Chapter 42
Filth and Vulgarity
While the mayor is enjoying the feasting revelry, JK is thinking hard about the reunion ceremony. At this time, the old guy and his relatives walk into the largest villa in the city, and his descendants follow him home. Emotions still feel warm on the outside, but inside, it is a freezing, bone-chilling cold.
His daughter and granddaughters are closer than ever, but they are out of reach. The one who fathered these descendants still doesn't know why Lan refuses to marry. JK implicitly signals Anh Dao to enter his room:
- The mother and her two daughters still hate me, thanks to you asking Lan the reason for her refusal.
Anh Dao lets out two "ah"s:
- Father forgets that everyone knows that Nhan Nghia is promiscuous; if Lan becomes his wife, she will suffer for the rest of her life!
JK frowns, lights a cigarette, takes a breath, and says under the gloomy smoke:
- I suspect this is not the only reason.
Anh Dao looks at the old guy quietly for a while. The bitter father searches his soul for countless ways to win the heart of his offspring. Now the old guy quietly probes the mind to shorten the distance with his dearest person.
JK is devoted to his offspring — not only is he atoning for his sins, but also is he revealing his long-hidden feelings as a father. Anh Dao deliberately lets him see her smiling. He pretends to ignore it. She asks for permission to leave the room.
JK holds his head and thinks about everything. Gratitude, resentment, love, and hatred have not let him go. Whenever he has been alone, chaos has trapped him in the maze. He has struggled to find a way out every time, but ever since the raw pond water has warmed the peach blood, he has no longer been as crazy as if he has lost his mind. Father has quietly groped every path, every corner, and every hidden corner of the maze. He must find the heart that he has abandoned in the dark before he can see the light leading him out of this vicious loop.
JK falls into deep thought, then suddenly hears Anh Dao calling. He tells her to come in immediately. JK waits anxiously for Anh Dao to tell him the reason. His eagerness twists into an incomprehensible wrinkle across his forehead. He is surprised to see that his adopted daughter's face has darkened. JK asks hesitantly:
- What's wrong, daughter?
Anh Dao tells him everything about Nhan Nghia: he has pursued Lan for several years, but Lan has had no feelings for him; yet this bastard is more persistent than a hungry leech. The creditor has come to demand money from Ngoc and her daughters. He intentionally waits until they are desperate, then acts like a hero saving the beauty — without hesitation, he says he will pay the debt and confess love to Lan. Anh Dao releases all the fiery madness; every time she is furious, she turns purple like a withered petal:
- He has wanted to marry Lan to get close to Suong. He has plotted to trap the two sisters to become his wives. He also has wanted to drug the eldest sister and rape her.
Anh Dao is furious and bursts into tears, and her anger wants to crush Nhan Nghia:
- The dead dog beastly guy has planned to film the rape of the eldest sister and force the mother and two daughters to be sex slaves! That day, the crowd has surrounded the eldest sister's family, so I haven't even dared to mention the pay off the debt conditions promised in the deal. Lan's teacher has overheard him talking about the conspiracy with his friends; she has paid off the eldest sister's debt to break the plan.
Every word twists the shape of the devil. Every angry streak cuts vertically, slicing diagonally across his cyanotic face. JK grabs the table so hard that his nails break. Blood dyes his fingers dark red — yet he keeps scratching.
That unconscious behavior is like tearing a bleeding heart. The heart is no longer bound by reason. That filthy, trembling lump of flesh aches with every buried resentment.
The poor descendant has been humiliated by beasts for many years. His relatives were preyed upon by that monster's lust, while the one who fathered them basked in more glory than an emperor.
In the past, he abused his own flesh and blood. Now, he misses the opportunity to protect his small family personally. The future, now lost in confusion, will never reach the shore of happiness. Resentment has shattered iron rationality. Father is in pain and curses himself.
He wants to cry, but the tears are already blocked in his dark red eyes. The shame in front of his descendants has forbidden him to shed tears for his relatives. Unable to cry for the people he loves, the father and grandfather vent their anger on the items in the room, smashing everything and screaming wildly:
- You fucking beasts, I will kill your whole family!
A loud scream breaks the silence. Every time the boss gets angry, the servants don't dare to approach. Ngoc and her two daughters and Hero are curious to see what is going on.
