The apocalypse begins with a dungeon game.

Chapter 194 Although Xiao Can isn't our biological child

It's important to understand that in those days, 60,000 was not a small amount, let alone the impact that 600,000 would have on the whole family.

Li Can's sleep became increasingly restless in his dream, his eyes tightly closed and his eyebrows furrowed so deeply they looked like a knot.

"This... can't you make it any cheaper? You know, Master, this amount of money is beyond what a family like ours can afford."

"Even if you sell us, you can't get the money back in a short time."

The mother stood opposite the Taoist priest, her eyes red, clearly having just cried.

He forced himself to remain calm and put on a reasonably rational demeanor as he negotiated with the old Taoist priest.

……

The scene then shifts again, showing the parents discussing raising money in their bedroom.

In the courtyard, the old Taoist priest, the Qi family from next door, and Li Lan, the younger sister, were all waiting.

Li Can saw that he, a small child, had secretly slipped out of his parents' bedroom when the adults weren't looking.

Inside the room, the couple appeared to be on the phone.

The voice on the other end of the phone was that of an elderly man, who sounded to be around fifty or sixty years old.

"Xiao Can isn't your biological child after all. In my opinion, you should just forget about it. It's hard to say whether this will succeed after spending so much money. If it fails, it will all be for nothing."

"You took in this child and raised him to adulthood; you've done right by him."

"His own parents abandoned him outside without a care, we have done more than enough. Even if we give up on him now, if the King of Heaven comes, he will say that our family are all very kind people and no one can criticize us."

"Let him fend for himself. Give that old Taoist priest some money to send him away. Let Xiao Can stay at home and live as long as he can."

"When the time comes, I'll personally make a coffin for the old man, so we can part amicably."

"Alright, alright, stop crying. I'll make the decision. Do as I say. I'm away on a business trip right now and won't be back for a while, so let's not drag this out."

Inside the room, the mother's sobs grew louder and louder; she could no longer hold them in.

The father hugged the mother, who was on the verge of collapse, and kept comforting her.

"Dad, how can we do this? Although Xiao Can isn't our biological child, we raised him with so much care and love. How can we just give up on him like that?"

"No matter what, he's still your own grandson. You watched him grow up with your own eyes..."

"I can't give up on him."

"If you're not willing to lend us money, then forget it. I'll find a way to solve this even if I have to sell my blood."

The old man on the other end of the phone was clearly Li Can's grandfather. He was so angry at what Li Can's father said that his voice started to tremble.

"You brat, I told you to leave this kid alone and send him to the orphanage, but you wouldn't listen. Now that something's happened and we need to borrow money, you've finally thought of your old man."

"How did I end up raising such a fool in my entire life? You can't help but do good to anyone or anything. Do you think you're Buddha descended to earth to save the world?"

"You two are a perfect match, you've brought home a wife who's like Guanyin Bodhisattva."

"Now I'm suffering at my age, and I still have to lend you two money to help the world... Fine, fine, I'll take this 600,000, and we'll cut ties from now on. Don't come to me for anything."

"I'll have my secretary transfer the money to your usual bank card later."

"You unfilial son, never tell anyone I'm your father again. I don't have children like you, so foolish!"

"Beep beep beep..." The call was disconnected on the other end.

The room remained silent for a long time, and the mother's crying gradually stopped.

At that time, Xiao Li Can didn't understand what had happened between them, nor did he understand what it meant to be an illegitimate child, what it meant to save all living beings, or what it meant to be biological or not biological.

Shortly after, the door was opened from the inside.

When his mother saw little Li Can squatting at the door, staring blankly at the people in the yard, she quickly ran over and patted his head.

"Little Can, Mom and Dad have a way to save you. You will grow up healthy and strong with your little sister Xiao Lan."

The father stood to the side and picked up little Li Can in one swift motion. His gaze rose from below, and his field of vision broadened considerably.

"Come on, son, let's go get you treated. You'll get better soon."

In the dream, the 600,000 was eventually spent.

As a child, Li Can was subjected to exorcisms and rituals by an old Taoist priest for dozens of days.

They had to drink black talisman water made from strange ingredients three times a day, morning, noon, and night.

Even the food they ate contained some unknown insect corpses and incense ash.

Unbeknownst to him, the "clicking" sound of the mechanical gears turning in his mind disappeared, and they seemed to have stopped moving.

The "near death value" notification has not appeared since he drowned.

Everything vanished into thin air.

In my dream, each day was almost uneventful, passing by in a flash under the old man's guidance.

In my dream, each day was almost uneventful, passing by in a flash under the old man's guidance.

He was always surrounded by mystical things like formations and talismans.

As a child, he increasingly forgot about things like the white "ghost" that saved his life by the river, the "mechanical voice," the "near-death value," and the question of whether he was his biological child or not.

Those memories have become blurred, leaving only a vague outline.

In the end, everyone around them tacitly stopped mentioning this past.

It was then completely covered in dust.

When the old Taoist priest bid farewell to the Li family, Li Can looked at him in his dream, and his hair had turned completely white from the inside out.

When I first arrived at his house, my hair was only gray, with some black hair still mixed in.

His face did indeed look much older than he had described, as if his lifespan had been shortened.

He looked very haggard when he left.

This scene further convinced Li Can's parents and neighbors that the old Taoist priest truly possessed real power and had resolved the "matter."

After that, life returned to normal, and the old Taoist priest never appeared in Upper Horizon City again, as if he had vanished into thin air.

During this time, some people came to Li Can's house, wanting to know how to contact Lao Dao, hoping to ask him to come out of retirement again and help resolve some issues.

But no one could get through to that phone number.

"He probably changed his phone number. If I can't get through, I'll go to his house myself. Old Li, do you remember where he lives?" a neighbor asked.

When Li Can's father was young, he scratched his head, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "I don't know either."

"So where did you find this Taoist priest for help?"

"That's of course... um... I can't remember at all, I have absolutely no recollection of it..."

……

Li Can could see every detail in the dream clearly at this moment, as if he were there again, reliving that summer.

As he grew up, he had almost completely forgotten this experience.

It was as if something was deliberately interfering with his memory; he couldn't remember anything at all, only a vague image in his mind.

Through his dream recollection, he finally realized that the old Taoist priest had used some means to forcibly change the 'cause and effect' on his body.

This caused the 'cause' of the gashapon machine ability that had been planted in him since childhood to be hidden.

Furthermore, it erased its own memory and forgot the white "ghost".