Their Old Home
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Chlocolatte
The apartment was a normal apartment in a residential building. It was on the second level, on the east side.
The entire apartment was coated with a thick layer of dust. There were some footprints near the door- evidently, some people had come to investigate. Since the Long family had found his real life identity, it was likely that they would have found this place. Ling Chen silently looked around the apartment for a long time. Tian Tian also looked around. She had many questions that she wanted to ask, but seeing Ling Chen so silent and lost in his thoughts, she stayed quiet for the moment.
Apart from all the dust, everything was the same as when they had left. In these 2-3 years, because Shui Ruo couldn’t travel, they hadn’t been able to come back. Ling Chen walked forwards, and looked inside the innermost room…
The bed, wardrobe, table… as well as stuffed toys were all in the exact same places. Ling Chen could almost still smell that familiar fragrance in the air. His vision became hazy, and he could almost see the Shui Ruo from back then dragging him into her room, showing him all her stuffed toys.
Ling Chen pressed the button on the wall, and the lights came on. The electricity hadn’t been cut, and the warm glow of the light illuminated the whole room.
Ling Chen closed his eyes and slowly breathed in and out, before saying, “This was Shui Ruo’s room. Although it’s not as big as the one in Beijing, but she liked this little room so much. She would clean it and organise her things every day. She liked to collect all sorts of stuffed toys, and receiving stuffed toys would make her incredibly happy. Those years, mum and dad gave her a lot, and so did I. Very soon, her room became filled with stuffed toys, but she couldn’t bear to part with any of them. Even now, there are a lot of them in my room. She would say that they’re her good friends who would keep me company in my room.”
Tian Tian’s eyes became a bit red, and she held Ling Chen’s hand as she softly said, “Big brother, don’t be sad, alright? I’ll be obedient in future and I’ll be as good as big sister.”
Ling Chen smiled, and squeezed Tian Tian’s hand.
Opposite Shui Ruo’s room was his own room. It had originally been a study room, but it had been given to him after he joined their family. He remembered that during a big storm, Shui Ruo had run into his room, and jumped into his bed… from then onwards, she would sneak into his room more and more frequently. At first, her parents would scold her and tell her not to do it, but after realising that they simply couldn’t stop her, they could only give in and let her do what she wanted.
Next to theirs, was their mum and dad’s room. Their mum was always gentle and warm, and extremely loving towards her daughter and adopted-son. Their dad had been kind and calm, and saved lives for a living.
Why did such a thing happen to such a wonderful family?
The father had contracted the Isrock Disease, and unknowingly infected the mother and Shui Ruo. After finding out that they had contracted the Isrock Disease, all of their friends and relatives refused to see them anymore. Friendship and family apparently meant nothing in the face of life and death. Their good friends and neighbours would go out of their way to avoid them, and many families living around them all moved. In just a short period of time, this family had been abandoned by the rest of the world.
He could still clearly remember that back then, they had all cried as they begged him to leave. Otherwise, he would also be infected with the Isrock Disease. However, he adamantly refused. After all, he was now immune to the Isrock Disease. Even if he wasn’t, he still wouldn’t leave. At that time, he had also been overcome with fear and grief, because Shui Ruo had been infected. Afterwards, both the mum and dad had both passed away. Before they passed away, they tearfully left Shui Ruo to him.
“Dad… Mum… I couldn’t… properly take care of Ruo Ruo… I…”
Ling Chen’s head hung low as he stood in front of his parents’ room, his heart full of regret and pain.
He detected something outside, but he maintained his calm. He held Tian Tian’s hand and walked towards the balcony.
A person’s figure appeared, and rushed over to Ling Chen. When he got close enough to see Ling Chen properly, his body began to tremble as he knelt down in front of Ling Chen, excitedly saying, “Master… i-it’s really you! You’re alright… thank goodness... thank goodness… I… I…”
Ling Chen smiled as he said “It’s me. Gui Ci, we haven’t met in the real world for a while. Thank you for your hard work, for watching over this place for two years.”
“Not at all, not at all.” The man in black called Gui Ci hurriedly shook his head as he shouted, “Such a terrible thing happened to Master in Beijing… but I wasn’t able to help at all… damnit… however, it’s great that you’re fine, master… right now, everyone’s extremely worried about master, and none of us could sleep at all. Especially those guys in Beijing- they’ve been searching for master like crazy… if everyone knew that master was fine, they’d all be so happy that they’d faint!”
Ling Chen knew that Gui Ya and the others were definitely worried about him, but he couldn’t return to Beijing, nor did he have any means to contact them. He helped Gui Ci up as he said, “Go and tell them that I’m fine, and that I’m in Zhong Zhou with Tian Tian.”
Gui Ci couldn’t help babbling in excitement. To them, there was no better news than Ling Chen being fine. He took out a small communication device from his pocket, quickly dialled some numbers, then put it in Ling Chen’s hands, “Master, it’s better if you talk to them directly. They haven’t slept for many nights, and they’ll only be able to be at ease if you personally talk to them.”
