C4

Since the villagers all went to watch the slaughter, there weren't any pedestrians on the way home. The chirping of birds made the surrounding environment quieter.

The world suddenly turned deathly silent. The quiet was terrifying, but the quiet also made people feel disgusted.

Bu Ku also slowly walked until he was fifty meters away from home. He stopped, but he did not hear his mother's familiar voice coming from the loom. He was really scared and quickly ran back home. When he arrived at his doorstep, Bu Ku slowed down his steps and rolled his eyes a little. His eyes were filled with less tears as he took a deep breath and slowly pushed open the door to the inner room.

As soon as he entered the house, Bu Ku immediately cast his gaze toward the place where the loom machine was placed. However, he immediately froze in place as he bitterly cried. Tears flowed down his face at the right time, but Bu Ku did his best to cover his mouth to not let himself cry out loud.

The younger sister lay down on the loom to "sleep". Her clothes and hair were very smooth, she had obviously just tidied them up, but blood kept flowing from her lowered wrist. On the ground lay a pair of scissors covered in blood. There was also an unfinished cloth on the loom.

Mother committed suicide, Bu Ku thought and immediately confirmed it. Because today was his tenth birthday, his mother had said more than once that a ten-year-old boy should be like a man, and a man should bear what he had to bear.

But no matter what, he would never have imagined that his mother would be so distressed, not even leaving him and his son a day, not even willing to leave him the time to weave a piece of cloth. Bu Ku really wanted to say goodbye to his mother, even if it was the last time they would meet.

Looking at the dragon-shaped jade pendant in his mother's hand, Bu Ku's tears instantly stopped and his eyes turned, thinking of something. Now he understood that his mother's words in her dream were all true. He was a prince, but a pitiful and lucky prince. Luck was because he was still alive. The reason why her mother had chosen to kill herself and escape from reality in such an extreme way was because she could not bear the torture of waiting for death every day.

Death, perhaps, was just a holiday she didn't have to rush for.

Everyone underestimated the empress's intentions because they still had good intentions in their hearts. Sister Xi only wanted to use this extreme method to cut off all the clues before the empress's methods arrived. She didn't want to see her son die, and she had no other way, so leaving him alone was a way to force her son to leave. The only way to survive was to leave. The younger sister Xi did not wish for Bu Ku to become a prince again one day and obtain everything that should have belonged to him. This was because she did not have a single day of serious responsibility for her mother's role since she was young.

Bu Ku tried to restrain his tears, but he immediately regained his previous calmness.

His tearful eyes made Bu Ku look even deeper. His eyes were like a bottomless black hole, devoid of any emotion or desire for life. It made him feel fear and heartache.

Bu Ku avoided the bloody scissors on the ground and quietly walked toward his mother. Seeing his mother's tightly shut and serene face, he finally felt some comfort in his heart.

Ten years later, her mother could finally sleep well, no longer having to wake up in her dreams. She shouted for her son to run away quickly, or she could only endure the pain of not showing her mother's love for her son who had accompanied her through the most difficult years. How painful was it for a girl, and how helpless was it for a mother.

This was the nature of life. Sometimes, even the lowest way of life, being able to live, in this fiery era, was an extravagant hope for the weak.

Bu Ku blankly stood by his mother's side, silently bending his body, using all the emotions in his heart. On the third kowtow, tears once again flowed down his face. Bu Ku was in pain. His pain did not originate from his mother's eternal departure, but from his mother's pity and helplessness from the torments in his heart after so many years.

As he took the dragon jade pendant from his mother's hand, Bu Ku was once again rooted to the spot. As he looked at it, he began to laugh out inexplicably, and his voice was mixed with the sound of coughing. It was because Bu Ku suddenly realized that this jade pendant was the source of all of his mother's suffering. It was also the reason why she was constantly struggling in pain. At this moment, Bu Ku's heart became calmer. Calmness signified strength. He was determined to live on and live well until the day when he would be able to stand in front of the owner of this jade pendant and let his poor mother smile.

Stone Village was a dangerous place for him, because the empress knew that he existed there. She carefully placed the Dragon Jade Pendant on his body, and he immediately went to pack up his luggage to leave.

Before Bu Ku left, he did not have any concerns. Stone Village was only a place to raise him, but he had never experienced the feeling of home here. It was like the difference between a place to live and a place to live. The people who had dealt with them the most could be counted on, but anything could be a joke for a teenager.

His mother's death caused Bu Ku's heart to gradually change from calm to cold. This also paved the way for him to walk step by step towards the peak of his life.

In the evening, the sky was filled with starlight. It ignited the poetry of countless poets, illuminating the journey of the traveler. A ten-year-old boy was walking on the rugged mountain road with flames blazing behind his back and the figures of the villagers fighting the fire amidst the roars of all kinds of poultry. Before he left, he chose to use fire to end all this. He burned down all the huts, including his mother's corpse, in order to strengthen his determination and his strong heart. Only when there was no more worry, only when he dared to end it would he be able to go further.

Bu Ku was cruel, cruel to the point of being abnormal, but he was also pitiful.

The corners of Bu Ku's mouth curled up into a smile. He was happy that his mother was finally free. He followed his mother's wishes and chose to leave this place silently. He had never thought about what the outside world would be like to him, but he had to face it because he swore to make himself the greatest enemy of this dragon-shaped jade pendant's owner.

Perhaps it was because Bu Ku had underestimated Shi Min's intentions, but it was also because on the night he left, a little girl carefully stole the beef cooked in the house and happily came to celebrate Bu Ku's tenth birthday.