Chapter 61: Change (1)
Chapter 61: Change (1)
"V-viel, who is this!?"
Viel and Charlotte, who were still currently in the midst of shaking their hands and smiling at each other, turned their heads at the same time towards the cute voice that suddenly shouted behind them.
Diao Mei was currently handing out packets of food to the wounded, when she saw people gathering in a circle. Her curiosity got the best of her, so she also joined the bystanders to see what they were looking at.
To her surprise, it was Viel and another person sitting on a wheelchair. Although she couldn't discern who the person was, it was clear that it was a woman. So, afraid that Viel was being kidnapped by a stranger, Diao Mei quickly approached the two of them to intervene. Clearly, that was her only reason.
"Ah! Miss Diao Mei!"
Viel quickly greeted Diao Mei, completely ignoring the fact that she had on a perplexed expression whilst pointing at Charlotte.
"W-who is this woman!?", pointed Diao Mei.
"Oh my, is this little lady a friend of yours, Viel?", in response, Charlotte smiled and patted Diao Mei's hair. "What is your name, little lady?"
"II am not little! I am already 9 years old!", Diao Mei quickly swatted Charlotte's hand away. But due to her carelessness, she put on a much stronger force than she normally would. 'O-oh no!'
Diao Mei panicked as she looked towards the expression of the woman. Although young, she was still a student cultivator, meaning, she was much stronger than normal people who do not practice the way of the arts. Even more so to a frail looking woman in a wheelchair.
Diao Mei gritted her teeth as she expected a pained shout, but to her surprise. The woman just looked at her with a curious expression. There were no signs of anguish or even a slight hint of pain showing on the woman's face.
Diao Mei's mouth opened in shock. Could it be that this frail looking woman was actually also a cultivator?
"Well, Viel isn't it rude not to introduce me to your lady friend?", Charlotte pinched Viel's cheeks towards her as she chuckled.
"Ow..ow..ow", although Viel didn't really feel any pain, he still acted as if he did. He held his cheek and rubbed it repeatedly while pouting. The last time he acted sincerely this way was from his Grandmother.
"T-this is miss Charlotte, she's not my mother", Viel said as he grabbed Charlotte's hand towards Diao Mei, "And this beautiful lady is Miss Mei, she is one of my girl friends!". Viel then grabbed Diao Mei's hand as well and placed it close to Charlotte's hand.
"G-g-girlfriend!?", Diao Mei stuttered.
Completely ignoring Diao Mei's astonishment. Viel held both Diao Mei and Charlotte's hand together and proceeded to shake it.
"W-what are you doing, Viel?", Diao Mei quickly recovered from her stupor.
"Oh, this is how westerners shake hands!"
"Ah. She's a westerner!?", Diao Mei once again glanced towards the woman's face. She thought that there was something odd about her when she first saw her face, and she was right. Although the woman's head was covered in a hood, her blue eyes could be seen clearly even in the night. There were also strands of golden hair sticking out from the edges of the hood.
And then, in a language once again unknown to Viel, Diao Mei spoke.
"H-hello there, s-sorry for being rude earlier"
"Oh my! You can speak anglisc?", Charlotte's eyes widened in surprise. This was the first time she had ever heard someone talk to her in her native language. Of course, there was the moment when she met Viel a couple of hours ago, but that obviously did not count.
"Yes, but only a few words. I am not fluent with it", Diao Mei replied. And even though she said that she was not fluent in it, her words were still clear and without pause. Diao Mei grew up in an affluent family, so even in a young age, she was taught different sets of languages by her mother.
Diao Mei then curtsied as he once again apologized for being rude towards Charlotte.
"No need to apologize, you were just jealous that Viel was talking to someone else, weren't you?", Charlotte teasingly said..
"W-what!? No! Why would I!?", Diao Mei vehemently disagreed as she waved her hands. Her face starting to get redder.
Charlotte could not help but chuckle while she watched Diao Mei cutely deny her words. It seems that she was right.
Viel, on the other hand, started to pout. Charlotte was supposed to be her new friend, but it would seem that Diao Mei got along with her more even in just the few minutes he introduced them to each other.
