txolops Chapter 95 Old Dreams of Blue Star, Unchanged Nature
Chapter 95 Old Dreams of Blue Star, Unchanged Nature
The darkness dissipated, the rain continued to fall, and thunder rumbled faintly.
The sounds that pierced my eardrums were the piercing car horns and the screeching of windshield wipers against the glass.
Gu Yan opened his eyes.
I saw a windshield flowing with bizarre and colorful lights, and the city's neon lights blurred in the rain, like glowing jellyfish swimming in the deep sea.
The air was filled with the cheap lemon scent of the car air freshener, mixed with that ever-present smell of tobacco.
He was gripping the steering wheel, driving a Volkswagen Santana that was about to be scrapped, on a congested overpass.
who am I?
No, there's no need to ask.
Memories returned to their rightful place like a tide, fitting together perfectly without the slightest hesitation.
He is Gu Yan.
In the coastal city of Lanxing Xia Kingdom, a lawyer specializing in legal aid cases.
He was nicknamed the Don Quixote of the legal world.
"Buzz—"
The cell phone on the passenger seat vibrated, the screen lit up, and displayed a two-word contact name: Su Ming.
Gu Yan pressed the answer button and turned on speakerphone.
"Old Gu, take my advice and drop the lawsuit."
A tired but sincere voice came from the other end of the phone, with the background noise of clinking glasses. "The Tenglong Chamber of Commerce has relented. As long as you withdraw your lawsuit now, not only will they pay the full amount of compensation for Lao Zhang's case, but they are also willing to pay an additional two million in consulting fees, which will be deposited into your account."
"Two million, Lao Gu. You're barely able to pay the rent for your lousy law firm, aren't you? Take this money, get a nice car, find a good woman, why bother fighting to the death with that behemoth?"
Gu Yan held the steering wheel with one hand and took out a Double Happiness cigarette from his pocket with the other, then lit it.
Acrid smoke filled the cramped carriage.
"Su Ming, do you remember the oath we took under the national emblem on the day we graduated from university?"
Gu Yan's voice was very calm, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone.
"Old Gu, people need to eat, and cars need to fill up with gas. Promises can't fill an empty stomach, nor can they save a life."
Su Ming's voice turned cold: "You know best about the background of the Tenglong Chamber of Commerce. They're a major taxpayer in Binhai City, and more importantly, they're that person's money bag. Do you really want to be the mantis trying to stop the chariot?"
Gu Yan took a deep drag of his cigarette and looked out the window at the brightly lit landmark building.
That's the city center, the location of the Tenglong Chamber of Commerce.
It soars into the clouds, like a giant dragon coiled in the center of the city, looking down on the ants-like beings below.
"A praying mantis? Perhaps."
Gu Yan flicked his cigarette ash. "But Su Ming, Old Zhang's daughter was only sixteen. When she passed away, her whole body was covered in sores, and she couldn't even close her eyes. When I visited her, she said to me: 'Uncle, I'm not in pain, don't cry.'"
"Damn it, because of the sewage illegally discharged by the Tenglong Chamber of Commerce, there are seventeen children like her in that village."
"Two million? How many lives can two million buy? Will it even be enough to compensate those eighteen families?!"
"Old Gu! Don't be foolish!!!"
Su Ming's voice grew anxious: "They've lost patience! Tonight is your last chance! If you dare to appear in court tomorrow, the consequences..."
"You'll bear the consequences, right?"
Gu Yan laughed, a laugh tinged with melancholy. "Tell them, we'll meet in the courtroom at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."
"beep."
The phone hangs up.
Gu Yan tossed his phone aside and stepped on the gas.
The dilapidated Santana let out a roar like an old ox and charged into the vast rainy night.
……
The next day, at nine o'clock in the morning.
The First Court of Binhai City.
The atmosphere was solemn, and whispers could be heard even before the trial began.
The gallery was packed, filled not only with reporters from a few mainstream media outlets, but also with burly men in black suits and cold expressions.
They are members of the Tenglong Chamber of Commerce; their mere presence here is a silent deterrent.
Sitting in the plaintiff's seat were Gu Yan and his client, Lao Zhang.
