Chapter 996: 625, The Missing Century

“Her name is Ning Xiu, it’s a beautiful name.”

“Later I started writing her cheesy love letters, copying bits and pieces from the internet here and there,” Shadow said with a smile, “That period kept me very busy. By day I had to move things at the construction site, and at night I’d sneak into her dressing room, hunch over the desk to write letters, and leave them there before dawn.”

“During that time, I didn’t even dare to see her. I only sneaked into the dressing room after she went home from work, because I feared she would reject me. As a child, I didn’t understand, but later I realized that character cannot be equated with status. Although my status was higher than hers, her character was more noble, and it was because of this that I couldn’t look her in the eye. I was afraid that she would be disappointed after seeing the love letters, and then I wouldn’t even be able to be her friend.”

“After writing love letters for three months, we hadn’t met once during those three months. Finally, one day when I sneaked into the dressing room at midnight, I found her waiting for me in the dark. She only turned on the light when I arrived. I was terrified at that moment, thinking what if she had enough and wanted to reject me. I felt like a child who had done something wrong. She sternly asked me why I was avoiding her, and even angry, she seemed so beautiful.”

Shadow laughed, “Then she asked me how much money I had saved. I panicked because I had only saved eight hundred dollars. You wouldn’t know how messed up this world is, with the corporations doing layer after layer of exploitation. As a porter, my monthly salary barely covered my food, and if I hadn’t saved on rent by living in the dressing room, I might not even have saved eight hundred dollars. I thought she would consider it too little, but she said I had changed since I could save even a little.”

“And then?” Yangyang prompted.

Shadow said, “Then she went ahead and took me to get a marriage certificate, using my eight hundred dollars to take a wedding photo, and we treated a few of my coworkers to a meal, which was our wedding. She gave up her job, sold her house, moved to a small house in the Fifth District, and began living with me at home. She later found a low-paying clerical job, and together we lived frugally. She seemed different from other women. Others would buy the most vibrant flowers, but she bought whole potted sunflowers. She said sunflowers were also flowers, and when bored, she could eat the seeds. I offered to buy flowers for her, and she said not to waste money, since we needed to save for a baby. Sunflowers were pretty too, and they were her favorite… We spent half a year like that, the simplest yet the most beautiful time of my life, and then the Shadow Struggle began.”

Qing Chen’s heart tightened.

He knew how brutal the Shadow Struggle was for every candidate, and as the son of the Family Head, Qing Zhun would be a prime target.

Once involved, life could never be as calm again.

Qing Zhun’s life, from the moment of his birth, was destined to be extraordinary. Even the dust from the construction site couldn’t dim his brilliance in the Federation.

Shadow said, “I was one of the candidates, and just on the second day of the Shadow Struggle, she began vomiting, fainting, and moving slowly. I took her to the hospital for examination, and the doctor said her body was riddled with hundreds of neurotoxins. She was beyond saving. This was a kind of poison intended for decapitation assassinations, and if you didn’t know what these hundreds of neurotoxins were, missing just one meant you couldn’t save her. But time was running out; she only had one hour left.”

Shadow said calmly, “That day I awakened, and awakening meant S-Class.”

At this moment Shadow’s voice was calm, but Qing Chen could feel the surging murderous intent beneath the calm surface.

When he said those words, it was as if he was talking about something trivial.

Qing Chen understood too; it was because Shadow needed time to stop for his lover, leading him to awaken the ability to control time.

Shadow: “I saw time stop before me and the world subdued to me. I saw that the sea would never change to mulberry fields, and life’s vicissitudes ceased.”

“I began investigating all the neurotoxin experts within the Federation during the halted time, visiting them one by one. I suspected that these people were serving the corporations for assassin and infiltration, and all deserved to die. So, over the long years, I dragged each and every one of them out of the shadows, searching for every clue.”

“If it turned out they weren’t involved in this poisoning case, but had participated in other poisoning incidents, I would kill them one by one and bury them in this tea garden.”

Listening to Shadow’s tone, Qing Chen knew that his brother had gone on a killing spree, driven to the brink by the thought of losing his lover.

Shadow continued, “It took me 39 years to find 371 neurotoxin experts and professionals. Then I discovered… a very renowned neurotoxin expert had disappeared. At that moment, I understood that the neurotoxin in her body must have been developed by this person, who most likely had been silenced.”

