At the same time.
Chen Ling slowly walked behind him, her gaze passing through the numerous law enforcers and meeting Li Xiuchun's.
The moment she saw him, Li Xiuchun's pupils constricted again!
"You... it's you!!" Li Xiuchun tried to break free from the ropes like a madman, but was firmly held in place by other law enforcers, "You should be dead!! You should have died long ago!! Calamity!! You are a calamity!!!"
Li Xiuchun's roar echoed under the night sky, while Chen Ling stood there quietly, looking at her with extremely complex eyes.
"A Yan... A Yan." He softly called Chen Yan beside him, "Go wait over there... I'll handle this here."
Chen Yan stared blankly at the crazy Li Xiuchun, snapped back to reality by Chen Ling's voice. After a long silence, he finally nodded...
He walked alone to the dark corner of the wall where no one was around, hugged his knees and curled up into a ball, his body couldn't help trembling.
"What's going on? Can't even stuff the mouth properly?"
A law enforcer glared at his colleague, immediately bent down to pick up the white cloth and stuffed it back into Li Xiuchun's mouth.
Then he let out a long sigh and comforted, "Child, don't take it too much to heart... Your mother has gone crazy and doesn't know what she's saying."
"For public safety, we will send them to a psychiatric hospital for stable treatment. There's still hope for them to regain their sanity."
"Of course, you can visit them at any time during this period."
He gave a look to the other law enforcers, and everyone immediately understood, accelerating the transfer of the two to the headquarters.
Chen Ling watched this scene calmly, feeling indescribable inside. These two people had raised the original host and then taken his life. From the original host's perspective, their grudge had long been settled.
Chen Ling had inherited the original host's memories and emotions. He could vaguely sense that the original host didn't hold much resentment towards this, largely because he really liked his younger brother Chen Yan.
If Li Xiuchun and the others had properly explained everything to the original host, the original host would actually have been willing to exchange his life for his younger brother's.
It was just a pity that the original host had trusted them, but they hadn't trusted the original host... just because he was a foundling.
"You must be Chen Ling, right?" A figure walked towards Chen Ling, "Where did you go just now?"
Chen Ling turned around, seemed to be in a daze for a moment, then said hoarsely, "Sir... What's happened here?"
"I'm asking you now." He frowned slightly, but thinking about what the teenager was going through, after a moment of hesitation, he added, "A calamity broke into your house and scared your parents... Fortunately, they didn't resist. Don't worry, they're not in life-threatening danger for now."
"Oh, I see."
Chen Ling seemed to just wake up from a dream, "Today I took my younger brother to practice."
"Practice what?"
"Traditional opera."
Chen Ling raised his hand, and a neatly folded opera robe was held in his arms.
Seeing this, the vigilance in the law enforcer's eyes relaxed a little. After all, ordinary people really wouldn't carry an opera custom when going out, so he mostly believed Chen Ling's words about practicing. But he still asked according to the procedure:
"Where did you practice? Was there anyone seeing you?"
"Just the wasteland at the eastern end of Hanshuang Street... No one saw us. My younger brother is just shy and afraid to sing in front of many people, otherwise we would have practiced directly at our doorstep."
The law enforcer nodded, "It's not safe outside recently. Don't run around. If you find anything suspicious, remember to come to me... My name is Jiang Qin, and I patrol the nearby blocks every day."
"Okay."
"By the way, where is your younger brother?"
"He... he was just scared by Mom and hid there." Chen Ling pointed to the dark corner of the wall, where a small figure was curled up, as if crying.
Jiang Qin glanced over and nodded slightly.
Just then, he seemed to remember something:
"By the way, how many children are there in your family?"
"Two."
Jiang Qin narrowed his eyes, "Two?"
Hearing the subtle change in Jiang Qin's tone, Chen Ling's heart sank. Having been in acting for years, he was highly sensitive to such nuanced differences in dialogue. He immediately composed himself and pretended to ask naively, "What's wrong?"
"The records say there are two children in your family, and you also say so." Jiang Qin spoke slowly, "But last night we met your parents at the mass grave. They said they were there to pay respects to their son...
If both your sons are alive, then who are they paying respects to?"
The atmosphere froze abruptly.
"So that's what you're talking about." Chen Ling's mind raced, and a look of understanding appeared on his face, "Many years ago, after my parents had A Yan, they were pregnant again... But my mother's health was poor at the time, and the baby died of illness just a few days after birth. My parents could only bury him in the back mountain, and every year on his birthday, they go to pay their respects.
When this happened, A Yan was only over two years old and didn't understand anything. I only have a vague memory of it."
The last sentence was a precaution Chen Ling took to prevent Jiang Qin from separating him and Chen Yan for individual interrogations. This way, even if Jiang Qin became suspicious and wanted to question Chen Yan, they could reasonably justify their story.
Of course, he could also use the excuse of "being too young at the time" to avoid in-depth questioning by the law enforcers.
"A stillborn child... No wonder there's no record in the files."
It turned out Chen Ling had overthought it. This law enforcer named Jiang Qin didn't have such strong vigilance at all. He nodded, made a casual note, and turned to leave.
Chen Ling let out a long breath in his heart...
He hadn't expected that on the night he returned, Li Xiuchun and the others had also gone to the mass grave and been caught by the law enforcers... He had almost been exposed.
"Oh right!" Jiang Qin turned back again.
Chen Ling: ...
Is there an end to this!
Just as Chen Ling's heart rose to his throat again, Jiang Qin took out a letter from his chest and handed it to him.
"This was found on Chen Tan's body. It's a summons from the law enforcers for you. Report to headquarters tomorrow morning and don't be late."
After saying that, Jiang Qin left—this time really leaving.
With the departure of the law enforcers, Hanshuang Street fell silent again. Chen Ling walked to the dark corner and felt mixed emotions.
"A Yan..."
Chen Ling looked at Chen Yan, whose head was bowed, not knowing what to say.
At this point, even if Chen Yan was slow-witted, he knew the calamity that attacked the house was himself... Although his body had been usurped by the "audience" at the time, he didn't know how to explain it to Chen Yan.
Chen Ling, who was always best at weaving "lines," was rarely at a loss for words.
"Brother." Chen Yan spoke softly, "I'm tired..."
Chen Ling was taken aback. He had never expected Chen Yan to say only these three words in the end.
No anger, no questioning, no confusion... Chen Yan's chestnut-colored pupils looked at Chen Ling, as clear and quiet as usual.
Chen Ling was stunned for a long time, realizing he couldn't see through what the teenager was thinking. He gently bent down and stroked his hair.
"If you're tired, go to sleep... Ge will stay by your side."
The once warm home had two large holes torn in it, and the living room was in ruins. If any thieves or robbers passed by, they would be sorry for their profession if they didn't take something.
Chen Yan returned to his familiar bed and silently curled up under the quilt. Chen Ling walked to his side, leaned against the broken walls, and slowly sat down.
Through the broken roof, he could see the endless blue aurora dancing in the night, like a gentle ribbon covering the sky. This was the first time Chen Ling had quietly watched the aurora of this world. The moment he saw them, all distracting thoughts in his heart seemed to vanish, leaving only eternal peace.
"Ge, are you cold?" Chen Yan's voice came from under the quilt.
"Not cold."
"Oh..."
Chen Yan fell silent. After a long time, only the sound of even breathing lingered in Chen Ling's ears.
I don't know how long it took, but Chen Ling's eyes gradually closed...
He fell asleep.