158: Be an ordinary person

The ball was kicked to Jiang Hanwen, as if someone was laughing nearby.

Curiosity killed the cat, digging up someone's past, are you satisfied?

"Speak!" Jiang Hanwen replied, crisp and clear.

He wanted to know what kind of matter would make Xia Zhijie so certain that he would harbor murderous intent towards her.

Xia Zhijie picked up the wine jar himself, gulped down three cups in a row.

The strong liquor burned his lungs, his face flushed crimson, like a large apple smeared with rouge, a double blush.

Xia Zhijie looked up at Jiang Hanwen:

"Should I call you Shopkeeper Jiang, or Chief Steward Jiang?"

As his words fell, a cold wind swept through the courtyard, the sunlight in the sky grew thin, and a layer of fine white frost condensed on Jiang Hanwen's shoulders.

Xia Zhijie was right, he had murderous intent!

He never would have imagined that Xia Zhijie actually knew his true identity.

Regarding Jiang Hanwen's reaction, Xia Zhijie grinned, having expected it. After another drink for courage, Xia Zhijie continued:

"I know your identity by chance.

Do you remember?

Back then, you pretended to be your friend to investigate me and Grandpa.

But a few days later, you appeared in a different guise next door, and they called you Chief Steward Jiang.

At first, I thought it was a coincidence, until five years ago, you took up long-term residence in the shop.

When Elder Lei first came to the shop, your attitude towards him was completely different from what you showed; you were very familiar with him.

That's when I confirmed that you were the Chief Steward Jiang from the Zhuang family, the one who created the legend of the Medicine Field."

Jiang Hanwen looked at Xia Zhijie indifferently, as if looking at a corpse, and said coldly:

"Continue."

"Including the new City Lord Guo Huai'an, and all the family heads, among everyone I've met, only you, Shopkeeper Jiang, are always like a calm lake, unperturbed by anything."

"Thank you," Jiang Hanwen replied indifferently, his mind already planning to kill Xia Zhijie, abandon the bookstore, and change his identity again.

It was just an identity of a few decades; losing it was fine, safety was paramount.

"Ever since my Awakening, all I've seen are devouring mouths everywhere, and on the streets, ghost hands wanting to lift women's skirts.

You might not believe it, but a husband holding his wife and child, all he thinks about is the naked body of a passerby;

Even an old man who can barely walk is still thinking about how to deceive... I see everyone's truest desires, foul and dark.

I'm not capable; I can't control my probing.

I don't want to chop wood, nor do I want to chop fish, but if I don't vent, I'll go crazy!

Shopkeeper Jiang, human hearts are too dirty, truly!"

When he spoke the last sentence, Xia Zhijie's voice was choked.

There was both helplessness towards fate and despair towards the human race.

If Jiang Hanwen remembered correctly, the first time he met Xia Zhijie, the boy looked to be only seven or eight years old.

To have an innocent child see such things from a young age, the mental breakdown he experienced was evident.

Others mature early; he was practically dying early.

Perhaps, if Xia Dong hadn't been alive all this time, Xia Zhijie would have ceased to exist long ago.

No wonder, from the moment he met this boy, he always acted like a little adult.

It turns out his mental maturity had long surpassed his age.

Children from poor families mature early, but the result is inner turmoil; for Xia Zhijie, it wasn't just turmoil, it was shattered and reassembled, then shattered and reassembled again.

Virtue not matching one's position inevitably brings disaster;

Talent not equal to responsibility inevitably leads to its burdens.

Xia Zhijie's talent was extremely strong, but unable to control it, the little guy's inner torment was imaginable.

When you gaze into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you.

The phrase "human hearts are too dirty" was enough to summarize everything Xia Zhijie had seen.

"Anything else?" Jiang Hanwen asked.

Knowing his identity, this definitely needed to be handled.

But if it was about uncontrollable talent, a matter of mental state, he could resolve it.

Xia Zhijie shook his head and closed his eyes calmly:

"Do it, I only ask the Shopkeeper to bury me with Grandpa; living is too tiring."

"Who else knows about my identity?" Jiang Hanwen said, forming an ice blade in his hand and pressing it against Xia Zhijie's neck.

Feeling the cold sting at his neck, Xia Zhijie shook his head and said:

"No one. Although I'm not successful, I'm not an ungrateful villain. I didn't even tell Grandpa."

Jiang Hanwen pressed the ice blade:

"Good, I hope you have a good life as an ordinary person in your next life."