Final Civilization

Chapter 36: Kidney Deficiency

"A piece of well-intentioned advice," Zheng Jiaqing said with a faint smile.

Han Ming smiled and nodded slightly. He looked at Zheng Jiaqing and began to speak.

"Wang Yangming once said, whatever is in your heart is what you see. The more someone lacks something, the more they pretend not to care, the more maliciously they speculate about others' actions. They often act in the very way they accuse others of. Tao Jie and I have only met three times recently, yet you already feel threatened and rush to defend your territory. That shows you worry I’ll take Tao Jie away from you, and it reveals your extreme insecurity, even deep inferiority."

"Inferiority?" Zheng Jiaqing sneered coldly. "Are you talking about me?"

"Han Ming, to be honest, although your background is okay, you and I, you and Tao Jie, are not in the same social circle."

Han Ming smiled and said:

"Alfred Adler wrote in 'The Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler' that arrogance is the armor of inferiority. That you quickly assume I'm approaching the Tao family to attach myself to powerful households actually indicates that is your aim. The thing you use to defend yourself isn't the depth of love between you and Tao Jie, but the fact that you have a fixed engagement and her parents' approval. That proves you know Tao Jie doesn't love you, and you are the one trying to get close to the Tao family for benefit."

"You're talking nonsense!!" Zheng Jiaqing's face changed drastically. He shouted angrily.

But Han Ming's analysis did not stop. His gaze swept over Zheng Jiaqing with calm detachment as he continued:

"Your original family upbringing was unhappy, which cultivated this characteristic of inferiority in you. You walk with shifting eyes, your body movements are constrained, your gestures tend toward defensive and unnatural postures, and you smile servilely when dealing with people. The only thing you can really show off is the approval of her parents. But you know Tao Jie doesn't like you. Their approval comes from your meticulous care for her; you obtained the Tao family's support that way. In truth, your career also stems from their funding. You might object, but that's childish. Let me tell you why: for a wealthy family of the Tao family's scale, there is no such thing as a truly independent, approved career. In their eyes, your career is all trivial. So the approval you claim has only one possible meaning: your venture is actually funded by them, and that's all there is to it."Zheng Jiaqing's face went ashen, his shoulders trembling, and he swallowed nervously.

"Did Tao Jie tell you?"

Han Ming smiled and shook his head:

"The above is merely analysis drawn from what you just said and your behavior. Now let's look at the facts. It's September, not cold, yet Tao Jie always carries a large wind blanket. If it's only for covering her legs it's obviously oversized, which means she has another purpose: to hide privacy while you take care of her. For example, when you picked her up last time, the way you helped her into the car wasn't like lovers act. That shows there is no intimate contact between you. She won't let you touch her, and even when her leg can't move, she still won't let you see it. She has no feelings for you. You are only lovers in name. To put it bluntly, you are not as close to her as her female housekeeper. Am I right?"

"You're lying! You're lying!!"

Zheng Jiaqing flushed red and beyond angry he roared louder at Han Ming, "Did she tell you everything? Is that it?!"

"Don't be in such a hurry, I haven't finished."

Han Ming adopted the posture of a judge, looking down at Zheng Jiaqing. "Because of this, you feel deeply unsettled, oppressed, and quick-tempered, but you never show it in front of Tao Jie. For the sake of your career and your status as a wealthy son-in-law, you must appear a decent fellow. Yet the Dior floral fragrance on you betrays you. That perfume is relatively cheap for Tao Jie and doesn't suit her personality. She rarely goes out and therefore rarely uses perfume. That fragrance has been a popular hit among female university students in recent years, so the woman you've been cheating with is likely a female student at your art studio, and probably more than one. On top of that, you have traces of stage makeup on your shirt cuff that weren't wiped clean, which indicates some issues with your kidneys."

"Those details you usually take care to erase, yet this morning Tao Jie insisted on coming to see me; she's clever and, to avoid making you suspicious, she deliberately had you drop her off. But at that time you were probably still in some student's bed, and rushed over without having fixed those traces. That also shows you don't live with Tao Jie. Am I right?"