Ling Chen took the communication device and held it to his ear. Very soon, the line was connected, but the other side was silent.
Ling Chen spoke, “Gui Ya, it’s me.”
Crash…
Ling Chen heard something fall to the ground and shatter. After a while, a trembling voice could be heard, “M… Master?”
“Mm, it’s me. I’m fine, and I’m in Zhong Zhou with Tian Tian… are you all alright?”
The other side went silent for a few moments before he heard Gui Ya screaming, “Master!!! It’s master!!! Everyone, it’s master’s voice!!”
All of a sudden, Ling Chen could hear many sounds: the sound of footsteps rapidly running over, yells of joy, a door being suddenly opened, a chair being flung aside, even people being knocked to the ground… his heart was filled with warmth and gratitude. He leaned closer to the communication device and spoke as clearly and calmly as possible, “I’m fine now, and most of my wounds have healed. I’m with Tian Tian in Zhong Zhou, where we’ll be safe… Gui Ci’s also here with us.”
“That’s right!” Gui Ci yelled out, “It’s master! It’s really master! It’s definitely him… and there’s also little sister Tian Tian. Master looks completely fine right now!”
“It’s master! It’s Gui Ci’s and master’s voices!” “Master… thank goodness you’re fine! This is great, great!!”
“… Oi! Move over, let me hear master’s voice! Move!!”
“Stop squeezing… master’s invincible; of course he’d be fine. Look at you, crying like a baby!”
“Look at you! You’ve got tears streaming down your face as well!” ……………………………… The sounds from the communication device became increasingly chaotic. The serious and cold-hearted deathgods of Dark Night all became like excited children. Ling Chen didn’t say anything as he silently listened. He became more and more convinced that his decision that night had been incorrect, as well as incredibly selfish.
“Enough! Shut the hell up!! How’s master meant to talk with us shouting like this?!”
Gui Ya was ranked directly under Ling Chen. His roar of annoyance caused everyone else to quieten down. Soon, only rapid breathing could be heard. Gui Ya came closer to the communication device as he worriedly asked, “Master, you’re really fine? And Tian Tian is also fine?”
“Mmm, we’re both completely fine. My external injuries have more or less healed, and I should be completely fine in a week. You all know how strong my recovery is. It’s just that… in order to save me, Tian Tian suffered a lot. If it wasn’t for Tian Tian, perhaps… perhaps I wouldn’t be able to see you guys again.” Ling Chen said.
Beside him, Gui Ci looked at Tian Tian with extreme gratitude in his eyes. Ling Chen’s words caused Tian Tian’s position in these deathgods’ hearts to be risen to a new level.
“Tian Tian… is such a fantastic child, and is our benefactor. Whew, it’s great that you’re all fine, thank goodness. I just knew that master and Tian Tian were definitely cared for by the heavens, hahaha…” The huge weight in Gui Ya’s heart had finally lifted, and he felt incredibly happy, and couldn’t help but laugh. This caused a chain reaction as all the other people started to laugh as well. Knowing that Ling Chen was fine, all of their worry, anxiety and fear had instantly disappeared. Compared to their worry for Ling Chen, their injuries were nothing.
“I’m sure you were all hurt quite badly when you went to rescue me from the Long family. Make sure you all take care of your wounds, and don’t tire yourselves out. Also, you have to stay safe… this is an order.” Ling Chen said.
“Roger!” Gui Ya immediately replied.
“Now, tell me, on that night… did any of our brothers or sisters die at the Long family’s residence… tell me everything.” Ling Chen asked in a serious voice.
The smile on Gui Ya’s face disappeared. He stayed silent for a few moments before saying in a low voice, “Ying Ya died. In order to cover us, he stayed to the end, and blew himself up using the explosives on his body. There was also Buggy. Buggy’s legs were heavily injured, and he didn’t want to slow us down, so he leapt towards the Savage Tiger Corps, allowing them to capture him. Right now, he’s in the Xuanyuan family’s prison.”
Ying Ya, Buggy…
Ling Chen’s heart ached as he sighed, and said, “Gui Dao also died… like Ying Ya, he used the explosives on his body to blow up the enemies pursuing us. It was probably him who passed me on to Bing Yao.”
The other side of the communication device fell silent.
“It was all my fault; it was I who killed them… it was all because of me…” Ling Chen closed his eyes, as he blamed himself. If it wasn’t for his stupid and selfish actions, they wouldn’t have had to make those sacrifices…
“No! Don’t say that, master! Being able to die for master is our glory. It was the only way they wanted to die… don’t worry master, we’ll definitely save Buggy. We’ll make the Long family pay ten times- no, a hundred times- for Ying Ya and Gui Dao’s deaths!” Gui Ya said as he gnashed his teeth.