Free Web NovelChapter 83: Chapter Eighty-Three: The Curse
"I think you might have a bit of a misunderstanding," Chen Ze’s mouth twitched, this old man was a bit too fierce, quick to draw his sword at the slightest disagreement.
"Oh? I may be old, but I’m not hard of hearing," Miguel brandished the dagger in his hand.
There was an extremely powerful magic circle here. Miguel knew he couldn’t solve this problem, but it wasn’t in his nature to just sit back and wait to die.
"What I just fed you was a chili pepper, it gives you a special taste, but essentially, it’s a sensation of pain," Chen Ze had no choice but to explain.
"Pain?" Miguel was stunned, he felt like he was beginning to understand what Chen Ze meant.
"Young man, would you be willing to listen to an old man’s story?" Miguel sat down on a chair, and the dagger was nowhere to be seen.
Chen Ze checked his phone, it was still early, and he guessed no customers would come in for a while, so listening to a story didn’t seem so bad.
"I would like to hear the details," Chen Ze sat across from Miguel.
"Last year, I went on an expedition to a relic because it was rumored to be where the Tide God fell. So I took my granddaughter with me." Chen Ze blinked, why take your granddaughter on a relic adventure?
What was this approach? Wouldn’t you normally invite other strong figures to join you?
If not, you could at least start with a dog and rely on scavenged gear, right? freewēbnoveℓ.com
Although he had many comments to make, Chen Ze still held back because the story wasn’t finished yet.
"I won’t talk about the adventure itself, just the outcome," Miguel’s following words were a bit unexpected, as Chen Ze had thought he was about to hear a grand tale.
"That relic was not the resting place of the Tide God, but the former abode of the Time God," there was a flicker of fear in Miguel’s eyes.
"We... found an hourglass inside and took it with us. It had a phrase on it that I managed to translate only after finding an old friend from the Elf Race." Chen Ze could see Miguel’s fingers trembling, as if weighed down by intense fear.
"My old friend told me the phrase on the hourglass was ’Time leaves through the mouth and enters into memories.’ I didn’t understand it then, but after all the sand in the hourglass was gone, I realized I had been cursed," Miguel indicated his mouth.
"My mouth has been cursed. Everything that enters it loses its time, has no taste, no pain, nothing," Miguel opened his mouth wide, and Chen Ze felt chills, as he could see countless items of food and even body parts and miscellaneous items inside Miguel’s mouth.
"As you can see, everything that enters my mouth loses its time and is eternally trapped inside. I can’t get it out," Miguel spoke calmly.
"But it doesn’t affect my speech, and the things I eat still allow me to survive," Chen Ze understood the meaning of the first sentence.
"But my granddaughter, she’s cursed too," regret thick in Miguel’s tone.
"Into memories?" Chen Ze remembered that was the second line on the hourglass. If Miguel was afflicted by the first phrase, then his granddaughter must be under the curse of the second.
"Yes... my... my granddaughter, she’s no longer my granddaughter," Miguel looked desolate.
"She only has a memory of one day. After a day, she’s like a newborn child; although she can still speak and has common sense, she doesn’t know who she is, where she is, or who I am," Miguel hung his head.
"She even forgets her own parents. Because of this, my child no longer wants to recognize me as a father."
"How I wish, I wish it was me who was cursed by the second phrase!" Miguel roared hoarsely.
Chen Ze didn’t say anything. He found it hard to imagine someone going through such an ordeal, both for the person themselves and for their relatives; it was an unbearable pain.
What makes a person who they are? It’s not just gender and DNA, but a lifetime of experiences and memories that make a person who they are, rather than someone else. freewёbnoνel.com
And if memories are lost, with no past experiences, is she still herself?
Moreover, memories are reset every day. Chen Ze looked at the old man before him, not knowing how he had endured, how he had struggled through the past year with such remorse and regret.
"What about your granddaughter?" Chen Ze asked worriedly.
"I’ve kept her confined at home. Our home is large, and I know what she likes. Even though she’ll wake up agitated and crying every day, it gets a bit better after some time," Miguel shook his head; this life had been going on for over a year now.
"Thank you for listening to my story, young man. Here is the payment for the meal," Miguel put down a money pouch and turned to leave the restaurant.
Chen Ze watched his retreating figure, so heavy, even making Miguel seem a bit hunched.
Chen Ze knew, as long as the curse didn’t lift, Miguel would continue to live this painful life.
"Such a depressing story..." Chen Ze picked up the money pouch. He didn’t bother to count the contents and just placed it in the cash box in the kitchen.
There were no new customers the entire afternoon, which was frustrating for Chen Ze, who was trying to change his mood.
However, thanks to the absence of customers in the afternoon, Chen Ze had managed to prepare all the food he needed for his stall that evening.
"Never thought that tentacle would come out every 15 days." Chen Ze also noted the tentacle’s appearance schedule; every 15 days, a tentacle from Lafra would automatically break off.
"Let’s log into the forum..." Great wines would be overlooked if hidden away; even though Chen Ze’s BBQ stall was somewhat famous, he still felt it necessary to advertise in advance.
There was only one major food forum in the city, and Chen Ze had registered an account there. After changing his id to Dreamland BBQ Stall, he posted a message.
[Dream Restaurant will set up a stall at the restaurant’s doorstep tonight—come taste the exotic delicacies previously at City No. 1 Middle School!]
A straightforward post, but shortly after it was made, a moderator from the forum private messaged Chen Ze to verify his identity, and then his post was pinned and highlighted.
[Rider of the Wind: OMG? Back from the dead?]
[What’s-his-name Mei: Got highlighted and pinned... seems like it’s really that low-key BBQ stall.]
[How Are You So Skilled: Dreamland BBQ Stall? Never heard of it, is it good?]
Seeing the plethora of comments and replies, Chen Ze began to contemplate whether he should hire a part-timer to help him sell skewers in the evening.
