Chapter Ten: The Emergence of Kryptonite

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To Vanessa’s surprise, the lock was merely turned slightly and did not open.

Peter, standing outside the door, suddenly became eerily still.

He neither pushed the door open nor walked away.

Silence settled over the air.

Vanessa’s anxious heart rose into her throat.

Just as she was about to break down, she finally heard Peter’s footsteps retreating outside.

When the sound had gradually faded into the distance, Vanessa collapsed to the floor with a thud.

Breathing heavily, she felt a surge of relief that he had not come inside and slowly lowered the dagger from her hand.

A few minutes later, she staggered over to her son’s body.

She glanced toward the darkness outside, her eyes hardening.

“No matter what, I will bring you back to me, Terry.”

After Peter had left, she went into the kitchen and found a roll of tape. She fastened the pick and shovel together, then fashioned a strap from rope and secured the tools inside it.

Once she had finished preparing everything, she carried her son’s body to the trunk of the car.

Her husband, Louis, had recently had his driver’s license suspended, and the car had been sitting in the garage for a long time.

The engine roared, and the car sped through the rainy night.

Vanessa drove quickly to a wooded area outside the town.

The quiet forest echoed with the frightening howl of the wind.

Rain pelted her hair, and for a moment, uncontrollable fear swept through her.

Was she really going to carry this body through the forest to that place?

But when she thought that this might be the only way to save her son, she gritted her teeth and pressed onward.

Thirty minutes later, panting heavily, she finally reached her destination.

It was a pit surrounded by scattered rocks, its bottom carpeted with fallen leaves.

Patches of pale green soil showed through beneath the withered leaves.

She set the wrapped body on the ground and knelt in the mud, resting for a while as she caught her breath.

Then she used the tools she had prepared to dig into the earth.

The rain-soaked soil was soft, and Vanessa soon dug a large pit. She lowered her son’s body into it.

After placing the body inside, she filled the pit with soil once more.

By the time she had finished, she was too exhausted to stand.

After sitting there to rest for a while, she rose and made her way step by step back toward the roadside.

Once Vanessa’s figure had disappeared, a silhouette stepped out from behind the trees.

Peter stood in the forest, gazing at the place where Vanessa had buried the body, his brows slightly furrowed.

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Earlier, outside the storage room, he had not pushed the door open.

His heightened senses had easily detected Vanessa hiding nearby.

The murderous intent she made no effort to conceal had naturally escaped neither his notice nor his perception.

Although he could have opened the door effortlessly and killed her in retaliation, she was Louis’s wife, and it would not have been appropriate to kill her rashly.

Besides, he was more interested in discovering what she intended to do.

So instead of entering, he had left the scene and followed her under surveillance.

As expected, he had uncovered a secret.

Peter walked to the pit surrounded by stones and stared at the mound of freshly turned earth below.

Why had this woman dug up the body and buried it here?

Could this land be different somehow, possessing a mysterious power capable of resurrecting her son?

Gazing into the pit, Peter fell deep into thought.

He raised his head, and his eyes suddenly caught a flash of green light.

He leaped into the pit, reached beneath a layer of dead leaves, and picked up a stone glowing with a ghostly green radiance.

The green stone felt cool in his hand.

Was this... a meteorite?

No. It was probably not an ordinary meteorite.

Looking at the strange aura permeating the surrounding area, Peter formed a certain suspicion.

...

The following morning.

At Patrick Farm, Clark and Azu sat at the breakfast table.

“Dad.”

Azu lifted his glass of milk and drained it in one long gulp.

“Could you buy me an eagle kite?”

“You want to fly a kite?”

“Yes. And it would be best if you could buy me some kite string too.”

Azu explained his idea.

“I saw someone flying a kite in town. Maybe I could experience what flying feels like. I mean, holding on to a kite would feel as if I were flying myself.”

“What about you, Clark? Do you want one?”

Peter turned to Clark.

Before Clark could answer, Azu spoke first.

“Clark still hasn’t gotten over the funeral.”

“What’s wrong, Clark?”

Peter looked toward him.

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Clark thought for a moment before saying, “I feel like the atmosphere at the funeral was too depressing. It keeps making me think of unpleasant things.”

Peter nodded.

“Clark, you saw the grief of those people, so you felt grief as well. Is that right?”

“Maybe.”

Clark thought the oatmeal in front of him did not taste as good as it had before.

He raised his head and asked Peter, somewhat perplexed, “Godfather, is this normal for me?”

“Of course, Clark. Grief is also a normal part of human emotion.”

Peter stroked Clark’s hair.

“People who have just lost a loved one usually begin grieving within three days of the death, and the grief continues for four to six weeks. Most people go through this.”

“But as time passes, a person’s feelings gradually transform into other emotions, like the many colors of a rainbow. Intense grief slowly eases and becomes heartache. Heartache then develops into mourning, and mourning eventually becomes memory... This process may last anywhere from six months to three years.”

Clark looked dejected.

“I still have to go through this for six months?”

“That person wasn’t a relative of yours, so there’s no need to worry, Clark.”

After comforting Clark for a few moments, Peter placed a lead box on the table.

“What is that?”

Azu and Clark’s eyes were immediately drawn to the box.

Before Peter could say anything, Azu eagerly opened it.

A ghostly green glow instantly filled their eyes.

The moment Clark saw the light, he felt a wave of discomfort.

Azu failed to notice anything unusual about him. He took out the stone and handed it to Clark.

“Look, Clark! What a beautiful stone!”

Clark reached out to take it.

The instant he touched it, he felt a searing pain.

He flung his hand backward and hissed sharply.

The stone flew from his grasp, but Peter caught it in midair.

Seeing Clark throw it away, Azu immediately asked with concern, “Clark, what happened?”

“I... I don’t know. It felt like I was burned.”

As he watched Clark’s discomfort, Peter gave an almost imperceptible nod.

Just as he had suspected, the stone he had found at the burial site the previous night was kryptonite from Krypton.

As a Kryptonian, Clark’s body would rapidly weaken whenever he came into contact with kryptonite.

Although his superpowers had yet to fully manifest, kryptonite could still affect him.

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