A Voice From Another World (2)
Translator: Mr Voltaire
Editor: Chlocolatte
After moving into this new wonderland-home, Tian Tian was extremely fascinated by everything. When they had moved in, everything had already been prepared for them, and they didn't need to clean anything or buy anything. The biggest pity that they had was that their previous home had been destroyed, and they couldn't go back, so they couldn't bring any of their old things with them. Although everything in this new home looked extremely beautiful and luxurious, it simply wasn't the same as their old home, which was filled with their memories.
The villa was so big that it took Tian Tian a long time to go around once. Ling Chen followed behind her, committing the features of the villa to memory. Very soon, the sun set and stars came out. Ling Chen took Tian Tian back to the main hall, and they looked at each of the ten or so bedrooms. He asked, "Tian Tian, which one do you want to sleep in?"
"Which one does big brother like?" Tian Tian asked as she looked at him.
Ling Chen didn't think for too long. He pointed towards one of the rooms that wasn't very big, but was closest to the balcony as he said, "I like that one."
This was because within the villa, it was situated in approximately the same place as Ling Chen and Shui Ruo's room had been situated within their old home in Beijing.
Tian Tian realised this almost immediately, and she vigorously nodded, "Same here, I like that one too."
"Are you going to sleep in the same room as me?" Ling Chen asked as he smiled.
"Of course I am! Would you make me sleep by myself?" Tian Tian said as she made a pity-inducing expression.
"Haha," Seeing how cute Tian Tian was, Ling Chen couldn't help laughing. He knew that Tian Tian, who had become accustomed to Shui Ruo hugging her to sleep, wouldn't be willing to sleep by herself. He looked at the time and said, "Tian Tian, I'm sure you're hungry after playing for the whole afternoon. What do you want to eat for dinner? They have almost everything here."
"Hmm… I ate a lot during lunch, so I'm not too hungry, and big sister told me not to eat too much at night. What does big brother want to eat?"
Tian Tian unintentionally bringing up Shui Ruo tugged at Ling Chen's heartstrings. However, he maintained the smile on his face as he said, "I'm not too hungry either. I'll go make some soup for us."
Ling Chen turned and walked towards the kitchen. The kitchen here was twice as large as their kitchen in Beijing, and was filled with cooking utensils and food.
"Does big brother want some soup? Ah! I'll do it!" Tian Tian hurriedly ran in front of Ling Chen, and spread out her little arms as she blocked his way. Her crystal-like eyes were filled with earnestness, "This kitchen is really big and pretty, so I want to cook here. I'll make dinner, and before I'm done, big brother's not allowed to come inside!"
Tian Tian ran like a little rabbit into the kitchen, and quickly closed the sliding door.
Ling Chen rubbed his nose… didn't Tian Tian really dislike cooking? Before, when Shui Ruo tried to teach her how to cook, most of the time she would run off.
The living room was quite big- in fact, it was a bit too spacious. There were many, many lights on the ceiling, and the TV screen was about 80 inches wide. After entering the room, the first thing people would see was a massive aquarium, in which there were many fish swimming.
Clanging noises began to come from the kitchen, and Ling Chen could almost imagine Tian Tian hurrying around in the kitchen… at her height, it was probably difficult to reach the pots and pans. Ling Chen walked over, but just as he began to open the door, he remembered Tian Tian's words. He smiled, then walked out of the villa, into the backyard. He stood there in silence as he looked around.
If Ruo Ruo was here, she would have really liked this place… she liked peacefulness, as well as bamboo, flowers and grass… if she was here, it would be like heaven for her.
But… But…
Ruo Ruo… I wasn't able to protect you in the end… and now even your body's gone. Let alone take you to this beautiful place, I can't even bury you.
