Chapter 485

Chapter 485: Colorful Candy Wrappers

The black-haired girl sat under a tree, listening blankly to these words.

As if the forest shrouded in mist was scattered by a clear breeze, warm and dry sunlight shone through the branches and leaves.

She could find many examples to refute, such as the hardships of life, the changes in people’s hearts, and so on. But the warmth of the sunshine blooming from Sophie’s words made her unable to muster any resistance.

If everyone could be like this, how wonderful it would be.

Seeing Zhen suddenly fall silent, Sophie felt a bit embarrassed, thinking she might have spoken too harshly, making the girl unable to accept it. After all, she was still wounded, and perhaps such thoughts stemmed from her own experiences.

Looking around, she opened the small leather pouch at her waist and found a candy.

The white candy wrapper was tied into a small bow. Once opened, a small white square appeared inside, emitting a faint milk fragrance.

Sophie placed this candy into the palm of the black-haired girl.

“Don’t cry, have another one. There are indeed difficult parts in life; eating something sweet will help you forget them.”

“How can I forget?”

Zhen took the candy, wiping away the tears about to spill from her eyes with the back of her hand. The days of suppression and discomfort finally burst out.

The chaos in her hometown, the uncertain future and fate of her father, the confusion about her own path ahead, like an invisible yet heavy lock, hung in her heart, making it hard for her to feel happy.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry,” Sophie patted Zhen’s back, sitting beside her.

“Mmm.” Zhen replied softly, blinking her slightly red eyes with effort.

“Okay.” After a while, when her emotions had stabilized, she spoke again.

Seeing this scene, Sophie let out a small breath of relief and relaxed.

“Candies melt if left too long, eat it now.”

Zhen nodded slightly and put the milk candy into her mouth, the rich sweetness reappearing in her mind.

She carefully savored the feeling of happiness, then opened the candy wrapper in her hand. The rice-white wrapper bore a clear pattern. It was a golden apple like the sunset, with three semi-transparent small squares beneath it, colored red, blue, and green.

Even a simple candy wrapper gave a sense of delicacy.

She gently smoothed out the creases with her fingers, feeling the wrapper that still retained its fragrance.

“Do you like it? I have several more at my place. I can give them to you as a keepsake.” Sophie’s familiar voice sounded in Zhen’s ear, the warmth of her breath making Zhen’s ears tingle slightly.

Zhen wanted them but felt a bit embarrassed, thinking she had already received many favors and shouldn’t ask for more.

“Just wait a moment.”

Sophie stood up suddenly, her warm body moving quickly away toward the distant tents.

Zhen wanted to say something, but Sophie was already far away.

Approaching noon, under the intense white sunlight, Sophie crossed through several paths between the tents, heading towards the camp.

Surrounded by people greeting each other, they all disappeared into a tent.

After she vanished, Jena felt a sense of emptiness. In this vicinity, or rather, within this camp, she only knew Sophie. If someone else came over now, how would she explain herself?

Fortunately, this feeling didn’t last long. Sophie soon emerged from the tent. She waved from afar and ran over to Jena.

“Look at what I’ve collected.”

She placed a booklet into Jena’s hands. The cover of this not-so-thick booklet bore the stamps of stars and books. Upon opening it, the pages were a light yellow color. Jena touched the pages with her fingers, feeling their smooth texture.

As Sophie helped turn the pages, the candy wrappers tucked between them quickly caught Jena’s attention.

The white candy wrappers were printed with various patterns; they were colorful, diverse in style, yet with clear lines.

“First up are common fruits,” Sophie said, pointing to one after another. These wrappers featured different colored fruits, including green tangerines, red pomegranates, yellow pomelos, white jade grapes, deep purple mulberries, and more. Below each image was a short word describing the fruit.

“Then there are several sets of animals,” Sophie continued, flipping through the book. Various colored and patterned candy wrappers appeared, featuring animals, castles, buildings, fruits, extraordinary classes, and strange demonic beasts.

“This one is a Fear Night Wolf, and that one is a Lanjin Tiger. Oh, and this one is a Cuiyu Phoenix. This one was especially rare; I had to ask the rabbit-eared head maid for it.”