Old Zhang was a farmer in his fifties, wearing the most presentable old jacket he had ever owned. His hands, rough as tree bark, clutched tightly a photo of his daughter that was already soaked with tears.
He hunched over, not daring to look up at the high-ranking judge, nor at the well-dressed elite lawyers in the dock.
In the dock stood the chief legal team of the Tenglong Chamber of Commerce, led by Su Ming.
He wore a well-tailored custom-made suit, his hair was neatly combed, and his gaze behind his gold-rimmed glasses was evasive, avoiding eye contact with Gu Yan.
"...In conclusion, the evidence provided by the plaintiff can only prove that our factory has emissions, but it cannot establish an absolute causal relationship between the emissions and the victim's leukemia from a medical perspective."
Su Ming stood up, his voice steady and powerful, citing classical texts: "Based on the principle of presumption of innocence and the environmental testing report issued by a third-party authoritative institution, we request the court to dismiss all of the plaintiff's claims."
A perfect defense.
Impeccable logic.
That so-called authoritative report from three parties is a shield built with money.
That absolute causal relationship is a sturdy shield they use to evade responsibility.
In the audience, the representative of Tenglong Chamber of Commerce smiled victoriously.
The judge, expressionless, sorted through the case files; the tilt of the scales was self-evident.
"Plaintiff's attorney, do you have anything to add?" The judge glanced at his watch, noticing it was almost time to leave work, and his tone was slightly impatient.
Gu Yan stood up.
His cheap suit was wrinkled and made him look somewhat comical.
But the moment he stood up, the once noisy courtroom inexplicably fell silent.
I want to tell a story.
Gu Yan did not open the thick legal statutes, nor did he take the pile of data that had been thoroughly refuted by the other party.
He picked up the photo of the little girl on the table and held it above his head.
"Objection! The court is a place for upholding the law, not for telling stories!"
The opposing lawyer immediately stood up to protest.
"Objection overruled."
Perhaps touched by something in Gu Yan's eyes, the judge waved his hand and sighed: "Plaintiff's lawyer, please watch your words."
Gu Yan nodded, his gaze sweeping over everyone present.
"The girl in the photo is named Niu Niu. She loved to draw and dreamed of becoming an art teacher. Her last painting was of a black river and a gray sky."
"The opposing lawyer just kept talking about cause and effect, probability in numerology, and legal logic."
Gu Yan walked out of the plaintiff's seat and stepped towards the defendant's seat.
The overwhelming momentum caused the guards on duty to forget to stop it.
"You say there's no direct evidence that the Yin energy caused the villagers' deaths. Yes, it's indeed difficult to draw a 100% conclusion based on the Dao traces. But I ask you all, before the Tenglong Chamber of Commerce was established, which village hadn't had a single case of Yin poison affecting the body for thirty years? Yet, within just five years after the Tenglong Chamber of Commerce appeared, eighteen cases appeared."
"Is this just a coincidence?"
Gu Yan's voice suddenly rose in pitch, echoing across the empty courtroom.
"When the laws of law become mere word games; when justice becomes a probability that can be measured in money; when trials become a fig leaf for the rich and a shroud for the poor, is our presence here merely a formality?!"
"Objection! The plaintiff's lawyer is making personal attacks and inciting emotions!" Su Ming stood up abruptly, his face pale.
"I didn't attack anyone, I was just stating a fact!"
Gu Yan turned around and stared directly at Su Ming. His gaze was like a knife, causing Su Ming to retreat repeatedly.
"Su Ming, what are we studying law for? Is it to help bad people exploit loopholes? Is it to help the rich bully the poor? Back in the bar, the first lesson our professor taught us was that the law is a public instrument for all!"
"When did this public tool become a weapon for vigilante justice?"
Gu Yan walked to the judge's bench, placed his hands on the table, and looked directly into the judge's eyes.
"Your Honor, I know that the Tenglong Chamber of Commerce is powerful and influential, making this judgment difficult to write. I also know that the village is very poor, so poor that it cannot even make a sound."
"but."
Gu Yan pointed to Old Zhang behind him, and then to the portrait of the deceased.
