Chapter 107 - Regret
Ye Tong didn't see Gu Xingfeng's reaction thus she's unaware of the impending danger.
"My son was at fault for your son's incompetence?" Huo Zichu said as she smiled at Ye Tong. "Ah. I know, I know. My son is too perfect the world hates him, thus your son killed my son, right?" she asked as her eyes narrowed while she looked at Ye Tong whose face registered shock.
Ye Tong gaped at Huo Zichu in disbelief. "You - ! My son wouldn't do that! How dare you!" she said as she raised her hand, but Huo Zichu caught her arm. "AH!" she cried when Huo Zichu squeezed her arm. Her eyes became tearful because of pain.
Rong Si was dumbfounded while Huo Huainan and Gu Xingfeng immediately separated the two women. The Lu couple was stunned by them. They are pacifists, thus they aren't used seeing the kind of this scene..
"You! I'll sue you!" Ye Tong said as she glared at Huo Zichu. Her arm had turned purple. It looked horrifying on her fair skin.
"Sue me?" Huo Zichu scoffed. "That was a preemptive self-defense. Everyone can see you intentionally harmed me." She told Ye Tong.
Ye Tong's face paled in anger.
Huo Zichu grinned. "Blame yourself for not teaching your son how to properly behave." She told her before she sat back to her seat.
"Argh!" Ye Tong screamed in anger and she pushed Gu Xingfeng before she returned to her seat.
"How about Mr. Rong?" Gu Xingfeng asked.
"I'll wait for the court's summon." Rong Si answered. "Even though my son is like that, but I know he won't kill a person." He said.
"Hah. But he harmed a minor?" Ye Tong said.
Rong Si glared at her. "It's your son's fault. He dragged my son!" he gnashed his teeth in anger.
"Mr. and Mrs. Lu?" Gu Xingfeng turned to the Lu couple.
"We'll also wait for the court." They answered and pleadingly looked at Gu Xingfeng. They were hoping Gu Xingfeng could be lenient towards Lu Ming like before.
However, Gu Xingfeng averted their gaze. "Very well." He said. "The other suspect, Zhu Min, is still recuperating along with her mother." He told them. "I hope everyone would be patient and wait for her to regain consciousness."
"That bitch… this is all her fault!" Rong Si balled his fists.
"Hah." Ye Tong scoffed, but she also agreed with Rong Si. If not for Zhu Min raping Huo Ling that forced Huo Ling to die, everything wouldn't have happened.
Huo Huainan sighed while Huo Zichu leaned her head on her husband's shoulder. How they wished for their son to have followed them abroad so they could have kept their eyes on him more. If they knew this would've happened, they would've forced him to go with them. "Father and mother would be broken-hearted." Huo Zichu told Huo Huainan. She's referring to Huo Huainan's parents.
Huo Huainan sadly smiled. "I knew they would wish for Ah Ling to live his life satisfactorily." He told her.
"And he did." Huo Zichu said. They sometimes think this is better. Huo Ling wouldn't have to suffer the cruelty of this world and he died being ignorant and pure. She can't help but cry again.
"Heh!" Ye Tong scoffed when she saw Huo Zichu cried. Rong Si sympathetically looked at the Huo couple while the Lu couple felt sad.
Huo Ling died while their child is still alive. Not to mention the fact that Huo Ling was raped… They wouldn't bear it if their child was also raped, more importantly if their child had died – be it he was killed or he committed suicide.
Things that were done cannot be changed since they already have happened. They cannot take back Huo Ling's life, no matter how much they would regret.
S City General Hospital.
Yi Bing read the private message Di San sent.
3257: The matter with the Soul Eaters temporarily stopped, so I, Feng Er, Si Shui and Liu Lin will be starting our investigation for the Soul Fragments. You and Qi Shan should take care. Send your message directly to Gu Shi. Our investigation will be indefinite.
0001: I understand. Good luck to you and the others. You be careful, too.
Yi Bing closed the holographic screen and turned to Huo Ling who was blankly staring at the empty space. "Huo Ling." He called.
