Gun of Ashes

The Blue Jade spoke once again, and it stirred Bola’s spirit.

”What do you mean?”

”My past, my testament.”

Her exquisite eyes revealed a yearning and remembrance of the past, as she continued speaking.

”Some stories must be remembered; if no one remembers them, they’re truly dead.”

”Who?”

”My father.”

Bola was taken aback; he remembered that Blue Jade didn’t have a good relationship with her father, and her current situation was largely due to him.

Seemingly understanding Bola’s confusion, she shook her head and said.

”I mean my biological father, not that social relationship stepfather.”

This was a deeper past, and Blue Jade had never talked about it.

”After the Radiant War, he and my mother had me. Initially, it was a rather blissful story, but later he started drinking and abusing my mother.”

With a confused gaze, everything seemed to quiet down, and Bola couldn’t help but hold his breath. This enigmatic woman was showing her true past for the first time.

”My mother thought that he would get better as time passed, but the situation only got worse. He no longer worked, and the family’s financial condition kept declining.”

”The turning point of all this came one winter, a winter that changed everything.”

Blue Jade narrated calmly, slowly raising her hand. Due to exertion, the blisters burst, and pale yellow liquid dripped down, accompanied by pain.

”Once again, he drank too much and collapsed in the snow, with heavy snow falling at that time, covering him with a thin layer. I saw him, and as usual, I would have called him up and taken him home. But that day, I suddenly had a strange idea.”

She laughed as she spoke.

”What if... what if I just pretended not to see him? Just went home as if nothing happened. With such heavy snow, he would freeze to death before dawn, and no one would beat my mother anymore. The money for alcohol could be used for better things, and the family crisis would turn around.”

Perhaps because of the injuries, her voice sounded incredibly hoarse.

”Later at night, my mother realized that my father hadn’t come home, so she went out frantically searching. But she couldn’t find him, of course, couldn’t find him. The snow was so thick that even a giant bear lying there would be covered. Then she returned home, and I said nothing. But she looked as if she saw through me; she knew what I was thinking.”

Blue Jade displayed an ugly smile.

”Of course, she knew; she was my mother. She intuitively knew what I had done, so she asked me to take her to find my father. But I remained silent, pretending I didn’t know anything. Later, she began to hit me, scold me, and in the end, knelt in front of me, begging me.”

Something seemed to tear apart inside, exposing a vulnerable part.

”That was the first time I saw her cry, but I still remained silent. In my eyes, she was just a stupid woman, hopelessly stupid. Obviously, if he died, everything would get better.”

Then he really did die. When the snow melted in spring, we found him. After that, my mother never spoke to me again. After a simple funeral, she married my stepfather.

Life didn’t get better; it only got worse. I didn’t understand why; obviously, no one hit her anymore, and no one spent her money on alcohol...”

”I didn’t do wrong, right?”

She looked at Bola, this Valkyrie-like kingfisher was truly sorrowful for the first time.

”On the last day of escaping from that place, I returned to my old home, as if to take one last look. I found many things in a dusty cabinet, like the honor medal of the Radiant War, like a family portrait... I saw my father in it, but the other people in the photo I had never seen.”

Later, I arrived at Old Dunling, and I learned many things, like what the Radiant War was, and what some soldiers might experience... as if everything from the past had an answer, but it was too late.”

Blue Jade fell silent, and in the eerie quiet, only the roar of demons remained, but now that sound seemed so relaxed.

”Someone must remember, right?”

Long after, she spoke once more. Bola paused for a moment, then nodded seriously.

Some stories must be remembered. As long as they are remembered, they exist in the heart like self-punishing thorns. This is Blue Jade’s secret, her last secret, her only secret.

She didn’t know why everything turned out like this. The only person who could give her answers had long been buried in that winter; she would never receive the answer.

”So this is my testament. If you can survive, please remember this story.”

The fragile little girl was gone. She became fierce once again, slowly standing up, enduring the pain in her body.

”But nothing is reliable, like you are not, so trying hard to survive is worth a shot.”

Blue Jade gasped heavily, holding onto the carriage, her feet also severely burned, each step bringing searing pain.

The Radiant’s control panel was right ahead, the unfortunate driver still lay to one side comfortably sleeping. She struggled forward, but suddenly like lightning striking a nerve, she looked directly at Bola, whose eyes reflected the same sentiment.

They both sensed something had disappeared, the eerie presence confining the entire region was gone.

That eerie dream!

Finally, amid desperation, a glimmer of hope emerged, their eyes reflected hope. But in the next second, all demon howls vanished, in the dead silence only heavy footsteps approached, like drumsticks pounding the heart in the chest.

Blue Jade gritted her teeth and drew the Folding Blade from her waist, her trembling fingers pointed toward the direction of the car door. Suddenly the footsteps disappeared, and that thing was at the car door. Then a pitch-black sword pierced through the door’s gap.

The blade twisted; amid the ear-piercing metal friction, the indestructible door was pried open, behind which blazing white flames burned fiercely.

”Hey, Bola, still not dead?”

The blackened armor forced open the tightly shut carriage, and the Demon Hunter smiled at Bola, who was lying on the ground. Behind him lay a field of fragmented corpses, blood flowing like rivers.