Speciesism is not Allowed - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: My emperor has finally returned

The liveliness on the internet couldn’t compare to the construction site’s chief labor contractors who had managed to secure work to do. Many chief labor contractors had a group of men under them and also had to acquire some connections on the construction company’s end. The occasional drinking and eating for the sake of securing work was unavoidable.

Zhao Sanxiang was very good at this. It hadn’t been long since the completion of the work at this construction site, but he had already received the salary. At the same time, he had also bagged a new project. The men who followed him very willingly called him Zhao ge.

Ever since the matter about Fu Li rescuing Old[1] Zhang’s son spread throughout the construction site, Fu Li had become quite familiar with the older workers. He didn’t know if it was because Old Zhang’s error had spread, or if everyone had the same issue with pronunciation as Old Zhang, but the entire construction site was now calling him little Hu. Fortunately, Fu Li didn’t mind such things; there was no difference whether it was little Fu, little Hu, or little Hua.

At noon that day, Fu Li was drinking the pig trotter soup Zhang Peng had sent over when a loud siren sounded outside. He lifted up the curtain to the shed curiously and saw that the rest were running outside. He asked at the top of his voice, “Where are all of you going?”

“There’s someone attempting suicide at the construction site in front, do you want to take a look?” The man who replied Fu Li was surnamed Chen. He was fast approaching the age of forty but hadn’t wedded a wife, so he was called Old Empty Chen by everyone else. He didn’t mind it either, even happily responding when others called him that. He had good relations with the people at the construction site.

Fu Li happened to be bored, so seeing that everyone else was going to join in the action, he figured that he should also behave in a way that was consistent with the crowd.

“Sure, let’s go together.”

A middle-aged woman in a flower-patterned shirt and black slacks was sitting at the edge of the top floor of an incomplete building. The ground that was overgrown with weeds was jam-packed with people.

Peng Hang, who had rushed over after receiving the alert, tugged at his sweat-laden police uniform as he instructed the rest to ready the inflatable cushion. The ground at this abandoned construction site was craggy and uneven, and some grass had grown so tall that they were even taller than a person. The ambulance couldn’t enter, so the rescue equipment could only be carted in by people.

“Dajie[2], look at the hot weather, if you have something to say come down first. As the saying goes, find the police in times of trouble. As long as you come down, we will definitely help you,” Peng Hang gestured at his colleagues from other departments, indicating for them to stealthily enter the building.

The woman’s emotions were very unstable. She sobbed while apologizing to Peng Hang, saying that she didn’t want to trouble everyone but didn’t have any choice. As she was too emotional, her body constantly leaned forward. A moment of carelessness could cause her to fall from the building.

It turned out that the woman’s partner had passed away from illness two years ago and she had a child who was still schooling. She lacked a specialized skill and thus could only come to the construction site and work as if she was a man. Who would have expected that after working half a year, the chief labor contractor took the money and fled. Now, her child was severely ill and the hospital had started to press her for the hospital fees. Even after pleading with every person she could find, she still didn’t manage to pool enough money. With no other choices, it was impossible for her to live on.

The woman who wasn’t even forty years old had a dark-skinned, thin, and shriveled appearance, her entire body resembling pickled radish drained of all its moisture. The sound of her weeping was both mournful and intense, making Peng Hang feel a little upset. He wiped the sweat on his face and ranted in a low voice to his colleagues. “The capitalists today are really good-for-nothings!”

Then, he turned and glanced beyond the police cordon. Putting his hands on his hips, he gave a mocking smile. “Such a hot day, yet there are still people who come to watch the excitement. Tell all those watching not to jeer. It’ll be bad if they stimulate the person involved and cause the loss of a life.”

“Boss, the people outside are temporary workers at the nearby construction site. They usually don’t have much entertainment, so now that something like this is happening, how can they not join in on the excitement?” His colleague Xiao Yang made a sound of agreement and went to speak to the onlooking workers.

