Chapter 996: 625, The Missing Century
“Her na is Ning Xiu, it’s a beautiful na.”
“Later I started writing her cheesy love letters, copying bits and pieces from the internet here and there,” Shadow said with a smile, “That period kept very busy. By day I had to move things at the construction site, and at night I’d sneak into her dressing room, hunch over the desk to write letters, and leave them there before dawn.”
“During that ti, I didn’t even dare to see her. I only sneaked into the dressing room after she went ho from work, because I feared she would reject . As a child, I didn’t understand, but later I realized that character cannot be equated with status. Although my status was higher than hers, her character was more noble, and it was because of this that I couldn’t look her in the eye. I was afraid that she would be disappointed after seeing the love letters, and then I wouldn’t even be able to be her friend.”
“After writing love letters for three months, we hadn’t t once during those three months. Finally, one day when I sneaked into the dressing room at midnight, I found her waiting for in the dark. She only turned on the light when I arrived. I was terrified at that mont, thinking what if she had enough and wanted to reject . I felt like a child who had done sothing wrong. She sternly asked why I was avoiding her, and even angry, she seed so beautiful.”
Shadow laughed, “Then she asked how much money I had saved. I panicked because I had only saved eight hundred dollars. You wouldn’t know how ssed up this world is, with the corporations doing layer after layer of exploitation. As a porter, my monthly salary barely covered my food, and if I hadn’t saved on rent by living in the dressing room, I might not even have saved eight hundred dollars. I thought she would consider it too little, but she said I had changed since I could save even a little.”
“And then?” Yangyang prompted.
Shadow said, “Then she went ahead and took to get a marriage certificate, using my eight hundred dollars to take a wedding photo, and we treated a few of my coworkers to a al, which was our wedding. She gave up her job, sold her house, moved to a small house in the Fifth District, and began living with at ho. She later found a low-paying clerical job, and together we lived frugally. She seed different from other won. Others would buy the most vibrant flowers, but she bought whole potted sunflowers. She said sunflowers were also flowers, and when bored, she could eat the seeds. I offered to buy flowers for her, and she said not to waste money, since we needed to save for a baby. Sunflowers were pretty too, and they were her favorite… We spent half a year like that, the simplest yet the most beautiful ti of my life, and then the Shadow Struggle began.”
Qing Chen’s heart tightened.
He knew how brutal the Shadow Struggle was for every candidate, and as the son of the Family Head, Qing Zhun would be a pri target.
Once involved, life could never be as calm again.
Qing Zhun’s life, from the mont of his birth, was destined to be extraordinary. Even the dust from the construction site couldn’t dim his brilliance in the Federation.
Shadow said, “I was one of the candidates, and just on the second day of the Shadow Struggle, she began vomiting, fainting, and moving slowly. I took her to the hospital for examination, and the doctor said her body was riddled with hundreds of neurotoxins. She was beyond saving. This was a kind of poison intended for decapitation assassinations, and if you didn’t know what these hundreds of neurotoxins were, missing just one ant you couldn’t save her. But ti was running out; she only had one hour left.”
Shadow said calmly, “That day I awakened, and awakening ant S-Class.”
At this mont Shadow’s voice was calm, but Qing Chen could feel the surging murderous intent beneath the calm surface.
When he said those words, it was as if he was talking about sothing trivial.
Qing Chen understood too; it was because Shadow needed ti to stop for his lover, leading him to awaken the ability to control ti.
Shadow: “I saw ti stop before and the world subdued to . I saw that the sea would never change to mulberry fields, and life’s vicissitudes ceased.”
“I began investigating all the neurotoxin experts within the Federation during the halted ti, visiting them one by one. I suspected that these people were serving the corporations for assassin and infiltration, and all deserved to die. So, over the long years, I dragged each and every one of them out of the shadows, searching for every clue.”
“If it turned out they weren’t involved in this poisoning case, but had participated in other poisoning incidents, I would kill them one by one and bury them in this tea garden.”
Listening to Shadow’s tone, Qing Chen knew that his brother had gone on a killing spree, driven to the brink by the thought of losing his lover.
Shadow continued, “It took 39 years to find 371 neurotoxin experts and professionals. Then I discovered… a very renowned neurotoxin expert had disappeared. At that mont, I understood that the neurotoxin in her body must have been developed by this person, who most likely had been silenced.”
