From the end of the world

Chapter 415 Mother or daughter?
Xiaowan is not Zhu Jiuxing...isn’t it Zhu Shi?
I felt like my thought process was paused, and for a moment I didn't know how to continue.

I have considered the possibility that "Xiao Wan is not Zhu Shi" before. Zhu Shi also mentioned this possibility to me in person. However, when this possibility became a reality and appeared in front of me, I felt like I was plunged into a lake of cluelessness. Because my previous thinking was basically based on the solid premise that Xiao Wan was Zhu Shi. If Xiao Wan is not Zhu Shi, then who else could it be?

Slowly, I thought of a candidate.

In the current Zhu family, only one person has suffered from amnesia, and that is Zhu Jiu. Assuming that the soul of a person with amnesia travels to the apocalypse era, then Zhu Jiu's soul should also be in the apocalypse era. Is it possible that Xiaowan is Zhu Jiu whose soul traveled to the apocalypse era, and she experienced a series of mysterious changes, and finally shrunk to a ten-year-old girl, and lost her memory as an adult?
However, this reasoning has obvious flaws. First, not only did Zhu Jiu not have the right position in the world, but his talent as a demon hunter was never highly praised by Mr. Zhu. Second, when Xiaowan mentioned the vague memory of "the mother kept the dolls she abandoned in a white box", it was obviously narrated from the perspective of a daughter. If Xiaowan was Zhu Jiu, she should have said "she kept the dolls her daughter abandoned in a white box".

It was useless to just think about it, so I tried to ask, "So, do you remember the name Zhu Jiu? She is Zhu Shi's mother... If I said you are actually Zhu Jiu, would you feel anything?"

"Zhu Jiu?..."

Xiao Wan seemed to be racking her brains as well, and after a moment she said, "This name... I also feel very familiar with it, but I'm probably not the person called Zhu Jiu."

She's not even Zhu Jiu... then who could she be?
Could it be Zhu Shi's daughter? I once again thought of my previous speculation.

This possibility is not zero. If Xiaowan is Zhu Shi's daughter, it is reasonable for her to remember the names of Zhu Shi and Zhu Jiu. The only suspicious thing is why Xiaowan has memories of Zhu Shi's childhood. It is too far-fetched to say that Xiaowan also experienced the same events as Zhu Shi's childhood a long time ago.

However, in the weird world, it is not impossible for demon hunters to inherit the memories of their parents. Take Chang'an for example. Even if he was not chosen as his incarnation by Silver Moon in his lifetime, he is born with "inherited knowledge" because of his demon bloodline. Demon hunters may also be able to achieve the same effect through mystical means, allowing their offspring to inherit the life experience of their parents. Although I don't know why it is necessary for my daughter to remember the experience of abandoning her rag doll when she was a child.

According to the Zhu family's style of naming their descendants, Zhu Shi's daughter should be named...

"'Zhu Shiyi'...Do you have any impression of this name?" I tried to ask.

This time, Xiaowan quickly shook his head: "No impression at all."

It seems that she is not Zhu Shiyi... I am really getting more and more confused.

"What's the story behind this 'Zhu Shiyi'?" Xiao Wan asked sensitively, "From the way Mr. No. 3 asked just now... could it be that you and that girl named Zhu Shi have already decided on the name of your child in advance?"

To prevent unnecessary misunderstandings, I explained my ideas and related information to Xiaowan.

After listening to it, she relaxed a little, then thought seriously, and after a while she said: "...Objectively speaking, the possibility that I am 'Zhu Shi's daughter' still exists.

"Although my name is definitely not Zhu Shiyi, according to what you said, Zhu Jiu once gave his daughter 'Zhu Jiuxing', a name that was not in the style of the Zhu family, in the hope that his daughter would stay away from battles. So Zhu Shi might have given his daughter a name other than 'Zhu Shiyi' in order to keep his daughter away from life-threatening dangers.

"Besides, Zhu Shi's daughter may not even have the surname Zhu. Mr. No. 3, you are a human god... in your terms, you are the Great Impermanence. After you married Zhu Shi, you definitely did not marry into the Zhu family. According to tradition, the daughter you gave birth to would naturally take your surname. Therefore, my real name may not be 'Zhu Moumou', but 'Zhuang Moumou'."

"That makes sense. But...are you willing to accept the possibility that you might be my daughter?" I asked.

"Actually, my mind is still numb, but that doesn't stop me from continuing to reason." Xiaowan said calmly.

