No One Is Allowed To Lay Eyes On The Evil God’s Precious Beauty - Chapter 28

Chapter 28: Qingqing, Give Me a Hug

“No fighting, Yuyu! Put the spoon back in the bowl!”

“Sit properly while eating; don’t put the things you don’t want to eat into someone else’s bowl.”

Amidst the grogginess, noisy voices drifted into his mind. Wu Yi sluggishly opened his eyes to find himself sitting at a table. In his bowl was plain white rice and vegetable leaves.

His small hand gripped a spoon, slowly stuffing food into his mouth, chewing, and swallowing. There was no joy in the process; he was simply filling his stomach.

Suddenly, someone running to get more rice bumped into his table. The bowl at the edge of the table fell to the ground with a crisp clatter.

He didn’t dodge. Vegetable soup splashed all over him. Before he could react, the teacher hurried over. “What happened? You have to be careful when walking. You’ve gotten it all over the other child.”

The child holding the empty bowl looked a bit lost. Only after the teacher’s reminder did he honestly apologize to the beautiful child at the table: “I’m sorry.”

Wu Yi didn’t say a word. He let the teacher lead him back to the dormitory to change his clothes.

After changing, the teacher looked at his long, curled eyelashes, which hung down like small fans, and couldn’t help but touch his face.

“Are you not angry?”

Wu Yi looked up with big eyes and blinked confusedly. A hint of helplessness and timidity flickered in his water-blue pupils.

“The new child just knocked over your bowl. Aren’t you angry?” the teacher asked patiently.

Wu Yi shook his head, still remaining silent.

He’s so timid.

The teacher had worked here for many years and had seen children of all temperaments, yet she felt particularly uneasy about this introverted, silent, and beautiful child.

Some of the other children were abandoned or had sudden family tragedies, but Wu Yi was originally from this county. It was said that his mother died young and his father was an alcoholic gambler. He was raised by his grandparents, but they both passed away when he was three.

After being sent back to his father, his life became very difficult. Before being sent here… it was said the police found him on a mountain.

On a stormy night, someone saw a man carrying a child up the mountain but never saw them come down, so they reported it. The next morning, the police found the man at the foot of the mountain; he had fallen off a cliff. It was unclear if he died from blood loss or the cold, but his death was said to be gruesome.

Wu Yi was found on a mound halfway up the mountain. Strangely, while the morning mist hadn’t cleared and the surrounding soil was damp, he was dry and warm. He hadn’t even regained consciousness when he was brought down; it didn’t look like he had fainted, but rather like he was sleeping.

When he first arrived, he didn’t cry or cause a fuss like the other kids. Every day, he sat quietly and timidly in a corner. Because he was so beautiful, the older children often tried to talk to him. Sometimes he would blink his unusual blue eyes at them, but more often, he kept his head down as if he couldn’t hear anything.

Looking at him now, with his mouth shut and saying nothing, the teacher felt helpless. She had been trying hard to make Wu Yi more sociable, but it seemed impossible.

He didn’t care about anyone or anything around him. He had cut off communication with the outside world. He didn’t feel joy or sadness; he didn’t even flare up in anger when he was bullied.

Is it really okay for him to continue like this?

Time passed day by day. Several families took an interest in Wu Yi, but after talking to him and discovering his eccentric personality, they moved on to other children.

Three years passed, and Wu Yi remained at the welfare home, living the same life every day. However, starting from a certain day, his personality changed.

One night, while the teacher was putting the children to rest, she suddenly heard a scream from the small dormitory. The sound was so foreign that by the time she sprinted to the door, she saw Wu Yi clutching his pillow with large tears falling. She almost thought she was hallucinating.

“What’s wrong?”

She hurried over to hug Wu Yi, only to see his eyes wide, staring in terror at a spot above his head.

She followed his gaze. On the white wall, there was only a daily schedule card. Nothing else.

“What happened?” she asked urgently.

Wu Yi’s small body trembled, as if he had only just realized something.