Ling Chen closed his eyes, and thought of the words Tian Tian had said to him… in less than a minute, under Gui Ya and the other peoples' watch, Shui Ruo's body had disappeared. This was simply incomprehensible. In the afternoon, he asked Gui Ya to contact Mu Bing Yao and ask for her side of the story. What she said was exactly the same as Tian Tian. Shui Ruo's body had simply just vanished, and not a single one of them noticed anything.
Gui Ya and the others had suffered quite heavy injuries, and would take a while to recover. After most of them had recovered, more than half of them would come to Su Hang. After all, the most important place to them was where Ling Chen was.
Ling Chen zoned out, and forgot about the time. After a while, Tian Tian's clear voice rang out, "Big brother, dinner's ready! Eh? Big brother, where'd you go?"
Ling Chen came back to his senses, and he turned around. His body left a gust of wind behind him as he immediately returned back to the entrance of the main hall, and casually walked in.
On the dining table were two small bowls and two spoons. Tian Tian carefully walked out of the kitchen with a big bowl, and put it at the centre of the table. Even from afar, Ling Chen could smell how delicious the soup was. Seeing Ling Chen, Tian Tian's eyes lit up, and she called out, "Big brother, hurry and try some of my soup!" Tian Tian filled up Ling Chen's bowl and gave it to him.
Inside the soup were cooked potatoes, as well as some ground beef. Sitting at the table, Ling Chen picked up his spoon as he stared at the soup… did Tian Tian really make this… she only knew how to eat, play and sleep…
Tian Tian sat opposite him, and looked at him nervously and full of expectation. Seeing him holding his spoon, but not eating, she became a bit anxious. She was worried that he did not dare to eat her food anymore... the first dish she had cooked had left a 'very deep impression' on him and Shui Ruo. She bit her lips as she softly said, "Big brother, I know I wasn't very good in the past, and I couldn't do anything properly. I didn't learn how to cook properly from big sister, and my food definitely can't match up to big sister's… but… but I'll definitely work had in future. I'll do my best to learn how to cook, wash clothes and clean up… I'll be as good as big sister and take care of big brother just like big sister had… I'll do my best!!"
Ling Chen almost stopped breathing, and an incredibly warm feeling entered his heart. Seeing Tian Tian's eyes, he could only move his lips, but no words came out. He picked up his spoon and took a sip of the first soup Tian Tian had made. The soup tasted quite fresh, and if there was a little less salt and was cooked for a little less time, it would have been even better… but the warmth that entered his mouth, as well as his heart, was something that he would remember for the rest of his life.
"It's delicious, Tian Tian. It makes me think of Ruo Ruo's cooking." Ling Chen said as he smiled. He felt something misty blurring his vision… it must have been the steam from the soup… as such, he picked up the bowl and started to drink the soup in large mouthfuls.
"Really?" To Tian Tian, this was the highest praise that Ling Chen could give. Tian Tian laughed happily, and Ling Chen quickly finished his bowl of soup. She immediately picked up the spoon, and filled up his bowl again as she said, "In that case, big brother should drink lots."
"Haha, tonight, I'll definitely drink more soup than Tian Tian," Ling Chen said as he laughed, "I must say, though, Tian Tian's a little genius. Your soup tastes so good on your first try."
"Hehe, of course," Tian Tian was evidently very pleased, "It's because big sister taught me well. Big sister also said that I'm the smartest girl in the world! So of course it's going to be good… and it'll become better and better, until I'm just as good as big sister!"
This supposed Demon Queen who had declared that she came to conquer the earth had completely forgotten her goal. Right now, she just wanted to take care of the man in front of her, and let him forget about his grief.
Night fell. After all the days of anxiety and worry, Tian Tian had not been able to rest properly, and was still not fully recovered. As such, after eating dinner, she went to bed quite early and collapsed. She had to tightly hold on to Ling Chen's arm before she could fall asleep.
Ling Chen didn't feel like sleeping at all. The moonlight spilled into the room from the window, and he quietly looked at the sleeping Tian Tian. Her little and round face had a slight smile on it, and her short hair was spread out on her pillow.
