The Dawn

When Jon woke up, he realized that the sunlight was already stinging his eyes. He frowned, barely adjusting to the light, which wasn't really that strong, and it took a few seconds before he opened his eyes, and then realized that he was lying on the bottom bunk - Shankar's bed - covered by her quilt with a pink bear on it.

Jon was quite impressed with the quilt. He and Shankar had slept together under one quilt until they were six years old; after their sixth birthday, their mother had said that they would be sleeping separately from then on, gotten bunk beds, and bought new quilts for both siblings.

Jon and Shankar followed their mother down the street, and Shankar took an instant liking to the quilt; she liked the pink bear on it. Jon, on the other hand, went for a modest chevron one, which was not very distinctive.

In fact, he also liked the pink bear.

However, why was he lying here?

Jon was stunned before he recalled yesterday's events. Steeply feeling as if it was a dream, suddenly, his parents in this life died, Shankar was sick with a fever, he wiped her body and held her to sleep - all of this seemed to be a bit unreal as if he was dreaming last night.

But he was indeed lying in Shankar's bed.

So it wasn't a dream?

Shankar wasn't around, and the bed was empty. Jon sat up naked, his head still a little dazed, and after half a dozen moments of settling down, he came to his senses and realized that his clothes were all hitched up on the chair next to the bed.

He dressed and walked out of the bedroom, not seeing Shankar, but hearing movement in the kitchen. Jon's heart leaped with joy, had he really been dreaming last night and nothing had happened to his mother and father?

He rushed into the kitchen and then saw the seven-year-old girl with an apron.

Jon's heart sank.

"Up," Shankar was busy without looking back, this job was usually done by her mother, but she was not familiar with it and could not help but be a bit clumsy, "Wait a moment, breakfast will be ready soon."

Remembering last night, Jon couldn't help but feel a little weak, worried that she'd question why she'd slept in her bed - and naked at that - and that maybe she'd woken up with the two of them still cuddled up. Although you can use "you had a fever last night, cold body" or other reasons as a pretext, in the end, it is also a bit troublesome.

However, Shankar seemed to have no intention of pursuing the matter, or rather, she did not take this matter to heart. Probably because the two of them slept together every day when they were children, and they didn't separate until they were six years old; now even if Jon got under her covers again, it wouldn't be a big deal, right?

Jon quietly breathed a sigh of relief, a seven-year-old girl, indeed her mind is still relatively simple, but it was himself who thought too much.

However, since it is Shankar and not his mother who is preparing breakfast,..., it is not a dream after all.

※※※

The first time Shankar prepared breakfast, the eggs were a little burnt, but Jon did not care about this.

The siblings ate their breakfast in silence. As Shankar didn't say anything, Jon couldn't help but feel a little anxious in his heart, wondering if she was angry about last night's incident. But although there was no smile on the little girl's face, it wasn't somber either, it was very flat and seemed somewhat indifferent, as if nothing had happened.

But it was true that there were only two people in the house already - two children who were a few days shy of seven, to be exact.

Jon looked at Shankar, and perhaps it was the heart-to-heart between the twins, or perhaps it was the experience of nearly thirty years of reading in his past life plus this life in total, he suddenly knew what was going through Shankar's mind right now.

Revenge!

For waking up in the morning and realizing that she and Jon were naked and cuddling together, Shankar was surprised but didn't care too much. For a seven-year-old, there was still basically no very clear sense of gender - there was a saying that there were three kinds of people in the world, men, women, and children.

For Shankar, what she was really thinking about at the moment was revenge.

After nearly seven years together, Jon knew Shankar very well. Warm, calm, well-behaved, not lacking in spirit, but always quiet and unassuming, but these are all appearances, or rather, not appearances, but also not the true essence.

In essence, Shankar is very rigid and stubborn.

Her smile was good-natured and sweet, and her Englishness was deeply hidden in her bones, but it could not be hidden from Jon. Because this happens to be his favorite type of woman.

But ... revenge is not easy ...

※※※

Revenge is not an easy thing, especially in the case of a disparity in identity rank. The enemies were two sorcerers, both said to be of noble origin, and due to the official blockade of news, the siblings couldn't even inquire about their names and looks; even if they could, how could two small children from a merchant's family take revenge?

