Ever since Nanxing, Jinu, and Phytolacca started school, their days seemed to have suddenly become very peaceful and regular.
The three children went to the school from time to time to receive new knowledge, and Wei Ling would occasionally accompany them. Then every once in a while, Li Lingyou, Xie Wudi, and Li Lingyou would come over to demonstrate their warlock abilities, hoping that one day one of the children would suddenly become enlightened.
Every two days, the children went back to school to seek evidence and solve their doubts, but Welling never went there once. It wasn't that the knowledge was so simple that he didn't have any doubts, but he had to work and there were so many loans to repay. .
Subconsciously, he had already attributed all the loans of his three children to himself, although this loan was a student loan in the barrier system and would not be collected until the children reached adulthood.
So in addition to interacting with the children or acquiring new knowledge, Wei Ling traveled between the second and fourth floors every day.
He did not meet the hard requirement of 20 hours of work per week.
He went to the fourth floor and took over various factories such as metallurgy, manufacturing, clothing, and food, etc., in accordance with the principle of non-conflict of time. With his ability, these tasks were too simple.
Three months passed slowly like this, and he had paid off all the loans from Jinu and Shanglu, leaving only his own and Nanxing's.
However, regarding the sorcerer's ability, he tried his best but no miracle happened.
However, due to his continuous exploration and observation, he had a clear understanding of the energy world with endless undercurrents that he sensed.
The world they are sensing is the sorcerers of the Eastern Earth World and the mages of the Western Xuan World, what they call the Source Spirit World.
In more than ten days, the Xia tribe's most traditional and grand New Year's Day will be held, and Wei Ling has been thinking about what kind of New Year's gifts to give to the children.
So he decided not to work on the fourth floor, but to go to the third floor to do some service-oriented work such as environmental sanitation, gardening, nursing home care, etc., and look for small gifts when he had the opportunity.
On this day, it was Welling's turn to work as a caregiver in a nursing home.
In the morning, he came to the nursing home early.
The nursing home is located next to a small lake in the northeast corner of the third floor of the county town. There is also a hill leaning on the back. It is estimated that the soil for the small lake was excavated in the past.
The woods on the hillside are still green and pleasant, and the water in the small lake is clear and fish are swimming around.
Entering the low green wall, Welling saw many old people admiring flowers, basking in the sun and chatting in the yard.
Although this "sun" is a super-powerful giant luminous matrix in the center of the dome, its brightness and color temperature will make people forget that this is not a real sun.
Some men and women who are also caregivers, basically about the same age as Wei Ling, are giving the elderly people haircuts and cutting their fingernails one-on-one. Some of them just rub their backs and chat with them.
Of course, this kind of chat is still a loss of information, but the occasional laughter of the old people shows that they enjoy this kind of companionship.
Welling learned from the boundary system information that although the cleaning and washing work in nursing homes are basically done by humanoid intelligent machines, many of these elderly people are actually unwilling to accept the services of artificial intelligence humanoid machines and would rather work with artificial intelligence humanoid machines. Contact with young people seems to be more humane and prevents them from becoming more lonely.
The task Welling received this time was to accompany an old man named Han Shui.
Soon, Wei Ling saw Old Man Hanshui on one side of the courtyard.
This is an old man with completely white hair, an abnormally old complexion, missing a leg, and sitting in a wheelchair in a daze.
The position he chose was not close to anyone else. He was alone on the other side of the courtyard.
"Sunlight" cast a few beams of light from the sparse branches and leaves of the big tree, shining on him.
Seeing the smiling Welling approaching slowly, the old man narrowed his eyes, seeming to guess who this young man was.
"Hello, Grandpa Hanshui, I'm Wei Ling, and I'm here to accompany you today."
Welling smiled and threw out the message.
Han Shui looked hesitant, then suddenly smiled and said:
"Haha, is your little brother sending me a message? My artificial mind has been broken for many years..."
The voice is old and hoarse.
Wei Ling was startled and surprised. Speaking of which, he himself hadn't communicated in words for a long time.
