Chapter 321 - A small clue

Chapter 321: Chapter 321 - A small clue

Grandpa Lin Rue rested in Jian’s room for nearly an hour before Quangya started becoming restless.

The little boy had tried his best to sit quietly at first, but there was only so long a child could remain inside after discovering that the enormous palace outside was filled with glowing gardens, crystalline towers and strange things he’d never seen before.

Eventually, Quangya wandered to the window for what must have been the tenth time.

"Grandpa..."

Lin Rue opened one eye.

"Can we go outside?"

The old man sighed. He wasn’t particularly tired anymore, and keeping Quangya trapped inside would only make the boy more restless.

"All right. But don’t run too far."

Quangya immediately brightened.

The moment they stepped outside, Lin Rue realized telling him not to run was useless.

Quangya darted ahead, stopping every few steps to stare at something new. The palace gardens alone were enough to occupy him. Pale crystal flowers opened as they passed, glowing softly beneath the twin suns, while tiny winged creatures fluttered between enormous silver leaves.

"Grandpa! Look!"

"I see it."

"Look at this one!"

"I see that too."

"And this—"

"I have eyes, child."

Quangya giggled and ran toward another patch of flowers.

Lin Rue followed more slowly, leaning lightly on his cane. Strange as this world was, his body had grown accustomed to it over the years. Walking no longer exhausted him the way it once had on Earth, and the warmth from the twin suns felt pleasant against his skin.

They eventually left the gardens and entered one of the open palace walkways.

That was where Lin Rue stopped.

A man was approaching from the opposite direction.

He was tall and dressed far more casually than most of the Farians Lin Rue had seen inside the palace. A loose white shirt covered his upper body, tied simply in the front, while long blond hair fell freely down his back.

Lin Rue recognized him immediately.

His hand shot out.

"Quangya."

The little boy had been several steps ahead. Lin Rue pulled him back and moved him behind his body.

Dican stopped.

He had heard that Jian’s grandfather had returned safely. He also knew the old man had apparently traveled to Gia aboard his ship years ago.

The problem was that Dican couldn’t remember it.

He remembered Earth. He remembered Jian and pieces of their childhood. Yet when he tried to remember Grandpa Rue aboard his ship, there was nothing but the same frustrating fog that covered so much of the past five years.

Still, he’d never expected the old man to react to him like this.

Dican gave him a tentative smile.

"Grandpa?"

Lin Rue immediately stepped back.

The reaction made Dican’s smile disappear.

He glanced at Quangya hiding behind the old man’s legs before returning his attention to Lin Rue.

"I’m Jian’s second elder brother," he explained carefully. "My name is Dican. You can call me Di if you want."

Lin Rue’s expression only became more guarded.

Dican didn’t understand.

"Have I... done something to offend you?"

Lin Rue stared at him.

"Don’t you remember?"

Dican’s stomach tightened.

"No."

The answer seemed to surprise the old man.

"You were with Bian."

Dican went still.

Lin Rue tightened his grip around his cane. "You stood beside him while he treated us like we were nothing. Now you’re standing here smiling and pretending to be nice?"

"What did I do?"

There was no anger in Dican’s voice.

Only confusion.

That unsettled Lin Rue more than an excuse would have.

Dican stepped closer without thinking. "Please. Tell me. I don’t remember much from that time. What did Bian do?"

Lin Rue instinctively moved back, pulling Quangya with him.

Dican immediately stopped.

He had seen it again.

Fear.

The old man was genuinely afraid of him.

Dican’s face slowly paled.

Lin Rue studied him for several seconds before finally answering.

"Bian threatened to starve us to death."

Dican stared at him.

"He had us locked away and ordered that we weren’t to be given food." Lin Rue’s voice hardened. "You were there."

"I..."

"You stood beside him."

Dican opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

He searched his memories desperately.

A room.

Grandpa Rue.

Bian giving orders.

Anything.

There was nothing.

"I don’t remember."

Lin Rue frowned.

"How can you not remember?"

"I don’t know."

Dican lifted a hand to his temple, frustration tightening his features. "There are years I can’t remember properly. Sometimes I get pieces, but..." He swallowed. "I don’t remember doing that to you."

Lin Rue’s anger faltered.

For the first time, he really looked at Dican.

Something about him had bothered Lin Rue from the moment he appeared, but until now he’d assumed it was simply because the man was dressed differently.

It wasn’t.

His face was the same, yet he looked completely different.

The Dican Lin Rue remembered from the ship had been cold and strange. Even when he stood beside Bian, there had been something unsettling about his expression.

Especially his eyes.

Lin Rue leaned forward slightly.

"Your eyes..."

Dican lowered his hand.

"What about them?"

Lin Rue stared into them.

They were clear now. An unusual blue-green that almost seemed to shift beneath the sunlight.

Nothing like what he remembered.

"Weren’t your eyes purple?"

Dican froze.

The question seemed to strike him harder than everything else Lin Rue had said.

"My eyes?"

"Back then." Lin Rue frowned as he tried to remember. "Sometimes they had a purple shine. I noticed it more than once."

Dican’s face drained of color.

"When?"

Lin Rue took another step back when Dican suddenly moved closer.

Dican caught his arm before realizing what he’d done.

The old man’s body trembled.

Dican immediately released him.

"I’m sorry." He forced himself back. "But please... when did you see that?"

"When we were on the ship. Your eyes weren’t always purple. Sometimes it was only a moment, especially when Bian was near you." Lin Rue hesitated. "Perhaps I was mistaken."

"No."

Dican’s voice had become very quiet.

Purple eyes were exceptionally rare among Farians.

But he knew enough of his own people’s history to understand what they could mean.

There were ancient records of Farians whose eyes had turned purple after Grayling contamination. In some cases, it happened to those with mixed Grayling blood.

In others—

Grayling sap.

Dican felt cold despite the warmth of the suns.

He had read those records as a child. Grayling extracts could affect the mind, distort judgment and, in sufficient quantities, suppress a person’s will.

His fingers slowly curled at his sides.

Five years of blurred memories.

His inability to remember his own marriage properly.

The strange disgust he’d felt when Bian tried to touch him after he woke.

And now this.

Dican looked at Lin Rue.

"Are you certain?"

The old man hesitated before slowly nodding.

"I remember the color."

Dican said nothing.