Chapter 4: Old Man

At his question, Mo Fan's mouth, which was rapidly devouring the spider meat, quickly paralyzed. He had completely forgot about washing the blood away.

...

"Emh...I-I..." Mo Fan didn't know what to say. He couldn't certainly say to the old man that he had just killed a man.

"Did you kill someone perhaps?" Said the old man as he looked the boy with a serious face.

"I-I..." that question put Mo Fan in a tough spot, he was so nervous in the moment.

"Hahahaha, i'm just joking boy" the old man chuckled "You take things too seriously, youngster"

But Mo Fan's face still didn't change: he remember this evening's facts and thus sadness returned to his expression.

Seeing this, the old man couldn't help, but say "Boy, what happened?"

"N-nothing" Mo Fan replied to the old man as he shivered. He was still terrorized by what he had done this night.

"Don't play with me! A kid like you doesn't have as much blood as that even in his whole body!" The old man wasn't so easy to deceive, "Now tell me what happened!"

"I-I..." but Mo Fan still stuttered to reveal him the truth, when a hug caught his little body "Don't worry, boy"

"You're safe now" the old man said as he hugged the little boy, who immediately started crying "M-my mommy!!"

"My dad killed her!" Mo Fan's tears continued to fall out of his eyes to the old man's pants, wetting them a little "Then I killed him!!"

"Sob...sob... I just wanted to protect mommy!! I didn't want to become a monster!!"

And just like Mo Fan was crying, the heaven started doing the same, a heavy rain falling upon the Forest. Mo Fan's tears were just like the water that was falling from the cloud: endless.

Even the sky was sad for the boy.

"Cry, boy" The old man put a hand behind the blonde haired kid's head "You've been trough a lot, you need it"

The man let the boy exhaust all of his tears on his clothes...

...

Soon, no more water came out of Mo Fan's eyes as his lacrimal glands didn't have any left "Old man, do you think I am a bad person?"

"Don't even think about it! You're a wonderfull kid who just wanted to save his loved ones! You're the bravest kid i know!" The old man said, hugging him even more tightly.

Even the heavens now stopped their cry as the pain stopped and a show of sunrays began, one of them coincidentally hitting the old man and Mo Fan's spot.

"So I'm not a monster?" Mo Fan asked with a glance of hope to the old man. He just wanted to hear that he wasn't a monster, that was his only hope for now.

"No, you're not a monster, boy" The old man said with a genuine smile on his face as he rubbed Mo Fan's golden hair.

"Thanks, old..man" Mo Fan said, his words fading away as he fell asleep: the weariness that he accumulated throughout all the day was hitting him now.

...

"Mommy... where are you going? Mommy!" Mo Fan abruptly woke up from his slumber as he had a nightmare.

Still a little sleepy, Mo Fan looked at his hands: they were clean! All the blood had totally disappeared!

"How..." Mo Fan started looking around himself. He was on a bed in a room that he never saw before in his life "Where do I am?"

"Wasn't I talking with a old man before..." Mo Fan couldn't help himself but wonder, something instantly coming to his his head "Wait! Did that old man perhaps kidnap me?"

"Shit, I shoudn't have trust him that easi-" Mo Fan was saying, before the wooden door of the class opened, a little and gracious girl appearing "Where did dad- Waah!"

"You're awake!" The little girl said, pointing at Mo Fan in a not very polite way "Dad, the kid you brought home woke up!"

And the girl ran somewhere in the building, making Mo Fan wonder "Is that the old man's daughter?"

"He said she was loud when he was talking to himself, but I didn't expect her to be to this point..." he continued to wonder, before the old man with the little girl sitting on his shoulder appeared at the door threshold "Good morning, boy"

"How are you feeling?" The old man said always with a smile on his face. He seemed really happy.

"Fine, but..." the blonde haired kid said "Why did you bring me to your house?"

"Well, i surely couldn't let a weak kid like you alone in a forest as dangerous as that, could I?" the old man said, the little girl on his shoulder playing with his grazie beard.

"Well, you're right, but..." Mo Fan said, sadness drawing on his facendo "...now I have to return to my house"

"You can't, boy"

"Why?" Mo Fan asked, he was starting to think that he had really been kidnapped.

"Because your house has been taken by the village's lord and you-" the old man explained to the blonde haired boy, before the little girl on his shoulder interrupted him "Haha, you're officially homeless now"

"Hey, Qing'er, don't be so rude" the old man immediately scolded her, who immediately puffed her cheeks in a cute way.

"Sorry for her, boy, she's just a little brat"

"Hey" the little girl puffed her cheeks, offended by her father's words.

"Yeah..." but Mo Fan couldn't seem to even put a fake smile on, his face overwhelmed by absolute sadness "But just where am I gonna live from now?"

"Well, if you really don't have anywhere to stay..." the old man began as he scratched his head "You can live with us if you want..."

"Really?" Mo Fan genuinely asked.

"You see, my wife died last year, so only me and my daughter are left so an additional member won't hurt" the old man said with a smile on his face "So, what do you think about my offer?"

...to be continued

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Remember to check my other work "Uniqueness Emperor"