Chapter 368 Asahi's Parents 2
Asahi's parents?
For a moment, I felt as if I had heard two words that could never be put together, such as the wings of an egg, the hands and feet of a carp, the scales of a snail—or the parents of Asaho.
Of course, I'm not saying that Asaha should have been born from a stone. Since Asaha is also human, she must have a father and a mother. However, because she came from a post-apocalyptic era and has always lived alone, with at most a small bowl by her side, I assume that she has already lost her parents, and that she herself has probably even forgotten their faces and names.
Under these circumstances, Zhu Shi's sudden desire to talk to me about Ma Zao's parents really caught me off guard.
Why would she bring this up with me? Asahi's parents weren't from this era...etc.
It was only then that I belatedly realized that I seemed to have forgotten something quite important until now.
By the way, Ma Zao didn't physically travel to this era; her soul did. She already had a body in this era, and that body had its own social identity. Before Ma Zao's arrival, this body had been dormant in a military hospital somewhere in Xianshui City. Zhu Shi's mother, Zhu Jiu, was also previously assigned to that hospital.
Since she was staying in the hospital, someone must have handled her admission procedures and paid her hospital fees. Although the brain of this body had not actively provided Asahi with any useful memories, Asahi's ignorance did not mean that the social relationships this body possessed did not exist.
The original owner of this body—Asahaya of this era—must have had her own family, friends, classmates, and other social relationships, rather than a body that appeared out of thin air and was specifically prepared for Asahaya to come to this era.
I'm really quite careless, or perhaps I've been overemphasizing Asahi's doomsday visitor status and jinx nature, while overlooking the fact that "Asahi might have once lived an ordinary life." It wasn't until today, after Zhu Shi reminded me, that I finally remembered something so important.
"You really didn't think of that, Senior Brother Zhuang..."
Zhu Shi seemed to have discerned the truth from my reaction, and she showed a speechless expression.
"Did you think about this from the beginning?" I asked.
"Of course." Zhu Shi handed me the yellow file folder in his hand.
I took the file bag and opened it. Inside were some documents that recorded the family circumstances of Ma Zao during this era.
Asahi, from this era, did not come from a witcher family and had virtually no connection to the supernatural world. Her father was a mid-level manager at a construction company in Saltwater City, and her mother ran a bakery. The only unusual thing about her was that three years ago, when she was ten years old, she suddenly developed a soul disorder and had been in a coma ever since.
The parents adored their only daughter. Unaware of amnesia, they, like the hospital staff, mistook it for some unknown brain disorder. Three years have passed, and they have never given up hope of waking their daughter.
After Ma Zao, whom I knew, traveled to this era and disappeared from the military hospital, her parents became frantic and began searching everywhere for their daughter. Soon after, Zhu Shi noticed this situation and reported it to Mr. Zhu. They found the parents and used mental magic to convince them that their daughter had been found and was now receiving cutting-edge treatment at a national institution specializing in research on amnesia.
"Although using mental magic to prevent them from seeing their daughter is not ideal in some ways, it was definitely not the right time to bring Mazao to meet them," Zhu Shi said. "Not to mention that Mazao had no idea that she had parents in this era, she was caught in the vortex of the dark forces of Luoshan at the time, and she herself had a jinx constitution."
"Forcing her to reunite with her parents would only bring them unpredictable dangers. After I learned about her jinxed nature during the Shadow Man incident, I became even more convinced of this."
"Of course, if it's just a private meeting and a few words, it should be fine. Even if we brought Masako to them now, we probably wouldn't be able to have a proper conversation... But in any case, I still think we shouldn't sever the relationship between parents and children so hastily."
"Now that the matter of fate has been resolved and many things have settled down, I think it's time for Asaho to meet her parents."
"Although you might say that the current Asaho is Asaho from the apocalyptic era, and that she is a different person in spirit from the Asaho of this era, the possibility that they are the same person is not low. To put it another way, even if the Asaho we know is not the Asaho of this era, she at least used the body of the Asaho of this era, so she may also have to bear some of the karma... or responsibility of the Asaho of this era."