“I spent another 8 years searching for the whereabouts of this neurotoxin expert, but to no avail. It seemed as though no one in the world knew where he went. At that moment, I despaired, but I remembered her words to me: even if no one in this world is willing to help you, you must rely on yourself to live cleanly. So, I started to teach myself neurotoxin science.”

Shadow: “I spent another 40 years learning neurotoxins from scratch, because I was the only one who could move freely in time, so I had to learn it on my own. Yet when I reached the end of my studies, I realized something: even if I became an expert in neurotoxin science and the top talent in this field, without knowing all those hundreds of neurotoxins, I couldn’t possibly save her. Those intertwined neurotoxins formed the most terrifying and deadly poison in the world, and even if I were poisoned, I would be doomed.”

“So, in the last 13 years, I used that time to be with her. I sat by her bedside, watching her appearance never age a bit, but I knew the time to part would eventually come. No matter how slow I made time pass, no matter if my year equaled her minute, she would ultimately die.”

“Starting from when she was poisoned, I spent a whole hundred years watching the calamity of fate ruthlessly crush over me and her, yet I was powerless.”

Shadow went through a century of despair.

Others had not even felt that time had ever been still.

Time, only surged and flowed past him alone.

The Shadow floated and sank in the sea of time, yet as a demigod who controlled time, he still couldn’t save his beloved.

At last, he watched his beloved die before his eyes.

Yanyan squatted on the ground, crying her heart out, while Xiao Mengqiu, having already picked the realm camellia, kept handing her tissues from the side.

At this moment, Zard was holding a plate of sunflowers that he had just picked from somewhere, gouging seeds from them.

Eating seeds while listening to the story.

Qing Chen was about to stop him, but the Shadow smiled and said, “It’s alright, she said sunflowers are meant for eating seeds. Every time Qing Ye, Qing Qu, and the others come, I always let them pick a plate to take away. I think this would be her wish, she was very kind and wouldn’t blame this lunatic.”

The Shadow looked at Qing Chen and said, “Actually, if it wasn’t for waiting for you, I might have already gone on a killing spree.”

Qing Chen whispered, “Why are you so good to me? Even if I am your younger brother, we haven’t seen each other in over ten years. I actually never believed in family and blood ties because the family I’ve experienced was never worthy of trust. My father stole my money, and after my home exploded, my mother didn’t even come to see me.”

The Shadow said, “That’s exactly why I feel this is what I owe you. When I was young, someone asked me who my hero was, and I would say it was my father. Just like all children, everyone has a hero in their hearts, and it’s likely to be your father. He watches you grow, becomes your goal, teaches you how to interact with the world, and shelters you from storms.”

The Shadow: “But Xiao Chen, you never had that opportunity or power, and that’s what I regret the most.”

Qing Chen lowered his head and gently wiped his eyes, “Actually, it’s pretty good now. There are no attachments, no need to look back.”

The Shadow smiled and said, “You were quite cute as a child, but not as you grew up—stubborn, hard as a rock, even tough experts like Jindai Yunhe were defeated by you. Back then you were a crystal, now you’re more like a stone.”

Qing Chen was taken aback, why tell such a bad joke at a heavy moment!

Qing Chen asked, “Do you know who poisoned her?”

“I don’t know,” the Shadow shook his head, “Couldn’t find out, the other party did it extremely stealthily. What makes me most guilty is that the neurotoxin was probably meant for me, yet she died in my place.”

“But it must be someone within the Qing’s Family, right,” Qing Chen said, “All the clans behind the other candidates will benefit from this incident, won’t they?”

“It’s not that simple,” the Shadow laughed, “Having the Qing’s Family in-fight also aligns with other consortiums’ interests. So blindly guessing is useless, I can’t possibly kill everyone in the world. Killing all the neurotoxin experts back then led to regrets and self-blame. Xiao Chen, I’m not a good person, but neither am I a bad one.”

Qing Chen nodded, “Understood.”

The Shadow looked at the delicate tombstone in the sunflower garden and said gently, “I should go keep her company, but I must take some people down with me, that’s what makes it interesting.”

At midnight, Qing Chen had Zard pack all the plants for transplantation.

This time-travel taught him many secrets, and he learned about some hatreds.

If given the chance, if he finds the culprit behind this poisoning case, he will make sure they pay.

Time resets to zero.

Return.

The world plunged into darkness.

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