Chapter 446

Chapter 446: Parents

Determined, Chu Jiang took one step at a time, advancing forward.

But when he reached the bamboo house, before even pushing the door, he realized that there was absolutely no one inside.

Chu Jiang opened the door and looked inside. He saw signs that someone had been living there. There was a generator behind the house, a satellite dish on the roof, and modern appliances like a refrigerator, computer, and television inside. It was clear that the person living here was not completely cut off from the world.

Inside the house, Chu Jiang closed his eyes and used his super senses to sense what was around him. He quickly discovered that a middle-aged couple was farming in the back of the house. They seemed unaware of Chu Jiang’s arrival.

After thinking for a moment, Chu Jiang decided to approach them.

……

Even though Chu Pingshan and his wife Zhang Yuejuan regularly went out to buy supplies, they also cultivated a few acres of land. It was not for the harvest, but mainly to keep fit and pass the time. Otherwise, they would easily start to overthink things when they had too much free time.

When Chu Jiang’s footsteps were heard without any attempt to hide them, the couple was startled. As they looked up and saw Chu Jiang from a distance, they were stunned, and then they became flustered and unsure of what to do.

This surprised Chu Jiang. He thought he should be the one feeling more nervous.

After Chu Jiang stood in front of them, Chu Pingshan was the first to regain his composure. He struggled to speak and asked, "Who are you?" His voice sounded hoarse and unnatural.

Compared to what Chu Jiang had seen of his parents in the Ghost Mirror, their appearance hadn’t changed much, but they had clearly aged and had wrinkles on their foreheads.

This made Chu Jiang sigh, "I already know, come on, let’s go back and sit down, and have a good talk."

As he said that, he reached out his right hand to his biological parents.

Zhang Yuejuan’s eyes welled up with tears, she instinctively wanted to grab that hand, but Chu Pingshan immediately stopped her.

Clearly, this descendant of the previous generation of the Chu family still had some wariness towards Chu Jiang, even now he didn’t know if he was human or ghost.

So Chu Jiang voluntarily withdrew his hand and said, "Follow me."

The two hesitated for a moment, but ultimately followed behind Chu Jiang and returned to that bamboo hut together.

"Please have a seat on the chairs," Chu Jiang skillfully boiled water, rinsed the teapot and teacups, brewed the tea, poured the tea, and served it to them.

In this process, Chu Jiang could see that neither of his parents were Ghost Masters, which surprised him. He thought at least his father should be a Ghost Master, after all, they were both descendants of the Chu family line.

But when he thought about it, during the time they were active outside, it really wasn’t necessary for them to become Ghost Masters. It was a path that couldn’t be turned back once taken.

Faced with two people who were a bit shy and quiet, Chu Jiang started to introduce himself, "Let’s get to know each other again. My name is Chu Jiang, and ‘Jiang’ means river in Chinese."

"My adoptive parents gave me this name. They saw the characters ‘Chu’s Jiang’ on a sign and thought it was unlucky, so they gave me my current name."

Chu Jiang started talking about his memories from childhood, elementary school, middle school, and high school. He carefully told his life experiences, his friends, and his loves and hates.

Then he began to talk about how he became a Ghost Master and how he reached where he is today, step by step.

Chu Pingshan and Zhang Yuejuan quickly became absorbed in Chu Jiang’s storytelling. They were amazed by his experiences and couldn’t help but feel sorry for the hardships he had endured…

When Chu Jiang talked about how he discovered the truth through the Ghost Mirror and how he defined himself, Chu Pingshan was a bit incredulous. "Are you saying that you’re both human and a ghost?"

Chu Jiang nodded. "I know you may find it hard to believe, but I think this is the closest answer to the truth. Unless you’re willing to deny my existence and think that the person in front of you now is just a ghost pretending to be me."

"No, that’s not true!" Zhang Yuejuan couldn’t hold back anymore and rushed over to hug Chu Jiang, tears streaming down her face.

This time, Chu Pingshan hesitated for a moment and didn’t try to stop her.

Chu Jiang gently patted his mother’s back, waiting for her emotions to calm down.

Chu Pingshan silently held the teacup, then he slowly said, "I once thought about killing you, but your mother didn’t allow it. Yes, it was when you turned into a human body, I thought that would be the best opportunity."

Chu Jiang nodded, not feeling surprised.

"Then we discussed how to deal with you. Your mother believed that she should raise you and see how things go. Maybe you will become a normal person in the future, just like I was back then."

"After all, according to your grandparents, the situation was also serious when I was born."

"But I argued against that, because when I was born, at least part of my body was alive. And when you were born, you were completely a ghost. I was afraid that you turned back into a human body just to deceive us into raising you."

"You don’t know, in those few days right after you were born, I was under immense pressure. I couldn’t sleep at all. Every time I dozed off, I forced myself to wake up. I even had intermittent dreams of you cutting Moon-Juan open…"

"In conclusion, back then we couldn’t be sure if you were human or a ghost. We even thought the chances of you being a ghost were higher."

"In the end, I suggested throwing you into the wild mountains, leaving you to fend for yourself."

"But your mother strongly disagrees, thinking that you should be sent to an orphanage or let kind-hearted people adopt you."

"Then I brought up a question: What if one night, you transform into a terrifying ghost and personally kill the people in the orphanage or even the person who adopted you?"

"At that moment, your mother fell silent because she realized that by doing so, it would be like transferring a disaster that should have befallen us onto innocent people."

"In the end, seeing your mother continuously shedding tears, I softened my heart and decided to see how things played out. I placed you at the entrance of a hospital, to see if anyone would take you in."

"You already know what happened afterwards, we didn’t just leave it at that. We continued to keep an eye on you for half a year."

"In reality, during that time, your mother regretted more and more. She blamed me and she blamed herself. She believed that you were just a normal child."

"However, since we had already given you to someone else for half a year, we couldn’t bring ourselves to take you back. If you are able to become a normal person in the future, it would be a good thing for you."

"It’s just…” Chu Pingshan shook his head. "Maybe it’s fate. Ever since the supernatural resurgence, I’ve been particularly worried that one day, I will see Chu’s Jiang reappear in the world."

"So, I have been following the news in the supernatural circle and have asked some of my Ghost Master friends outside to gather information. When I found out that you gained fame in this line of work, neither of us could feel happy. We could only foresee that one day, you would turn back into that ghost from the past…"