The Burning Chronicles Chapter 7

"Ahhhhhhh!!" The old woman suddenly threw away the pearl, hugged her head against the wall, and slowly squatted down, "Zane, Zane..." She murmured Zane's name, tears streaming down her face.

Memories came flooding back, even if they were other people's memories, but such a real and painful experience was enough to shatter a person's mind in an instant. She had vowed so firmly that she would not forget him, but now, more than 50 years later, he had not forgotten the slightest bit of his promise, but she had forgotten him completely.

An overwhelming feeling of guilt surged in her heart, and she could no longer utter another word.

She grew up, got married, had children, and later even had grandchildren...As she grew up, she had already lived like all ordinary people, working and surviving in an inherent way, and had long forgotten the bizarre world on the other side.

She eventually became like her parents, brutally denying everything that went against the rules of the world - she once again hurt him viciously.

Luke Lu looked at the white-haired old man, squatted down, and put a hand on her shoulder, "Old lady, Zane didn't blame you."

A soothing warmth spread into the old man's heart.

The old man raised his head and stared at the young man in front of him with his cloudy gray eyes.

Luke Lu said calmly, "He went to look for the soul-returning grass that could save Piper Xiao. He didn't have any resentment in his heart."

"I..." Grace Qi hesitated for a moment, then said, "Can I see him again?"

But Luke Lu shook his head and said, "He doesn't want to see you."

Grandma Qi choked up, "It's understandable that I don't want to do it. After all, I owe him... It's my fault, everything is my fault."

"No, he said he is too ugly now, so he doesn't want to see you. The old lady doesn't need to blame herself, Zane said he has let it go, and when he picks the soul-returning grass for Piper Xiao, he will leave forever and go to the mountains to find his tribe."

Hearing this, Grace Qi seemed to have her soul taken away. She stopped talking, her body stiffened, and she just kept crying. She had seen too many scenes of parting in her life, the departure of her parents, the departure of her husband, the departure of her son... These people who were extremely important to her had gradually left her life trajectory.

She should be used to it by now.

Even Zane should have thought that one day, this young man who brought her light in the middle of the night would leave her and never appear again...

"Young Master, you said before that Zane would be back with the Soul-Returning Grass tonight, right?"

Luke Lu nodded.

"This is the last time he comes to see..." He didn't say the word "I", and the old man changed the subject, "He's here to see Piper Xiao, right?"

Still nodded.

After hearing this, Grace Qi stood up tremblingly, fumbled for a few copper coins from her body, then picked up the basket and was about to go out.

"Where are you going, old lady?"

"It's still early to go to the market, so you should be able to make it in time... I've cooked some porridge on the stove, and I'd like you to bring a bowl to Piper Xiao after she wakes up."

Luke Lu understood and nodded.

Grace Qi was gone for the entire morning.

When Piper Xiao woke up and saw Luke Lu waiting beside her with hot porridge, the first thing he asked was, "Are you... a friend of Brother Zane?"

Luke Lu narrowed his eyes and smiled - only children could sense that he and Zane had the same aura.

"Your brother Zane asked me to pass on a message to you. He said he was going to a very far place. When you recover from your illness, the first sun shower you see will be the time for him to come back to visit you."

"He... is he angry?" The child lowered his eyes uncomfortably. "Grandma treated him like that, he must hate me, that's why he ignored me, right?"

"He has been in this world for too short a time, and has not yet learned to hate." Luke Lu stroked Piper Xiao's messy hair and said, "If you don't believe me, wait until you recover and see the first sun shower, and you will know if I lied to you."

"Big brother!" Piper Xiao suddenly stood up and grabbed the corner of Luke Lu's clothes. After a while, he asked timidly, "Is his injury better? I know that grandma beat him up... If you can still see him, tell him that Piper Xiao will definitely wait for him to come back, and wait forever!"

Seeing the child's sincere expression, Luke Lu softly agreed, "Okay, as long as Piper Xiao doesn't forget his original intention, you can see him."

When Grace Qi came back, she actually brought a large basket of vegetables, including spring radishes, fresh bamboo shoots, bracken, mushrooms, chrysanthemums, etc. These vegetables were just picked from the mountains early in the morning, and they still had a slightly cool moisture. She washed the vegetables carefully, cut the bacon hanging under the eaves, blanched it in water, cut it into thin strips, and fried it until crispy and fragrant. Finally, she put the spring vegetables into the pan and fried them separately. A few drops of sesame oil, a few grains of coarse salt, and a few simple steps made the fragrance overflow. Luke Lu watched with interest and asked, "What is this, old lady?"

The old lady smiled and said, "Young Master, you don't know?"

Luke Lu shook his head. He had been wandering in the human world for thousands of years, but he really had not noticed these things that were imbued with strong human touch: food, festivals, customs... To him, these were just self-entertainment for people with short lives. There were so many festivals every year, and the food was innumerable. For him, who was immortal, it would be too tiring if these things had to be repeated every year or even every day.

"It's spring now, so what I made is naturally a spring pancake." The old man took out something wrapped in taro leaves from the basket and opened it. Inside was a stack of white, paper-thin rice wrappers. The old woman carefully wrapped the vegetables in a layer of rice wrappers, folded them twice and three times, and made a beautiful white strip.

"Young man, would you like to try it?" Aunt Qi handed a spring pancake to Luke Lu.

Luke Lu was stunned for a moment, but finally thanked him and took it. He took a careful bite and his frown relaxed.

No need to ask about the taste, Grandma Qi smiled and said, "My family in the mountains can't afford any expensive food to treat you, young master, so I only have this little snack. I hope you don't mind it."

Luke Lu chewed the spring pancake carefully, "Hmm... This is my first time eating it, so I should thank the old lady first."

I don't know when, it started to rain quietly outside the window again. Qingshui Town in the valley often spends spring with rain. The rain is never heavy, not even enough to wet the corners of clothes, but it seems to absorb all the sounds between heaven and earth.

In such gentle weather, there would be young men from poor families going up the mountain to collect medicinal herbs and wild vegetables. Perhaps in the silence, he would suddenly hear the sound of dead branches being stepped on and broken. It was a beautiful mountain ghost wearing a woman's basket secretly watching him from behind a big tree.

The world of spirits and the world of humans are always intertwined at some inadvertent moment, leading to many tragic stories.

After eating the last bite of spring pancake, his mouth was filled with the mellow aroma of bacon and the sweetness of spring vegetables. Suddenly, Luke Lu was in a good mood. He said, "Madam, to thank you for the food, I will give you a small gift."

At this moment, the small round sieve smeared with oil beside Grace Qi was already neatly stacked with plump white spring pancakes. She wrapped the last one and was about to put it into the round sieve when she asked casually, "What do you want to give me as a gift?"

"A pair of eyes." Seeing Grace Qi looking up in surprise, Luke Lu said calmly, "You can see the world of spirits with these eyes, but you are only allowed to use them for one night."

Staring blankly at this handsome and gentle young man, Grace Qi's hand holding the spring pancake hung in the air, not moving at all.

A child's pure and bright eyes can see the world of spirits and monsters.

All you have to do is lend the child's eyes to Grace Qi when the child falls into a deep sleep.

"Zane doesn't want you to see his current appearance, but I think he will agree after you change your eyes." Luke Lu said.