Chapter 259: The Unbearable Past
He continued walking past several patient rooms. Through the glass windows, he could see people resting or practicing their abilities. None seemed restrained—but none of them stepped out either.
Zhuang Mingxu walked around for a bit and finally set his sights on a middle-aged man. The man looked to be in his thirties, and one of his legs was amputated from mid-calf down. He stood by his bed, leaning on a crutch.
When he saw someone knock and come in, the man turned around, slightly surprised. Seeing a stranger, his expression flashed with a moment of caution.
“Hello,” he greeted while sizing up Zhuang Mingxu. “Are you a new doctor? I haven’t seen you before.”
“Dr. Zhuang Mobai brought me here,” Zhuang Mingxu replied, scanning the surroundings. In the corners he hadn’t noticed before, lush green plants grew vigorously. They climbed along the walls like ivy.
“You’ve awakened a wood-type ability?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
“Yes,” the man said, taking out a seed no larger than a grain of rice. He placed it in his palm, and within moments, it sprouted, grew rapidly, blossomed, and bore fruit.
No matter how many times Zhuang Mingxu had seen such a scene, he still found it astonishing.
“Try it. Even ordinary people can eat it,” the man said politely, having heard that Zhuang Mobai had brought him. His demeanor grew more sincere and courteous.
He handed over a cherry tomato-sized fruit, bright red and fresh-looking. Zhuang Mingxu held it in his palm, but his gaze involuntarily drifted to the man’s amputated leg.
Normally, he wouldn’t have made such a rude gesture, but now, an indescribable urge arose within him. He wanted to know what had happened to the man’s leg.
“It was crushed. During the great earthquake, I lost it saving my wife,” the man said, as if he had read the look in Zhuang Mingxu’s eyes. He patted his leg as he explained.
“And your wife?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
“She ran off with someone else,” the man answered calmly.
He was just an ordinary man struggling to survive in the apocalypse. When the great earthquake hit, he shielded his wife from falling furniture and lost a leg in the process.
Later, his wife awakened a water-type ability. At first, she joined a small team and took him along on survival missions. Life was tough, but manageable.
But women often want someone they can rely on, not to be the pillar of support themselves. And when surrounded by more powerful ability users, it was only a matter of time before her heart changed.
The familiar story struck a chord with Zhuang Mingxu. He too had broken his leg early in the apocalypse, dragged along until now when it had finally been treated.
“Honestly, I don’t blame her,” the man said after a pause. “I saw how hard she worked this past year. Besides, she left me enough supplies to live on.”
Zhuang Mingxu sank into his own thoughts. What if…
What if, just as Zhuang Mobai had said, Lu Weiyi was only staying to see his leg healed, to repay the past, and then intended to leave completely…
Though the man spoke calmly, he couldn’t hide his disappointment. He must still love her…
And yet, he had let her go.
Maybe it was their similar experiences that stirred something in Zhuang Mingxu. He couldn’t help but imagine such a future. He didn’t dare think deeply, but he also couldn’t stop himself.
He didn’t think he could do what this man did.
That person—Lu Weiyi—was his childhood dream, his long-time unattainable wish, and now, the only thing he could still hold on to.
After a moment, the man took a deep breath, perked up, and smiled. “Fortunately, I’ve awakened an ability now.”
“You wouldn’t believe it—when I met Dr. Zhuang, Ma Gang had just stolen my supplies. I was crawling on the ground, couldn’t even stand. Then Dr. Zhuang showed up out of nowhere and asked if I wanted an ability.”
“I thought he was joking. But at that moment, I had no other choice. I said yes without hesitation. And looking back, that was the best decision I’ve ever made.”
Zhuang Mingxu saw the sparkle in his eyes—it was like the ability had given him infinite courage and the strength to face life again.
“What do you want to do now?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
“Go out and find my wife. Ask her if she still wants to be with me,” the man said plainly, not feeling the least bit embarrassed. “I still love her. If I had awakened my ability earlier, I’m sure we would still be like we used to be.”
Like we used to be.
Those words struck Zhuang Mingxu again, hitting his heart with precise force.
Not long after, Zhuang Mobai came over, having finished his business. The man stood and thanked him again sincerely, without a hint of falsehood.
As they walked away, Zhuang Mingxu asked, “Granduncle, why did you suddenly start researching this?”
“Don’t give me that line you feed everyone else—about contributing to the advancement of humanity,” he said dryly. “We’re both from the Zhuang family. I know how our people think.”
Zhuang Mobai chuckled. “Of course it’s for a better future for our family.”
Seeing Zhuang Mingxu glance over, Zhuang Mobai continued, “Right now, we have too few ability users in the Zhuang family. Honestly, the younger generation can’t shoulder big responsibilities. If you were to gain an ability, I wouldn’t worry about retirement. But relying on the current bunch…”
He shook his head, clearly unimpressed. “As ability users grow stronger, the conflict between them and ordinary people will eventually erupt. If our family lacks strong ability users, we’ll be left behind.”
