LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 153: The Cruel Truth
Otto's voice trailed off, interrupted by Li Sushang's question. He turned slightly, looking at her stunned expression, but said nothing.
"Sushang, you…" Fu Hua started, but Li Sushang, who moments before had been so obedient, shook her head violently, scrambled down from her seat, and gripped the back of the front seat.
"Mister…Mister Rosha-man," she asked, her voice strained with urgency, "did you say…Mama and the others…they were the ones who hurt that monster before?"
Fu Hua looked at Otto. She didn't know how to comfort the child. She recalled the meticulously clean dojo, the spoiled food removed from the kitchen, the neatly folded yukata in the bathhouse, the meticulously swept courtyard…
Everything looked as though it was still inhabited, as though it was… waiting for someone to return…
[Grand…Grandmaster?! Are you…Suyi's child, Sushang? It's me! Grandmaster!! Haha! Grandmaster's back, Grandmaster's back~ haha!]
Li Sushang had greeted Fu Hua at the dojo entrance with joyful leaps and bounds, just as she always had when Fu Hua returned home. Even Fu Hua had felt a momentary illusion of simply returning from a journey.
So, how had Li Sushang perceived her sudden appearance?
She must have believed everyone's absence was temporary. That's why she'd diligently maintained "everyone's Taixu dojo."
Sushang was young, talented in martial arts, but less so in other areas. She hadn't fully grasped the concept of "Honkai" as explained by Li Suyi and Otto. Perhaps she'd perceived it as some sort of widespread illness, keeping everyone confined indoors…
That's why she'd readily agreed to leave with Fu Hua. In her heart, everyone would return. The Honkai would end… it had to end…
That was her belief, the simple truth a seven-year-old could understand. It was…the biggest lie she could bear.
Otto looked at Li Sushang, her world crumbling around her, and spoke, his voice devoid of emotion.
"Yes."
It was a brutally honest answer, one of the cruelest blows to a child's innocent understanding. Otto had shattered Li Sushang's reality.
"Mama…" Li Sushang's eyes widened, unseeing. She stumbled, collapsing onto the seat, her breath coming in ragged gasps.
On the car roof, Shu suddenly gasped, a wave of intense grief and a choking sensation overwhelming him.
"What's happening?" A tear escaped his eye, followed by an urge to sob uncontrollably.
This was the pure, unfiltered emotion of a child—goodness absolute, evil absolute. A child's emotions lacked the complexities of adult thought; they were raw, visceral.
And sorrow, when it came, was absolute.
The inexplicable sadness made Shu's head spin, but he forced himself to focus, maintaining his vigilance. Empathy wasn't a power he'd focused on, so he hadn't bothered explaining it to Otto.
"Otto, she's too young…" Kallen said, her voice laced with pity, watching the heartbroken child. "I know lying is wrong, but…did it have to be now?"
Otto sighed, turning away. Li Sushang had received devastating news, but what had he gained? Could a seven-year-old comprehend who was truly to blame?
The last vestiges of his positive image in Li Sushang's eyes were probably gone.
"No…Mama said she'd come back…Everyone said they'd come back…" Li Sushang stared blankly ahead, murmuring.
"They…promised…"
["Mama, what's happening outside?"
"Sushang, go to your room! Take your sword! Don't come out!"
"Mama! Where are you going? Where are you going?"
"Sushang, listen…"]
Qin Suyi held a dark iron sword. The fierce warrior knelt tenderly before her child, gently stroking Li Sushang's cheek with her free hand. She spoke, but the chaos outside drowned out her words. With her mother backlit, Li Sushang couldn't see her expression.
"It's not true, it's not…Mama…she promised…" Tears finally overflowed, a torrent of grief breaching the dam, leaving glistening trails on Li Sushang's face.
["Mama!!" Li Sushang cried, clutching her sword, as Qin Suyi reached for the door. "Mama…when will you be back?" There was a glimmer of hope in her eyes.
Qin Suyi looked back through the crack in the door. After a moment, she turned away. "Mama will definitely come back for you, Sushang. Don't be afraid."
Li Sushang hugged her sword, offering a shaky smile. "As long as I have Mama's sword, I won't be afraid of anything!"]
Tears still streamed down her face, but Li Sushang suddenly froze, glancing down at her hands.
That's right…as long as she had her sword…
As long as she had her sword, she wouldn't be afraid of anything…
Anything…
Her hands were empty.
She had nothing.
"Mama…" Li Sushang's expression shifted from stunned emptiness to profound sorrow. She curled into a ball, silent, except for a whispered, "I'm scared…"
["Suyi? Why…?"
"Senior Sister, I'm going with you to fight that demon! I can't let it keep killing people!"
"Nonsense! You stay here and guard the dojo. I'll go with the others…"
"But you can't defeat it without me!"
"And you alone will be enough?! What do you have? An ill-fitting sword? Do you even remember your forms?"
"I've never forgotten…even with a simple iron sword, I'm no less sharp!"
"And what about Sushang?"
"…She'll understand…"]
On the car roof, Shu shook his head, bewildered.
What was that? Qin Suyi…wasn't that Li Sushang's mother? Why was it from a first-person perspective? Was that Li Sushang's memory?! Why was he seeing this?
He instinctively looked in a certain direction, but to his surprise, it wasn't towards Li Sushang. He was looking at the sword in his hand.