Chapter 559: Trials of Fate

“What are these?”

As row after row of markings leapt into view, Lu Xin felt a torrent of conflicting emotions well up inside him.

Perhaps it was the painful blend of bitterness and nostalgia stirred by seeing the Old Director’s handwriting again, mixed with the perplexity from that inexplicable report card—and even a trace of fear hinted at by the literal words?

At the same moment these complex emotions flashed across Lu Xin’s face, Mom was studying the report card intently. Her brows furrowed ever so slightly in puzzlement, then soon gave way to surprise, and finally her expression softened into one of admiration for the Old Director, mingled with an almost unfathomable worry and doubt.

“What is this?”

Sister and Father glanced at Lu Xin with disappointed expressions before turning their eyes to Mom.

Clearly, Mom found these two underachievers exasperating.

She simply shook her head and looked over at Lu Xin, who was staring blankly at the paper scroll, asking, “Do you understand it?”

Lu Xin remained silent for a long while, then shook his head slightly.

He looked up at Mom, his eyes silently pleading for answers.

Mom eyed these three idlers and murmured, “No matter what you think of that man, sometimes you cannot help but admire him. As a person, in some ways he is simply extraordinary…”

Lu Xin, Sister, and Father all looked at Mom, still wearing confused expressions.

With a hint of resignation, Mom shook her head and asked, “What did that girl say to you when she left?”

Lu Xin paused and replied, “She mentioned something like… I never expected I’d be able to pass the ‘Trial of Recognition’?”

As he spoke, he lowered his head; on the paper scroll, the ‘Trial of Recognition’ was listed fourth.

There was no grade recorded after it—only a question mark.

Perhaps this indicated that when the Old Director wrote the report card, he had no idea what should come next?

……

……

“Have you never wondered why she gave it to you at this very moment?”

Mom asked softly while meeting Lu Xin’s puzzled gaze.

Lu Xin shook his head decisively.

Studying him intently, Mom said, “Maybe it’s because handing you this report card before the matter was resolved was useless. Only after you complete the fourth trial will it come to you.”

“So, in this event, you have completed what they call the ‘Trial of Recognition’…”

Even as she spoke, Lu Xin’s expression remained unchanged.

Yet Father and Sister seemed to suddenly understand something as they stole a glance at him.

After a moment, Lu Xin whispered, “Then what do the other trials represent?”

Mom’s eyes swept across Lu Xin’s face before she replied:

“The others already have their scores, clearly indicating that you have passed the trials.”

“……”

Lu Xin fell silent once more, slowly lost in thought.

Having passed the trials, he now pondered what these trials were truly connected to.

Perhaps, in his own way, he understood?

Throughout this process, Mom didn’t disturb him; she even exchanged a knowing look with Father and Sister.

They had already guessed the significance of the earlier trials.

The Trial of Life.

Back then, when the deeply polluted child was discovered by the Research Institute, they performed a series of complex surgeries and experiments on him under impossible conditions—and against all odds, he was miraculously healed.

This was a child who had faced the trial of life and death from the very beginning.

The Trial of Pain.

Those children who once tried to escape from the Orphanage were confronted with the most brutal scene they had ever witnessed.

Be it blood or fire,

or the heartrending screams that echo throughout a lifetime—such agony and torment, unbearable even for adults, irrevocably altered certain outcomes, making the future seem less hopeless.

The Trial of Desire.

Gradually familiarizing themselves with the Special Cleaning Department’s work, they became capable workers there. Then, during the handling of the Happy Town incident, they encountered those who, even in death, shouldered responsibilities, felt compassion for the tortured souls preserved in the Disaster Museum, and eventually resolved to protect the city…

Even the Doll was eventually persuaded.

How can one not see that protecting a city is in itself a form of desire?

As for this ‘Trial of Recognition’…

Both Mom and Father, as well as Sister, knew all too well what had just happened to Lu Xin.

They had all worried—seeing the severity of the situation—whether the intense, terrifying divine power might completely affect him, warping his sense of reality so that he might even come to see himself as a god.

But the strange turn of events allowed Lu Xin to pull himself together in the end; he remained just Lu Xin…

and also a part-time special pollution cleanup agent for the Qinggang Cleanup Department,

and a child in a loving family,

and an orphan from the Orphanage who harbored deep hatred for Number Seven.

