# 842
Chapter 843: Family
"Sunken Dragon Pass…星辰勋章？"
After hearing Lu Qiu's story, Lu Baoyou stood before the stele, falling into silence.
On that monument were inscribed several large characters.
—Great Xia烈士Lu Qiu之墓.
Liu Qi stood beside him, glancing at the stele and explaining: "The remains of Night Watch members are special and can only be interred in designated cemeteries, so what's here is just a cenotaph.
Moreover, the existence of the Night Watch is classified information, so this stele can only be written this way, unable to expose the Night Watch's existence.
If you want to pay respects, you can go to the cemetery at the 066 squad's station, where his real gravestone and remains are buried."
"…No need." Lu Baoyou paused. "I'm not a Night Watch member. I can't enter the Night Watch cemetery, and I have no right to…"
After all, he was just a recruit expelled from training camp. He hadn't even堂堂正正 entered the Night Watch's doors, so what right did he have to enter their cemetery?
Liu Qi glanced at him. "I heard your talent is quite remarkable. Even if you didn't make it into the Night Watch this time, there will always be opportunities in the future… Of course, you could also pretend nothing happened, sign the non-disclosure agreement, and live like an ordinary person."
He took a document from his chest and handed it to Lu Baoyou.
"After the Night Watch member died in battle, the death compensation is quite a substantial sum. When your father signed the contract, he decided to leave a portion for supporting his elders and wife, while designating most of the compensation to you.
This money is enough for you to live comfortably for a lifetime. You can go to a big city, buy a nice house, marry a gentle and beautiful wife, never work, never bow and scrape, never compromise…
With this money, you can straighten your spine and live out the rest of your days in dignity."
Liu Qi turned and walked past Lu Baoyou, his gaze complex as he glanced back at the young man, then headed down the mountain alone.
His voice drifted back:
"But I hope you understand, the reason you can live such a life is because your father's spine… supported the sky for countless people."
Liu Qi's figure gradually vanished from the mountaintop, leaving only Lu Baoyou standing before the stele like a statue.
A breeze brushed past, stirring the fallen leaves around the monument, rustling the document in Lu Baoyou's hand with its generous numbers.
"Hey kid, you're not actually moved by this nonsense, are you?"
At that moment, Demon Child's voice rang out in Lu Baoyou's mind, speaking with deliberate provocation: "The Church of the Ancient Gods can give you ten times this amount! A big city? A nice house? A beautiful wife?
That's just an ordinary person's life! What's the difference?
With your potential, wasting away as an ordinary person would be such a shame. You should become an absolute upper-tier existence, with endless money, women beyond counting…
As for your spine… hehe, who in this world would dare to make the代理 of Lucifer bow their head?
Who would dare to make you humble yourself?
You should be the one standing above countless people, not some common mortal!"
"You shut up…"
"Join the Church of the Ancient Gods. When the evil gods descend and the world falls into Chaos and darkness, you'll be the supreme existence above all living beings. What you want, what you do—won't it all be as simple as a single thought?"
"I said shut up!!"
"Lu Qiu was just an idiot brainwashed by the Night Watch, worked to death for a broken pass and some strangers he'd never even met… hahaha, this story is so stupid!
Does such an idiot deserve to be your father?
Does he know his son is Lucifer's代理? The one destined to stand above all living beings?
Good that he died! With him gone, no one can dictate your life anymore. This annoying fly, brainwashed by the Night Watch, spouting righteousness and the common people… how ridiculous. He died for the so-called common people, but how many of them even know him?
And you—when the evil gods descend, you're destined to stand above all living beings, and who among them would dare defy you?"
Demon Child's endless chatter echoed in Lu Baoyou's ears. Standing before the stele, he felt an unprecedented fire burning fiercely in his heart, the fury in his eyes almost spilling over!
"THE HELL YOU WILL!!!"
BOOM—!!
A pair of dark crimson wings suddenly unfurled behind him, shaking the entire mountain slightly.
Lu Baoyou's eyes were crimson red as blood, his chest heaving剧烈, and manic, violent divine power ravaged from within him, turning into gusts of wind that swept the surroundings.
"Who the hell do you think you are?! A stray dog whose soul was beaten out of its body, and you actually think you're someone?!
Shut your goddamn mouth!"
Lu Baoyou took a deep breath. In the surge of violent divine power, the conflict and fury in those red eyes were clear to see. He reached out, pointing at the stele, and roared into the mountains:
"That's right! He Lu Qiu was a bastard who abandoned his wife and child, had no sense of responsibility, neglected his family!
He wasn't a good father!
His responsibilities were on his shoulders, holding up the world, but he couldn't hold up this small family!
But so what?!
I didn't understand before, but now… I do.
All these years, my grandmother never complained once, waiting for him to come home every day. My mother sat at that door for over a decade, keeping vigil for him! Just to let him know! That this family he couldn't hold up wasn't a burden—it was his support!
Family! You don't whine like a jilted wife about whether he comes back or how long he stays. Instead, when this exhausted man comes home, you give him a place where he can put everything down and rest in peace!"
Lu Baoyou seemed to have exhausted all his strength. He looked toward where his family's little house stood, and smiled weakly.
"Such a simple, obvious truth, and I only understood it now…"
"What does that have to do with anything? He's already dead! Are you going to give up everything for a dead man?" Demon Child's voice slowly emerged. "Don't forget your identity. You're Lucifer's代理. Among all the people in Great Xia, you're the only one chosen.
You should think about your own future, not act on impulse and become a prisoner of emotion."
Lu Baoyou said nothing. He quietly walked to the front of the stele, squatted down, and gently traced the characters reading "Great Xia烈士Lu Qiu之墓" with his hand.
"He's indeed dead, but he used his spine to prop up a Sunken Dragon Pass, as well as the lives and families of countless people in Great Xia.
That's what he poured his entire life into, what he left behind.
I will never—ever—break his spine with my own hands!"