Chapter 24.2: Clues (2)

“Then, can I call you older brother?” To Xia Nuo’s surprise, Little Kan Chen didn’t ask him any more questions.

When Little Kan Chen saw him nod, he asked, “What’s older brother’s name? My name is Kan Chen. Chen means treasure.”

“…” Xia Nuo hesitated for a moment before he answered. “My name is Xia Nuo. Xia means summer and Nuo means a promise worth a thousand gold¹A promise that must be kept.”

As if time and space had been reversed, he remembered that time he stood in front of the man as he also said those words.

“Xia Nuo…” Little Kan Chen repeated the name softly as he showed a bright smile. “I’ll remember it! I’ll call you older brother Nuo from now on, okay?”

Xia Nuo felt a familiar feeling creep up his spine, and he couldn’t help but shiver.

Sure enough, everything was not just his delusion.

This time, he clearly felt the depth of his soul and was able to establish a connection with some powerful being in the void.

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“Don’t worry, she’s still alive.” Xia Nuo felt the palm of the child clenched. He quickly consoled him, “She’s locked up somewhere in the main mansion. Shall we go there and save her?”

“…” For some reason, Little Kan Chen remained silent for a long time before he answered. “Okay…”

His heart became anxious as he thought about his mother.

There’s no way he’d be able to forget the fight his parents had before he was caught.

For the first time, his father yelled at his mother. “Why did you secretly contact your father? Did you think he’d leave us alone?”

His mother didn’t answer to retort. Instead she covered her face and cried.

He was able to hear the reason why they were caught. His mother had given away their whereabouts.

Thinking about this made him wonder how he was going to face his mother.

Xia Nuo wondered why the Little Kan Chen became silent. They passed through the noisy banquet hall, the fountain with the statue of the goddess, and now they’d reached the huge garden.

He thought for a moment and stopped as he saw a cluster of baby’s breath flowers.

The air was filled with the faint aroma of the flowers. Xia Nuo put a branch of baby’s breath in Little Kan Chen’s arms and asked him softly, “Can you tell me why you’re unhappy?”

Under the dark night sky, the stars in the sky sparkled and the moonlight poured down like water, illuminating the soft eyebrows and eyes of the child.

Little Kan Chen kicked the pebble at his foot and watched it roll away. “…I don’t know if I should forgive my mother.”

He told Xia Nuo about what Kan Sha did and said, “If it wasn’t for what she did, the three of us would still be happy together. We wouldn’t be like this. I also don’t know where Dad is.”

As if he remembered something, he quickly asked Xia Nuo, “Brother Nuo Nuo, do you know where Dad is?”

“No, I’m sorry.” Xia Nuo shook his head. In fact, he already had a guess in his heart.

People only knew that the owner of the manor took back the young lady who eloped with someone and her child. But not a single word about the person she eloped with was said, as if this person didn’t exist.

Their indifference reminded him of the books he had read about how medieval feudal parents treated eloping noble ladies and their lovers. Those ladies would be confined for the rest of their lives, while their lovers would be secretly executed to give no one an excuse to talk about this humiliating incident.

In addition, according to Kan Sha, the owner of the manor killed Luo’er’s father. Won’t he be able to get rid of possible danger if he kills Kan Chen’s father?

He dared not tell Little Kan Chen about his assumptions. He was too young to bear the death of loved ones. And if he guessed wrong, wouldn’t he just make Little Kan Chen sad in vain?

Xia Nuo secretly decided to go to the horse farm after looking for Kan Sha. There could be some clues there about the whereabouts of Mr. Luo’er. If he’s still alive, everyone would be happy. But if he unfortunately passed away, he’d keep that as a secret for the time being.

After passing through the garden, the main mansion soon appeared in front of them. Strangely enough, there was no light in the main hall. The owner of the manor might not be inside.

Did he go out? Xia Nuo thought that this was good, otherwise, if he met him, it would be very difficult to stop himself from scolding him.

Xia Nuo remembered that Kan Sha’s room was on the west side of the mansion. He took Little Kan Chen to the bedroom’s door and knocked.

“Is Miss Kan Sha inside?” He knocked several times and yet no one answered.

He pushed the door open but he didn’t see Kan Sha inside the room. Instead, he found something unexpected.

One frail-looking young man was facing them with his back, sitting at a desk, writing something.

“…brother Nuo Nuo, that person looks like me.”

Little Kan Chen said softly breaking the stagnant atmosphere.

That was what Xia Nuo also wanted to say. They fell into silence as they saw a teenager sitting in front of his desk—

—Isn’t that the teenage version of Kan Chen?!

From his eyebrows, eyes, to his facial features, this teenager simply looked exactly like the bigger version of Little Kan Chen!

What’s going on?

He opened the game panel and saw the familiar system’s warning.

The player’s location is detected to be on July 15, 1995. Special hints are hidden within this space. Please explore by yourself.

Xia Nuo: “…”

Did he travel through time again? He glanced at the child holding his hand who had a bewildered look on his face.

Remembering the argument ‘the same two people couldn’t exist in the same time and space’ being advocated countless times in both movies and books, Xia Nuo clasped Little Kan Chen’s hand and asked, “Are you alright? Do you feel uncomfortable somewhere?”

Seeing the young man’s worried expression, Little Kan Chen’s heart warmed up. His repulsion towards seeing an almost identical ‘big’ version of himself lessened.

“I’m fine… but who’s that person? Why does he look so much like me?”

Is he my brother? Little Kan Chen assumed but he also quickly tossed away this idea.

“If I’m not wrong, he should be the ‘you’ ten years later.” Xia Nuo answered with a complicated expression.

“Ai—?” Little Kan Chen’s eyes widened as he let out a cry of surprise.

Little Kan Chen glanced at the teenager Kan Chen and barely managed to keep his mouth closed.

Since Brother Nuo Nuo knows magic, I guess it’s possible to meet ‘me’ from ten years. It shouldn’t be that much of a surprise… right?

He didn’t think of how significant time travel was and instead treated it as a fun game. He became excited to explore this time and space.

As long as he has older brother Nuo Nuo by his side, he won’t be afraid of anything!

At this moment, the teenager Kan Chan stood up as he held in his hand a diary-like book. He went out of Kan Sha’s room and passed by the two people standing by the door. He felt nothing and naturally passed through them as if penetrating a body of air.

Xia Nuo’s eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the little boy’s figure, which was holding his hand, gradually disappearing into the air.

“So there really can’t be two identical people in the same time and space.” This conclusion was still valid.

Xia Nuo stood stunned for a moment as he watched the teenager Kan Chen walk farther away from him. He decided to chase after him.

There must be a clue in Kan Chen’s body. Something must have happened at this point in time for the game system to send him here. The only way to find out is to follow him closely.