“I have no children. I can only rely on your generation,” Zhuang Mobai said, looking at Zhuang Mingxu. “If I’m working for the family’s future, I’m also securing a retirement plan for myself.”
Zhuang Mingxu asked no more and continued walking alongside him.
Ahead was the ward where those who had just undergone surgery were staying. Through the transparent window on the door, Zhuang Mingxu took a look inside. It was a normal hospital room, but at each bedside was a container resembling a flowerpot.
“Inside are items corresponding to the five elements—water, metal, matches, seeds, and soil. Once they awaken their abilities, they’ll use these for training.”
“At first, ability use isn’t seamless. They need tools to assist them. These help them gain control faster,” Zhuang Mobai explained.
“Can you tell what ability they’ll awaken beforehand?” Zhuang Mingxu asked.
“Of course. We run tests in advance. Based on the elemental makeup in their bodies, we determine the most compatible ability. That way, the surgery has a much higher success rate.”
The two of them wandered for a while, and by then it was already late. Zhuang Mingxu followed Zhuang Mobai back upstairs.
Zhuang Mobai was planning to go to Old Master Zhuang’s home to mooch dinner and invited Zhuang Mingxu to join him.
“Does the family know what you’re doing?”
“Of course. A laboratory needs considerable manpower and resources,” Zhuang Mobai said frankly.
Not far away, Zhuang Mingxu already saw Old Master Zhuang watching the two of them closely.
*
“Don’t move,” Xu Sa stopped his hand with a firm grip, his voice calm.
They couldn’t get physical, couldn’t start a conflict with anyone.
Xu Sa kept repeating that in his mind, then turned to look at Zhang Bijuan. His composed demeanor didn’t look like someone deeply wronged—completely different from that boy who once cried out in disbelief, “I’m your biological son!” Zhang Bijuan couldn’t bear his gaze and looked away.
Then Xu Sa asked, “Do you really feel sorry for me?”
Zhang Bijuan avoided his eyes and nodded, whispering, “I’m sorry.”
Xu Sa let out a cold laugh. “If you were really sorry, you’d stay far away from me. Not come here and say vague, self-pitying things in front of everyone, making people whisper behind my back.”
“What? You think I wouldn’t dare tell everyone what you did?”
Panic briefly flashed across Zhang Bijuan’s face. She tried to rise slightly, rushing to speak, “Sasa, Mom just…”
“You want to know what happened?” Xu Sa ignored her and grabbed a loudspeaker he used for selling goods. He switched it on and held it to his mouth, speaking to the curious onlookers, “You’re right. This is the woman who gave birth to me.”
“But after my father died, she took his compensation money and latched onto a rich man. To marry into a wealthy family, she begged her new stepson to frame me for murder.” Xu Sa looked at Zhang Bijuan, his gaze cold like a venomous snake about to strike. “Her stepson was 18, just finished his college entrance exams, and had an acceptance letter from Tsinghua University. But she sent me to prison instead.”
“Do you remember, Ms. Zhang, how you knelt there with your belly swollen, crying that you were pregnant? You said if I didn’t go to jail, you’d lose the baby. You said if I didn’t go to jail, you wouldn’t be able to marry into that family.”
“It’s just prison, it’s not like you’ll die,” Xu Sa repeated in a low voice—her exact words from back then. Words he thought he had forgotten, but which were burned into his bones.
His voice echoed with finality. The crowd fell silent for a moment. Xu Sa tilted his head slightly, smiled, and looked calmly at Zhang Bijuan. “Do you know what an 18-year-old boy faces in prison, convicted of murder?”
“Six years. For six years while you lived your rich-lady life, you never once came to see me. Didn’t send a single thing. And now you come crawling back, acting like you have no ulterior motive? Who would believe that?”
Seeing Zhang Bijuan remain silent, Xu Sa didn’t push further. He had already prepared to never see this woman again. He didn’t want revenge—he simply accepted that he was unlucky to have such a selfish mother.
But once was enough. If she tried anything again…
Then it would be a different story.
Xu Sa turned to the onlookers. “You pity her? For what? In this world, we face death every day. If you have time to feel sorry for someone, go home and hug your wife. Who knows—if you die, your kid could be the next me.”
“No—worse. There’s no prison now. It’ll be even more brutal. Look around at the children with no parents, no protection, no abilities. You think their lives will be any better?”
His words left the crowd silent. No one spoke for Zhang Bijuan anymore. Instead, people began pointing fingers and stepping back, leaving a wide berth around her. The little girl next to her, who looked around three or four, was too young to understand and stood there sucking her thumb in confusion.
A little boy nearby, frightened by the crowd, clung tightly to his mother’s leg and timidly moved closer to Zhang Bijuan.
At that moment, a young man pushed through the crowd.
