NOVEL NEXT Chapter 193: Past Events
Many years ago, when Yibei was still in elementary school, urban legends only existed in stories, usually by word of mouth. After dark, the area around his school was still bustling and lively.
At nine o’clock at night, the lights in the canteen were still on. An old man and his wife sat there as they stared at the two attractive young men who appeared in school.
One of them was wearing a rather flamboyant floral shirt with many buttons undone, which was popular at the time for “bad boys.”
The other man was the complete opposite, with a gentle, jade-like appearance and soothing eyes.
The two men were sitting on a bench in the canteen, sharing an orange soda.
The two old people envied them.
“Bai, listen to me; you don’t want children. Not with your lifestyle.”
Bai Kai downed the orange soda and glanced at Lu Ming, rolling his eyes.
“You can’t control your penis! Something is going to happen to you sooner or later! Remember that time with the zombie nurse, or the policewoman, or the teacher?”
“Oh, now you’re telling me that little rascal is hard to raise. Interesting!”
Lu Ming glared at Bai Kai, kicked him from under the desk, and said, “You shouldn’t be talking.”
Bai Kai winced in pain and pouted, “You always tell me how true love is better, but whenever you and I are together, you have everything but true love! All you do is babble on about me being a slut! Forget it. Why don’t you work with Liu Wei? You wouldn’t have so many troubles if you did.”
Liu Wei is a lone psychic who, alongside Lu Ming and Bai Kai, solved the first urban legend incident in Huacheng. Plus, he is also a nightclub owner.
After dealing with the urban legend, he offered both of them work at the nightclub due to their looks and figures, and they didn’t even need to sell their bodies.
Bai Kai, of course, happily accepted the offer. Lu Ming wanted to take it, but he was knocked unconscious all of a sudden and found himself with a child.
Lu Ming was silent for a while and smiled: “Bai, I don’t want to hunt urban legends anymore.”
“What the hell? What else are you going to do then?” Bai Kai was stunned. “Wait! You’re going to tell me that you’ll wait for that woman to die, then you’ll work for him, right? And we’ll pole dance together, for old time’s sake?”
“I’m not you,” Lu Ming chuckled. “I want to be a chef. It’s in our blood, I think.”
“In your blood? Are you planning to open a restaurant for urban legends?”
“So what if I did?”
Bai Kai opened his lips to retort but could only force out a simple, “You’re… You’ll end up killing yourself.”
“It’s risky, I admit it,” he said, clasping Bai Kai’s hands. “If I do kill myself one day, please help me take care of Yibei.”
“What? I’m no father; you said it yourself! I-I can’t be responsible for his future! T-tell me now! What do you want him to be? T-the strongest psychic to ever exist?”
Lu Ming shook his head.
“Somebody powerful! A billionaire!”
He shook his head again and said, “I just want him to be healthy and live a happy life.”
Bai Kai sighed and rummaged in his pocket for a cigarette.
“I could do all the things I mentioned, but that is the hardest thing to do.”
“What?”
Bai Kai glared at Lu Ming and said, “You’re fucking digging me a hole! How am I supposed to give him a happy life?”
Lu Ming smiled warmly and patted his shoulder wordlessly.
“W-what are you trying to do? I’m warning you.”
Lu Ming simply laughed again: “Nothing. I’m just wishing you luck.”
“Argh, I’m not done with my questions,” Bai Kai interrupted. “What do I do if Master brings that Flower over to find her fiancé?”
“I will tell him that I gave birth to a daughter, and they cannot marry or bear a child together.”
“Is it good to be lying like that? If Master knows about it, he’ll rip you apart.”
“Can’t rip me apart when I’m dead.”
It was silent between the both of them, and Bai Kai was the first to speak.
“Aren’t you scared I’ll end up getting your son killed?”
“You won’t.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Well, I do, because…” As he spoke, the tiny baby in his arms twisted and woke up from his nap.
The baby’s eyes were big and watery, and as soon as his eyes laid upon Bai Kai, the baby beamed.
“Huggie! Huggie!”
In an instant, Bai Kai felt that his heart was about to melt, and he snatched Yibei out of his father’s hands and walked towards the canteen.
“Tell me! What do you want to eat? I’ll buy this entire canteen for you!”
“Bai! He’s just a baby!”
“Shut up! He’s our son now!”
“Ice cream!” Baby Yibei shouted.
“Anything else?”
“That. That. That!”
“Alright.” Bai Kai smiled and turned to the canteen owner. “I’ll take all the things he chose and put them in a bag for me, please.”
Lu Ming was dumbfounded at his sudden change of demeanour. All of a sudden, it seemed like Bai Kai was Yibei’s father and not him.
In the deep mountains, hundreds of kilometres away from Huacheng, a figure surrounded by silver light rushed through the forest and stopped on top of a large rock.
The light dissipated from his body, and he sighed: “Strange, why did I suddenly remember something from so long ago?”
“But! Yibei was so cute back then! Now, he doesn’t even acknowledge me anymore!”
He looked towards Huacheng, a hundred miles away, caressing Ifrit’s core in his hand.
Don’t blame me for not abiding by our agreement. This is Yibei’s own choice. If I don’t help him, somebody else will.
He wanted to help him choose something that suited him and a power that he could call his own.
Ah, you probably never expected the world to become like this. I’m afraid it’ll be hard for him to live a happy and healthy life.
In fact, before going to the Gobi Desert, he was still hesitant, but he needed to consult his master.
…
“Regarding your godson, Bai Kai, there is an ancient saying: You can only appreciate knowledge after living all your life inside a cave, looking for shadows. You see, the meaning of this is to…”
“I get it!” Bai Kai interrupted. “If Yibei fully embraces our world and becomes knowledgeable and strong enough to fend for himself, he’ll be able to lead a happy life!”
“That’s not-”
I get it now! Thank you! I thought keeping him oblivious was the best choice, but thank you for enlightening me.”
“That’s…”
To be honest, his master wanted Yibei to come over to his cave and cultivate his potential powers before leaving the cave with new knowledge of the world, but before he could say anything, Bai Kai was already long gone.