novelden Chapter 314 Baiji's Past
Chapter 314 Baiji's Past
Qiong had guessed that Litost was mentally unstable and might go on a rampage and do some heinous things, but he never expected that it would happen so sooner than he anticipated, and he never expected that Litost would actually dare to commit murder in public during the first match.
Incidentally, due to Lithost, the chief person in charge of the Ten Arts War finals, going insane and disappearing in public, procedural errors occurred and panic spread among the audience. As a result, the Ten Arts War tournament committee, except for Lithost, unanimously decided to postpone the competition.
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That night, at the inn, in Baiji and Qiong's room.
"Qiong, now you're a celebrity."
"Oh, I know."
Song Que waved the Ruimu Evening News in his hand, but Qiong did not take it—this black and white newspaper was nothing more than saying that he had stopped Litost from killing someone in public, or analyzing whether Litost was suitable to continue to be in charge of the Ten Arts War organizers, or at worst, studying journalism to whitewash Litost by saying that he broke the rules and disrupted the competition... Anyway, it was pretty much the same.
At first, Qiong was a little excited to see himself in the newspaper, but he had seen similar newspapers at least three times before. The accompanying pictures were all of him clashing his gun against Lithost's longsword.
Interestingly, Mars' technology seems to be somewhat skewed. Their advanced technologies, such as camera technology, have reached or may even surpass Earth's level a billion years from now, but their communication technology is quite backward… how come they don't even have a basic mobile phone?
Most obviously, phone booths are everywhere on the bustling streets of Ramu, and there are no "portable communication devices" in sight.
Ahem, I digress. Anyway, because food is the most important thing in the world and I've seen it all, Qiong didn't show the slightest interest in Song Que's newspaper.
Seeing that Qiong was neither cold nor warm, Song Que turned to Bai Ji to chat.
"Young Master Bai, seeing is believing. Now you should believe what we said back then, right?"
"I have never expressed disbelief."
"Speaking of which, what on earth is Lithost doing? Professor Bai, how did you become friends with someone like that?"
Kiana interrupted the conversation, saying that everyone knew what kind of person Bai Ji was: he was a miracle doctor who saved lives, treating minor ailments on a daily basis, and even for fatal injuries, he would use a dummy to transfer the damage to the patient, even if it meant lying in bed coughing for three days, until the patient recovered. He was a renowned miracle doctor in St. Freya! He was undoubtedly the most conscientious man on Mars!
So here's the question: how did the Martian conscience become friends with Lithost, that cold-blooded and ruthless guy?
"Yes. We'd also like to know, how did you become friends with Lithost?"
Pine Sparrow was also a little curious. Lithost, who derived pleasure from slaughtering the so-called "weak," didn't seem like someone worthy of being a friend of a kind and lawful faction like Baiji.
Bai Ji chewed his food and glanced at the three people in front of him: because of Kiana's words, all three of them were looking at him, waiting for his answer.
Bai Ji looked at Qiong, the only one who had practiced the rule of not speaking while eating or sleeping, and gestured with his eyes that he hoped Qiong would do something, but Qiong was no different from the other two...
“Lithost, he wasn’t like this before.”
Bai Ji let out a soft breath and said something that, in the eyes of the others, was tantamount to defending the murderer.
But Bai Ji was also stating the facts. Although he couldn't see through Lithost, personally, he considered Lithost a friend who had helped him. Although he had warned everyone to be careful of Lithost, deep down, he still believed he was a good person.
Would a villain help a homeless child? Would a villain strike hard against evildoers in a place blessed by the gods? At most, he was a mysterious law enforcer who hated evil, otherwise he would not have entrusted Xiaoling to him when he was bedridden.
Now, the person he had always admired but couldn't understand has suddenly become a public executioner who acts recklessly... To be honest, he still finds it hard to believe.
What exactly killed that helpful law enforcement officer, leaving behind only a walking corpse who was obsessed with harming the weak?
"You really want to know?"
"I'm just curious..."
"Can't tell? Then forget it."
"..."
"It's nothing serious..."
Bai Ji remained silent for a moment before slowly speaking.
"He used to be a good man... Well, since I have nothing better to do, I'll tell you about him. Where should I begin? Hmm... I have a younger sister—"
"You're an older brother too?"
Kiana's eyes narrowed instantly.
Could it be that because Qiong loves to randomly recognize younger sisters, Bai Ji thought "this child is like me" and that's why he took Qiong as his disciple?
"Nian Gao, don't interrupt!"
~~~~~~~~
Baiji was a sickly person.
This is not surprising, because his mother had an incurable disease, and as her son, Baiji was born with the disease.
Because of this congenital disease, doctors predicted that Bai Ji would not live to adulthood at birth. However, through medication and his own perseverance, Bai Ji successfully lived to adulthood and witnessed the birth of his lovely younger sister, Bai Ling. Bai Ling's birth brought much joy to the family, but fate played a cruel trick on them; Bai Ling also inherited her mother's disease, and even developed symptoms earlier than him.