The more Zheng Jiaqing listened, the more terrified he became. He stared at Han Ming in shock as if he were confronting a horrific demon, his face ghastly, his mouth trembling as he stammered:

"You! You… you investigated me? Despicable!"

"Investigate, needed?" Han Ming smiled calmly. "Did you forget I'm a lawyer? Observation and analysis are my strengths."

"Han Ming…!" Zheng Jiaqing was truly panicking now. He hurried to say:

"I… I—what I said before wasn't a threat. I harbor no hostility toward you. Tao Jie… Tao Jie is a sensitive person, she overthinks. You mustn't—"

Han Ming smiled inwardly. This guy was using Tao Jie as a shield again, how tiresome.

He said directly:

"That's why I told you, you should have gone to pick her up immediately instead of spending the time coming to pick a fight with me. I'm a lawyer; time is precious."

"I… I was wrong. I'm sorry for what I said. Can you just pretend you never heard it?" Zheng Jiaqing explained, his mouth dry and trembling. Seeing Han Ming smile made his heart pound wildly—he never expected Han Ming's few words would make him break out in cold sweat. How did he end up provoking such a person?

"And you said my kidneys—"

"I was just speaking recklessly."

Han Ming said calmly, then turned and left.

Zheng Jiaqing felt unsettled and chased after him.

"You won't tell Tao Jie, right?"

"I told you, Tao Jie and I are both lawyers."

"What do you mean?"

Han Ming opened the car door and looked at him.

"I mean, professionally, she outperforms me."

With that, he got in, drove away from the parking lot, glancing through the rearview at the bewildered Zheng Jiaqing and then ignoring him.

Pale face, sweating, irritable, trembling hands—all signs of yang deficiency. Using a slick, made-up handsome image to deceive female students, traces of stage makeup on his cuffs show he enjoys verbal sparring instead of getting straight to the point.

These... are all manifestations of kidney deficiency.

Case closed.

On the drive home, Han Ming kept thinking about the Wallfacer matter that Tao Jie had mentioned.

He didn't care about Zheng Jiaqing—this was Tao Jie's private issue and he had no right to intervene. Han Ming's thoughts circled around the information he had gathered today.

Now he seemed to understand why, in that dream, the Wallfacer always interrogated him and why, once he revealed anything unusual, he would be killed.

Could the scenes in that dream be some kind of message left behind by the Wallfacer he had inherited from?

Han Ming instinctively considered that possibility; otherwise it was hard to explain why he would dream of people and scenes completely unrelated to himself.

Jiang Xing…

Han Ming mulled over the name again and again. He found no clues about it online. For someone with infinite wealth and immortality, becoming a world-famous figure or obtaining great power should be easy. If there is no trace to be found, that means this Wallfacer chose to hide amid the city.

A Wallfacer being killed would not be such an easy matter. Perhaps there are many crucial secrets and pieces of information involved.

They are hidden in those dream scenes!

The moment he understood his situation, Han Ming began to make some plans. He could join the Sacred Realm of Science as a volunteer or a believer to learn the truth about the hidden world's conflicts.

First, he needed to quickly and closely learn about the Wallfacer organization, how Wallfacer "Apostles" operate, and the world's developments, and to understand the actions of the Wallbreakers.

Second, it's a way to disguise his identity.

Now Wallfacers, Wallbreakers, and governments worldwide are secretly searching for the truth of the apocalypse. Before that truth is revealed, all the struggles remain in the hidden currents of world affairs.

If, as Tao Jie said, Wallfacers over a thousand years have still not found the cause of the apocalypse, the remaining three hundred years is not a long time. World economic development has surged and is stabilizing, and many countries are already entering downturns.

The global landscape after the 21st century has become less stable; the world is moving toward multipolarity, and change has become the only constant.

Such change could trigger a series of uncertain events at any moment, shattering peace.

Although for Han Ming these thoughts may seem distant and excessive,

he had already become a Wallfacer.

The flood is coming, and there is nowhere to hide.