The King of Curses

Chapter 71 Summer, Cottage, Girl's Memories

In the afternoons of midsummer, tall trees are planted on both sides of the street, and their lush branches and leaves cast dense green shade, providing heat relief and shade for passers-by.

The road was empty, with only a few pedestrians, and the sweltering temperature seemed to be able to boil away all the energy in the people. Even the cats and dogs had lost their usual vitality, tucking their tails and hiding in the shadows of the corners.

The fans in the shops passing by were blowing non-stop. An old man and an old woman were enjoying the cool under the shade of a tree with a palm-leaf fan, or lying in a rocking chair, drowsy.

Yi Qingyan walked in front, leading the way for him, and occasionally took the initiative to grab his sleeve and pull him forward.

The world became very quiet.

Even though I just came out of a haunted house not long ago, it feels like a lifetime ago.

"Ah~ It's so hot."

Yi Qingyan fanned herself with her hands and stuck out her tongue like a puppy.

"Your hair is too long."

Cen Dongsheng took a glance and from his angle, he could see crystal beads of sweat on the girl's white neck.

"I'll take you to the barber shop later."

"Eh……"

"You can keep your hair long if you want, but you have to make it look nice, at least show your face."

"Well."

Yi Qingyan seemed to find it a bit troublesome, but did not object.

The white shirt was soaked with sweat, and even the outline of the underwear inside was faintly visible. She was holding up the corner of her shirt with her hand to fan the air inside, revealing her delicate collarbone and the snow-colored outline that was beginning to take shape.

Although there is a certain gap between her and a mature woman with a perfect figure like Sister Zhizhen, considering that she is only in high school, her development is actually not bad; especially since she has a slim figure, it looks even more obvious.

…It seems that I have to buy her some clothes as well.

Her clothes and shoes were very old. Maybe she only had a few changes of clothes other than her school uniform.

Cen Dongsheng couldn't help but feel distressed. He knew nothing about women's clothing, so he had to look for information online or ask others.

However, this is the only person he can actually consult.

At this time, the two happened to pass by a convenience store. He stopped, went in, bought a popsicle, tore open the package and handed it to her.

"Thank you brother!"

Yi Qingyan took it happily.

The uncle sitting in the convenience store heard the girl address Cen Dongsheng and looked at him curiously.

In the eyes of others, the young man and the girl do not look like a pair of siblings.

……

Continuing on the way, Cen Dongsheng saw her licking the popsicle with a silly smile of "hehehe", and thought that this child was easy to deal with and easily satisfied.

But he has a lot to consider.

"Qingyan, who's at your home? Since we're visiting, I think it would be better to prepare some gifts."

In future memories, the relationship between the Kings of Equality and their relatives has always been a mystery. Similar to the Philosopher Kings, they seem to have been alone in people's impressions since they stepped onto the world stage.

Now, Cen Dongsheng has heard about Sister Zhizhen's family situation from her.

Although she was born into a wealthy family with both parents alive, An Zhizhen has a rather distant relationship with her family and her feelings for them are somewhat cold. Her parents travel all over the world and she may not see them a few times a year.

As for Yi Qingyan...

The only thing he could guess was that the child's family might not be well off. Judging from the way she was dressed, her financial situation was obviously very difficult.

"Ok?"

Yi Qingyan bit off half of the ice and blinked.

"There's no one else in my family, just me."

"Do you live alone?"

"Yeah! I used to live with my grandma, but after she passed away, I was the only one left."

"your parents……"

"My father used to be a worker. He was an alcoholic and died of acute hepatitis in the hospital. My mother would have run away long ago."

When the little girl said these words, her tone was calm and there was no hint of sadness in her voice.

Compared to the power that could bring destruction and disaster to the world and others, she had long since accepted her own unhappy childhood and life.

But to Cen Dongsheng, he felt that fate was a little too cruel.

He sighed and couldn't help but reach out and touch the little girl's hair.

Yi Qingyan did not answer or resist, as if she had already gotten used to it.

"No other guardian?"

"Yes, it's my aunt... But, she already has children at home, so she probably doesn't want to take care of one more person. So when I told them that I wanted to stay at my grandmother's house, my aunt readily agreed and would come to see me about once a month."

