Chapter 31
Jiang Kaile felt like her brain was about to explode.
Countless fragments of memory surged into my mind like crashing waves.
He inadvertently caught a glimpse of a small patch of it and vaguely saw servants gathered in the shadows of the garden, whispering amongst themselves.
"Oh my god, how could this happen?"
"Was it the young master who set fire to the ancestral hall? Didn't he know that..."
"I was there when it happened, it was so horrific! How old was the young master? It's just like the Jiang family genes..."
Those anxious voices seemed to echo, like the whispers of demons, intertwining and rising and falling.
It abruptly ended at a certain moment, filled with fear.
"Ah! Young Master? I'm so sorry, we didn't know you were here. Please don't be angry, we'll leave right away!"
The servants fled in panic under the child's watchful eyes, leaving only a small figure standing there, bewildered and hesitantly uttering words into the air.
Why are you afraid of me?
—Isn't burning down the ancestral hall a good thing? Why are you all unhappy?
Jiang Kaile remembered this past event. Not long after he burned down the ancestral hall, the servants in his household suddenly regarded him as a monster, and they couldn't help but look terrified whenever they saw him.
Originally, it was thought that the sin of burning down the ancestral hall was too great, which made everyone so afraid. However, judging from the attitude of the Jiang family head and the old steward, there was clearly another hidden reason.
So what exactly happened back then?
—What exactly did I do?
—Let me remember!
Jiang Kaile clutched his head, which was throbbing with pain, and heard the anxious shouts of the Jiang family head and the old steward, but they grew fainter and fainter.
The mottled bloodstains on the wall faded, and the cell lights gradually went out.
Jiang Kaile suddenly fell silent.
My body felt infinitely light at that moment, drifting with the wind into the corridors of memory.
In that distant, faded memory, Jiang Kaile saw a child, about five years old, wearing a children's suit, with dark eyes filled with a clean and clear light, and a wide smile on his lips.
The child ran through a dense, lush forest, panting and sweating profusely, like a whistling wind, leaving the accompanying servants behind, all the way up the mountain until he rushed into a dilapidated bungalow.
The old-fashioned electric lights used in the bungalow were not turned on during the day, making the interior rather dim.
The walls in the corner were covered with moss, and parts of the plaster had peeled off, revealing a layer of grayish-black lime. On the table were leftovers, with bits of oil floating in the murky soup.
The homeowner sat in a rocking chair watching television; his exposed body was thin, emaciated, and dark, and his aged, gaunt face was shrouded in a hazy light and shadow.
Hearing the noise at the door, the old man turned around hesitantly, then called out to the child with a smile, "Lele's here? Come here quickly, let Grandpa Wu take a look at you."
"Grandpa Wu!" the child called out happily, and like a nimble eel, he darted into the old man's arms in the blink of an eye.
The old man touched the child's sweaty back, picked up a dry towel from the chair, and stuffed it into the child's back to absorb the sweat.
The child squirmed uncomfortably, but was quickly drawn to the images on the television.
An old martial arts film was playing on TV, and the intense and exciting fight scenes were thrilling.
Even if children don't know many words and can't understand the deeper meaning of some lines, they can't help but be deeply fascinated by the heroic figure of the chivalrous hero punishing evil and promoting good.
As the story concludes, the hero wipes out the bandits' den, burning their stronghold to the ground.
When the child saw the hero with his back to the raging fire, resolutely saying to the rescued people, "It's all over," his eyes suddenly lit up: "Wow!"
In the next scene, the people embraced and wept, filled with gratitude for finally being rescued from hell. They regarded the hero as a great savior, loudly praising his bravery and merits. The children were so excited that their little faces flushed.
He gazed at the figure of the great hero with admiration, his round, dark eyes wide open.
The bright flames shone through the television screen into those clear pupils, flickering like the rising sun.
"Grandpa Wu, I want to become a hero like that when I grow up! To uphold justice and save many, many people!"
The old man stroked the back of the child's head with his bony fingers, opened his mouth as if to say something but couldn't, and finally gave a kind smile: "Good, good..."
The scene changes.
The child has grown a little older, his face is still innocent, but he is no longer as happy as he used to be.
He gritted his teeth and ran desperately, ignoring the servants' attempts to stop him, rushing into the reception room of the luxurious villa.