“The last set isn’t complete. I asked everyone in the entire trade caravan, but I only managed to collect these few.”

As Sophie spoke, she flipped to the last few pages of the booklet. Several special candy wrappers fell out, each with an exquisite pattern that was distinctly different from the earlier ones.

One showed a woman sitting under a grape arbor. She looked serene, smiling, wearing a pomegranate-red dress with hair as green as leaves. In her hand was a bundle of wheat, and at the bottom of the wrapper was written ‘Abundance.’

Another depicted a young lady playing music on a reef in the sea. She had beautiful blue hair, her eyes slightly closed as she gently strummed the strings of her instrument. The sea around her was filled with fish of various colors circling her, and at the bottom of the wrapper was written ‘Ocean.’

One showed a girl sitting in front of a dressing mirror. She had golden, slightly curled hair, surrounded by a room full of girlish charm. This girl wore a white dress, with a pink hair clip by her ear. In the mirror sat another girl, identical to the one outside, but she wore a black dress with a blue hair clip, and at the bottom of the wrapper was written ‘Mirror.’

The last one showed a woman holding a long sword above a kneeling knight. They were performing a knighting ceremony. The knight, dressed simply, was gradually forming exquisite steel armor, and the wooden sword in the woman’s hand was slowly turning into a gleaming steel blade, spreading from the hilt to the tip, and at the bottom of the wrapper was written ‘Silver Iron.’

“These are?” Jena curiously turned to the girl beside her.

“These are the ancient legendary witches, you know. They are living myths and legends. It is said that they…”

The Chamber of Commerce named Táng Guǒ, whose name also originated from a certain witch.

“How beautiful they are. Unfortunately, I only have four here. In the future, if I become wealthy, I must go to the Lagtis Chamber of Commerce to find that young lady and ask her for a complete set of witch’s candy wrappers.”

“Because they are so beautiful.”

“I don’t know what sorrowful things you’ve encountered, nor do I know how to comfort you, but I want to tell you that although there are many difficult and bad things in this world, there are still many things worth looking forward to and pursuing.”

“Our Chamber of Commerce is like that too. When the West Wind was still around, life was very hard, but we all managed to get through it. Now, the era in Clancia is much better.”

Seeing Zhēna’s silent state, Sophie became a bit anxious.

“I’m sorry, I might not be good at expressing myself. What I said might not be what you’re thinking, but… that day when I saw you lying by the roadside, covered in wounds, it really upset me.”

“What I say might be forcing you, but… even though you’ve suffered many injuries, many grievances, and even if no one believes you, you still need to get up. You can’t lose heart; only then can you find the candy you most desire.”

“Come on, Zhēna.”

This last shout by her ear was like a bolt of lightning striking this girl’s mind, abruptly waking her up and making her look at this girl of the same age.

Sophie, who was the same age, did not possess any magic or extraordinary power. Her hands were marked by hard labor, and her rough flaxen coat had worn edges that were faded from washing, with signs of wear. She was plain yet full of sunshine.

Although Sophie didn’t know about Zhēna’s worries, these sincere words still moved her, like warm hands smoothing out the creases of anxiety in her heart.

Feeling the arms that embraced her, Zhēna slightly closed her eyes, her heart filled with such thoughts.

Even though her strength was already top-tier among her peers, she was far less resilient than this girl.

Hadn’t she seen everything about her hometown? Actually, she had already harbored some thoughts in her heart, but she had always avoided this thought because she felt she couldn’t bear it.

But now, she finally stopped avoiding this thought.

Yes, just as Uncle said, this field has long rotted, overgrown with weeds and pests. How could it be changed?

The only way is to cleanse everything with fire and sword, like Clancia after the West Wind, allowing it to be reborn.

She wasn’t someone powerful enough to ignore everything, but that wasn’t a reason to stop moving forward.

If her strength was insufficient, she would persuade more people to join her. If she failed once, she would try again. Even a tiny spark should strive to ignite, so that everyone could see hope, and thus more people would turn toward this direction.

“Thank you.”

—Thank you to those who were lost in thought, and to the two who gave their support.

—When writing this chapter, I slapped five mosquitoes barehanded =.=

—End of Chapter