The King of Curses

Chapter 222 Meeting Parents

parents……

An Zhizhen’s relatives?

It's like putting two common words together, but the result is so strange that it makes people feel unfamiliar. This is how Cen Dongsheng feels now.

"Huh? Why do you look like this?"

"No, it's nothing..."

So you have parents? This guess sounded very rude, so he naturally couldn't say it out loud.

It is no wonder that Cen Dongsheng would be confused. The family background of the philosopher king is a secret to the public.

The family members of the ancestral curse master had the same status as the "royal relatives" in ancient times. An Zhizhen probably chose to keep it secret in order to avoid irrelevant interference in the ruling bureau.

There are even some dark rumors that An Zhizhen's family has been dealt with by herself. This sounds crazy, but if the person who did this is the "Philosopher King", there will always be people who believe it.

The Philosopher King is a lonely king. Although she commands the largest organization and force of curse masters in the world, no one has a close relationship with her. She is as lonely as the Equality King.

Even for Cen Dongsheng, at present, we have only heard some fragmentary rumors from his own mouth, such as "coming from a wealthy family" and "having a cold relationship with his parents", which lack any sense of reality.

If one day the elder sister claimed that she fell from the sky, it might be more in line with his understanding.

"You're not thinking, 'What? This cold-blooded woman actually has parents.'"

"How can it be……"

Cen Dongsheng denied it without hesitation.

"I'm just feeling ashamed."

"ashamed?"

"Yes, actually, after we started dating, we should go visit uncle and aunt, right?"

The man answered seriously.

"It's just that I have no experience in love, so I overlooked this point. I hope you can forgive me, Sister Zhizhen."

"Well, that's very well said. I can give you 90 points."

"Since we're visiting, would you mind bringing something with you? What do my father-in-law and mother-in-law like? Tea, cigarettes, alcohol, or..."

"Hahaha."

The elder sister smiled happily.

The man fell silent halfway through his words. He looked at her speechlessly as she laughed so hard that she was rolling on the ground with joy.

"Well, is that so funny?"

"Yes, just seeing you say something like 'father-in-law and mother-in-law' with a serious expression on your face is really funny, hahaha!"

"Yes, yes..."

For Cen Dongsheng, "going home with his girlfriend" was the first time in his life. At first, he didn't even realize the significance of this matter. Later, he remembered that it seemed very important for ordinary couples - then, he had time to think about what to do next.

Their identity as curse masters means they don't need to care about most of the trivial matters in the world, and the rest of the problems related to life and social life are all left to Sister Zhizhen.

An Zhizhen was like his sister and mother. If he left her and returned to being a lonely wolf, it would not be an exaggeration to say that he was a useless person in the social sense.

Because of this, when Cen Dongsheng began to think seriously about this issue, his elder sister started laughing - is this the reason?
"I really don't understand."

He sighed.

"Whatever you say, I'll do it."

"No, I mean... you're really cute."

The woman wiped away the tears that overflowed from the corners of her eyes and replied with a smile.

"No need for gifts, we can just go there."

She raised her chin slightly.

"Don't be too polite to them."

……

After that, Cen Dongsheng drove to the elementary school, junior high school and high school where An Zhizhen had attended before, and took a tour of the entire city.

Sister Zhizhen has been attending key schools since she was a child. She is gifted and beautiful, and compared with her peers, she has always been the white swan among the ugly ducklings.

But perhaps it was precisely because she was a swan that she raised her head high, facing the rising sun in her eyes, intentionally or unintentionally ignoring her fellow swans around her, so that no one could walk shoulder to shoulder with her.

When Cen Dongsheng asked his elder sister whether she still had friends she had made in the city before, she just shook her head slightly.

An Zhizhen is a lonely person. Although the reasons for his loneliness are different, in a sense, Cen Dongsheng and he have reached the same destination.

Speaking of which, the third member of the family——

Yi Qingyan was also a lonely person who was not understood by others... Perhaps there really was a destiny guiding them that brought the three of them together under the same roof.

"The next step is to go meet my parents."

The woman's soft and cold hand covered the man's palm holding the gear lever.

"Let's go."

*
The SUV drove into a winding driveway in the mountains. The palm trees on both sides of the road cast continuous shadows, flowing across the windshield, and the warm afternoon breeze blew on the face.