With a bang, the door was kicked open, and the child angrily questioned the still young Jiang family head: "Grandpa Wu is sick, why can't we take him down the mountain to see a doctor?!"
The Jiang family head was entertaining guests when the children's incessant noise made the lively atmosphere extremely awkward, which angered the Jiang family head so much that he picked up a vase and smashed it on the ground.
Snap!
Hearing the commotion, the servants rushed forward and grabbed the agitated child.
The child screamed, shouted, and pleaded helplessly, his fingers gripping the door frame so tightly that the hard lock scratched bloody marks on them.
In the chaos, someone cryptically uttered these words: "Young Master, please stop making trouble. Guarding the tomb in the deep mountains is a rule set by our ancestors; one cannot leave until death. After all, Mr. Wu is..."
The child did not hear what was said next.
A strong bodyguard grabbed his arm and dragged him away. He was powerless to resist and watched helplessly as the study door closed again.
The Jiang family head, who had lost face in front of the guests, cast a disgusted glance at him before the door closed completely: "So many people and you can't even watch over a child properly? Lock him in the solitary confinement room!"
The child was locked in a dark and gloomy solitary confinement cell and deprived of food and water for a day and a night. Not long after being released, he developed a high fever.
It was several days later when his fever subsided and he regained consciousness. His beloved Grandpa Wu had passed away during those days when his high fever persisted.
The scene shifts again, and the child's face is no longer smiling, but gloomy and somber.
One day, as he was passing through the back garden, he heard a heart-wrenching scream. He paused for a moment, then hurried over.
As soon as they walked over, they saw a large group of people standing trembling beside the pavilion. Some were in so much pain that their bodies were convulsing, their mouths gagged and their bodies tightly bound.
Bright red blood splattered on the bluestone bricks and weeds, and a bloodstained axe stood on a wooden stake, reflecting a cold metallic luster in the sunlight.
The child froze completely, a mixture of fear and panic washing over him. He heard his breathing quicken, and a sharp, high-pitched question escaped his lips: "Stop—!"
This shout startled countless people.
Upon discovering the child, the servants rushed over, covered the child's eyes, and attempted to drag him away.
The child began to struggle again, but just like countless times before when his struggles had been fruitless, he could not break free from those strong and thick arms.
Until someone whispered bitterly in his ear, "Young Master, that person stole something from the Jiang family. According to the rules of our ancestors, this is how it must be dealt with. Please don't make things difficult for us."
"If this continues, that person might not even be able to save their life!"
Rules, rules, and more rules.
It is the rule that those who disobey the Jiang family will be deposed, that servants will be beaten and punished for making mistakes, and that members of the Jiang family must obey the clan rules.
Why are there so many damn rules?!
Such incidents occurred one after another. The flames of resentment burned in the child's heart, finally erupting completely during a trip to the mountains to worship his ancestors.
The incident began during a solemn ancestral worship ceremony when a member of the Jiang family, having been confined for too long, became sexually aroused and had an affair with one of his attendants. They agreed to meet secretly in the woods every night.
When the Jiang family head learned of this, he flew into a rage and threw them into the frozen river in the dead of winter, intending to wash away the filth from these people according to custom.
Then they pulled up the two men, whose faces were pale and numb from the cold, and whipped each of them thirty times. They then locked them up in a place where no one else knew them to reflect on their actions.
The servants were all guessing with fear that the Jiang family head had decided to kill them this time, and those two people were probably in grave danger.
They also said that according to the rules, this is an unforgivable act of disrespect, and the ancestors would be furious! In order to quell the resentment, many people might be implicated.
The child hiding behind the stone could no longer listen, turned around, and ran towards the Jiang Family Ancestral Hall.
Just now, a bold and crazy idea began to take shape in the child's mind.
He ran faster and faster, trees and rocks rushing past in his peripheral vision. Even though he hadn't actually put his idea into practice yet, he was already excited and his heart was pounding.
When they stopped, the child looked up at the plaque of the ancestral hall with bright eyes.
"These are the rules you set, aren't they?"
In the dead of night, the guards patrolled the area with flashlights, and the ancestral hall was eerily quiet. The pale moonlight illuminated the two ancient characters "Jiang Family" on the plaque, exuding a chilling and somber atmosphere.
