Darren's mind was a blank when he heard this and his body was as stiff as a board.
His breath turned sour and he felt as if he was suffocating, like a large hand was wrapped tightly around his throat.
The woman before him was an actual member of the Chu Clan; she was his family.
Darren choked through his sobbing. It had been so many years and now he finally met one of his closest relatives. He could not contain himself and burst into tears.
"Kid, you've really grown up."
The woman hugged Darren so warmly, as if she was holding her own child in her arms, with tears streaming down her face.
"Aunt..." Darren said through his weeping.
They had been apart for longer than it was possible to remember and were now finally reunited. They were both at a loss for words with tears constantly flowing down their cheeks.
It was not until several hours later that they both managed to calm themselves down and finally started getting to know each other.
Darren's aunt was named Josie Chu. She was the cousin of his father. She had grown up together with her cousins and they were as close as siblings.
Josie Chu also came to get an understanding of Darren's past. She learned of all the hardships he had been through.
"Darren, you've suffered a lot these past years," Josie said gently.
"Aunt Josie, my suffering matters little. You and our other family members have suffered so much more." Darren's eyes turned red from his sadness and he looked at his aunt. She was so gaunt and out of shape that it made his heart ache to see her like this.
"My silly boy, I'm still alive. All I have been through has been worth it so that I may look upon you again. I could die right now and it would be okay."
A lump formed in Darren's throat. This was all turning out to be a lot more than he expected.
"Let's talk about all that later. Did I injure you earlier? Let me treat you." Josie tried changing the topic as soon as she could on seeing the sadness that overtook Darren's face.
"No, I'm okay. All my wounds have healed. Aunt Josie, if I may ask, what happened to you? Why did you lose your mind like that? Is that man your husband and what's the matter with him?" Darren asked, seriously concerned.
"Yes, he is my husband, and your uncle. We have lived here for millions of years. About tens of thousands of years ago, we were hunted down, relentlessly, by a chief god's projection. In the end, my husband was defeated and suppressed and turned into a living dead. I then lost all faith in martial arts and gradually lost my mind too." Josie described the disaster they had been through as briefly and as best she could. It pained her to recall those times.
"Ah, I see... Were you attacked by the man with the dark gold eyes?"
"Yes. Have you met him before?" Josie asked, her voice shaking with worry.
"Yes I have. In fact, he almost killed me!"
"Darren, do not let him find you again. He is the natural enemy of the entire Chu Clan. And you are a Defiant Master, so he'll probably put even more effort into chasing you down," Josie warned, her eyes wide and voice solemn.
"I understand, Aunt Josie. I will stay well hidden." Darren nodded in agreement, hoping her heart would be eased with this knowledge.
"Wah-wah, wah-wah..."
The baby in Josie's arms began crying again. She quickly rocked him gently and said in a soft, soothing voice, "Good boy, it's okay. Don't cry...
Oh, by the way, Darren, this is my son, your cousin. His name is Saul Chu." Josie smiled and raised her head to look at Darren again.
Darren was confused. Josie's husband had been a lifeless vegetable of a body for tens of thousands of years, how could she have a baby that was only a few months old?
Josie seemed to sense his confusion and embarrassing imagination. "I fell pregnant with him one hundred thousand years ago, but he refused to come out my womb. I can only vaguely remember when he was born; it was around the time when I was about to lose my mind. I can't remember what happened after that. This little one should be at least thirty thousand years old. But he still has not grown up. Humph!"
Time worked differently in the abyss from the outside world. One hundred thousand years was roughly equivalent to ten thousand years on the outside.
Despite this, Darren was still confused. Even with different flows of time, how could she have been pregnant for thousands of years? His cousin was already a few thousand years old and yet he still looked like a baby only a few months old. Darren had never heard of such things.
"I see," Darren replied simply, although he still could not fully understand how it worked. He then swiftly changed the topic. "Aunt Josie, what about my other uncles and my parents? Where are they? What happened to them?"
Darren had to ask, since it was what he was dying to know the most, but he held off from asking because he had a bad feeling about what the answer might be.
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