The whole family is insanely eavesdropping on my thoughts Chapter 513
Chapter 513: Out of Place
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation
“Sun and moon shining together? Sometimes, such a phenomenon appears in the mortal realm too.”
Lu Chao Chao sat on a small stool, propping her chin up as she gazed at the old madam.
The old madam’s soul did not quite match the body she inhabited.
“No, what I mean is that the sun and moon were both high in the sky at the same time.” She lifted her head, an aged melancholy reflected in her eyes.
Xie Yu Zhou was utterly stunned. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Grandmother, does that mean you can never return home?” Xie Yu Zhou blurted out.
The old madam’s breath hitched, and even the rocking bamboo chair stilled.
A-Man shot a glare at Xie Yu Zhou, who belatedly covered his mouth, looking distressed. “Grandmother, I was just talking nonsense! Please don’t be upset… You’ll surely overcome this misfortune and find your way back home.” Though in truth, he had no idea where home even was.
Listening to her tale, he couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of time and space twisting.
The old madam gave a bitter smile and shook her head. She tried to stand up multiple times but failed.
A-Man rushed to support her. “Grandmother, let me help you.”
Hunched over, the old madam sighed. “I’m old… so old.”
“Even if I went back, what would be the point? Perhaps, in my world, I am already old, or perhaps even dead.”
She hummed a soft tune—gentle and unfamiliar to all who listened.
“Grandmother is so mysterious… Sun and moon shining together is the key to going home. Could such a place really exist?” Xie Yu Zhou found it hard to believe.
Lu Chao Chao thought of the visions she had seen after her sacrifice and nodded. “It exists.”
“Perhaps, beyond this world, there are countless other small worlds.”
“The Heavenly Dao governs this world.”
“But the vast void is made up of many such small worlds.”
“At the moment when the sun and moon shone together, the gateway of time and space must have distorted, pulling her from her original world. Of course, this is just my guess.” Lu Chao Chao, however, was nearly certain she was right.
“Truly? This is the first time I’ve heard such a theory,” Xie Yu Zhou exclaimed in amazement.
“If that’s the case, then Grandmother may never return home!”
“If she were in the celestial, mortal, demon, or nether realms, she could find a way back. But in another time and space entirely, she might never return!” Xie Yu Zhou took a sharp breath.
“Her family, her friends, all her ties remain in another time…” To long for home but never be able to return—how tragic.
“No wonder Grandmother always seemed distant, out of place in this world.” A-Man shut the door and sighed softly.
Deep down, she had always suspected Grandmother was not from this world.
Everything Grandmother ever revealed about herself hinted at that truth.
“I once heard villagers gossiping. When Grandmother was young, she was dull-witted. After nearly drowning, she suddenly became intelligent but also mad—constantly screaming about going home.”
“She did many foolish things back then.”
“Then, at some point, she seemed to give up. She withdrew, stopped speaking much, and no longer interacted with people.”
“She lived here alone.”
“Until she took me in. We depended on each other. Only then did I start seeing her smile more.”
But A-Man knew that Grandmother never truly let go.
She exhaled softly. “Why am I telling you all this? It will only trouble you.”
“Come, come. I’ve prepared rooms for you. Rest first.”
“The villagers… are not very friendly to Grandmother and me. Since you’re just staying the night, I’ll explain things to them.” A-Man had a kind heart. Though the bedding was old, it was clean and carried a pleasant scent.
“You siblings have such a good relationship,” she teased with a chuckle.
Xie Yu Zhou was ten, while Chao Chao was only four. A-Man worried the little girl might be afraid at night, so she arranged for them to share a room.
Besides, there weren’t any other available rooms in the courtyard.
Once A-Man left, Xie Yu Zhou obediently dragged his blanket onto the floor.
“I’ll sleep here.”
“Mother said boys and girls should sleep separately. Yu Zhou, you know so much!” Lu Chao Chao admired him.
Xie Yu Zhou…
“That rule applies at seven years old.”
“Mostly, I’m just being cautious.”
“I’m afraid you’ll wet the bed and blame me…”
“Windchaser isn’t here now to take the blame for you! I’m already ten! If I wet the bed, what would A-Man and Grandmother think of me?!” Xie Yu Zhou huffed and wrapped himself in his blanket.
Lu Chao Chao puffed up her cheeks, her little braids bouncing in frustration.
“Who’s blaming someone else?! Let Windchaser say it himself!” The little girl put her hands on her hips, glaring fiercely.
Xie Yu Zhou smirked. “If Windchaser could talk, he’d complain for three days and nights.”
Lu Chao Chao…
He really shouldn’t have spoken.
Before long, Xie Yu Zhou fell into a deep sleep, his soft snores filling the room.
Half-asleep, Lu Chao Chao thought she heard the door creak open.
Dressed in her nightclothes, wrapped in a thick, soft red fur, she peeked outside.
Beneath the moonlight…
An old madam with silver hair and a face full of sorrow knelt before the moon, devout in her prayers.
Tears streamed down her weathered cheeks, her eyes filled with longing as if they could see through the moon itself—back to her past.
Back to her home.
She never married, never sought companionship, living only in memories of the past. She rejected this world, yet could never leave.
“Child, go back inside and rest. The night is cold, you’ll catch a chill.” The old madam wiped her tears and, seeing Lu Chao Chao, gently pulled her onto the reclining chair in the courtyard.
The yard was tidy, with flowers and vegetables growing in harmony.
“I fear I won’t live to see the day I return home,” she said with a bitter smile.
“I know my body. My time is near. I had hoped to marry A-Man off, so she’d have someone to rely on. But…”
“That girl has suffered much. Her father is missing. What will become of her?” The old madam cradled Chao Chao, as if shedding silent tears.
“Grandmother, when the sun and moon shone together, did something unusual happen to you? Was there anything special about it?” The little one nestled into her embrace as the old madam gently patted her back.
A thoughtful look crossed the old madam’s eyes.
“I was sickly in my homeland.”
“Honestly, returning may not even matter.”
“I was born frail, spent my life bedridden, a frequent guest of the hospital—the place here they call a medical clinic.”
“Doctors predicted I wouldn’t live past eighteen, but my parents exhausted their wealth just to buy me more time.”
“I was a burden to them.”
Her voice trembled. Back home, she was dying. But the life she had now was one her parents had sacrificed everything to prolong. She longed to return, to give them closure.
“That day, a child, barely two or three, was crying on a balcony. Her family was out, so she climbed onto a stool, searching for them.”
“The building was tall, and many people watched in horror.”
“I had just left the hospital. Without thinking, I rushed up to catch her.”
“She fell onto me, and in that moment, as I closed my eyes, I saw a crowd gathering… saw the sun and moon together in the sky. For just an instant, then it vanished. The next moment, I lost consciousness.”