Because of Huai Shi's insistence, after the medical experts confirmed that there was nothing wrong with Huai Shi, Zhu Hongchen was finally discharged from the hospital that day. Then, he saw his eldest cousin sitting in the hallway.
"Hey, young man." Zhu Hongchen waved at him. "Congratulations on being promoted to third place."
"Even so, it doesn't feel real at all," Huai Shi laughed bitterly. "Is something wrong, Eldest Cousin?"
Zhu Hongchen thought for a moment. "Not really. I've been giving all my work to Third Sister lately, and I've been slacking off every day. I'm really happy … … but young man, it seems like something might happen to you."
"Hm?" Huai Shi didn't understand.
However, Zhu Hongchen didn't say anything. He stood up and patted Zhu Hongchen on the shoulder. "There are some things that I shouldn't say. I'm not in a position to interrupt, and I can't help you, so you should be careful. Do you have any plans to travel? London, Rome, or Petrograd aren't bad either … … "
Huai Shi was stunned.
Wait a minute, is someone trying to harm me again?
"Forget about it. Let's not talk about such disappointing things." Zhu Hongchen waved his hand carelessly and changed the subject. "Are you ready to leave?"
Huai Shi nodded, but then he saw Zhu Hongchen hand over the pouch next to him. Huai Shi could sense the familiar Origin Substance fluctuations coming from the black pouch. He almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Zhu Hongchen chuckled. "You have to take good care of important things. Don't leave them lying around."
Huai Shi hurriedly opened the pouch and saw that the "Virtuous Sword" had been repaired. It didn't seem to have changed at all.
After he had left the competition, this relic had been left behind in Yamatai City. After the competition ended, Yamatai City had become Third Bianliang City, the border of the Eastern Summer Country. Zhu Hongchen was having a headache trying to figure out how to negotiate with the Bureau of Social Security to get this thing back.
Even if he had to pay any price, as the successor, he couldn't let the last relic of the previous prince fall into his hands.
However, he hadn't expected Zhu Hongchen to return it to him without taking a single coin.
"Thank you." Huai Shi was pleasantly surprised as he carried the sword pouch on his back, sincerely grateful.
"There's no need to thank me. Little Xian was the one who brought her out." Zhu Hongchen shrugged. "That child is still in the hospital. Aren't you going to go take a look?"
The joy on Huai Shi's face froze. "Did something happen to her?"
"Some problems have to be faced sooner or later. It's just that she regrets it."
Zhu Hongchen sighed and pulled out a key card from his pocket. "Basement two. Just say that I told you to come here. They'll let you in."
"…"
Huai Shi took the key card and had an ominous feeling.
The second basement of the hospital was deeper than he had expected.
After entering the basement, they switched to a special elevator. It went all the way down for a long time before the elevator slowly came to a stop.
Compared to the hospital above where people came and went, this place was more like a cold and alienated research institute. There was only a "Jixia" sign pasted on the door, and it was heavily guarded.
Occasionally, people would pass by in the hallway, but they were in a hurry. They wore white lab coats and carried the smell of disinfectant with them.
In the empty main hall, there was only a pale-faced man behind the front desk. It was as if he hadn't seen the sun in a long time. His eyes were strangely large, but his pupils were too small. His gaze was erratic, and when he occasionally met someone's gaze, it was accompanied by a chill that caused one's heart to palpitate.
With his appearance, there was no way he would be treated with a smile. He stretched out his hand stiffly and checked the key card in Huai Shi's hand before asking stiffly, "What's the matter?"
"I'm here to see Luo Xian."
After hearing this, the person behind the front desk handed over a book. After Huai Shi signed it, a person wearing a mask walked out from the hallway and waved his hand, indicating that Huai Shi should follow him.
After several rounds of disinfection and a special person checking Huai Shi's body to see if there were any Origin Substances or viruses, the listless old man's face turned as green as a mountain ghost when he saw Huai Shi's examination report.
After Huai Shi repeatedly promised that he wouldn't do anything rash, he still put a tracking bracelet on him and forced him to wear a chemical protective suit. He also sent a special person to follow him and warned him sternly, "If he does anything rash, Jixia can't guarantee your safety."
Huai Shi obeyed.
He finally stepped through the door of the ward.
Then he saw Luo Xian.
The thin figure on the bed had long hair that was withered like straw. Her skin was pale, but her lips were red and slightly tilted up, as if she was smiling.
She was immersed in a beautiful dream.
She was sleeping.
But what Huai Shi couldn't believe was that he could no longer sense her Origin Substances. Even the Sacred Mark on her body had begun to degenerate.
Degeneration and decay were normal for miraculous carriers like the Sacred Mark.
But this was based on the premise that after losing its user and being suspended in the air for hundreds of years, even the original Level Five Sacred Mark would collapse, just like the Sun Witch Fragment that Yingzhou had excavated from the abyss. After losing the sacrifice and supplies, it had degenerated into the Philosopher's Stone.
At this moment, Luo Xian's Sacred Mark gave Huai Shi the same feeling.
With the Book of Destiny in hand, Huai Shi's Mirror of Nothingness, he could see everything at a glance. She had degenerated from the peak of Level Three to the bottom of Level One, and there was even a possibility that she would break through.