“Teacher, can’t you see it…?”

“What do you see?”

The teacher frowned, looking panicked, but Wu Yi didn’t speak again.

The other children thought it was strange. There was clearly nothing on the wall, not even a bug. They thought Wu Yi had just been scared by a phantom insect.

Wu Yi looked around blankly and realized that no one else could see it.

But… his eyelids fluttered as he looked up again. He saw an eerie black mist swirling and gathering into a tall humanoid figure. A pair of blood-red eyes looked at him with cold indifference and composure. It was like a ghost carrying a freezing, evil aura, filling him with intense fear.

After a long silence, he heard the ghost’s cold voice:

“Can you finally see me?”

…

“Why did you bring him here?”

“This matter does not require your interference.”

“But…”

Sharp, noisy voices of an argument came from far away. In the basement, someone lay curled on a sofa with their hands tied behind their back. Soft hair was scattered across their cheeks; they didn’t seem to be awake yet.

Wu Yi slowly processed the sounds he heard, taking a long time to distinguish reality from his dreams. The panic and dread he felt when he first met Qing Zhu still swirled in his mind. He felt a sharp pain in his head.

Opening his eyes slowly, he smelled an unpleasant odor in his nose and mouth, which immediately reminded him of what happened before he lost consciousness.

He jolted, his breathing becoming rapid. His eyes gradually focused, and he saw several people standing nearby, arguing.

It was Qin Nianyu and Qin Yifan. This was the basement he had visited before, located at the bottom of the Qin residence. The lights were bright now, finally allowing him to see the whole place.

It was larger than he had imagined.

“Awake?” Qin Nianyu followed Qin Yifan’s gaze and saw that Wu Yi had opened his hazy eyes.

“All of you, go upstairs. Don’t stay here.”

Wu Yi saw Qin Yifan staring at him with a conflicted and hesitant expression. Behind him, Qin Sijin was also frowning.

“Mom, you really can’t do this.”

Qin Nianyu lost her patience. “Since when is it your turn to lecture me?”

“We’re not—”

“Go up!”

After some back-and-forth, Qin Yifan and Qin Sijin finally turned and left.

Wu Yi didn’t quite catch what they were saying. His mind was still a mess. He struggled for a long time but couldn’t free his hands from the restraints. Lying on the sofa was extremely uncomfortable.

A shadow fell over him, blocking the light from above. He slowly raised his head and saw that Qin Nianyu had walked up to him at some point.

“What kind of cooperation did you reach with Master Li that made him dare to deceive our whole family like this?” Her icy voice struck him, making Wu Yi instinctively tense up.

When did she find out?

“A disciple of Master Kong Yuan—this title fooled all of us. Even my father believed it without a doubt.” Qin Nianyu sneered. “If I hadn’t checked into Master Li’s background just to be safe, I wouldn’t have known he was connected to you.”

Wu Yi’s mind was racing. He knew he should find an excuse to defend himself, but as he opened his mouth, he felt there was no point.

Just as he thought, this was a society ruled by law. Since Qin Nianyu dared to kidnap him so brazenly, she must have solid evidence…

As if guessing what he was thinking, Qin Nianyu stopped beating around the bush and demanded sharply, “Where exactly did you hide that thing?”

Wu Yi wasn’t entirely clear on the details of what happened, but he knew there was no longer any use in hiding the truth. He looked at the cold-faced woman.

“He is a person, not an object. He left on his own. You have no right to control him.”

Qin Nianyu seemed to find his words laughable. “Little boy, have you mistaken something? That thing has been in my house for decades. If it’s not our family’s, could it possibly be yours?”

“It belongs to him. Neither you nor I can control it.”

It was difficult to speak in this position. He couldn’t use any strength, and his voice was so faint it sounded like he was intentionally being quiet out of fear. Wu Yi didn’t like this way of talking. His brain worked rapidly for a moment, and he suddenly came up with an idea.

“I can’t tell you these things. If you let me see Grandpa Qin, I will tell him everything I know.”

