Chapter 154 - A Senile Old Woman
It did not take long for the resource collector to recover from his shock, after all, the boy before him really was just an ordinary mortal child in his eyes, he released no pressure nor any sort of cultivator aura.
However, Yaan had thoroughly unnerved the middle-aged man. He tried to remain calm, but his agitation was clear in his actions. He did not speak much anymore, instead dealing with the matter of the resource collection and then leaving Tian Village in as little time as possible. This was by far the shortest visit that the resource collector had paid Tian Village.
After the resource collector departed from the village, Yaan’s life underwent a subtle change.
People tried not to show anything on the surface, but in their hearts, they could no longer view Yaan in the same way.
Even though Yaan’s strange mood from before when he gazed at the resource collector had long since vanished, the villagers still felt uneasy. Even Yaan did not understand why he had felt that way, why he acted that way...but that did not matter to the others.
Not everyone saw how Yaan had induced fear in the resource collector, but those who did see, went on to tell others. News spread like wildfire in this small village, and soon enough, every single person in the village knew that somehow, in some way, this child made a Qi master feel fear with a simple gaze.
The villagers remained warm and polite to Yaan on the surface, but he could see the tension in their movements when conversing with him, he could see the unease and doubt in their eyes. The children were less susceptible to such a sudden change in public opinion, but their parents clearly persuaded them to keep their distance, they no longer sought him out or tried to convince him to play with them.
The only person in the village who continued to treat Yaan with genuine warmth, was Granny Ging.
She did not speak of the incident with the resource collector, not a single time since that day. She continued to treat Yaan as always, whilst her eyes showed her honest warmth and care for him.
Granny Ging always knew that there was something special about Yaan. The incident from before, his calm and collected attitude when facing an actual Qi master, only further solidified her belief that this child was special.
As for why a Qi master would feel afraid when facing a mortal child?
Granny Ging could not possibly know why this might be, no matter how hard she thought about it, it simply made no sense. She could only guess that there was something special about Yaan. This special something must have been seen by the resource collector, scaring him to the point that he hastily retreated from the village!
This was what Granny Ging told herself, because the only other alternative…was that this child was a monster…
She refused to believe that such a thing could be true. And so, she settled into this belief, paying close attention to Yaan and trying to ensure that he still felt welcome to stay in the village.
Unfortunately, her attitude did not wear off on the other villagers. Granny Ging tried to persuade those who visited her that Yaan was a gifted child and that there was no need for them to feel so apprehensive, but her efforts were in vain.
Gradually, as the fear towards Yaan grew deeper as a result of the rumours which circulated the village growing rapidly out of control, people stopped visiting Granny Ging.
Granny Ging was growing old, she was unable to go outside anymore. Even with Yaan’s assistance, all she could manage was walking to and from her bed and other rooms in her house.
Yaan felt a sting in his heart as he saw the old woman growing weaker by the day. He knew that this was partially his own fault. Granny Ging had expended all of her efforts to bring the villagers around to her point of view, she worked tirelessly in attempt to leave Yaan with a home after she was gone…but she failed.
She knew that she had failed. She could no longer provide help to Yaan, and instead, she required his assistance just to continue living.
“Granny, please eat…” Yaan put on a smile as he held a spoon in front of the old woman’s mouth. She was sat in a rocking chair, looking wearily into the village outside of her home.
“Yaan, you should leave me and head out into the village…cough…try to help the villagers, they might understand that you’re a good child if you do…”
“Granny, I would rather spend my time with you. You’ve taken care of me for many months, how could I abandon you at this point?”
Yaan laughed, but Granny Ging showed a bitter expression. Yaan’s care did not make her feel happy, but rather it caused a feeling of guilt to sprout in her heart.
“I’m an old woman who is not even visited by her own sons anymore, don’t waste your time on me…”
Yaan remained silent, no longer willing to continue this conversation. Granny Ging sighed…she knew that no matter what she said, Yaan would not leave her.
As the days, then weeks flew by, Yaan continued to tend to Granny Ging’s ever deteriorating state. At first, even as the old lady’s body became decrepit, Yaan felt no reluctance to look after her, neither did he feel that this was a waste of his time.
But then, Granny Ging’s mind began to deteriorate also.
“Go away! Leave me alone!” The old lady now looked haggard. Not only was her back twisted into a permanent hunch, but her hair was beginning to fall out in clumps. More so than these physical ailments though, it was the look in her eyes, the mixture of anger, confusion and fear, that made Yaan feel stunned.
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“G-Granny, please, I’m only trying to help…” Yaan sounded bitter and concerned as he approached the old woman again, trying to help her clean her body since it had simply been too long since she last bathed.
“Away! Away away away! I’m leaving, go away! No, don’t leave, go away! Ahhhhhhh!”
Yaan stood there like a statue as Granny Ging began shouting deliriously, descending into a less and less lucid state by the hour.
Eventually, driven by his confusion at her sudden change in attitude and her now nonsensical ramblings, Yaan sought out someone from the village for the first time in weeks.
He approached the village chief with a glum expression, but still did his best to look non-threatening so as to not scare the man away.
When the village chief saw Yaan heading his was, he quickly looked around, but to his dismay saw that there was nobody else around him whom Yaan could possibly be approaching.
“Y-Yaan…what can I do for you today?” The village chief wore a forced smile, his tension was all too obvious in Yaan’s eyes. However, Yaan didn’t have the heart to care about this right now.
“Chief, it’s Granny Ging…she is acting strangely, she no longer makes any sense. She keeps yelling and cursing, and I…I don’t know what to do…”
For a moment, the village chief found himself looking not at the monster who scared away a Qi master, but at a lost, confused and alone child.