Wei Ling nodded quickly and said with a smile:
"Yes, Grandpa Hanshui, I'm here to stay with you today. Do you want me to give you a haircut or a nail clipper? Or is there anything else you need me to do?"
"No, no, actually I don't need anyone to accompany me. Young people have your own affairs. Someone just helped me with these cares a few days ago. I don't need it for the time being... Well, you can bring a stool over here. , chat with me, no need to lose information!"
The old man's expression seemed a little stubborn. If Welling insisted on using information to drop packets, this service would naturally not be able to continue.
"sure no problem."
Although Welling said he had adapted to not communicating through words, he also felt that he could hardly stand this kind of silent life.
After moving a small stool, Wei Ling sat next to the old man, helped him tidy up his clothes, and asked:
"Grandpa Hanshui, why don't you install artificial limbs? Today's exoskeleton replacement is so convenient, and artificial mind body implantation is also quite simple..."
Han Shui wiped his face with his dry hands and said with a smile:
"I am just an old stubborn person, haha. I refuse to install artificial limbs, and I refuse to re-implant the mind body... I know that the technology of the empire is very good, and I also know that the empire is developing very well. The emperor has led our race very well. …
However, I don’t like communication without speaking, and I don’t like prosthetic legs and wigs…
In a person's life, birth, old age, illness and death are just natural laws. In fact, I have lived long enough... Guess how old I am now? "
Welling naturally knew his age, it was clear from the system information, but he still smiled and answered:
"Grandpa Hanshui doesn't look old, he must be eighty..."
Killing the 20-year-old all at once made Wei Ling a little nervous.
"Hehe, hehe, I know how to fool me... The old man is one hundred and five years old this year. He has lived long enough. This was already an unattainable longevity in the old days.
Actually...actually I don’t even want to live anymore..."
The old man's voice became much softer, and his eyes seemed cloudier.
"Wow, Grandpa Hanshui is very powerful, but now that gene therapy and repair technology are so advanced, it is normal to live for another 50 years!"
Welling laughed.
This is not nonsense. Under current technical conditions, many natural people can live to be 150 years old.
"Oh, it's boring..."
The old man sighed, his eyes fell on the flower bed beside him, and he sighed slowly:
"Fortunately, I still have someone to chat with me... People always say a lot, and this is true. I guess it's because I don't have much time. I always hope that someone will know me and remember me. I always want people to understand that I have been here. In the world, otherwise I would be panicked...
When I was born, it was the most chaotic period after the Great Annihilation. At that time, many newborn children were deformed after being exposed to nuclear radiation... Fortunately, I was healthy, and my parents were very proud of it... …
Later, His Majesty the Emperor led the various forces of our Xia tribe to fight against those hostile forces, expel those alien tribes that broke into our traditional territory, and restore the historical territory of our Xia tribe...
My father was a warrior, but he was not lucky enough to follow Your Majesty. He died in battle when I was twelve years old...
I'm sad, but not sad, but rather proud.
At that time, too many people died in the war. Even if they did not die in the war, the residual nuclear radiation would make people seriously ill without knowing it... My mother died like that. I was not yet 18 years old at the time... "
The old man's voice became even deeper, and he pondered for a long time before continuing:
"It's a pity, it's a pity... I didn't activate the mind body myself, nor did I have the ability to become a powerful warrior. However, the empire implanted the mind body into us and gave us a good education and life. Later, I entered the smelting factory.
So I got to know a lot of very amiable co-workers... They are all old, and there are not many people of our generation left... Oh, I'm going off topic... Later, I got married, and my wife was very beautiful, and she was kind to me.
Those calm and ordinary days are the old man’s treasure in my life... Of course, there are also regrets.
We have never had children, and children have become an obsession for me and her. Both of us are quite stubborn and do not want to do in vitro fertilization in artificial culture tanks. The success rate back then was not high.