It wasn’t a deliberate delay; if he could see Qin Donglin—the man who once had a master-servant relationship with Qing Zhu—he could tell him everything. For a moment, Wu Yi didn’t care to judge the Qin family’s intentions. He just felt that since Qing Zhu had been a benefactor to Qin Donglin himself, Qin Donglin shouldn’t be that bad.

Qin Nianyu sounded like she had heard a joke. “You’re at my mercy, and you still have the mind to set conditions?”

“It’s not a condition. It’s just that I can only tell him.”

“No way. If you aren’t willing to talk, I have many ways to make you open your mouth.”

As soon as she said this, Wu Yi felt a chill down his spine. Methods of torture used by the underworld he had read about in gossip magazines flashed through his mind.

But… wasn’t the Qin family a legitimate business? How could they do such things?

He suddenly became a bit scared.

However, in that moment, he realized another person was missing and grew anxious. “What did you do to Li Qingquan?”

He remembered Li Qingquan wasn’t home this morning. According to the usual schedule, he must have come to the Qin house. Had Qin Nianyu detained him here?

Qin Nianyu looked at his panicked state with indifference. “If you still don’t talk, I’ll have someone remove one of his arms. Let’s see where a crippled Master can go to swindle people then.”

“No!”

Wu Yi struggled violently, but his wrists and ankles were tightly bound. His side-lying position gave him no leverage. In the end, he only succeeded in rubbing his wrists raw until they lost sensation, leaving only a numbing sting as if the skin had been cut.

“I’m really not lying to you. It won’t do you any good to hear this. If I’m to tell the story, I can only tell it to Grandpa Qin.”

“It seems you won’t shed a tear until you see the coffin.”

Having said that, Qin Nianyu turned and walked toward the long staircase leading out of the basement.

Qin Nianyu’s back was cold and decisive. Under his near-screaming pleas to stay, she finally stopped and turned back. The thin, slender body on the sofa was trembling slightly; he was clearly terrified.

Wu Yi wasn’t particularly brave. The drugs he hadn’t fully processed made his brain foggy, but the sense of crisis was very real, making his eyes sting.

Since he could remember, he had never suffered such a grievance.

Seeing that he had called her back but said nothing, Qin Nianyu checked her watch. “Before I came down, I instructed the people upstairs: if I don’t give the order by twelve o’clock, they will execute it. You have one minute.”

Wu Yi looked at her in shock. An indescribable sense of frustration welled up, and he stammered out:

“It has nothing to do with him. That time I came to your house, I took that body away. Don’t do anything to him.”

Qin Nianyu looked down at him. For a moment, her gaze seemed to waver, but it ultimately returned to cold ruthlessness. “I am curious—what method did you use to make that body follow you willingly?”

“It wasn’t me. He wanted to himself.”

Wu Yi sniffled. Thinking back to the night he and Qing Zhu happily came to steal the body, and then looking at his current pathetic state, the contrast made him want to cry again.

Seeing him speak haltingly, Qin Nianyu, though feeling a bit of pity, decided to increase the intimidation to get the answer she wanted.

But just as she opened her mouth, a loud boom exploded overhead.

The heavy ground beneath her feet seemed to shake violently. She looked up in shock at the swaying light fixtures, then instinctively looked at Wu Yi.

He was lying on his side on the sofa, eyes red, trying his best to hold back tears, his thin shoulders trembling piteously.

Terrified screams echoed down the stairs. Qin Nianyu turned sharply, recognizing her children’s voices, and ran toward the exit.

In his violent struggle, Wu Yi’s wrists stung again. His body had unknowingly moved to the edge of the sofa, and he was about to fall off.

He could already imagine the pain of hitting the ground and squeezed his eyes shut.

Time seemed to stop. There was a tiny, subtle sound in his ear, like the flapping of a butterfly’s thin wings.

His body rolled off the sofa, but the expected pain didn’t come. Instead, he fell into a soft mass.

His fan-like eyelashes trembled slightly. He dared to open his eyes and saw a cloud of black mist.

