Ten Thousand Soul Banner: Deceased, do you have any unfulfilled wishes?
Chapter 175 Drowning by Jumping into the River

Chapter 175: Chapter 175 Drowning by Jumping into the River

"Sister Duoduo, let me tell you, I went on a roller coaster with my mom, it was really tall and super fun."

"Oh, I’ve been on an airplane, flying in the sky." Duoduo gave her a sidelong glance.

"That’s different," Dou Dou said, getting anxious.

"What’s different? It’s higher than yours, and you can see the White Clouds floating... Haha..."

When mentioning White Clouds, she remembered her own name.

"It’s different, different..." Dou Dou got a bit frantic.

"Oh~" Duoduo was just teasing her.

"I... I’m not talking to you anymore." She turned around and ran to find Sister Xiao Yue.

Seeing the little brother talking to Sister Xiao Yue, she walked right over and pushed the little brother aside with her bottom.

Zhao Ru Jin was very angry, but dared not speak, because this little girl seemed a bit formidable, capable of flying and becoming visible.

But he couldn’t show weakness verbally, so he huffed and puffed: "I’m not going to stoop to arguing with a little kid."

"Sister Xiao Yue, let me tell you, I went on a Ferris wheel with my mom and dad, and my mom was scared like this..."

Dou Dou imitated how her mom came down from the Ferris wheel, legs weak and trembling continuously.

Maybe her imitation was comical, or maybe Jiang Wenxin really looked that way, even the usually straight-faced Xiao Yue couldn’t help but burst into laughter.

Standing aside, Zhao Ru Jin’s gaze turned towards Duoduo, but Duoduo quietly turned her bottom towards him.

It’s not that the three little kids were rejecting Zhao Ru Jin, but Shen Siyuan had instructed them not to reveal their abilities to others.

Shen Siyuan’s words were law to them; even the carefree Dou Dou wouldn’t blab recklessly.

So, it was simply impossible for Zhao Ru Jin to pry any information from them.

However, this clever little boy quickly thought of Shen Siyuan.

Not only could the other party see him, but these few little sisters also called him ’brother’, so he must be a very capable person.

So he approached Shen Siyuan, who was reading through documents.

"Brother," he called out, a bit nervously.

Usually lively and also a bit of a chatterbox, he now seemed somewhat reserved and uneasy.

"What’s wrong?" Shen Siyuan looked up and asked with a smile.

"Can I ask, how do the little sisters become visible, to let living people see them?"

"Of course," Shen Siyuan said.

"It’s because I granted them this ability."

Given Zhao Ru Jin’s age and personality, his first question should have been about why Dou Dou and the others could fly, since everyone dreams of soaring through the skies.

But he specifically asked about becoming visible, so clearly, he had someone he wanted to see.

"Could you, could you..."

He hadn’t finished his sentence when Shen Siyuan interjected: "Yes."

Zhao Ru Jin was both surprised and delighted and quickly bowing to Shen Siyuan, "Thank you, thank you, brother."

"Don’t rush to thank me, can you tell me your story now?" Shen Siyuan smiled.

He could have directly absorbed the other person into the Ten Thousand Soul Banner to read his memory.

But Shen Siyuan disliked such crude methods; he preferred listening to others’ stories.

Zhao Ru Jin hesitated for a moment, glanced back at the three little ones to see they weren’t paying attention to this conversation, then he lightly nodded.

"Sit down and take your time."

Shen Siyuan pointed to the sofa where Lin Jianming and the others had just been sitting.

So Zhao Ru Jin walked over and sat down.

But as soon as he sat, Dou Dou, Duoduo, and Xiao Yue all promptly came over and sat down too.

Zhao Ru Jin: ...

What are you doing?

Zhao Ru Jin was speechless, not wanting to share his story with a few little kids, as it was kind of embarrassing.

"Come on, tell us, we want to hear your story, how did you die?"

Dou Dou’s face lit up with excitement, as if each different death presented a unique challenge.

Zhao Ru Jin cast his gaze toward Shen Siyuan, sending him a pleading look for help.

Shen Siyuan understood his thoughts and shook his head, saying, "Don’t feel ashamed. They died at such a young age; it couldn’t have been from old age. Each had their own different story."

Upon hearing this, Dou Dou immediately took over and said, "I drowned, you know. I was careless and got swept away by the sea, like a snake’s tail, whoosh—I couldn’t climb up. The seawater gurgled into my mouth, it was so mean. I don’t like it..."

Dou Dou’s innocent words seemed to give Zhao Ru Jin enough courage.

"I committed suicide by jumping into the river," said Zhao Ru Jin.

"Drowned?"

Dou Dou still didn’t understand what jumping into the river meant as a way to die.

Zhao Ru Jin nodded.

"Then we’re the same, we’re the same..."

She seemed particularly excited, even a bit proud.

"Sit properly, let brother continue," said Shen Siyuan sternly. Dou Dou quickly sat back down.

Then turning to Zhao Ru Jin, he asked, "Why commit suicide when everything was fine?"

Hearing the word ’suicide’, Dou Dou and Duoduo immediately turned their heads to look at Sister Xiao Yue.

Xiao Yue gave both kids a stern look, scaring them into quickly averting their gaze.

"Why can’t I commit suicide—it’s my life, I make my own decisions," Zhao Ru Jin muttered.

Xiao Yue’s eyes lit up upon hearing this as if she strongly agreed with Zhao Ru Jin, feeling a sense of identification with his words.

Shen Siyuan also felt that these words seemed quite logical.

However, there was indeed a big problem; while life indeed belongs to you, that is under the assumption you repay those who gave you life. Otherwise, walking away by just brushing off responsibility is extremely irresponsible behavior.

But Zhao Ru Jin was young, and his thoughts weren’t mature yet, so it was understandable for him to think this way.

Zhao Ru Jin merely muttered this to himself then continued sharing about his life.

-----------------

In Zhao Ru Jin’s memories, his life was extremely blissful until the fourth grade in elementary school.

Back then, he had a super formidable lawyer dad and a gentle, considerate mom.

But from a certain day onward, everything suddenly changed.

Mom said dad had another woman outside.

Dad said mom was paranoid, always finding troubles at home without reason.

Mom and dad fell into endless arguments.

At first, Mom and Dad cried and made a fuss, and Dad, afraid of her making a scene, often wouldn’t come home; it would be a long time before he could see him.

Gradually, they both entered an endless cold war, ignoring each other completely.

Even towards him, they were dismissive.

During that period, Zhao Ru Jin felt his family was so oppressive, like a huge cage suffocating him.

He also tried to ease their relationship, but it seemed to be of little effect.

"And, I think my mom did overreact a bit," Zhao Ru Jin said softly with his head lowered.

It seemed hard for him to speak ill of his mom like this, and he appeared saddened by the way she had become.

Actually, Shen Siyuan understood such behavior; once the seed of suspicion is planted, it grows into a towering tree.

"Each time my dad came home, she would secretly check his bag, sniff his clothes, and browse through his cellphone..."

"She thought she was being slick, but I knew everything."

"Eventually, my dad couldn’t stand it anymore, so they got divorced."

"When mom and dad were divorcing, they asked me to choose who to live with."

"I chose my mom—she isn’t powerful like my dad, wealthy and respected. She didn’t even have a job. She was pitiful. Without me, she had nothing..."

As he reached this point, Zhao Ru Jin couldn’t hold back anymore and started wiping his tears continuously, completely losing the cheerful and lively appearance he had before—a facade, perhaps.

"I really don’t understand adults. They clearly loved each other so much before..."

Zhao Ru Jin cried as he spoke.