If it weren't for the protection of the surrounding instruments, her soul might have already decayed and broken, and she might have become a vegetable.
"So pitiful, isn't it?"
The muscular old man beside the bed calmly glanced at him, waved his hand, and motioned for the people behind him to leave. He slowly said, "It's been like this since the end of the competition.
She's obviously fine, but her soul has begun to decay rapidly. Even the Sacred Mark can't be maintained … "
"…"
After a long silence, Huai Shi sat in a chair. He wanted to say that it was too exaggerated to say that she had become three times weaker. But in the end, he could only ask in a low voice, "Is this my fault?"
"Don't think so highly of yourself, kid. At best, you just happened to play a more important role … If it weren't for you, I would have killed her."
The old man leaned back in the chair, quietly gazed at his daughter, and calmly said those terrible words, "She was born with the advantages of her mother and me, with incredible talent and the compatibility with the abyss. But unfortunately, she also inherited our flaws, while retaining the characteristics of a human and an abyss creature.
Before this, when the abyss side gained the upper hand, she gradually became like a monster, until she met you and had that duel with you. Then, you saved her.
For a monster, all of this is insignificant, just a victory or defeat. But for the human part, your kindness is too heavy, Huai Shi. It's so heavy that she can't accept it. "
Elder Luo's expression turned into one of mockery and pity when he saw his daughter in such a sorry state. "When the human part of her rejects or even denies the monster side, her life that was built on this inheritance will collapse.
She wants to become a human, but the human side is too thin to support the existence of her soul … "
"Will she … die?"
"I don't know."
Elder Luo slowly shook his head, "Now her soul is being rebuilt after the collapse of her cognition. It's like a whole house being rebuilt from the ruins. Who knows if she can persist until the day it's completed?"
"Is there no other way?"
Huai Shi asked, "If it's the Dongxia genealogy …"
"This is her own choice. What does it have to do with others?"
Elder Luo seemed to be amused by his serious look, "Are you mistaken, Huai Shi? Not everyone will fall into the abyss of misfortune after leaving your help.
Why do you have to make everyone unable to leave you? Wasn't this her choice of her own free will? If she wants to live, she can live … "
He took a deep look at Huai Shi, "Learn to have expectations for others, kid. The world will always operate as usual, whether you're there or not."
After a long silence, Huai Shi nodded bitterly and got up to say goodbye.
"Don't come here in the future." Elder Luo walked him to the door of the hospital and said coldly, "Since you've already graduated, don't keep pestering your teacher's daughter. You're asking for a beating."
This was a rare consolation from the old man, but Huai Shi still found it difficult to smile. He waved his hand and turned to say goodbye.
He heard the last words behind him.
"She said, thank you …"
He stopped and looked back, but the old man was no longer at the door of the hospital.
Should he feel relieved or blame himself more?
Huai Shi didn't know.
He carried his bag and wandered on the streets of Jinling. He wanted to find someone to talk to for the first time. Then he saw a man leaning on a car at the end of the long street.
"I guess you want to find someone to talk to now." The man threw the cigarette butt and stepped on it. He shook his head at him, "Let's go, I'll take you to drink."
Huai Shi was stunned for a long time. He couldn't help but smile bitterly, "… Do you all like to suddenly jump out and wait for me?"
"It's just a coincidence." Yoo Dong-ri shrugged, "There's no time to explain, get in the car."
"Also, you know that minors can't drink, right?"
In the car, Yoo Dong-ri rolled his eyes and urged him to get in the car, "What haven't you done that minors can't do?"
Huai Shi thought about it seriously and felt that what he said made sense. He threw his bag into the car and sat in the passenger seat.
"When did you come?"
"Morning."
"When are you leaving?"
"Tomorrow."
Yoo Dong-ri pondered for a moment and suddenly asked, "If your vacation isn't over yet, are you interested in going to Shambhala with me?"
…
.
.
At the same time, Ai Qing heard the sound of knocking outside the office door.
She looked up and was about to speak when she heard the door open. The guest outside the door walked into the room. He held a cane and walked forward slowly and cautiously.
Cautiously.
Rather than being afraid of slipping, it was more like he was afraid of any accidents.
In the end, he sat on the sofa in the office and sighed.
"I'm so tired."
The old man sighed softly and said, "I haven't walked so long in a long time. Why are the buildings here so tall, Xiao Qing?"
Ai Qing took off her glasses and looked at the old man. She said expressionlessly, "The astronomy club is a confidential organization. I thought that outsiders were not allowed to enter during office hours."
"The rules are the rules, but they can't stop an old man from seeing his great-granddaughter, right?"
The old man smiled indifferently. He raised his turbid eyes and looked at the young face that he hadn't seen for a long time. He smiled kindly and said, "Since you didn't come to see me, I could only come to see you."
Yin Liangji, the leader of the revival of the Yin Family in Jinling and the actual controller of the clan, the old man who had pulled the clan back from the brink of destruction, said.
"Long time no see, Xiao Qing."
"Yeah, long time no see …"
Ai Qing replied indifferently,
"— 'Great-grandfather'."
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
