Hearing Jing Changle’s cries, Luo Yirui’s eyes reddened as well. He shook his head, "I can’t bring your grandfather back..."
Jing Changle actually knew. He knew his grandfather was nearing the end, and he also knew that even if Luo Yirui’s mother ca, she wouldn’t be able to save his grandfather. That’s why from the beginning he didn’t ask Luo Yirui, because he was afraid of hearing Luo Yirui say it aloud, like he was doing now.
He felt that as long as Luo Yirui didn’t say it, there was still a sliver of hope...
"You’re lying, you’re so powerful, save my grandfather!" Jing Changle cried out, "He’s my only family left... I’m begging you!"
Luo Yirui looked at Jing Changle, who was on the verge of collapsing into tears, his own lips quivering as tears fell. He knew he couldn’t refuse him again, otherwise, Jing Changle would truly break down.
"I’ll try, stop crying." Luo Yirui choked out.
He knew that even if he tried, it would be of no use. The old man was burning out, fated to leave, sothing beyond saving.
Luo Yirui took out the yellow paper he had kept close, and a brush folded three tis in a small thumb-length box, made specifically for him by his mother. With this, he felt a bit more confident.
Luo Yirui dried his tears and held the Yellow Talisman in his palm. As the brush fell with Xuan-yang, a cyan light shimred, with the Xuan Talisman hovering above his palm.
Even though Jing Changle had witnessed this scene before, he was still amazed to see it once more.
The one even more shocked was the old man lying on the wooden bed. At the mont Luo Yirui’s cyan light glowed in his hand, the old man seed to gain strength, pushing up to lift his upper body off the bed!
The old man looked at the cyan light with disbelief in his eyes, tinged with subtle delight.
The cyan glow descended, and the talisman was ford.
Jing Changle, becoming quite adept, hurriedly fetched a bowl of clear water and dissolved the talisman powder, quickly turning around to bring it to the old man.
"Grandpa, drink this dicine quickly, and you’ll be alright. Lele still has to make porridge for you and earn money to get you dentures!" Jing Changle said with a choke in his voice.
He now only hoped for a miracle to occur.
The old man did not refuse, the shock still lingering in his eyes, sipping the water while watching Luo Yirui.
Neither of the two children noticed the old man’s abnormal behavior, assuming it was the Spiritual Talisman that amazed this ordinary old man.
After drinking the talismanic water, Jing Changle laid the old man back down, watching him nervously and hoping for a miracle.
The old man coughed lightly a few tis, his face quickly becoming rosy, surprisingly improving quite a bit, much to Jing Changle’s joy. It worked! It worked!
Off to the side, Luo Yirui didn’t show much joy, knowing it had little to do with his talismanic water. This was... the glow before dying.
In truth, saying it had nothing to do with it was not entirely accurate; the old man only experienced this glow before dying after witnessing Luo Yirui’s Spiritual Talisman, a phenonon not everyone experiences when leaving this world. It touched him deeply.
Jing Changle cried tears of joy, the old man gripping his hand, and said, "Child, there are many things I haven’t had the chance to tell you. Your real na is Jing Changle, not the Jing from my family, but you originally had the surna Jing!"
Jing Changle was stunned, the aning of his grandfather’s words...
"Grandpa didn’t tell the truth at first, I didn’t pick you up from the roadside. Your mother entrusted you to before she passed away!"
Jing Changle’s face was full of surprise, thinking of his mother...
"Your mother had just given birth to you a few days before, and she was already failing. She told your na was Jing Changle and asked to raise you. Our family needed a boy at the ti, so I agreed."
The old man recalled the past with great sentint, rembering eting that young woman by the grove, in her twenties but in a miserable state, with bloodstains around her as she had given birth alone.
The old man vividly rembered; after she entrusted the baby to him, she handed him a small, strange black sphere, the size of a child’s marble, black and inconspicuous.
The woman gave him three thousand yuan as her paynt, money she intended for starting her life anew, which she could no longer use, hoping the old man would treat the child well.
Even a few years ago, three thousand yuan was a fortune to the old man; holding the money left him at a loss. He initially wanted to take it ho but hesitated after sensing his son’s attitude towards him; ultimately, he did not bring it ho.
He hid the money, planning to return it to the child once he was grown. It originally belonged to his mother, so naturally, it was his.
The old man told him where the money was hidden and looked towards Luo Yirui, "Can I entrust Lele to you in the future?"
The only thing he couldn’t let go of was this child, who wasn’t his birth son, but the only one in the family who cared for him, raised from a young age to see as his own.
Luo Yirui was taken aback by the old man’s words, feeling hesitant. In the past, he would have loudly reassured him without hesitation, but experiencing so much, he was keenly aware of being just a child, knowing too little about the vast world. He couldn’t even care for himself well, let alone others.
Seeing that Luo Yirui did not speak, the old man pressed him again.
Luo Yirui scratched his head, "Grandpa, entrusting him to is quite a stretch, but I’ll definitely help if there’s sothing going on."
Hearing this, the old man sighed in relief, telling Jing Changle, "From now on, stay with this child. The three thousand yuan will be your living expenses."
Following soone doesn’t an living off them entirely.
Jing Changle didn’t understand why his grandfather would make such a request, wanting to say sothing, but upon seeing the old man’s pupils seemingly dilate, he was startled and quickly agreed.
"Grandpa, I promise, don’t get excited." Jing Changle said.
The old man smiled, his breath relaxing, eyes losing focus, in a daze as if seeing that woman again.
She stood one last ti, holding a Yellow Talisman in one hand and a brush in the other, the cyan light that arose forming a beautiful and mysterious tableau.
If not for her actions, she probably wouldn’t even have had the strength left to entrust her baby.
Back then, he knew this child was extraordinary, destined not to be confined to this village; accompanying him, the ti would co for him to rediscover his world.
"Try to... get back that black bead, that’s... that’s what your mother left you..."
With those words, the old man slowly closed his eyes, his grip on Jing Changle’s hand loosening and falling to the bed.
Jing Changle stared blankly at the old man, who was just fine a mont ago...
"Grandpa!"
A heart-wrenching cry echoed across the hillside.
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