The door opens, and everyone is shocked to see that the room is more dilapidated than a battlefield. Everything is broken into pieces, and the debris flies, slicing Anh Dao's skin again and again.
She stands motionless, dumbfounded that the national father is no longer great. He completely loses his mind and coughs up blood in a crazy scream.
JK is a demon disguised as a human, a monster who abandoned his heart, a man who always uses reason to kill emotion, and wears a mask before everyone. But at this moment, all judgments about JK seem to be wrong. No longer has any mask. He cannot revive the sanity that collapses under the pain twisting his heart.
Hero is not as confused as Anh Dao, nor as surprised as the mother and her two daughters. The girls can't believe the crazy, chaotic pain that tortures JK. The old man has treated his offspring to hell and has now suffered a pain worse than death.
Hero hates what he sees and leaves quietly. He has not wanted to see the man who once ignored his son — the man he always expected to hold him in his arms — now expressing all his emotions and giving all his love to the person he envies. He has lived with his father for more than 20 years, but JK's emotions have not equaled two days of reunion with his long-lost family.
His eyes do not see the scene that arouses his jealousy, but his ears still echo with his father's choked sobs. The sad crying stirs every trace of jealousy and disgust in Hero's heart. His brain wants to explode under the visualization of what is really happening — his father crying in self-hatred, secretly watching Ngoc and her two daughters. They feel that the evil ghost father is about to come back as a human to embrace them.
The father-child relationship haunts Hero. He closes his room, locks himself in the dark, and bangs his head against the wall until his forehead turns purple to dispel the obsession. He has been driven crazy by the chaos of the past that has reappeared like a ghost: his father has been cold and ruthless, his mother has been depressed and has died tragically, and he has been shocked to the extent of being stunned at the funeral.
The ghost breaks free from the dark cellar and drags the little figure out, forcing him to face his past. He has closed his eyes in fear, but the insensitive ghost has dragged until his pupils have dilated, forcing him to accept the cruel fact — the flawless man-god, admired by everyone — has actually been alone — he has had no father, also no mother — no sisters, no relatives — he has only had darkness as his only spiritual support.
Hero smiles foolishly, turns the beer bottle upside down and drinks it dry. The hot wine yeast burns away his tears and incinerates all the sadness. He calmly imagines JK falling down, crying, apologizing. That is the only picture in Hero's mind.
For a moment, they do not understand why they have allowed the devil to touch their bodies, so Ngoc and her two daughters are horrified, push JK away, feel disgusted, and wipe off the filthy smell. The ruthless action becomes a tacit default for JK, and he is no longer bothered. At this moment, the father only wants to vent all his hatred on behalf of his offspring. JK does not need to suppress the cruelty deeply engraved on the devil's face, and he roars every hateful sound:
- Those beasts must pay the price. I will exile anyone who tramples on my descendants to hell! Even I will taste the pain — no one will be exempted!
Ngoc and her two daughters stare at JK. The relatives have never faced and truly looked at their "father and grandfather" for so long, but they are always suspicious, not as gentle as JK expects.
Anh Dao is thoughtful when her elder sister and the two daughters stare at JK in amazement without blinking for even a second. Their eyebrows knit downward, drawn toward the probing eyes. For the first time, they cannot be sure whether JK is sincere or false. The three are half-believing and half-doubting, vaguely wondering if their spirits are dominated by hatred.
Their hearts feel that JK is indeed sincere, but their reason denies the indescribable feelings for the person who has ruined their lives. The mother and her two daughters leave coldly. They are afraid to face a lifelong emotion that will never appear — yet it happens in this place where all suffering originates.
JK stares at the shadows of his children and grandchildren disappearing behind the door with worry, regretting that the warmth of family affection still lingers. The father ignores Anh Dao, who silently looks at him, and he unconsciously hugs the empty space, as if hugging his dearest person.
Anh Dao is no longer as surprised as before. The love from the devil father shakes the emotions of his descendants, so the relatives avoid the unbelievable truth that scares them, lose all confidence, and dare not face the person they resent. The mother and daughters fear that if JK stays near them longer, those emotions will erase the nightmare and ease the current pain.
People with miserable fates wish to dream forever, never to wake from their nightmares.
Those who commit "disgusting" crimes and hold nostalgia for immoral emotions must writhe in a cursed nightmare for the rest of their lives; forced to do so, they still have the right to be human beings.
