Chapter 69 Fungal Remains Frenzy 30 Choice.
After drinking the wine, the old man laughed loudly a few times, his voice hoarse and unrestrained. He gripped Nanmen Jue's hand tightly with his withered palm, as if to say, "Good lad, you really understand me."
No one else stopped him. It was absurd to give alcohol to a cancer patient who was also seriously injured, but everyone could see that the old man was only hanging on by a thread and wouldn't live past tonight.
However, everyone still had their own thoughts about why Nanmen Jue was actually willing to go to such lengths for an indigenous person and specifically fulfill his dying wish.
The flower bed at Red Dawn wasn't very deep. The air tonight was filled with the smell of blood. Everyone tacitly avoided mentioning it. The old man simply sat on the edge of the balcony, sipping his wine. Nanmen Jue stood beside him, the night wind ruffling her hair. She looked towards Zhang Zhi, who was playing a finger game with Mo Gui not far away.
In this warm and tranquil atmosphere, the old man's hoarse voice rang out, "Child, was this ever your home?"
“It’s the home of someone I know,” Nanmen Jue said.
Will he come back?
"She is dead."
The old man looked up at her. Nanmen Jue's face was calm. The man who had just easily killed a life showed no sign of ferocity. He looked like an ordinary, handsome student.
The old man took another sip of wine.
Have you ever thought about what life would be like without her?
It was clear from the conversation that the old man had misunderstood the relationship between the two. Nanmen Jue said, "I haven't known her for very long. Rather than saying whether I've ever thought about losing her, I'd say I've never thought about what it would be like to live with her."
The old man chuckled. "She did make that request, didn't she?"
“Old people are shrewd and not likable,” Nanmen Jue said. “However, yes, she mentioned wanting to come with me, twice, but I didn’t agree.”
“Young man, you’re skilled and good-looking, so it’s no wonder you have such high aspirations,” the old man said with a smile. “The consequence of falling in love too early is like me. I picked up a baby bottle at the age when I was most capable of wielding a knife, and then for the rest of my life, I was never able to leave the little ones who have my blood flowing through my veins.”
He misunderstood again, but this time Nanmen Jue didn't explain. Thinking of Hong Chenxi's charming yet stubborn eyes, she smiled silently.
"I used to regret it. If I hadn't been bewitched by that girl's smile, would I have had all these years of worry and toil? Would I have had to experience loss again and again?" The old man was still smiling, his face flushed with the smell of alcohol, glistening with tears. "Nannan was the last one to leave me. I thought to myself, it's good that I still have a little girl. When I die, she can fill my grave with soil and build a mound. Who would have thought that she would leave me a few hours earlier than me?"
He was laughing when he spat out blood again and started coughing. The more he coughed, the more he vomited. He was laughing and coughing when he took another swig of wine.
“But at this point, I have no regrets at all,” he said hoarsely. “I’m just an ordinary person. I did my best to do what I should do and fulfill my responsibilities. Ordinary people always have things they can’t do. They will understand me. My daughter suffered so much, she will understand me too…”
He choked up, then tilted his head back to drink. Nanmen Jue shifted slightly, a look in his eyes that others couldn't understand.
"If there's something you could have done, but didn't because it was too dangerous, and as a result, the person you wanted to protect got hurt, would you resent yourself?" Nanmen Jue asked softly.
The old man gulped down his wine, smacked his lips, and said, "What you're talking about, I've actually experienced."
Nanmen Jue was taken aback.
"That was forty years ago, or maybe thirty, it doesn't matter anymore." The old man's eyes were glazed as he casually wiped the blood and wine from his mouth. "Back then, I was only in my early twenties, about the same age as you are now. I had a wife and a daughter, but I hadn't settled down yet. I was still thinking about all that stupid stuff in society and the underworld. I felt that having a family would make my brothers laugh at me, so I went through a period of being a scoundrel. I didn't care about my wife or daughter. Apart from sending some money home every month, I didn't even know if they were alive or dead."
Nanmen Jue listened quietly without making any comments.
The old man coughed a few times, his voice becoming even hoarseer. "Back then, my boss was a scoundrel. He made a bet with me, saying that if I didn't go home for three years, he would groom me to be his successor. When I heard this, I thought it was a great opportunity. I had only been back for a few months at the time, and I felt that three years was far too short a timeframe. It would be so easy to achieve, especially since I was receiving money every month. The three years would pass quickly. If I won the bet, my future would be limitless! Cough cough cough cough cough!"
When he got excited, he coughed violently again, and then suddenly spat out a mouthful of black blood mixed with pieces of internal organs.
After spitting it out, he suddenly became weak and couldn't even open his lips. Nanmen Jue squatted down and used a green prop on him.
We can't save him, but we can keep him barely clinging to life.
As a result, Nanmen Jue sneezed several times in a row, and several people not far away looked at her. Mo Gui raised his voice and asked, "Brother Jue, are you catching a cold?"
