SIATOWITF Chapter 62
by Volare“Grandpa.”
Having finally gotten a chance to be alone, Ji Mo An decided to say a few more words.
“Don’t call me Grandpa, I’m not your Grandpa,” the old man huffed, turning his head away from Ji Mo An.
“Aiya, aiya,” Mu Nanyuan’s eyes lit up, “Tell Grandpa, Grandpa is still your Grandpa.”
“Mu Nanyuan!” Ji Mo Lin felt like he needed a quick-acting heart medication right now.
“Alright, do you understand or do I? Just make sure the money is in place,” Mu Nanyuan waved his hand, pulling Ji Mo An to sit beside him.
“An’an, you speak. Don’t mind Old Lin.”
“…” Ji Mo An glanced at his grandfather, who seemed about to explode, and suddenly felt that his maternal grandpa’s mouth was no less sharp than Xuan Bai’s.
This damned déjà vu.
“I mean, about the matter of me wanting to recover my memories,” Ji Mo An pursed his lips, “It’s too chaotic right now.”
“How so?” Mu Nanyuan frowned.
“The timelines don’t match up, Grandpa. Xuan Bai said that I… knew him for six years and then another six years.”
“Twelve years?” Both old men were startled.
“But apart from those two months after the car accident, I have no memory of ever seeing him,” Ji Mo An shook his head slightly, “I can’t figure out when we met. If it was when I was in a coma, then he couldn’t have appeared at my car accident a day early. But if we knew each other a long time ago, the people around me couldn’t possibly not know him.”
“Unless… he made everyone else forget him.”
“The odds of that are too small,” Mu Nanyuan became serious, “Twelve years ago, you were still in high school. If you had any abnormal behavior, it’s impossible that no one would have noticed.”
“So, compared to twelve years ago, I’m more concerned about what he said,” Ji Mo An gently drew circles on the table with his finger, “Six years and then another six years. Why not just say twelve years?”
“Ouroboros, An’an, do you know what that name represents?” Mu Nanyuan suddenly asked.
Ouroboros?
Ji Mo An was stunned. Wasn’t that the name Xuan Bai had said when he was trading with Jing Junze…? It seemed to be the snake’s real name?
“Xuan Bai’s name? Actually, I’ve suspected before that Xuan Bai was a temporarily made-up name. His face is completely European in structure, how could he have a black and white name? But Ouroboros… Ouroboros…”
He repeated the name, suddenly feeling a strange sensation.
Somewhat familiar… He seemed to have heard it somewhere before, but definitely not from the snake’s mouth.
“An’an, Ouroboros… is the name of the Ouroboros,” Ji Mo Lin traced the circles Ji Mo An was drawing.
“The self-devouring Ouroboros, the immortal Ouroboros. It is the repetition of construction and destruction, the infinite snake that alternates between life and death.”
“Ouroboros,” Ji Mo An stared blankly at the figure-eight symbol his grandfather had drawn.
“Mom’s work is also called Ouroboros…”
Snakes love to bite their tails.
Ji Mo An quickly recalled the past. The snake always liked to curl up in his arms to bask in the sun, and then unconsciously go to bite its own tail.
“Child, if he can control time and life and death, then this timeline may not be so chaotic,” Mu Nanyuan raised his hand and gently patted Ji Mo An’s shoulder.
“Before today, we always regarded him as an enemy,” the old man stood up, sighing softly.
“But you’re right, he’s very powerful. Much more powerful than we imagined. If he really wanted to hurt you, there was no need to wait until now.”
“Those… children from the NHE Association.”
“An’an, this is the first time we’ve seen their faces,” Mu Nanyuan sighed. “They’re too similar, really too similar.”
“When Grandpa was young, he took on a mission from his superiors to escort a batch of test subjects to the Seventh Bureau. I saw their core members, I saw those faces hidden under the lab coats.”
“Child, Jing Junze was still young at that time, she couldn’t remember what her playmates looked like. But Grandpa remembers.”
“They…” Ji Mo An seemed to know what his maternal grandpa was going to say next.
“I will arrange for them to do DNA verification as soon as possible. Their ages don’t match up, but if it’s really like what that Su Nai said, her space ability can change the flow of time.”
“Then perhaps… the files of those children who have been declared dead can be overturned.”
