Wu Quan's roar mixed with the thunder outside the window, startling Old Man Liu!
He quickly stretched out his hand to caress Wu Quan's back and comforted softly: "You kid, why do you have such a big reaction when it comes to Mr. Shen... Don't think too much, that kid's life is as hard as his bones, not that It’s easy to get into trouble.”
Wu Quan gritted his teeth, broke free from Old Man Liu's hand, turned around and ran into the rain.
"Koizumi!"
Old Man Liu shouted and reached out to grab his arm, but Wu Quan was too fast. In the blink of an eye, he pushed open the iron gate in the rain and ran towards the end of the alley.
"...This child." Old man Liu stood under the eaves and sighed.
…
In the alleyway.
The heavy rain poured down from the dark clouds, and Wuquan ran forward along the narrow alley, stepping over the puddles.
He frowned tightly, his eyes full of struggle and madness. In a daze, Shen Qingzhu's voice reappeared in his ears:
"Your name is Wu Quan? Don't be afraid, I have killed all those beasts."
"..."
"My name is Shen Qingzhu, and from now on, I will be your brother."
"..."
"Those people just look fiercer and act more cruelly. There is nothing to be afraid of... As long as we are crueler and more desperate than them, they will be afraid of us."
"..."
"Dream of becoming an umbrella to protect me? You are still too weak... If you grow up well, you will have a chance in the future."
"..."
"Xiaoquan, I'm going out to serve as a soldier. From now on, you have to protect Old Man Liu and my younger brothers and sisters for me and not let them be bullied. Do you understand?"
"..."
Wu Quan, who was running in the rain, his eyes gradually blurred, and he murmured to himself in despair: "No... Brother Qingzhu, you won't die... We have agreed that I will be your umbrella in the future. If you If I die...what should I do?"
At this moment, a figure walked towards us from the other side of the alley.
Da da da--!
Wu Quan's figure quickly passed by that figure, he was slightly startled, stood still, and looked back.
Lin Qiye held a black umbrella and also turned to look at Wuquan.
In the alleyway of heavy rain, the two people looked at each other through the mist of water vapor.
"Your name is...Wuquan?" Lin Qiye looked at the soaked young man and asked with some confusion, "What happened?"
Wu Quan stared at Lin Qiye and subconsciously opened his mouth, wanting to ask something.
After a while, he still closed his mouth, turned around and walked into the rain silently, and his dark eyes with ups and downs of emotions gradually returned to calm.
Seeing that Wu Quan ignored him, although Lin Qiye had doubts, he didn't think much about it and just continued walking towards the gate of the orphanage.
He waited until his figure completely disappeared in the alleyway and reached Wuquan at the entrance of the deserted street before he slowly stopped.
He turned back and glanced at the misty alley.
"He should know about Brother Qingzhu."
"But if something really happened to Brother Qingzhu...if you ask me this, he will definitely not tell you."
Wu Quan murmured to himself, and after a moment, his dark eyes narrowed slightly.
He raised his palm slightly, and a drop of rainwater flowed down his palm, to his fingertips, and then dripped into the puddle at his feet.
A ripple spread across the water, and in the blurry reflection, black chairs were outlined one after another behind Wu Quan.
These black chairs, like the orchestra seats in an ancient music hall, are carved with dark and mysterious patterns. On more than twenty of them, there are ferocious monsters of different sizes and shapes sitting on them.
There are black mountains of meat tens of meters high, a big man carrying a knife with two wings on his back and three feet, and gray plastic bags that look like clouds...
They sit quietly in the shadows, with their heads lowered, like works of art sealed in a collection, or like a dark orchestra surrounding Wuquan, always ready to play music.
In the rain, Wu Quan slowly raised his hands and waved a mysterious trajectory in the air.
The gray plastic bag expanded rapidly and surrounded Wuquan, isolating his body and breath without a trace.
The other monsters on the black chairs were like puppets controlled by others. They stood up stiffly from their seats and stared straight at the end of the alley. Their bodies broke through the rain curtain one after another and disappeared without a trace.
"He is brother Qingzhu's comrade-in-arms. He must also have some powerful ability. He cannot let down his guard."
"Besides, don't hurt him, just read the memory..."
The sound of Wuquan was drowned in the roaring rain.
…
Hanshan Orphanage.
Lin Qiye pushed open the iron door and saw Old Man Liu standing under the eaves, sighing.
"Eh? Is it you?" Old Man Liu was suddenly startled when he saw Lin Qiye walking in, "Didn't you... leave?"
"Oh, I remembered that I didn't take something, so I came back all the way." Lin Qiye smiled apologetically. He looked back at the door and asked doubtfully, "By the way, Wuquan ran out just now...what happened?"
what?"
Old Liu's expression changed, he shook his head and sighed:
"It's nothing, the kid just got a little stimulated... He had some special experiences when he was a child, so his personality is quite extreme, and he gets easily excited when things happen, especially things related to Mr. Shen..."
"Extreme personality?"
"Yes." Old Man Liu nodded slightly, with memories in his eyes.
"That child was not sent for foster care, nor was he abandoned... He was abducted by human traffickers and then rescued."
"A kidnapped child?" Lin Qiye frowned slightly, "In this day and age, is there such a thing?"
"There are so many." Old Man Liu sighed, "When this child was four or five years old, he was drugged and abducted, and later sold to a begging gang.
Those people broke his hands and starved him for several days. When he was only skin and bones, they asked a lame old man to push him to beg on the street. All the money he got was divided among the gang. Every day
The only meal we had was a few pieces of steamed buns. If we ran out of money one day, we would be beaten severely when we returned home...
Almost every two or three months, the gang would change cities to avoid being caught by the police. He had been tortured like this for almost four years. This kid had experienced almost all the dirty tricks you can imagine.
If they hadn't happened to come to Linjiang back then, if they hadn't happened to be hit by Mr. Shen, this child would never have had a chance to thrive. Even if he grew up, under the influence of that environment, he would sooner or later change from a victim to a victim.
The perpetrator…”
"Did Shen Qingzhu save him?"
"Well, at that time, Mr. Shen was only a teenager, and he was a thorn in the side who was not afraid of anything.
That day he saw Koizumi begging on the street, so he kept a cautious eye on it and secretly followed them back to a shabby house on the mountain. After discovering the truth, he released all the enslaved children under the cover of night.
Later, when he was discovered on the way, he took a dull knife and fought with the group of desperadoes, stabbing four or five to death, and almost died himself.
That day, when he was covered in blood and carrying the unconscious Koizumi down the mountain, my old bones were frightened."