Nanmen Jue waved his hand, then watched the old man open his eyes again.
He stared blankly for a moment, then looked at Nanmen Jue in disbelief.
Nanmen Jue said softly, "I can't save your life, I can only buy you some time. I'm sorry, but I want to know your answer."
“…cough.” The old man didn’t ask any more questions, but just looked at her deeply and continued, “In the eighth month, my wife sent me a message saying that our daughter was sick and very sick. I still didn’t go back, but just gave them all the money I had on me.”
Is she dead?
"She didn't die, but because the local hospital's technology wasn't good enough, she lost sight in one eye." The old man stared blankly at the night sky.
Nanmen Jue was silent for a moment, then said, "Even if you go back, can you change the outcome?"
The old man weakly tugged at the corner of his mouth, "On the way to the hospital in a taxi, my wife was in a car accident and has been paralyzed on one side ever since, unable to get out of bed."
Nanmenjue fell silent again.
“Then I… went back to take care of my wife and daughter, and ignored the bet.” He sighed deeply and turned to look at Nanmen Jue. “You ask me if I resent myself? Yes, I do. I made up a lot of reasons for myself. I did it so that they could have a better life in the future. I gave them money… but the reasons can’t cover up the guilt, because I love them. No amount of reasons can be equated with feelings.”
Nanmen Jue's face turned pale.
“Child, if you also feel guilty about something, then do something, whether it's to atone for your sins, to make amends, or whatever you want to do... In this life, how can you distinguish everything so clearly? In the end, it all comes down to whether you want to or not.” The old man’s withered hand grasped Nanmen Jue’s arm, his voice almost inaudible, “You are a... good child. You are so capable, and you have a heart full of justice and kindness. You can do far more than you can imagine... Even I, a useless person, have been able to take care of my paralyzed wife for forty years and even raise my granddaughter... You are much stronger than me.”
Nanmen Jue's lips moved, but he didn't say anything.
The old man laughed incoherently, his cloudy eyes reflecting Nanmen Jue's image. He mumbled, "No matter what, don't let yourself have regrets. Life, there's no going back—"
He spoke the last four words with exceptional clarity and a loud voice. Several people on the other side also looked over. The old man's hand was still gripping Nanmen Jue's arm. He smiled and left.
Mo Gui and Jin Jian buried him in another flower bed next to the girl. Nan Menjue did not participate; she led Zhang Zhi into the house to sleep.
After listening to the sounds outside for a while, the three of them found a place to rest. Zhang Zhi fell asleep next to him, while Nanmen Jue sat on the bed, looking up at the glass skylight, silently in the moonlight.
The crow flew silently into the house and landed on Nanmen Jue's knee.
"What do you plan to do next?" He asked softly.
"Everyone who stayed here at the Furnace Base must be evacuated," Nanmenjue said.
"Then what?"
"Then go kill Cheng Xiuye, and when it's almost time, send Zhang Zhi to Ningde Town."
The crow was not surprised by the answer; its eyes were calm, and in the moonlight, there was a kind of hazy gentleness.
"What about the quarantine facility? Your sister's letters are still there."
"I'm not going," Nanmen Jue said without hesitation.
"You...you're not going?" the crow said softly. "Your sister is the reason you came to the Reincarnation Space. Now that you know there's news about her, are you just going to give up like this?"
There are always trade-offs to be made.
Nanmen Jue turned his head to look at the sleeping Zhang Zhi, his face expressionless, his voice and eyes gentle.
“I don’t trust Zhang Zhi to anyone. I can’t just take her and walk into a trap.”
"Even if you want to protect her, you only have these three months," the crow said bluntly. "Once you leave this world, you won't be able to protect her anymore. Does it make a difference whether she falls into those people's hands a few months earlier or later?"
Nanmen Jue said, "There will be more news about my sister. If Zhang Zhi is dead, then she is really dead."
She didn't answer the crow's question, but instead emphasized her own answer, making the crow realize that she had made a painful decision.
It wasn't that she didn't want to go; it's just that she chose Zhang Zhi.
A living human life is far more important than a message; that's why Nanmen Jue made his choice.
What a hypocrite! She mocked herself inwardly.
What else can she do? She's not a savior; she just wants to find her sister and return to reality. If she opens the portal again now, the God will realize she's tied to the crow. What methods will He use then? Will she be able to face an even more dangerous situation than she is now?
Although she never said it outright, she hadn't dared to sleep since entering this world. The short rest couldn't compensate for the high level of fatigue from her battles. She was exhausted now, and once the main god noticed her, she would only get more tired. Every step she took felt like dancing on a knife's edge. If you were to ask her, she wouldn't know if she could find her sister alive.
However, there are always trade-offs to be made.
She had chosen a path of cowardice: if she couldn't save everyone, she would at least save this one girl.
"At least... while I'm still here, I should keep my promise."
Nanmen Jue buried her face in her knees and answered the crow's question softly, shrinking herself into a tiny ball.
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