She was so beautiful at only ten years old- when she grew up, she would definitely be just as beautiful as Shui Ruo, and cause countless boys to fall for her.
He would never forget that on the night Tian Tian moved in with them, Shui Ruo had been leaning against him as she said, "How wonderful would it be if we could have such a cute daughter in future."
Back then, if it wasn't because Shui Ruo liked Tian Tian so much, he definitely wouldn't have allowed this strange girl to stay with them. Their two-person world had been completely disrupted, and she had brought quite a few troubles with her... he had never thought that they would become so dependent on each other- Tian Tian couldn't leave him, and he… couldn't leave Tian Tian either. Within Tian Tian, he found a shadow of Shui Ruo. If Tian Tian was gone, even if Ling Chen kept living, he would just be an empty shell.
"Big sister… big sister…"
Tian Tian cried out in her sleep, and she curled up into a foetal position. Two lines of tears began to trickle down her face.
Ling Chen wiped the tears off her face. During the day, she had been so happy and excited… in front of him, she had suppressed all of her sadness and grief, only showing her joyful side. Only this way could she gradually help Ling Chen get rid of the sorrow in his own heart. However, she couldn't control herself while asleep.
"Tian Tian, you're stronger than me." Ling Chen said as he looked at her. After softly sighing, he walked out of the room and over to the lake.
Standing in front of the man-made lake, the wind was quite cool and refreshing. His heart became even more peaceful as he stood here. These days, he hadn't been able to sleep properly. Whenever he closed his eyes, he would think of Shui Ruo. He begged himself to fall asleep, so he wouldn't have to experience that pain, and within his dreams, he could meet Shui Ruo…
Ling Chen squatted down and stretched his hand towards the calm surface of the lake. The water rippled out, distorting his image in the water. At this moment, Ling Chen stared at the Mystic Moon bracelet on his hand.
Ling Chen's bracelet was always on his wrist, and his wrist was one of the most well-protected areas of his body. After all, if his wrist was damaged, he wouldn't be able to kill more people. Adding on the special materials used to create the bracelet, it was incredibly difficult for Ling Chen's bracelet to be destroyed. As such, despite all the fighting at the Long family's residence, the bracelet on his wrist was still fine.
Mystic Moon… he had not entered that world in a long time.
Back then, he had entered Mystic Moon to repay Yun Feng for saving Shui Ruo.
However, now that Shui Ruo had passed away, he couldn't find any reason to go into the game.
Slowly, he took off the bracelet. After that night of mass killing, it was the only thing on his body that had not been destroyed. He had almost forgotten about its existence, and holding it in his hands, he felt that the Mystic Moon world was so far away. He, who had entered Mystic Moon every day, could find no motivation for entering.
Xi Ling, Leng'Er, Xiao Hui…
Although you're all virtual creatures, but I'm sure your feelings are all real. However… I'm an irresponsible master. Perhaps I'll never be able to see you all again.
Right now, I just want to protect Tian Tian. When we've both recovered, I want to take her to travel around the world, and see beautiful places and eat delicious things. I want to fulfil the agreement I made with Shui Ruo that year, as well as watch Tian Tian grow up… I don't want to lose anyone anymore.
Yun Feng, Meng Xin, forgive me for breaking my promise. However, I will try to make up for it.
Ling Chen gripped the bracelet and threw it in front of him. The bracelet arced as it landed in the middle of the lake, then sank down.
Ling Chen turned around and started to walk back to the villa. At this moment, an incredibly soft voice sounded in his ear, "Are you really going to throw everything away like this?"
Ling Chen suddenly froze, and turned around as he yelled, "Who's there!!"
On such a peaceful night, in such a vast area, even an expert like Gui Ya would be detected by Ling Chen as soon as he came within 100 metres of him. However, Ling Chen couldn't detect anyone behind him at all. That voice had clearly sounded out beside his ear!