The black mist slowly dispersed, becoming warm against his body. The softness he had fallen into turned into two strong, slender arms.

Still shaken, his gaze followed the black lapel embroidered with gold patterns upward until it met a face he had seen countless times recently. Long, ink-black hair hung loose, and narrow, blood-red eyes were cold. This half-lidded, downward gaze made him look detached, icy, and distant.

Wu Yi stared at him blankly. Before any thought could form, his eyes blinked instinctively, and a string of crystalline tears rolled down his cheeks.

Qing Zhu looked at him calmly. After a while, he gently brushed over Wu Yi’s wrists.

The broken restraints fell away. The raw skin healed instantly, and the pain vanished without a trace.

But even after this, Wu Yi was still crying. His thick eyelashes were wet and messy, and his pale cheeks were covered in tear tracks, like a child who had suffered and could finally vent to a parent.

Qing Zhu held him with one arm and wiped his tears.

“Still crying?”

Wu Yi was propped up by his hip and held close. He obediently reached out to circle Qing Zhu’s neck, resting his head on his shoulder. When he spoke, his voice was thick with a nasal tone. “Is Li Qingquan okay?”

“He’s fine, locked safely in a room.” Qing Zhu didn’t care about others. Hearing the crying subside, he tried to put Wu Yi down, but the boy clung to him tightly, so he simply let him stay that way.

Turning his head, he saw Qin Nianyu standing frozen at the foot of the stairs. Who knew how long she had been standing there?

Just as she was about to leave, a bone-chilling wind had swept down the stairs, leaving her terrified even now. Seeing the man holding Wu Yi, she was even more incredulous, feeling an unprecedented shock.

The person who had lain quietly in the basement since she was born had actually woken up. But…

Perhaps sensing her shock, the man, supporting the small figure in his arms with one hand, walked slowly toward her.

“Where is Qin Donglin?”

She heard the man’s low, cold voice. it was pleasant to the ear, but it also made one feel an intense sense of dread for no reason.

Qin Nianyu swallowed hard, unable to speak her usual words.

“My father is currently not here. He…”

Qing Zhu heard Wu Yi sniffling softly and didn’t bother listening further. He just walked past her and headed upstairs.

“Tell him to come now.”

As he was carried away from the stairs, Wu Yi looked down and saw Qin Nianyu’s rigid figure standing below.

Seeing a strange man coming up from the basement, the startled Qin Yifan and Qin Sijin were lost. They looked at the broken door and then at the person in Qing Zhu’s arms, not knowing if they should speak.

Qing Zhu’s cold gaze swept over Qin Yifan and landed on the more intelligent-looking Qin Sijin. “Where is Qin Donglin’s room?”

Qin Sijin’s voice trembled. “My grandfather’s room…”

She didn’t know if she should say it, but in the next second, she saw her mother slowly coming up from the basement, face pale, but nodding slightly at her.

She had to continue: “The room at the end of the third floor. That’s where my grandfather lives.”

“When he arrives, tell him to come up.”

After saying this, Qing Zhu stepped into the elevator, still holding the person in his arms as if no one else were there.

“…”

Only after his figure disappeared as the elevator rose did the heavy, oppressive atmosphere in the hall finally ease. Facing the mess in their home, the expressions of the mother and her children were very grim.

It took Qin Yifan a long time to find his voice. “Was… was the person he was holding just now Wu Yi?”

No one answered him.

Qin Sijin’s face was solemn. “Mom, is Grandpa really coming? But he hasn’t been well lately. The doctor told him to rest…”

“I already called your grandfather.” Qin Nianyu cut her off. “He’s on his way.”

Qin Sijin’s expression changed. She looked toward the direction where the man had disappeared, filled with both awe and fear.

…

Qin Donglin’s room was large, with several walls filled with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves, emitting a faint scent of ink and sandalwood.

