Book 4 Chapter 19 – Adventure to the East

　　In a barbecue stall by the road, two shabbily dressed men sat around a table. A tattered plastic knit bag was under the feet of one while the other stepped on a stack of cardboard. Both had smiles on their swarthy faces as they ate cheap barbecue and drank equally cheap beer. Their voices added to the deafening noise of the city street at night as they exchanged stories, each one more exaggerated than the last.

　　The man on the cardboard was visibly drunk. He stammered when he spoke, punctuating each pause with a slap on the shoulders of his friend. The noise prompted the owner of the barbecue stall to peek out.'I wonder what kind of grudge is big enough for them to do this…?'

　　"Don't you think my nephew is foolish? Who would quit being a manager and apply to be a civil servant? Look at what happened! Lost his job for nothing! Now, all he does is stay home and wallow in his remorse. What an eyesore!"

　　"Ohhh, is that so…?" The man on the receiving end of the blows smiled and listened on quietly. He even filled up the cup of his companion again.

　　Suddenly, the man stiffened and raised his head in confusion toward the Polaris star.

　　"Watcha looking at? Did something happen?" His drunk friend leaned forward and followed his glance.

　　"Nothing. People who don't know when to give up." The man turned around with a resigned grimace and continued to pour beer.

　　"I know, right! If my dumb nephew was still a manager, I'd never need to stoop to gathering sc.r.a.p. I was once a vice-captain of the security team with three subordinates! How glorious those times were…" As the man slowly drawled and broke off, the drunken haze in his eyes thickened. He would have fallen off his chair if not for the quick reflexes of his drinking companion.

　　"Owner, can I have the bill please." The man asked with a big smile, supporting his drunk friend.

　　"Seventy-seven and fifty cents, but seventy is fine." The owner looked at the receipt and made a generous offer.

　　"Sure. Thanks a bunch." The man took out the bills and laid them out on the table.

　　The owner looked at the bills and looked as if he wanted to say something.

　　"What is it?" The man noticed the hesitation.

　　"Alcohol's bad for your health. You should drink less." The owner replied hesitantly after a quick glance at the knit bag and the cardboard.

　　"I don't drink normally. I'm just happy to meet someone who's here to steal my job!" The man replied while pointing at his companion.

　　The owner shook his head with a smile. He knew the heavy drinker, who had been around for a long time, asking for alcohol to everyone he met. He pitied his companion, who was cheated out of a meal despite not being particularly wealthy himself.

　　The man slung his knit bag on his shoulders, grabbing the cardboard with one hand and dragging his friend with the other. He turned at the next intersection and soon vanished from sight.

　　* * *

　　Li Yiming put down the tablet and rubbed his bloodshot eyes. Even with level three stamina, he could not come out of eleven sleepless nights unscathed.

　　After quickly refres.h.i.+ng himself in the bathroom, Li Yiming wandered toward the balcony, knocking over a bowl of instant noodles on his way. A deep drag from a cigarette he had kept in his bracelet reminded him of the figure with big shorts and a knit bag on his shoulder.

　　"Do you think this is real?" Li Yiming asked with a voice that had gone dry from a long silence.

　　'I'm… I'm not sure…' Bai Ze answered melancholically.

　　"Adventure to the East", Fu Bo's first novel. It was a parody of the cla.s.sic "Journey to the West". The theme was traditional and cliched, but its presentation was fresh and unique. Although the setting was exactly the same as "Journey to the West", the development was its drastic opposite.

　　The story began with the four characters of Journey to the West. Only this time, they were traveling eastward, aiming to spread the teachings of Buddhism with the eight volumes of scriptures they had obtained. On their way back, they fought demons and monsters, but soon discovered that their enemies had backers that prevented them from being punished regardless of the crimes they had committed.