bookbashuk Chapter 2 Prologue
Chapter 2 Prologue
At that time, my mother was just like before, still doing the work arranged by the Duke's mansion every day, as if the events of yesterday had never happened.
However, looking at her mother's increasingly pale face and increasingly weak body, it was clear that things were not as unaffected as she had appeared...
Looking at my mother's appearance today and thinking about yesterday's situation, I realized that the scene I least wanted to see was getting closer and closer to my mother.
At that time, I knew that the White Tiger Duke's Mansion would not treat my mother. Within the mansion, even without the White Tiger Duchess issuing any orders, everyone knew what to do and no one wanted to go against the White Tiger Duchess.
The moment one awakens the Spirit Eye Martial Soul, all suppression and persecution need no justification. Even if someone is willing to offer help, they will not dare to do so afterward.
It's even possible that the Duchess doesn't need to expend much effort dealing with her mother; all she needs to do is show a certain attitude, and most people in the manor will either understand and act accordingly or remain silent and indifferent to her mother's plight.
As for finding a healing Soul Master outside the Duke's mansion, there are ways to deal with the journey and escape from the Duke's mansion, but I don't have enough money.
He had considered selling the dagger, but his mother never took it out; instead, she kept it close at hand and watched over it constantly.
At the time, I didn't understand why my mother did this, but I couldn't argue with her. All I could do was gather the herbs that I had learned about from her to heal her wounds.
When her mother saw the herbs she had gathered, she only looked at her, worried that she might get hurt, but she didn't care...
But all of this was to no avail. At that time, I could sense that my mother was gradually heading towards a situation that I did not want to face.
At that moment, she wanted to leave the Duke's mansion to find that man, no matter how far the road was, no matter whether that man acknowledged her or not, as long as she could save her mother, nothing else mattered.
However, time did not allow her to do so. Years of such a life had long since made her body weak and frail, and these injuries eventually became the straw that broke the camel's back.
I can't forget what happened that night. Even though I've been through all of this since then, that scene is still vivid in my mind.
When I saw my mother's chest stop rising and falling, and heard her struggling breaths disappear after she had used up her last bit of strength, I realized how precious it was.
By then, my vision was already blurred, because I knew what all of this meant.
Even at the very last moment, his mother was still using the last of her strength to force out her words of advice to him.
It didn't say what would happen to her afterward, nor did it mention revenge, nor did it mention the person who had always talked about in front of him in the past...
She was simply holding her wrist, but this simple action took all her strength, yet it was as fragile as willow catkins, easily blown away at any moment.
And so he just looked at his mother, unable to utter a single word of the words he wanted to call out to her.
Tears streamed uncontrollably down her face, and her sobbing made it impossible for her to utter a single complete syllable.
At that moment, I wanted to stop the tears from flowing, to see my mother clearly, to stop sobbing, and to say what was on my mind.
However, he failed to do any of this; he could only look at his mother, whose vision was blurred by tears.
The mother in front of him, seeing him like this, had her lips trembling. Finally, with the last bit of strength in her body, she used her other hand to hand the dagger to him, and then squeezed out a weak, trembling voice from her chest.
"Live...to...go..."
As the words of instruction were spoken, the hand that was gripping his wrist lost its last bit of strength and began to slip limply to the ground. The dagger fell to the ground with a crisp sound, as if reminding him of what had just happened.
Upon feeling this action, I realized something, and the tears in my eyes suddenly stopped, the sobbing also disappeared at that moment, and I just stood there quietly.
At that moment, I saw my mother's face clearly.
A thin, scarred body, a lifeless face, and eyes that were not closed, staring straight at him…
Looking into those eyes, the tears in my own eyes stopped flowing, and the sobbing did not start again.
I remained silent for a long time, looking at everything in front of me, and into my mother's eyes.
From that moment on, I knew what had happened. No matter how much I resisted or didn't want to face it, I had to confront it all, just like the last words my mother left behind...
At that moment, I opened my mouth, but my throat could not produce any sound. It was as if a huge rock was pressing on my chest, making it hard to breathe. In the end, the crying did not come out, and the room was as quiet as the night.
He looked at his mother like that for a long time, and finally put the best-looking dress in her closet, the one she had always been reluctant to wear, on her.
Then, somewhat clumsily, he tied his mother's hair back up, reached out and closed her eyes, and took a damp cloth to wipe her familiar face.
My mother was beautiful, even though this kind of life made her body thin and weak, covered with bruises and scars, and her face was pale.
But that face, in my eyes, will always be so beautiful.
At that time, looking at his mother, he could only wrap himself in the only straw mat on the bed.
He said nothing, but simply dragged his mother out of the place that had trapped her all her life and buried her in a grove of trees outside the Duke's mansion.
There were no howling winds, no thunder and torrential rain, just a quiet summer night with the bright moon hanging high in the sky.
He dug a pit little by little and then placed his mother in it for burial.
Before that lonely and simple grave, there was only a wooden plank with the words he had carved with that dagger. As he looked at all of this, he silently made that vow in his heart...
After that, I returned to the woodshed, where I was now all alone. No one in the Duke's mansion cared about my mother's departure; everything was just as it had always been, as if she had never been in this world.
He worked in the woodshed as usual, but he used every spare moment, even his sleep time, to cultivate. The first-level innate soul power was his only hope.
Because having soul power allows one to become a soul master, and becoming a soul master allows one to accomplish what one desires.
A year later, when his soul power finally reached level ten, he wore the clothes his mother had sewn for him before she passed away and picked up the bag he had prepared long ago.
Without a trace of regret, he left the place, but it did not disappear from his heart.
Then he ran towards the Star Dou Great Forest. No one in the White Tiger Duke's mansion cared about his existence, as if his death at any moment was a perfectly normal thing.
Therefore, I successfully left that place. However, the journey to the Star Dou Great Forest was not smooth. Nevertheless, I stumbled and struggled until I reached the outside of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Looking at the distant Starry Sky Forest, I couldn't help but feel uneasy.
After all, when he thought about hunting soul beasts alone, he wasn't very confident.
But he always kept his mother's last words in mind, and if he wanted to truly live and accomplish what he wanted to do, he had to become a Soul Master.
Before entering the Star Dou Great Forest, I made some preparations, such as restoring my strength and adjusting my condition.
Just as he rolled up his trousers, took the dagger he had carved into a harpoon, and was about to catch some fish in the stream to fill his stomach.
Her spiritual eyes looked down at the clear stream below, where a blue fish swam.
Upon seeing this, just as he was about to swing the harpoon, the sunlight reflecting off the water caused his eyes to inexplicably blur at that moment.
Then I felt a strange sensation, as if I was being pulled away from something.