The child swallowed hard, and said firmly, word by word, "Listen, I'm not afraid of you."
As he spoke, he turned around, took off his coat and trousers, stuffed them with branches, withered grass, and stones, trying to make a human-shaped outline, and tied them tightly with shoelaces.
Then he went upstream, where there was a waterfall. The water wasn't completely frozen, and the current was quite rapid; it was also the guards' usual route for patrols. When the flashlight beam shone on him, the child suddenly screamed, "Help! Let me go!!"
At the same time, he threw the scarecrow in his hand into the river.
The darkness and the dense shadows of the trees provided excellent camouflage; even with a flashlight, it was difficult to see the entire riverbank. From the guard's perspective, it appeared that a child had gotten into an argument with someone and was eventually pushed forcefully into the river.
"Come quick! The young master has fallen into the river!"
Upon hearing this panicked and anxious cry, all the guards nearby were summoned.
The child seized the opportunity to run away without wasting a moment. Knowing that his time was limited, he picked up the oil lamp on the table the moment he ran into the Jiang family ancestral hall.
During the incident, the child even shouted twice.
"Is anyone there?! The young master has fallen into the river!"
After confirming that no one responded in the ancestral hall, he looked at the ancestral tablets of the Jiang family. Those dark and cruel past events flashed before his eyes like a revolving lantern, causing the child's face to contort with extreme resentment.
"Your rules have prevented Grandpa Wu from going down the mountain to see doctors and have caused the deaths of so many people. They should have been abolished long ago. From today onwards, it's all over. The Jiang family will no longer abide by your rules!"
As the last word fell, the child seemed to recall the heroic figure he had seen on television, burning away all evil with a single fire.
He looked at the oil lamp in his hand, its orange-red flame radiating intense light, and finally gritted his teeth, smashing it onto the Jiang family's ancestral tablet.
The lamp shattered with a crack, spilling oil all over the bright red cloth on the table, sparks flying everywhere.
The fire grew rapidly in the blink of an eye. First, a small, charred hole was burned through the cloth, and then a flame the size of a thumb spread outwards along the edge, igniting the entire wooden table and turning it into a raging inferno.
But the child still felt it wasn't enough; it was burning too slowly. Braving the thick smoke and the ever-increasing temperature, he took several more oil lamps from the wall and poured all the oil inside onto the floor!
By the time the child had finished doing all this, the fire had already licked up to the tips of his shoes along the oil stains.
He stood there, utterly exhausted, staring blankly at the raging flames, his limbs trembling.
The guards, who had pulled a scarecrow out of the rushing river, finally realized they had been tricked. When they ran back, they saw the Jiang family ancestral hall ablaze, with children almost completely engulfed in flames.
Everyone was immediately terrified and at a loss for what to do. Some people came to their senses and rushed in to take the child away.
"Oh no, there seems to be someone still inside the ancestral hall!"
"Were they the two sinners who were nailed into the coffin?"
"The fire is too big, there's no time to save it! Let's go! Quickly call others to help put out the fire!"
What?
The child, who was being held in the arms of the guard, suddenly came to his senses.
He struggled to turn his head amidst the jolting, staring wide-eyed at the burning Jiang Family Ancestral Hall. Thick black smoke billowed into the sky, turning half the night crimson, the extreme heat distorting the air, and the burned beams collapsed with a deafening roar.
Amidst the flames came faint, piercing screams, not one, but two.
Those two people who were having an affair at night and whose whereabouts are unknown, are inside.
"Save them!" the child screamed.
But his shouts only drew hateful looks from the guards.
Someone couldn't help but grab the boy's collar, their eyes bloodshot, looking like they wanted to slap him: "Do you know how much trouble you've caused everyone! If the head of the family holds you accountable—"
His words came to an abrupt halt, the resentment on his face replaced by fear, and like everyone else, he slowly raised his gaze, his eyes widening, his lips trembling.
They saw in the children something they would never forget.
"What...what the hell is that? Young Master—"
"Could it be that the ancestors of the Jiang family chose the eldest son? Why? Because the eldest son burned down the ancestral hall!?"
As for the child, he couldn't hear anything.
