Epilogue
The news of Lin Guan and Lin Yang's return to Twelfth Street spread like wildfire among the superpowered individuals. How did Lin Chaoying know about it? Because her guesthouse was almost overflowing with gifts from these superpowered individuals!
Every now and then, a stranger would come up to her, saying they were thanking her grandmother for saving her life years ago. Through the descriptions of these people expressing their gratitude, she was able to piece together the truth of what happened back then.
Legend has it that for a time, the biggest conflict in the world of superpowers was not between Twelve Streets and the Ghost Gate, but between superpowered beings and strange beasts. The two sides often clashed fiercely over territorial disputes and maintaining peace among ordinary people.
Just a few decades ago, most of the superhumans of that generation were only seventeen or eighteen years old. Lin Nian Nian was a descendant of one of the four great families. With her innate strong mental power and special superhuman abilities, she became a pillar of strength when fighting against alien beasts in the underground border. In the end, she saved this group of superhumans by almost self-destructing and led them to rebuild the Twelve Streets system.
Every time Lin Chaoying heard this, she felt a sense of disconnect. In her memory, her grandmother was very spoiled, so in her mind, her grandmother gradually became a contrasting image of a soft and cute woman with a violent body.
I hear things are in complete chaos on Twelfth Street right now. Because of Wu Liang and Lin Yan's collaboration, Lin Zhifeng's lineage's position on Twelfth Street is shaky. The other elders hope that Lin Yang and his wife will return to take charge, but Lin Guan and Lin Yang are determined not to return to Twelfth Street. On the one hand, they are annoyed by their schemes against their child, and on the other hand, they are deeply troubled by their son's death and Lin Nian Nian's entrustment. Therefore, Lin Guan is going back to help rectify the problems in Twelfth Street's handling of the issue of superhumans.
After being sidelined, Lin Zhifeng was both angry and annoyed, but since he couldn't beat Lin Guan, he could only swallow his anger.
Wu Liang's entire family has disappeared without a trace. Lin Guan, together with the elders of the four families, re-examined the cooperation agreement with the Ghost Gate and pressured them to hand over Wu Liang, Wu Yang, and Chu Tang. The Ghost Gate's response was also direct: they were also looking for these three.
Lin Guan led his men to the mountain villa to find the corpses of the 12th Street's superhumans, a total of 20. As a result, the relationship between the two sides gradually became heated.
When Qin Ming and Qian Fei returned to Yuzhou, they were arrested and locked up by their own family. In addition, they learned about the cooperation between Twelve Street and Ghost Gate, as well as the death of Kong Yue. Their faith collapsed, and they were depressed for several years. It wasn't until three years later that the two resigned from their positions and returned to the Kekexili B&B in Jiazhou to find Lin Chaoying and Jiang Chuangu.
Three years later, the Kekexili B&B was much more lively than it had been three years earlier. This was because his parents came to stay, and Jiangchuan Valley's teammates came to visit. As a result, many rooms were added to the backyard, and the B&B also expanded in size, from 6 rooms to 8 rooms. The kitchen was twice as big as before. When Zhou Pei found out, he was overjoyed and couldn't stop smiling as he hugged his pile of pots and pans.
There was only one reason for the expansion: Lin Chaoying found that the backyard was not big enough for her parents and friends who came to visit, so she urgently applied for approval to build a new backyard. Then she found that there were almost more houses in the backyard than in the guesthouse, so she urgently applied for approval to expand the guesthouse again.
Lin Chaoying thought that the lively atmosphere now had actually filled the empty space in her heart.
That day, Jiang Chuan Gu returned from town carrying a bouquet of flowers. He bumped into Qian Fei and Qin Ming, who were visiting the guesthouse. They were momentarily stunned, having not seen each other for a long time. He quickly said, "You're finally here! Come in!"
When Zhou Pei saw the two of them, he was also a little dazed. He discussed with Linlin about changing the evening to an outdoor barbecue.
When Lin Chaoying saw them, cherry blossom petals were drifting in the wind in the courtyard, and brilliant snowflakes covered the green branches. At that moment, she felt grateful that spring was so bright and that everyone had survived the cold winter night.
They kept silent about Kong Yue's departure, but when they gathered around to eat barbecue, they subconsciously left empty seats, and everyone knew whose seats they were.
Jiangchuan raised his glass, "It's a pleasure to see you all again."
Qian Fei and Qin Ming seemed to have undergone a complete transformation. There was no arguing or bickering; they were as quiet as flower petals gradually rotting into the soil.
Qian Fei is planning to travel the world, and Qin Ming is also planning to visit western China because Kong Yue had told him that she is from the south and has never seen a sky full of yellow sand, so she wants to see it for herself.
Lin Chaoying naturally announced her marriage to Jiang Chuan Gu three years ago. They weren't surprised at all and even said they would give him a red envelope. She laughed and said, "His friends in the entertainment industry gave him such generous red envelopes that they could build another guesthouse in Jiazhou."
Jiang Chuan Gu looked at her and grinned foolishly.
Qin Ming: "So your parents won't let you leave Fengcheng because of your maternal grandmother?"
Lin Chaoying nodded, "Yes, my maternal grandfather's superpower can conceal the aura of our whole family. So when I was 18, my maternal grandparents passed away. My parents sensed that my brother and I didn't have any superpowers, and they desperately wanted us to stay at home to protect us. Little did they know that the Wu family had already been watching us."
Jiang Chuan Gu noticed that the night was getting cooler, so he took out several stalls from inside the house and distributed them to everyone, leaving one for himself and Lin Chao Ying to wrap themselves together.
Qian Fei couldn't stand it anymore and couldn't help but say, "Why are you still acting like this?"
"You're insulting me?" Jiang Chuangu's skin thickened even more, and he said with emotion, "Qian Fei, I'm more used to you when you're insulting people."
