The Ancient Gods' Whisper-Chapter 767 - 369: Truly Disturbing Little Stories (2)
Skylark smiled silently: "Are there many people like this in the Ether Association?"
"This behavior is rare in each branch, Taixu regularly cleanses them."
Gu Jianlin thought for a moment: "Probably not more than three months."
"I can’t wait that long because I will have already awakened by then."
Skylark pouted: "We couldn’t go to school then, could only hide at home every day, worried and anxious. The TV signal could only receive six channels, showing boring soap operas and evening news. The internet was cut off, and there were some games and a few anime saved on the hard drive. What accompanied me during that time was ’Digimon.’ Have you watched it?"
Gu Jianlin tried humming a little tune in Japanese: "Beyond an infinite dream?"
Now he was certain, this woman’s memory recovery was becoming more and more complete.
And she was becoming more like a human.
Skylark also gently hummed the tune, her voice ethereal and enchanting, singing with a different flavor, like a cold forest elf, lively and fascinating, as if uncovering a leaf would lead to a new adventure.
"Rewatching an anime countless times, eventually you have to find something to do. At that time, an archaeologist took good care of us. He was a ninety-year-old man whose lifelong wish was to glimpse the secrets of the Ancient God Clan. Sometimes, he would bring back many snacks and candies for us from his archaeological trips."
Skylark’s voice was rarely gentle: "I still remember his smile, weathered and wrinkled, yet kind when he laughed. It was that old man who gave me the Ghost Slayer Path ascension ceremony, including some of the resources needed for ascension. He told me girls must learn to clench their fists to protect themselves, especially since I have four unlucky younger brothers. Being so pretty, sooner or later, bad people would target me."
Gu Jianlin looked skeptically at her beautiful side profile and suddenly said: "I remember Bai Long said earlier, you became more and more like that Supreme after you reached Buzhou Mountain."
"I have always looked good."
Skylark replied coldly: "After I ascended to Second Rank, the first thing I did was kill the director who pocketed money, along with his three damned sons and four lovers."
"Cool."
Gu Jianlin remarked: "How old were you then?"
"Eight years old?"
Skylark said softly: "Don’t you think I’m terrifying?"
"Nothing terrifying, I believe in the inherent evil nature at the beginning of life. When young and ignorant, there are naturally many bad thoughts, and under such circumstances, what you did was a survival instinct. I would do the same."
Gu Jianlin said seriously: "As long as you can bear the cost, right or wrong doesn’t matter to you."
Skylark savored the words: "Well said, but the one paying the cost wasn’t me."
Gu Jianlin was slightly shocked.
"The Ether Association detected the director’s death and quickly began an investigation, naturally discovering I was the culprit. Those people didn’t hold me accountable for it since the director was indeed a bastard."
Skylark’s voice grew cold: "The problem was, I did break their rules, requiring restraint and discipline. At the same time, the Ether Association also discovered the old man who helped me ascend."
Gu Jianlin paused: "The Ether Association’s style shouldn’t trouble him much."
"The Ether Association didn’t trouble him, just banished him from the Forbidden Zone and canceled his official archaeologist status. The issue was that director had connections."
Skylark’s eyes flashed with intense killing intent: "Later, I found out the old man died, dying on the way home, leaving his two granddaughters waiting for his return."
Gu Jianlin shook his head, if the story is true, it’s a tragedy under a colossal system.
The Ether Association is too vast, with intricate power relations.
The ancient sects, the power of families.
Underneath the Heavenly Person Realm, darkness inevitably breeds.
"For you, this is something you cannot tolerate, right?"
Gu Jianlin poured himself a glass of beer, tasting it slightly, the flavor was peculiar.
"Yes, I even know who the murderer is because three days after the director’s death, his brother came to take over the rescue station, and he looked at me as if he were a wolf seeing a lamb."
Skylark’s lips curved into a cold smile: "Unfortunately, they didn’t know by then I was already a Fourth Rank Shura. This speed of ascension might be slower compared to yours, but for them, it’s unimaginable. It was the day of ’major cold,’ rare southern snowfall, and I stormed into his house with a blade, cutting him into pieces."
"I don’t remember the specific process, he seemed to be begging for mercy, but I was deaf to it." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎
Her gaze was joyful and relaxed, laughing: "The blood stained the snow red."
Gu Jianlin imagined that snowy night, a twin-tailed little girl wielding a Tang Blade longer than her, blood spraying with every swoosh, the stains in the snow like blooming plum blossoms.
A peculiar kind of beauty.
"Having done this, I couldn’t survive in the Forbidden Zone."
Skylark supported her chin with her hand, her gaze doubtful: "I didn’t consider the consequences before doing it, taking responsibility for my actions alone, I would protect my brothers. But what I didn’t expect was my brother waiting for me at the door."
Gu Jianlin was taken aback: "Your brother?"
"Yes, the most solitary, the second one."
Skylark nodded: "He said some strange things, he said we are cursed, our parents wouldn’t return, he wanted to find a new homeland. He doesn’t need my protection, he can grow up alone."
"I wanted to stop him, but he suddenly disappeared in front of me. I hurried home to find the farewell letter left by the third one. The third had already packed and left, thanking me in the letter for years of care and believed he was cursed too, so he went to find out."
She said perplexed: "I don’t understand, they obviously hadn’t awakened, how did they leave? I brought Little Four and Xiao Wu out to search for them, heavy snow falling outside, making it impossible to see anything. Wrapped in thick coats, feeling as though we might be buried in the snowstorm anytime, I tightly held their hands, leading at the front."
Gu Jianlin was again baffled at the idea of such heavy snowfall in the south.
"I held their hands trekking through the snow and couldn’t reach the end of the road that had been familiar for years, for nursery then elementary. Oddly, I traveled it for a long time but couldn’t reach its end. Turning back, Little Four and Xiao Wu had vanished."
Skylark’s voice was like ice hitting, chilling: "It wasn’t me letting go, it was them letting go of me. Being the eldest, I always thought I couldn’t abandon them, but unexpectedly, I was the one abandoned."
The tale was simply creepy.
Perhaps incomplete memories led to illogical gaps.
Yet in the Extraordinary World, all irrationalities might actually have other explanations.
Gu Jianlin tried constructing that city but the story’s emptiness, implausibility blocked any details or character imaging from forming in his mind.
"Later I found a way to escape the Forbidden Zone and never returned home."
Skylark said coldly: "I went to a new city, seeking both my parents and brothers. Disguising as a student, continuously learning Ascender knowledge, until..."
"Until you met Canglong Ancestor."
Gu Jianlin propped his forehead with a hand, pondering: "Is that where your memory ends?"
Skylark remained silent for a while and softly acknowledged.
"Can you remember your parents?"
"No, not at all."
"What about your brothers?"
"I don’t remember either."
"Your health wasn’t good, what kind of illness?"
"Forgot."
A thorough ignorance.
"The most eerie thing about this is your brothers, you seem entirely unaware of them."
Gu Jianlin interlaced his fingers, resting them on his nose: "What exactly did they go to do?"
One might expect no answer to this.
Unexpectedly, Skylark gazed at the distant sky and answered, "Looking for a new homeland."
Gu Jianlin was slightly stunned.
Skylark whispered: "To find and avenge those who abandoned them."
