diskusbooks Chapter 24 Farewell Before Leaving for England
Chapter 24 Farewell Before Leaving for England
On a late morning during the holiday following the graduation exams.
Inside the courtyard of the Gangfeng family mansion, bright sunlight shone in the center, where carp swam happily in the pond, creating a serene and peaceful atmosphere that captivated all who entered.
Just then, a black fire butterfly flew into the courtyard, perched on a tree branch, and after a moment flapped its wings and flew towards Ming's room.
Inside the room, Ming lay on his side on the bed, his eyes filled with exhaustion. He held a letter that Wu Yilang had sent a day earlier and was quietly reading it. Soon after, Yan Die flew into the room and slowly flew towards him.
"Oh, it seems to have been successful. So the things created using the [Black Flame Demon - Magic] are not limited to weapons after all. It's a pity that they still seem to be quite different from real living beings."
Ming sighed, slowly stretched out his hand and opened his palm. The Flame Butterfly landed and transformed into a ball of fire, entering his body.
Then Ming closed his eyes and imagined the scene he saw when he released the Flame Butterfly.
After experiencing the memories of the Flame Butterfly flying away that morning, Ming opened his eyes, shook his head, and sighed, "It's not enough. Something with only simple programs can't be used as a clone."
Then Ming got out of bed, still holding the letter from his father, put on his slippers, and walked away, sighing at his monstrous state:
"Haaah~" Ming rubbed his eyes, yawned casually, and muttered to himself:
"I haven't slept for almost two months now, and I'm really not used to it. I've been optimizing my brain's cortex by taking advantage of my physical convenience... Oh, it's probably just an instinctive habit I've developed from before."
Because he was always affected by the negative emotions in the [Spiritual Knot Essence] when he slept, and often had nightmares, during the test he found that his body was repaired at will, just like a [Spiritual Crystal]. So Ming used his spiritual power to optimize the nerve cells in his cerebral cortex that controlled his sleep, which caused him to hardly ever feel sleepy, but he should be used to yawning.
Fun fact: The nerve cells in the cerebral cortex produce a feeling of fatigue after sustained excitement, resulting in inhibition. However, Ming's highly assimilated body and spiritual crystal mechanism optimizes this process; although fatigue still occurs, the amount of fatigue experienced each time is extremely small.
Thinking of this, Ming walked to the door of the room, casually put Wu Yilang's letter into his pocket, put a black glove on his right hand, put a medical eye patch on his left eye, and then walked out of the room.
Stepping out of the room, sunlight shone on Ming's pale face, and the boy couldn't help but mutter to himself:
"I'll be flying to England soon, right? To be honest... I'm really going to miss this place. Maybe it's because of the memories, but it's all worth it to become stronger and see her again!"
At that moment, Ming's eyes became incredibly resolute, as if a flame was burning within him the deepest beliefs and determination.
Just then, a servant hired by the Gangfeng family stepped forward and respectfully bowed to Ming.
Ming nodded slightly, acknowledging the greeting. Then, without hesitation and with a blank expression, he issued the command:
"I'm leaving for a while now, so please help me pack my luggage. Also, remember to tell Kotaro when he wakes up that I'm going to England and that he should take good care of himself, okay?"
"Yes, sir." The servant replied without the slightest hesitation.
Seeing this, Ming nodded, walked out of the courtyard, and headed outside.
Following the path in front of his house, Ming walked onto the commercial street, seemingly wandering aimlessly.
Ming gradually stopped in front of a flower shop. Looking at the flowers inside, he paused for a moment before skillfully walking inside.
"Boss, the usual, please give me a flower wreath, thank you."
As Ming walked in, he called out from behind the door, and the florist immediately came over upon hearing the sound.
The florist smiled and nodded, saying, "Okay, please go and get it for me, it'll be ready soon." He then turned to get the flower wreath.
After the florist left, Ming waited quietly by himself. His gaze fell on the flowers displayed in the shop, and he noticed the white tulips placed unnoticed in the corner. His expression changed slightly, and after thinking for a moment, he said to the florist who was getting another wreath:
"Boss, could you also pack up those tulips over there for me?"
"Okay," the boss replied.
After a while, Ming walked out of the flower shop with two bags on his face and then ran straight to a certain place without hesitation.
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!" After jogging for ten minutes, Ming arrived at the gate of this extremely remote cemetery in the city and walked in with great familiarity.
Find the very last column, in front of the cenotaph added a week ago, skillfully and tenderly take out the lilies that were placed there yesterday, insert the tulips that were recently bought, place the wreath, and calmly kneel on one knee.
"I'm sorry... Sawa has come to bother you again today. Although I know you might not be able to hear me in the [Neighboring World], since Uncle Iwahira and Aunt Saori really gave up half a month ago, they might find it hard to believe the truth. But in the end, they still found this cemetery and built a cenotaph, and then..."
