Confession

The knocking continued for a while.

Since he had dishes to wash, Moyu chose to ignore it.

Naturally, Cheadle would not presume to open the door either. She merely sat on the stone chair, silently watching the door tremble faintly from the knocking.

The knocking continued for roughly a dozen seconds before falling silent without anyone calling out.

Apparently, the visitor had given up.

Cheadle listened closely and heard faint footsteps gradually fading into the distance. A moment later, she withdrew her gaze.

A few minutes later.

Having finished tidying up, Moyu emerged from the kitchen.

Cheadle looked at Moyu and promptly reminded him, "The person who knocked earlier left something at the door."

"Mm."

Moyu was not surprised by Cheadle's reminder. He simply nodded to her and walked straight toward the gate.

He removed the bolt and opened the gate.

He then saw bags piled before the threshold, mostly filled with daily necessities and food.

At this time of day, the only person Moyu could think of who would knock on the door and leave so many things behind was Monica.

"There was really no need."

Moyu muttered to himself, then carried the bags full of supplies into the Temple.

Cheadle sat upright on the stone chair, looking teasingly at Moyu as he entered the courtyard.

She had not gone outside when the knocking began, but she clearly had a rough idea of what had happened out there.

Pretending not to notice Cheadle's gaze, Moyu carried the large and small bags into the kitchen.

After that trivial interruption—

Moyu casually found an excuse and returned to his room to train.

Cheadle was somewhat disappointed. She had wanted to continue chatting with Moyu, but she did not make things difficult for him.

Over the next two days, aside from preparing three meals a day for Cheadle, Moyu spent nearly all his remaining free time training.

On Cheadle's fourth day at the Temple, Hawk finally returned after being away from home for over half a month.

What surprised Moyu was—

Hawk had not returned alone. With him was a man as skinny as a bamboo pole.

Yet compared to the Bamboo Pole Man Hawk had brought back, there was something else that surprised Moyu even more.

"Hawk, you?"

He looked at the steady aura flowing around Hawk's body with slight astonishment.

It was no longer the state from half a month ago, where his aura had been allowed to leak away naturally, but a highly practiced-looking Ten that he maintained.

A disguise...

In an instant, Moyu reached that conclusion and fell silent as he looked at Hawk.

Faced with his son's gaze, which seemed to carry a hint of reproach, Hawk had nowhere to put his hands. One moment he rubbed his bald head, the next he scratched his shoulder, looking exceptionally awkward.

Moyu said nothing and merely stared quietly at Hawk.

Cheadle and the Bamboo Pole Man simply watched from the side.

"Moyu."

Unable to take it any longer, Hawk lowered his head slightly. Rubbing his bald scalp with his palm, he said weakly, "This... is rather complicated. I'll explain it to you, but you need to prepare yourself."

"Mm, it's fine. Take your time."

As he spoke, Moyu glanced at Cheadle from the corner of his eye.

Now that he knew Hawk was also a Nen Ability user, and after hearing him say to prepare himself, Moyu immediately reconsidered Cheadle's motive for suddenly traveling such a long way to visit. Then, for some reason, he thought of—

The day he had awakened Nen, when he had encountered that Grudge filled with the most extreme malice, which he had thought was a nightmare.

That night, he had been struck hard by that Grudge. Yet when he awoke in bed the next day, there was nothing wrong with his body.

Because of that, he had believed the Grudge was merely a nightmare brought on by excessive exhaustion. Later, when he saw Hawk as an "ordinary person," he had automatically ruled out the possibility that his body had actually been healed by Nen.

But Hawk was actually a Nen Ability user...

Moyu did not continue speculating and instead waited for Hawk's explanation.

Hawk looked at Cheadle beside him, and she gave a slight nod.

If Moyu could live out his life as an "ordinary person" under the seal of the God Script—

Then there would be no need to worry about the Price brought by that Post-Mortem Entity being transferred onto Moyu, allowing him to live an ordinary and safe life.

With that as the premise, from Hawk's perspective, it would have been impossible for him to let Moyu come into contact with anything related to Nen.

But things were different now—

Moyu had awakened Nen on his own while under the suppression of the God Script. That alone had been an unforeseen development.

But considering that Moyu knew nothing about Nen knowledge, Hawk was anxious beyond measure, yet he had not lost his composure.

After all, without the support of Nen knowledge, a Nen Ability user who had awakened Nen independently would have an extremely limited rate of growth in the short term.

There was nothing wrong with that judgment.

The problem was that the growth rate Moyu displayed had shattered all expectations.

All things considered—

After stubbornly blocking him had failed to yield the desired results, Hawk had no choice but to agree with Cheadle's view that guiding was better than blocking.

Hawk looked at Moyu and solemnly said, "Moyu, first of all, don't be afraid."

"Hm?"

Moyu detected a certain heaviness in Hawk's tone, and his expression immediately turned serious.

Hawk took a deep breath and said, "You may be dying soon, but..."

"Hawk, you should just shut up."

Cheadle's face darkened. She strode over and gestured for Hawk to leave, saying in an undisguisedly disdainful tone, "Go stand somewhere else. As far away as possible."

Hawk wanted to maintain his dignity as a father before Moyu, but given Cheadle's forcefulness, he could only obediently slink away to the side.

Moyu's brows furrowed slightly, but he said nothing.

After driving Hawk away, Cheadle came before Moyu and said gravely, "My understanding of this matter is certainly not as thorough as Hawk's. But if the goal is only to make you understand how it all happened, then my explanation will be enough."

"Mm, go ahead."

Moyu looked at Cheadle and waited for her to continue.

It was easy to see that Hawk and Cheadle were deeply wary of what they were about to tell him, but Moyu, who had already formed some guesses, was not panicked.

"The cause of this entire incident began when Elena became pregnant with you..."

Cheadle began her account, and Moyu listened quietly.

As Cheadle spoke, Moyu gradually learned the full story.

And when he learned that the reason Cheadle and Hawk were so wary was the threat posed by a Post-Mortem Entity, he became even calmer.

"So the key to breaking this situation lies with this gentleman?"

After listening to Cheadle's explanation, Moyu turned to the Bamboo Pole Man in the distance.

He was a rare Nen Exorcist capable of attempting to remove Post-Mortem Nen, and Cheadle had invited him here.

When Moyu looked his way, the Bamboo Pole Man Nen Exorcist showed no reaction. His expression was as cold as a zombie's face.

"Yes."

Cheadle first nodded firmly, then suddenly frowned.

"Hawk? What are you doing?"

She abruptly turned toward the Release Pond, where Hawk's figure bobbed up and down as though he were busy with something.

Moyu and the Bamboo Pole Man Nen Exorcist looked over as well.

Under their watchful gazes, Hawk tirelessly scooped coins from the Release Pond.

"Isn't it because I'm worried about the payment..."

Hearing Cheadle's questioning, Hawk climbed over the railing and stood up, holding a large handful of coins.

"..."

Cheadle slowly raised a hand to press against her temple. Her head hurt.

The corner of the Bamboo Pole Man Nen Exorcist's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

Moyu pressed his lips together in silence, his face expressionless.

Wasn't he supposed to be a top-tier tomb raider?

How had he fallen to such a state?!