Essence "The End" 022. (The Kimia Family Arc) Moonlit Night Reflection

Late at night, alone, there were only the chirping of insects and the whisper of the wind, and the moon in the sky remained bright and clear. Staring at the magical crystal clock in his room, which had just passed midnight, Qingyan's mouth twitched unnaturally. He quickly put on a loose piece of clothing over his naked body and stood by the windowsill, frowning blankly. Each time he saw his own body transform from a wolf back into a human, Qingyan felt a sense of collapse. On the huge wolf body, the intertwined muscles continuously contracted and shivered. The silver-white fur over his whole body retracted quickly along with the pores. His entire skeleton creaked and snapped as it restructured, and his height shrank almost by half in an instant. But all of this was unimportant; what mattered was… At this moment, Qingyan's skin was as white as jade, soft and pink, so tender that the pores were nearly invisible. His originally healthy wheat-colored skin had completely disappeared. His skin was now like that of a newborn, delicate, vibrant, and even had a faint elasticity. This kind of skin had nothing to do with handsomeness, and not a bit with masculinity. It was almost a magical, almost monstrous beauty. If a girl had such skin, she would undoubtedly be stunning. But Qingyan, a bona fide boy, having this kind of skin gave off a somewhat perverse impression. Looking at his skin, the corner of Qingyan's eyes twitched violently, and in his heart, he cursed his werewolf body a thousand times, wishing he could strip it to pieces. After a while, he realized that the one he was cursing was himself. So, he held his tongue and slumped dejectedly on the windowsill. Lost in thought, Qingyan began to have a headache. Werewolf? Wolf tribe? Human? Or something else? What exactly was hidden within this body of his? Was it a blessing or a curse? And where should he look to find the truth? Everything from five years ago was just a blur in Qingyan's mind. Up to now, his memories of that period only went as far as knowing he had once been a beast child, living for a long time beneath a steep cliff together with a red-fire flood dragon.Also, there is a bizarre, cruel fragment about the so-called 'mother.'\ Only that.\ Although over the years, the understanding of knowledge has become broader and deeper, regarding some details, such as how long he actually lived at the bottom of the cliff, what exactly supported him in surviving under the predator-filled primitive cliff, how he came to know the red-fire crocodile, and so on, Qingyan still cannot remember any of it at all.\ In fact, this is quite natural. When Qingyan lived at the bottom of the cliff, his mind was almost completely blank, and naturally, he would not consciously try to remember anything around him. Even now that he has learned to comprehend, he still has no memory to recall.\ It's like a person who knows nothing about English trying to read an English novel; without the conscious effort to understand it, it is absolutely impossible for him to remember any words or sentences. Even if he spent years on it, at most, he could only remember a few things, such as the words on the cover that are easy to see. Even if he fully learned English years later, he would absolutely not be able to understand or remember the content of the entire book.\ That is the situation with Qingyan.\ As for the strange matter concerning the wolfman, Qingyan, of course, cannot find any explanation from these fragmentary memories.\ Perhaps the mutation of this wolfman was brought from the womb and has always been there. It's just that back then, as a beast-child, he couldn't understand it. Or perhaps, unconscious at the time, he missed or overlooked something extremely critical, which led to his current inability to control the timed appearances of the wolf body. Or maybe it's something else entirely, Qingyan has no clue either.\ Somehow, in a vague way, Qingyan always feels that the key to everything seems to lie at the bottom of the cliff back then.\ This feeling is hard to describe, and Qingyan only lingered half a moment in his mind before stopping his thoughts.\ He was still only sixteen, and the moon at night was still bright and clear, as if watching Qingyan, trying to tell him something.\ ...\ The next morning.\ 'What did you say? Xiaoxuan left?'Standing at the door, Qingyan was holding a simple bowl of breakfast and chatting with Mu Gong Xiaoyu when suddenly he shouted, and almost spat out the porridge in his mouth. Mu Gong Xiaoyu furrowed her beautiful brows slightly, rolled her eyes at Qingyan, and said, "Yes, yesterday afternoon, a girl claiming to be a maid called Dugu Xiaoxuan came by. Xiaoxuan seemed to have some urgent matter to attend to, so she hurriedly packed up and left with that girl. I don't know where they went." Qingyan felt a little guilty—after all, he had been so fierce toward her that night—but after thinking for a moment, he convinced himself that he probably didn't have the charm to make a girl leave just to avoid him. Relieved, he continued, "A maid, huh. I wonder what Xiaoxuan went to do…" "Oh, our young master Qingyan, when did you become so close with someone to call her ‘Xiaoxuan' so affectionately?" "What's wrong with that? It's just how friends address each other. Don't I also call you ‘Xiaoyu, Xiaoyu'? What's the problem?" Qingyan seemed completely unaware of the subtle point and gulped down the porridge in his bowl in one big mouthful. "This is different!" Mu Gong Xiaoyu seemed to have some special feeling, her cheeks slightly blushing, and shouted with some irritation. Qingyan was about to argue, but a voice suddenly interrupted him. "Young Master Qingyan, so you're here! There are two children, about six or seven years old, outside the door. They're crying and insisting on seeing you. You'd better go out and deal with them." This was a gatekeeper of the Mu Gong family. He wasn't a direct blood relative of the Mu Gong family but was recruited from an outside clan to assist the family. Within the Mu Gong family, his status wasn't the lowest, but when speaking to Qingyan, he still had to be respectful. Qingyan was somewhat surprised and thought about it for a moment but had no clue. After exchanging a glance with Mu Gong Xiaoyu, he quickly tidied the tableware and followed the gatekeeper outside.