"Within three years, we have to earn enough fifty-seven gold coins." After the siblings had completely wiped out their breakfast, Shankar was silent for a moment and spoke.

"Why?" Jon was stunned.

"Because tuition at the wizarding school is two hundred gold coins, and we originally had sixty-three gold coins at home," Shankar said, evenly packing the pile of Shadow Orchid powder she'd ground up yesterday into a small baggie, "and their minimum enrollment age is ten."

Jon was about to celebrate his seventh birthday, three years away from ten. The family's original sixty-three gold coins, plus the pension of eighty, left them fifty-seven gold coins short of tuition.

"You want me to become a wizard?"

"Isn't that what you've been hoping for," Shankar said, her face light as if she were merely stating something long thought out, "Two merchants can't avenge themselves on two wizards, but if one of them turns out to be a wizard, then there's hope- -or are you willing to become a priest?"

Naturally, Jon didn't want to.

Well, thanks to his hung-over mom and dad - it's disrespectful and ungrateful to say this, but it's stating the truth - Jon's dream of being a wizard finally appears as a glimmer of light in the middle of a dreary, dark night.

But it was only a glimmer of light.

Fifty-seven gold coins was a meager sum for some guys, but for a small store like theirs, it was a large sum. As far as Jon knew, in the past, when his parents were still alive, the store could only earn a few dozen silver coins, or a few gold coins, a year. Now that they had passed away, it was hard as hell to make fifty-seven gold coins in three years by relying on two small children of seven or eight years of age, myself and Shankar.

"I'll figure it out, don't worry," Shankar said.

But Jon knew she was comforting herself, what could she do, it's not like she had any relatives or friends to borrow money from. Jon had come to this world and had been living there for seven years now, and had never seen his parents or any relatives come and go, there were a few friends, but again, they were all poor.

Just when this glimmer of light was about to fade out, the goddess of fortune finally showed him a smile.

※※※

According to the custom of Ghost Town - that is, according to the custom of the ancient Netherrealm Empire, the citizens of Ghost Town are all the remnants of the Nether Empire - the thirtieth day after the death of a loved one is the day of worship.

The weather was sunny, and Jon and Shankar went to the cemetery. Father and mother were buried together, not to save graveyard space or money, but simply because they couldn't be separated.

They were killed by an enhanced fireball that instantly charred them, their bodies fused and stuck together, unable to be separated.

Shankar gently put down the white flowers, and Jon stood quietly beside her, staring blankly at the familiar name on the tombstone.

Because of the memories of his previous life, he did not consider his parents in this life as his real "parents" - at least that's what he always thought in his heart.

But now, it seemed to be wrong.

Because the tears quietly slipped down his face.

After all, they were the ones who had raised him, loved him, spoiled him, and taken care of him for seven years.

Jon had naturally had parents in his previous life before he traveled, yet they were not on good terms with each other. They fought for as long as Jon could remember until they finally got divorced when they couldn't stand it anymore. After Jon graduated from high school and went to college, he finally escaped from that home where he was in a cold war all day long, and then after that, until he graduated, until he worked, he never went back, nor did he want to.

So Jon had always thought he had little affection for his parents, in his previous life or this one.

But it was only when he actually lost them that he realized something wasn't as simple as he thought.

Jon knelt and reached out to touch the tombstone, his fingertips moving slowly along the pattern, tracing their names. "Dad, Mom," he read softly, "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sad, Jon," Shankar whispered, her own eyes already wet, just forcing herself not to shed a tear, "They'll be watching over us from the Goddess's realm of the gods, seeing us live happily ever after."

"I just remembered a saying," Jon said after a long moment of silence.

"What?"

"The trees long for tranquility, yet the wind persists; the children yearn for nurture, yet the parents are absent."

"What?"

These two sentences were spoken in Chinese, the language of Jon's previous life, which Shankar naturally didn't understand, and sounded only as if her brother had somehow made a meaningless piece of noise. Jon didn't want to explain more and stood up, ready to go back.

Then he heard a word from behind him.

"Well said."

Jon flinched horribly, and the hairs on his body shrugged.