"Okay, okay! Enough with the Klingon!", Viel shouted as he got in between the two.
"Klingon?", Charlotte was confused. "Anglisc, Viel. We are talking in Anglisc. Although Klingon does sound a bit familiar"
"I knew that!", Viel pouted even more as he crossed his arms.
Charlotte placed her hand on her chin. Although she had never heard of the Klingon language before, the word was still somewhat familiar to her. For some odd reason, she can't take her mind off of it. Could it be it was some western dialect?
"Ah! Brother Viel, you're back!"
Charlotte awakened from her thoughts as soon as a loud and somewhat annoying voice shouted from afar.
"A..ah, brother Song", Viel replied awkwardly.
It was Wei Song, who had a wide grin on his face. Wei Song quickly hastened his pace and approached Viel.
"Miss Mei, you are here as well", Wei Song also greeted DIao Mei as soon as he saw her.
Diao Mei greeted him back with a confused expression on her face. Usually, it was her that Wei Song would greet first. It seems that the world really is turning upside down, Diao Mei thought. And when were Viel and Wei Song this close to call each other brothers?
"Brother Viel, my mother and sister wants to meet you. As soon as they heard you were back, my mother wanted to thank you immediate- Oh, who is this?"
Before Wei Song can finish his words, he noticed a woman sitting on a wheelchair looking at him. He quickly noticed that the woman's eyes were blue. Signifying that she was a westerner.
Diao Mei clearly saw this. Remembering how much prejudice Wei Song held for westerners, Diao Mei was about to cover Wei Song's mouth, but before she could do so, Viel grabbed both Wei Song and Charlotte's hand, proceeding to shake them together.
"Brother Song, this is Charlotte, she is not my mother. Miss Charlotte, this is Wei Song, he is my friend"
Seeing this, Diao Mei put on a grimaced expression as she waited for Wei Song's racist remarks. But contrary to her expectations
"Ahaha! If you are not brother Viel's mother, then you are also not my mother now!", Wei Song laughed as he continued to shake Charlotte's hand voluntarily.
Viel also laughed hysterically along with Wei Song as they patted each other in the back.
Charlotte's confused face can not be painted. She is obviously nobody's mother, what the heck is going on? Charlotte thought.
Diao Mei was also surprised. It seems that Wei Song was totally different now. If this was a week ago, then Wei Song would clearly make a big deal about Charlotte being a westerner. Yes a week ago.
A week ago, Taizhou city was still bustling.
A week ago, people were still in their homes with their families.
A week ago, Wei Song's father was still alive.
It was slowly dawning on her. When she was handing out the food to the people, she didn't really feel anything special. She just thought of it as doing good-will towards troubled strangers.
But when she saw Wei Song's change, when she saw someone close to her affected by the beast calamity, the troubled strangers soon became faces.
Faces who used to live in the city.
Faces who were in their homes with their families.
Faces who were still laughing with their loved ones.
But that was a week ago.
Sadness quickly enveloped Diao Mei's whole body, her eyes began to water as she looked at Viel and Wei Song who were still laughing. She was trying her best to hold the tears that were wishing to fall from her eyes.
Before the tears could fall, she felt a hand caressing her hair.
"It will be alright", Charlotte said as she once again patted Diao Mei's head, "It will be hard, but it will be alright"
If there was anyone who knew that consequences of war, it was Charlotte. She was, after all, a victim of the Demon God's war in the west.
Diao Mei slowly looked towards Charlotte. Seeing Charlotte's sincere expression, Diao Mei could only nod as she secretly wiped the tears on her eyes.
"Ack! Wei Song! So, you are here! I have been trying to find you everywhere! We still have a lot of people to tend to- Ah, you guys are also here!?"
Suddenly, another one joined in the group. It was Violet.
"Wei Song! Viel and Miss Mei were here and you didn't think to call me!?", Violet then grabbed Wei Song's ear as she slowly dragged him away, "Let's catch up later, okay guys? We still have wounded to tend to. And introduce me to your new friend later!", Violet said to Viel as she and Wei Song disappeared into the crowd of people.
