"Boss——"
In a wooden cottage in the mountains, Chen Mo was still quietly practicing meditation when suddenly the door was flung open. In a sky blue long dress, Chu Ruomo smiled and rushed in.
Chen Mo slightly opened his eyes, his gaze carrying a hint of resentment.
"Chu Ruomeng, although this is not my home, acting like this is too impolite, isn't it?"
Chen Mo couldn't help but roll his eyes, as he had to wait for Zhao Qingling and Zhao Hu to be treated. Therefore, Chen Mo stayed in a nearby wooden house near Chu Ruomeng's bamboo house.
"Hey hey, don't be angry, I'm just excited. Your two friends are almost healed; the woman has regained consciousness. Older sister wants you to go and take a look."
"Chu Ruomeng smiled and explained cheerfully."
Hearing this, Chen Mo's face lit up with joy, and he excitedly stood up and followed Chu Ruomeng all the way to Chu Ruoyi's bamboo house.
As he entered, Chen Mo saw a woman who somewhat resembled Chu Ruomeng.
Chu Ruoyi
As soon as she saw Chen Mo, Chu Ruoyi maintained her aloof expression, giving him a cold glance and then ignoring him completely.
This made Chen Mo feel a bit confused, and he even suspected that Chu Ruoyi might be suffering from mental illness.
Since the first time they met, Chu Ruoyi had been like this, greeting him with inappropriate gestures, and then indifferent treatment.
In the half a month that Chen Mo had lived there, Chu Ruoyi had also sneaked into his room a few nights, with ulterior motives and fiery passion... but then, just like that, she turned back into her current aloof and cold self.
This is also understandable why Chen Mo suspected that she might be suffering from mental illness.
Passing Chu Ruoyi, Chen Mo saw the young girl sitting on the bed beside her. Although many years had passed, Chen Mo recognized her identity at a glance.
Zhao Qingling
Compared to their first meeting after a long time, Zhao Qingling at this moment looks almost the same as she did three hundred years ago, just with a few more mature expressions.
Especially those big, watery eyes, which had become more full of weariness. Her eyebrows had a hint of delicacy.
During their reunion, she was covered in dirt, with a gaunt body and bony frame. After a month of recuperation here, her body had been cleaned up, and she was able to consume enough nutrients every day. She had gained some weight, but she still looked very thin.
"Master, Master"
Upon seeing Chen Mo, Zhao Qingling jumped down from the bed with excitement and tears welling up in her eyes. "Plop," she directly knelt down on the ground.
"No need to be like this."
Chen Mo quickly stepped forward to help Zhao Qingling get up.
"I want, I want. Many years ago, it was you who saved our family. Now that my brother and I are in trouble, it is also thanks to your life-saving grace……"
Zhao Qingling spoke with emotion, then raised her eyes to gaze at Chen Mo blankly. Her right hand moved gently, hesitantly reaching out to touch his cheek, but she seemed a little too scared to do so.
Chu Ruomeng had been watching from the side since she came in. Seeing this, she interfered by running over and placing Zhao Qingling's hand on Chen Mo's cheek.
Zhao Qingling was startled.
Chen Mo was also startled.
"You wanted to touch him, don't be shy. The boss is very generous."
"Chu Ruomeng said cheerfully."
Chen Mo winced at the corner of his mouth but said nothing.
Zhao Qingling blushed and retracted her hand, "I, I just wanted to confirm if I was dreaming."
Three hundred years ago, the three members of the Zhao family personally witnessed the young master lying in a pool of blood without any sign of life. Later, they saw a dragon dance around him before sealing him inside a golden casket.
Little did they expect that the one who had died would, alive and well, stand in front of them three hundred years later. It's no wonder she felt like this was a dream.
"Don't worry, this isn't a dream."
Chen Mo smiled and gently touched Zhao Qingling's hair. Afterward, he remembered something and curiously asked, "I've heard that you were doing well at the Heavenly Dragon Empire's Wu Sir, so why did you resign your job and come north to this place…?"
The talents of the Zhao siblings were not as great as those of Liu Wuji, Zhang Long, and others, but if they had continued at the Ministry of Martial Arts, their achievements would undoubtedly have been no less than those of the dual heroes of the empire, Pei Jiangnan.
However, once they came north, everything changed dramatically, from being high and mighty to their current pitiful state.
These things, Chen Mo had wanted to ask long ago, but since Zhao Qingling was gravely ill and Zhao Hu, though appearing fine, was not mentally sound, there was no point in asking.
"Alas, let's talk about it for a long time."
Zhao Qingling sighed, "As they say, when parents are alive, one should not travel far. After spending decades in the empire, our mother passed away naturally. Therefore, we found our father…"
"Father?"
Chen Mo raised his eyebrows, "Father Zhao is a gambler. He took the money our mother needed for her illness and used it to gamble. When he lost all his money, he even considered selling Zhao Qingling to pay off his debts."
Chen Mo disapproved of such people and had cut off ties with Zhao Hu long ago.
Zhao Hu also acted accordingly.
As if she could see through Chen Mo's thoughts, Zhao Qingling helplessly said, "After cutting off ties with our father, we haven't had any contact with him. Later, we heard that our father was unable to pay his gambling debts and had one of his hands chopped off. He barely escaped death and saved his life."
According to Zhao Qingling, after his arm was chopped off, Zhao Tian had become much more sober and no longer gambled. He lived a simple life without causing any trouble.
Later, when Zhao Qingling's mother passed away, and the siblings learned of their father's serious illness, though they harbored resentment, they were still their biological father. So, they thought of taking good care of him during his last days.
During his final moments, Zhao Tian revealed his own background. He was a collateral branch of the Zhao family from Yongzhou. Due to the decline of the family, they had moved to Qingzhou's Heavenly Dragon Empire.
However, his biggest wish in life was to return to his original family. Therefore, he hoped that after his death, his children would take his remains back to the Zhao family in Yongzhou. This way, he could be considered as having returned home after falling.
Although the Zhao siblings did not like this father, they ultimately decided to agree to fulfill the old man's last wish.
However, what they did not expect was that going north to fulfill their father's wish would be the start of their nightmare.
When they returned to their ancestral home, their original intention was simply to inter their father's ashes there. However, when Zhao Hu's talent caught the attention of the then patriarch of the Zhao family, he used force to capture both of them. Moreover, he threatened Zhao Qingling's life to coerce Zhao Hu into submission.
Reluctantly, Zhao Hu became the cauldron for the Zhao family's creation of beasts.
Looking back on these years' experiences, Zhao Qingling unconsciously clenched her little hand, and tears threatened to roll down her eyes.
"It was me, it was my fault. If it hadn't been for me, my brother would have definitely broken free from the control of the Zhao family… I'm too useless, I've dragged down my brother"
Zhao Qingling said with full of self-reproach.
Chen Mo gently patted Zhao Qingling's shoulder. Although he couldn't think of an appropriate way to console her, after pondering for a long time, he could only say one thing out of his mouth, "Everything has passed, in the future, I will protect you."