Ming patiently recounted the story, mentioning that Uncle Iwahira had casually mentioned the cenotaph, saying that he would come every day to deliver flowers and chat, just like when they were still students. Unfortunately, the person who originally spoke was no longer there, and the one who had started recounting the story had become the one who was now patiently listening.
Although Ming knew that spending two hours every day kneeling in front of the cemetery was not a healthy lifestyle, his guilt still brought him here to recount what he had seen and heard.
"Hahahaha!" Ming symbolically imitated the expression that Saya used to make when she laughed at him. Although the expression hadn't changed, Ming had tried very hard to imitate it.
As he was laughing, Ming suddenly stood up and looked at Sawa's cenotaph with a worried expression, seemingly lost in thought.
“Sawa... I’m sorry, this should be the last time I come to see you. The reason... is probably because I don’t want to give up yet, because I still want to avenge you! I still want to see you again, so I need to become stronger and go somewhere else.”
"But... I don't know when I'll be back, or maybe... I'll never come back here again. Sawa, I want to see you again someday, so goodbye for that goal."
After saying this, Ming seemed relieved and turned to leave the cemetery. His figure gradually disappeared into the dark world.
The gears of time turned slowly, and ten minutes later, Ming's figure appeared in front of the mountain house.
Upon entering, one sees Aunt Saori Sanda and Uncle Iwahira Sanda, whose hair had already turned white a few days prior.
As soon as she stepped inside, Saori greeted her:
"Oh! It's Xiaoming here. Strange? You're a little too early to help out today. Did something happen?" Aunt Saori sounded tired, but she still forced a smile and asked with concern.
Meanwhile, Yamada Iwahira had no objection to this. After Sawa left, he treated this kid who came to help every day as if he were half his own child. He just couldn't bring himself to talk to this person who had once been somewhat opposed to him.
"It's nothing," Ming replied, addressing the question Aunt Saori had asked him earlier.
"Oh, it's alright. But there aren't many people at the restaurant in the morning. Why don't you come and help out later, Xiaoming?"
After Tingming confirmed that everything was alright, Aunt Saori said.
Ke Ming shook his head again and added, "That's right, but... Aunt Saori, Uncle Iwahira, I'm going to study in England, so... I might not be able to come and help anymore." Ming said softly.
"What! So sudden?" Aunt Saori asked in surprise, then quickly composed herself and smiled again:
"Oh, is that so? That's good. It's better to go to study somewhere else and change your mood than to dwell on sadness all the time."
Hearing that he understood, Ming lowered his head in shame. Seeing Ming lower his head, Aunt Saori immediately stepped forward to comfort him, saying:
"It's alright, as long as you come back to visit occasionally, no... it should be, just miss us occasionally."
Hearing the words of comfort, Ming became even more somber. Seeing this, Saori suddenly seemed to remember something and immediately rushed upstairs to the bedroom on the second floor, which had not yet been cleaned after Saori's death. She grabbed something and then rushed downstairs from the pet room next door, carrying Kuriko, who had just woken up not long before.
Saori handed the items to Ming and said with a smile, "These are Sawa's diary, a photo album from when you graduated from kindergarten, and the cat you raised together. You can take them."
Ming took the chestnut, put the diary in his pocket, tucked the photo album inside, and looked at Saori in surprise.
"Aunt Saori...you?!"
"It's nothing. Just consider it a way to put an end to our worries. This is one of the more representative things that Saya had before she disappeared. Because the restaurant is very busy, Chestnut rarely comes out. At that time, I even thought of sending it to my sister's house. Suddenly, I remembered that Saya told her that you like kittens, so I decided to give it to you."
Ming looked at Aunt Saori with emotion, tears welling in his eyes. He gently stroked Chestnut's fur, as if he could feel Saori's warmth.
"Thank you, Aunt Saori. I will definitely take good care of Chestnut," Ming said solemnly.
Aunt Saori smiled and nodded, then patted Ming on the shoulder.
"Good boy, go on your way. Remember to come back and visit often."
Ming took Chestnut and left the mountain house to go home and get his luggage.
An hour later, at the airport not far from the city, Ming, carrying his luggage, put Chestnut, who wanted to take a nap, into a pet carrier, went through security, and headed towards the plane.
"Meow?! Meow! Meow! Meow meow meow meow..." Chestnut tried to resist but it was not very effective. She could only make a few muffled cries before being forcibly put into a pet carrier.
Ming walked into the computer case, listened to the announcement that the machine was about to start, nodded while holding a photo album and a notebook that he hadn't yet opened, and seemed to be thinking something.
'Goodbye, Sawa... I look forward to seeing you again in the future. Now I'm going to England to become stronger so that I can ensure your safety!' Ming thought firmly, her image flashing through his mind several times.
"The plane to the UK is about to depart in ten minutes. Passengers who have not yet boarded, please board as soon as possible." The announcement echoed in the base station, but it reassured Ming.
After the plane took off, the journey to England was about to begin. What would happen to Ming in the future was still unknown, and no one could predict this unknown path.