"If there is no justice in this world, wouldn't it be too hot to wear this official robe?"
"If the court cannot provide an explanation for these eighteen souls today, then tomorrow, this malevolent energy will invade the abodes of each and every one of us, eroding the foundation of your descendants' cultivation!"
The entire room fell silent.
Only Old Zhang's suppressed sobs, like muffled thunder, struck at everyone's conscience.
The judge's gavel hung in mid-air, not falling for a long time.
The Tenglong Chamber of Commerce representative, who had maintained a sense of superiority, froze with a smile.
Su Ming slumped into the chair, head down, not daring to look at anyone.
This is Gu Yan, truly deserving of the title "Don Quixote of the legal world."
He doesn't need flowery language or sophistry.
All he needs to do is tear open the bloody truth and show it to everyone, and that will be enough to shame them.
"Good! Well said!"
In the audience, someone shouted out, and then thunderous applause erupted.
The men in black who had been assigned to keep order looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.
Gu Yan turned around and bowed deeply to Old Zhang.
In this courtroom debate, he won the hearts of the people.
As for whether the case can be won, that's the judge's business, and it's a matter of this era.
But he said he had a clear conscience.
……
The rain stopped in the evening.
Gu Yan, carrying his briefcase, walked out of the courthouse.
Although the verdict will be announced at a later date, he saw hope in the judge's final gaze.
He breathed a sigh of relief and walked towards the Santana parked by the roadside.
The moment he opened the car door, a long-lost feeling of palpitation suddenly washed over him.
As a lawyer who dances on the edge of a knife, he has an almost instinctive intuition for danger.
He turned his head abruptly.
A heavy dump truck without license plates roared in from the side, like a runaway steel beast.
It was going extremely fast, and there was absolutely no intention of braking.
Under the blinding light of the headlights, Gu Yan could even see the cold and ferocious face of the person in the driver's seat.
Under the blinding light of the headlights, Gu Yan could even see the cold and ferocious face of the person in the driver's seat.
"Is this the consequence?"
Gu Yan didn't dodge, nor did he have time to dodge.
In that instant, time seemed to slow down.
He reflected on his short but arduous life.
He was beaten with broken ribs for helping migrant workers who couldn't afford legal fees; he was splashed with paint for exposing the shady dealings of a fake drug factory; and he received a dead rat in a courier box for trying to exonerate a girl who had been wronged.
Throughout his life, he relentlessly fought against the word "injustice."
Tired?
very tired.
Regret?
As Gu Yan watched the approaching steel behemoth grow ever closer, a mocking smile curled at the corner of his lips.
He remembered the image of Old Zhang kneeling before him outside the courthouse; he remembered the drawing of Niu Niu, the little girl he had never met; he remembered the line from the law school oath: "I wield the sword of law and hold the scales of justice."
I remember that after I transmigrated, I was determined to stay put and never meddle in other people's business, but I still used the excuse of improving my strength to help the Shen family out of their predicament and rid Changning County of a scourge.
Yes, in this world, there will always be someone who acts like a fool, someone who lights a lamp in the darkness, even if that lamp will eventually burn them to death.
"bring it on."
Gu Yan closed his eyes.
"boom!"
A tremendous crash echoed through the street.
The Santana tumbled and flew away like a flattened soda can.
Blood stained the shattered windshield and the copy of "Mysterious Laws" that had fallen to the ground.
Consciousness gradually faded.
Skyscrapers turned to ashes, and screaming citizens in the distance became distorted shadows.
The intense physical pain was rapidly subsiding, leaving only a feeling of blissful lightness.
Is this what death is?
It turns out that parting from loved ones is not a forced separation, but rather a voluntary choice to say goodbye for the sake of one's inner principles.
I love this world, I love the warmth of human life, and I love the dignity of the law.
But I love even more the justice that one must uphold even at the cost of one's life.
Separation is for a better return.
……
"Tick-tock".
A drop of cold tea landed on the back of Gu Yan's hand.
The illusion collapsed.
In the bustling modern city, in the solemn and dignified courtroom, that deadly dump truck has all been transformed into the lingering aroma of tea.