Cen Dongsheng nodded. He almost understood.

That's good. This way, he doesn't have to bother convincing Yi Qingyan's family.

Although the curse master has many ways to deal with ordinary people, even in this era when the order has not yet changed.

But he always had to take Yi Qingyan's thoughts into consideration. Compared with other factors, the little girl's mental condition was the top priority.

……

Ten minutes later, Cen Dongsheng followed Yi Qingyan to her home.

Caixin Middle School is located in the old city area in the central ring of the city. Yi Qingyan’s home is not far from the school. When he rode his bicycle here yesterday, he passed by this place on the way.

This is a not very wide street with a dark asphalt road surface. When you look up, you can see the crisscrossing network of electric wires.

Along the way, we passed several old houses with the word "demolition" painted on both sides, low shops on both sides of the road, and several five-story old residential buildings standing side by side at the end of the street.

The environment in the corridor is very similar to that of Xiaokang Building. It is a bit damp and there are sticky advertisements everywhere. Several children who have not yet gone to school are running around, and the adults are coming out with basins to pour water.

As they got closer to home, Cen Dongsheng noticed that her steps were becoming lighter as she walked in front of him.

Opening the iron gate, Yi Qingyan pushed the door open, turned around and showed a big smiling face.

"Welcome to my home, Brother Dongsheng!"

"Ah."

Cen Dongsheng took off his shoes and observed the situation inside the house.

The room was not big, about 30 square meters in total. Outside the corridor, including the entire building, it was old, giving people a dirty, messy and dark feeling, but inside this room, it was clean and fresh.

The room faces south, the window screens are gently fluttered by the wind, several pots of carefully cared-for green plants stretch their branches and leaves in the sun, and the room is transparent and bright.

Yi Qingyan, who ran in first, ran back and handed him the slippers from the cupboard. She said a little embarrassedly:

"I'm sorry, I didn't clean up much. Usually only my aunt comes to visit."

Cen Dongsheng walked into the room. He was an orphan himself and had been used to hardship. Apart from the fact that the ceiling was a bit low for his height, he didn't think there was anything wrong with this room.

"It's okay. I think it's clean. And..."

He looked around and soon saw a photo of an old man and a little girl on an old CD player, which was placed in the most conspicuous place. The layout and color of the furniture in the room were very similar to the habits of the elderly.

“It has a warm feeling.”

"After my grandmother passed away, I didn't move anything in my house."

Yi Qingyan followed his gaze and looked at the photo. A nostalgic expression appeared on her face and her tone was gentle.

It is conceivable that a child born with the "Infernal Hell" on his back will inevitably have his personality affected; coupled with Yi Qingyan's unfortunate family life, she would have been more likely to grow up to be a cold-blooded devil early on. But the power of family affection is great. Cen Dongsheng has never seen her grandmother, but he has no doubt that it was this old woman who changed Yi Qingyan's life.

Even when she realized that she would inevitably become a murderer, she still refused to give up her human side.

"In the past it was my grandma, and now it's Brother Dongsheng. I'm really lucky."

When he heard Yi Qingyan say this, he felt the weight on his shoulders seemed to be heavier.

"Can you tell me about your past?"

"Okay, but these are all very common things..."

"It doesn't matter, I just wanted to hear this."

Cen Dongsheng walked into the room and heard Yi Qingyan behind him start to talk about her daily life. Her father died when she was in elementary school, and she was taken to live with her grandmother. She went to junior high school and high school. After her grandmother died two years ago, she lived alone.

At first, the girl's narration was intermittent; later, she seemed to be immersed in her memories, and her tone was exceptionally soft.

There is an old CD player and a TV, a bed in the middle of the bedroom, covered with a blue sheet and a mosquito net, a table and chairs beside the bed, and a folded bed; there is a cabinet in the corner, and in the other corner there is a gas stove and a double-door refrigerator, and an electric fan. These are all the furniture in this house.

While listening to the girl's story, he opened the refrigerator, which contained only a box of eggs. He then turned on the TV, but there seemed to be no signal, only a snowy screen.

He walked to the bedside, where homework books, stationery and a desk lamp were neatly placed. He seemed to see the girl sitting at the table, studying hard at night.

