The man was clad in the standard military armor, his face resolute, eyes bright and spirited, exuding a heroic air — he was unmistakably the man in the photograph, identified in the signed letter as El C. Dia.
Huang Yi’s heart skipped a beat; the timing of Dia’s return was too coincidental, arriving during daylight. Otherwise, he surely would have noticed that all the townspeople had beco ghouls at night.
At this mont, the woman had just climbed up from the cellar, followed by the little boy.
Upon seeing Dia return, the woman’s gaze froze, and she stood there, dumbfounded.
"Daddy!" The little boy, on the other hand, quickly ca to his senses and imdiately hurled himself toward Dia, tightly hugging him.
"My adorable treasure!" The man excitedly picked up the little boy, continuously kissing his cheeks.
Normally, this would be a mont of happiness, in the warm and clear morning as the sun rose, the man of the house returning from afar. They should have embraced each other in the morning light, the family enjoying a hot, steaming breakfast together.
But at this ti, the atmosphere in the house was sowhat eerie, with only Dia and the little boy’s joyous laughter filling the air, while the woman stood off to the side, at a loss for what to do.
"My dear! I’m back!" Just then, Dia, holding the little boy, swiftly approached the woman and reached out to embrace her.
The woman quickly stepped back, trying to avoid him, but Dia was too fast, embracing her tightly before she could get away.
Dia seed not to notice the woman’s strangeness, showing a bright and sunny smile. He kept saying, "I thought about you all every day in the military; Marshal Diego led us to a victorious battle, and we have completely annihilated all the ghouls in the empire, triumphant in our return. I’ve already applied for discharge; from now on, we will live happily ever after!"
Upon hearing the words "ghoul," the woman’s body trembled slightly, tears streaming down her eyes, but she still pretended to be excited and said, "Oh! Really? That’s wonderful!"
"Yes! I never want to see those disgusting ghouls again. It’s better to be ho! My dear!" Dia said, turning his torso and leaning his head in, attempting to kiss the woman.
"Ah! Don’t!" The woman quickly pushed Dia away and dodged in a panic. She clamped her lips shut, as if afraid that Dia would sll the stench of blood on her.
"Dear, you’re still as shy as you were when you were a girl!" The man suddenly began laughing, seeming to think the woman was just being bashful, happily reminiscing, "Back when I was a boy and you were a girl, you would often dodge away when I tried to kiss you; it feels like it was just yesterday."
"Mm." The woman shifted her gaze away, not daring to look at Dia, maintaining a distance from him, "I—You must be hungry, I’ll go make breakfast!" She said, forcing a smile and then quickly left the house as if fleeing.
Dia watched the woman’s retreating figure, smiling faintly, then turned his attention back inside the house.
It was only then that Dia seed to notice the extre ss inside the house; the furniture was toppled over, and the windows were utterly battered and decayed.
"Hm? Darling, our ho may be very old, but why is it such a ss?" Dia frowned slightly, asking the little boy in confusion.
"Daddy, so soldiers ca to our town recently. They seed to be searching for sothing, going through every household. Our ho was turned into this by them," the little boy obediently replied.
"The empire’s soldiers are really getting more and more impolite!" Dia shook his head, sighing with a touch of anger.
"Daddy, tell a story!" At this point, the little boy grabbed Dia’s arm, shaking it and whining, "Yesterday, I was playing hide and seek with Mommy, and she didn’t tell a story!"
"Alright then, what story do you want to hear?" Dia patted the little boy’s head, asking indulgently.
"I want to hear about the first God Sealer, the Wild God. Split Sky," the little boy answered without hesitation, his dark eyes fixed on Dia, full of anticipation.
"Why do you want to hear his story again? I’ve told it to you so many tis already!" Dia, hearing the little boy’s request, was a bit exasperated and amused.
"No, I want to hear his story. I want to beco strong like him," the little boy pouted, twisting his little body and shaking Dia’s arm, acting coquettishly.
"Alright! Then let tell you the story of Wild God. Split Sky," Diya nodded, and then kindly said, "To talk about Wild God. Split Sky, we have to ntion another incredible person. A long, long ti ago, probably in the prival era, there was a remarkable person from another world. No one knows his na, but people in later generations called him the Yellow Emperor. When he arrived in our world, the people here were still living primitively, but with his arrival, he led us into the civilized era."
"The direct disciple of the Yellow Emperor was none other than Wild God. Split Sky. After the Yellow Emperor left in a season of falling snow, Wild God. Split Sky created the Winter Snow Festival to commorate him. After achieving his Divine Enthronent, Split Sky once went in search of the Yellow Emperor, but never found him..."
