Journey to the West: Starting by taking Sun Wukong as my disciple!-Chapter 431: Following the Child to Her Home

Chapter 431: Chapter 431: Following the Child to Her Home

"My mother said that you must be a good immortal, so she told me to come find you."

"And then you came to find me?" Chen Nuo asked. "How could you be sure I would come back after I left yesterday? What if I hadn’t returned?"

"If you hadn’t come back, I would have waited." The child said with a determined look in his eyes, "If I couldn’t wait for you, I still had my mother with me."

"What about your mother if you had left?" Chen Nuo smiled.

A trace of confusion appeared in the child’s eyes, "My mother said her only wish is to see me live well. If I left with you, her wish in this world would be fulfilled."

Those words didn’t sound like something a child would say. Chen Nuo was beginning to believe the child was telling the truth, so he asked, "Where is your mother now?"

"At our home," the child answered. "My mother said she can’t leave that room."

"Why can’t she?" Chen Nuo was puzzled. The proprietor had said the child’s mother died of illness. If that was indeed the case, but she wasn’t taken by Black and White Impermanence, then she would be a Wandering Ghost.

Even a Wandering Ghost wouldn’t stay put in one place indefinitely, moving within a small area would still be possible.

This child’s mother seemed to really care about her offspring; she wouldn’t just leave her child to beg on the streets alone.

"She says she can’t be exposed to light, so she can’t leave," the child explained.

If she can’t be exposed to light, wouldn’t that make her a vampire? He had never heard of a Wandering Ghost who couldn’t be exposed to light - this child couldn’t be trying to fool him.

Chen Nuo opened his heart voice. While asking questions, he probed the child’s thoughts, wanting to know if the child was lying.

"How about this, you take me to your home, and I’ll have a few words with your mother."

The child tilted his head to look at Chen Nuo, "But only I can see my mother. I’ve asked Zhang Xiaosan on the street; they all say they can’t see my mother and call me a liar."

Chen Nuo looked at the child with pity, affectionately touched the child’s head, "Didn’t you say that I’m an immortal? Since I’m an immortal, naturally, I can see your mother."

Light flashed in the child’s eyes, "Right, big brother, you are an immortal, you will definitely be able to see my mother. Then I can tell Zhang Xiaosan and the others that I’m not lying, I really can see my mother."

"Lead the way then, take me to your home," Chen Nuo said.

"Okay." The child nodded, his belly growling.

He paid no attention to this, only excitedly talking about what he would say to his mother after seeing her. It seemed he had gotten used to hunger and didn’t mind it, nor did he think of asking Chen Nuo to buy him something to eat.

Chen Nuo followed the child, and when they passed the cake shop next door, he went in and bought a bag of cakes and handed them to the child.

"I can’t go empty-handed, so here’s what - I’ll bring a bag of cakes as a gift for our meeting."

"There’s no need, only I eat food in my family."

The child looked at the cakes in Chen Nuo’s hands and swallowed, "Those cakes are expensive, immortal big brother, you should return them."

"Once bought, there’s no sense in returning them. If your mother doesn’t eat, you still need to eat, right?"

Chen Nuo opened the child’s hand and placed the cakes in it, "Here, take it. Haven’t you eaten anything up to now?"

"I..." The child lowered his head, his stomach making another growling noise.

"If you’re hungry, eat up," Chen Nuo said gently. "Isn’t your mother asking me to adopt you? I’m about to take you in, yet you’re here with an empty stomach. How could your mother be at ease handing you over to me?"

The child nodded, also feeling that what Chen Nuo said made a lot of sense, so he unwrapped the pastry and sent a piece into his mouth.

As the pastry touched the tongue, it had a sweet taste. Chen Nuo could tell at a glance that the craftsmanship was not very good, but it was cheap, which is why many people came to buy it.

This child looked as if he hardly ever ate anything, and even such poor-quality pastries seemed to him a rare delicacy.

"Eat slowly," Chen Nuo cautioned when he saw the child biting off big chunks, worried he might choke, "I don’t have any water on me, and it wouldn’t be good if you needed water and we couldn’t find any."

The child bit off another large mouthful of the pastry, nodded with a smile, and said, "Don’t worry, Immortal Brother, I won’t choke."

Seeing her like this, Chen Nuo sighed again. He wouldn’t even take a second look at such pastries, let alone eat them.

Yet this child could eat them so eagerly, not even willing to throw away a single crumb—it was clear she had never had her fill.

The child led Chen Nuo, eating and walking, until they arrived at a deep and secluded alleyway.

The alley was dark, and the scent of damp moss was in the air. Chen Nuo stood at the entrance, not wanting to go inside, while the child had already happily walked in.

Though Chen Nuo was reluctant, he was not a person to make a fuss. After a moment’s thought, he cast a spell on himself and then entered the alley.

The alley was not only deeper than it appeared from the outside, but it also had several turns one had to navigate to get through.

Finally, they arrived at the child’s home. Chen Nuo looked at the dilapidated door and asked, "This is your home?"

The child nodded, "The door is a bit rotten, but at least it’s a door."

This could hardly be called a door; the damp had rotted it so badly that not only people, but even a strong wind, could hardly withstand it. Fortunately, the alley was deep enough that no wind could blow in.

"Weren’t your mother..." Chen Nuo started to mention that the child’s mother had only died a short while ago, wondering how the door could have rotted so badly.

But thinking better of it, he decided not to pursue the topic, and instead changed the subject, "Why hasn’t your mother fixed the door for you?"

"My mother has been ill for a long time."

The child looked down, her voice trembling, "I’m usually out finding food for my mother. My father died a long time ago, and he always complained that I brought bad luck. And we don’t have any relatives to come and fix the door."

"Aren’t you afraid when you sleep at night?" Chen Nuo asked, "You’re all alone at home, and the door is like this. Aren’t you afraid of thieves breaking in at night?"

But the child laughed, "Immortal Brother, with my home being like this, there’s no way thieves will come."

She was right; the darkness of the alley alone was enough to deter people, not to mention that anyone seeing the door would guess how poor the family was. There was little chance of thieves coming.

"Let’s go inside," Chen Nuo said, "You were going to take me to see your mother, weren’t you? Let’s go in."

"Okay," the child nodded, pushed the door open, and led Chen Nuo inside while calling out, "Mother, I’m back!"

There was no response in the house. Chen Nuo stepped inside and saw a person standing there; this person looked haggard and gave Chen Nuo a weary smile, "Hello, you must be the Immortal that Xi mentioned."

Chen Nuo nodded, examining the woman. Her face was not only haggard but also very pale, certainly not that of a living person.

Chen Nuo felt puzzled; even if she had died from illness, Black and White Impermanence should have come to collect her soul. What was happening?

The woman seemed to notice the confusion on Chen Nuo’s face and slowly turned around. Chen Nuo was somewhat shocked to see that half of the woman’s body had vanished.