……

……

With a little thought, the connection between these trials was easy to deduce.

However, the family, in perfect unison, chose not to discuss these matters openly.

Instead, they naturally shifted their focus to another matter.

“That old man is a villain…”

Sister said, “And that woman is bad too—I don’t like her…”

“Heh heh, what trial or no trial, what does he treat us as?”

Father sneered, “Does he really believe he’s a god who controls everything?”

Even Mom seemed to dismiss him as she added, “He does have some nerve, sending this stuff over…”

Only after the whole family collectively scoffed did they say, “Let’s see what comes next…”

The Trial of Strength.

The Trial of the Heart.

The Trial of the Divine?

……

……

The whole family stared at these subjects, deep in thought: If each trial had been an inescapable fate imposed on Lu Xin since childhood, then what aspects do these final three trials correspond to?

Even they dared not take these questions lightly.

Because, judging from earlier events, each event had undeniably had a profound impact on Lu Xin.

The report card represents both evaluation and expectation.

So if this report card—sent exclusively to Lu Xin—embodies the Old Director’s expectations…

what exactly does he ultimately hope for?

……

……

Lu Xin, after a prolonged moment of silent reflection, murmured, “It’s all meaningless.”

“If you want to know, just ask him when you find him.”

“The Moon Eclipse Research Institute promised to track him down. Perhaps I should remind them to pick up the pace.”

“As for everything else, it’s just his wishful thinking.”

“……”

That remark seemed to set the tone for the entire conversation; even the family fell silent.

“Keep an eye on them for me, will you?”

Lu Xin looked up at Mom and whispered, “Number Seven might still be in this city. I’m worried about what she might do.”

“Especially since she’s grown to despise Han Bing.”

“I recall Number Seven is very grudging by nature.”

“……”

Listening to Lu Xin’s request, Mom seemed unexpectedly taken aback.

At this moment, Lu Xin’s demeanor wasn’t unfamiliar at all; rather, it exuded an unsettling familiarity.

Perhaps because of that, it was hard for her to find the right words.

Noticing the slight dark circles under his eyes, her face softened with a gentle warmth.

She lightly patted Lu Xin’s shoulder and said, “Don’t worry or overthink it. I’ll watch over them for you.”

After that, she looked up at Father and Sister and asked, “Do you feel like getting out for a stroll?”

Father and Sister exchanged hesitant glances.

It was obvious they didn’t really want to, yet Mom wouldn’t take no for an answer, so they slowly nodded.

Lu Xin wasn’t sure if the family was giving him some private time, but he could hear their footsteps fading away.

The room grew eerily silent, the quiet almost frightening.

The night was dissipating; at the far edge of the sky, a pale dawn was emerging.

He sat alone on the sofa, a cigarette clutched between his fingers. He didn’t light it; instead, he let the smoke drift upward slowly.

And so he sat, utterly still.

In his mind, images clashed like a raging battle—graphic, bloody scenes surging relentlessly.

There were visions of the long-deceased, bloodstained children from the Orphanage.

And flashes of ordinary people in the Plaza, waking up in panic, calling out for someone familiar.

Even the Old Director appeared, looming over the Plaza as if observing from above.

He felt his mind had never been clearer than in this moment.

Thus, one emotion after another—fear, regret, resentment, bewilderment, and terror—surged into his mind like never before.

That report card silently slipped to the floor.

As the horizon lightened, Lu Xin suddenly raised his hand to cover his forehead; tears streamed from his eyes.

His shoulder twitched slightly as his body trembled.

“Why me?”

He wondered as he wept silently in a vacant room, facing the faint pre-dawn light in the east.

……

……

“Mom, what happened to Brother?”

At that moment, the family—who had deliberately slipped away—had gathered atop a tall building.

They watched Han Bing and the others busy in the city below, yet their hearts remained fixed on Lu Xin in the hotel room.

“I have no idea what he must be feeling right now,”

Mom whispered, “Because I’ve never experienced it myself.”

“But the taste of this so-called ‘Trial of Recognition’ must be the most complex of all.”

“It’s a test to see whether humanity has tainted the divine, or vice versa.”

“No matter which it is…”

Mom paused before softly adding, “I fear it will be an especially painful ordeal.”