Abundance

In the quiet room, emerald light flowed from Natasha's fingertips, then spread over Chu Mu's entire body.

Chu Mu felt his wounds itching, especially the socket of his right eye.

Dense buds of new flesh broke through the scabs over his wounds, bringing the joy of healing.

Once he grew accustomed to the sensation, it felt wonderfully soothing, as though he were lying in a dreamlike meadow with a gentle breeze brushing his cheeks.

Chu Mu felt relaxed now, utterly relaxed.

The tension he had carried for so long finally eased.

He drifted off to sleep.

In his dream, he felt his body falling endlessly.

Everything around him was pitch-black.

When the fall stopped, he looked around again and saw countless twinkling stars, as though he were floating in a sea of them.

He instantly grew anxious, because he saw this scene whenever he had an episode.

This time, however, no voices reached his ears.

The sea of stars was silent.

Before him, countless specks of glowing stardust began to swirl and merge, forming an enormous humanoid figure.

Towering antlers grew from the figure's forehead, and a gentle radiance shrouded its body. He could make out neither its face nor even its clothing, but its three pairs of slender arms were particularly striking.

One look at the divine figure filled Chu Mu with boundless love and endless compassion!

Tears spilled from his eyes.

The six-handed giant walked toward him.

Each step spanned billions of stars.

With each step, the figure grew a little smaller.

By the time the giant reached Chu Mu, she had shrunk to the size of an ordinary woman.

She seemed to be saying something to Chu Mu, but to the boy, her words sounded like incoherent muttering. He could not understand a single thing!

She slowly moved behind Chu Mu, wrapping one pair of hands around his waist and another around his neck, while her remaining pair covered his eyes.

The muttering in his ears became clearer, as though the woman were leaning close and murmuring right beside his ear.

Chu Mu did not understand.

He felt the woman holding him tighter and tighter.

The muttering grew hurried, her tone turning crazed!

Chu Mu became afraid!

He forcefully shook off the two hands covering his eyes, only to see something that filled him with horror!

Long, narrow black fissures had suddenly split open across the woman's hands.

Then those fissures snapped wide open, revealing scarlet eyeballs embedded within the dark sockets.

Every eye stared fixedly at Chu Mu!

Those eyes brimmed with eerie malice!

The muttering in his ears became wildly frenzied, so loud that Chu Mu felt his head might burst!

The woman's other four hands clamped tightly around him, while the remaining two groped across his face until they gripped his eye sockets-

And pressed down hard!

"Aah!"

At Chu Mu's scream, the woman seemed to abruptly regain her senses and shoved him away.

Blood streamed from Chu Mu's eyes. He could no longer see anything.

All he could hear was a faint, mournful sobbing.

Gradually, the sobbing faded into the distance too.

The woman had left.

Chu Mu woke up.

Clear teardrops fell onto his forehead. His head was resting in Natasha's lap.

The young doctor was crying, her voice choked as she apologized over and over:

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I... I couldn't help you."

Chu Mu reached up and touched his right eye socket. It was still empty.

And the vision in his remaining left eye had grown blurry, as though a thin green veil covered it.

Chu Mu understood that his treatment had failed.

It was not merely a failure. It could even be called a devastating medical accident.

The Old Director's grief-stricken voice reached him:

"Just now, while Natasha was treating you, all your other wounds healed very well. But when she tried to reconstruct your right eyeball, it shattered the moment it formed. After that, no matter how she used her power, there was no response. Even your left eye turned green, and we don't know why."

As she spoke, the Old Director could not help shedding tears.

She could not understand why fate always tormented those who already suffered so much.

This child had endured enough, yet heaven kept taking away his hope!

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Natasha kept crying.

"It's not your fault, Miss Natasha." Chu Mu reached out and gently wiped away her tears. "This is my fate."

His expression was utterly calm as he spoke.

Hearing that, Natasha felt another sharp sting in her nose, and tears welled up uncontrollably again.

Even if you cried and screamed and blamed me like other children would, I'd feel a little better. Why do you have to be so understanding?

But Chu Mu had not thought that far. He truly believed this was his fate, and no one else was to blame.

He slowly sat up, looked at the healed wounds on his body, and smiled.

"I never thought they'd heal so quickly. Now I won't have to worry about Xiao Bu crying when I go see her tomorrow."

He looked at Natasha and thanked her sincerely:

"Thank you, miss. One day, you'll definitely be the best doctor in the Underworld-no, in all of Belobog!"

Natasha stared at Chu Mu through tear-filled eyes, unable to speak for a long time.

The Old Director came over, patted Natasha's shoulder, and encouraged her:

"Chu Mu is being so strong. You should pull yourself together too, child. The treatment's failure wasn't your fault. You did everything you could. Perhaps, as Chu Mu said, this really is fate.

"But what I want to say is that our fate at one moment doesn't define everything. Life is long, and fate keeps changing from one stage to the next. Natasha, lift your head. You and I are here to change his fate, and the fates of countless children in the Underworld!"

The Old Director's words restored a glimmer of determination to Natasha's eyes.

She pulled herself together, looked at Chu Mu again, and asked:

"Did you feel anything unusual during the treatment? How is your left eye now?"

"Anything unusual? It just itched, and I felt sleepy." Chu Mu concealed everything that had happened in his dream. "As for my left eye, it doesn't feel any different."

Chu Mu did not want the people looking after him to worry too much.

Besides, he did not think it was a serious problem. Everything just looked a little green, and his vision was a little blurry.

"Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Natasha asked with a frown.

"I'm sure." Chu Mu shook his head.

Natasha lowered her head in thought for a moment. Then she suddenly held up her fingers in front of Chu Mu.

"How many?"

"Two? No, three, right? Hmm, I think it might be four. That's strange. I'm counting six." Chu Mu looked embarrassed.

Realizing he could not hide it, he could only smile and say:

"All right, Miss Natasha, I lied. I think my eyesight has gotten a little worse."

"Why would you do that?" Natasha's eyes shimmered with tears.

"I didn't want to spend any more money. Glasses are pretty expensive." Chu Mu scratched his head.

At his words, Natasha and the Old Director exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with sorrow and tenderness.

Clear tears slipped from Natasha's eyes.

"What... what nonsense are you saying?"