire body.

The golden light cluster named "Great Sage Roleplay System" had long since fled, leaving not a trace. At this moment, Great Sage Equal to Heaven was hollow inside, just an ordinary, perhaps even slightly kidney-deficient, high school student.

"Not possessed."

Gu Changan said in a flat tone, shattering the mother's last fantasy.

"And not corrupted."

"Then... then what is this..." The woman was stunned, tears still hanging on her Face.

"Simply too little homework, combined with adolescent cognitive impairment, and an extreme lack of legal awareness."

Gu Changan withdrew his arm, pulled a pre-printed list from his bosom, and handed it to the woman.

"This is the preliminary estimate of the property damage list."

"The repair cost for the Gemini Building's special glass curtain wall is estimated at 1.2 million; compensation for vehicle damage caused by the falling objects is about 500,000; commercial downtime and public resource occupation fees due to the road closure are still being calculated."

With every number Gu Changan read, the woman's Face turned paler.

By the end, her body swayed, and she nearly fainted.

Over two million.

For an ordinary family, this was simply the sky collapsing.

"This... so much..." The woman's lips trembled as she looked at the list, as if it were the Grim Reaper's summons.

The strength she had to hit her child was gone; she turned to look at the dejected Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the anger in her eyes turning into deep despair.

"You spendthrift brat... Where would our family get so much money... Even selling the house wouldn't be enough..."

Great Sage Equal to Heaven didn't dare to cry anymore.

Although he was a Chunibyo, he understood the concept of money. Two million meant his parents would have to sell their old, run-down apartment that they were still paying off; it meant the whole family would have to rent a place; it meant he might have to live with debt for the rest of his life.

The pleasure of "Heaven-Defying" destiny had, at this moment, turned into a heavy shackle, strangling him until he couldn't breathe.

Gu Changan watched the family looking like they were mourning the dead, with not much sympathy on his Face.

In the adult world, there are no fairy tales, only Karma.

"Take him away."

He waved his hand.

Two Special Police immediately grabbed Great Sage Equal to Heaven and dragged him toward the police car.

This time, Great Sage Equal to Heaven did not struggle or shout. He was like a puppet with its Soul extracted, letting others do as they pleased.

Just before being shoved into the car door, he looked back.

Not at his mother, who was crying on the ground, but at Gu Changan.

The man in the black trench coat was standing under a streetlight, watching him indifferently. In those eyes, there was no mockery, no anger, only a calm as if looking at a dead object.

As if saying: Is this the ending you wanted? Protagonist?

Great Sage Equal to Heaven shivered.

At this moment, the man's figure was deeply imprinted in his mind, becoming a psychological shadow he would never be able to shake off for the rest of his life.

Even many years later, when he truly made something of himself, as long as he saw someone wearing a black trench coat, or heard the words "Criminal Law," his knees would reflexively go weak.

"Bang!"

The car door slammed shut, cutting off all the noise from the outside world.

The siren sounded again, escorting this "Great Sage Equal to Heaven," who only had a one-day trial card, toward the detention center.

Gu Changan stood in place, watching the taillights of the police car fade away, and a crisp electronic notification sound rang in his mind.

[Ding!]

[Host successfully utilized "social death" and "economic sanctions" to shatter the target's Dao Heart and maintain the order of the real world. Methods are dirty... cough, methods are brilliant, fitting the "Elegant Thug" persona.]

[Rewards being distributed...]

Gu Changan raised an eyebrow slightly.

The System wasn't captured this time but ran away directly; would the rewards be reduced?

[Obtained Reward 1: Mental Control Defense Helmet.]

[Description: A variant of the original Great Sage's golden headband. Once worn, it can immunize against any form of mental control, charm, or intelligence-lowering Aura. It also possesses the "Tightening Spell" function, capable of remotely exerting mental intimidation on targets.]

[Obtained Reward 2: Lasso of Truth (Low-spec version).]

[Description: Extracted from the concept of that inferior steel pipe. The target caught by it will be unable to lie and will involuntarily read out their most shameful secrets from the depths of their heart.]