Chapter 13 — The Marquis was wronged, I hid with my young master, and later overturned the capital to collect debt.

My heart feels like it's being squeezed by an aggressive hand. It hurts so much that I can't breathe.

“Chieu Nhi, I…”

I had difficulty opening my mouth.

“I am not your biological aunt.”

I said this sentence very softly. So gentle that it seems like at any moment it could be blown away by the wind. But I know, it was like a heavy hammer blow, fiercely hitting Co Chieu's heart. I felt its small body in my arms suddenly stiffen. It didn't cry, nor did it make a mess. It just stood there stiffly, not moving. Like a small statue. I don't see its expression. But we can imagine. It was a kind of feeling like the sky was collapsing and the earth was cracking. When I adopted him, he was still in diapers. For the past eight years, I have been his only relative. I am its heaven, its earth. But now, with my own hands, I have punctured a hole in that sky. My tears, finally unable to hold back any longer, rolled down. Falling on its hair.

“Sorry, Chieu Nhi.”

Besides these three words, I don't know what else can be said. It's been a long, long time. It just moved slightly in my heart. It raised its head and looked at me. In the eyes, there are no tears. There is also no horror or pain like we imagine. There is just a kind of calm that is beyond its years. And, an obscurity that we cannot understand.

“So who is my biological mother?”

“Who is your father…?”

I trembled from my heart and took out that golden brooch. The golden brooch was stained with the lady's blood. I put it in the palm of his hand.

“My mother is the gentlest, most beautiful woman in this world.”

"When she plays the guitar, even the birds in the sky have to stop and listen."

“Your father is a great hero who stands at the top of the world.”

“He guarded the frontier, defeating countless enemies.”

“He is the god of war in everyone's hearts.”

I use all the best words I know to describe them. I don't want their image in Chieu Nhi's heart to have any blemishes.

“They live in the capital.”

“Living in a very large, very beautiful mansion.”

“That palace is called… Marquis Palace.”

Co Chieu bowed his head and looked at the golden brooch in his hand. Under the moonlight, the brooch emitted a cold light.

“So where are they… now?”

It asked softly. As if afraid of shocking something. My heart was stabbed once again. How should we tell it? Its parents have long since passed away. What should I tell him about the great fire that destroyed everything? I took a deep breath.

“Chieu Nhi, do you still remember the story about wolves that my wife once told?”

It nodded.

“The wolf king and queen were harmed by a group of hyenas.”

“To protect the only wolf cub, they… sacrificed themselves.”

I look into its eyes. Every word said.

“My father is the wolf king.”

"My mother is the wolf queen."

“And you, are the little wolf that they use their lives to protect.”

In the bamboo forest, it was as quiet as paper. Only the wind, sobbing. Like a dirge. Co Chieu did not cry. It just used its small fingers, over and over, to caress that golden brooch. Caressing the blood stain that had soon dried and turned black on it. A long time later. It raised its head and looked at me.

“Who are those hyenas?”

Its voice, very cold. So cold, not like a child eight year old child. It's so cold that it makes my heart feel cold. From this moment. My innocent and carefree child, Chieu Nhi, is dead. Something that survived. He is a person who hides a deep hatred in his heart. The deity of the Marquis Palace. Since returning from that night in the bamboo forest, Co Chieu has changed. Its words become less. Before, although he didn't like to talk much, when he was with the children in the camp, he still laughed and talked at times. Now, most of the time, it's silent. He no longer plays with the children and plays tag. It will sit alone on the threshold of the medicine jar. In his hand he held that golden brooch. Sit for a while, the whole afternoon. No one knows what it is thinking. But I know. In its heart, it is undergoing a seismic change. It began to frantically train itself. In the past, it followed the hunters in the camp to learn, mostly out of interest and survival instinct. And now, everything has become a kind of obsession engraved in the bones. Every day, before dawn, it wakes up. Run around the camp, lap after lap. Until your whole body is drenched in sweat. Then, it will take the knife I gave it. Facing a piece of wood, practice cutting, chopping, and stabbing over and over again. Movements, from clumsy, gradually become proficient. His eyes, from blurred, became determined. Its small arms quickly became filled with blisters. The blisters burst and form calluses.