“But even if you are Zhu Shi’s daughter, it doesn’t mean you are Zhu Shi and my daughter.” I said, “If Ma Zao hadn’t traveled to my time, I wouldn’t have known Zhu Shi’s side as a demon hunter, and she wouldn’t have realized that I was a superpower. According to this development, of course, she and I wouldn’t have married and given birth to you.”

"But if Sister Ma Zao traveled to Mr. No. 3's time, it was a fateful event that was bound to happen for the past and the future, and the doomsday era I am in is based on the timeline of 'you and Sister Ma Zao met'?" Xiao Wan asked, "Your meeting and engagement with Zhu Shi should have changed Zhu Shi's original future, but I, who was in the future, did not disappear... Isn't this proof that I am the daughter of Zhu Shi and you? The premise is that I am really Zhu Shi's daughter."

"If that's the case, then there's a very simple way to confirm it." I said, "Xiao Wan, since you have impressions of Zhu Shi, who might be your mother, and Zhu Jiu, who might be your grandmother, then... do you also have a special impression of the name 'Zhuang Cheng'?"

"No." Xiaowan shook his head. "Then..."

Before I could continue, Xiaowan said in a strange tone: "But... this makes me feel even more that you might be my father..."

"Why is this?" I wondered.

Xiao Wan looked at me for a few seconds, and then continued in a strange tone: "According to what Mr. No. 3 told me before... Zhu Shi's father is called Ying Lingyun, and he was your main opponent some time ago.

"And the man named Ying Lingyun had a beloved named Yin Yue. Because his mind was full of Yin Yue, he neglected his legal wife Zhu Jiu and was away from home all year round. As a result, his biological daughter Zhu Shi had no deep impression of Ying Lingyun since she was a child."

"Hmm... is that right?" I had a bad feeling.

"Perhaps saying this will offend Mr. No. 3, and I also hope that you can spend more time with Sister Ma Zao instead of that girl named Zhu Shi..." Xiao Wan seemed to be unable to hold back her tone, "But... Mr. No. 3, you and that Ying Lingyun are actually the same, right?
"Replace 'Ying Lingyun', 'Yin Yue', and 'Zhu Jiu' in my previous description with 'Mr. No. 3', 'Sister Ma Zao', and 'Zhu Shi' respectively. Doesn't that seem out of place?"

Although you won't sweat in the virtual world, I felt like cold sweat was running down my head because of the questioning from this little girl.

"Actually... although I vaguely remember that I should have a mother, I don't have much impression of my father. This shows that my relationship with my father a long time ago should not be that deep." Xiaowan said seriously, "If my father was a two-timing person like Mr. No. 3, then I really wouldn't want to have a good relationship with him, and I probably wouldn't react to his name after losing my memory."

It was the first time that I was shocked like this, and I couldn't help but ask, "So... do you want me to spend more time with your sister Ma Zao, or focus on being with your mother Zhu Shi?"

"——Ah?" Xiaowan was also confused immediately, "I, of course I hope that if I have a father, it would be better for him to concentrate on being with my mother!

"But, I hope Mr. No. 3 can be intimate with Maha-nee... But that would be a complete derailment... But Mr. No. 3 and Maha-nee are together is my wish..."

Although she was extremely smart, she seemed to be overwhelmed by this chaotic relationship. She was mumbling in panic, and I could almost see steam coming out of her head.

Could it be that Xiaowan is really my daughter? I pondered over and over again in my mind, and at the same time I felt that Lu Chan was right. There might indeed be some unconsidered aspects in the marriage between me and Zhu Shi.

For example, if Zhu Shi and I really had children, and they saw that I, as a father, did not live closely with my mother, but was intimate with other women all day long, it would obviously cause many negative effects. Even if I didn't care about this problem, Zhu Shi would definitely be very troubled.

But then again, if I really had a daughter whose mind was filled with instigating me to cheat on my wife, I wouldn't know how the situation would end.

"In short, let's put aside my true identity and the fact that Mr. No. 3 is cheating on me for now. There are too few clues to discuss anything. Let's talk about another issue first." Xiaowan seemed to want to avoid this overly corrupt question.

I acknowledged her point, and I also wanted to extricate myself from the quagmire for the time being, so I went with the flow and said, "Okay. What's your question?"

Xiao Wan took a deep breath, as if to readjust his body and mind, and then said, "Mr. No. 3, you said before that you became the Great Impermanence in the real world... Is this the result of using the fragment of the Divine Seal?"

"No. I followed your plan and became the Great Impermanence by fighting a powerful enemy. Although the opponent was not Silver Moon as originally planned, but someone else." I said, "Why do you ask that?"

"Because you are in a very dangerous state now." Xiaowan said seriously, "The connection between you and the virtual world has become too deep."

(End of this chapter)