—I clearly called out, so why are there still people in the ancestral hall? Didn't they hear me?
The surrounding noise receded like the tide, leaving the child's mind buzzing. He stared intently at the Jiang family ancestral hall engulfed in flames, as if he could see the two struggling, helpless figures within it.
—What have I done?
The child couldn't help but cry; his sobs were soft, yet they were deafening.
At that moment, his despair and grief seemed to cross the long river of time, sweeping over Jiang Kaile's heart like a raging storm.
"I... I didn't realize..."
Jiang Kaile finally understood.
Why are most of the Jiang family members so afraid of him? Why does the Jiang family head take it for granted that he can be ruthless enough to kill someone?
So, that was something he had already done.
Jiang Kaile looked at his hands, as if he could see them stained with the blood of innocent people, and his hands trembled violently.
Can someone who kills innocent people still be called a hero?
He committed arson with such recklessness back then, but is his heart truly clean? Does he still have the right to claim he has a kind heart?
If the teacher knew what he had done, would he still think he was a good child?
There is no greater sorrow than a broken heart.
The boy's yearning for justice was finally tainted by boundless despair, and his pupils gradually lost their light.
No one present could see that a decaying, dark aura emanated from Jiang Kaile, gradually seeping into the robbers in the cell.
The prisoner's body shuddered violently, his muscles swelling wildly like an inflating balloon, and the ropes binding him broke apart under the strain.
Amidst the gasps of the crowd, he stood up, his eyes bulging, his expression greedy, and his disheveled face even more ferocious. He grabbed the iron railing with both hands, and with a "creak," he actually bent the thumb-thick railing with his bare hands!
Then he—no, it should be called "it"—opened its blood-red maw at the crowd and let out a deafening roar: "Roar!"
The robber turned into a monster? How is that possible!
The change happened in the blink of an eye. Before anyone could scream, they saw the monster leap up and pounce on the nearest butler. Its sharp fangs pierced his throat, and blood splattered everywhere!
A second later, the monster looked at Jiang Kaile, who was nearby.
Jiang Kaile suddenly snapped back to reality, breaking out in a cold sweat. His first instinct was to pick up the knife from the ground.
But during this process, the monster not only did not attack him, but obediently waited in place, staring at him with its bulging and deformed eyes without blinking, as if waiting for his command.
Jiang Kaile's hand trembled again.
He looked into the monster's eyes and finally discerned a word within them: submission.
But how could a monster submit to a human?
Jiang Kaile looked down at the knife in his hand; the cold metal surface was like a mirror, reflecting his scarlet eyes.
In an instant, despair and a sense of absurdity enveloped Jiang Kaile once again, like a huge boulder that almost crushed his thin shoulders.
"He even said he was a bad person, a sinner."
Jiang Kaile opened her mouth and slowly forced out a smile that looked more like a grimace.
"...Since when did we stop being considered human beings altogether?"
On the other side, Xie Xubai held the gun that Lü Xiangcai had someone bring into the Jiang family's house, pointed it at the bodyguards blocking his way, and forced them to make way.
These big guys were not easy to deal with, and Xie Xubai did not dare to delay. As long as someone stood in his way, he would shoot them directly!
The bullets didn't hit anyone, but they scared them into running around in all directions, so Xie Xubai took the opportunity to speed up.
At the same time, the previously vague narration gradually became clear in his mind.
That child has severe mysophobia; he always keeps his custom-made suit spotless and impeccably clean.
I asked him why, and he said he felt the Jiang family's house was too dirty, and that he was dirty too, so he couldn't help but want to wash himself clean. Sometimes when it flares up, he can scrub his hands raw.
Seeing how much he disliked himself, I would often spontaneously give him a high-five. He was always hesitant to wash his hands in front of me because I would exaggerate and shout, "Wow, you dislike your teacher?" After several such attempts, he finally gave in and endured his germaphobia.
He loved to fight injustice and dreamed of wandering the world with a sword, upholding justice. However, the Jiang family's selfishness and ruthless methods made him feel that he would become an executioner sooner or later, which made him very insecure.
I started trying to find ways to get him to do community service and volunteer at the Red Cross, and to ignore the people the old housekeeper sent to monitor him.
When he receives sincere thanks from others, the boy can't help but smile happily.
