Chapter: Chapter 296
Chen An departed, leaving the girl alone and disheveled in the wind.
Whether she would jump or not, Chen An truly didn’t care.
His state of mind was exceptionally calm now, like still water that couldn’t be rippled.
Descending from the rooftop, he gradually heard noisy sounds.
He assumed it was students making a ruckus in the hallway.
Chen An’s mood lightened a bit.
Because he felt various functions within his body becoming active, an experience he’d never had before.
He had been a patient with severe congenital heart disease.
Doctors had diagnosed him at birth, stating frankly that the child would likely not live to adulthood.
Chen An was already seventeen this year.
If nothing unexpected happened, he would peacefully pass away the following year.
Coming in haste, and leaving in haste.
Alone, as always.
But Chen An was not an orphan; he had parents.
However, after learning that the child born to them had severe congenital heart disease, they quickly made a decision.
Since the main account was ruined, they might as well create a new secondary account.
But Chen An’s family was not wealthy, and raising two children simultaneously was bound to be a struggle.
So, one late night, this clearly short-lived child was undoubtedly abandoned.
Fortunately, the couple still had a little bit of conscience left and didn’t throw him directly into the wilderness to be fed to dogs.
Instead, they left him at the doorway of an unknown rural Orphanage.
The Director of the Orphanage was known as a great person in the surrounding villages and would certainly not abandon the infant at his doorstep.
He first heard the stir outside, then looked at the pitch black night sky through the window, and already had some understanding.
The Director’s health was still quite sturdy at the time.
He fumbled to get up in the darkness, grabbed a coat from a hook behind the door, and quickly walked to the Orphanage’s iron gate by the light of the moon.
In the quiet of the night, the iron gate creaked open.
Behind the door, a bamboo basket woven from bamboo lay alone at the bottom of the steps.
The Director walked forward, quickly covered the infant in the bamboo basket with his coat, then carefully picked him up. He peered closely at his old, wrinkled face and suddenly smiled.
Because the infant’s sleeping face was truly cute.
He extended his rough, yellowish hand and gently wiped the infant’s face.
“From now on, you’ll be with me.”
Suddenly, the Director let out a soft exclamation. He picked up a note from the infant’s collar, on which the word “Chen” was written.
So, his surname was Chen?
The Director stroked his chin, looked at the still soundly sleeping infant, and sighed.
“I only hope you can grow up safely.”
“Let’s call you… Chen An.”
…
…
Shenzhou.
Chichi Su once again came to that forested area.
This was where she and that person had lived for twenty years, cultivating in seclusion.
“Do you regret it?”
A long sigh suddenly echoed in her mind, causing Chichi Su to stop.
She stood in place, her expression neither happy nor sad.
“I have a clear conscience, so what is there to regret?”
She retorted.
Killing the enemies who murdered her father and mother would only bring satisfaction.
Regret was out of the question.
Ever since that person let her descend the mountain for a tour ten years ago, and by chance, she obtained that Memory Stone, the gears of fate had begun to slowly turn.
The so-called Master and disciple, the so-called nurturing kindness, was merely a facade.
The voice was silent for a moment, then spoke up again.
“The Memory Stone is indeed undeniable, but if you only hear half of a sentence, could the answer be the complete opposite, isn’t it?”
Hearing this, Chichi Su’s expression finally changed. Her slender, long eyes narrowed slightly, emitting a dangerous glint.
“What do you mean?”
The voice in her mind had appeared suddenly about a month before she killed her Master.
At first, Chichi Su thought it was her inner demon, but after she struck with her sword and entered Tribulation Crossing, the voice still persisted.
It was formless and intangible; even with Chichi Su’s current realm, she couldn’t discern its origin.
It let out a cackling laugh.
“Let me take you back in time, to experience the entire process from your Master’s perspective.”
Chichi Su’s expression was a bit confused, but she didn’t immediately refuse.
“Master’s… perspective?”
She wanted to see what tricks the other party was trying to play.
…
…
In the southern part of Shenzhou, there was a winding, grand river.
It traversed north and south, bringing abundant resources to the regions it flowed through.
Living off the mountains and the water.
Su Family Village was situated upstream of this river.
The sun was setting, and the normally bustling village entrance was unusually quiet, with no sounds of children playing.
This was abnormal.
Tendrils of thick, dark red bloodstain were flowing slowly outward from the village entrance.
Blood, blood everywhere, casting an eerie filter over the entire Su Family Village.
By the dirt roads of the village lay lifeless villagers, including middle-aged men who hunted outside, women who washed clothes and cooked at home, and even a child less than a meter tall.
A strong smell of blood permeated the air, like a living hell.
Suddenly, a small head popped out of the rice jar.
It was a girl with a braided pigtail.
Her fair, tender face had a bit of baby fat, and she was staring blankly outside the rice jar.
The little girl was clearly terrified by the bloody and brutal scene before her. Her mouth was slightly open, and her eyes were wide.
Then, her small nose twitched, and she let out a cry.
She struggled to climb out of the rice jar and then crawled towards the fallen corpses.
Her delicate palms were stained with mud and scratched by sharp stones from who-knows-where, causing her heart-wrenching pain.
Thick bloodstains were everywhere, wet and sticky, making it impossible for the little girl to distinguish whether the blood on her hands was her own or flowing on the ground.
“Daddy…”
She cried, her face showing heartbreaking helplessness and confusion.
They were all dead.
Her father, her mother, her Uncle Wang who always liked to tease her, Aunt Huang from the village head who had the loudest voice, Er Ya who always followed behind her…
And many, many more.
All dead…
Although she was only of an age to begin forming memories, the little girl couldn’t stop her grief.
Tears poured out like a dam breaking, wetting her entire face.
Plop, plop.
Suddenly, she heard footsteps.
Before the little girl could look up, she felt herself being lifted by the armpits and carried up.
She wiped her red eyes, her nose still sniffling, but she could finally see the person’s appearance.
It was a young man.
He wore a green Taoist robe, his hair hung loosely, and his brows exuded a kind of free and easy temperament.
“Immortal…”
The little girl was stunned and even forgot to cry.
She had never seen anyone so beautiful, and she instinctively recognized him as the Immortal her father had once spoken of.
The “Immortal” gently wiped the tears from the little girl’s face and sighed.
“I’m still too late…”
He held the girl in his embrace, shielding her eyes with his hand.
“Don’t look.”
The man’s tone was gentle, with a refreshing comfort.
So, the little girl obediently closed her eyes and stopped looking.
“So well-behaved.”
He smiled.
“From now on, you’ll be with me.”
“Let’s call you… Chichi Su.”
…
…
“So? What’s different from my memory?”
Chichi Su watched everything quietly, her expression cold.
“Don’t rush.”
“Look ahead.”
(End of this chapter)
