CG Chapter 19: Unveiling a Dark Past

Munch, munch munch.

Inside their tiny house, the family of three gathered around a wooden table, their plates filled with the meat from the hare Tom had caught. The room was illuminated by the soft glow of a flickering fireplace, casting a warm and cozy ambiance that enveloped them.

As she looked at her son and husband enjoying their food, Li Mei smiled and asked, "So you still haven't told me how your first hunt went?"

"Tian Long invented a new type of trap that I saw for the first time. It was amazing. You should have seen how it worked." Said Tian Chang with a proud face as if was he who invented it.

Hearing that, Li Mei turned her head at Tom with an intrigued face. "Really? I don't think your father could have made a new type of trap at such a young age."

Tom smiled and replied, "I couldn't have done it without Father's help. After all, he was the one that taught me how to make the bait actually effective."

The sounds of this small family of three filled the house with a warmth that Tom had never felt before. They laughed together, chatted, and spoke about how their days went. Sometimes having this bit of warmth might change the view of any person that possesses a tiny bit of humanity.

After they finished their meal and almost got ready to go to bed, Tian Chang's look changed to a lost and puzzled look as if he wanted to remember something.

"What are you thinking so hard about?" Asked Li Mei.

"I am not sure I feel as if I forgot something important, but I just can't remember it." Tian Chang responded.

Li Mei held her nose and told him, "If you forgot it, then it obviously isn't that important, so how about you go and take a shower?" She wanted him to wash away the smell of the hunt.

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Tian Chang's face changed from puzzlement to delight, "Wait a second, I think I actually remember it." He then proceeded to call out for Tom, "I just recalled that a couple of weeks from now, the ceremony for ten-year-old boys to hunt a predator class animal will be conducted with the winners receiving ten Dens, so what do you think? Do you think you will have the ability to hunt a predatory animal?"

Hearing him say that, Li Mei's face changed, looking at him as if he was a monster saying, "Are you serious right now? You want my six years old to go hunting with people who are double his age? And not only that, you want him to hunt an animal that is capable of killing a full-grown man?"

Tian Chang had a solemn look as he said, "Tian Long, go to your room. Me and your mother have something to talk about."

Tom, not wanting to break away from the persona he had built, told them, "I Hope that both of you have a wonderful night!" As he went to his room.

Once he entered his room, he took a piece of paper from above the drawer, then rolled it up in the shape of a trumpet to make a simple amplification device. With that, he put the device as close to the wall as possible so he could hear what Tian Chang wanted to tell Li Mei. Tom had witnessed their arguments before, but this was the first time he had seen them argue with such intensity. The previous quarrels, if they even could be called that, always had a lighthearted tone behind them, but this time it was different.

"Didn't we agree that I would handle his training in the wild while you take care of his training in the house? What made you change your mind so suddenly?" Tian Chang said with anger in his voice.

"We agreed that you would train him on how to hunt, but we didn't agree on sending him to his death. Do you really want to send my child to die?" Li Mei asked.

Tian Chang was on the verge of breaking, unable to hold himself back, screaming, "This is necessary; by making him grow through this trial, we will ensure that he will have the ability to keep himself alive if something happens to us." As he flung away the wooden table with all of the leftover food on top of it.

"Do you think I don't know that? But I can't handle losing any more of the people dear to me. I have already lost enough in the past. Didn't we come to this village so that we could start anew, forgetting about our past lives?" Li Mei looked into Tian Chang with tears covering her face while asking him.

Seeing his wife in this state, Tian Chang couldn't help but feel guilty. He tried to comfort her as he assured her that he would ensure she wouldn't lose more of the people she cared about.

"In the silent world, snow descends,

Cleansing our wounds of sorrow that we couldn't amend."

"Falling before our eyes as we tear away,

it washes the pain of the years."

"The hearts of people always seek for the memory of the past,

Not knowing that it's a trait of people of that pack."

"The two of them seem to really care about each other, don't you think so?" Tom asked.

"Yeah, they are a truly beautiful couple, but they seem to have a dark past that they are trying to hide from you," Noor replied.

"I will explore that slowly, but before that, I think that I need to use the opportunity before the hunting ceremony to increase my skills as much as possible." Tom noted to himself while asking Noor, "What do you think of the poem I made?".

"Master, your skill in poetry is quite low. Do you want me to show you the plan for improvement?" Noor asked as she had already formulated a plan for him.

Hearing that, Tom chuckled and replied, "I don't think being a great poet will be of any kind of help as of now, but thanks for asking."

"As you wish, just know that I already prepared the plan, just in case." Noor gave him a quick reminder that she was ready for anything.

Tom felt a little hopeless as he said, "Ok, I get it, so please stop reminding me of it over and over again."