In the name of supernatural powers

Chapter 4 The Three Flowers Gathering at the Top of the Head Is an Illusion

In the year 3234 of the lunar calendar, eighteen-year-old Lu Zhao entered the capital for the first time.

High school education combines vitality development with academic subjects, each accounting for half of the curriculum, while the development of supernatural abilities only involves physical exercise and digestion.

University courses train students into a set of lethal martial arts techniques, followed by the development of various supernatural abilities.

The cultural courses were various administrative management subjects, similar to the cadre training he had participated in in his previous life.

The Imperial Capital is not only a top-tier university, but also an institution for training the ruling class.

Supernatural powers are divided into five categories: physical, spiritual, five elements, destiny, and nature.

Lu Zhao belongs to the spiritual category, and in terms of prospects, he is only slightly worse than the fortune teller, ranking second.

In his first monthly exam after entering school, Lu Zhao achieved a score ranking around 2,000th in his grade, placing him in the lower tier.

He wasn't discouraged; this was simply a difference in educational resources, and Lu Zhao didn't consider himself inferior to others. Knowing his shortcomings, he needed to work even harder to cultivate his vitality.

Since he couldn't afford to take life-sustaining supplements, Lu Zhao had no choice but to eat free protein at the cafeteria.

He only sleeps for one hour a day, eats ten meals, and defecates eight times a day.

With his amazing perseverance, his ranking steadily improved by thirty places every month thereafter, and he became a 'celebrity' in the school in the second half of the semester.

Some busybodies gave Lu Zhao a derogatory nickname, "straight-tongued," which would be used by strangers on the street, followed by laughter.

It's as if these three words possess some kind of magic, capable of making people laugh and making the person who shouts them appear humorous.

Lu Zhao never cared about this. He had lived forty-five years in total across his two lifetimes, experiencing death, hunger, and hardship.

Apart from life and death, everything else is trivial.

When the school learned of the incident, the school leaders praised Lu Zhao and gave him an extra monthly allowance for life supplements.

Lu Zhao's grades began to steadily improve by fifty places each month. When he entered the top 100 in the whole school, all the ridicule disappeared.

A girl named Chen Qian began to frequently contact him, but Lu Zhao resolutely refused in order not to interfere with his studies.

In his senior year, Lu Zhao ranked twelfth in his class, and his ranking never improved.

The top ten are all geniuses whose talent and wealth far surpass Lu Zhao's; they cannot catch up simply through hard work.

That year, Chen Qian became entangled with Lu Zhao again.

Over the past four years, Chen Qian has had a string of boyfriends, sometimes as frequently as one a week, and sometimes even two at once. Her chaotic behavior has been publicly criticized by the school.

But she has a powerful background; her father is a military commander and has not been dismissed to this day.

Lu Zhao kept his distance, hoping the other party wouldn't cause him any trouble.

To be fair, judging by Lu Zhao's aesthetic standards, Chen Qian's appearance is about 7 out of 10, which doesn't count as ugly.

But relationships are always mutually beneficial, and Lu Zhao didn't need her beauty, which was as rotten as a persimmon. The Lu family had risked their lives to send him to the capital, not to have him depend on a lowly woman.

"Lu Zhao, don't push your luck!"

In a corner of the school, Lu Zhao was blocked on a path, facing a woman who was gritting her teeth and had a ferocious look in her eyes.

"I've been pursuing you for three years, what more do you want?"

Three years—the words made Lu Zhao's temples throb.

He had been suffering from insomnia for years, and for the past three years he had not only had to fight the side effects of his psychic powers, but he had also been harassed by her.

Because of her status, she repeatedly tolerated and greeted people with a smile.

Despite his discomfort, Lu Zhao shook his head and said, "Chen, I made it clear to you from the beginning that I just want to focus on completing my studies."

"I don't care, you have to promise me today! Otherwise, I'll make you regret it!"

Chen Qian's shrill voice attracted more passersby, and groups of students stopped to point and whisper about the scene.

Her hysterical state intensified Lu Zhao's disgust.

Was that an idol drama?