Old Empty Chen placed his palm against his head, sighing as he spoke to Fu Li, “Ai[3], this sort of chief labor contractor who runs after taking the money really isn’t anything good.”

Fu Li didn’t say anything, because he really didn’t understand why humans would sacrifice their everything for the sake of others.

“Fellow countrymen, we’re currently attempting to convince the person involved, please take care not to say anything provocative,” A very young police officer walked over, his face and head dripping with sweat as if he had just been dunked in water. “She still has a child who is severely ill. If anything happens to her, the child will be in a pitiful position.”

The scene quietened.

Only after a long while did one of the workers speak up, “This sister doesn’t have it easy either. Fellow officer, you must arrest that person who ran with the money.”

Xiao Yang smiled bitterly. Faced with the various faces smeared with black grease, he nodded and replied, “Don’t worry, we will definitely put in our best efforts.”

The negotiations didn’t seem to have gone very well. It was unknown what the woman had thought of, but she stood up. It was evident that she genuinely didn’t intend to continue living. Alarm swept through the people present and Peng Hang roared in a moment of desperation, “Dajie, think of your son. He’s still waiting for you to go back and see him.”

The woman covered her face and sobbed, “It was me who let him down. I’m useless.”

After saying these words, she wiped dry her tears, closed her eyes, and prepared to jump.

“I have a panacea passed down from my ancestors that can cure your son!”

This voice was loud, clear and extremely piercing. It was unknown if it was everyone’s misconception, but they could feel these words penetrating their eardrums, drilling into the depths of their hearts.

The woman opened her eyes again. She cast a searching gaze all around her as if attempting to find the person who had spoken.

Peng Hang heaved a temporary sigh of relief. Lying at this moment wasn’t considered cheating but tactics.

Fu Li squeezed over the police cordon and looked up at the woman, his gaze meeting hers. “Come down. I guarantee that your son will be cured.”

Peng Hang glanced at the youth in front of him. The youth was wearing an Aidadas t-shirt with a mountain on it and flower-patterned shorts. There was a layer of dust on his slippers. He was probably one of the workers at the nearby construction site.

But this child was truly too honest. It would be strange if this bald-faced lie of his actually succeeded in coaxing the woman to come down.

Who would have expected the woman standing at the top floor to sway and then turn around the next instant, heading down. The firefighters hiding by the windowsill downstairs hadn’t even reacted at this time.

Two minutes later, a dark and thin woman ran out from the corridor. Her dried up palms clung tightly to Fu Li, a raging flame in her eyes. If this flame was extinguished, she probably wouldn’t be able to live on.

“Of course,” Fu Li nodded. “I never lie.”

Xiao Yang moved closer to Peng Hang, not knowing whether to laugh or cry at this scene. “Boss, what should we do now?”

“What else can we do? Accompany them to the hospital first. The woman’s emotions aren’t stable yet. If we leave now, she might not be able to pull herself out of it,” He took a deep breath, the hot sun causing him to grimace. “Let’s go. Saving people should be done to the end; Buddhas should be sent to the West[4]. We’re already under the sun, making one more trip isn’t anything much.”

He turned around and glanced at the youth who was being held in a death grip by the woman. Worry was written all over Peng Hang’s face. Where were they supposed to go to help the youth find the ‘panacea passed down from ancestors’?

The yao world’s management team and cultivator management team were located in the same office building. One was responsible for managing non-human entities, while the other managed humans. From time to time, they would encounter a clash in opinions in private, although they didn’t dare to make too huge of a fuss.

Zhang Ke’s arrest of the evil yao attracted the attention of the entire building. The workers in this office building consisted of humans and yao. However, quite a few workers had suffered injuries the past few days in order to capture this evil yao. Zhang Ke was an outstanding disciple of the Qingxiao Sect, but his cultivation was shallow. When had he become even more powerful than the pillars of the management bureau?

