The bacon sizzled on the hot plate while Lu Sheng cut another slice and placed it on the hot plate.
"Stop helping me, stop all the automation." He asked 'The Automated System.'
[I am just supporting.]
"No, not now, teach me instead, I want to do this on my own." He requested in a somber mood.
[Yes, sharing the knowledge.]
A stream of information revealed itself in his mind as he circulated the Spirit Essence within himself and concentrated on the hand holding the knife.
He stared at the knife intently, swallowing back a wave of frustration seeing no reaction from the knife at all. The revelation of knowledge from the Automated System had seemed so simple - visualize the proper chopping motions and angles while circulating spirit essence, and the blade should flow smoothly to slice the bacon.
Yet the stubborn chunk of meat refused to cut under his clumsy hands. Gripping tighter, he tried to channel the Spirit Essence as required, fueling his arm and wrist with resolve.
Again he attempted a cut, teeth gritted, knife wobbling...and achieved nothing but a slight dent in the flesh.
"Dammit..." Lu Sheng cursed inside as he panted, sweat beading his brow. After a lifetime of excusing hard work and effort, now that he genuinely wanted to try, wanted to help Little Sheng, he was failing at it.
Clenching his jaw, he positioned the knife again with trembling hands. "I have to do this. I MUST succeed," He vowed silently. With new desperate resolve, Lu Sheng circulated every scrap of Spirit Essence he could muster. Fixing his focus he kept on trying, he willed with all his heart for success.
After multiple tries the razor edge finally bit deep into the meat as he bore down with all his strength. Triumph exploding in his chest, Lu Sheng took advantage of his fat bulk to slice off a ragged but complete strip of bacon. It flopped into the sizzling pan, immediately starting to pop and brown. He had done it somehow.
"Thank you for simplifying it and teaching me this fast." He thanked the Automated System for his role.
[I am at your service.]
He flipped the first bacon and waited for it to turn crisp while resumed cutting more slices. Little Sheng kept on releasing the new stream of resentment which equally got absorbed into the Cane of Obedience.
"Here, try it." The moment the first slice turned crisp he placed it on a plate and offered it to Little Sheng.
Drooling profusely Little Sheng pounced on the bacon and gulped it down without even chewing it properly. However, the satisfaction was evident on his face. "Ah! Big Brother! So tasty!"
"How was the crunch?" Lu Sheng asked and Little Sheng stumbled at the answer.
"Umm…I forgot to chew." He innocently answered.
Lu Sheng laughed out loud and put another slice on Little Sheng's plate while keeping on cutting new slices and putting them on the hot plate. "Here, try again and tell me."
Little Sheng this time chewed it properly and felt a new sensation of satisfaction as his eyes glowed. Lu Sheng laughed again seeing the innocent and cute reaction of Little Sheng enjoying the bacon.
"Little Sheng? Tell me, what were you doing in my room?"
"I was following the Big Brother." He answered while chewing two slices of bacon at the same time.
"Following me? why?" He cleaned the hot plate and filled the plate while asking.
"Because you are Big Brother."
"What does it mean?" He asked 'The Automated System'.
[It seems when he died and you took over the body he stayed with you and followed you from your room to here.]
"Hmm..." He still felt things were not clear but he resumed feeding Little Sheng.
After some time, Lu Sheng noticed that the resentment emitting from Little Sheng had decreased, but its soul body was now glowing brighter.
[He is getting satisfied as his final wish is getting closer to over, he will ascend to the afterlife any moment now.]
Automated System answered immediately sensing the question in Lu Sheng's mind.
"Good." The word choked his voice and a tear came out of his eyes. He wiped his eyes and continued.
He continued to fill the plate and Little Sheng kept on stuffing his mouth until his glowing shimmering fingers were not able to grab any more bacon on his plate as Lu Sheng filled with another batch and was ready to cut more.
"What's wrong? Tummy full?" He asked, his eyes red, his voice choked. "We still have so many left? I can still cut more."
"Thank you, Big Brother!" Little Sheng's voice was no longer childish but mature as if he could comprehend everything.
"It wasn't the bacon, but your affection that fulfilled my desire. Big Brother, please live a fulfilling and rewarding life with my body. Show the world how glorious I could have been if I were alive. May Heaven bless you with happiness." Little Sheng's voice suddenly turned faint, as if he was speaking from a distant place.
Lu Sheng raised his hand to touch, but Little Sheng vanished in sparkles. Lu Sheng's knees gave way as he collapsed on the floor, tears streaming from his eyes as he tried to hold back from crying out loud.
"Not bacon but affection? Just affection? He only needed a few moments of affection, that's it?"
Lu Sheng knelt, weeping on the hard stones as the significance of Little Sheng's words sank in. All Little Sheng ever wanted was a bit of care and affection — something so small, yet so tragically denied to him in life and death.
"Why does it hurt so much?"
[Losing someone always hurts.]
"But it was not even a few hours until I met him, then why?"
[You have known him for years.]
"Years?"
[Yes, you have his memories; you have known him for years. He is you in a sense. You must be one of the few in the universe who gets to witness the loss of yourself in front of your own eyes.]
The words of the Automated System cleared the confusion in his mind, and a floodgate of emotions spilled out.
To any outsider, this might seem like childishness, lunacy, madness, an absurd reaction—crying so much for a person he had only met a few hours ago. However, only Lu Sheng could understand this pain; no one else could comprehend it.
A while later, he stood up, wiped his face, and left the kitchen without eating anything. Returning to his courtyard, he noticed Tu Peng and Tu Rong waiting for him.
Seeing his red eyes Tu Peng got confused and was about to ask but Tu Rong stopped him again by pulling the corner of his robe. Lu Sheng ignored both of them and closed the door of the room as he crashed into his bed.
He punched the pillow and screamed into it as his crying resumed.
"What's wrong with Senior Brother?" Tu Peng wondered. He turned to look at his sister, who usually had answers for these kinds of situations.
Tu Rong rolled her eyes, indicating that if he didn't understand, there was no point in explaining it. Tu Peng often felt frustrated, thinking he was the dumb sibling, and sometimes in situations like these, he felt he was the dumb younger one, not Tu Rong.
However, he also understands that there is no point in understanding it if he does not understand it. It must be useless for him if he does not understand it.
An hour later, Lu Sheng walked out of the door and noticed the siblings still waiting for him.
"Let's go, I haven't eaten anything yet. Let's eat first then I will help you." His eyes and mood returned to normal as if nothing happened at all.
Tu Peng was hesitant to eat before dinner time, but he also didn't want to offend his Senior Brother, whom he hoped to learn more from and advance faster compared to others.
Lu Sheng returned to the kitchen and resumed cutting the bacon. "Come, cook something for me." He immediately flexed his seniority on these two younger juniors of his.
Tu Rong immediately took up a station and Tu Peng after a moment of vacant mind joined. Tu Rong expertly cleaned fresh vegetables and started preparing fried rice.
Tu Peng on the other hand was boiling a large bowl of water and carefully dropping ingredients one by one for a soup.
Lu Sheng on the other hand kept on cooking bacon and eating. As he observed both of them he noticed one of them is very confident and the other is very concerned with not making mistakes which makes him very cautious.
After a while, both of them were done as they presented their dishes. He also prepared two plates stacked full of bacon.
"Here, wait? You didn't cook anything for yourself?" He saw both of them standing in front of him like waiters at restaurants.