“An’an,” Mu Nanyuan quickly walked back and grasped Ji Mo An’s hand.
“If… if the truth is as we are guessing now, then all our previous guesses will be overturned.”
“Star Moon… no, it’s Star. What is her position? Why did the companions in Ouroboros’ mouth come to the human world? Why did the Reborn say that they came with the disaster? Ouroboros and the Prophet stand on opposite sides, and those children also stand on opposite sides of the Prophet. But the Prophet also comes from the Stars, that’s without a doubt.”
“An’an, there are too many mysteries, overturning everything and starting from scratch is a huge project. We need time, more time.”
“I asked him, I asked him three questions,” Ji Mo An suddenly felt his heart skip a beat.
“He said that it is our world that restricts him. [Prohibition of interfering with the human world, prohibition of affecting human behavior, prohibition of intervention in human development] is the rule belonging to their world, and they have never harmed a living person.”
“Living person,” Mu Nanyuan carefully savored this sentence, “Then what Yangji said about the soul… they did take away the souls of the dead.”
“The second question was why they came to the human world. He said it was because the space was unstable, and no companions wanted to come here.” Ji Mo An frowned slightly, he felt his heart beating faster and faster, as if it was impacting his chest again and again.
“The third question I asked him was about the car accident… cough…”
“An’an!” Amidst the terrified voices of his family, Ji Mo An felt a fishy sweetness surge in his mouth.
He subconsciously touched his lips, and moist liquid enveloped his fingertips.
It was red.
But… why was it red?
“An’an, An’an! Don’t scare Grandpa…” The gray-haired old man completely panicked, he helplessly reached out to cover the child’s mouth, but a large amount of scarlet still overflowed from between his fingers.
“Don’t touch him! Quick, call someone!” Mu Nanyuan shouted, he quickly supported Ji Mo An’s neck and head to prevent blood from flowing back into his trachea, but could only watch helplessly as a wound more than ten centimeters long was torn open from Ji Mo An’s throat.
It appeared out of thin air, on skin that was originally without any scars.
Fresh blood spurted out, and the fatal wound quickly cooled the human body.
Bang!
Just one second before Ji Mo Lin’s blood-stained hand grabbed the doorknob, the entire door suddenly trembled violently.
The locked door crashed down, and the snake in the cloak brushed past Ji Mo Lin.
“Ha…” The snake pushed Mu Nanyuan away, grabbed Ji Mo An in his arms, and showed his sharp fangs to fiercely glare at everyone.
“We won’t go over… we won’t go over…” Mu Nanyuan gasped, taking two steps back. He was also trembling, his military uniform stained with blood.
He looked at the snake’s cold and oppressive golden vertical pupils, and the wound on his grandson’s neck flashed through his mind again and again.
“Please… save him…” The old man was powerless.
That was a fatal wound that could take a person’s life in an instant.
“Hiss…” The snake made a threatening sound, hugged Ji Mo An and retreated all the way to the corner, before finally flicking his cloak to cover the man’s upper body.
“Ji Mo An… Ji Mo An…” Xuan Bai softly called Ji Mo An’s name, he approached the wound on his neck, and the scarlet stained the snake’s eyes red.
His breath was almost gone.
But…
“Make a wish, Ji Mo An, make a wish to the snake,” Ouroboros suppressed his voice, the bewitching sound spreading in the private space.
The snake opened his mouth, and his forked tongue fluttered and landed in the sea of scarlet.
He licked the wound of the person in his arms again and again, repeating the words of wishing to the person who had already lost consciousness again and again.
It had to be said, it had to be said.
If it wasn’t said, the oath could not be established.
“Ji Mo An, make a wish, say you want to live. This is a wish without a price, the only exception.”
Wish… wish…
Ji Mo An stood in a white light, looking blankly at the black mist churning in front of him.
Where was he?
Who was he?
Why was he standing here?
Huff…
A breeze brushed past, and the sound of footsteps came from behind him.
One step, and then another.
Ding…
The sound of metal clashing rang out, and in just a few seconds, the footsteps had reached behind him.
Very close, very close.
It seemed to be touching his back.
Ji Mo An wanted to turn around, he was eager to see who was standing behind him.
Unfortunately… he couldn’t move. It was as if nails had nailed him to the soles of his feet, and his throat was as if stuffed with something so that he couldn’t open his mouth.
