Chapter 15: It's You!

Meanwhile.

Chen Ling walked slowly behind him, his gaze passing through the many enforcers to meet Li Xiuchun's.

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

"You... it's you!!" Li Xiuchun tried to break free from the ropes like a madwoman, but was held down by other enforcers. "You should be dead!! You should have died long ago!! Calamity!! You are a Calamity!!!"

Li Xiuchun's roar echoed in the night. Chen Ling stood quietly in place, his eyes filled with complexity as he looked at her.

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

Chen Yan stared blankly at the raving Li Xiuchun, brought back to his senses by Chen Ling's voice. After a long silence, he nodded...

He walked alone into the darkness of a deserted corner, curled into a ball with his arms around his knees, his body trembling uncontrollably.

"What's going on, can't you even gag them properly?"

An enforcer glared at his colleague, immediately bending down to pick up the white cloth and stuff it back into Li Xiuchun's mouth.

Then he sighed and comforted, "Kid, don't take it to heart... your mother is already insane; she doesn't even know what she's saying."

"For public safety, we will send them to a mental hospital for stable treatment. There is still hope for them to regain their sanity."

"Of course, you can visit them at any time during this period."

He gave the other enforcers a look, and they understood, speeding up the transfer of the two to headquarters.

Chen Ling watched this scene calmly, unable to describe his feelings. These two had raised the original owner and then taken his life; from the original owner's perspective, their grievances had long been settled.

Chen Ling had inherited the original owner's memories and emotions. He could vaguely sense that the original owner didn't actually have much resentment, largely because he truly loved his younger brother, Chen Yan.

If Li Xiuchun and her husband had explained everything clearly to the original owner, he would have been willing to trade his own life to save his brother.

It was just a pity that the original owner trusted them, but they didn't trust him... simply because he was an adopted child.

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

Chen Ling turned back, stunned for a moment as if lost in thought, before speaking hoarsely, "Sir... what happened here?"

"I'm the one asking you." He frowned, but thinking of what the youth was going through, he added after a moment of hesitation, "A Calamity broke into your house and scared your parents... Fortunately, they didn't resist. Don't worry, there's no immediate danger to their lives."

"Oh, oh."

Chen Ling acted as if waking from a dream. "I took my brother out to practice today."

"Practice what?"

"Traditional theater."

Chen Ling raised his hand; a neatly folded opera robe was held in his arms.

Seeing this, the vigilance in the enforcer's eyes relaxed slightly. After all, ordinary people wouldn't carry opera costumes when going out, so he believed most of what Chen Ling said about practicing, but still asked according to procedure:

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

"Just that wasteland at the east end of Frost Street... No one saw us. My brother is just thin-skinned and doesn't dare to sing in crowded places, otherwise, we would have practiced right in front of our house."

The enforcer nodded. "It's not safe outside lately, don't run around. If you find anything suspicious, remember to find me... My name is Jiang Qin, and I patrol this neighborhood every day."

"Okay."

"Right, where is your brother?"

"He... he was just scared by Mom, he's hiding over there." Chen Ling pointed to the dark corner, where a small figure was curled up, as if crying.

Jiang Qin glanced over and nodded slightly.

Just then, he seemed to think of something:

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

"Two."

Jiang Qin narrowed his eyes. "Two?"

Hearing the subtle change in Jiang Qin's tone, Chen Ling's heart sank. Having performed for many years, he was very sensitive to such subtle differences in lines. He immediately steadied his mind and asked with feigned innocence, "What's wrong?"

"The files say there are two children in your family, and you say the same." Jiang Qin spoke slowly. "But last night we ran into your parents at the mass grave, and they said they were there to pay respects to their son...

If both your sons are alive, then who were they paying respects to?"

The atmosphere suddenly froze.

"Oh, you mean that." Chen Ling's thoughts moved like lightning, and a look of realization appeared on his face. "Many years ago, after Mom and Dad had A-Yan, Mom was pregnant again... but Mom's health wasn't good at the time, and the baby died a few days after birth. Mom and Dad had to bury him in the back mountain. Later, every year on his birthday, they would go to pay their respects.

When that happened, A-Yan was only two years old and didn't understand anything, and I only remember a vague outline."

The last sentence was a contingency Chen Ling had prepared to prevent Jiang Qin from separating him and Chen Yan for interrogation. This way, even if Jiang Qin became suspicious and wanted to question Chen Yan, he could reasonably explain it away.

Of course, he could also use the excuse of "I was too young at the time" to avoid further questioning by the enforcers.

"A child who died young... No wonder it wasn't recorded in the files."

As it turned out, Chen Ling had overthought it. This enforcer named Jiang Qin didn't have such strong vigilance. He nodded, made a note of it, and turned to leave.

Chen Ling let out a long sigh of relief in his heart...

He hadn't expected that on the night he returned, Li Xiuchun and her husband had also gone to the mass grave and been caught red-handed by the enforcers... He had almost been exposed.

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

Chen Ling: ...

Is there no end to this!

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

"We found this on Chen Tan. It's an enlistment letter from the enforcers for you. Report to headquarters tomorrow morning, don't be late."

After saying that, Jiang Qin left, and this time, he was really gone.

As the enforcers left, Frost Street returned to its cold, quiet state. Chen Ling walked to the dark corner of the street, his mood complex.

"A-Yan..."

Chen Ling looked at Chen Yan, whose head was bowed, not knowing what to say.

At this point, even if Chen Yan were foolish, he would know that the Calamity that attacked their home was himself... Although he had been usurped by the "audience" at the time, he didn't know how to explain it to Chen Yan.

Chen Ling, who was usually best at weaving "lines," was uncharacteristically at a loss for words.

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

Chen Ling was stunned. He never expected that Chen Yan would only say these three words.

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

Chen Ling stared for a long time, realizing he couldn't see through what the youth was thinking. He bent down gently and stroked his hair.

"If you're tired, sleep... Brother will watch over you."

Their once cozy home now had two large holes, and the living room was in ruins. If any thieves or burglars passed by, it would be a disservice to their profession not to take something.

Chen Yan returned to the familiar bed and silently curled into a ball under the covers. Chen Ling walked to his side, leaned his back against the broken wall, and sat down slowly.

Through the broken roof, he could see endless blue auroras dancing in the night, like soft ribbons covering the sky. This was the first time Chen Ling had quietly watched the auroras of this world; it seemed that the moment he saw them, all the distracting thoughts in his heart vanished, leaving only eternal peace.

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

"Not cold."

"Oh..."

Chen Yan didn't speak again. After a long while, only the sound of even breathing lingered in Chen Ling's ears.

I don't know how much time passed, but Chen Ling's eyes also gradually closed...

He fell asleep.