Gu Yan slowly opened his eyes.
He sat in that gloomy underground palace, the third cup of tea in front of him already empty.
But the light in his eyes was brighter than ever before.
It is a light that has gone through two lifetimes, seen through life and death, yet still chooses to love.
In his previous life, he was a lawyer who, with the body of an ordinary man, fought against financial giants.
In this life, he is Gu Qingtian, who uses the power of gods and demons to fight against the corrupt world.
Their identities have changed, and their power has changed.
But this heart has never changed.
"Good tea."
Gu Yan put down his teacup, his voice no longer hoarse, but carrying a quality like metal and stone.
He looked at the red-eyed old man opposite him, and then at Xiao Chen next to him, who had just woken up and whose face was also covered in tears but whose eyes were firm.
A mysterious and profound aura rose from his body.
The Tower of Babel within his body, the demonic dragon coiled around it, and his crystal-clear divine heart converged to form a perfect Tai Chi diagram.
In the Tai Chi diagram, the divine is Yang, the demonic is Yin, and humanity is the foundation.
Heaven, Earth, and Man—the three elements converge.
The foundation of the divine path has been laid, and it is now complete.
With the insights gained from the Three Lives Tea, his state of mind had far surpassed his cultivation level, making the breakthrough to the Golden Core stage a piece of cake.
"Love is separation, desires are not fulfilled, and hatred is reunited with those one hates."
Gu Yan stood up, patted off non-existent dust from his sleeves, and bowed respectfully. "Thank you for the three cups of tea, senior. They have helped me see who I am and where I am going."
The red-eyed old man stared intently at Gu Yan with his single eye, his gaze revealing genuine solemnity and respect for the first time.
He has stayed here for countless years and has seen countless brilliant geniuses.
Some people went mad after the first drink, some lost themselves in the second, and some chose to succumb to despair in the third.
Only these two young people in front of me.
One has severed ties with the past, and possesses a clear and enlightened swordsmanship.
One who has merged with his past life, his Dao heart is eternally steadfast.
"The younger generation is truly formidable..."
The red-eyed old man sighed, and the blood-red tree seemed to sense this, beginning to shake violently, and a passage slowly appeared beneath its roots.
"Now that the tea is finished, the road lies ahead."
The old man pointed to the passage, "Go down from here, and you'll find the greatest secret of the Dragon Burial Mountain Range, the cause and effect you're searching for. However..."
He paused, then looked at Gu Yan meaningfully: "Little kid, with your personality, you're bound to stumble in this cutthroat world of cultivation. Too much rigidity leads to breakage; sometimes, appropriate compromise is the way to survive."
Upon hearing this, Gu Yan stopped in his tracks.
He turned his head and looked at the old man who was offering a kind reminder.
A familiar smile appeared on that handsome face.
That was the smile he wore while defending himself in court, and it was also the smile he wore as he faced death in a Santana.
Gentle, yet with an inexplicable stubbornness.
"Senior, you're mistaken."
Gu Yan straightened his worn-out Taoist robe, just like he would straighten his cheap suit.
"But what a fool I am! Now that I've been given a second chance at life, if I'm going to bow down to this messed-up world again, wouldn't all this tea have been for nothing?"
He raised his head, his gaze piercing through the dome of the underground palace, as if he were seeing once again the evil dragon coiled in the sky, and the mountain that oppressed all living beings, making it hard for them to breathe.
Time and space change, the world revolves.
Whether it's the Tenglong Chamber of Commerce, the Great Wei Dynasty, or the various high-ranking sects.
Anything that is unjust, anything that is evil.
He wants to get involved and touch on everything.
Even if one's head is broken and blood is spilled, even if one dies and one's soul is extinguished.
"My name is Gu Yan."
"As the name suggests, my elders gave me this name so that I would be careful with my words and actions, protect myself wisely, and do more and say less."
He spoke softly, his voice echoing in the empty underground palace, resounding with conviction.
"But I always keep my word, I never keep my word."
I'm currently reading Chapter 95, "Blue Star Old Dreams, Unchanged Nature," and I'm completely engrossed in it.