Chapter 540: A Cheng, older sister has come to take you home……

I had just flown above the small hill when the thorny brambles on it all sprang up at once; whenever I tried to land, they assumed an attacking posture toward me.

I tried several times, but I could never find a place to land.

I came to apologize, but at this moment I couldn't act forcefully; hurting these brambles would likely make A Cheng even unhappier.

I could only circle above the small hill while loudly calling A Cheng's name.

But A Cheng never responded to me.

I felt somewhat frustrated, thinking that A Cheng didn't want to see me, so I might as well come back tomorrow.

If I make a few more trips, I'll surely be able to change the child's heart, right?

Mainly, I know nothing about his likes, and I don't know what to give him to win his favor.

Eyes?

No, A Cheng's those eyes are not ordinary eyes; they are formed from the obsession, resentment, etc., condensed by Feng Clan members at their final sacrifice in the last great war.

Or I could go search the White Bone Road.

Thinking that, I turned around and prepared to fly back the way I came.

But as soon as I turned, those bramble vines suddenly grew wildly and in an instant wrapped around my foot.

The bramble vines were careful; where they bound me had no thorns. When I flew forward, they tightened; when I stopped, they loosened again.

I was both annoyed and amused; what on earth is this little guy being stubborn about?

He won't see me, yet won't let me leave—truly the mindset of a child.

I also stayed still, just hovering above the small hill.

After a standoff for a while, the bramble vines finally relented, and I landed steadily on the small hill.

The moment I landed, those bramble vines all spread outward, and on the hilltop originally overgrown with mixed trees and grasses, a small path appeared out of nowhere.

I walked along the path, and as I went, some memory fragments flashed through my mind, but they were quickly suppressed by another force, causing a faint ache in my temples.

It's that evil bone causing trouble!

This path wasn't long; the terrain gradually descended, and before long I found myself outside a cave.

The cave mouth was pitch black; going inside, the terrain continued to slope downward, and the temperature grew ever lower.

Until I heard the sound of flowing water, and finally a faint light appeared before my eyes.

This is a place similar to a limestone cave; the deeper I went, the louder the water sound became, but the ground underfoot grew more rugged.

After great effort I reached the innermost part, and at a glance I saw the figure of a headless boy curled up in the corner; my heart instantly felt as if a hand had clenched and crushed it……

That corner was too small; without missing a head, the boy's body could hardly have fit in there.

That was when he was seven or eight; I had forcibly stuffed him into that small corner, praying he could find a shred of hope for life there.

After all these years, he actually stubbornly waited here for me to come back and pick him up?

My steps felt somewhat sluggish; at this moment, all of A Cheng's grievances and stubbornness finally found the most concrete explanation.

The hardest days were probably when I abandoned him here alone, and when his head had just been cut off; it's hard to imagine how he endured those helpless, dark days.

I stepped closer bit by bit until I reached that small corner, crouched down, extended my right hand toward A Cheng, and said with a slight choke in my voice: 'A Cheng, older sister has come to take you home.'

The boy's shoulders were trembling.

Eyes one by one jumped out of the cloth bag and fell around him.

The eyes opened, all staring at me.

As the boy's shoulders trembled more and more, drops of blood-tears fell from the eyes.

I couldn't help but cry as well.

'A Cheng, it's my fault; my memories have been altered, I forgot everything from my past life, I forgot my promise to A Cheng, it's my mistake.'

'A Cheng, give older sister one more chance, let me take good care of you, okay?'

'A Cheng, come, go home with older sister.'

……

My hand stubbornly reached out to him, inching closer until it touched his fingertip.

I was also afraid.

Afraid that if I took his hand, he would shake me off.

Afraid I couldn't hold the boy's already shattered heart, and would break it apart again.

Until I truly grasped the boy's hand, he suddenly began to struggle violently, and a wail burst from his chest: 'Liar! Big liar!'

I clung tightly to that hand, no matter how he shook me I wouldn't let go, constantly apologizing to him.

The young man's emotions came fast and went fast.

From outbreak to settling, it was just over a minute in total.

Then came suppressed sobs.

I stepped closer, each hand taking one of his, and patiently explained to him.

From Tafengcun I spoke of Wufu Town Pawnshop, and from the pawnshop I spoke of Azure Paulownia Mountain; each word came from the heart, each word was sincere.

I hoped my sincerity would move A Cheng, letting him understand my confusion over these years and the helplessness of having come this far step by step.

We are both striving to live.

Only by living do we have today's reunion.

A Cheng's hand, which I was holding, gradually returned my grip.

From the initial cautious touch, to returning the grip, to holding tightly.

Finally, the boy let out a soft cry, grievance bubbling in his chest: 'Older sister, I've waited for you many years; I almost died, waa waa……'

'Older sister knows, A Cheng must have been terrified, also surely in great pain, but A Cheng is very brave; A Cheng is older sister's pride.'

'This place is too dark and too narrow.'

Bugs bite me, rats gnaw at my toes, thorny vines stab me with their spikes—I'm so hungry, so scared, but I dare not leave this place even half a step, for I fear that when my older sister comes to pick me up, she won't be able to find me.

I waited and waited, I waited for far too long.

I was so hungry that when bugs bit me, I ate the bugs; when thorny vines prickled me, I tore them off and sucked their juices… I struggled to stay alive until one day I heard footsteps approaching step by step.

I shouted 'Older Sister', I wanted to tell her I was here, that I had always been here!

My cries did give the comer direction, but the one who came was not my sister; seeing me, he rushed over, pressed me hard into this tiny space, and a sharp knife slid into my neck, bit by bit cutting off my head...

A Cheng spoke quickly; those cruel memories found their first outlet for release, and as he spoke he wept, blood tears streaming incessantly from his eyes.

I also cried uncontrollably, my whole body trembling.

That was a Língchí dāo, right?

That small sharp knife just like that literally sliced off the boy's head—A Cheng must have been in agony then!

He must have been utterly desperate then, right?

I thought I was dead.

He also was certain I was dead.

My head was taken by him, beginning to turn cold and stiff as a corpse, abandoned here...