Xiahou Shaoxuan stood silently in the empty corridor, looking through the thick glass at the two tiny babies inside the incubator. Because they had not yet reached full term, the two children were pitifully small. They curled up their chubby little bodies, their skin red and wrinkled, looking just like two little monkeys.
Xiahou Shaoxuan pressed one hand against the glass and slowly traced the outlines of the two sleeping babies with his fingers. His pale face carried deep exhaustion and weakness, while his pair of deep, silent black eyes were so cold that they frightened anyone who looked into them.
“Brother.”
Xiahou Hetian hurried over. When he saw Xiahou Shaoxuan, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
“Brother, why did you come here?”
Perhaps startled by something, one of the little ones kicked his legs, his tightly clenched little fist curling slightly.
Xiahou Shaoxuan’s hand paused. A trace of warmth flashed through his eyes.
These were his children.
His and Lian Qiguang’s children…
“Brother…” Seeing how Xiahou Shaoxuan was completely focused on the two children and paying no attention to anything around him, Xiahou Hetian felt somewhat uneasy. “Brother, your body hasn’t recovered yet. Grandpa told me to take you back.”
“When will An Yi arrive?”
“We’ve already contacted him. It should be within the next couple of days.”
Two more days…
Xiahou Shaoxuan’s eyes darkened, and the suppressed power inside his body immediately began to stir again.
The images of the two little balls of flesh flashed through his mind. Xiahou Shaoxuan closed his eyes and desperately suppressed the restless brutality within him, returning himself to calm.
Xiahou Shaoxuan opened his eyes and once again shifted his gaze toward the two tiny bundles inside the incubator. His gloomy, cold eyes softened slightly.
He couldn’t get angry.
These were his wife’s and his little bundles of flesh.
He couldn’t hurt them…
“Brother, you…” Seeing Xiahou Shaoxuan turn his attention back to the two little ones, Xiahou Hetian frowned slightly. “You can’t keep standing here like this. The doctors have been waiting. You have to let them examine you.”
The little one inside the incubator restlessly kicked his tiny feet.
Xiahou Shaoxuan moved his gaze away. His cold black eyes swept toward the endlessly chattering Xiahou Hetian.
The violent storm bearing down on him made Xiahou Hetian’s breathing stop, and he abruptly fell silent.
“Get lost!”
The low voice carried a slight pressure from his supernatural power.
Xiahou Hetian stumbled backward, his face turning pale.
That single cold glance just now had made Xiahou Hetian feel the threat of death. The pressure belonging to an absolute powerhouse caused fear to rise uncontrollably from the depths of his heart.
Looking at Xiahou Shaoxuan standing before the glass and once again returning to his dazed state, Xiahou Hetian did not dare approach and provoke death again. He could only helplessly shrink his neck and leave.
Xiahou Shaoxuan stood before the window, silently watching the two little ones. The trace of irritability that had just risen quietly dissipated.
The power within his body was far too powerful. He had no way to completely control it.
Xiahou Shaoxuan understood that, in his current state, he could fall into madness and lose consciousness at any moment.
Therefore, ever since waking up, he had stayed here, watching the two tiny children.
Whenever he thought of how Lian Qiguang had once loudly clamored that he wanted to have little bundles of flesh with him, the raging heart inside Xiahou Shaoxuan would calm down.
‘Wife, wait for me. Wait for me…’
(District Seven)
The man wore a loose, plain-blue outer robe, his long black hair tied behind him. His exquisite and handsome face was now filled with growing unease and anxiety.
The man paced back and forth outside the door, twisting his hands together, his heart in turmoil.
Several times, he wanted to push the door open, but every time his hand was about to touch the threshold, he timidly pulled it back.
The smooth blue-stone floor had been worn with clear marks by the man’s anxious pacing.
No one knew how much time had passed.
The man looked up at the time.
He had come running over when the sky had only just begun to brighten. After hesitating and pacing around, it was already almost noon.
If he stayed out here any longer, it would probably be dark.
By then, he would not be able to enter even if he wanted to.
The man clenched both fists and took a deep breath, steadying his chest, which felt as though it was about to explode.
He turned toward the tightly closed door, extended his trembling hands, and slowly moved closer.
With a faint creak, the door was slowly pushed open.