The four of them exchanged a smile.
As night fell, the group packed up to leave. Qin Ming walked up to Lin Chaoying and asked, "Do you remember how Kong Yue died?"
Lin Chaoying shook her head in confusion, "I don't remember the underground cave very well now, not as well as Jiang Chuan Gu."
Qin Ming breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile, "Silly? It's better to forget it. What's there to remember about that godforsaken place?"
Jiang Chuan Gu helped pick up the glass where Kong Yue was sitting. Suddenly, a cherry blossom petal fell into the glass, floated in the wine, and slowly sank. He smiled and showed it to Lin Chao Ying, saying, "Kong Yue is drinking cherry blossom wine."
Qian Fei raised his glass again, "Next year when the cherry blossoms fall, let's come and try the cherry blossom bar here. Aying, get ready."
Lin Chaoying's smile immediately brightened, and she raised her glass, saying, "Great!"
After they left, Lin Guan and Lin Yang returned from Twelfth Street, cursing the people there. Their final conclusion was: they would never go there again!
Lin Chaoying couldn't be happier to not go. The two of them were called back to work at retirement age, and it was a thankless job. They had been temporarily managing for three years, which was already quite generous of them!
When Lin Guan and Lin Yang had some free time, they began to study food like crazy and fed Jiang Chuangu for fun. After all, they saw that he was skin and bones, and after getting married, they learned that he had no parents. In addition, they were very fond of him because he almost became mentally disabled because of his daughter. They fed him four or five meals a day, and Jiang Chuangu gradually became plump.
They cared for Zhou Pei and Linlin like their own children, afraid they would get cold or hungry. The family spent their peaceful and stable life amidst one cherry blossom shower after another.
One day, while Jiang Chuan Gu was tidying up Lin Chao Ying's things, he found a Polaroid photo in a corner. It turned out to be a picture of his back against a cherry blossom tree taken by the window when he first started out. If he remembered correctly, this was a rare, hidden edition. He recalled that Lin Chao Ying had written in a letter to him that she had almost sold this photo to pay for her travel expenses.
When Lin Chaoying saw it, she smiled brightly, stroking the person on the photo paper with her fingers, and said, "You have no idea, this photo sold for eight thousand back then. It was enough to cover my travel expenses and even my rent. Later, Atai gave me ten thousand in New Year's money, and that's how your hidden photo was preserved."
Jiang Chuan Gu put his arm around her waist and said with emotion, "Thank you, brother-in-law."
Lin Chaoying held the photo tightly. "I still don't know why I traveled back in time. My parents don't know the specifics either."
Jiang Chuan Gu's gaze lingered on the photo in her hand. "Could it be related to my younger brother?"
Lin Chaoying lowered her head and said thoughtfully, "Possibly."
She turned around, hugged Jiang Chuan Gu, nuzzled her head against his neck, and asked with a regretful tone, "Are you really not going to regret it? You can no longer work in front of the camera and can only work behind the scenes."
Jiang Chuan Gu cupped her small face in his hands, kneading it gently, his eyes filled with love and affection. He said frankly, "You've asked this eight hundred times already! Little Lin Chao Ying! I don't regret it. I'm happy that you're all alive and able to live your own lives! Besides, I don't like watching cameras anymore..."
He didn't say it, but the endless black circles in the camera lens always evoked memories of that dark underground cave deep in his mind.
Lin Chaoying didn't say that she remembered Cen Ting's death, Chi Jiang's death, Feng Yang's death after being sent back underground, and... Kong Yue's death.
Yes, she lied to everyone.
She couldn't remember clearly at first, but one night, she dreamt of that day when Kong Yue begged her and Qin Ming to help her end her life and stop the suffering, because Wu Yang had made a fist-sized incision in her stomach and then dragged her out to torture her alone.
Kong Yue was in so much pain that she would come home every day and kneel on the ground, begging them to kill her.
As the knife pierced her heart, Qin Ming and Lin Chaoying's hands trembled. She left only one sentence: "Thank you. I don't regret knowing Boss and you guys."
Thinking of this, Lin Chaoying felt a chill run through her body, and she tightened her grip on Jiang Chuangu's body.
Carrying the void in their hearts, they clung to each other, warming themselves in the cold night, waiting for dawn, waiting for spring, waiting for the next moment when cherry blossoms would blanket the courtyard...
==
postscript:
On his 18th birthday, Lin Chaotai reached out to Lin Chaoying and said, "Give me your hidden Polaroid photo! Isn't that a symbol of your good luck?"
Lin Chaoying was already in a bad mood and didn't bother with him. "Hurry up, what are you doing? Don't make me beat you up!"
Lin Chaotai rushed into her bedroom, snatched the Polaroid photo, returned to the candle, closed his eyes devoutly, and made a wish in his heart: If there really is a god who can help me fulfill my wish, I hope my sister can be free and carefree, return to the age of 18, have a new life and new experiences, and preferably meet her idol Jiangchuan Gu.
He was willing to give anything as long as his sister was happy.
Lin Chaotai's superpower is: his words become law.
However, he was unaware that this superpower that could alter the cause and effect of life would come at the cost of his life. Moreover, because he did not know how to use it, his initial superpower spiritual energy remained on this hidden photograph. It wasn't until four years later that Lin Chaoying placed this photograph in her car, and that night, her superpower magnetic field fluctuated.
Ultimately, bidirectional stimulation occurs.
Lin Chaoying will never know that on that night of the car accident, in the instant her mental power exploded, countless schemes and traps arose, but along with it came a belated gift: her younger brother's most sincere and simple blessing to his older sister.
This blessing further altered the initial fate of Jiangchuan Valley's corpse lying exposed in the wilderness.
—The End—
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