“I spent another 8 years searching for the whereabouts of this neurotoxin expert, but to no avail. It seed as though no one in the world knew where he went. At that mont, I despaired, but I rembered her words to : even if no one in this world is willing to help you, you must rely on yourself to live cleanly. So, I started to teach myself neurotoxin science.”
Shadow: “I spent another 40 years learning neurotoxins from scratch, because I was the only one who could move freely in ti, so I had to learn it on my own. Yet when I reached the end of my studies, I realized sothing: even if I beca an expert in neurotoxin science and the top talent in this field, without knowing all those hundreds of neurotoxins, I couldn’t possibly save her. Those intertwined neurotoxins ford the most terrifying and deadly poison in the world, and even if I were poisoned, I would be dood.”
“So, in the last 13 years, I used that ti to be with her. I sat by her bedside, watching her appearance never age a bit, but I knew the ti to part would eventually co. No matter how slow I made ti pass, no matter if my year equaled her minute, she would ultimately die.”
“Starting from when she was poisoned, I spent a whole hundred years watching the calamity of fate ruthlessly crush over and her, yet I was powerless.”
Shadow went through a century of despair.
Others had not even felt that ti had ever been still.
Ti, only surged and flowed past him alone.
The Shadow floated and sank in the sea of ti, yet as a demigod who controlled ti, he still couldn’t save his beloved.
At last, he watched his beloved die before his eyes.
Yanyan squatted on the ground, crying her heart out, while Xiao ngqiu, having already picked the realm callia, kept handing her tissues from the side.
At this mont, Zard was holding a plate of sunflowers that he had just picked from sowhere, gouging seeds from them.
Eating seeds while listening to the story.
Qing Chen was about to stop him, but the Shadow smiled and said, “It’s alright, she said sunflowers are ant for eating seeds. Every ti Qing Ye, Qing Qu, and the others co, I always let them pick a plate to take away. I think this would be her wish, she was very kind and wouldn’t bla this lunatic.”
The Shadow looked at Qing Chen and said, “Actually, if it wasn’t for waiting for you, I might have already gone on a killing spree.”
Qing Chen whispered, “Why are you so good to ? Even if I am your younger brother, we haven’t seen each other in over ten years. I actually never believed in family and blood ties because the family I’ve experienced was never worthy of trust. My father stole my money, and after my ho exploded, my mother didn’t even co to see .”
The Shadow said, “That’s exactly why I feel this is what I owe you. When I was young, soone asked who my hero was, and I would say it was my father. Just like all children, everyone has a hero in their hearts, and it’s likely to be your father. He watches you grow, becos your goal, teaches you how to interact with the world, and shelters you from storms.”
The Shadow: “But Xiao Chen, you never had that opportunity or power, and that’s what I regret the most.”
Qing Chen lowered his head and gently wiped his eyes, “Actually, it’s pretty good now. There are no attachnts, no need to look back.”
The Shadow smiled and said, “You were quite cute as a child, but not as you grew up—stubborn, hard as a rock, even tough experts like Jindai Yunhe were defeated by you. Back then you were a crystal, now you’re more like a stone.”
Qing Chen was taken aback, why tell such a bad joke at a heavy mont!
Qing Chen asked, “Do you know who poisoned her?”
“I don’t know,” the Shadow shook his head, “Couldn’t find out, the other party did it extrely stealthily. What makes most guilty is that the neurotoxin was probably ant for , yet she died in my place.”
“But it must be soone within the Qing’s Family, right,” Qing Chen said, “All the clans behind the other candidates will benefit from this incident, won’t they?”
“It’s not that simple,” the Shadow laughed, “Having the Qing’s Family in-fight also aligns with other consortiums’ interests. So blindly guessing is useless, I can’t possibly kill everyone in the world. Killing all the neurotoxin experts back then led to regrets and self-bla. Xiao Chen, I’m not a good person, but neither am I a bad one.”
Qing Chen nodded, “Understood.”
The Shadow looked at the delicate tombstone in the sunflower garden and said gently, “I should go keep her company, but I must take so people down with , that’s what makes it interesting.”
At midnight, Qing Chen had Zard pack all the plants for transplantation.
This ti-travel taught him many secrets, and he learned about so hatreds.
If given the chance, if he finds the culprit behind this poisoning case, he will make sure they pay.
Ti resets to zero.
Return.
The world plunged into darkness.
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