The lights inside were not turned on, and the curtains were tightly drawn, making the room appear somewhat dim.
The man carefully pushed the door open and slowly walked inside. His blood-red eyes searched the room for that figure he had missed for three thousand years.
Suddenly, the man stopped.
His eyes locked tightly onto the dark corner.
A black shadow lay in the rocking chair.
“After all these years, you still haven’t learned to knock.”
The indifferent voice contained a calmness that was incomparably familiar to him.
That kind of suffocating calmness, like stagnant water that could not stir up even the slightest ripple.
The man opened his mouth, wanting to speak but unable to.
Hearing once again the voice that had appeared in his dreams countless times, the man could no longer endure the grievances he had carried for thousands of years.
Tears streamed down his face.
“…Teacher.”
His trembling voice was filled with indescribable joy, sorrow, and longing.
“Wuma Yan, this should be the first time I’ve called you by your name.”
Lian Qiguang lay in the rocking chair, expressionless as he stared into the darkness above.
“This time, you really went too far.”
“No!”
The man took a step forward and said excitedly, “I—I just wanted to see Teacher once.”
“You’re still the same as you were three thousand years ago. Domineering and arrogant.”
“Teacher!”
The man widened his eyes and looked at Lian Qiguang in disbelief, as though he could not believe that Lian Qiguang could actually say such things.
Lian Qiguang slowly sat up and looked calmly at the man through the darkness.
“I don’t want us to reach the point where one of us must fall, Wuma Yan. Don’t force me!”
“You’re the one who has been forcing me all along, Teacher!!”
The man roared.
His blood-red eyes glared viciously at Lian Qiguang, his handsome face twisted into something terrifying.
“I’ve always wanted to follow in Teacher’s footsteps, but every time I thought I was getting closer to you, I discovered that you were even farther away from me.”
“For decades, I followed Teacher for decades. Why have you never once turned around to look at me?”
“Ever since I was born, the only person in my memories was Grandpa. After Grandpa died, those traitors forced me into a desperate situation. It was you, Teacher, who saved me.”
“During those days when I was being hunted, no matter how dangerous or desperate things became, Teacher never abandoned me. You taught me how to survive in that terrifying world.”
“I thought I was special in Teacher’s eyes, but…but…”
The man lowered his head, his body trembling.
In the dark, silent room, suppressed sobs of despair and pain echoed.
Looking at the crying man, Lian Qiguang’s feelings were complicated.
He had raised this child for more than twenty years, yet he had never truly understood him.
“After I learned of Teacher’s death, the pain drove me mad. Teacher promised that you would take care of me for my entire life. In the past, no matter how much I tormented you, you always kept your promise.”
“Why can’t you do it this time?”
“I became sick. I thought that dying would be good too. If I died, I could see Teacher.”
“But later, Qi Yin told me that Teacher wasn’t dead. He said that Teacher had gone to a very, very distant place.”
“I wanted to see Teacher. As long as I could see you, I didn’t care what price I had to pay or how long I had to wait.”
“To wait for Teacher, I injected myself with the zombie virus and turned myself into a monster that was neither human nor ghost, all so that I could live forever.”
“For Teacher, I waited a whole three thousand years.”
“Teacher, do you know how long three thousand years is?”
“Every day, every night—so long that it drove me into despair, so cold that I wanted to kill myself.”
“I curled up in the darkness where no sunlight could reach, counting second after second. I counted every grain of sand and every brick in District Seven.”
“I played those dull, monotonous games countless times. Every time I counted ten thousand grains of sand, I would close my eyes and tell myself that when I opened them again, I would be able to see Teacher.”
“But there was nothing…”
“One year. Ten years. One hundred years.”
“Teacher never appeared.”
Lian Qiguang silently watched the man roar like a beast, venting all the grievances and pain in his heart.
He pressed his lips together and said nothing.
“Teacher…”
The man walked to Lian Qiguang’s side and crouched down.
His icy hand slowly reached toward Lian Qiguang, trembling as it took Lian Qiguang’s hand.
“Teacher, Teacher… I only have you left. Don’t abandon me…”
“I never thought of abandoning you.”
Lian Qiguang looked at the despairing man and slowly withdrew his hand.
“You were the one who forced me into a desperate situation.”
“Teacher!”
