Translator: Yuzu
“Boy Ma, don’t blame Uncle. Uncle’s wife is pregnant, and this is my only child! If we don’t eat anything, my child will starve to death!” The man’s cheeks were sunken, his eyes were completely black underneath, and his limbs were even thinner. He held an axe in his hand used for chopping wood and stared at Ma Chenggong with undisguised greed.
The boy knelt on the ground, with a face filled with fear and a trembling body. His two hands kept tensing, “I beg you, Uncle! I have a brother to look after. Have you forgotten how my father died? My father drowned to save your daughter-in-law! I’m begging you! You can’t take back what you’ve been given!”
The man’s originally greedy eyes flashed because of these words. There were a few hesitations, and even the hand holding the axe loosened.
Before the boy was relieved, something came to the man’s mind, and his eyes became ruthless, “I’m sorry to your whole family, I will repay you in the next life as a cow or a dog! Now, I’ve run out of options!”
The boy almost fainted. His frightened eyes moved as if he had an idea. Immediately, he nodded off a few times and hurriedly said, “I, I have another way, there’s someone else but me! Why does it have to be me? For example, the little beggar who lives at the end of the village, Xiao Chen! He could be the one too!”
When the man heard this, he was a little moved.
Seeing that there was still hope, the boy immediately shouted, “I, I’ll call out Xiao Chen! You let me go! I can help you get Xiao Chen!!!”
Ma Chenggong woke up with a jolt, his eyes wide open, and he gasped for air. He was still drowning in the nightmare he just had.
“Brother, what happened to you?” Ma Hang slept next to him and was awakened by the sudden movement.
Ma Chenggong turned his head and met Ma Hang’s eyes.
Ma Hang was a bit affected by his gaze. His lips trembled, and he asked, “What, what’s wrong?”
Ma Chenggong withdrew his complicated eyes and stared at the ceiling, trying to go to calm his emotions, “Nothing.”
Xiao Chen was staring at Tan Jun’s face without moving.
His fingers were touching something in the air, his movements were light, and his eyes were full of tenderness, “So this is what you’ll look like when you grow up.”
Tan Jun didn’t say anything and looked at him with complicated eyes. His eyes swept back and forth over his body several times. “Have you not been taking care of yourself?”
Xiao Chen froze and blinked. His eyes dodged a bit, and he laughed lightly, “It’s fine.”
Tan Jun frowned and sternly said, “You haven’t eaten since this afternoon! It’s late at night, and you still haven’t eaten!” The man paused. His jaw was a little tight, and his eyes were closed. He took a deep breath, pushed his temper down, and softly said, “Do as you’re told, and go get something to eat!”
Tan Jun dropped his eyes.
Hunger was really hard to bear. The stomach was empty, and the hunger was so extreme that it would start to twitch. The body would become weak, and the longing for food would magnify by thousands. To fill this need, one could do a lot of depraved things. Even though he no longer needed to eat, the feeling was deeply imprinted in his memory.
Tan Jun’s eyes narrowed slightly as he thought of this.
Xiao Chen smiled and looked innocent, “I’ll eat, don’t be angry.”
Tan Jun was coaxed out of his temper and wrapped his arms around Xiao Chen, who couldn’t touch him but could actually feel the other man’s warmth.
“Don’t be afraid. I will find you.”
“Good, good, you believe in me. There will be no one else but you. I will never live in the world if you leave.”
“….”
“Baby, are you asleep?”
“….”
Tan Jun’s brain throbbed, and images flashed through his head.
He could vaguely see two people.
A man in a black suit was holding someone with a blank expression, and he could even clearly feel that the man’s hands were trembling a bit.
But strangely enough, he could neither see the man’s face nor the face of the person in his arms.
The other seemed to be asleep, lying quietly in the man’s arms. The blanket covered his legs, and he was so well-behaved that it made Tan Jun feel a little flustered.
