Chapter 117: Abandonment

Imagine the torment of being alive yet unable even to speak to oneself!

Mu You tried using his supernatural ability again and again. He could clearly sense the presence of flames, yet after each attempt, he could not see even the faintest spark. It was as though something had forcibly blocked them out of existence.

Mu You felt himself collapsing inside. To exist in a state utterly devoid of presence was enough to drive anyone insane.

“Hey, you can’t catch me! You can’t catch me! Hee hee!”

A burst of laughter and playful shouting suddenly reached Mu You’s ears, interrupting his thoughts. He hurriedly slipped into a nearby building and listened carefully.

Before long, a little boy appeared in his field of vision. He held enough pastries for two people and ran swiftly ahead. Close behind him came a little girl, already panting for breath as she chased him, calling from time to time for him to stop.

There was something strangely familiar about her. Mu You felt as though he had seen her somewhere before...

That was it. He remembered now. This girl was Nuo Nuo, several years younger. Her personality was utterly different from the Nuo Nuo he knew now, but judging by her voice and appearance, she was unquestionably the same person.

Had time turned back?!

Impossible!

Then only one possibility remained: he had entered Nuo Nuo’s memories—or perhaps a reality created according to those memories.

There was no time to think further. Nuo Nuo and her younger brother were the only normal humans Mu You had encountered since entering this world. He was certain Dian Shao and the others were just as curious about the pair, so he immediately followed after them.

“Xiao Wei, slow down! I’ll give you my share too. Stop running and eat properly, or you’ll fall!”

Nuo Nuo shouted as she ran, but her brother showed no sign of stopping.

“No, no! You just want to trick me into stopping so you can steal my food. I’m not falling for it!”

The boy ran even faster. In the blink of an eye, he turned a corner and vanished from sight.

“You little rascal!”

Nuo Nuo could run no farther. Panting heavily, she slowed down and turned the corner. When she saw that her brother had stopped as well, delight immediately lit up her face.

Then a wave of heat struck her.

Nuo Nuo raised her head and followed her brother’s gaze. Flames roared before them, merciless tongues of fire devouring everything in their home. Thick smoke billowed upward, punctuated by the sharp crackle of burning wood.

“No! My toys are still inside!”

The little boy flung away the pastries in his hands and rushed through the doorway at full speed. Nuo Nuo cried out, terrified that something would happen to him. Gritting her teeth, she followed him inside.

Mu You’s vision shifted violently. Flames filled his sight. He was running wildly through the fire, crying and shouting.

This was the little boy’s point of view. When had he entered the boy’s body?

At last, “he” returned to the bedroom and seized the remote-controlled airplane he loved most. He turned to run outside, but it was already too late. The flames had swallowed the doorway, trapping “him” inside.

What should he do?

Just as “he” stood helplessly at a loss, a figure suddenly forced its way through the doorway.

It was Nuo Nuo!

Seeing “him” sobbing in terror, Nuo Nuo immediately rushed forward, snatched the remote-controlled airplane from his hands, hauled his trembling body upright, and ran toward the exit.

“My airplane! My airplane! You ruined my airplane!”

Even with his life hanging in the balance, “he” could think only of that battered toy. Mu You could also feel a powerful resentment toward Nuo Nuo spreading from the boy’s heart.

At that very moment, a burning beam suddenly collapsed from above.

Nuo Nuo’s face turned white with terror. She shoved the boy away, but was herself crushed beneath the flames.

“Waaaah...”

The pain of his fall made “him” burst into loud sobs. Just then, a middle-aged woman rushed in frantically. She scooped “him” up in her arms, anxiously examining him for injuries while desperately searching for Nuo Nuo.

“Where is your sister? Where did she go at a time like this?!”

“Waaaah... Sister, she...”

“His” mouth had just begun to tell the truth when that same wave of resentment surged through him again. He changed his tone at the last moment.

“When my sister saw the fire, she ran away by herself. I was so scared! Mother, I was so scared!”

With that, “he” began to cry even harder.

“That wretched girl! She has no sense at all, and she doesn’t act like a sister in the slightest. You’re the continuation of our family line!”

After saying this, the woman carried “him” outside without looking back.

But “he” stopped crying. Perched on his mother’s back, he gazed toward the flames. Nuo Nuo lay trapped beneath a burning pillar, her legs pinned down.

The boy grinned with satisfaction.

Lying on the ground, Nuo Nuo could not believe that her own brother would treat her this way, nor that their mother would say such things behind her back. The agony in her legs sent waves of dizziness through her. She no longer even had the strength to call for help, and soon she fainted.

The scene shifted once more.

This time, Mu You found himself in a hospital. Outside the ward came the furious voices of Nuo Nuo’s parents arguing. Mu You tried to sit up, only to discover that his entire body was wrapped in bandages and attached to an intravenous drip. He could feel nothing below his waist.

This was... Nuo Nuo’s body.

“Our experiment failed. The Death Row Park is merely punishing us lightly for now. If we want to escape our misfortune completely and prove our loyalty, we can only... only...”

The middle-aged man outside the ward hesitated.

“Only what? Hurry up and tell me!”

Nuo Nuo’s mother urged him on impatiently.

“To prove our loyalty and persuade the Death Row Park to give us another chance, we have to send one of our children away. Only then will it completely let down its guard against us.”

“No! I won’t agree! You know exactly what the Death Row Park is like! It’s hell! An eternal hell with no peace!”

“I know. But this is the only way. Don’t worry. Since we both work at the Death Row Park, we’ll still be able to protect and care for our child every day.”

“Then... which one do we send?”

“I’m the sole heir of my family. Our line cannot end with me. And the other one is already crippled—and she’s a girl. In the long run...”

Their voices gradually faded away. An overwhelming weariness descended upon Nuo Nuo once more, and she fainted again.

When she awoke, the man standing before her was someone Mu You knew all too well.

Mo Han.

Nuo Nuo was lying in a wheelchair. She timidly surveyed her surroundings. Everything was cold and lifeless. Only Mo Han, standing before her with a warm smile, looked at her with tenderness and pity in his eyes.

Remembering what had happened, Nuo Nuo steadied herself and drew a deep breath. Then she asked a question capable of shattering a little girl’s heart.

“Am I the one my parents abandoned?”