The man let out a shrill cry.
His blood-red eyes churned with terrifying waves, while brutal killing intent swept around his body.
“Are you still thinking about that man, Teacher?!”
“Teacher, who has always been so proud, actually willingly submitted beneath him and even bore his children!”
“Damn him!! He defiled Teacher! He deserves to die!!”
“A lowly, insignificant ordinary ability user—how could he possibly be worthy of Teacher?!”
“Slap!!”
“…Teacher…”
The man covered his face, stunned, as he looked at Lian Qiguang, whose eyes were now stained with anger.
His heaving chest clearly carried a heart-rending pain.
“Wuma Yan!!”
Lian Qiguang reached out and grabbed the man by the collar. His pair of dark, gloomy eyes stared directly into the blood-red eyes before him.
Coldly, he said, “If anything happens to him, then neither you nor I will survive.”
“If he kills me, Teacher, will you avenge me?”
The man stared at Lian Qiguang and asked word by word.
“…”
Lian Qiguang was silent.
“If he kills me, will you kill him to avenge me?!”
The man flung Lian Qiguang away and retreated several steps, screaming hoarsely.
“Before you did something like this, I would have protected you, just as I did before. I would not have allowed anyone to hurt you.”
“But…”
Lian Qiguang’s cold eyes pierced toward the man.
“The you of now is already beyond redemption.”
“Wuma Yan.”
Lian Qiguang withdrew his gaze and lay back down.
“I don’t know what your abilities are now, but if you want to kill me, I have no power to resist.”
“Now, there are only two choices left between us.”
“Order those zombies to withdraw from the human territory, and you and I will never see each other again.”
“I believe that with your abilities, as long as you want to hide, no one will be able to find you again.”
“Or, we meet each other with weapons drawn and fight until one of us dies.”
“Until one of us dies…”
The man stared blankly at Lian Qiguang, the corners of his mouth slowly pulling into a stiff smile.
“Hahaha…”
The man burst into loud laughter, covering his eyes with one hand.
Slowly, the original manic laughter turned into desperate sobbing.
“Teacher, you’re cruel. You’re really cruel…”
“Three thousand years of torment, three thousand years of loneliness and waiting without ever regretting it—even in Teacher’s eyes, it amounts to nothing more than a casually spoken sentence.”
“This isn’t what I wanted. This isn’t what I wanted!!”
The man spread his arms.
The violent killing intent swept across the surroundings.
With a tremendous boom, the exquisite and luxurious room instantly became a pile of ruins.
Lian Qiguang remained peacefully lying in the rocking chair, his eyes closed as he gently rocked back and forth, paying no attention to it as though nothing had happened.
After venting his anger, the man looked at Lian Qiguang dejectedly.
He slowly walked to Lian Qiguang’s side and crouched down, burying his face in Lian Qiguang’s embrace.
With a helpless, pleading softness, he murmured,
“Teacher, I want to go back.”
“I want to return to the past, to when we had just met.”
“When Teacher was still my Brother Guang, when you would dote on me and indulge me, when you would smile at me.”
“Teacher, that is the place I want.”
“We can’t go back, Wuma Yan.”
Never again…
They could never go back.
Qiu Limao sat beside a small pond, looking at the schools of fish in the water.
His black eyes were unfocused and empty, and the last trace of light had disappeared without a trace.
Looking at his reflection in the water, the hand Qiu Limao had resting on the stone steps slowly tightened, leaving streaks of blood behind.
Ever since he saw that painting in the man’s room, he had hated this face with all his heart.
But he also knew that before that man, aside from this face, he had nothing.
He was jealous of Lian Qiguang.
Why couldn’t he have been born in that world?
If he had, then he could have met him before Lian Qiguang did.
Qiu Limao reached out one hand and slowly pressed it against his chest.
It had already hurt for so many years, yet he had never become numb to it.
His heart felt as though it were being carved open, one knife after another, blood pouring out, the pain tearing him apart.
That man had always followed in Lian Qiguang’s footsteps.
And he had always silently followed behind that man.
A tear slipped from his eye and fell into the pond, creating faint ripples that spread outward.
‘Since you are willing to wait for him for three thousand years, then I will wait for you for ten thousand years.’
‘Ten thousand years from now, please turn around. I will definitely still be here…’