"No problem! We will help you once we are done with our tasks, Miss Violet", Diao Mei waved goodbye to Violet.
"Ehh? We will?", Viel looked left and right, as if wanting to escape.
"Ofcourse we will! But you will help me in handing out food and clothes to the people first!"
"Eeh!? Why?"
Viel and Diao Mei continued to talk. Well, it was mostly Diao Mei convincing Viel to help her out.
Violet went as soon as she came. But it was enough time for Charlotte to see the blood and sweat that was covering Violet's robes, clearly from tending the wounds of the people that were fortunate enough to be alive.
Charlotte then looked towards Viel and Diao Mei and could not help but sigh. As she was forced to leave her hometown and family, these children were forced to grow up. The beast calamity only happened for a few hours, but it was enough to change everything forever for these children, Charlotte thought.
Her thoughts were once again interrupted when she felt a stinging pain on her back. It would seem that the pain was, after all, not her imagination.
"Viel, you should go with your friend. I am feeling a bit tired as well, so I will rest and wait for news about my husband"
"Eehh Mister Bai should be fine, Miss Charlotte"
"Thank you. I hope so too, Viel. Let's see each other again, okay? You too, Miss Charlotte"
Hearing Viel's confident answer, Charlotte just dismissed it as a child being optimistic and cheerful. Not knowing that Viel truly did know Guard Leader Bai's current situation.
Charlotte then waved her goodbyes as she pushed herself and left. Diao Mei offered to help her push her wheelchair to her tent, but Charlotte declined, saying that they should go and help those who truly need it.
"Your new friend is really nice, Viel", said Diao Mei.
At first, she was threatened by the existence of this lady. But she soon found out that she was just someone that Viel met a few hours ago and happened to really get along with. It was odd, Diao Mei had always felt irritated whenever another girl talks to Viel.
She didn't really understand herself, could it be this was the 'falling in love' that her mother and grandfather was always telling her about?
She then imagined herself and Viel in the same position as her mother and father. She could only blush and chuckle at the thought. But for some reason, she was happy. She could not really truly understand what she was feeling. Maybe she was still too young, she thought.
She then shook the thoughts away as she slapped her cheeks, "Let's go, Viel. We still have people to help!"
"Viel?"
"VIEL!!!"
But to her disappointment, Viel already escaped.
---
Inside a small tent, Charlotte was carefully tying the drapes together so that no one can see inside.
The tent was, in a word, simple, one might even say lacking. It just contained a single bed and a lamp. But nobody complained, after all, this can already be considered as a luxury to the people who had their houses destroyed by the flying beasts.
After completely checking that the tent was sealed. Charlotte sighed.
And then slowly, and clumsily
Stood up.
But although she managed to stand, her legs were already shaking. She made her way to the bed slowly, making sure not to fall.
Although the distance between the bed and her wheeled chair was only a meter, it still took her a few seconds after she finally made it to the bed. She then carefully sat down, her arms supporting her whole weight.
She then uncovered her hood, her golden hair flinging along with it.
With the pain on her back starting to become uncomfortable and itchy, she untied her robes, quickly pulling them down to her waist.
Her porcelain-like white skin reflected the light that was coming from the lamp. And although she was skinny, her body still somewhat showed strength, and of course, a bosom that was expected of a westerner.
And on her perfect white skin, there was a pulsating wound sitting on her lower back. So she didn't imagine the tingling pain on her back when Viel hugged her.
"That boy why is he so strong?"
She then thought of Viel. This was the second time that Viel wounded her. The first time was when Viel grabbed his hand before he braided Viel's hair.
And now this
And just like the first wound, the wound on her back started to move.
The red pigments of blood slowly clotted and turned brown. The wound squirmed as if a hundred worms were crawling on it. This continued for a few seconds before the wound completely closed, like it was never there in the first place.
The wound on her back completely healed in just a manner of minutes.
(There is an illustration of this part of the chapter on the comment's section)
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