She thinks about the others, and then thinks about her own mistakes; her sins are no less than JK's, the accomplice protecting and making up for the victim with all his heart.
Now she senses the thoughts of the mother and her two daughters, witnessing that the victims do not want to feel shame and push away 'family affection'. Anh Dao realizes with chagrin that she is always afraid of guilt tormenting her conscience, so she protects and helps them. The accomplice does not really care about the victims.
Anh Dao lowers her head and smiles bitterly, mocking herself for always deceiving others and herself. The blonde girl is overwhelmed with embarrassment and does not hear JK calling:
- Daughter, what's wrong?
She is still absentminded. JK calls for a long time, but she does not respond, so he shakes Anh Dao's shirt, making her jump. He asks worriedly:
- Are you sick? Are you listless, as if you've lost your soul?
Anh Dao forces a smile and shakes her head. She helps him clean the room to deflect attention. Halo Illusia rings from JK's shirt. He pulls it out and pauses for a few seconds. He secretly glances at Anh Dao bending down to pick up the broken things. The adoptive father frowns, grimaces, and says to his daughter:
- You can't clean it all by yourself. Let the maid handle it.
JK stops talking, answers the phone, and says it is the wrong number. The old man kicks the obstacle on the ground and rushes out of the room angrily:
- Their mother is a slut. I stay up all night again tonight. Don't expect me to let that bunch of dogs live in peace. I'll roast galangal you guys!
JK mutters and curses as he enters another room, slightly opening the door and looking out. Anh Dao has been gone for a long time, and JK does not notice anything unusual, so he immediately closes the door, turns on the soundproofing and anti-eavesdropping system on his waist, and contacts the person who just dialed the wrong "number":
- Sorry, Mr. mayor, it wasn't convenient to talk to you a few minutes ago, so I had to lie...
"Tsk, I understand, we agreed on this in advance, you don't have to explain!"
JK laughs to relieve stress:
- Oh, thank you!
The old guy leans back in the tiger-skin armchair, his feet resting on the finely carved ironwood table:
- Mr. mayor, which part of the video clip are you watching?
Mayor lies on a carpet covered with cherry blossoms, the old man naked. The prostitute presses his lower body and dances wildly, while the Western butterflies tightly surround the mayor, tending to him from chest to abdomen. He clicks his tongue, noticing everyone is blindfolded and covering their ears.
The prostitutes don't know about the virtual screen floating on the ceiling. The TV plays steamy clips, no less intense than explicit sex scenes, where infatuated lovers sink into a maze of carnal desires.
Mayor vulgarly watches the blonde in the video. Each time she flips her hair back, her stunning body arches, reveling in the intoxication of sex. The mayor grins wickedly, watching the fiery peach-blossom hue of excitement color the girl's cheeks. The blonde, shy, avoids looking at the man taking her to ecstasy, yet sometimes she welcomes the surging waves of orgasmic passion.
Each time she indulges fiercely in worldly pleasure, moaning with every sound of satisfaction, the mayor is so thrilled he goes wild, laughing uncontrollably, casting contemptuous glances at her as if she were a tattered, low-class rag.
The mayor is utterly disdainful, yet he reaches the peak of pleasure, his eyes growing blurry and dull. He dreams of savoring the orgasm he scorns with that girl. The old man imagines all sorts of perverse games in ecstasy, the worldly moans shattering the air, the sound of his dream lover's soul-dissipating cries.
Mayor wakes up from the illusory dream. He glares and stares at the prostitutes panting; the vulgar sounds extinguish his desire. Mayor immediately goes mad, kicking them all off the bed. The prostitutes panic, trying to remove the blindfolds and earplugs, but he roars menacingly:
- I will kill anyone who dares to take them off!
The prostitutes turn pale, shivering and trembling. The mad mayor shouts:
- Get out of here, damn it! A bunch of prostitutes selling souls and bodies at a low price, get out of here! Get out!
The prostitutes are so scared that they don't even dare to look for clothes. They run naked, stumbling several times before going out in the right direction. Mayor holds the half-drunk wine. Even the wine yeast can't burn off the heat surging in his chest, so he shouts and smashes the bottle against the wall. JK hears the loud screams and the sound of breaking glass and hurriedly asks:
- What's wrong, Mr. mayor?
