Chapter 149: The Next Nurturing Target is Actually Her!

In the ancestral hall, led by Elder Du Xinyuan, all members of the Incense Gang, regardless of age, wore solemn expressions and adjusted their clothes, bowing deeply toward the young girl holding the storm lantern, standing in the center of the ancestral hall, enveloped in morning light and candlelight.

This bow was respectful, pious, and sincerely convinced.

This bow spanned a century, connecting ancient and modern.

This bow was a handover, an acknowledgment, and also an oath.

The ritual is complete, the title fixed.

From this moment on, "Kirigaya Nuo," this Nihon assassin codename stained with blood and darkness, will be permanently sealed.

She is the Lantern Bearer of the Incense Gang.

She is that lantern illuminating the fog and guiding the way home.

Standing in the center of the radiance, holding the ancient lantern, looking at the deeply bowing crowd before her eyes, listening to the deafening ceremonial music by her ears...

Xu Nuo knew that from now on, her life was completely changed.

"Teacher... thank you."

"Thank you for arranging all this for me, thank you for starting to pave the way for me... from so long ago."

Words flowed in her heart. She could almost imagine that familiar response—perhaps a light chuckle carrying teasing, perhaps a sentence "Good that you know, considered sensible," or perhaps that kind of teasing that makes one's teeth itch yet warms the heart...

However.

There was no sound.

In her consciousness, there was nothing but an abrupt, panic-inducing silence.

That voice, accompanying her through countless fearful, bewildered, and difficult moments... did not appear.

The expression on Xu Nuo's face froze slightly.

She subconsciously called out in her consciousness again:

"Teacher?"

No response.

Only the echo of her own thoughts.

She tried to perceive that illusory figure that always floated by her side and could only be seen by her... but it was empty.

That familiar presence at her side that had always brought her peace was completely gone.

That figure who accompanied her for several years, taught her, protected her, comforted her, sometimes also "bullied" her, gave her strength when she was most desperate, and still accepted her after her hands were stained with blood...

Disappeared.

Without any warning.

Silently and without a trace.

At her most glorious, most crucial moment, right as she raised the storm lantern, as the ceremonial music played in unison, and as everyone bowed their heads in reverence.

"..."

Xu Nuo was completely stunned on the spot, her brain a blank.

She had known he was bidding her farewell recently, dropping subtle hints that the time to part could arrive at any moment.

She thought she had long prepared herself mentally, believing she could calmly face this inevitable separation.

But she never thought...

It would hurt a thousand times, ten thousand times more than imagined.

Blankly, she raised her head to look at the massive portrait once again.

The "Second Great-Grandfather" in the painting still smiled gently, while the "her" beside him in the artwork still held the lantern.

Everything in the portrait seemed perfect.

But by her side, it was already empty.

That soul that always guided her... was gone.

"Wu..."

Facing that portrait, she fell straight to her knees, crying so hard she couldn't form words.

That grief was so primal and profound, instantly diluting all the festive atmosphere in the ancestral hall.

Many people looked at each other, completely unable to understand what was happening.

Yet Du Xinyuan's aged frame trembled violently!

A childhood memory fragment almost buried by long years suddenly became vivid before his eyes.

That was also on an important day, after a family ceremony.

His younger self had hidden behind a porch pillar, secretly watching his great-aunt, a woman always elegant, dignified, and gentle, staying behind alone in the quiet ancestral hall.

Great-aunt had been just like this. She had looked up at that portrait, which was still relatively new back then. As she gazed at it, her soft smile slowly faded, and without warning, she collapsed to her knees.

Kneeling on the cold brick floor, facing the portrait, she wept until her entire body shuddered, crying so bitterly she couldn't form words.

His younger self had been terrified, having never seen his great-aunt lose her composure like that.

Later, his mother had found him, gently covered his eyes, led him away, and murmured with a low sigh:

"Your great-aunt... is missing her benefactor-mentor."

At this moment, the figure of the young girl kneeling and weeping bitterly before his eyes overlapped perfectly with the heartbroken silhouette of his great-aunt deep in his memory.

The exact same posture, the exact same portrait, the exact same... piercing heartache.

An unbelievable thought, yet one that could perfectly explain all this, popped into Du Xinyuan's mind:

Could the so-called Lantern Bearer be Great-aunt reincarnated and returned to them? Before her passing, had she guided them to find her in the future, just like the sacred reincarnation traditions of Tibet?

(TL: Referring to the Tibetan Buddhist tradition of finding reincarnated Lamas.)

"Phew..."

Du Xinyuan let out a long, trembling breath.

