Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo-Chapter 444 - 414 Mother or Daughter?
Little Bowl isnโt Zhu Jiuxing... not Zhu Shi? ๐๐ซ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ฏ๐๐จ๐ง๐๐.๐๐ ๐ฆ
I feel like my thought process has been put on pause, and for a moment, I donโt know how to keep it running.
The possibility that "Little Bowl isnโt Zhu Shi" isnโt something I never considered. Zhu Shi has also mentioned this possibility to my face. However, when this possibility manifested into reality right in front of me, it felt like plunging into a clueless lake because my previous thoughts were all based on the solid premise that Little Bowl is Zhu Shi. If Little Bowl isnโt Zhu Shi, then who could she be?
Slowly, I thought of a candidate.
In the current Zhu family, only one person has fallen into soul loss, and that is Zhu Jiu. Suppose the soul of a soul-loss patient traverses to the Doomsday Era, then Zhu Jiuโs soul should also be in the Doomsday Era. Is it possible that Little Bowl is Zhu Jiu, whose soul traveled to the Doomsday Era, underwent a series of mysterious changes, and eventually shrank into a ten-year-old girl, losing the memories of her adulthood?
But this reasoning has obvious flaws. First, young Zhu Jiu not only didnโt have the Right Positioning Heavenly Phenomena, but her talent as a demon hunter was never highly valued by Mr. Zhu. Second, when Little Bowl mentioned the vague memory of "mother storing the abandoned doll in the white box," it was clearly narrated from a daughterโs perspective. If Little Bowl were Zhu Jiu, she would have said "storing the daughterโs abandoned doll in the white box."
Just thinking doesnโt help, so I decided to take a chance and ask: "So, do you remember the name Zhu Jiu? Sheโs Zhu Shiโs mother... if I say you are actually Zhu Jiu, would you feel anything?"
"Zhu Jiu?..."
Little Bowl seemed to be racking her brains too; after a while, she said, "This name... does feel familiar, but I donโt think Iโm this person called Zhu Jiu."
Sheโs not even Zhu Jiu... then who could she be?
Could she be Zhu Shiโs daughter? I recalled a previous hypothesis.
This possibility is not zero. If Little Bowl is Zhu Shiโs daughter, itโs reasonable for her to be familiar with the names Zhu Shi and Zhu Jiu. The only questionable point is why Little Bowl has memories of Zhu Shiโs childhood. It seems a bit far-fetched to say Little Bowl experienced the same events as young Zhu Shi long ago.
However, in the abnormal world, itโs not impossible for a demon hunter to inherit memories from their parentsโ generation. Take Changan for example, even if he wasnโt chosen as Yinyueโs incarnation during their lifetime, his demonic lineage naturally grants him "inherited knowledge"; demon hunters might achieve a similar effect through mysticism, passing down life experiences from parents to descendants. Though, I still wonder why a daughter should remember her own abandoned doll incident from childhood.
Based on the Zhu familyโs naming style for descendants, Zhu Shiโs daughter should be named...
"โZhu Shiyiโ... do you have any impression of this name?" I asked tentatively.
This time, Little Bowl shook her head quickly: "No impression at all."
Seems sheโs not Zhu Shiyi either... Iโm really getting more and more confused.
"Who is this โZhu Shiyiโ then?" Little Bowl sensitively asked, "From the way Mr. No.3 asked just now... could it be that you and that girl called Zhu Shi have even picked a name for your child in advance?"
I shared my thoughts and related information with Little Bowl.
After listening, she relaxed a bit and then thought seriously for a while, eventually saying, "... Objectively speaking, the possibility of me being โZhu Shiโs daughterโ still exists.
"Though Iโm sure Iโm not called Zhu Shiyi, according to you, Zhu Jiu once named her daughter โZhu Jiuxingโ with the hope she would stay away from battles, which wasnโt in the Zhu familyโs naming style; so Zhu Shi might have also named her daughter something other than โZhu Shiyiโ to keep her away from mortal danger.
"Moreover, Zhu Shiโs daughter might not even have the surname Zhu. Mr. No.3, after all, you are a human god... In your terms, you are Impermanence. After you married Zhu Shi, it wouldnโt be you joining the Zhu family, and naturally, the daughter born would have your surname. So my real name might not be โZhu Some-nameโ but โZhuang Some-nameโ."
"Makes sense. But... are you just going to accept the possibility that you might be my daughter?" I asked.
"Actually, my mind is still quite dull right now, but that doesnโt stop me from reasoning." Little Bowl seemed to say calmly.