Mayor does not respond. JK worries that the video will not satisfy the other party and make the old pervert go crazy. JK does not understand why the morbid man gets mad. If talking nonsense makes things worse, JK has to wait for mayor to calm down. Ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes, and another hour pass slowly. Mayor remains silent; JK patiently keeps Halo Illusia connected.
The video is three hours long; maybe mayor doesn't answer because he is watching the highest climax. The lustful old goat is obsessed with the girl in the video but hits a dead end. The sex addict wants to eat but cannot, yet refuses to stop watching the unfinished clip. The old man with clog straps keeps his eyes glued to the body of the person he is obsessed with.
JK can only wait, wait, and wait. JK needs the other party, but the other party doesn't need him. If he urges mayor, he probably loses both the lead and the fishing net.
JK leisurely brews tea and sips to relieve boredom. The old man wants to clear his head, relieve anger because his relatives are bullied by worldly people, and avoid overheating and going crazy. If JK talks nonsense, the mayor cancels the deal, and all his efforts are in vain. JK takes advantage of the time to find a way to exact revenge on the family of Nhan Nghia. He concentrates on finding traps among a bunch of options. Suddenly, the phone rings with mayor's voice asking:
- Who is that guy who hit Anh Dao?
JK immediately knows the other party will ask this question, so he speaks in a calm voice:
- Sorry, Mr. mayor, I can't tell you!
Mayor wants to know the reason, and JK softens his voice moderately:
- You have feelings for Anh Dao, but she arrogantly rejects your kindness!
JK hears the other party impatiently cutting him off, so he quickly resorts to flattery, speaking in a conciliatory tone:
- Calm down, my God! Even ten JKs don't have the guts to make you angry!
The mayor growls, threatening:
- No verbosity, talk fast, no inappropriate explanations. Don't blame me for being cruel!
- You forced me to push Dao into a trap, only needed Dao to be eaten. It made no difference if she moaned under anyone's groin. If you are seeing the face of the guy who is breaking the virginity of the girl you desire, I'm afraid you will turning him into a eunuch, maybe he is even dying miserably. His life is worse than a dog's, he deserves to die. But you have to work hard to clean up the mess, so I am erasing his face and cutting off all the unnecessary sounds for you!
JK's logical explanation convinces the people in power, but the mayor raises his voice to save face in front of the inferior people in his eyes:
"Can you please put it more simply? What kind of media mogul is as long-winded as a woman!"
JK smiles softly, listening to the mayor's voice soften.
- I'm sorry, I will learn from my experience next time. Are you satisfied?
The mayor raises his eyes, watching Anh Dao lose her mind with pleasure. Her body is soaked with sweat from lust. Holy water flows like a waterfall and merges into the turbid white mucus that wets her groin and thighs; the guy is still absorbed pounding rice.
The image of a seductive but pure "inviolable" goddess makes the mortal who dreams of enjoying pleasure with her day and night now completely collapse under vile desire; the blonde girl becomes a lustful female ghost thirsty for desire.
The mayor despises the prostitute pretending to be a goddess who always moans with every climax, and keeps bending her hips to enjoy the pleasure of the whole body vibrating numb. She even ties her legs tightly to her partner's body for half a second without loosening. The two twist and intertwine, rolling and twisting to the top of heaven in crazy sex intoxication. A man and a woman are immersed in filthy carnal desires. The mayor, who can only watch but not eat, smirks coldly:
"Get ready to enter the lower house!"
JK is more ecstatic than at the reunion of his family. He shouts excitedly, which makes the mayor frown:
"Tsk, it's deafening, turn down the volume!"
JK shows extreme joy:
- Thank you, mayor, you are my God!
JK says a few polite words and says goodbye. He turns off his Halo, throws it on the table, puts his hands behind his head, and looks up at the ceiling, pleased watching the mural of people kneeling to worship the God of Creation. On the left are rivers, endlessly mountains surrounding the vast green forest. On the right is the deep blue ocean, calm waves, quiet sea. Whether on land or in the sea, all things are living in harmony in a new world filled with the light of dawn.
The perfect world is JK's perfect dream.
A person longs for affection but lacks family affection in the perfect world. The perfect dream is about to come true, but without the silhouette of relatives, the perfect world is no longer flawless.
The dreamer is immersed in the perfect dream—a place where humans worship God and rule the world. But "reunion" is the only thing that exists in that perfect world.