He turned to leave, and Chen Qian immediately reached out and grabbed him, even baring her teeth and claws as if to pounce on him.

Snapped!
Lu Zhao slapped Chen Qian across the face, coldly looking at the stunned woman, and said, "Idiot."

After saying that, he turned and left, ignoring the even more hysterical voices behind him.
-
The day after Lu Zhao returned from his posting shift.

Zhang Like handed Lu Zhao a note with a phone number on it, saying, "This is Chen Qian's number. Try to apologize; things might turn around."

Lu Zhao took the note and said, "I will consider it."

This time, Zhang Like did not mention Lu Zhaojue.

Prior to this, a powerful figure in the border defense system named Liang Chengyun used his connections to try and contact Chen Wuhou to resolve the issue.

It's inappropriate to continue suppressing Lu Zhao's resume and achievements. The system isn't all that good, but it's not all that corrupt either.

Only a lapdog like Lü Jinshan would go to such lengths to curry favor with the Chen family.

Chen Wuhou simply replied, "Yes, I understand."

Then nothing more was heard from them. Maybe someone will resolve it after a while, or maybe the other party simply doesn't care.

Zhang Like believes the latter is more likely; otherwise, wrongful convictions wouldn't be so difficult to overturn. A powerful figure like a military commander wouldn't target a nobody, and similarly, wouldn't admit wrongdoing for a nobody.

Her daughter made a mistake, but so what? What can you do about it?
Zhang Like understood, but still offered words of comfort:
"Don't be so pessimistic. It's not that the Marquis of Wu is holding you back. He doesn't even know about this. It's all because of his daughter's willfulness."

Even he himself thought the words he was saying were somewhat naive.

"Don't feel too burdened. At worst, you can quit your job and leave this system. With your education and life experience, you'll be able to thrive anywhere."

Having said this, Zhang Like got up and left Lu Zhao's room.

As the door closed, the room returned to darkness, with a ray of the setting sun falling through the gap in the curtains onto the table, on the lotus flower formed by the ashtray and cigarette butts, with wisps of smoke still swirling around it.

Lu Zhao smoked one cigarette after another, his gaze fixed on the note, reading it over and over again.

In the end, I let it go.

Begging for mercy was useless, and he was determined not to.

If the matter can be resolved, Zhang Like will give him a clear answer, and the station leaders will not be vague either.

Lu Zhao had no grudge against them, and they weren't that bad; they just did things that harmed others without benefiting themselves.

Suddenly, the phone vibrated. The caller was Lu Xiaotong, Lu Zhao's niece. She was only two years old when her brother sacrificed his life, and is now sixteen.

As Lu Xiaotong's only male elder, the girl has been close to him since childhood, and Lu Zhao also plays the role of a father to some extent.

"Hey, Xiaotong, what's wrong?"

"Uncle Zhao, Grandma is going to be hospitalized again."

"How much do you need."

Lu Zhao wasn't too alarmed when he heard the news, because his mother had to be hospitalized for several months every year.

My mother's heart disease is incurable, so she can only be hospitalized for treatment whenever her condition worsens, and then discharged again once her condition improves.

On the other end of the phone, Lu Xiaotong and her sister-in-law could be heard talking.

"My mom said it's 10,000 yuan, and also, is Uncle Zhao coming back for the Dragon Boat Festival?"

"I have to work overtime, so I won't be going back."

"I have to work overtime again. I've worked overtime during the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day holidays for 41 years. You didn't come back for the New Year this year either. You only come back for Qingming Festival. I almost don't recognize you anymore!"

"Smugglers and monsters don't celebrate festivals, so I'll go back for the Mid-Autumn Festival, okay?"

"Really?"

"It's true."

After chatting for a while, Lu Xiaotong reluctantly hung up the phone, adding as a final note, "You must come back for the Mid-Autumn Festival."

Lu Zhao checked his phone and found that he only had 5,000 yuan left in his bank card, so he had to borrow 5,000 yuan from Zhang Like.

After transferring the money, he returned to his room, sat at the table, and stared at the note for a long time.

