Chapter 434 - 350: The Kong Jian Who Doesn’t Grow Up (2)
He followed the one who saved him, wandering through the martial world, and spent half his time cultivating.
The one who saved him became his master.
Even as she watched him remain unchanged year after year, his master never thought anything of it, nor did she ever treat it as something important enough to ask him about.
She simply taught him about the world and the evil that lurked in the hearts of men.
She helped him become a normal child again.
His master said his innate talent and comprehension were excellent, allowing his cultivation to progress twice as fast with half the effort.
He later learned that his master had no interest in longevity; she only enjoyed roaming the Mortal World for her own amusement.
Kong Jian couldn’t understand some of his master’s actions, but that didn’t stop him from being obedient to her.
His master did many things, even saving a man widely regarded as a villain. Many people fell for his master, but she liked none of them in return.
In the end, that villain also fell deeply for his master.
It must have been in his tenth year with his master. She said she had to leave, and naturally, Kong Jian wanted to go with her. But for the first time, she refused him.
At the time, he didn’t realize that when his master said she was leaving, she meant she was leaving this world for good.
He thought it was just like all the other times. ’She just wants to go have fun by herself for a while.’
But after his master left, the villain had a complete breakdown.
All the people who loved his master went mad. Even mortal enemies sat down together peacefully to discuss how to find her.
But their efforts were destined to be in vain.
Eventually, Kong Jian finally understood: his master had left this world.
No longer needing the protection they offered out of respect for his master, he too left on his own.
He roamed over mountains and plains, and crossed a thousand rivers.
Another ten years passed. He was still Kong Jian, trapped in the body and face of a child, but he never saw that familiar figure again.
Later, he heard that the villain had died.
One by one, everyone he knew grew old.
He wandered every corner of the world in solitude until, one day, he finally found news of his master.
He had always known his master’s origins were mysterious.
But he couldn’t see her. The barrier between them wasn’t just mountains and rivers—it was space itself.
From that day forward, he embarked on an entirely different path in search of the truth.
On the day he returned to the dilapidated temple, he found that little was left of the once-ruined sanctuary but dust and rubble.
*
The face from his hallucination began to slowly superimpose itself over the one before his eyes.
Until it was a perfect match.
Kong Jian opened his eyes and stared motionlessly at Wen Ying.
’He’d had this kind of dream many times, but this was the first time it had been so complete, even if it had come as a hallucination instead.’
"Shihuhu..." After opening his eyes and staring at her for a long time, Kong Jian’s soft, sweet voice instantly melted Wen Ying’s heart.
"Liger’s here. Liger has been watching over you the whole time."
"It’s all Liger’s fault. I shouldn’t have let you try something so dangerous."
Kong Jian sat up and threw his arms around Wen Ying. "Liger, I really missed you so much."
Wen Ying froze for a moment, but then hugged him back, patting his back gently. "Don’t be scared. It won’t happen again."
"Mm." ’Liger can never leave me again.’
Wen Ying felt that ever since he’d woken up from eating the poisonous mushroom, Little Kongjian had become even clingier.
He always wanted her to hold his hand.
Except for when he had to use the bathroom, Kong Jian refused to be more than a step away from Wen Ying for even a minute.
As the sky gradually darkened, Wen Ying set to work making simple grass mats for them to sleep on.
She also gave Kong Jian some simple tasks, and together they built a crude wooden shelter.
That evening, they sat at the entrance of their shelter with a fire crackling before them.
Wen Ying took out two cups of instant noodles she had brought from the psychiatric hospital and prepared them with hot water.
Each holding a cup of noodles, they ate while gazing up at the forest’s night sky.
The spot where they were resting was a fairly open clearing, so they could see the stars just by looking up.
The brightest star in the night sky.
"Liger... do you think there are little monks in the stars?"
Kong Jian asked suddenly while eating his noodles, catching Wen Ying completely off guard.
’Little monks in the stars?’
’What do stars have to do with little monks?’
Kong Jian looked at Wen Ying, his bright eyes full of anticipation, as if waiting for her to agree.
"Liger, do you think that brightest star could be me?"
Wen Ying: "???"
’Is this some newfangled saying?’
"The stars are very beautiful. Every star is its own planet, so of course there are little monks on them. And not just little monks—there are lots of pretty Shihuhus, too~"
’Wen Ying mentally patted herself on the back for that clever answer.’