It is close to the port and the sea, and is a famous high-end residential area near the outskirts of Jinjiang City.

Going deeper along the road, the single-family villa is surrounded by tall walls and dense greenery, isolated from the outside world. Outside the wall is a quiet private road with neatly trimmed sycamore trees planted on both sides. The branches and leaves sway gently in the breeze, casting mottled light and shadows.

"Recently, I've had a lot of opportunities to get in touch with luxury villas and the like."

"How does it feel?"

“…I don’t feel anything.”

Man-made objects are fragile in the face of the power of the curse master, and just as a weak body cannot restrain a strong soul, when you can destroy everything in front of you at any time, your attitude towards the world will subtly change, and solidity or costliness will become meaningless.

The car slowly stopped, An Zhizhen picked up the phone, typed a text message and sent it, then put it aside. Cen Dongsheng noticed this detail.

"So you didn't inform them before you came?"

"There's no need for that. Besides, if you tell me, you might not get to meet my parents again."

The woman replied with a smile.

"They resist me as their daughter from the bottom of their hearts."

"..."

……

An Zhizhen took out a key card.

After opening the smart lock of the front door, you can see the white exterior walls and marble colonnades of the house not far away. The roof is a dark gray sloping design, dotted with several glass skylights on top. The sunlight shines into the house through the glass, and pieces of gold fall on the solid wood floor.

Cen Dongsheng and An Zhizhen stepped into the house and saw a set of leather sofas covered with silk cushions placed in the middle of the living room. Opposite was a huge floor-to-ceiling window. Outside the window was a flower bed tended by a professional, full of precious flowers and green plants.

In the corner of the living room stands a black grand piano, which seems to have not been touched for a long time and looks more like an expensive and heavy piece of furniture. Next to the piano is a carved wooden table with an antique clock on it. On the wall is a wedding photo of a couple.

“I really miss it.”

The woman's delicate white fingers brushed across the piano lid.

"Did you practice it when you were a kid?" "Yeah, it's a boring memory." She said, "Unfortunately, I was still young at the time and needed to rely on the disguise of being obedient to make everyone realize that I was a 'good kid' worthy of their expectations."

Passing the shadow wall, the barely audible footsteps of the spellcasters echoed on the marble floor.

The middle-aged couple sitting in the living room heard the voices coming from behind them. They turned around in surprise and stood up from their seats.

"Father, Mother. We haven't seen each other for a long time."

An Zhizhen smiled peacefully and greeted politely, as if she was addressing a stranger she met for the first time.

*
An Zhizhen's father held a teacup in his hand and looked at them quietly.

Even at home, the man's tie is always tied meticulously, his face is angular, his nose is high, and his temples are slightly gray, giving him the aura of a successful person.

But Cen Dongsheng's eyesight has long been extraordinary - he is not so good at observing ghosts or curse masters, but it is very easy for him to find the flaws of ordinary people.

He clearly noticed that the man's arm was shaking gently, causing slight ripples on the water in the teacup.

The other person's expression seemed calm, but the corners of his eyebrows were twitching slightly, including the emotions in his pupils, alienation, coldness, and even fear. In short, it was completely unlike the look a father gives his daughter.

An Zhizhen's mother's reaction was even more blatant. She gasped as if frightened, then stood there, frozen in place.

For a moment, no one spoke and the atmosphere was quite awkward - mainly because the person on the other side was embarrassed, and Sister Zhizhen's expression didn't change at all.

Cen Dongsheng suddenly understood what An Zhizhen said in the car:

If the couple had known in advance that their daughter was coming back, they would probably have chosen to leave early.

As blood relatives, they didn't want to see An Zhizhen at all. Seeing their daughter was like seeing a monster...

"Hello, I'm Cen Dongsheng."

The man put his thoughts behind him, seemingly unaware of the awkward atmosphere between the parent and the child, and he smiled kindly.

"I'm Ji Jin's boyfriend."

……

Both parties made brief self-introductions.

An Zhizhen's father is An Chengyuan, a wealthy man engaged in multinational trade. Such middle-aged successful people often have the final say in the family, and even make their relatives feel afraid.

He did have this serious temperament; but in front of his own daughter, he could not show any dignity.

