Of Course I'll Forgive Her

[Douluo II Period]

In the Sea God Pavilion's lounge, just as Qian Duoduo passed out,

an elderly, gentle figure appeared silently behind him and gently caught him.

She was an extremely old woman, her face lined with wrinkles and her hair white, but her eyes shone with the wisdom and authority of someone who had seen through the ways of the world.

Elder Song of the Sea God Pavilion.

She was also Xian Lin'er's mother.

Elder Song glanced at the unconscious Qian Duoduo, then at the indecent scenes still playing on the Sky Screen. A complicated emotion flashed through her eyes.

She sighed softly and reached out her withered hand.

A gentle, soothing Soul Power flowed slowly into Qian Duoduo's body, quickly calming the turbulent blood and qi stirred up by his fury.

"Cough, cough—"

Qian Duoduo coughed violently a few times and slowly came to.

But when he opened his eyes again and saw everything around him, those memories surged over him like a tide, drowning him once more.

His eyes filled instantly with a deathly despair.

"My boy, you've suffered."

Elder Song's voice was quiet, but it carried a power that could soothe the heart.

Qian Duoduo slowly turned his head. When he saw his mother-in-law, it was as though he had finally found somewhere to let it all out. Two streams of scalding tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Elder Song—I—"

His voice caught. He managed to utter "I," but couldn't say another word.

Decades of swallowing his grievances, decades of fooling himself into thinking he was noble—all of it had turned out to be one enormous joke.

What was he supposed to say? What could he say?

"Ah..."

Elder Song let out a long sigh and patted his back.

"This is partly my fault, too. I didn't raise that girl Lin'er properly."

She helped Qian Duoduo to his feet herself and guided him to a chair nearby.

"It's all because I failed to teach her properly. I raised such an inconsiderate daughter."

Qian Duoduo's lips moved, but no sound came out.

Seeing this, Elder Song continued in her soothing voice, "I know this has dealt you a terrible blow."

"But—they did all that a long time ago. They were only in their thirties or forties then, young and hot-blooded, the sort of age when people make foolish mistakes."

"Young people can be thoughtless. They make mistakes on impulse sometimes."

"Duoduo, don't take this the wrong way, but you know they had feelings for each other before. If Shaozhe hadn't done all those ridiculous things..."

At that, Elder Song showed a trace of regret.

She had known about Xian Lin'er and Yan Shaozhe for a long time.

She wasn't the only one. Mu En knew, too.

Back then, she and her senior brother Mu En had both favored Yan Shaozhe.

In every respect, Yan Shaozhe and her precious daughter had been made for each other.

If Yan Shaozhe hadn't later gotten himself into all those messy affairs, how would Qian Duoduo ever have had a chance?

And afterward, they had continued to wait for Xian Lin'er and Yan Shaozhe to divorce their respective spouses and get back together.

But although Xian Lin'er and Yan Shaozhe had finally admitted their feelings, they had still taken a wrong turn and failed to find their happy ending.

Hearing this,

Qian Duoduo wanted to laugh, but couldn't even muster the strength to twitch the corners of his mouth.

Elder Song seemed not to notice his mocking expression. She carried on as though nothing had happened. "Still, they had their limits."

"Look, Lin'er knew all these years that she couldn't divorce you, didn't she? That shows she still cares about you, and about this family."

"You're all in your seventies or eighties now. You're long past the age of doing foolish things. Let the past stay in the past."

Elder Song abruptly changed her tone and shouted sternly toward the door.

"Xian Lin'er! You little wretch, get over here this instant!"

Soon, Xian Lin'er walked in. Her old pride and coldness were gone. Her face was deathly pale, and she kept her head lowered, not daring to meet Qian Duoduo's eyes.

"Mom—I—I was wrong—"

"You didn't wrong me!"

Elder Song pointed at Qian Duoduo, exasperated with her.

"You wronged Duoduo! Just look at what you've done to him—and to our family's reputation!"

Xian Lin'er's delicate frame trembled. She finally worked up the courage to look at Qian Duoduo. Her lips moved for a long while before she managed to force out a weak apology. "Duoduo—I'm—sorry—"

"Back then—back then, he and I—we were both too foolish—I—I realized I was wrong afterward. Truly, I cut things off with him completely a long time ago!"

Elder Song slammed her hand on the table and scolded her with a show of sternness. "How could you make such a ridiculous rule with Duoduo in the first place? And now look! You've made our family a laughingstock across the entire continent!"

As she spoke, she forcibly took Qian Duoduo's and Xian Lin'er's hands, trying to make them hold each other's.

"All right, all right. It's all in the past! You're both in your seventies or eighties. You're an old married couple. What could possibly be too difficult to get through?"

"When you get home tonight, shut the door and talk it out. You can settle everything!"

"Do you really want to end up divorcing and make Shrek—and our family—a laughingstock all over again?!"

Feeling Xian Lin'er's cold, rigid hand, Qian Duoduo felt the last trace of warmth in his heart disappear completely.

An old married couple...

He laughed, though his laugh sounded more like a sob.

The "husband" had spent decades alone in an empty room.

The "wife" had kept herself for another man.

And they called this an "old married couple"?

Now he understood.

Not one of them had ever truly cared about his feelings, his pain, or his humiliation.

All they cared about was how to bury this scandal as quickly as possible.

They were sacrificing him to protect Shrek—or at least to protect Xian Lin'er.

Just then,

an even older voice, filled with supreme authority, echoed slowly throughout the Sea God Pavilion.

"Duoduo, this matter—it was my failure to keep them in line that made you suffer. I apologize to you on their behalf."

It was Mu En!

His voice carried a trace of weariness and regret.

Even Elder Mu had stepped in.

Qian Duoduo knew there was no room left to change anything.

What else could he do?

Divorce Xian Lin'er?

Fall out with Elder Song and Mu En?

He couldn't.

He was the dean of Shrek's Soul Guidance Department. His entire life was bound up with the name "Shrek."

Qian Duoduo slowly lowered his head and looked at his hands, calloused from years of making Soul Tools.

What had he lived his life for, in the end...?

In the end, all his grievances, anger, and resentment became nothing more than a soft laugh, filled with endless bitterness and self-mockery.

He slowly nodded without saying a word.

But that nod said everything.

He had given in.

Elder Song and Xian Lin'er both let out a quiet sigh of relief.