The eyes of the man who was holding the person began to change. His eyes that were originally lowered slowly lifted and looked in Tan Jun’s direction. His eyes narrowed as if he was trying to identify something, and then his gaze became sharp.
It was at this moment that a sentence appeared in Tan Jun’s mind.
‘He must be protected!’
Tan Jun fiercely opened his eyes, his elbows trembling slightly, and released Xiao Chen.
Under Xiao Chen’s astonished gaze, his body became clearer, even condensing into solidity at a pitiful speed.
Xiao Chen opened his mouth, and his eyes remained on Tan Jun’s body. He tentatively touched the other man’s face, his fingers trembling a little.
Before he could attach his hand, Tan Jun directly grabbed his hand and gently placed it on the left side of his face. His head was slightly tilted, and he looked at him with a smile.
“I was the one who didn’t protect you.”
—
Jin Hong was in shock and had barely closed her eyes the entire night. She looked a bit haggard.
The atmosphere in the whole room was a bit stuffy.
“By the way, I don’t even know your names?” The boy who had been sitting the whole time silently suddenly made a sound.
The boy was the youngest of the seven and looked to be around sixteen or seventeen years old. He stood over 1.8 meters tall and had a very healthy and sunny look, but he still had that youthful look about him.
“My name is Huang Ke,” The boy’s eyes were bright, and one could tell that he hadn’t been exposed to much of the darkness of society, “My father used to be from this village, but he passed away this year…” Speaking of this, his eyes darkened for a moment. Still, he quickly adjusted them again and said. “I came back because I received an invitation letter from the village and suddenly wanted to see where my dad used to live.”
Jin Hong looked tired, and her voice was a bit weak, “My name is Jin Hong.”
Hu Bing nodded and signaled, “I’m Hu Bing.”
Ma Hang hadn’t rested too well, and his body was a bit worn out, but he managed to pull out a smile, “I’m Ma Hang, and this is my brother, Ma Chenggong.” He pointed to his brother next to him, “I came back with him.”
Xiao Chen raised his eyes and made eye contact with Ma Chenggong, who had been stealing glances at him, the latter clearly panicked and looked away.
Xiao Chen quietly stared at Ma Chenggong and indifferently said, “My name is Xiao Chen.”
As soon as Ma Chenggong heard this, he shuddered, and his eyes darted as if he was trying his best to hide his inner panic.
Damn it, before being reborn, Xiao Chen was the first to die. He died without the six of them even knowing his name!
If he really was Xiao Chen, then it all made sense!
He chose Xiao Chen to save himself! Then, Xiao Chen had killed Tan Jun to stay alive.
No wonder Tan Jun hated him so much! The first target of Tan Jun’s revenge was Xiao Chen!
Wait, then why was it that the first one to die this time was Zhang Xiaoxian and not Xiao Chen?
Before Ma Chenggong could think about it, Hu Bing, who stood at the side, seemed to have remembered something and gazed towards Ma Chenggong, “You know that woman from yesterday, don’t you? You even knew her name!”
Ma Chenggong blinked. Obviously, Hu Bing was almost ten years younger than him, but at this point, he was a bit weaker in momentum. He nodded his head a bit nervously, “Yes.”
Hu Bing looked around at everyone and said, “All of us are descendants of this village, but I have no memory of this place. My family and I left this village sixteen years ago when there was a famine in this village!”
He paused, keeping his eyes firmly on Ma Chenggong, and added, “So I guess that all of you here actually moved away from this village sixteen years ago. If my guess is valid, then using the time calculation, those who still have memories of this village should be three out of the seven of us!” He narrowed his eyes seriously, “That woman from yesterday, you,” Here he paused and looked up at Xiao Chen, “and him.”
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The author has something to say:
All the characters have made an appearance!
Xiao Chen, Jin Hong, Zhang Xiaoxian (dead), Ma Chenggong, Ma Hang, Hu Bing, and Huang Ke.