Wu Yi’s eyes were red from crying. Now that no one was watching, he shamelessly pressed himself into Qing Zhu’s embrace, sitting on his lap. Qing Zhu sat at the desk flipping through the books on Qin Donglin’s table. He didn’t push him away, only sighing after a while, “Endless crying.”

“It’s all your fault,” Wu Yi grumbled muffledly, his voice carrying a hint of aggrieved sobbing. “My wrists hurt so much.”

Qing Zhu frowned slightly. “Didn’t the wounds already disappear?”

“But it still hurts! My heart hurts.”

Qing Zhu had nothing to say. He lowered his eyes and turned another page.

“You don’t even comfort me; you just scold me.” Wu Yi couldn’t help but lose his temper again. “It’s because of you that they scared me like that.”

Qing Zhu asked, “Then why didn’t you just tell her?”

Wu Yi sniffled, his wet eyes looking at him in confusion. “If I told them, wouldn’t it affect her?”

“But then you wouldn’t have been hurt.”

Qing Zhu spoke nonchalantly. He looked down at one of Wu Yi’s dangling hands. The slender wrist was pale and white, with no trace of injury, yet it made him feel strangely uncomfortable.

Wu Yi didn’t notice his gaze. He leaned his head against Qing Zhu’s chest and murmured softly, “But that wouldn’t be good for her. What if something happens to her because she knows too much?”

Although he wasn’t sure what the consequences would be, he felt it was best to avoid them if possible.

Qing Zhu paused and gave a light laugh. “You’re quite the saint.”

Feeling his tone was a bit odd, Wu Yi wanted to retort, but the day’s events had indeed made him sad, so he kept his mouth shut.

He reached out and hugged Qing Zhu again. Feeling the warmth of a living person, he felt relaxed and softened his voice.

“Qingqing, give me a hug. I’m so sad.”

Qing Zhu looked at his piteous state and eventually freed a hand to place on his back, giving him a proper hug.

Only then was Wu Yi satisfied.

He knew Qing Zhu was looking at things, but he couldn’t help but want to pester him.

“How did you wake up today? What a coincidence.”

Qing Zhu said, “Perhaps it’s because I heard you telling me to get up quickly.”

A jolt went through Wu Yi’s heart. Alarm bells rang in his head. While Qing Zhu was sleeping these past few days, he had often gone to the second bedroom to vent and complain. Could he have heard everything?!

His face fell, and he felt depressed.

“Who did you give the stolen toy to?” Qing Zhu asked.

Wu Yi looked at him in shock. “You even know about that.”

The corners of Qing Zhu’s straight lips curled slightly. “It should be that grey and white penguin. You gave it to Shen Yue?”

“…”

Wu Yi began to doubt. “You weren’t actually asleep at all, were you?”

Qing Zhu just reached out and tapped his forehead. “Why don’t you think about your own contribution?”

“Hmm?”

“Mind power,” Qing Zhu reminded him.

Wu Yi blinked his wet, red eyes, and then they suddenly lit up. “Is it because I gave Shen Yue the doll, allowing you to absorb his mind power?”

Qing Zhu smiled without a word, but it was clearly a silent admission.

Heavens! He had actually done something good without even knowing it.

Wu Yi’s eyes sparkled, and the gloom and sadness from before vanished, replaced by joy.

“How am I so smart?”

Qing Zhu didn’t play along with his childish self-praise. Having answered the question, he went back to looking through the ancient books Qin Donglin had been reading.

Many were collections of strange tales with little credibility.

He flipped through a few. When he heard several different sets of footsteps outside the door, he snapped out of it and looked up. Realizing Wu Yi was still nesting in his arms, he was about to tell him to get down when he felt shallow, even breaths against his neck.

The boy had actually fallen asleep just like that.

Helpless, he stood up. Just as he placed Wu Yi on the sofa, there were two soft knocks on the door.

Hearing the sound, Wu Yi mumbled something in his sleep and buried his face deeper into the cushion, looking unhappy.

Qing Zhu raised his hand, and the door opened automatically as if blown by a breeze, revealing the white-haired old man outside.