After her mother passed away from illness, Bai Ji, who had previously taken a detached view of life and death, was driven to despair by the damned disease for the first time. This foolish woman realized for the first time how fragile life was, and that even a strong person like her mother could be defeated by illness. In the end, she could only murmur about her four-year-old daughter, whom she was worried about, before her sudden death in front of them...
From then on, Young Master Bai changed. He began to search everywhere for ways to prolong life, visiting everyone from the best doctors in Langqiu to charlatans like Song Que. He bought everything from the most advanced medical technology to the scribbled talismans from roadside stalls, all in order to help his sister get rid of her illness, so that she could run and jump freely outside.
Unfortunately, he failed. Even though he was the young master of the Bai family in Langqiu, able to utilize resources unimaginable to others to request treatment, this incurable disease was simply untreatable. And in his sister's case, even delaying treatment was impossible…
Almost three years ago, he met Lithost. Or rather, Lithost took the initiative to come to his ward to find him.
Lithost was exactly the same then as he was now, with the same attire and the same expression. Bai Ji wasn't unfamiliar with Lithost; no matter how ignorant he was, he couldn't possibly have never heard of such a prominent figure. But what did this important man want with him?
The answer is to help him.
Lithost gave Bai Ji a spell that couldn't even cure the symptoms: the Transfer Technique. Its effect was to transfer the pain of others onto oneself. Bai Ji immediately asked him to cast the spell without hesitation, transferring all of Bai Ling's pain onto him. However, Lithost also told him that this spell was just a deception, and that his sister's congenital defects were even more severe than his own, and that she was terminally ill and would not live past that winter.
～～～～～～～～～～～
"So, your sister..."
Amidst the increasingly worried looks from the three, Bai Ji gave a self-deprecating laugh.
“I promised Xiaoling that I would go with her to see the play adapted from her favorite fairy tale, ‘The Star Princess’… but I broke my promise. I was bedridden, not only because of the pain, but also because of my fear… haha, even her funeral! That winter, I asked Litost to attend in my place.”
"Baiji..."
Kiana suddenly wanted to slap herself. Why did she ask so many questions? She touched a nerve!
"Young Master Bai, we've heard that the Langqiu cuisine in Ruimu isn't as authentic as our Langqiu cuisine..."
Song Que tried to change the subject, hoping to cheer Bai Ji up from her self-blame. But the meal was over, so where could Bai Ji find something to comment on? Then, she had an idea! Ming Kee's pastries!
Song Que casually pointed to a pastry shop outside the window.
"How about we go out and take a look? See if the pastries from Ruimu are as good as those from Langqiu Mingji?"
"Mingji? During the time when Xiaoling was able to run around, she especially liked to bring pastries for her older brother... Oh right, I remember she also patronized Master Songque's shop—"
It seemed that helping would only make things worse and expose his own dark past, so Songque immediately pushed Qiong in front of Baiji.
She and Nian Gao are no help at all! Don't you have a younger sister? Quick, comfort your brother who lost his sister!
“Qiong, I don’t mind repeating what I said to Lithost back then to you.”
Qiong: ...
Faced with Bai Ji, who was engrossed in his self-narration, Qiong didn't know whether to leave or interrupt.
"Baiji is the most hypocritical and cowardly person in all of Langqiu. He doesn't possess the 'qualifications' of a knight that Lithost spoke of."
Qiong forced herself to speak, trying to break the heavy atmosphere that Bai Ji had created.
"Um, don't underestimate yourself..."
"He never dared to confront his own desires, because what he feared most was not death, but losing the meaning of life..."
But it was no use! Baiji wouldn't listen at all.
"Knowing that his illness was incurable, he tried to dispel his foolish thoughts early on; yet he couldn't help but search for ways to prolong his life, driven by his most primal instinct to survive, and he insisted on using the guise of caring for his mother and sister..."
"No, that's not true! You've been working so hard..."
"What's the point of trying?!"
Bai Ji's negative emotions filled the room; he had been suppressing them for quite some time.
"His sister lacked the aptitude for magic, and he could only watch helplessly as she sensed her own impending death. Only after she passed away did he use magic to deceive the world and obtain a healthy body..."
"Then why are you still sad?"
Qiong placed her hands on Bai Ji's shoulders and forced herself to look him in the eye.
“Brother Zhe, oh no… Baiji, Lao Bai! Didn’t you do a great job? Although it wasn’t perfect, you successfully got rid of the disease! Your sister will be so happy to see you healthy again, right? From now on, your children won’t…”
dong dong dong.
Qiong was still racking her brains trying to comfort Bai Ji when there was a knock on the door.
"Please come in."
A calm, serene voice came from Qiong's ear. The man who had just been cursing her was now perfectly disguised behind a mask of calm.
Watching Bai Ji walk over and open the door, four words popped into Qiong's mind: Sichuan Opera face-changing.
Not long after, a burly man entered the room carrying an extra-large box.
"Excuse me, is this Mr. Baizhu? There's a package for you!"
"A package? Mine?"
Qiong scratched his head. Wait a minute! He didn't buy anything! He didn't even know where the post office in Ruimu was!
"Excuse me, who sent this?"
"The sender is... Ms. Ajeta of Langcho."