"But even if you are Zhu Shiโs daughter, that doesnโt necessarily mean you are the daughter of Zhu Shi and me." I said, "If Mazao didnโt travel to my era, I wouldnโt have recognized Zhu Shi as a demon hunter, and she wouldnโt have realized I am a supernatural power user. Under that development, of course, there would be no marriage between her and me, leading to your birth."
"But if Sister Mazao traveling to Mr. No.3โs era is a destined event for both the past and future, and the Doomsday Era where I reside is based on the timeline where โyou and Sister Mazao metโ?" Little Bowl asked, "Your meeting and marriage with Zhu Shi should have already altered Zhu Shiโs original future, and yet I, existing in the future, havenโt disappeared... isnโt this evidence that I am the daughter between Zhu Shi and you? Provided I am truly Zhu Shiโs daughter."
"If thatโs the case, then thereโs a straightforward way to confirm it." I said, "Little Bowl, since you have impressions of the possible mother Zhu Shi and the possible grandmother Zhu Jiu, do you have any special impression of the name โZhuang Chengโ?"
"No." Little Bowl shook her head.
"Then..."
Before I could continue, Little Bowl used a peculiar tone, saying: "But... this actually makes me feel even more that you might be my father..."
"Why is that?" I was puzzled.
Little Bowl looked at me for a few seconds and then continued in that peculiar tone: "Based on what Mr. No.3 previously told me... Zhu Shiโs father is called Ying Lingyun, and he was your main opponent some time ago.
"And this Ying Lingyun had a beloved named Yinyue, because he was preoccupied with Yinyue, he neglected his rightful wife, Zhu Jiu, who was often away from home, leading to Zhu Shi, his biological daughter, having little impression of him from childhood to adulthood."
"Hmm... thatโs true?" I had an ominous feeling.
"Perhaps saying this offends Mr. No.3, and I also hope you can spend more time with Sister Mazao rather than that girl named Zhu Shi..." Little Bowl seemed to also lose grip on her tone, "But... Mr. No.3, arenโt you quite similar to that Ying Lingyun?
"Replacing โYing Lingyunโ, โYinyueโ, โZhu Jiuโ in my earlier description with โMr. No.3โ, โSister Mazaoโ, โZhu Shiโ, doesnโt seem out of place, right?"
Despite not sweating in the Void Realm, I felt like this little girlโs questioning was causing cold sweat to flow down my forehead.
"In reality... I vaguely remember having a mother, but I donโt have much impression of a dad. Hence, itโs evident my relationship with dad wasnโt very deep a long time ago." Little Bowl said seriously, "If my dad is someone like Mr. No.3, sailing two boats, then I indeed wouldnโt want to have a deep relationship with him, and after losing memory, I would likely have no reaction to his name."
Itโs the first time Iโve suffered such a mental shock, leading to me involuntarily saying: "Then... do you prefer me spending more time with your Sister Mazao, or focus on being with your mom, Zhu Shi?"
"โAh?" Little Bowl suddenly lost her composure, "I, I certainly hope that if I have a dad, he should focus more on being with mom!
"But, I hope Mr. No.3 can be close to Sister Mazao... but then it would become outright cheating... but being with Sister Mazao is my wish..."
The intelligent and bright her also seemed to have her brain burned by this chaotic relationship, muttering in panic, I could almost see steam coming out of her head.
Could Little Bowl actually be my daughter? I pondered repeatedly in my mind, while also realizing Lu Chanโs correctness, that there may indeed be some unconsidered aspects in my marriage with Zhu Shi.
For instance, if Zhu Shi and I indeed had children, and those children saw their father not living closely with their mother but instead cozying up with other women, it would undoubtedly have many negative impacts. Even if I donโt care about such issues, Iโm sure Zhu Shi would have a headache.
However, speaking of this, if I indeed had a daughter full of thoughts of urging me to cheat, it seems like an ending I wouldnโt know how to handle either.
"In short... letโs set aside the two things about my true identity and Mr. No.3โs two-timing for now. There are too few clues at the moment, and discussion leads nowhere. Letโs talk about another issue instead." Little Bowl seemed to want to avoid this overly sordid matter.
I agreed with her reasoning and wanted to step out of this quagmire for the time being, so I said, "Okay. What do you want to talk about?"
Little Bowl took a deep breath, like she was reorganizing her mind and spirit, then said: "Mr. No.3, you previously mentioned you became Impermanence in the real world... is this the result of using the Divine Seal Fragment?"
"No. I became Impermanence by battling strong enemies according to your proposed plan. Although the opponent wasnโt Yinyue as initially planned, it was another person." I said, "Why do you ask like that?"
"Because you are currently in a very dangerous state." Little Bowl said seriously, "You and the Void Realm have become too deeply connected."
