“Hmm… I get it now,” Feng Bujue said. “But there are two things that I need to confirm with you.

“One, why do you want to become a human? As a Xin clan descendant, you should know how weak and deplorable human beings are. So, why would you give up your natural talent and gift to become one of them?

“Two, why did you allow me to live until now? You could have done everything on your own, couldn’t you?”

Arthur looked at Feng Bujue deeply and then smiled. “Humph… Even if I tell you, you won’t believe me.”

Feng Bujue smiled in response. “Then let me take a guess.”

He moved slowly forward and started his extrapolating like this was some kind of detective show. “The thoughts of human beings, as intelligent creatures with a limited life span but a wealth of emotions, can change over time. The same person will act differently when he is forty compared to when he was twenty, and similarly, it would be different when he was thirty. On this point, I believe it is the same for descendants of the Xin clan.”

Feng Bujue sounded confident when he said that.

“Therefore, when we view at this chronologically to predict your behavior and thoughts back then, everything will have a reasonable explanation. When we were still young, be it the bond between siblings or love for our mother, they were both real and simple.”

He raised the yellowed picture. “Just like in this picture.”

Several seconds later, his tone changed. “Unfortunately, our mother had her own plans. She probably did not expect you to see through her plan when you were only fourteen. You could have killed her directly, right? Of course you could, but that would have caused a series of problems. For the sake of living, our family had to have some outer interaction, and our mother’s death could not be explained away easily. You had to find a reason that would make her death seem reasonable.

“So, you created the illusion of a disease. The suffering of a long and incurable disease was an acceptable reason. As the eldest son, you would naturally take over the responsibilities at home and on the farm. Everyone who had any interaction with our family, including myself, was mentally prepared for that. Other than that, based on my personal prediction, there is another big reason you did this, and that is… when a person is on their death bed, their disguise will fall.”

When Feng Bujue said that, he could not help but be reminded of himself. Speaking of which… he was also someone with an incurable disease and could die at any moment. But he still lived his life like usual. He did what he was supposed to. Why was that? Because he had nothing else to do or because he could not care less anymore? Neither seemed right, so the only explanation was that he was mad…

“You’re right… When the woman realized that she was going to die and knew that she was unable to steal my power, she chose to ’make use’ of me, using our family bond as a chip, to have me take care of her biological son after her death,” Arthur replied.

“And you promised her that,” Feng Bujue added.

“Hah… It’s what she deserves.” Arthur smiled. “It wasn’t easy for her to put up the act for decades. Objectively speaking, she provided me with food, a home, education, and care. No matter her aim, I should repay her investment kindly.”

“You sure have your own set of morals.” Feng Bujue smiled back. “Is the incurable disease part of the repayment?”

“Naturally,” Arthur replied. “If I didn’t use that method to end her life and waited until the day she decided to come for me, she would have had a worse death.”

“Hmm… Let’s talk about what happen after she died,” Feng Bujue said. “You held onto the promise, and you didn’t kill me. In fact, you treated me like a real brother. No matter what kind of person mother was, the relationship between us didn’t change. At the time, a thought occurred to you. You wished to become like everyone else, to live a peaceful life, to not allow your identity as a Xin clan descendant to harm those around you anymore.”

He looked at Arthur, waiting for his response. Arthur did not deny it. He merely said lightly, “Unfortunately, reality had other plans.”

“I admire the bravery of your choice,” Feng Bujue said. “If I was in your shoes, I would never have considered turning into human. Haha… From that comparison, you are the kinder of the two of us.”

“Humph… Is that so?” Arthur smirked.

“But…” Feng Bujue changed the subject. “After you started the experiment, things started to go out of control. Just as I said earlier, things change with time. Many things change. Oftentimes, when we stop and turn back to look, we notice that what we are doing has already strayed from our initial goal.”

He raised two fingers. “I believe, there are two key points that changed you. One, in the continuous killing, the innate nature of the Xin clan within you was awakened. And two, you found out about me… You finally realized that the younger brother who looked innocent and kind was just acting before you like that woman.”

Arthur picked up from Feng Bujue with a bitter smile. “So, I faked an ancient alchemy recipe that could exchange soul, created a chance for you to discover it, and used that as a test. I didn’t expect you to hide it without hesitation and start your own plan to harm me.”

“Yes, I have to admit that I deserve what I got.” Feng Bujue had no pressure admitting the mistake on Andrew’s behalf. “I still have one last question… Why, until now, haven’t you killed me? And… it looks like you’ve been trying to save me?”

“Indeed…Why is that?” Arthur replied. “When the experiment started, I’d lost all hope in you. There was unbridled excitement and madness in your eyes, and there was not one trace of hesitation.

“After the experiment failed, I looked at you, and I asked myself if there was a reason to keep you alive.” Arthur lifted his head to look at Feng Bujue. “There was none. But I couldn’t do it because, at that moment, I realized that you were the only family I have left.

“Even though we are not blood related, I still treat you as my brother. I hope desperately that we could return to more than ten years ago…” He took the picture from Feng Bujue and looked at the two smiling children in the picture. “…and regained that innocent and pure life.”

Feng Bujue also sighed. “So, what do you plan to do now?”

“I need to leave, leave this place forever,” Arthur said as he walked out the door. “I don’t know who or what your real father is… So, I cannot explain what has explained to you. I’ve spent some time considering why the experiment has failed… To cure you, one must first know ’what’ are you. Only by knowing that will you be able to cure yourself.”

He raised his head. “You will have to ask the woman upstairs about that yourself.”

“What are you talking about?” Feng Bujue was confused. This sentence was baffling.

“Haven’t you already discovered her? Why else would say all these things and end up like this?” Arthur said. “Humph… From how I see it, it is because of her that you met this end.”

He said that much and walked through the door. Just like that, he disappeared from Feng Bujue’s sight. Feng Bujue ran to follow him, but there was no one in the corridor anymore.

“Could it be… that their mother is still alive?” Feng Bujue asked himself.

“Current quest complete. All main quests completed,” The system said, but the notification that everything had been completed did not come. Several seconds later, a new hint appeared.

“Triggered and witnessed Arthur’s Servant.

“Checked and confirmed you are carrying ’Dirty Soap’, ’Carved Fake Teeth’, ’Perfume’, ’Feather Leather Cap’, ’Soaked Blanket’, and Fake Eye’.

“Entering the hidden ending.

“Hidden quest triggered. Kill Candace.”

“So, this is it…” Feng Bujue scratched his chin. “So… there are two conditions to trigger the real ending. If I entered the gray room without fulfilling these two conditions, there might have been a fight instead of a conversation. And it was a fight that I would have had a hard time winning… Even if I did win, I would have cleared the scenario without knowing the truth.”

He walked toward the stairs. It did not take long to head to the second floor. This time, the locked room changed. The shadow from earlier was standing before the door, as if waiting for the player to arrive.

This place is where the hidden boss is. I would have come here after talking with Arthur.

Feng Bujue first ran to the room with the collapsed floor and peeled back a piece of broken wood. Then, he came to the corridor, took out anti-gravity gun, sucked on the wood, and aimed it at the shadow, shouting, “Speak! Are you Candace’s bodyguard‽”

The shadow did not move or reply.

Feng Bujue would not attack unless necessary, so before pulling the trigger, he activated the first function of the Bell of Jin Gang to study the shadow, and to his surprise, the shadow was not a monster but an NPC…

———

Name: Dancing Shadow

NPC Stance: Neutral

Level: ?

Height: 180 cm

Weight: 60 kg

Can Be Fought: No

Can Trigger: The welcome stage, unlocking the secret room’s door.