Suddenly, a hand stretched out from the corner of his eye.
It was a very good-looking hand, but the fingertips were covered with calluses and scars.
That hand was also holding a silver-white stick, pointing straight at the black mist in front.
The stick was very good-looking, and it also had strange patterns, as if a snake was constantly wandering on it.
Ji Mo An was distracted, staring blankly at the totem wandering on the stick.
It changed again, and it turned into a pattern of stars and moons.
“Hey,” a male voice rang out, extraordinarily familiar.
“Go forward, don’t just stand there like an idiot.”
Go forward? Why?
Ji Mo An tried to move his body, but it still felt like it was welded down and he couldn’t move.
“Sigh…” The person behind him sighed, and then there was another crisp sound.
It should have been the stick that fell to the ground, and Ji Mo An began to think wildly again.
Suddenly, his body was pushed violently.
Ji Mo An staggered forward two steps, he turned his head suddenly, but there was no one behind him.
How strange.
Ji Mo An blinked, obediently walking towards the black mist.
But… it felt so familiar, so familiar…
Why was it so familiar?
Ji Mo An stood in front of the black mist and suddenly lowered his head.
Hands.
Very good-looking hands.
But without calluses or scars.
“Who is he?” he spoke.
The timbre was exactly the same, just a little less hoarse.
That was him.
It was Ji Mo An.
But why would Ji Mo An be standing behind Ji Mo An?
But why would Ji Mo An’s hands be covered with scars and calluses?
Ji Mo An was an heir, a golden-branched and jade-leafed young master, his hands only needed to sign his name on contracts, only needed to braid his sister’s hair.
So why would Mo An’s hands be covered with scars and calluses?
“He is me,” Ji Mo An looked at the black mist in front of him and spoke again.
That person was of course Ji Mo An, Ji Mo An would not fail to recognize Ji Mo An, no one would fail to recognize themselves.
Huff…
Another breeze brushed past, and the black mist swayed with the wind.
Gradually… gradually…
Two spots of gold emerged from the black mist, becoming clearer and clearer, closer and closer.
Those were very beautiful colors, as passionate as sunlight, as brilliant as gilded gold.
A snake poked its head out of the black mist.
A… huge snake.
This was too big… Ji Mo An curiously approached the giant snake, just that golden eye was more than a meter wide.
Such large scales, Ji Mo An blinked, he felt he could sit in those scales.
“Ji Mo An.”
Another voice rang out, that voice was deep and magnetic, like a melodious cello in a auditorium and like mellow wine.
“Are you talking?” Ji Mo An looked at the giant snake curiously.
Unexpectedly, he was not afraid of the snake, and even… wanted to get close.
“Ji Mo An,” the snake still called his name.
“I’m listening,” Ji Mo An simply sat down, he felt a little lightheaded and a little cold.
He rubbed his hands, but felt colder and colder.
“Ji Mo An, make a wish to the snake,” the snake’s golden pupils trembled, beautifully beyond words.
“Wish?” Ji Mo An was a little puzzled, “I have no wish to make.”
“Make a wish to the snake, wish… you want to live,” the giant snake’s voice was very gentle, and there seemed to be starlight flowing in its golden eyes.
“Why?” Ji Mo An shook his head, he looked at his reflection in the snake’s pupils, “I’m fine, except for being a little cold.”
“Because the snake once made a wish to you, so you also have to make a wish to the snake. You asked the snake to make a wish without a price, to let the snake live well. So the snake also wants you to make a wish, just wish… that you live well.”
Another black mist rose from beside Ji Mo An, and a huge tail tip poked out of the black mist and stuffed into Ji Mo An’s arms.
“What if I don’t wish?” Ji Mo An raised an eyebrow, “What a strange wish, I’m fine, just a little cold, like I’m flying in the sky.”
“Don’t wish?” The black snake tilted his head, affectionately rubbing his wrist with the tip of his tail.
“If you don’t wish, the snake will cry.”
“You’re so big and you still cry, aren’t you ashamed?” Ji Mo An couldn’t help but smile.
“Then okay, in order not to let you big guy cry, then I will reluctantly make a wish.”
He stood up, feeling colder and lighter, and his neck was also cold, as if there was a cold wind blowing around him.
“Then I also wish to the snake, wish that Ji Mo An will live on.”
Live on.
Ji Mo An must live on.