Chapter 624 - A VOW
"CAN you give me the map of Typhon?" Luo Yan asked Shen Ji Yun. In which the other quickly gave him without any question. He opened the map and marked the place where the oracle would be. Just as what the red dragon had told him. "This is our next destination."
Shen Ji Yun looked at the marked part of the map. It was a mountain to the north of the valley. Just outside of Typhon. "What's in there?"
"Not 'what' but 'who'," Luo Yan corrected. "We're going to visit the dragon clan's so-called 'oracle'."
At Shen Ji Yun's curious look, Luo Yan explained to him the things that he talked about with the red dragon. From what happened to Dusk's parents to his assumptions about the deal between the dragons and the dark mages..
"Those dark mages are really evil! How could they do that to uncle? And those dragons, no, it's better to call them lizards with wings, how can they treat uncle like that?" Eclipse said with indignation and anger. "What's so wrong with not being a pure-blooded dragon? That's not enough to justify them targeting a child because of their prejudice. What did uncle even do to them? It's not as if he told his parents to be in love and gave birth to him. Argh! This is really making Eclipse angry!"
Luo Yan smiled at Eclipse's reaction. Hearing that the little boy no longer called Dusk a black lizard and just referred to the other as 'uncle', it seemed that he had already wholeheartedly accepted the other as his godfather.
He affectionately pinched the cheek of the little boy. "When did our Eclipse become so sensible?"
Eclipse pouted. "Mashter, Eclipse has always been sensible."
Shen Ji Yun had remained quiet. Dusk's past had really struck a nerve. Because he couldn't help but substitute his own experience to what happened to the dragon. Being mixed race and not being accepted by his family on both sides, he understood the pain.
His father's family didn't like his blue eyes and how he looked different from them. His mother's family blamed him and his father for what happened to their precious daughter. There was no place where he belonged. No one wanted him. Even his own mother didn't recognize him. Like a rag doll thrown out because no one wanted it.
Even when his uncle became his guardian, he still felt all alone. If not for his uncle's constant care and love, he would still probably feel the same and he wouldn't have a place he could call home.
But even then, when he thought of the fact that the only people who he would be happy to be called his family were his uncle and paternal grandmother, a bit of loneliness still appeared in his heart.
He knew that he was already lucky and he shouldn't really complain. Especially when there were other people who were much more miserable than him. But sometimes, the loneliness still crept up to him. Like a vine twisting around his neck and slowly suffocating him. Even more so when he thought of his mother.
Sometimes, he really didn't know what to feel whenever he thought of her. Should he feel angry? Should he feel sad? Or should he just feel hopeless? He honestly didn't know.
During the early years when his uncle took him and brought him to this country, he still had a glimmer of hope that one day his mother would come and take him back. But as years passed by, that glimmer of hope was slowly being extinguished. Now, he no longer thought that that was possible. He had already grown to this age and not once did he receive a call or even a letter from his mother. That's already telling a lot.
Shen Ji Yun closed his eyes and tried not to think about those things anymore. But before he could, a soft, warm palm suddenly enveloped his hand. He opened his eyes and glanced to the side. He saw Luo Yan looking worriedly at him.
"Are you alright, Brother Ji Yun?"
Luo Yan had, of course, noticed Shen Ji Yun's sudden abnormality. The complicated expression the other had looked very familiar. It seemed that he always had that every time he thought of something sad. And it was most likely related to his family.
He wondered what could have triggered it this time and the only answer that came to mind was Dusk's past. Thinking of how Shen Ji Yun was a mixed-race, could it be possible that he was comparing his experience with Dusk? Seeing how his expression ended up like that, it must be that the experience of the was very similar.
Just thinking of that possibility, Luo Yan just felt like his chest was suddenly clogged. Even though he still didn't know what Shen Ji Yun had gone through in the past, if he was sympathizing with Dusk this much, didn't that mean that he also experienced the same thing?
Was he also ostracized at such a young age just because his parents were not of the same race? If it was so, then Luo Yan couldn't help but be dumbfounded. Was this the 17th century or some shit? Last time he checked, it was already the 21st century.
What's wrong if two people from different races fell in love and had a kid? Both of them were still humans. It's not as if one was a monster and the other was some kind of divine being. Their children would still be humans. So, what's the fuss?
He really couldn't understand the mentality of those people who would pour their dissatisfaction on an innocent child just because they didn't like the child's father or mother. Did they not think how that could cause irreparable trauma to such a young child? Or maybe they did and just didn't care.
Really, what a bunch of assholes.
"It's nothing, I just suddenly thought of something unrelated," Shen Ji Yun answered with a small smile. Then, he proceeded to changing the topic, "Do you already have a plan on how to capture that oracle?"
Seeing the other's forced smile, Luo Yan vowed at that moment that he would have a word (and also a fist fight) with those people who hurt his cinnamon roll.