Huo Ling's face is vacant. "I feel like my emotions are very shallow." He said.
"Why?" Yi Bing asked.
"I don't feel that sad." Huo Ling answered.
Yi Bing was taken aback. "You… don't feel that sad?" he asked.
Huo Ling nodded. "Strange, right?" he said. "And they are my parents." He added.
Yi Bing didn't answer. He felt it was strange indeed. Initially, he thought Huo Ling's attachment this time would be attachment to people since he unjustly and suddenly died. He hasn't been with his family recently, thus he thinks that was Huo Ling's regret. There's also Huo Ling's attachment to his friends. Even though they actually hated him, yet Huo Ling didn't know that fact and that they still have a bond.
There's also the attachment to life. This is the usual attachment of the souls who suddenly died. They still cling to their life, making it their regret. He thought this might be Huo Ling's attachment if his attachment isn't to people.
"Maybe because you feel like you have fulfilled your duty as their son, thus you don't feel that much sadness." Yi Bing told Huo Ling.
Huo Ling's eyes widened and he looked at him.
Yi Bing nodded at him. "Many people question their feelings for being shallow." He said. "Like they don't feel that much pain or sadness compared to the other people. One factor is their tolerance to such things. Another factor is their psychology." He explained. "These two factors are correlated. If one would think it isn't that sad or painful for him, then he will tolerate the pain or the sadness." He said.
"Then what about mine?" Huo Ling asked.
"Your is psychological aspect." Yi Bing answered. "You feel sadness and pain, thus your tolerance is low, but the sadness and pain aren't much because you felt like you've done your obligation as a son, and as a friend." He explained. "Am I wrong?" he asked Huo Ling.
"That's…" Huo Ling can't search for an answer, since the answer has already been there.
"You've lived perfectly." Yi Bing continued. "You've done your part well as a son and as a friend, and did it exemplarily." He said. "You must have thought, you owe them nothing since you've already satisfied their expectations." He told Huo Ling.
Huo Ling gaped at Yi Bing. "You…" he said. "You've seen through me." he told him and smiled. "You are right. I didn't want to disappoint them, thus I did my best." He looked at his transparent hands. "So that if I really would be gone, they wouldn't regret I left them because I still have an unfinished business with them." He explained. "I already satisfied them, and so I didn't feel regret, too, that I died." He said.
Yi Bing who was always guessing Huo Ling's attachment. "…" if he didn't have an attachment to people nor attachment to life, then what is his attachment? Attachment to things? He thought about it. "Do you have something you regret you left in this world?" he asked.
"Hmm…" Huo Ling muttered as he thinks. "I can't remember." He answered.
Yi Bing didn't press him. "It's fine. We still have lots of time to know your attachment." He told Huo Ling.
"'attachment'?" Huo Ling asked.
"Your regrets." Yi Bing answered. "Do you have anything you regret?" he asked. "That's what keeps you in this world. If the knot is untangled, then you can proceed to your reincarnation." He explained to him.
"Oh." Huo Ling muttered. "I don't remember." He said.
"It must be the effect of your death. Some of your memories were lost." Yi Bing told him.
"That must be it." Huo Ling sighed.
"Don't worry. You'll eventually recover your memories. Let's wait for that time to come." Yi Bing said. "Or, we can go to some places that might trigger them." He told him.
"'places', huh?" Huo Ling muttered. "I have this affinity with playgrounds…" he said.
"Why playgrounds?" Yi Bing asked as he connected his watch with the hospital's system to look for the map of the S City in its database.
The grim reapers aren't the residents of this world, thus they cannot do a large-scale operation like accessing this world's data. The space and time are always changing, thus keeping a data of a world will be useless. Mostly, it is the Special Worlds that are very inconsistent. However, they cannot apply that thought in a Normal World. Even though the world is normal, but there will always be times it'd change its trajectory.
Change is the only thing that is constant. You never know what might happen next, thus, one has to be adaptive to his surrounding and be flexible in thinking.
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