CG Chapter 147: The Blessing of the Endless
As Aretius listened to the lullaby from his hiding spot, he witnessed how the Butcher was behaving at that moment with a sense of warmth and kindness, a strange yet twisted mercy.
He just felt that something was wrong with the whole scene, as if a single puzzle piece was missing from the center of the board.
The way the Butcher moved. The way he spoke. And, most of all, that familiar back…
He was certain of one thing. The Butcher wasn't doing any of this out of malice. At least, that was what he believed.
Ever since reading the booklet, Aretius had a lot of doubts about the cause and effect of the Butcher. And, since he had no other option, he decided to replicate a similar situation to what the other children had undergone before the Butcher killed them.
But now, despite holding a dagger in his right hand and being only a few footsteps away from taking the life of Pang Fu, the Butcher didn't exude any hint of bloodthirst or killing intent, as if he was truly here as a merciful angel sent to liberate the weak from their anguish and suffering.
"How interesting… And how broken are you?" Aretius decided to continue watching, to wait for his perfect window, and to see if he could get any more information out of the Butcher.
Unknown to Aretius at the time was that this middle-aged man, the heartless Butcher who went only after children, was the same man who sacrificed his own son's life to a snake demon for power.
Sun Tian crouched next to the knocked-out Pang Fu, holding Pang Fu's fat cheeks with one hand and the dagger in the other.
Kissing the forehead of the kid with his dry lips, he said, "Goodbye, my child. May you find a better tomorrow."
Burst!
The pressure buildup on Pang Fu's neck, from both his large weight and the fact that Sun Tian had sliced through an artery, caused him to burst open like floodgates of red that covered Sun Tian's whole face.
Seeing his leaning posture and his mental state after the kill, Aretius felt that it was the correct moment to move.
Clank!
In the next second, Sun Tian heard the sound of a footstep next to him.
Surprisingly, however, instead of lifting his dagger, he shifted his eyes left and right in a nervous manner, and at the same time, he moved his hands to cover his ears in a strange way.
However, the strangeness didn't stop there, for his hands quickly moved from his ears, and he tapped three spots.
He tapped his glabella thrice while muttering in an almost silent tone, "Heaven."
He tapped his sternum twice while calling, "Man."
And finally, he tapped his navel once while saying, "Earth."
"Heaven, Man, and Earth. Three in one, restoring order from chaos."
This sequence of actions, from initial nervousness to deathly calmness, took place in less than a minute, as if he had done this more than once.
In the meantime, Aretius simply gave him the chance to do his thing without interfering, but what was weird was that when he neared Sun Tian, he didn't use the chance to take him down.
Having regained his grip, Sun Tian stood looking at Aretius, who was there to kill him, appearing as calm as a mountain.
However, as quickly as this calmness came, it changed. "Why?" he asked.
"Why? Why? Why, why, why? Why?"
"Why are you stopping me? Don't you see how cruel this world is? Isn't it better if they become a part of me so I could liberate more of them?"
Sun Tian's eyes started to shift into a yellowish hue, while his appearance took on a more snake-like feel.
At the same time, Aretius stood without saying a single word since he had appeared.
"You know, a new ruler comes into this broken empire and you think, oh, look, things will finally change. Someone who knows your pain, a commoner who has felt the same broken heart, someone who wouldn't make the same mistakes as the past emperors, and maybe, just maybe, he would choose to walk a different road."
Aretius remained unmoved. Seeing that Sun Tian wasn't going to attack for the time being, he chose to simply let him say everything and anything he wanted.
After a moment of silence, Sun Tian shook his head. "But no, such dreams are too big for the lowly ones like us. We have no right to dream. And the promises that are said in the morning can be easily forgotten by the night."
"Tell me, have you had to see your own wife and daughter being raped and broken in front of your eyes? Have you had to hold their cold bodies in their final moments? What is the point of living such a cruel life if it's all going to end like this?"
Seeing that Sun Tian had finished and let everything he had out, Aretius said in a somewhat mocking tone, "But you were the one who killed them, were you not?"
Hearing that question, it was like something broke within Sun Tian, as he remained motionless, his face turning more human for a second before completely turning into a semi-snake monster a moment later.
"So what if I did? It was the only way. This world… This world is far too broken for my little flower. I shall liberate them from the pain and suffering."
"I shall remain forever and bless them, for I am the blessing of the Endless."