Chapter 563

His soul was swallowed by endless darkness, leaving only despair and numbness in his heart.

He no longer cared about anything in the outside world, nor did he hope for the day he would be rescued.

The more he became like this, however, the more fate seemed to favor him.

Right when he was about to completely give up on himself, a rescue team formed by righteous individuals finally found the secret stronghold hidden in the cave, they engaged in a fierce battle with the villains and ultimately succeeded in rescuing Adam.

When Adam stood under the sunlight once again, there was not the slightest shred of joy in his eyes, he merely stared blankly at the sky, like a puppet that had lost its soul.

The rescue team tried to communicate with him, but Adam seemed unable to hear or see their presence.

"Can he... can he still recover?" a member asked with worry, looking at Adam’s numb appearance.

"I don’t know," another shook his head, "That guy was truly too twisted."

After the rescue, those righteous individuals found a place for him in a small nearby city, the house was small, but enough for him to live alone.

Adam’s days were like a frozen river in winter, still and apathetic, every second felt as though it merely repeated the icy cold of the previous one, his eyes were hollow, as if all color and warmth had been swallowed by endless darkness.

The surrounding neighbors were full of suspicion and fear, no one particularly wanted a neighbor who resembled a corpse.

Adam couldn’t be bothered with their idle gossip, every day he sat blankly in the small courtyard, watching the sun rise and set, watching spring turn green and autumn turn yellow.

An unknown amount of time passed before a few children finally mustered up the courage to approach his courtyard.

"Hehe, look at that guy, he’s completely motionless, so fun," a little girl with pigtails held a pebble, a mischievous smile on her face.

"Yeah, let’s compete to see who can throw most accurately and make him move," a chubby little boy echoed, pebbles already prepared in his hands.

"One, two, three, throw," the children shouted in unison, pebbles, twigs, and even a dried leaf flew toward Adam.

They landed with soft rustling sounds, yet couldn’t attract even a glance from him.

"Hahaha, he doesn’t react at all," the children’s laughter echoed in the courtyard, carrying smugness and naughtiness.

Seeing no reaction, they grew bolder.

The chubby boy narrowed his eyes, taking aim at Adam’s frail body, a pebble traced an arc through the air and landed squarely on his knee with a light smack.

Adam’s body trembled slightly, but those hollow eyes still didn’t focus, as if he had forgotten the very sensation of pain.

This roused even greater interest from the children, they squealed excitedly, as if they had discovered some novel toy.

"Look, he moved, he moved," the pigtailed girl clapped her hands, eyes shining.

"Again, again, this time I’m going to hit him on the head," another boy shouted, he picked up a slightly larger stone and threw it hard, the stone carved a sharp trajectory through the air, heading straight for the crown of Adam’s head.

Adam instinctively wanted to dodge, but prolonged torture had made his movements slow and clumsy, the stone landed on top of his head with a thud, it didn’t cause much damage, but it was enough to make him feel a trace of pain.

"Hehehe, so fun," the children’s laughter became unbridled, they seemed to have forgotten that this toy before them was a person with flesh, blood, and emotions.

They continued throwing small objects, some landed on his shoulder, some brushed past his cheek, every touch felt like a light scratch upon his numb heart.

Adam merely sat quietly, letting these children frolic around him, his eyes remained hollow, as if none of it had anything to do with him.

Right at this moment, a little girl wearing a floral dress ran over, panting heavily, her face was flushed from running, but her eyes brimmed with determination.

"Stop it, you can’t bully people like this."

"Morwen, what are you doing? We’re just playing with him," a boy muttered.

"Playing? How is this playing? You’ll hurt him," the little girl stood in front of Adam and spread her arms wide, like a tiny guardian.

"He is already very pitiful, we should help him, not hurt him."

"But, he looks so weird..." the chubby boy hesitated.

"My grandma said everyone has their own story, maybe he has experienced a lot of pain, but we can’t bully him just because he’s different," Morwen’s voice was gentle and strong, she turned to look at Adam, even though he still had no reaction, her eyes were filled with warmth.

"Don’t worry, Big Brother, I will protect you."

Adam’s hollow eyes flickered slightly, as if this sudden warmth had touched some corner deep within his heart, but he gave no response.

In that small courtyard dyed tangerine by the setting sun, the children’s noise gradually subsided, leaving only Morwen’s determined figure and Adam’s silent silhouette.

The wind blew gently, bringing a bit of chill, but also seemingly carrying some subtle change.

Morwen climbed into the courtyard, crouched down, and carefully picked up the pebbles and twigs, putting them back where they belonged one by one, she cleared away the trash in the courtyard.

She looked up at Adam, those hollow eyes seemed to become a blank space in her heart that urgently needed filling, she spoke softly, "Big Brother, you must be very tired, right? But it’s okay, everyone gets tired sometimes, I believe in you."

After cleaning, she climbed out and went home.

Adam quietly watched the little girl’s back, his eyes remained as placid as an ancient well as he turned and went inside.

The days that followed remained plain, Adam still spaced out in the courtyard every day.

Those brats initially found it amusing and came to cause trouble, throwing things at him, but later, finding he truly had no reaction, they got bored and stopped coming.

The courtyard was once again left with only Adam, no, there was also a little girl who came every day, her name was Morwen.

She often came to help Adam chase away those kids, and then she would clean the courtyard, Adam remained indifferent, his eyes still hollow, not saying a single word.

A/N:

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