At the same time.
Chen Ling walked slowly behind Chen Yan, his gaze passing through the crowd of enforcers and locking onto Li Xiuchun.
The moment she saw him, Li Xiuchun's pupils contracted again!
"You... it's you!!" Li Xiuchun struggled like a madwoman to break free from the ropes, but the enforcers held her firmly in place. "You should be dead!! You should have died long ago!! Calamity!! You're a Calamity!!!"
Li Xiuchun's roars echoed through the night. Chen Ling stood quietly in place, his eyes filled with complexity as he looked at her.
"A-Yan... A-Yan," he called softly to Chen Yan beside him. "Go wait over there... I'll handle this."
Chen Yan stared blankly at the frantic Li Xiuchun, snapped out of his daze by Chen Ling's voice. After a long silence, he nodded...
He walked alone to a dark corner, hugging his knees and curling into a ball, his body trembling uncontrollably.
"What's going on? Can't even keep her mouth shut?"
He let out a long sigh and comforted Chen Ling, "Kid, don't take it to heart... Your mom's gone mad. She doesn't even know what she's saying."
"For public safety, we'll send them to a mental hospital for stabilization. There's still hope they'll regain their senses."
"Of course, during this time, you can visit them whenever you want."
He gave the other enforcers a look, and they immediately understood, speeding up the process of transferring the couple to headquarters.
Chen Ling watched this scene calmly, unsure of how he felt. These two people had raised the original owner, only to take his life. From the original owner's perspective, their debts 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 harbor much resentment. To a large extent, it was because he truly loved his younger brother, Chen Yan.
If Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan had explained everything to the original owner properly, he might have willingly given his life to save his brother.
Unfortunately, the original owner had trusted them, but they hadn't trusted him... simply because he was a child they had picked up.
"You're Chen Ling, right?" A figure approached Chen Ling. "Where were you just now?"
Chen Ling turned around, seeming dazed for a moment before replying hoarsely, "Sir... what happened here?"
"I'm the one asking the questions here." The enforcer frowned slightly, but considering what the boy was going through, he hesitated and added, "A Calamity broke into your house and scared your parents... Luckily, they didn't resist. Don't worry, they're not in immediate danger."
"Oh, okay."
Chen Ling seemed to snap out of his daze. "I took my brother out to practice today."
"Practice what?"
"Traditional opera."
Chen Ling raised his hand, holding a neatly folded opera robe in his arms.
Seeing this, the enforcer's wariness eased slightly. After all, it wasn't common for someone to carry an opera robe around, so he believed most of Chen Ling's story. Still, he followed procedure and asked:
"Where did you practice? Did anyone see you?"
"At the wasteland at the east end of Frost Street... No one saw us. My brother's too shy to sing in front of people, so we couldn't practice near home."
The enforcer nodded. "It's not safe outside lately. Don't wander off. If you notice anything suspicious, come find me... My name is Jiang Qin. I patrol this area every day."
"Okay."
"By the way, where's your brother?"
"He... he got scared by Mom and hid over there." Chen Ling pointed to a dark corner where a small figure was curled up, seemingly crying.
Jiang Qin glanced over and nodded slightly.
Just then, as if remembering something, he asked:
"Wait, how many children are in your family?"
"Two."
Jiang Qin's eyes narrowed. "Two?"
Hearing the subtle change in Jiang Qin's tone, Chen Ling's heart sank. With his years of experience in acting, he was highly sensitive to such nuances in dialogue. He steadied himself and replied innocently, "Why do you ask?"
"The records say your family has two children, and you say the same." Jiang Qin spoke slowly. "But last night, we ran into your parents at the mass grave. They said they were there to pay respects to their son...
If both of your parents' sons are alive, then who were they paying respects to?"
The atmosphere froze.
"Oh, that's what you're referring to." Chen Ling's mind raced, and a look of understanding appeared on his face. "Many years ago, after Mom gave birth to A-Yan, she was pregnant again... But her health wasn't good at the time, and the baby fell ill and died just a few days after birth. Mom and Dad had to bury him in the mountains. Every year on his birthday, they go to pay their respects.
When this happened, A-Yan was only two years old and didn't understand anything. I only remember bits and pieces."
The last sentence was Chen Ling's safeguard in case Jiang Qin decided to separate him and Chen Yan for individual questioning. This way, even if Jiang Qin became suspicious and wanted to interrogate Chen Yan, Chen Ling's story would still hold up.
Of course, he could also use the excuse of "being too young at the time" to avoid further questioning from the enforcers.
"A stillborn child... No wonder it's not in the records."
As it turned out, Chen Ling had overthought things. The enforcer named Jiang Qin wasn't nearly as vigilant as Chen Ling had feared. He nodded, jotted down a note, and then turned to leave.
Chen Ling let out a long mental sigh...
He hadn't expected that on the night he returned, Li Xiuchun and Chen Tan had also gone to the mass grave and been spotted by the enforcers... It had almost blown his cover.
"Oh, one more thing!" Jiang Qin turned back again.
Chen Ling: "..."
Will this ever end?!
Just as Chen Ling's heart leapt into his throat again, Jiang Qin pulled a letter from his pocket and handed it to him.
"We found this on Chen Tan. It's a summons from the enforcers. Report to headquarters tomorrow morning. Don't be late."
With that, Jiang Qin left—this time for real.
As the enforcers departed, Frost Street returned to its quiet state. Chen Ling walked to the dark corner, his emotions in turmoil.
"A-Yan..."
Chen Ling looked at Chen Yan, who was hanging his head low, unsure of what to say.
At this point, even if Chen Yan were the most oblivious person in the world, he would have realized that the Calamity that attacked their home was Chen Ling himself... Although Chen Ling had been taken over by the "audience" at the time, he didn't know how to explain it to Chen Yan.
Chen Ling, who was usually so skilled at crafting "lines," found himself at a rare loss for words.
"Brother," Chen Yan said softly, "I'm tired..."
Chen Ling was stunned. He hadn't expected Chen Yan to say just these three words.
No anger, no questions, no confusion... Chen Yan's chestnut eyes looked at Chen Ling, as clear and calm as always.
Chen Ling stared for a long time, realizing he couldn't decipher what the boy was thinking. He gently bent down and ruffled Chen Yan's hair.
"If you're tired, then sleep... I'll watch over you."
Their once warm home now had two gaping holes, and the living room was in shambles. If any thieves or burglars passed by, it would be a shame not to take something.
Chen Yan returned to his familiar bed, silently curling up under the blanket. Chen Ling walked to his side, leaning against the broken wall as he slowly sat down.
Through the shattered roof, he could see the endless blue auroras dancing in the night sky, like soft ribbons covering the heavens. This was the first time Chen Ling had quietly admired the auroras of this world. It seemed that at the sight of them, all the noise in his mind vanished, leaving only eternal peace.
"Brother, are you cold?" Chen Yan's voice came from under the blanket.
"No."
"Okay..."
Chen Yan fell silent, and after a while, only the sound of steady breathing remained in Chen Ling's ears.
After an unknown amount of time, Chen Ling's eyes gradually closed...
He fell asleep.