Acceptance: even monsters had age anxiety.

Ye Jiang looked down at him.

The boy looked back at Ye Jiang, the wind ruffling his soft hair. "Sister, would you like to hear my story?"

Chapter 69: Accepting that even monsters have age anxiety.

As the apocalypse arrives and art declines, a wandering artist who loves to paint travels from city to city, seeing all the sights and depicting the everyday life of people, but no one pays attention to him or his paintings.

That day, after he finished painting, a girl opened the window.

"Wow, is that my neighbor's grandma and her cat? You drew it so well! Her cat is just that chubby, haha. Grandma's eyesight isn't good anymore, so she always thinks her cat is skinny and feeds it until it's so fat."

"I'm in such a good mood! I opened the window and saw such a beautiful painting. It's my birthday today, thank you!"

The street performer looked up and was greeted by a bright smile.

His painting was seen and praised for the first time.

He's the one who truly wants to express his gratitude.

Later, every year at this time, the traveling artist would come to this city and paint a picture for a girl whose birthday was on this day, under a window.

Year after year, they had known each other for five years. In the sixth year, the wandering performer encountered the Polluted on his way back to the city, and he died.

I haven't painted a picture of that girl yet. I want to paint a picture of her every year, because I want to see her smile every year!

The street performer was unwilling to accept his fate; he couldn't simply close his eyes like that.

He came back to life.

He carried his easel, went to the window, and painted a picture.

He saw that smile; it was a truly beautiful smile.

The "wandering artist" continues to wander with his easel on his back, observing the scenery and painting the everyday life of the people. However, every year at that time, he will definitely return to this city to paint a picture for one person.

Decades passed in the blink of an eye, and the girl grew old.

That year, the old woman opened the window, sat in a chair, and wore a peaceful smile on her aged face.

"May I make a request this year?"

The elderly woman said that this was the first time she had ever made a request to the person outside the window, as she had passively received birthday gifts. The "wandering performer" granted her wish.

He nodded to her.

The old woman smiled. She looked at the house opposite, where two sparrows had landed on the roof. The two little creatures were huddled together, affectionately preening each other's feathers.

The old woman's eyes shone with kindness as she said, "The sparrows on the opposite rooftop are so affectionate; please draw this for me."

The "wandering artist" glanced at the two sparrows, then began to paint with divine inspiration. The two adorable little creatures landed on the canvas. After finishing, he looked at the old man.

The old man said, "No."

She was old and frail; her expression went blank for a few seconds before she finished speaking, saying, "One more is needed."

"The scene seems a bit empty..." the old man said. "Wouldn't three be better?"

Three?

The "wandering performer" paused, looked up at the old man, who had a faint smile on his face. His eyes seemed to be looking at him, or perhaps at someone behind him.

The two stared at each other for a long time.

The "wandering artist" picked up his brush again, drawing a third sparrow beside the two affectionate ones. After finishing, he stared at the painting for a long time, then spoke to the person inside the window for the first time, "... It's finished."

His voice was clear and bright, completely lacking the weariness and somberness of an old man.

Having known each other for decades, the girl has grown old, but the voice of the "wandering artist" who has walked with her through the long years remains vibrant.

This was unusual, so he never spoke.

This is the first time.

There was no response from the old man inside the window. The "wandering performer" looked over and saw that the old man had fallen asleep leaning against the chair at some point, sunlight streaming onto his relaxed face. It was so peaceful.

The "wandering performer" sensed death; he knew she would never wake up, her eyes would never open again, and she would never smile again.

Human lifespan is short, fleeting in the blink of an eye. The "wandering performer" knew this from the beginning, so he calmly accepted this ending, only feeling a slight sense of melancholy.

He looked down at the painting in front of him; three sparrows were huddled together affectionately, snuggling close to each other.

Not two.

There are three.

The "wandering performer" sensed something; on that day, he gained a hidden friendship, his first one.

"Later I buried her outside the city, in a beautiful place. I once painted a picture of her there, and she loved it."

"Later, an A-Rank Polluted died there. The remnants of his power caused a green forest to spring up from the ground. The area was sealed off as a forbidden zone by humans. An evil tree grows deep within the forest, a taboo that humans cannot explore."

"That's how it is. I didn't do anything in the Forest Green Exclusion Zone; I just went to visit an old friend," the boy said. "Yesterday was her birthday."