He leaned on a cane, wearing a Chinese-style silk embroidered shirt. He walked steadily, but upon seeing the person in the study, he seemed to age ten years in an instant. His lips trembled, and cloudy tears welled in his eyes.

“Sir…”

Seeing his state, Qin Nianyu was worried. “Dad.”

“I’m fine.” Qin Donglin took a deep breath before slowly walking into the study with his cane.

His gaze never left Qing Zhu for a second, as if trying to use this stare to determine if the soul occupying this body was the one he knew.

As he looked over, Qing Zhu’s gaze also fell on him.

From the wrinkled face to the white hair and thin beard, and finally settling on those eyes full of excitement and disbelief.

“You’ve aged a lot.”

Hearing the familiar voice, Qin Donglin’s old face was covered in tears, but he couldn’t help but smile. “But you haven’t changed at all.”

Qing Zhu chuckled softly and didn’t continue the topic.

“You’ve protected my body well.”

Qin Donglin wiped his tears. “When you left in a hurry, you only gave me those instructions. If I couldn’t even do that well, I wouldn’t have the face to keep living.”

“At your age, you should say those things less,” Qing Zhu said plainly. “The other thing—where did you put it?”

Qin Donglin said hurriedly, “I’ve always kept it with me. I was in the hospital for a bit recently because I wasn’t feeling well, but hearing you were here today, I brought it along.”

After he spoke, Qin Nianyu brought in a carved wooden box and placed it on the table.

Upon opening it, a faint mist hovered over it. Qing Zhu reached out to brush it aside and took out a golden armlet.

It had five string-like bands, decorated with striking silver-blue gemstones, looking both antique and mysterious.

Almost the moment he touched it, the faint black mist seemed to gain consciousness and scrambled up his wrist into his body.

In the blink of an eye, the armlet had become dull and lusterless.

Qing Zhu opened his eyes. His red pupils seemed even brighter in that short time, and his narrow eyes held a hint of evil that made Qin Nianyu feel a chill down her spine just by looking.

Qin Donglin, however, showed no fear. He even looked relieved and moved.

“Thank you.”

“What are you saying? This is only what I should have done.”

After many years apart, the master-servant dynamic remained unchanged. Qin Donglin’s respect was mixed with a sense of ease.

Qing Zhu didn’t stand on ceremony. He reached out, intending to throw the useless armlet back into the box, but when his gaze fell on the “little idiot” who was still fast asleep, unaware of the situation, he changed his mind.

He gripped the armlet in his palm, tightening his hold to make it smaller, and then placed it on Wu Yi’s wrist.

Since he likes pretty things so much, this should make him happy too.

Recalling the sight of Wu Yi crying until his eyes were swollen before sleep, he suddenly felt like laughing.

Qin Donglin watched his actions with a bit of surprise. After some hesitation, he asked, “In the years since you woke up, has this child been the one accompanying you?”

“Yes.” Qing Zhu didn’t want to talk much about it, but he couldn’t help asking, “What do you think of him?”

If he remembered correctly, Qin Donglin used to be the best at reading people. He was close to Fu An, and the two of them often used to run off to pretend to be blind fortune-tellers. They would come back speaking grand truths, but in serious matters, they were terrifyingly rational and clear-headed.

Qin Donglin didn’t hesitate. He slowly approached to observe the young boy and said after a while, “He is a person of deep affection and loyalty. If I were younger, I would be willing to befriend him.”

“You certainly think highly of him.”

“Anyone you take an interest in will naturally not be lacking.”

Qing Zhu laughed lightly. Noticing Qin Nianyu had retreated out of the room, he looked at Qin Donglin again.

“Your health hasn’t been good these years?”

Qin Donglin smiled bitterly. “Old problems. My lungs had some issues a few years ago. But at this age, it’s about time to enter the coffin. Being able to see you again before I die has fulfilled my final wish.”

He was never a man of many words. Although he was initially shocked by the Sir’s early awakening, he didn’t press for details.

