CHAPTER 1797: CHAPTER 18: COURAGE

As soon as he thought of the Green Snake burrowing into and out of his own ear canal, Zheng Qing couldn’t help but recall the cartoons and movies he watched as a child, and the scene where the hairy-faced, thunder-mouthed monk loudly pulled a needle from his ear:

"Hey! Take a blow from your Grandfather!"

He couldn’t help but squint his eyes with a grin and pinched out the third spell.

The Green Snake raised its head and flicked its tongue, opened its mouth wide, and took a deep breath, visibly bulging its narrow neck. A thought flashed through Zheng Qing’s mind, and a foreboding feeling surged in his heart.

Before the thought could settle, a flash of bright red appeared in the snake’s mouth, initially as tiny as a grain of rice, then swelling to the size of an egg in an instant, rolling with destruction and deathly silence.

Just like the aura surging on that thin red pillar on the Black Prison battlefield.

The boy was tongue-tied, staring blankly at the red flash, his mind once again flooded with his experiences in the Black Prison, rendering him motionless.

Meanwhile, the Green Snake, ignoring his fear, spewed a breath like a Fire Dragon, with the red flash shooting out like an arrow straight at the tea table on the other side of the sickbed.

"Stop!!"

Zheng Qing finally regained control of his body, screaming with all his might.

The Green Snake immediately shut its mouth, cutting off its continued breath, then cocked its head, perplexedly gazing at the pale-faced boy with its crystal-clear red and blue eyes, looking particularly innocent.

Zheng Qing paid no heed to the snake’s confusion and kept his eyes fixed on the already shot out flash of red light.

Snap!

The crisp sound of a snap echoed in the small hospital room, interrupting the young wizard’s cry and shattering the flash of red light. Zheng Qing stood there, gasping at the sight of the red light turning into sparkles and silently dissipating into the air.

For a long time.

He slowly turned his head to look at the gentleman, his voice hoarse: "I..."

"You didn’t do it on purpose, I know."

The gentleman comfortingly patted his shoulder, seeming unsurprised: "You could think of it as I encouraged you to do this... With such an experience, next time, you’ll know what to do."

Zheng Qing lowered his eyelids and silently made the first hand gesture, and the Green Snake flickered on the spot, turning into a stream of light, disappearing into his left ear canal.

The feeling of water in his brain surged again.

The gentleman’s voice came from far to near, gradually becoming clear: "...This Little Snake is like a floodgate on the embankment, opening and closing according to your needs, usually causing you no harm... According to my calculations, by the time your Curse Power has completely worn it away, you should also be able to control the power within yourself. So, you can treat it as a little pet, it does no harm."

Zheng Qing instinctively dug his ear and shook his head.

He pulled nothing out.

He stared blankly at his fingertips, pondering the gentleman’s words. Indeed, this Little Green Snake not only did him no harm but also had many benefits. Not to mention restraining the head ailment, helping him control the scattered Curse Power, merely by dissipating obsessive thoughts, thus gaining the friendship of an Ancient One, it was already heart-stirring.

It’s just that the potent dose the gentleman suddenly administered to him left him not fully recovered even now, his emotions sinking again.

"There is no sin that is irreparable."

The gentleman’s gentle voice rang in the boy’s ear: "As long as this world still holds hope, and you remain grateful to the world, forever humble towards magic... Remember, you are merely a wizard. Never overestimate the harm you can do to the world, but also never underestimate the help you can provide to it."

Zheng Qing reluctantly smiled: "I thought that phrase was ’Never overestimate your role in the world, don’t underestimate your harm to it.’

"The difference lies in confidence."

The gentleman gazed at the young wizard, appearing slightly solemn: "Antonio Gramsci wrote in the ’Prison Notebooks’, ’The old world is dying, and the new world has yet to be born’... He was full of confidence in the new world, just as I am full of confidence in you."

"I hope that when you leave this room, you can truly step out of your inner demons... and not just pretend to let go of the burden at the bottom of your heart. Destruction and death aren’t terrible things. Thunder can nourish the earth, volcanoes can fertilize the soil. The subtleties between life and death are hard to fully understand in a lifetime... You are still young, just need to muster your courage and face everything in front of you."

"Confidence and courage are the magic truths harder to grasp than many profound magic skills."

Courage.

At the mention of the word, Zheng Qing felt an inexplicable sense of shame.

Ever since he awoke, recalling everything that happened on the Black Prison battlefield, these two words had been circling in his mind, leaving him unable to escape—because when he first opened the Law Book, soared into the sky, and charged at the Tiber Dragon, he intended to perish with it, stopping that dragon from repeatedly resetting time.

Initially, he thought he did this out of bravery and fearlessness.

But after waking up in the hospital room and reflecting silently for a long time, Zheng Qing had to admit to himself that he wasn’t as brave as he thought.

The reason he dared to go all out and perish with the Tiber Dragon was because he had already blasted the incarnation of Satoguya to death, had followed the gentleman from the Land of Void back to reality, and had once ’risen from the dead’.

Perhaps, at the moment of charging, some unknown thoughts echoed in a very dark and narrow corner of his heart—’I won’t die’ ’The gentleman will save me’ ’She should worship me now’ ’I died for the school this time, surely they won’t expel me.’

"You should scold me."

Zheng Qing reflected on his actions, mockingly smiling, courageously looking at the gentleman: "I took your teachings as a reason to be reckless, mistaking rashness for courage, I..."

He wanted to say he was wrong and would never do it again, but the words felt too pretentious, as verbal promises held no weight.

He paused, suddenly getting stuck, not knowing what he should say next.

But the gentleman knew.

The gentleman nodded slightly, not showing any anger at the boy’s hesitation, maintaining his usual gentle demeanor: "Any magic skill that is highly sophisticated, when first learned, resembles a savage wielding a wooden stick. This isn’t your fault. Courage also needs constant practice to be gradually mastered."

"Death is a very simple matter."

"But wanting to die meaningfully and die with courage is hard. Or to say, many times, only by holding a belief of imminent death while doing something seemingly impossible, is there a chance for success."