After that day, he never painted again. He wasn't a wandering artist; he was just a monster who had heard the wandering artist's wish and descended into the wandering artist's body.

The person inside the window must have noticed, perhaps because he couldn't completely imitate the street performer's style, or perhaps for something else. The old woman must have realized that her old friend, who came every year, had had a different soul, and then...

She accepted him.

Memories from a hundred years ago flooded his mind, Dong Zhen fell into a daze. The wind blowing towards him transported the past scenes to his eyes. Things he thought he had forgotten were vividly recalled.

Perhaps it was because he possessed so little. After all, he never encountered those two humans again. Everyone changed their previous friendliness and chose to distance themselves because they sensed something. Humans may not know about the existence of monsters, but they instinctively reject those who are different. He was such a rejected being. He tried again and again, only to be disappointed time and time again. Finally, he gave up. It was too boring. He chose to fall into a deep sleep, which lasted for many years.

"So..." A cold voice drifted into her ears on the wind. Dong Zhen looked at the person who spoke, her expression perfectly calm.

Yes, therefore, I am not human.

He mentally accepted what the other person was saying.

Before telling his story, he was prepared for the fear of those who were listening.

He is not human.

Those who come back to life cannot be human.

If he tells his story, the other party will definitely find out.

Perhaps no other human being in this world would accept him, but he still spoke up because...

He wanted to be seen.

He wants his true self to be seen.

He's gambling.

After too many disappointments, he still wanted to take a gamble.

Her face was so calm, but her mouth and tongue became dry without her realizing it—the calmness was fake; Dong Zhen extremely nervous.

His cat-like eyes were fixed there, lifeless. He felt as if a very long time had passed before the words finally came, belatedly—

"How old are you?" The "so" was followed by this question.

"... ah?"

Did he mishear? Was this actually what she cared about most after hearing his story?

Yes, Ye Jiang is very concerned.

She waited earnestly for the boy's answer.

Dong Zhen: "... Over a thousand years old, I suppose."

A ripple of surprise appeared in Ye Jiang's deep, still eyes. "You're older than I thought."

She asked, puzzled, "Then why do you call me 'sister'?"

Dong Zhen: "..."

"It just sounds good." The monster said sullenly.

Ye Jiang's usually expressionless face showed a hint of disdain. She even shifted to the side, clearly not wanting to be called "sister" by a thousand-year-old man. She said, "I'm only in my early twenties."

She seemed to have a sense of déjà vu, considering that she was much younger than the monster.

A touch of self-satisfaction.

Dong Zhen was greatly shocked. He puffed out his cheeks and said, "Sister, although I'm old, look how young I look!"

In fact, the wandering performer he possessed was over twenty years old when he died. He inherited the performer's appearance and the age that had stopped, but the original owner looked very young and had a slender figure, like a teenager who had just started to develop.

Ye Jiang didn't respond to him. The monster hung its head in dejection. After living for more than a thousand years, it finally experienced the first age anxiety in its monster life.

Ye Jiang sat down, relaxed her body, and felt the breeze. The monster was sitting right next to her, but she showed no fear. It was as if whatever the creature beside her was just a life, without any distinction between its own kind and its different kind.

"Doesn't your sister have any other questions?"

The monster said sullenly, "Like things like my resurrection."

He brought up the point that the people around him hadn't mentioned, determined to make it clear.

Ye Jiang raised her hand to tidy her wind-blown hair and asked, "Your special ability is immortality?"

She asked casually, as if it were just a casual question to go along with his topic, and she didn't take it too seriously.

The monster shook its head. "I'm not."

He said, "'I' am dead."

Ye Jiang turned her head to look at him.

The monster met her gaze, its beautiful, cat-like eyes slowly turning into a chaotic blackness, flowing silently, as if it were real, yet also as if it were nothingness. Its voice changed, becoming distant, echoing with a dull thud. It said, "Sister, I am not human."

He only revealed it briefly before hiding it away, fearing that if he delayed too long, the Pollution from his true form would harm the humans nearby.

The humans around him were the strongest he had ever seen, so he estimated that she could withstand this impact.

He put away his main body and repeated himself, considering that she might not have heard him clearly due to the impact just now.

silence.

Why aren't you saying anything?

The monster assumed that the human he loved had been Pollution by his true form, but she suddenly spoke, her words clear and articulate. As he suspected, she was not Pollution. She said, "Oh, then you certainly aren't. You've lived for over a thousand years."