Era of Mist

...Endure...

...Endure, and endure again...

BUBBLE BUBBLE. The consciousness wasn’t just awakening—it was boiling over, becoming active like never before. It wasn’t fully unfurling to seize control. Instead, it was as if something had been triggered. Specific memories, a powerful obsession, and violent emotions suddenly went berserk. CRACKLE! His psychic sea thundered and sparked as one fiery spark after another flared to life.

’I can’t take this anymore!’

’I... I don’t want to endure this anymore!!’

A tremendous wave of emotion shattered the solidified block of consciousness. A sound like a deafening thunderclap echoed throughout his entire psychic sea. Images suddenly flashed before Shi Tiexin’s eyes—they were the other consciousness’s unforgettable, bone-deep memories.

Shi Tiexin’s eyes instantly went blank as he began to receive the fragmented memories.

He saw the arrogant, wild laughter of the delinquents.

He saw beatings, extortion, threats, and bullying.

He saw a young man from the countryside who, in order to continue his studies and live up to the hopes and trust of his fellow villagers, decided that less trouble was better than more. He chose to endure rather than resist.

He saw the immense pressure buried in the young man’s heart, saw how he bottled it all up, determined to study hard and make a name for himself. He saw the young man alone, gritting his teeth through tears, telling himself to endure it, just endure a little longer. He believed that those wicked people would eventually get bored and everything would be over.

But he also saw that things didn’t go as hoped. Those delinquents loved bullying people who didn’t fight back. The more he endured, the more relentless they became. Even though the young man was from a poor family with nothing to extort, they still came to bully him frequently, just for their own amusement.

He saw vicious faces and heard arrogant, abusive shouts. They all mixed together, surging toward him in wave after wave of fragmented images. Every one of the thousands upon thousands of broken memories was steeped in humiliation, and at the nadir of that humiliation was always the face of Teng Chaoguo.

"Kneel, and crawl through here..."

"Come on, my good little grandson. Call me Grandpa, and Grandpa will let you go..."

"Drink this piss, and I won’t make you pay for it..."

"You’re tall, aren’t you? From now on, you’re gonna squat whenever you see me. HAHAHAHA!"

"When I tell you to kneel, you kneel! You won’t? You’ve got a death wish? Beat this ’good little grandson’ half to death!"

The scenes all blended together into a whirlwind of chaos. And in the midst of this vast, swirling chaos, Shi Tiexin suddenly felt that everything before him was intensely familiar.

’Isn’t this exactly what I went through at Tumu Castle?! And isn’t this exactly what happened to me at the Star Worker School?!’

’Oh, other consciousness... so you and I... we really are the same!’

’And this anguish, this defiance... it’s all the same as mine!’

As the thought arose, a tremendous RUMBLE echoed. The chaotic vortex of memories was cleaved in two by a blinding light, as if witnessing the dawn of creation. The light then coalesced into a line of text that appeared in Shi Tiexin’s vision.

[Destiny Quest Activated!]

[Destiny Quest 1: Unyielding to Power.]

[Description: Though born a lonely son of a humble gate, one must stand tall and unbending!]

[Completion Condition: Self-Exploration Required.]

[Reward: Self-Exploration Required.]

’A Destiny Quest?’

Shi Tiexin had no idea what this was, nor what it represented. The completion condition and reward were both "Self-Exploration Required," which was vague enough to make him scratch his head. But he didn’t care about that right now. He just clenched his fists, his gaze sharpening intensely as he stared at Teng Chaoguo swaggering ahead.

’So that’s how it is. There’s no way I can stay out of this. This *is* my business!’

Completion conditions, rewards—Shi Tiexin couldn’t care less about any of it right now. He simply focused on sensing the continuously active consciousness, feeling its emotions, its thoughts. Suddenly, Shi Tiexin called out within his mind.

’Hey, other consciousness, are you afraid of this guy?’

The other consciousness faltered. A moment later, a wave of dejection and shame came through.

’Afraid...’

Communication between consciousnesses couldn’t lie. Fear was fear; it couldn’t be faked. Shi Tiexin didn’t look down on him. Instead, he earnestly sent his thoughts back: ’Being afraid is normal. I’ve been afraid, and I’ve been a coward, too. It’s a natural reaction when you’re facing violence you can’t fight back against. So let me ask you, other consciousness... have you ever submitted?’

The other consciousness erupted, its emotions detonating in a violent explosion.

’I didn’t submit!’

’I absolutely refused to submit!’

’I don’t want to endure it anymore! I want to fight him to the bitter end!!’

Shi Tiexin suddenly smiled. ’Very good. Now, watch me. Let me show you... we have no reason to fear a guy like that.’

In the space of that thought, the group had left the academic building and arrived at a secluded corner of the school grounds. A separate, single-story restroom stood here, a foul stench wafting from it even at a distance.

"Get out! All of you, get out!" one of the lackeys shouted as he rushed in. A moment later, the sound of frantic footsteps echoed from inside as a group of boys ran out in a panic. They all stole glances at Shi Tiexin as they brushed past, fleeing in disarray.

"Here we are. After you, Champion Scholar Stone?" Teng Chaoguo flashed a vicious grin and stepped into the restroom first. Two of his lackeys moved to block the path, cutting off any retreat. Shi Tiexin paid them no mind and walked right in.

His vision was plunged into darkness. After a moment, his eyes adjusted to the dim light, and Shi Tiexin could finally make out his surroundings.

’This place really is... a complete shithole!’

Shi Tiexin had never seen a restroom this disgusting, not even in the most historically accurate period dramas.

The layout wasn’t much different from the restrooms in the trash-class dormitory. On one side was a long urinal trough. On the other was a long, trench-style squat toilet. A massive cistern was bolted to the wall; there was no instant-flush system. Every so often, it would release a great torrent of water with a RUMBLE, which meant the stench in here was overwhelming.

There were no windows on the walls and no lights overhead, so it was very dark. The only light came from a row of fist-sized ventilation holes near the roof, casting just enough of a faint glow to make things barely visible.

’All things considered, it was bad, but not completely out of the ordinary.’

But there was one feature here that made it far worse than even the trash-class restrooms. The urinal trough was filled with buckets. That’s right, you’re not mistaken—pitch-black, enormous, piss buckets!

These buckets were packed tightly into the urinal trough, leaving them as the only place for the boys to relieve themselves. It was only mid-morning, but they were already more than half full of yellow liquid. The weather was getting warmer, and an acrid stench filled the air. A closer look revealed dead flies and cigarette butts bobbing up and down in the foam. It was a truly nauseating sight.

This was the Black Latrine.

The arena where the delinquents of the trash class settled their problems with violence.