“May the Three Pure Ones[5] bless me,” When the cultivator management team’s Old Huang saw the evil yao’s complete form, he took two or steps back in succession. “The white head, human face, and red feet seems like one of the ferocious beasts in the legends.”

“Seems like what?” Xu Yuan wasn’t accustomed to Old Huang playing the profound thinker. She scoffed, “Who cares what he is. Anyway, he was captured by our yao world’s management team.”

“Don’t be anxious, Miss Xu,” Old Huang chuckled gently as he stroked the sparse strands of hair on his chin. “This type of ferocious beast is called a Zhuyan. It’s reportedly said to be extremely powerful. However, records of it came to a stop after the Han and Tang Dynasty. I didn’t expect such a yao to actually exist in this world.”

“I was still wondering who you are; turns out you’re nothing more than a weasel,” The Zhuyan was bound so tightly that his entire body couldn’t move. His eyelids drooped as he shot a glance at Old Huang, the arrogance of an ancient yao king plainly visible. “Such a plaything is only fit for this king to kill for fun.”

Old Huang wasn’t angry. He continued speaking with a huge smile, “Rumors say that the Zhuyan has an extremely vicious nature. In the unofficial records of the Han Dynasty, the Zhuyan once fought with the armies of two countries in a moment of unhappiness, causing a death toll of several hundred thousand.”

The audience sucked in a breath. Were the lives of several hundred thousand people a trifling matter in the eyes of this yao beast? The next time they looked at the Zhuyan, there was an extra layer of fear in their eyes.

“Mister Zhang, did you encounter the help of an expert?” Old Huang pointed at the black whip binding the Zhuyan. “What are the origins of this whip that can restrain even a ferocious beast?”

Zhang Ke glanced at the whip in his hands. “The yaoguai who lent me this whip called it a yao-beating whip.”

Old Huang thought for a very long time but couldn’t recall the origins of the yao-beating whip. He sighed with emotion, “So, it’s an expert doesn’t come out often. We should be grateful to him.”

“The expert said that there’s no need for thanks. It’s enough for us to send him the prize money for carrying out a heroic act,” Zhang Ke laughed dryly. “And he’s no expert. He picked up this yao-beating whip by chance.”

What true expert would be so concerned about this little bit of prize money and even need to do manual labor at a construction site to earn money? From what he knew, true humans or yao who had high cultivation only needed to absorb the essence of the sun and moon without needing to consume ordinary food.

Only those with imperfect cultivation needed to ingest food to allay hunger.

After voicing everything he knew, everyone was in agreement with giving the good-hearted yaoguai the prize money, even wanting to add on a spirit cultivation pill. Cultivation was a difficult process; although the actions of this good-hearted yao weren’t enough to warrant the pill, this sort of utterly fearless, daring to help even in the face of danger mentality was worthy of praise.

Nobody dared to release the Zhuyan from the yao-beating whip. In the end, they decided to temporarily shut it in the spirit lock formation and wait for Boss Zhuang to return before dealing with it.

In the spirit lock formation, the Zhuyan’s red eyes glowered at the people outside of the formation.

“My emperor has finally returned.”

Hearing him repeat this statement in a foreign accent, Xu Yuan cracked open two melon seeds and commented, “I didn’t think that yaoguai with eighth-grader syndromes existed.”

In television dramas, villains who harped about their bosses turning the tables often didn’t live past the third episode.

[1] A respectful term of address for someone relatively older.

[2] Literally, big/older sister. Jie is the female equivalent of ge, and the ‘da’ in front is usually added when addressing slightly older women.

[3] Onomatopoeia for sighing.

[4] A saying that originated from the classic novel Journey to the West, meaning that one should see an undertaking through, no matter how much time or effort it entails. The saying is based on how Sun Wukong achieved Buddhahood after protecting the monk Tangsen throughout his entire journey to the West.

[5] 三清: The Three Pure Ones are the three highest gods in the Taoist pantheon. They are regarded as pure manifestation of the Tao and the origin of all sentient beings.