He would coldly help up the maid who had fallen, even though the maid saw him as a monster. He would also hold an umbrella to shelter the swaying sapling from the rain, treating it as a reflection of himself within the Jiang family.
I encouraged him to interact with the servants of the Jiang family, partly to dispel prejudice and partly to teach the boy how to communicate with others.
Whenever he successfully had a five-minute conversation with someone, I would praise him lavishly, making him feel quite flattered. As a result, he began to communicate with people calmly and patiently, instead of resorting to violence and forcing others to look at him with fear.
I also bought some fertilizer and nurtured the saplings with the boy, measuring their height every day. Even a single centimeter of growth would make the boy shout with excitement. His smiles became more frequent and radiant.
I thought everything had gotten better.
Xie Xubai ignored the monologue in his mind, kept his eyes straight ahead, frowned, and ran forward without looking to the side.
Although there was only one direction, there were many forks in the road. He pressed the servants who knew the details all the way until he finally arrived near the cemetery.
He also noticed that the people he passed by were acting strangely. Their eyes were sluggish and unfocused, like puppets who had suddenly lost their souls, standing there motionless.
Xie Xubai's heart sank inch by inch.
There were guards at the entrance to the cemetery, but no one would stop him anymore, because they had become "wooden."
Xie Xubai smelled the strong, foul stench of blood emanating from the open dungeon entrance. He gripped his gun and jumped in without hesitation.
The narration continued, like a pre-programmed sequence, cold and indifferent.
[...until that night, he clutched a blood-dripping knife limply in his hand, at his feet lay a mangled corpse, covered in dust and mud.]
Xie Xubai finally met Jiang Kaile.
The boy was covered in blood and grime, the dust of the dungeon stained his suit, and his legs were muddy. Dark blood dripped from his fingertips onto the floor, standing out starkly in the deathly silence of the cell.
Tick-tock, tick-tock...
When he saw me running towards him, he started laughing foolishly.
Hearing footsteps, Jiang Kaile slowly raised his head, his eyes filled with a chilling crimson bloodlust.
He met Xie Xubai's trembling pupils, and finally, little by little, he grinned and let out a short laugh.
"Teacher," Jiang Kaile said, "give up on me."
boom--!
In an instant, a dense aura of darkness spread rapidly like smog, forming a raging storm that surged toward the ceiling.
The walls shattered, the houses shook, and following the violent earthquake, the entire Jiang family's territory seemed to have been put on hold, frozen in time.
The darkness, like a hunter lying in wait, climbed the trees, spreading a stench. It crept up the bricks and tiles, causing cracks to appear.
The Jiang family members inside trembled all over, their bodies undergoing varying degrees of mutation, and they opened their mouths to let out uncontrollable roars.
Under its erosion, the once ordinary scenery has gradually been transformed into a strange and gloomy landscape.
[Ding! A Class A "Monster King" has been detected in this area.]
Just then, a hand with distinct knuckles rushed into the dark storm and grabbed the unsuspecting Jiang Kaile.
Jiang Kaile didn't want to see the disappointment in Xie Xubai's eyes, and he was even more afraid to answer any of Xie's questions, so he cowered in the storm and didn't move.
Under his control, the dark aura would not affect Xie Xubai in the slightest, and he would also send Xie Xubai out of the Jiang family after he fainted.
To everyone's surprise, Xie Xubai broke through the black mist and grabbed his wrist directly.
"No." Xie Xubai looked at the flustered and helpless Jiang Kaile and uttered a single word decisively.
"Give up? The teacher won't allow it!"
Jiang Kaile's pupils trembled.
No sooner had the words left his mouth than a dark aura erupted without warning, engulfing the moonlit earth and completely transforming the Jiang family's territory.
A hurricane howled, and Jiang Kaile, somewhat unsteady, exclaimed in a trembling voice, "What happened? I didn't—"
Seeing Jiang Kaile's shocked expression, Xie Xubai immediately realized that this outburst was clearly not controlled by the boy, but by an invisible force.
In the heat of the moment, Xie Xubai only had time to shield the boy in his arms.
Meanwhile, the players in the game space also heard that terrifying notification sound.
The instance "Dragon Slayer" has been generated and will soon be available for trials.
Author's Note:
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com