Chapter 1494: Little Treasure (1/2)

Chapter 1494: Little Treasure

Starting the next day, he was much quieter. When he felt something warm on his face, he wouldn’t ask what the sun was. When he heard something singing, he wouldn’t ask what birds were.

Eventually, he heard enough from other people to understand what it meant to be blind. He learned that the sky wasn’t black, it was blue. The world wasn’t black either. It was filled with many colors.

He also realized that he was different from the other children. They had all been able to see the world from the moment they were born, whereas he....

He thought about what his parents had told him, that he would be able to see the world after he grew up. That was a lie. And yet, he didn’t want to believe that it was a lie, and continued to tell himself that after he grew up, he would be able to see.

The reason he couldn't see... was that he hadn’t grown up yet.

He began to grow more reclusive. He didn’t want to go out and play with the other children, mostly because they always bullied him. They made fun of him for not being able to see, joked about him being blind. But inside, he wanted to have friends, so he did his best to simply smile, and not cry. When he did play with the other children, and got shoved to the ground, tearing his clothes and scraping his skin until it bled, he just smiled.

People made jokes about him being blind, and those jokes only continued to become more and more cruel. He felt so bad that he wanted to weep, but he held it in. He didn't want to harm the friendships he had. He needed those friends.

One day, he got very excited when the other children, whom he could hear but not see, suddenly came looking for him. They said they wanted him to play a special game with them.

“It's called blind man’s bluff. Little Treasure, you’re blind, so you have to chase us, okay!?”

“Whoever you grab, that person will become blind. Oh right, we’re going to go to a special place to play. Just wait until we say go, then you can start chasing us.”

“Um... I don’t want to play,” Little Treasure said, trembling inwardly. He knew that being blind was a terrible thing, and didn’t want to make other people become blind.

“Shut up! If you don’t play with us right now, then we’ll never play with you ever again!” Refusing to discuss the matter any further, the children dragged him out to play. He wasn’t sure where exactly they were taking him, but eventually he heard birds singing. Eventually they shoved him into a kneeling position.

“Remember, don't start chasing us until we say go.” They started laughing, the sound of which eventually began to fade off into the distance.

He knelt there on the ground, not moving, worried that he would break the rules and start moving too soon. If that happened, maybe they wouldn't want to play with him again. So he waited... for a very, very long time.

Soon the singing of the birds faded away, and he started to get cold and scared.

”Can we start now?” he cried out. But no one answered.

”Can we start now?” He shivered. It was getting colder, and yet no one responded to his cries.

“Can we start now...?” He slowly rose to his feet, trembling. He thought he could hear the sound of people nearby, but no one answered his question.

He was scared. The world was pitch black, and the warmth that he normally felt because of his parents was gone. Now, the world was not only black, it was freezing cold.

“Can we start now...? I... I don’t want to play any more....” He was so frightened that tears began to roll down his cheeks.

“Where are you guys? I don’t want to play anymore.... I want to go home.

“Dad? Mom? Where are you...?” Weeping, he began to walk forward, flailing his arms in front of him, but grabbing ahold of nothing but air. After a few steps, he fell.

“Mother... where are you...? I'm scared....” He struggled back to his feet, weeping in fear. The feeling of being completely alone was stifling. His garments were torn. His head was bleeding. And he was only seven years old. Stretching his hands out in front of him, he began to walk forward slowly.

What he couldn't see that he was currently in a forest, and that up ahead of him was a lone wolf. It was slowly approaching him, staring at him with cold, merciless eyes.

Just when the wolf was about to pounce on him, it suddenly shivered, then sagged in place. A moment later, it had transformed into nothing more than ash. A young woman appeared, wearing a long green garment.

She stared at the child, somewhat in a daze, watching as he groped his way along. She saw the tears on his face, and could hear him crying out in that heartbreaking voice. The young woman bit her lip, and began to cry.

“Master....” she murmured. This was Yan’er. She had been searching for her Master for hundreds of years, and on this day, she had managed to track the faint traces of the Dao of Reincarnation to this very place. At long last... she had found the reincarnation of her Master.

The weeping boy’s foot caught on something, and he began to fall forward, but Yan’er gently caught him in her arms.

Little Treasure shivered and reached out to feel who it was that had caught him. She felt warm, almost like his mother. There was something very familiar about her. She even smelled familiar.

“You....” he whispered.

After a moment, Yan’er knelt down in front of him, smiled, and asked, “Your name is Little Treasure, right?”

“Yes,” he replied, nodding. The woman’s voice was gentle, and suddenly, he wasn’t afraid any more.

It was at that point that voices could be heard off in the distance. Apparently, a large group of people were walking along and calling out sporadically.

“Little Treasure, where are you...?”