"Then there is the school where I study. Brother Dongsheng has already seen it." Yi Qingyan said, "So, this is all there is."

"……what?"

After hearing these words, he came to his senses and turned his head away.

"School, home, there's nowhere else for me to go."

The girl smiled at Cen Dongsheng.

"I'm alone in school, and I live alone in this room. This is all, my life."

Cen Dongsheng was silent for a while before he spoke.

"...Qingyan, if I say I want you to leave this place, will you agree?"

"can."

Yi Qingyan answered without any hesitation, as if she had thought about this question countless times.

"Give me some time and let me take what I want."

"Well, there's no rush."

"In fact, before I met Brother Dongsheng, I had already prepared myself mentally. I knew that from the day I decided to accept my own abilities, my life was destined to undergo earth-shaking changes."

She put her hands on her chest and said seriously.

"But, at that time, although I had made up my mind, I didn't know where I would go. It's different now. Brother Dongsheng will be responsible for me, right?"

"Yes, yes, I will take responsibility. No need to stress."

Cen Dongsheng thought that the term "responsible" was indeed a bit strange, so he would have to ask her to use another word next time.

He scratched his hair and after a brief thought, he felt that there were quite a lot of things he needed to prepare.

"Anyway, first I'll ask you to change your image, go to another school, and get in touch with your aunt. Then..."

The man hesitated.

"Would you like to come visit my house?"

"May I?"

Yi Qingyan opened her eyes wide in surprise.

"To be fair, now that you've shown me your home, it's my turn."

"I am looking forward!"

"Okay. Then pack your things and we'll leave in a bit."

He clapped his hands and said so.

……

Afterwards, Cen Dongsheng helped the little girl pack up her things at home and prepare to leave.

Yi Qingyan didn't need to bring much with her. It couldn't even fill up a schoolbag, so the rest was just some clothes for changing.

After opening the closet, as he expected, apart from the school uniform, there were only a few seasonal coats, and not even a pretty skirt.

"Forget it, I'll just take you to the mall to pick out a few pieces."

"Eh? Isn't that too expensive..."

"It's okay." Cen Dongsheng didn't care. "Spending money on you doesn't count as money. It's called investing in advance."

"Well……"

Besides, the money he spent might not be his own. He touched his pocket and found the credit card given by Sister Zhizhen.

It's considered a treat from the rich woman.

...Uh, that seems a bit strange.

Cen Dongsheng suddenly thought of a strange question that was completely unrelated to the topic: Is it outrageous to use one woman's money to buy things for another woman?

Fortunately, he and Sister Zhizhen have a very healthy partnership.

If she knew that her money could be used to invest in the future King of Equality, she would definitely be happy...

The premise is that this money will not be used to aid the enemy.

At this moment, he thought about the future again.

Just as King Pingdeng himself said, if she and King Philosopher met, the conflict of ideas between them would surely lead to a fight like Mars hitting the Earth, causing chaos and upheaval, and that was indeed the case.

As for what she said, "Don't hate me when I chop off her head one day," it was more like a...bad prophecy.

In the end, someone did lose his head, but it was her who died.

So in this life, the two are destined to meet earlier, and will there still be a fight?
He couldn't make up his mind.

As for the conflict between them, when they have not yet become "ancestors", it may not be as intense as it will be in the future, but there is still a natural conflict in their beliefs, and no one can compromise on this issue.

"The more I think about it, the more uneasy I feel. This can't be right..."

Cen Dongsheng thought.

Since he has made up his mind to change King Pingdeng's fate, that naturally includes avoiding conflict between her and An Zhizhen.

"Brother Dongsheng, you look a little weird. Why are you standing in front of someone's closet? Ah, are you trying to peek at my underwear?"

"They are just a few pieces of rags. What's so good about them?"

The little girl was peeking around, but he pushed her away in annoyance.

"I'll take you to the store to pick out some good ones later."

"...You seem to be very experienced. Do you often take girls to lingerie stores?"

The girl uttered an "ah" in surprise.

"Oh, right, Dongsheng is a college student, so his daily entertainment life must be very rich, right?"

"Stop talking nonsense."

……

When the sunlight outside was no longer as glaring as before, the two left the house and set off again.

(End of this chapter)