Chapter 2: First kill, break away from mortals (2/2)

The young boy, having gone through all this, collapsed to the ground. His body was limp and exhausted.

Wendy felt dizzy and her vision blurred.

With her body growing colder, she knew that her sands were running out. A faint smile was forced on her pale face.

In a soft voice, she whispered, "Quentin, come here please."

Hearing this, Quentin Lee rushed to her side and held her in arms with trembling hands.

Wendy embraced him tightly, without sparing a glance at the man lying beside them.

With no hesitation, she covered Quentin's eyes with her hand and comforted him, "Good boy, don't be afraid."

"Let it be. Now it should be better." She murmured. "Hey, look up and let me take a good look at you one more time."

Quentin was so sensitive that he immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Mom, don't leave me behind..." As he looked up at his mother, tears were streaming down his face, and he was choking with sobs. "I have no one but you..."

Wendy's vision grew increasingly blurry. "Mom was too weak and had made you suffer."

She gazed out the window at the wind and snow, speaking softly. "From now on, you need to stand upright, hold your indomitable spirit, and be dauntless."

"You will get married and have children. Mom will always be watching you from heaven."

"Move on with your life, enjoy the seas and mountains, and explore the splendor of the world."

With a final breath, her hand on Quentin's back fell to the floor.

He cried out in agony, "Mom!!!"

There was no response no matter how many times he called out.

Quentin sat numbly in his mother's embrace, muttering to himself, "Mom's gone...I have no family left."

His eyes reddened, where the tears flowing uncontrollably.

Without a word, he only gently caressed his mother's face, as if trying to etch her image into his memory.

Then, the boy knocked once again on the shop with white cloth hanging outside.

The plump shopkeeper impatiently opened the door, and saw it was the boy who had visited not long ago.

In a surge of anger, he yelled. "Why are you here again? Didn't you come during the day?"

"Listen, people doing this business are always acting with integrity. I didn't overcharge you for those ten copper coins!"

Head dropped and barefoot in the wind and snow, the boy said with a hoarse voice. "My mom has also passed away. Can you help me move her over here?"

By hearing this, The shopkeeper felt that the words were sticking in his throat, and his anger dissipated, replaced by deep sorrow.

He moved aside, pulled the boy into the room, and help him put on an old, unwanted coat.

"Get yourself warm up first. I'll go now." Choking back tears, he said. "Jesus, This is too hard for you. If you don't mind, you can work for me as an assistant."

"I won't promise you much, but you won't be starving at least." He continued.

Overwhelmed by the shopkeeper's sudden kindness, Quentin, who had stopped crying, squatted down and wailed.

Feeling the heat from the fire in front of him, he slowly knelt to the ground, kowtow heavily towards the cremator. "Mom, I will never forget your nurturing grace. I will live a meaningful life!"

In the sky above, Sam, dressed in grey, watched silently. After reading the boy's fortune by pinching his fingers a few times, He sighed, "Such is fate. Even for me, destiny cannot be changed."