...
After listening to Flander's earnest advice, Liu Erlong remained silent for a long time.
The night wind blew through her hair, and her eyes, which once burned with an untamed flame, now held only deep loneliness and inferiority.
After a long while, she gently shook her head, a bitter smile appearing on her lips.
"Brother Fu, stop trying to persuade me. If... if God could make me ten years younger, even just ten years!
I might really be like I was back then, recklessly taking a gamble."
Liu Erlong lowered her head, "But now... I really don't have that courage anymore."
"Brother Fu, I'm already over forty!
And that bastard Xuan Hao?
He's only a teenager, not even twenty yet!
I'm almost thirty years older than him!
This isn't some 'older woman-younger man' relationship, this is a real generational gap!"
Liu Erlong took a deep breath.
"If I really disregard everything and go all out... to put it bluntly, I, Liu Erlong, at my age, can be shameless, but what about Xuan Hao?
He's a peerless genius with a bright future, the focus of attention across the entire continent.
Will he still be able to stand on his own two feet in the Douluo Continent?
What will people say about him behind his back?!"
"And..." Liu Erlong's eyes dimmed somewhat, "It's alright now, after all, I'm a high-level Soul Master, my face is still presentable, and my figure hasn't deteriorated yet.
But... what about in ten years? Ten years later, Xuan Hao will have finally grown up, in the prime of his youth, while I?
I'll already be a middle-aged woman in my fifties!"
"Twenty years from now! Xuanhao will be in his thirties, the prime of a man's life, the most mature and robust period.
By then, I'll be a sixty-something-year-old woman!
With a full head of white hair and a face full of wrinkles!"
Liu Erlong became more and more agitated as she spoke, her eyes reddening:
"Brother Fu, how am I supposed to compete with those beautiful young girls in their early twenties?!
I really... really don't have the courage to face that kind of ending again."
Listening to Liu Erlong's analysis, filled with self-pity and despair, Flander felt no sympathy whatsoever.
Instead, he sighed helplessly and disappointedly, asking in a frustrated tone:
"You've already lost your courage?!
You're already backing down?!"
Flander stared, his tone stern as he questioned, "Back then, Liu Erlong, who disregarded worldly ethics, insisted on being with Yu Xiaogang even when the whole world opposed her, and even risked a complete break with the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Rex family, single-handedly carving a bloody path... has she really become so spineless?!"
"Back then, you weren't afraid of the stigma of incest, weren't you a million times braver than you are now?!
How come you're becoming more and more cowardly and like a turtle hiding in its shell as you get older?!"
After being thoroughly berated by Flander, Liu Erlong was speechless for a moment, then waved his hand irritably:
"I was young and impetuous before, and didn't know my place!
Now I'm old, my spirit is gone, I'm really no good!"
"Bullshit! It's all just excuses you're making for yourself!"
Flander mercilessly ripped through her pretense, coldly scoffing, "What do you mean by the horrific state of things ten or twenty years from now? Why are you thinking so much?
I'm asking you, would you choose to live ten years to the fullest, without any regrets, or to live a lifetime like this, a walking corpse, numb and indifferent?!"
"If it were the fearless Liu Erlong of yesteryear, let alone ten years of carefree living, she would never choose to live recklessly for even just one day!"
Flander stared intently into Liu Erlong's evasive eyes.
"What's wrong with you now?
Are you scared?
What are you afraid of?
The world's judgment and gossip?
When have you, Liu Erlong, ever cared about those things in your life?!"
"So, in the end, you're not afraid of being old or a burden to him at all.
What you're really afraid of... is being abandoned again, right?!"
Upon hearing the word "abandon," Liu Erlong's eyes trembled violently.
She bit her lip, avoiding Flander's sharp gaze that seemed to see through everything, and chose to remain silent.
"Did I hit the nail on the head?"
Flander sneered, "What you're really worried about is that Xuanhao, that little bastard, is a womanizer who's always chasing after women.
You're afraid he's just indulging in something new right now, that you're still pretty and charming, and that he'll take advantage of you.
And then, in a few years, when you're old and faded, he'll just dump you like Yu Xiaogang did, heartlessly abandoning you, right?!"
Liu Erlong's aloof face finally broke down completely. She glared at Flander, both embarrassed and annoyed, "You...you old lecher!
Can you please stop saying such awful things? What do you mean by 'bringing me down'?!"
"Foolish!!!"
Instead of calming down, Flander exaggeratedly slapped his thigh and let out a deafening roar, startling Liu Erlong.
"What's wrong?!" Liu Erlong looked at Flander, who had suddenly gone crazy, with a bewildered expression.
Flander pointed at Liu Erlong's nose, his mustache bristling with anger, his face full of disappointment:
"How did I end up with such a stubborn girl like you!
Why can't you use your brain a little bit and try to see things from her perspective?!"
"Open your eyes and take a good look! How old is Xuanhao?
Not even twenty!
He's in the prime of his youth, full of vigor and vitality!" Flander roared in anguish.
"If you two really get together without any regard for the consequences... you do the math! Who the hell is getting the better deal?!"
"Of course it's him..."
Liu Erlong instinctively wanted to refute, but before she could finish speaking, her mind suddenly shifted to Flander's peculiar line of thought.
A woman in her forties, with a fierce and ruthless nature, slept with a young man who was not yet twenty, full of energy, and was also the most outstanding genius in the entire continent.
In this matter, it seems, it appears, it is indeed... that Liu Erlong gained an enormous advantage!
Seeing Liu Erlong's momentary stunned expression followed by a fascinating change in her expression, Flander rolled his eyes in exasperation:
"You finally realized?! Your brain has finally caught on?!"
"Are you still lamenting the passing of spring and worrying about how you'll look when you're old and faded in ten or twenty years?
Are you out of your mind?
You're clearly the one who's gotten the biggest advantage in this whole situation!"
Flander stepped forward, tapped the stone table with a mercenary air, and earnestly imparted his years of life experience:
"Second Dragon, it's a fool not to take advantage of a good deal!
Who cares if he abandons you in ten or twenty years?
You should eat this freshest piece of meat and take advantage of this huge bargain first!"
"Think about it, that kid is not only young and strong, but in terms of talent, strength, looks, and even wealth, he's the best in the entire Douluo Continent!
You think you're losing out by sleeping with such a top-notch man?!"
"This kind of perfect cabbage, you can enjoy it for as long as you can!
If one day he gets tired of you and doesn't want you anymore, you won't lose out!
After all, you've truly 'enjoyed' the best man on the entire continent!"
"Let's think about this from a more realistic perspective," Flander coaxed.
"If you weren't a woman in your forties, but a wealthy and powerful, greasy man in your forties, and Xuan Hao was a stunningly beautiful young woman under twenty, why would you be worrying about the future?
You'd probably be drooling over her by now!"
"I..."
Liu Erlong was completely dumbfounded by this outrageous and utterly shameless argument.
"This... this can't be calculated like that! These are not the same thing at all!"
"Why can't we just let it go like this? The principles are the same!"
Flander sighed silently and patted Liu Erlong on the shoulder earnestly:
"Erlong, you really need to change your mindset.
Stop seeing yourself as the heroine of a tragic drama all the time. Learn from your older brother."
"If you had even a fraction of my shamelessness and ability to always take advantage... I guarantee that the rest of your life would be filled with exciting and joyful surprises!"
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