8 Things will always be things, but humans will change (2/2)

“I won’t have primeval stones to buy wine anymore tomorrow, yet the Liquor worm just doesn’t want to appear. Do I really have to take the Moonlight Gu and refine it as my vital Gu?” Fang Yuan felt rather unsatisfied.

As he walked with the two jars of wine in his hand, he started to wonder. “Academy elder said, the first person who manages to refine his vital Gu will get a reward of 20 primeval stones. Right now I guess a lot of them are at home trying their best to refine their Gu and compete for the first position. A pity, refining the vital Gu is more of a test of one’s talent. Those with better primeval talent will have better advantage. With my C grade talent, without any special means I have totally no chance of winning.”

It was at this moment, the voice of Gu Yue Fang Zheng called out to him from behind. “Big brother, you really did go to the tavern and buy alcohol! Follow me, aunt and uncle want to see you.”

Fang Yuan stopped in his tracks and turned around. He found his younger brother was no longer like before, always lowering his head as he spoke. Right now the two brothers gazed at each other face to face.

A gust of wind blew, lifting up the older brother’s messy short hair, the lower hem of the younger brother’s robes swishing around.

Just a short period of one month has gone by, yet humans change.

A week after the Awakening Ceremony, a huge change came upon the older brother and the younger brother. The older brother Fang Yuan fell from the clouds, the title of genius mercilessly destroyed. And the younger brother began to bloom with radiance, slowly rising up like a new star.

To the younger brother Fang Zheng, this sort of change was earthshaking to his world. He finally tasted the feelings that his older brother used to have – the feelings of people pinning their hopes on him, the feelings when people use envious and jealous looks to gaze at him. He felt like he was suddenly dragged out from a dark corner and placed into a heaven filled with light. Everyday when he woke up, he felt like he was having a very sweet dream. The difference of how he was being treated from before and now was like day and night, making him somewhat unable to believe his reality even until now, but at the same time also strongly unaccustomed to it.

It was hard to adapt.

In a short while from being unknown to someone who was closely watched, people pointing at him all the time. Sometimes when Fang Zheng walked on the road, he would hear people around him talking about himself, voices praising him. His face would heat up and he would feel completely at a loss of what to do, his eyes trying to avoid gazes, he even almost forgot how to walk properly!

The first ten days or so, Gu Yue Fang Zheng became thinner yet his energy became more vigorous. From the inner depths of his heart, something called ‘self-confidence’ began to manifest.

“This is what big brother had always been feeling before, how beautiful and painful at the same time!”

He could not stop thinking about his older brother Gu Yue Fang Yuan; facing such attention and discussion, how did his older brother deal with it?

He subconsciously started to imitate Fang Yuan, pretending to look expressionless all the time, but quickly found that he was not fit for this kind of style. Sometimes during class, a girl’s shout could easily send him red-faced. On the roads, all the flirting from older women even caused him to flee in a hurry many times.

He was like a toddler learning how to walk, stumbling and falling as he tried to get used to his new life. During this entire process, he was unable to avoid hearing about his older brother – falling into depression, becoming a drunkard, not going home at night, sleeping soundly in class.

He felt very shocked at this. His own older brother, once a strong entity and hailed as a being of great genius, suddenly becoming like this?!

But slowly he started to sort of understand. His big brother was also a normal man after all. Encountering this kind of setback and huge blow would send anyone into depression. Along with this understanding, Fang Zheng secretly felt an indescribable happiness inside. This feeling was something he was terribly unwilling to admit, but yet it definitely existed.

His older brother who was hailed as a genius and always covering him in shadow, acting so depressed and dispirited right now. From a reverse angle, it was a testimony to his own growth, wasn’t it?

He was the outstanding one, this was the real truth!

Hence when he saw Fang Yuan holding the wine jars, his hair messy and clothes untidy, Gu Yue Fang Zheng felt relieved, his breathing also becoming a lot easier. But yet he said, “Big brother, you have to stop drinking, you cannot go on like this! You have no idea how worried the people who care about you are, you need to wake up!”

Fang Yuan was emotionless; he did not say anything. The two brothers gazed at each other.

Younger brother Gu Yue Fang Zheng’s eyes were shining, giving off a sharp and keen feel. And the older brother Gu Yue Fang Yuan’s two orbs were a deep black, faintly resembling a deep ancient pool. These eyes could not help but make Fang Zheng feel a strange oppression. Not long after he subconsciously turned away his gaze and looked somewhere else.

But when he realized it, he felt a sudden rise of anger. It was an anger that was directed at himself.

What’s wrong with you? Can’t even muster the courage to look directly at your big brother?

I’ve changed, I’ve completely changed!

With these thoughts his eyes shifted back their sharpness and he shot his gaze at his brother again. But Fang Yuan was already not looking at him. Holding a jar of wine in each hand, he walked past Fang Zheng and said in a dull voice, “What else are you gawking at? Let’s go.”

Fang Zheng’s breathing became disoriented, the strength that had accumulated inside his heart no longer able to be released. This made him experience a depression that was hard to describe.

Seeing that his older brother had walked far ahead, he could only quicken his pace to catch up. But this time his head was no longer lowered, but rose to meet the sun. His gaze was fixed on his own feet that was stepping on his older brother Fang Yuan’s shadow.