It Was You!

Meanwhile.

Chen Ling slowly walked up behind him. His gaze passed through the many Enforcers and met Li Xiuchun's.

The instant she saw him, Li Xiuchun's pupils contracted again!

"You... it was you!!" Li Xiuchun struggled madly against the ropes, but the other Enforcers held her firmly in place. "You should be dead!! You should have died long ago!! Calamity!! You're a Calamity!!!"

Li Xiuchun's roar echoed beneath the night sky. Chen Ling simply stood there quietly, his eyes filled with complicated emotions as he looked at her.

"A-Yan... A-Yan." He softly called to Chen Yan beside him. "Go wait over there first... I'll handle this."

Chen Yan stared blankly at the frenzied Li Xiuchun. Chen Ling's voice snapped him back to his senses. After a long silence, he finally nodded...

He walked alone to a dark, deserted corner by the wall, hugging his knees and curling into a ball. Even his body could not stop trembling.

"What happened? Couldn't you even keep her mouth stuffed?"

One of the Enforcers shot a colleague a glare, then immediately bent down, picked up the white cloth, and stuffed it back into Li Xiuchun's mouth.

Then he let out a long sigh and consoled him, "Kid, don't take it too hard... Your mother has gone mad. She doesn't even know what she's saying."

"For public safety, we'll send them to a psychiatric hospital for stabilizing treatment. They still have hope of regaining their senses."

"Of course, you can visit them anytime during that period."

He gave the other Enforcers a look. They immediately understood and sped up the transfer of the two to headquarters.

Chen Ling watched this calmly, unable to describe what he felt. Those two had raised the original owner, then taken his life. From the original owner's perspective, their debts to each other had long been settled.

Chen Ling had inherited the original owner's memories, as well as his emotions. He could vaguely sense that the original owner did not actually harbor much resentment toward them. To a great extent, it was because he truly liked Chen Yan, his younger brother.

If Li Xiuchun and the other had properly explained everything to the original owner, he would actually have been willing to trade his own life to bring his younger brother back.

Unfortunately, the original owner trusted them, but they did not trust him... simply because he was an adopted child.

"You're Chen Ling, right?" A figure walked toward Chen Ling. "Where did you go just now?"

Chen Ling turned around. He stood there dazed for a moment before speaking hoarsely, "Sir... what happened here?"

"I'm the one asking you now." The man frowned slightly, but thinking of what the youth was going through, he hesitated before adding, "A Calamity broke into your home and frightened your parents... Fortunately, they didn't resist. Don't worry, their lives aren't in danger for now."

"Oh, oh."

Chen Ling seemed to awaken from a dream. "I took my younger brother out to practice today."

"Practice what?"

"Traditional opera."

Chen Ling raised his hand. A neatly folded opera robe was tucked in his arms.

Seeing this, the Enforcers' vigilance eased somewhat. After all, ordinary people did not usually carry opera costumes when going out. So he mostly believed Chen Ling's claim that he had gone to practice, though he still asked according to procedure:

"Where did you practice? Did anyone see you?"

"On that patch of wasteland at the eastern end of Frost Street... No one saw us. My younger brother is thin-skinned and doesn't dare sing where there are lots of people. Otherwise, we'd have practiced right in front of the house."

The Enforcers nodded. "It's not safe outside lately. Don't wander around. If you find anything suspicious, remember to come find me... My name is Jiang Qin. I patrol the nearby streets every day."

"Alright."

"By the way, where's your younger brother?"

"He... he was frightened by Mom just now and hid over there." Chen Ling pointed toward the dark corner. A small figure was curled up there, seemingly crying.

Jiang Qin glanced in that direction and nodded slightly.

Just then, he seemed to think of something.

"By the way, how many children are there in your family?"

"Two."

Jiang Qin narrowed his eyes. "Two?"

Hearing the subtle shift in Jiang Qin's tone, Chen Ling's heart sank. Having been involved with acting for years, he was extremely sensitive to such slight changes in dialogue. He immediately steadied himself and asked with apparent innocence, "What's wrong?"

"The records say your family has two children, and that's what you said too." Jiang Qin spoke slowly. "But last night, we ran into your parents at the Mass Grave. They said they had come to pay respects to their son...

"If both of your sons are alive, then who were they there to mourn?"

The atmosphere instantly froze.

"Oh, so that's what you meant." Chen Ling's thoughts raced, and an expression of realization appeared on his face. "Many years ago, after my parents had A-Yan, they had another child... But Mom wasn't in good health at the time, and the baby died of illness a few days after being born. My parents could only bury him in the back hills. After that, they went to pay respects once every year on his birthday.

"When that happened, Chen Yan was only a little over two and didn't understand anything. I only remember a vague outline of it myself."

That final sentence was a safeguard Chen Ling had left in case Jiang Qin separated him and Chen Yan for individual questioning. This way, even if Jiang Qin grew suspicious and wanted to question Chen Yan again, their accounts could reasonably match.

Of course, he could also use the excuse that he had been too young at the time to avoid further questioning from the Enforcers.

"An infant who died young... No wonder there was no record of him either."

As it turned out, Chen Ling had overthought it. This enforcer named Jiang Qin was not that vigilant. He nodded, casually made a note, and turned to leave.

Chen Ling let out a long breath inwardly...

He had not expected that on the night he returned, Li Xiuchun and the other had also gone to the Mass Grave and been caught red-handed by the Enforcers... He had nearly been exposed.

"Oh, right!" Jiang Qin turned back again.

Chen Ling: ...

Was this ever going to end?!

Just as Chen Ling's heart rose to his throat again, Jiang Qin pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it to him.

"We found this on Chen Tan. It's a summons from the Enforcers for you. Report to headquarters tomorrow morning, and don't be late."

After saying that, Jiang Qin left. This time, he truly left.

As the Enforcers departed, Frost Street once again fell silent and desolate. Chen Ling walked to the dark street corner, his emotions tangled.

"A-Yan..."

Chen Ling looked at Chen Yan, whose head hung low, not knowing what to say.

Things had reached this point. No matter how foolish Chen Yan was, he knew that the Calamity that attacked their home had been him... Although the Audience had seized control of his body at the time, he did not know how to explain it to Chen Yan.

Chen Ling, who had always been best at weaving "lines," was unusually at a loss for words.

"Brother." Chen Yan spoke softly. "I'm tired..."

Chen Ling froze. He had never expected Chen Yan's final words to be just those three.

There was no anger, no questioning, no confusion... Chen Yan's chestnut-colored eyes looked at Chen Ling, as clear and quiet as ever.

Chen Ling stood stunned for a long while. He realized he could not see through what the boy was thinking. He gently bent down and stroked his hair.

"If you're tired, then sleep... Your brother will keep watch beside you."

Their once-warm home had been blasted open with two huge holes, and the living room was even more thoroughly wrecked. If thieves or burglars passed by and did not take something, it would truly be an insult to their profession.

Chen Yan returned to that familiar bed and silently curled into a ball beneath the blanket. Chen Ling went to his side, leaned his back against the broken wall, and slowly sat down.

Through the shattered roof, he could see endless blue auroras drifting across the night, like soft ribbons covering the sky. It was the first time Chen Ling had quietly watched the auroras of this world. The moment he saw them, all the distracting thoughts in his heart seemed to vanish, leaving only eternal peace.

"Brother, are you cold?" Chen Yan's voice came from beneath the blanket.

"I'm not cold."

"Oh..."

Chen Yan said nothing more. After a long time, only steady breathing lingered by Chen Ling's ear.

After an unknown amount of time, Chen Ling's eyes gradually closed as well...

He fell asleep.