Chapter 2251: The past is like smoke (plus more monthly ticket)

Over the years, the contradiction between reason and emotion has been haunting this young mage.
Although Qiao An is recognized as an unparalleled genius and possesses a brilliant mind that is far superior to others, there are some problems in the world that cannot be solved by intelligence alone.
In fact, he suspects that there may be no so-called "correct answers" to these problems, and there is no point in continuing to explore them.
After staying in the ruins of Beaver Village for half an hour, Qiao An finally recovered from his contemplation, blew his whistle, and ordered the two phantom horses to continue pulling the cart.
The horse-drawn carriage ran along the river bank, and after about two hours, a small town appeared at the bend of the river, where Joan was born and raised.
Every time he returned to Delin Town, Qiao An always felt a sense of cowardice near hometown.
Two or three years ago, in order to avoid being eye-catching, he would choose to get off the car in the forest outside the town and send it directly to the former residence, saving trouble.
However, this time he didn't intend to avoid anyone, and drove straight to the entrance of the town. Under the curious gaze of the duty militia, he stopped the carriage and nodded in greeting.
"Good morning, Mr. Guard."
"Uh, good morning, gentleman from afar!" The young militia hurriedly took off his hat and bowed to him, his eyes hesitated, "Please forgive my offense...Look at your dress, it seems to be a master mage."
Qiao Ann nodded and admitted with a smile.
It seems that the "Stygian Robe" is still too ostentatious, and it is not difficult for the country militia to find that this luxurious robes, which are exquisite in style and look very high-end, are definitely not affordable for ordinary adventurers.
"Oh! Master Master, where are you from? Do you need a follower? I'm happy to introduce you to the pubs and inn in the town, and if you have any errands, you can leave it to me!"
The attitude of the militia is humble with a trace of awe.
In the New World, whether in the south or the north, the country folks should have this attitude when they meet the caster.
However, Qiao An still felt a touch of melancholy.
If you don't count the short return home during the war, it has been five years since I left home to study.
The small town in my hometown seems to have not changed much in the past five years, but the children in the past have grown up, and they don't even recognize him as his hometown returning from a long journey.
"Don't bother you to be a tour guide, Mr. Guard, I am actually a local." Qiao An told the truth.
"Ah? In recent years, there has only been one mage in our town. Could it be that you are..." The militiamen stared in amazement, looking up and down at Qiao Ann, with a face full of disbelief, "The little young master of the Tyre family. ?"
"I am not a young master."
Qiao Ann shook his head and smiled, jumped out of the carriage, snapped his fingers, and the Phantom Horse and the carriage turned into black smoke and dissipated in the wind.
"My name is Joan, Joan Vader."
The militiamen stood in a daze, watching the young mage pass in front of him and walk straight along the street.
When he finally remembered the name "Joan Vader", he recovered like an electric shock, and the back of the other party had disappeared from the corner of the street.
"Wow! The gods are up, this is big news!"
The militiamen said to themselves excitedly, and finally made it to their companions to change shifts, hurriedly stuffed the magic crystal musket into the opponent's hand, and ran his legs towards the tavern.
He is very sure that he is the first person in town to learn that Master Vinda is coming home. With this exclusive news, he will definitely become the focus of the tavern at noon today, the most beautiful boy in the eyes of all the good deeds in the town. !
Qiao Ann scattered around the streets unhurriedly.
It was still early, coupled with the raging wind and snow, most of the shops on the street had not yet opened for business.
There are few pedestrians on the road, all rushing in the snow, and no one pays attention to the black-clothed teenagers passing by.
Qiao Ann walked all the way to the end of the street, through a sparse forest covered with snow.
On the clearing at the foot of the mountain, there is a magnificent two-story wooden house, which is his former residence.
Qiao An stopped for a while in front of the door of the former residence, and did not immediately open the door to enter the house, but continued along the forest path, passing through a denser wood, and a small house appeared in front of him.
Seeing this forest hut almost flooded by snow, Qiao An naturally recalled his childhood.
At that time, my grandfather was still alive, and he often brought him and the hound Jamie to the forest hut for picnics. He went into the deep forest to hunt when he was full and wandered until the evening before taking his prey home.
When luck is good, Qiao Ann can still catch one or two beast cubs-"Mixed-Blood Winter Wolf" Jamie, who was picked home like this by his grandfather.
Qiao Ann thought of Kandy again. The Asa girl had accompanied herself on hunting in the woods and encountered a fierce badger in the hut.
Fortunately, Conti was a druid, who was much stronger than him at the time. He cast a spell to kill the frightened beast, otherwise he might not be saved.
The past is vivid, but Yiren doesn't know where she is, but thinking about it now seems like a world away.
Although writing a letter is the most painful thing in Qiao Ann's life, a certain emotion in his heart urges him to take the initiative to write a letter to Conti to find out about her current situation.
Qiao An was walking on the forest path, and the memories reappeared in his mind. Some were blurred, like faded scrolls, and some were still so vivid. In retrospect, he couldn't help but feel painful, as if It was scalded by the red-hot soldering iron.
The end of this mountain road is the cemetery of Grandpa Qiao'an and the final destination of his trip.
Qiao An did not cast the spell, and cleaned the snow and gravel around the tombstone with his bare hands, then took out a bunch of flowers prepared in advance from the storage bag, and placed it right in front of the tombstone, falling into a long silence.
Unconsciously, grandpa's last words seemed to echo in his ears again.
"My child, you can't indulge yourself away from the crowd... You can't indulge yourself into a dehumanizing monster."
It has been five years since Grandpa passed away.
In the past five years, Qiao Ann has experienced many twists and turns, and even doubted humanity more than once, but fortunately, she managed to survive.
In the past few years, he has always tightened the string in his heart, never indulged his lonely and low self-esteem nature, did not escape from the crowd, but tried his best to integrate into human society, bite the bullet and participate in social entertainment, and successfully made many friends. It's easy to make yourself look like a normal person.
After so much effort, Qiao An didn't dare to say that he had completely reversed his nature, at least he did not disappoint Grandpa's Spirit in Heaven.
At least not yet.
If you ask yourself whether you have paid so much, is it worth it, how long can you continue this way?
Qiao An could not give an optimistic answer.
He just feels tired, very tired.
He didn't know how to use words to describe the feeling of exhaustion.
Frankly speaking, Qiao An didn't know how long he could hold on.
I hope that one day, I can find a place in the world that truly suits my life, not to violate my grandfather's last words, and to make my soul peaceful.
(End of this volume)