Qing Zhu walked slowly to him and placed a hand on his forehead.

His human form was tall and slender. Although not as massive as his mist form, he was nearly two meters tall. He had to lower his head to meet the gaze of the elderly, hunched Qin Donglin.

After a while, he withdrew his hand.

“Your lifespan is about five more years. You will maintain your current state for two years, and the following three will be spent in a hospital bed.”

Qin Donglin didn’t have much of a reaction to this, but Qin Nianyu, who was behind them, turned pale with worry.

“Si… Sir.” She summoned the courage to step back into the room, her tone nervous. “My father is in good health now. Will he really after two years…”

“Nianyu.” Qin Donglin scolded her heavily. He was about to tell her to leave, but the effort of speaking too forcefully made him cough twice.

Hearing this, Qin Nianyu’s expression changed, and she hurried to pour him a glass of water.

After he finally calmed down, Qin Donglin said quickly, “My daughter is just anxious; she didn’t mean to…”

“It’s alright.” Qing Zhu walked a few steps into the room, scanning the ancient books on the shelves that hadn’t been read yet. “You still love reading as much as ever. Are these all new?”

“Yes. I don’t know if I’ll finish them before I go. I used to be too busy with work. Now that I’m retired and finally have time to read, there isn’t enough time left.”

Qin Donglin gave a bitter smile.

“Do you know that Fu An is gone?”

“Fu An?”

Seeing that the confusion on Qin Donglin’s face wasn’t faked, Qing Zhu’s interest was piqued. “After I left, you didn’t stay in contact?”

Qin Donglin shook his head, slowly realizing that the “Fu An” he mentioned was his childhood companion, Xiao Fu.

“After you left, everyone had different ideas. They all wanted to develop in different places. Xiao Fu was afraid he couldn’t keep things safe and wanted to stay together. At that time, it was Song Cheng who suggested we separate and not contact each other again. After all… two hundred years is a long time. The stories about you were still circulating among the people. If we were targeted, we would all be caught. I thought it made sense at the time, so I broke contact with them. We’ve all been separate since then. I’ve kept my promise and haven’t reached out over the years, so I don’t know the current situation of the others.”

Qing Zhu thought for a moment and told the truth: “I’ve been to the Fu house. Fu An has passed away.”

Qin Donglin froze, as if recalling their childhood playing together. He was the oldest of the servants and naturally looked after the others, while Fu An was the youngest and the most silent. He had always taken care of Fu An.

He hadn’t expected that after so many years apart, Fu An would leave before him.

“I haven’t fully regained my memories of the past. If you have time, write a brief account of the stories that happened and give it to me.”

Hearing him speak, Qin Donglin nodded quickly. “Alright. I roughly remember where they said they wanted to go.”

Before he could continue, the person on the sofa began to stir, letting out a soft hum as if he were about to open his eyes.

Before Wu Yi could speak, a cold energy surged into Qin Donglin’s brow. He staggered, and the thoughts in his mind were suddenly scattered.

“Your life shouldn’t be this short. Since it was the thing I deposited that affected you, it should return to normal once I wake up.”

The cold, indifferent voice echoed in his ears, accompanied by a chilling flow that spread through his entire body. Qin Donglin managed to stand firm and open his eyes, but he felt a vigor and strength he hadn’t felt in a long time. Even his vision was no longer difficult.

“Dad, your… your hair doesn’t seem as white.” Qin Nianyu’s shocked voice came through.

Qin Donglin touched his face. The skin that had been full of wrinkles seemed to have tightened. He looked twenty years younger.

He looked at the man tremblingly. “Sir…”

Qing Zhu only signaled with his hand, then leaned slightly over the sofa, watching the little fellow slowly open his eyes.

His eyes, misted with sleep, were clear and clean. It took him a long while to register the scene before him.

“Mmh, is it over?”

He rubbed his eyes and sat up sleepily, seemingly not noticing the other people standing nearby.

Qing Zhu straightened his crooked collar.

“Yes. We’re going home.”