Under the even more astonished gazes of everyone, this highly respected "old man" of the Incense Gang didn't go to support the bitterly crying Xu Nuo, but rather...

He adjusted his robes, faced that portrait, and also faced Xu Nuo kneeling before the portrait, slowly, extremely solemnly, bent his aged knees.

One step behind Xu Nuo, he knelt down in the same direction.

This kneel was not etiquette, not a ritual.

It was a resonance deep in the bloodline, a realization spanning three generations, a supreme salute to a "return" and "inheritance" that transcended mortal understanding...

...

Outside the screen, 2025, Qiushui Manor by the West Lake.

Xu Yunzhou watched Xu Nuo lift the storm lantern, watched her look at the portrait in shock, and was just about to reward her a bit.

As a result, in the next second, she and the entire scene of the ancestral hall shrank, finally freezing, lining up side by side with Lin Ruoxuan and Song Jiaru in the first row.

That familiar system notification sound rang again:

[Ding! Xu Nuo's comprehensive charm value has stably broken through 90, and the activation degree of the hidden talent Limitless Will has reached 90%!]

[Xu Nuo's Coronation as Lantern Bearer of the Incense Gang has been completed!]

[Reward Settlement: One hundred thousand Mall Coins!]

[You can say one last word of blessing to her, after which the next nurturing target will be loaded: Wen Xi. Hidden talent: Logic Genius. Enter immediately?]

Xu Yunzhou was originally somewhat sad, pondering what words to say to Xu Nuo. As a result, seeing this name and that cool face, he almost threw his laptop.

"Holy... holy shit?"

Xu Yunzhou widened his eyes, cursed, his heart beating crazily.

"Wen Xi? She... she fucking was also nurtured by me?"

Wen Xi.

This name, this face, Xu Yunzhou was too familiar with.

That was the neighbor sister who lived across the door when he was little, three years older than him. She could be considered in some sense... a childhood sweetheart.

But when he was ten, Wen Xi's family moved away, and they lost contact.

Meeting again was when he had just gotten into college, dragging a heavy suitcase walking into the university gates.

A tall figure wearing tight hot pants and a racerback tank top, revealing healthy wheat-colored skin and smooth muscle lines, suddenly blocked the way in front of him like a mountain, carrying a vigorous aura of sunlight mixed with sweat.

The newcomer narrowed her eyes and sized him up for a few seconds, suddenly grinned, revealing dazzlingly white teeth, her smile radiant and carrying a bit of malice:

"Yo? Isn't this little Zhou-zhou from next door who used to cry at the drop of a hat and needed sister to carry him on her back when we were little? Grown this big? Got into here too?"

Xu Yunzhou was completely dazed at the time.

Looking up for a long time, he finally, with great difficulty, dug out the memory of his childhood shadow... ah no, childhood playmate, from that highly aggressive bright smile and faintly familiar facial outline.

"Sister... Sister Xi?"

His face instantly turned red, half from heat, half from embarrassment.

Embarrassing childhood stories being brought up so carelessly, and at the university gate no less!

Wen Xi was tall and had long arms. She naturally reached out and, just like when they were little, clamped his head under her armpit.

Instantly, Xu Yunzhou only felt the side of his face forced to press tightly against a place full of elasticity.

"!!!"

Xu Yunzhou's brain buzzed with a "weng," his entire face flushing bright red, even the roots of his neck burning.

He stiffened there, not daring to move an inch, the tip of his nose lingering with the vigorous scent of sunlight and sweat on the young woman's body.

"Not bad kid, actually became sister's little junior."

Wen Xi's voice came from above his head, carrying a smile. Her arm tightened again, Xu Yunzhou's face slightly deformed by being squeezed against that soft touch, his breathing unsmooth.

She seemed very satisfied with his embarrassed appearance of being stiff as wood.

After a few seconds, she let go, laughing loudly as she watched him stagger backward two steps, panting heavily, his face completely red and eyes dodging.

"Yo? Grown up and know how to be shy now? Skin so thin?"

Xu Yunzhou protested:

"In broad daylight, pay attention to the impact!"

Wen Xi put her hands on her hips, laughing until she rocked back and forth,

"What a pity,"

She smacked her lips, her tone suddenly taking on a bit of regret. Her gaze swept over Xu Yunzhou's handsome yet still boyishly immature face,

"Sister is a senior this year, about to graduate and scram soon, can't cover you anymore."

"How about this, little Zhou-zhou, do you want to take advantage of the time before Sister leaves, and have a... campus romance with Sister that breaks up upon graduation? Guaranteed to give you maxed-out experience and memories for a lifetime oh?"

She leaned down and got close, lowering her voice, hot breath exhaling onto his bright red auricle.