Outside the window, the sun gradually rose higher and higher, with warm sunlight shining through the window and casting a soft glow over the father and son. Diya’s gentle voice narrated an epic tale, captivating the little boy.
"...After that, there was no more news about Wild God. Split Sky. No one knows what has beco of him now." At last, Diya finished the story of Split Sky.
The little boy took a deep breath and then clenched his little fists, saying, "In the future, I also want to achieve Divine Enthronent! And go to the Divine Realm to find Wild God. Split Sky!"
"Haha!" Diya patted the little boy’s head, smiling slightly as if joking, "Then you’ll have to work hard!"
"I’m going to start learning martial arts from now on! Dad, you teach !" At that mont, the little boy looked at Diya with a firm resolve, standing straight and tall.
"Do you really want to learn?" Seeing the little boy’s expression, Diya’s smile faded into a serious look, "The stronger a person is, the greater their responsibility! Dad isn’t very strong yet, but he already has to fight against those evil ghouls. If I beco even stronger, I may have to face powerful beings like the High-Order Dragon Race, where death lurks at every turn. Are you sure you want to take this path?"
"Yes! I want to beco strong, and I want to achieve Divine Enthronent!" The little boy nodded firmly, gripping his little fists tightly.
"Good! That’s what being a real man is about!" Diya nodded, gave a word of approval, and affectionately patted the little boy’s head, adding, "My strength may not be very great, but I t a good brother on the battlefield. He is a mighty warrior from the Kelindi area of the southern Tribe Leader, highly skilled in martial arts. How about Dad takes you to his tribe later, and he can teach you martial arts?"
"Yeah! Alright!" The little boy nodded excitedly, his face beaming with excitent as he hugged Diya’s neck.
Gradually, the little boy seed to beco sleepy and dozed off in Diya’s arms. Diya held him, tidied up the room, freshened up the bed, laid the little boy down, and tucked him in.
...
After a while, the woman finally returned, holding two bottles of wine in her hand. Huang Yi looked over and recognized it as the honey wine she had bought in the inn yesterday. Besides that, she didn’t bring any other food.
"Hmm? Darling, why didn’t you bring any other food?" Diya, seeing the wine in the woman’s hands, couldn’t help but ask with confusion.
"Oh, the little town, well, this is all we have to eat," said the woman, biting her lip as she placed the bottles of honey wine on the table.
"This is all we can eat?" Diya seed not to grasp the significance of her words, reaching for a bottle of honey wine and began to drink heartily.
"It’s been a long ti since I’ve had this honey wine. The taste is still so pure; it feels good to be ho. Darling, there seems to be sothing strange about this little town; what exactly happened? Why did I see blood everywhere? On the way here, I was worried for a while, but when I saw that people on the streets were safe and sound, I was relieved," said Diya, setting down the jug and wiping off the wine stain on his lips as he asked curiously.
"Nothing much!" The woman shook her head, feigning calm as she spoke, "Suddenly, for so reason, blood rain started falling from the sky. But it’s just a bit unusual in color, nothing strange!"
"Oh! It might be related to the ghouls that were heading south a while ago. Where ghouls roam, within a thousand miles, there might be so strange heavenly phenona. I heard soldiers ca to inspect our town? Were they looking for ghouls? But the military reports said that the ghouls had been annihilated before they reached here," Diya took a sip of wine and continued questioning.
"I don’t know either." The woman swallowed, her voice tinged with panic as she shook her head again, and then with a sly glance, she said, "This place is indeed strange! Darling! Would you take our treasure and leave this place?"
"Why leave?" Diya was taken aback, "Isn’t it quite nice here? Our house only got a bit damaged. After we win the war and receive our rewards, we can build a big house." Saying so, Diya suddenly went over to the woman, embraced her, and quickly kissed her lips.
"Ah!" The woman hastily pushed Diya away and then said in a fluster, "I, I’ll go prepare so food!"
With that, she left the place again as if fleeing.
"Hmm? What’s the matter with you?" Diya watched the woman’s retreating figure, his brows furrowed once more, his tone filled with deep confusion. Ever since he returned, the woman had been acting abnormally, and it finally caught his attention.
"Because she has turned into a ghoul!" Just then, Huang Yi’s voice suddenly erged from thin air. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, we welco you to Starting Point (qidian) to cast Recomndation Tickets and Monthly Tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.)
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