True Star (巨星) [DROPPED]

Vol 2 Chapter 9: Acting Together for the First Time

NOTE:

This translation belongs to the translators and proofreaders of Giraffe Corps.

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"I asked him if he had anyone he liked, like how Daddy likes Mommy." The devilish girl blinked mischievously. Winding her arms around Albert's shoulders, she stuck out her tongue playfully.

"That was a smart question. How did he reply?" Albert was unperturbed by how Annie had phrased her question. He was unmarried; the so-called "love between Daddy and Mommy" was inapplicable in his case. He simply needed a child. That was the only reason.

He had no idea who Annie's birth mother was. There was no need for Annie to know either. 

"He said he didn't like anyone."

"What did you ask after that?" Albert was unsurprised by his daughter's reply; he had already expected that to be the answer. And he was right.

"I asked what type of person he likes. Daddy, his answer is so stupid." Annie wrinkled her nose. She deepened her voice and said in a tone that resembled Tang Feng's, "'Hmm, for appearance, it's fine as long as I like how they look. As for character, I hope they would be a kind person. Someone with a sunny outlook on life. I also hope they have the same values as me.'"

Annie had relayed Tang Feng's answer word for word. The gentle and mature tone she had taken while reciting was at odds with her young appearance, making it a quite comical display.

"A kind person with a sunny outlook on life..." Albert chuckled coldly. "Haha, what a foolish man. An idealist to the end. I can't help but be worried for you. Like Esmeralda, will you fall in love with someone you shouldn't?"

♦

Most people would never believe that a four-and-a-half-year-old child could lie to an adult. The obvious reason was because most people carried a friendly outlook on life, choosing to believe in the positives instead of the negatives.

Similarly, the kind people residing at the seaside church in Ireland would never choose to be suspicious of the new monk from the east. He had carried the ashes of the old priest all the way home by himself. He was dusty and shaken from his long journey. Even after arriving, he had yet to speak a single word. Everyone simply assumed that the monk named Tang was especially avid to his holy cause.

Tang had arrived at the strange and remote land during a rainstorm in the night.

Thunder clashed and roared in the dark sky above. The man who appeared shrunken in his black robes clutched a dried branch in his hand as a crutch. His shoes sank into the soft mud underneath with every step he took. He felt as if the ground was trying to swallow his legs. Who was that clutching at his heels below the ground? Was it the devil from hell?

He didn't know, but he was alarmed. He felt cold from the top of his head to the ends of his toes. And hunger ate at him constantly from the inside.

Bean-sized raindrops fell unrelentingly from the sky and splattered onto his hood and shoulders. His robes were completely drenched. Luckily, the fabric was black. If it had been a lighter color, it would have already been dyed a dirty grey by all the mud and filth that had collected on the fabric.

The rain had been falling for five days, and he had also been walking in the rain for five days. He couldn't turn back now. The only thing he could do was walk, walk without ever stopping...

He rearranged the thin robes around him and tied the urn of ashes around his stomach using a piece of cloth. He could better protect the urn this way and prevent it from colliding against something and breaking apart.