While listening to Zhu Shi's words, I read through all the materials and then reorganized and refolded them.
Asaho's mother in this era runs a bakery, and Asaho says she somehow remembers the steps to make cakes, and even her body seems to have some memories... Is this because the Asaho I know is truly the Asaho of this era? Or is it because her body and brain have unconsciously fed back the memories of the original owner to her?
This part remains unanswered for now, but I partially agree with Zhu Shi's words. If Asao truly is using the body of Asao from this era, then it's necessary to sever ties with her old interpersonal relationships. Whether to cut them off or maintain them, a decision should be made after careful consideration.
"Why did you tell me separately first, instead of telling Ma Zao directly?" I asked.
“Ma Zaoke is different from you, Senior Brother Zhuang. She’s a good girl. Once she realizes that she may not only have unknowingly taken over someone else’s body, but that the original owner of the body also had parents who loved her very much, she may feel tremendous pressure,” Zhu Shi said. “So I hope you can prepare to comfort her in advance.”
I bluntly pointed out, "You just don't want to be the only one telling Asaha about this, so you're planning to drag me into it, aren't you?"
Zhu Shi looked very guilty and turned her head away.
I don't really care about such trivial matters. In fact, I'm quite happy that Zhu Shi consults me first when he has something to discuss.
“And… actually, I’m a little unsure whether I should really tell Mazao,” Zhu Shi said softly. “She doesn’t seem to realize that she has parents in this era… maybe it’s because she lacks understanding of the relationship of ‘parents’ in general. Maybe it’s better not to tell her…”
"There are reasons for not telling, but I think we should still tell you," I said.
"Why?" Zhu Shi asked very seriously.
"Because what I hate most is being secretive and dragging things out," I said.
"Why don't you tell me some benefits to doing this!" Zhu Shi complained. "Besides, do you even have the right to say that? Especially to Ma Zao!"
I turned my head and said to Mazao in another place, "Mazao, we're done talking, you can come back now."
At this moment, Asaha was standing at the other end of the corridor outside the room, looking out the window at the scenery. She could hear our conversation, but she seemed to be consciously ignoring it. My voice, however, ignored the physical walls and spatial distance, reaching directly to her ear. Since my hands can pass through space to reach distant objects, it's also possible for my voice to travel to a target location regardless of space.
Ma returned to her room early.
I got out of bed and sat on the edge of the bed, mentally prepared to tell Mazao the truth; Zhu Shi also sat next to me with a serious face, looking at Mazao with a solemn gaze.
"What are you doing...?"
Asaha seemed to sense something from the solemn atmosphere and looked at us with a puzzled expression.
"Good morning, we have something very important to tell you," I said.
"It's something very important," Mazao read aloud.
“Yes, it’s very important,” Zhu Shi also said. “It’s not just important to you, it also relates to the two people who are most important to you.”
"The two most important people to me..." Mazao's gaze shifted between me and Zhu Shi.
"No need for a long preamble, let me get straight to the point, Ma Zao, have you thought about your parents?" I said, "In the past, you survived alone in the apocalypse, and your parents' presence may have come too late for you, but I need to tell you this properly, which is..."
Before I could finish speaking, Ma Zao suddenly took a step back, looking at me and Zhu Shi with disbelief: "Could it be..."
Zhu Shi sighed: "It seems you've already figured it out. Yes, that's exactly what you thought."
"You're planning to be together and then adopt me as your daughter?" Asaho said in shock.
"Huh?" I almost didn't react.
Zhu Shi shouted, "Wait—why did it get misunderstood like that?!"
“But isn’t that how things are?” Asaho said with a complicated expression, “The two most important people to me are you two, and this matter is not only important to you, but also to me. And you’re still talking to me about parents…”
“We’re talking about your parents,” I said.
"Yeah, so that's how it is... wait, no..."
As they talked, Mazao seemed to finally realize what was going on.
“My…parents?” she murmured blankly.
(End of this chapter)
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