Chapter 279: Why Did It Turn Out This Way?

How could this be? I was struck as if by lightning, unable to come to my senses for a long time. That familiar silhouette, and that unique blind eye. Even though his appearance had changed somewhat, I could never forget his look.

Han Duo's angry shout drew nearer to my ear, and I could already feel that chilling, yin-infused aura. I hadn't thought, but at this moment I stepped in front of the gray-robed corpse, blocking the command flag Han Duo thrust at him.

Behind me came Han Duo's startled cry, the command flag striking the pillar. At the critical moment, Han Duo shifted direction, and then her whole body lunged onto me.

"What the hell are you doing, is your brain addled?" Pangzi, shouldering the gray-robed corpse's copper arm, cursed at me angrily.

"I can't kill him, he's..." I hadn't finished speaking when the gray-robed corpse suddenly roared, strained in a struggle, its copper hand sweeping across Pangzi's cheek and sending him flying, spitting blood.

He had lost all humanity, no trace of affection left in his eyes. I watched in terror as he lunged at me, tears streaming, sobbing out two words: "Master."

He never heard my shout; perhaps at this critical moment nobody could. How could I understand that the master who had always loved me like his own son would now raise his hand to kill his own disciple?

"Be careful..." his arm drew ever closer, that scorching, foul-smelling breath nearing me, while his eyes remained expressionless, still icy cold.

That "be careful" seemed to be shouted by Han Duo, while she shoved me aside. I just stood there, dazed, unable to snap out of it amid the blows.

Until... I saw Han Duo's chest burst with a lovely blossom of blood, that copper hand piercing her heart, and finally Han Duo collapsed helplessly to the ground.

"No..." Pangzi and I burst into tears of blood; at the moment Han Duo was thrown aside, I rushed forward without restraint, embracing the gray-robed corpse's body and shoving him against the pillar.

Pangzi also wept as he cursed loudly, pulling the bone spur from Yao Wenju's chest, seizing the chance, he viciously stabbed it into the gray-robed corpse's neck.

Resentful energy and wronged spirits drifted from the gray-robed corpse's body, and he finally went limp, collapsing to the ground.

"Milk, little milk" I scrambled to Han Duo's side, lifted her up—her heart had been pierced, blood staining her clothing,

"Chen Hai Sheng, I.... I'm in so much pain, it's unbearable..." Han Duo gasped, her face ashen.

"You're fine, you'll be alright, you won't" I anguished, tearing off my clothes to press against her chest, but her blood kept seeping through the fabric, flowing endlessly as if it would never stop.

"Hai Sheng," she clenched my hand, her pale lips pressed shut, asking me: "Am I beautiful?"

"You are beautiful, you are very beautiful; in my heart you will always be the most beautiful one. No one can replace you, no one can ever take your place." I was already sobbing uncontrollably—this foolish woman, why, at the very end of her life, is she still so stubborn?

"Really?" she wanted to lift her weak hands to smooth the disheveled black strands on her forehead.

"I still have so much left undone—the killers of my younger siblings haven't been caught, the children of Child Fate Bay still don't all have books to read. The money I've earned isn't enough, never enough for them to live happily." Han Duo murmured, her face pale. Her eyes turned to me, filled with a water-like tenderness.

"In your eyes, what kind of person am I? Probably just a petty trader, never knowing what tenderness is. Actually, I'm not strong; I also wish I had a broad shoulder to cry on, to be comforted, to bite hard into. But I cannot be weak, for I must protect, I must guard the children of Child Fate Bay."

"I constantly remind myself, Han Duo, you cannot be weak; those leisurely refinements, the mundane life of cooking rice, do not belong to you. You must be strong, bear this responsibility. If you cry, if you show weakness, people will look down on you and bully you. So I want to cry but dare not; in this bustling city, my weakness only ever flickers briefly in a corner, never daring to linger long." Han Duo gripped my hand, tears streaming, then suddenly asked me:

"Chen Hai Sheng, do you still remember what you said yesterday? You said that if I were to abandon everything and become an ordinary woman, you would come back to eat the rice I cook."

She suddenly sat up and bit hard into my shoulder; when the tooth marks sank deep into my shoulder, I heard her smiling through tears.

"Chen Hai Sheng, remember your promise—this is what you owe me; I want you to carry it into the next life. In your next life, remember the tooth mark on your shoulder: it is the debt you owe a woman from your past life." Han Duo's voice grew weaker and weaker, until she finally slumped helplessly onto my shoulder.

Her shoulder, and my shoulder, were both soaked. I fought back the tears, refusing to let them spill from my eyes, but in the very end I still couldn't hold back, couldn't achieve the so-called strength. Tears swirled in my eyes; I couldn't smile as I sent off the girl I loved on her final journey.

"Han Duo, you tomboy..." Pangzi sobbed, clenching his teeth tight, then suddenly threw his head back and let out a furious roar, grabbing the furniture in the room like a madman and smashing it down onto the gray-robed corpse.

"Pangzi... don't desecrate him, he's my master." I said, holding Han Duo, my voice empty.

"What are you saying? How could he possibly be Uncle Feng?" Pangzi shouted in disbelief. Yeah, I can't believe this either, but his similar outline tells me it must be true.

"Cough cough..." a violent cough suddenly erupted, echoing through the silent manor.

That sound pulled me out of my grief; this cough is so familiar—when I was young, my master's cough sounded exactly like that.

"Master..." I turned around, disbelieving, while the gray-robed corpse slumped beneath the pillar, his eyes clear and bright.

"Master, is it really you?" I trembled, slowly crawling toward him. And the master looked at me, his eyes quickly flashing with confusion,

"You... you are Hai Sheng?" he repeated, slowly raising his hand as if to touch me.

"It's me, Master—you've finally returned, seventeen years gone, you walked away for seventeen years, and now you're back, you're back" I wailed, throwing myself onto him.

My father—at this moment he finally returned. Though he is not my birth father, I remember my life was saved by him. My feng shui, my skills were taught by him. For me, that once world-weary Yin Mountain Li Feng ultimately chose to leave the mountains, to take on jobs reading fortunes, collecting incense oil to support me.

I still remember seventeen years ago, when Xuan Ku came to our door, the master endured a heart bleeding with pain and pushed me over to QingSongShu. He told QingSongShu: "Chen Hai Sheng is like my own son; you must teach him well, treat him as you would your own biological child—don't let him go hungry, give him whatever other children have."

"Who... who is he?" the master looked bewilderedly at Pangzi, who was raising a stool.

"Uncle Feng, I'm Weiqiang, QingSongShu's son. Strange—just now that person, how did he run off?" Pangzi held the stool, looking around bewildered, as if searching for an enemy.

"Cough cough..." the master coughed violently a few more times, his eyes filled with a wistful recollection as he said: "So it's Old Three's child, all grown up now—good, good."

"Hai Sheng, I never imagined that life is like a chessboard. After all these years, we master and disciple meet again; these years I haven't been by your side to properly care for you, I haven't fulfilled my duty as a master—do you hate me?" He suddenly gripped my hand and asked.

"Hate? From beginning to end I have never hated him, nor should I; he is my master, like a father to me, the one who pulled me from King Yama's grasp and gave me new life."

Only Han Duo's death continues to weigh on me, impossible to let go.

"Master, how did you become like this?" I asked, voice heavy.

After the master regained consciousness, he seemed to also understand his present state, shaking his head gloomily as he looked at me, his eyes sinking into confusion.