Her mother, Xu Wanqing, is a pianist. She is not young anymore and has fine wrinkles at the corners of her eyes, but she dresses and takes care of herself appropriately and does not look old. Her facial features still show the charm of her youth.

She came out of the kitchen, holding the brewed tea in her hand, put it on the table, and said with a smile.

"Come, have a sip of tea."

Compared to An Chengyuan, Xu Wanqing's attitude was obviously more gentle and kind after the initial shock.

An Chengyuan and Xu Wanqing both have good facial features - otherwise they would not have given birth to a peerless beauty like An Zhizhen. Their daughter has absorbed all the advantages of their looks; coupled with the fact that both husband and wife are very successful in their careers, to outsiders, this is undoubtedly an enviable family.

but……

"Zhizhen, you're back."

The middle-aged man looked at the young couple in front of him with a serious face.

"Yes."

"You haven't been back for so long, and you suddenly come to visit us, is there a reason?"

"I got a boyfriend, so I came to inform you."

"so."

After a few simple conversations, the father and daughter fell into silence again, while Xu Wanqing seemed to be hesitant to speak.

In the eyes of an outsider like Cen Dongsheng, the only ones who were truly embarrassed were the couple. As for their daughter... you could tell from her smile that she was enjoying the process.

Of course, he was not the only one who understood this. However, regardless of whether An Chengyuan felt that he was being made fun of, the only thing they could do was to remain silent, desperately trying to maintain their parental dignity and not show any signs of losing their composure.

"I finally found my love. Don't you have anything else to say?"

Compared to her parents' seriousness, An Zhizhen's attitude was very casual.

"I plan to spend my life with this man."

An Chengyuan's eyes twitched, and for a moment he seemed to have countless things to say, but in the end, only one stiff sentence remained:
“…I have nothing to say.”

Xu Wanqing added softly from the side.

"Since it's your choice, we all support it."

"That's great."

An Zhizhen put down the teacup and smiled.

"It tastes good. Mother's tea-making skills have improved. Teach me later."

"……it is good."

……

Since the relationship between Sister Zhizhen and her parents was strained, Cen Dongsheng naturally had no intention of building a good relationship with the couple.

He had originally thought that this might be a test, as Song Yutang's parents would obviously be worried that he would kidnap their daughter...but now it seems that different families have different worries.

After briefly introducing himself, Cen Dongsheng followed An Zhizhen, who said she wanted to "go outside and relax," and left the house through the back door.

The moment they stood up, he noticed that the couple breathed a sigh of relief at the same time.

……

The backyard of the mansion was a vast lawn, covered with green grass, extending all the way to the edge of the cliff in the distance. Below was the rough sea, with waves hitting the rocks and splashing foam, making a deep and grand roar, and the sea breeze mixed with moisture blew in my face.

Cen Dongsheng did not ask why the relationship between her and her blood relatives had become so cold. He was not very curious.

But the elder sister took the initiative to confess to him.

"When I was about to graduate from high school, my parents and I had a period of arguments and cold wars, mainly because of my future. My father hoped that I could study abroad and take over his business after returning, but I wanted to study medicine and engage in academic work in human science in the future."

An Zhizhen walked in front with her hands behind her back. The woman's jet-black hair fluttered in the wind. She said in a gentle voice:
"My father was too stubborn, so I had to resort to some tricks to persuade him. Unfortunately, I was not mature enough at the time, and my father was not a easy person to deal with. As an ordinary person, I had to do my best, so... I might have gone a little too far."

"..."

Cen Dongsheng listened silently.

"I can do better now - I have this thought because I have become more 'human'. This is the change you have brought to me."

When the two of them reached the edge of the cliff, the elder sister turned around. The bright sun was shining on her face. The clouds behind her seemed to be ignited by flames. Golden waves were rolling above the surging sea. A few seagulls were circling in the air, making crisp calls. The scenery was beautiful.

"Dongsheng, do you have something to say to me?"

The woman asked softly, brushing away her hair that was blown by the wind and covering her cheeks.

The man did not respond immediately. After a moment, he slowly spoke.

"Sister Zhizhen, I want to be honest with you about something."

"Ah."

"——I... am actually a reborn person."

(End of this chapter)