Chapter 245: Kong Nian

“Yes. Is it hard to understand? But you don't need to understand; just forget everything you just saw.” The girl suggested calmly.

Gu Yang gave a helpless smile; how could he just forget on command?

“Thank you for saving me.”

“No need for thanks, it is what we ought to do. As for you, you certainly have a lot of nerve.” The girl’s words carried a double meaning.

The elder standing beside her showed a look of surprise on his face.

His young lady rarely spoke so much to outsiders, so he couldn't help but observe Gu Yang before him.

Gu Yang wasn't sure if this counted as a compliment. “I saw that his state was off, so I wanted to catch up and see, lest he hurt someone else. May I ask how you two are addressed?”

“My lady's name is not something just anyone can know, and besides, there likely won't be another chance to meet, so it is better not to ask.”

This time, it was not the girl who answered, but the elder.

His attitude was exceptionally forceful, as if Gu Yang were some street rogue coveting the girl.

This was the first time Gu Yang had encountered such a person. “I was being presumptuous. Since everything is fine, then I shall take my leave.”

“Wait a moment.” The girl actually took the initiative to call him back. “My name is Kong Nian. And you?”

The elder had not expected Kong Nian to actually reveal her name, and his eyes widened in shock.

“Gu Yang.”

In truth, Gu Yang didn't strictly need to know her name, but this girl gave him a sense of inexplicable familiarity. It felt so surreal that he wanted to clear it up.

However, to his surprise, the moment Kong Nian heard his name, her expression changed instantly.

Her coldness and aloofness vanished, replaced by shock.

“You are Gu Yang? Which Yang?”

The intensity of her questioning voice increased significantly.

“The 'Yang' from 'fire' (炀). Does Miss Kong know me?” Although it was a question, Gu Yang had already reached a conclusion.

Kong Nian stared straight at him, emotions seemingly surging in her eyes.

No wonder she had such a different feeling toward this man; so, he was Gu Yang.

How could it be such a coincidence?!!

“I... have a friend who is also named Gu Yang.”

Kong Nian gave this answer after hesitating for two seconds.

Not only was Gu Yang surprised, but even the elder's expression became complicated as he observed him once more.

“Then that is quite a coincidence. I work at the Capital Publishing House; if either of you has need of me in the future, you can find me there.”

In the middle of the night, the streets were already silent and deserted. Gu Yang took the initiative to bid Kong Nian farewell.

“Miss, this Gu Yang, he...”

Before the elder could finish his sentence, Kong Nian stopped him with a gesture.

“We will talk when we get back.”

This was not the place for discussion.

Before leaving, Kong Nian couldn't help but look back, watching the direction in which Gu Yang departed.

*“Brother Gu Yang, the big tree at the east end of the village has many pears growing on it, I want to eat pears.”*

*“Alright.”*

*“Brother Gu Yang, I saw many big fish in the river just now, help me catch some fish.”*

*“Alright.”*

*“Brother Gu Yang, I'm tired, carry me on your back.”*

*“Alright.”*

*“Brother Gu Yang, when I grow up, can I marry you and be your wife?”*

*“Be good, don't talk nonsense. You are still so small, do you even know what a wife is?”*

*“I know, because I like Brother Gu Yang, and if I marry Brother Gu Yang, I can stay with him forever and ever.”*

*“Alright, we will stay together forever.”*

...

“Miss, who exactly is that Gu Yang? How do you know him?”

In the room, Kong Xiang's questioning completely interrupted Kong Nian's train of thought.

It pulled her from the images in her mind back to reality.

Seeing her expression shifting constantly, Kong Xiang knew there was definitely something wrong.

Originally, the young lady was supposed to attend the Zhou family banquet tonight, but since she disliked such occasions and Gan Hua had taken Kong Yueqing and the others there, they had not appeared.

He hadn't expected that after coming back from dinner, they would run right into that man possessed by an evil spirit. Naturally, such a matter should be handled, but her subsequent behavior was simply too strange.

Ever since the young lady had obtained the power of inheritance, he had stayed by her side to guard her safety.

He knew everything that had happened to her over the years. He was absolutely certain that the young lady and that man named Gu Yang had had no contact prior to tonight.

“It is not that I know him, but that he is in my memories.” Kong Nian's emotions were complex.

At first, Kong Xiang didn't quite understand and wanted to press further, but he suddenly realized something, and his face changed drastically.

“Miss, you mean...”

He didn't say the rest of the words, but Kong Nian nodded in affirmation.

Kong Xiang's breathing even became rapid.

All his thoughts were instantly dragged back fifteen years.

Fifteen years ago, he had also been involved in that matter, and he understood Kong Nian's situation better than anyone.

In almost every generation of the Kong family, an exceptionally gifted infant would be born.

And the person chosen in this generation was Kong Nian!

Yes, *chosen*, not merely born.

Because the mother of that truly gifted child had long since severed all ties with the entire clan before that.

Originally, that woman's reckless behavior had been viewed with contempt by everyone in the family, but she had nonetheless given birth to a gifted child.

The Kong family, of course, could not allow such a thing to happen, nor could they allow the Kong family's prestige to be ruined by that woman. So, in the year the child turned four, the family finally devised a plan and used coercive means to threaten the woman into bringing the child back to the clan.

At that time, the family gave the woman two choices: leave the child and depart alone to live an ordinary life, or take the child, but the child's abilities must belong to the Kong family.

Unexpectedly, the woman was unyielding and refused to agree to anything, even harboring the delusion that she could escape with the child unscathed.

Her actions were nothing short of a mantis trying to stop a chariot, provoking the entire clan. In the end, not only did she fail to keep the child's abilities, but she also lost herself in the process.

The method the family devised at that time was to transfer that child's supernatural ability onto Kong Nian.

Although doing so made it highly likely that the child would perish, the person presiding over the matter did not hesitate in the slightest.

To ensure it proceeded smoothly, they even went so far as to cooperate with the powers of the Feng family to complete it.

It was unknown whether Kong Nian's body was highly compatible with that child's, but the transfer of the ability went very smoothly. However, what no one expected was that, besides the ability, all of that child's memories were also transferred into Kong Nian's brain.

They had thought that after so many years, Kong Nian would have long forgotten those memories, but they never expected her to encounter the people from those memories today?!

An extremely uneasy premonition rose in Kong Xiang's heart, as if something uncontrollable was about to happen.

(End of Chapter)