In this moment, as the image of this clearly distraught child entered his eyes, the village chief felt an overwhelming pang of guilt.
‘I…why have I been so cold towards this boy? We all…we actually left a lone child to care for a dying old woman…’
Whilst the village chief still felt apprehensive towards Yaan, he could no longer overlook this boy like before.
In the end, the village chief accompanied Yaan back to Granny Ging’s home. When the village chief stopped inside of the three bedroom home, his jaw dropped in shock.
“Ah, granny, you…”
When Yaan followed after the chief, he immediately noticed that the old woman had soiled herself. Over the past few days, Granny Ging became incontinent, forcing Yaan to deal with this matter through her aggressive shouting and struggling.
As Yaan stepped forwards with the intention of cleaning up once again, Granny Ging noticed his presence and immediately began yelling.
“Go go go! No, bastard, leave! Ahhhh, why are you all like this, stop it, stop it! Scum, I hate you all, just leave!”
“Yaan.” The village chief reached out and grabbed Yaan’s shoulder, stopping him from moving any closer. Yaan turned back and looked at the village chief in confusion, not understanding why he was being stopped.
“Yaan, you should leave. I'll arrange some people to take care of Granny Ging…this is no environment for a child. Particularly not when there is nobody else around to help you…”
The village chief immediately realised that Yaan must have been caring for the decrepit, senile old woman for some time now. His moral conscience would not allow this to continue. Even though he still felt some wariness towards Yaan, he decided to step in at this moment.
The chief also looked at Granny Ging and sighed. He felt complicated…they had not only abandoned Yaan, but also Granny Ging. They had let down this woman who was beloved by everyone in the village, this selfless woman who did not hesitate to take in a lone travelling child when she felt concerned for his wellbeing.
This woman who used to be vibrant and full of life, had now fallen into insanity. And the degree of this decline…
‘She doesn’t have long left now, sigh.’ The village chief understood this well. Medicine in the village was too lacking, by the time someone fell into this state, they usually had only a few days of life remaining.
Granny Ging directly fell asleep as Yaan was ushered out from the house, she did not have the energy to continue shouting.
A few minutes later, the village chief exited the house, sighing when he saw Yaan’s uncertain expression.
“Yaan, how about staying at my home for some time?”
“Huh?”
Yaan was stunned by this sudden change.
When he was actually taken back to the village chief’s house and given the spare room, he felt even more confused.
What was going on? Why did the village chief suddenly adopt him, after ignoring him for the past few weeks?
“Dear, that boy, he-”
“Enough. The lad has been looking after Granny Ging for too long as it is. You didn’t see the state of her, she…she doesn’t have long left. For a child to be forced into looking after a dying old senile woman, it’s just not right.”
“Even so…”
Yaan lay down on his bed, listening to the whispered conversation of the couple in the adjacent room. It seemed that they had overestimated the soundproofing of these rooms, because Yaan could hear them quite clearly, despite their hushed voices.
“Granny Ging is dying…?” Yaan muttered to himself, staring up at the ceiling blankly.
For the briefest instant, he felt relieved.
Immediately after this, he felt a sense of self-hatred…
How could he feel relieved that such a gentle old woman was on her death bed?!
“Just what am I…what sort of monster am I…?” Yaan’s voice was bitter, but he had no answer to this question.
In truth, he did not blame the villagers for feeling fearful towards him, because he even felt fearful towards himself. He also held the same doubts as them…
Why was it that the resource collector had shown such a terrified expression when he met Yaan’s gaze?
Why was it that whenever he tried to remember his past, or his future plans, that he fell into a daze and lost track of his line of thought?
Who was he exactly…?
Three days passed by.
In these three days, Yaan did not return to visit Granny Ging. Honestly, he felt exhausted due to taking care of her all this time, he needed a break.
Whilst living with the village chief, he spent most of his time alone in his room. The village chief and his wife greeted Yaan when they saw him, but it was clear that his presence still made them feel uneasy.
However, it seemed that Yaan would not be staying for long.
After leaving Granny Ging for three days, on this evening, the village chief brought Yaan a piece of shocking news.
“Yaan…Granny Ging has passed away.” The man seemed to have aged rapidly over the past few days. Arranging for people to look after Granny Ging had thoroughly exhausted him, but she had still died quickly in the end.
Honestly, it was probably for the best, her previous state was no way for a person to live.
“Granny died?” Yaan repeated back with a dazed expression. On seeing the village chief give a slight nod, Yaan immediately stood up and left without a word.
“Yaan, wait! Hey, wait!”
Yaan ignored the village chief, immediately returning to Granny Ging’s home. He paid no mind to the startled villagers who were not expecting his arrival, nor did he care about the fact that they looked afraid when they saw him.
Ignoring everything around him, Yaan walked directly inside, where he quickly found Granny Ging…
Dead.
The old woman had no life signs coming from her body. Her eyes were shut, but Yaan was sure that those eyes would look lifeless now. He did not need to check her aged corpse for signs of life, he could tell with a single glance that she was dead.
"Granny Ging..." Yaan muttered, his voice filled with pain and regret. His hands trembled as he clenched his fists shut tightly.
Yaan felt a surge of emotions.
He felt regret and guilt due to him not helping out more in her final moments…
He felt sadness that she was gone…
He felt shock that she had left this world so suddenly…
He felt confusion as he struggled to process her demise…
He felt relief that it was all over…
And then nothing.
In a single moment, all of these emotions disappeared, not a trace of these feelings could be found in Yaan's heart.
All he could feel now, was a sense of chilling coldness.
Yaan finally awoke from his illusion of mortality.