Maybe even if the chance of success is high, she will not agree. Is a child who has not been conceived in her belly still a child? She was just that kind of person... Later, she also died of the disease. Gene therapy and immunotherapy are not omnipotent.
We are all natural persons, and our consciousness has no chance to be retained or transferred, but I don’t complain. Those choices, even for the empire, are extremely scarce resources, wasted on ordinary people. Even if the empire doesn’t feel sorry for me, I don’t feel sorry for myself. Feeling bad..."
Wei Ling's heart gradually calmed down, and he gained some respect for this old man who claimed to be stubborn.
"My wife is dead, and I feel that life is meaningless... The simplest and most ordinary days when she was alive seem to be good times that can only be found in dreams... Haha, look at me, this old stubborn person.
Later, after a few years of being confused like this, I got into trouble again. I was distracted at the factory, violated safety procedures... and lost a leg.
It was my own fault that I refused the prosthetic limb, and I could not burden the empire.
Later, the artificial mind body was also damaged for some reason, and I still refused to be re-implanted... People like me have no value in existence. Although the empire will not give up, I am satisfied."
The old man said this, seeming to be somewhat proud of his decision.
"..."
Wei Ling didn't even know how to answer the question.
"By the way, my wife is actually quite talented in music...Although she has never played in public in her entire life, when he taught me, he looked like a legendary musician...
I didn’t study seriously at the time, and I only mastered it after she died... But, no one listened anymore..."
Having said this, Old Man Hanshui turned sideways and took out a long thing in a cloth bag from his back, and slowly opened it.
It was an ancient erhu, with scars all over the barrel and pole. The python skin was black and yellow, giving it a sense of age.
The old man gently tried the piano, made two low squeaking sounds, and slightly adjusted the piano axis:
"I keep saying those old words to make my little brother laugh. Why don't you just do this? I'll play you a piece of music, which my wife taught me back then... It's like killing chickens and ducks. If you don't play well, just think it's because of you. It’s all about the hard work you put in…”
Having said this, the old man winked at Wei Ling in a condescending manner.
"Grandpa Hanshui is so polite, I wish you all the best!"
Welling said with a smile.
The sound of the piano gradually begins.
Like a stream flowing gently under the moon, sad and profound music slowly sounded.
The classic Xia folk music Erhu solo "Two Springs Reflect the Moon".
Wei Ling couldn't help but close his eyes, and his spiritual thoughts were activated unconsciously.
An extremely familiar feeling as dark as the deep sea emerged, and I could clearly feel the sound waves traveling silently in the endless thick energy.
The sad and sorrowful emotions revealed in the music, as well as the occasional burst of indignation and unwillingness, seem to express the old man Hanshui's infinite longing for the past, his love and deep aftertaste of his past life...
With the eloquent statements, extensions and developments of the music itself, it seems to include all the spiritual thoughts of the old man Hanshui. He is telling about his ordinary and unwilling life, happy-go-lucky but positive life, his stubbornness, his Beloved, his sorrow is expressed in that unique melody...
Mixed with the clear and cold music like flowing water, some hoarse trills of the erhu, this feeling touched Wei Ling's sensitive spiritual sense.
His "mind's eye" seemed to find that the dark energy, which had not shown any abnormality in the past three months, had undergone a slight change at the friction point between the old man's bow and the barrel, which could only be sensed by his spiritual mind.
But this little change affected Wei Ling's perception. He felt that he seemed to be sharing the joys and sorrows of this life with the old man. That strange feeling was something Wei Ling had never experienced before.
It was both strange and warm, making his eyes feel hot and tears welling up...
At this moment, without any warning, Welling felt as if there was such a thin thread in his mind, which was suddenly broken by the sound wave containing the inexplicable sound frequency at a certain vibrato node of the piano sound.
There are no system prompts, and there are no sudden changes.
In this whimpering cry, in this peaceful realization, Wei Ling instantly understood that he had become a warlock.
The warlock talent is activated and the intelligent warlock ability is activated!
Enlightenment Warlock Ability: Empathy.