Then, as if possessed, he dialed the number.

beep...

"Hey, who are you looking for?"

A soft, effeminate male voice came out, and Lu Zhao said, "I'm looking for Chen Qian."

"Honey, someone's looking for you..." The phone rang intermittently, and after a moment a haughty voice came through.

"Hey, who are you?"

"It's me, Lu Zhao."

"Lu Zhao?"

He paused for a moment on the phone, seemingly having forgotten.

"I remember now, why did you call?"

"..."

Lu Zhao tried his best to stop himself from crushing the phone. When he opened his mouth, his throat felt like it was blocked with phlegm, and he managed to squeeze out a few words with all his might.

"What happened back then...it was my fault...it was my fault."

"I had forgotten about it if you hadn't mentioned it. I'm a bit busy right now, let's talk later."

The phone call ended, and the room fell silent. Outside, the rain started pouring down again.

Boom!

A flash of lightning streaked across the sky, and Lu Zhao had already stood up. The flip phone was crushed in his hand, and he was unaware that the glass had pierced his hand.

Jiangbei Wuhou was unaware, and Chen Qian had forgotten, that a little bit of power-driven capriciousness had left him stranded in a remote mountain village for four years!
He stepped over the lives of his father, uncles, elder brothers, and cousins ​​to leave the South China Sea, and was ridiculed all the way. In the end, he was nailed to death by a single sentence from a despicable person!

He thought he was being targeted, but in the eyes of the culprit, he was so insignificant!

Rumble!
The thunder and lightning couldn't quell the murderous intent in Lu Zhao's chest. He opened a drawer and took out a pistol; its dark, cold luster was reassuring.

The firearms and ammunition at the border station are strictly stored. These are the three bullets he secretly kept after killing the drug dealer.

He had made up his mind long ago.

Lu Zhao's eyes darkened, and he cocked his pistol with a click.

Extraordinary beings are not cultivators, and Chen Qian is not a physical extraordinary being. No matter how high-ranking or powerful you are, you are all the same in front of a bullet.

Lu Zhao didn't rush off immediately. Instead, he went back to bed, stared at the ceiling, and became increasingly calm.

At this moment, he was unusually calm, silently calculating in his mind:
"We can't take public transportation to Cangwu City, and we can't be too hasty in revealing ourselves. It won't be difficult to find out Chen Qian's location; the Chen family should be on guard."

But there are only those who steal for a thousand days, not those who guard against thieves for a thousand days.

A wave of fatigue washed over him; he needed to get some sleep.

It rained last night, and he hadn't slept for forty hours. He was taking advantage of the rain stopping to get a short respite.

With his eyes closed, Lu Zhao lost track of time as his consciousness plummeted into the mental world.

The darkness stretched as far as the eye could see, and my feet felt like they were in a quagmire. A constant stream of noise squeezed into my ears.

Lu Zhao walked forward, and land could be vaguely seen ahead. But he had been walking for more than ten years and had never set foot on the other side.

He simply cannot stop; if he stops, he will hear more delirium and fall into the unconscious thoughts that arise from the sleep of all beings.

Or perhaps they become trapped in the lingering memories of their exes.

despair!
Lu Zhao suddenly felt the muddy feeling under his feet disappear, replaced by the solid feeling of stepping on some kind of stone floor.

He seemed to have crossed the quagmire of his spirit and arrived at the other shore he had been gazing at for more than a decade.

The surroundings quieted down, and for the first time in twelve years, my ears were finally at peace.

Suddenly, the melodious sound of a yellow bell instrument came from behind.

when!when!when!
Lu Zhao suddenly turned around, and what lay before him was no longer the dark mire of the mind, but instead a magnificent palace with carved beams and painted rafters.

Court officials in their official robes and caps knelt outside the palace, while inside, white gauze and vermilion curtains held the Three Thousand Books.

A figure, appearing and disappearing in the shadows, sat in a high seat, with a thick beard, long eyebrows, and a dragon-like appearance.

"The gathering of three flowers at the top is an illusion, and the soaring clouds beneath one's feet are not real either."

(End of this chapter)