Chapter 1095 Inexplicable
Meanwhile, Varre had locked himself inside the meditation room of the monastery to carve the jade key.
Nereus arranged for Natalie and Anna to occupy a long-uninhabited room inside the monastery.
Nereus was a shy teenager, around seventeen or eighteen years old. He even flushed self-consciously when Natalie and Anna sized him up. However, his eyes drifted toward Anna from time to time.
Natalie perceptively sensed he had something to say to Anna, and she also had a good guess about the message he wanted to convey.
Although Natalie couldn’t tell Anna about the jade key’s secret, she reckoned the latter should still be informed of Varre’s illness.
Hence, Natalie excused herself, leaving Anna and Nereus alone inside the courtyard.
Nereus hesitated for a long while before ultimately bracing himself and speaking, seemingly having figured out what to say. “I shall not address you as a fellow worshipper since you’re not an ordinary follower of our religion who comes here to pay your respect. May I call you Anna as the other lady does?”
Anna nodded.
“Anna, Master’s disease…”
“Nereus, I don’t want to hear this.” Anna knitted her brows and retorted coldly, “I don’t care about him.”
However, Nereus turned a deaf ear to her refusal and stubbornly continued, “Anna, Master mentioned he did something unforgivable to you and your mother, so he deserved your hatred. Still, he doesn’t have much time left and may pass away anytime.”
A monk should make peace with the natural progression of life.
Varre had accepted his fate, but Nereus was still young.
He had yet to attain enlightenment and see through all earthly matters.
Varre had repeatedly reminded Nereus not to reveal his sickness, but Nereus couldn’t stop himself from telling Anna the truth.
“When Master discovered he had contracted liver cancer, the disease had progressed to late-stage. The doctor said treating his condition would require a lot of money, and the treatment wouldn’t cure him. Although the liver cancer brought him a lot of pain, Master had never complained. He did shout your nickname during the few episodes when he passed out after vomiting blood.”
He paused briefly before adding, “Annie… That’s right. He called out your name. Sensing his agony, I wanted to find you so you could meet him one last time. I know he wants to see you too, but he stopped me from trying to locate you. Can you please tell a white lie and say that you’ve already forgiven him?”
Waves of emotions churned within Anna as she listened to Nereus’ account.
She loathed Varre, and her detestation toward him did not decrease even with time.
Having said that, when she heard about Varre’s imminent death, Anna realized she didn’t feel the pleasure of getting her revenge. Instead, hints of sorrow and discomfort rose within her chest.
“Anna, can you please fulfill Master’s final wish?” Nereus asked while boring his reddened eyes into her.
“No.”
Despite the chaos in her heart, her eyes glinted with unusual coldness.
“Nereus, you don’t know what I’ve been through, so you’re still able to utter these words to persuade me. I’m only here because I need him to help my friend.”
Nereus parted his lips but hesitated to speak. He caught himself as he met Anna’s icy gaze.
“I’m tired.”
She spun on her heels and returned to her room.
However, right after she turned around with her back facing Nereus, her indifferent facial expression and harsh look in her eyes melted away.
End-stage liver cancer? So what if he dies? What does that have to do with me?
She could only grit her teeth as pandemonium reigned in her chest.
Late at night, Anna draped outerwear around her shoulders and got up while Natalie was sound asleep.
In fact, Natalie was still awake, but when she sensed Anna’s movement, she pretended to be in a deep sleep.
When Anna saw Natalie’s eyes were shut, she put on her shoes and left the room.
The monastery wasn’t expansive, so Anna arrived at Varre’s meditation room in no time.
She could see him working on the carving with complete focus under the orange-yellow lights through the wooden window.
He was indeed living up to his promise to her of trying his best to replicate the jade key.
Anna convinced herself that she went there in the middle of the night to check on Varre’s progress, but after making sure he was working on the piece of jade, she showed no inclination to leave.
Anna didn’t know how to describe her current feelings or what her purpose was, standing there like a fool.
Suddenly, a series of violent coughs sounded from inside the meditation room.
Khaff! Khaff! Khaff!
