Chapter 106: This Is Seriously, Truly Tragic

“He really is… quite extraordinary.”

“His name is Jing Si—a person born with innate Buddhist affinity¹.”

“In his previous life, he was also abandoned by his family, though back then, he was left at the doorstep of a welfare institute.”

“The conditions at that welfare institute were far worse than what your current orphanage offers.”

“The place was overcrowded, yet there were only a handful of staff to care for all the children.”

“And in every profession, there are always people who are just going through the motions for a paycheck.”

“This led to the children at the welfare institute either being neglected or subjected to harsh, forced discipline.”

“They were chronically underfed, slept poorly, and never received consistent affection or care from adults.”

“Sometimes, just to get a bite to eat, they had to scheme or fight others for scraps.”

“Children born with congenital illnesses suffered even more—since they couldn’t take care of themselves, they depended entirely on others at first.”

“If the person assigned to care for them wasn’t conscientious, it inevitably became a nightmare for the child.”

“They had weak bodies, terrible living conditions, and none of the love from parents or family that ordinary children took for granted.”

“Their early lives were nothing but one big, bolded word: suffering.”

“Jing Si was exactly like this.”

“He was born with natural Buddhist affinity and possessed exceptionally high intelligence—even higher than the average researcher.”

“After treatment later in life, his condition did improve, but his right upper limb still bore permanent surgical scars.”

“Of course, none of that really matters.”

“What truly set him apart from birth was this: he could clearly remember every person he’d ever met and every event he’d experienced. He could also sense others’ emotions and attitudes toward him.”

“His memories included the physical torment and psychological humiliation inflicted upon him by others.”

“He once dragged his crippled body across the ground like a dog, rummaging through trash bins just to fill his stomach.”

“He was pinched on the arm, spat on, poked in the mouth with a spoon, cursed at, and told he didn’t deserve to live—that he was nothing but a burden—by welfare staff who were in a bad mood.”

“He was also bullied by other children at the institute: drenched in urine, even forced to swallow it; mocked, robbed of food, and stomped on the face until his head was ground into the dirt…”

“Later, after recovering, he used his own abilities to become a ‘spiritual conman’—though in truth, a genuine master of the esoteric arts², exceptionally powerful.”

“He appeared graceful, serene, harmless, and always smiling warmly. But in reality, his heart was ice-cold.”

“He took revenge on everyone who had wronged him, ensuring they met gruesome, eerie deaths.”

“Of course, he also helped those who had shown him kindness.”

“Someone once casually gave him a single piece of candy long ago—and years later, Jing Si repaid that gesture by sending the person a luck-changing talisman³.”

“Because of that talisman, a small business owner on the verge of bankruptcy and suicide suddenly turned his fortune around. His business began to thrive, and his life grew increasingly prosperous.”

“That man had long since forgotten when or how he’d ever helped Jing Si—and didn’t even remember him at all.”

“But Jing Si remembered.”

“Hearing this, Jing Si doesn’t sound so bad later on,” Lu Qingqiang remarked. “At the very least, he’s clear about gratitude and grudges.”

“Host, he truly was a good child. But due to a series of circumstances, he later encountered certain events that led him down a dark path.”

“After his descent into darkness, he accelerated the collapse of that small world—and in the end, met an exceptionally tragic fate himself.”

“How pitiful. How lamentable.”

“…That’s really tragic,” Lu Qingqiang sighed, then asked, “What about the woman who abandoned him? What happened to her?”

“She was his nominal mother—a pitiful woman deceived by a scoundrel and shunned by her own family.”

“For the sake of her child, she had once struggled desperately and fought with all her might.”

“But in the end, when the child fell ill and she simply couldn’t afford treatment, she had no choice but to leave him at the welfare institute’s doorstep.”

“Misfortune always strikes where the rope is thinnest; calamity relentlessly hunts the already wretched⁴.”

“On the very day she abandoned her child, dazed and distraught, she was walking down the street when a person jumping from a building landed directly on her—killing her instantly.”

“…”

Lu Qingqiang fell silent.

Damn it. This was genuinely, truly tragic.

“Wait—you said that was his previous life. But in this life, she left the child at an orphanage, not a welfare institute.”

“That means she definitely didn’t take the same path she did in her past life.”

“Does that mean her fate might have already changed?” Lu Qingqiang asked, her voice now tinged with urgency.

“Xiao Yi, locate her position.”

“Understood, Host~”

“Beep. Location acquired. Host, please brace yourself and accept this with composure.”

The moment Xiao Yi finished speaking, a news alert popped up on Lu Qingqiang’s phone.

“At 6:23 PM Beijing time, a severe drunk-driving incident occurred on XX Road.”

“Intoxicated driver Hu mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake, causing one fatality, two serious injuries, and four minor injuries on the spot…”

Attached to the news article were several blurred-out figures.

Among them, lying in a pool of blood and dressed entirely in black, was unmistakably Jing Si’s biological mother—

that wretched, pitiful woman.

After reading the news, Lu Qingqiang could only stare blankly.

That woman—she had been a living, breathing human being.

Yet just like that, she was gone.

Exactly like Director Wu before her.

Vanishing as abruptly as a paper cutout⁵—here one moment, gone the next.

But Lu Qingqiang, living within this small world, could clearly feel they weren’t mere paper figures.

They were real people.

She remembered how, in her final moments, Director Wu had tightly gripped her hand, delivering urgent instructions.

Director Wu’s hand had been warm.

The regret and hope in her eyes had been unmistakable.

And now, this woman in black—

she hadn’t abandoned Jing Si out of malice.

She’d left him at the orphanage’s doorstep only because she had absolutely no other choice.

She’d spent every last coin she had and borrowed from every single person she knew.

Yet in the end, she still couldn’t change Jing Si’s fate.

So, she could only grit her teeth and leave Jing Si at the doorstep of the orphanage.

Jiang City Orphanage had been featured in the news recently.

Mostly because, at the moment, Jiang City Orphanage had a slightly better reputation than the welfare institute.

That woman in black must have steeled her heart and abandoned him here, hoping her child might have a slightly better life in the future.

“If it’s possible… I’ll adopt Jing Si,” Lu Qingqiang said after a moment of silence.

In her previous life, Jing Si had already suffered greatly.

His birth mother in that life had also met a tragic end.

Even in this life, his birth mother’s fate remained just as bleak—

so bleak it was as if she were nothing more than a heartless, emotionless plot device.

“Ding! A side quest has been issued: Please adopt the abandoned infant Jing Si and strive to change his tragic fate.”

“Upon completion of the quest, the host may make one wish.”

“Understood. Thank you, Xiao Yi,” Lu Qingqiang said gratefully.

This side quest was clearly added and arranged for her on the spot by Xiao Yi.

She absolutely had to thank them properly.

As for the wish she’d receive after changing Jing Si’s fate… she’d use it then

to wish that Director Wu and Jing Si’s birth mother, in their next lives, would never again endure such hardship.

She hoped they could live boldly, freely, smoothly, and vibrantly.

Translator’s Notes