Translator: Alfredo Poutine Soup Editor: DesTheSloth
–How many times facing the cold eyes and ridicule
–Never giving up the ideals in our heart
–A moment of trance, a feeling of loss
–Unknowingly faded away, the love in my heart (who understands me)
…
…
Lizi was not the only quiet audience, who was watching the fight surprisingly, because the two parties were of even power.
Even one of the parties, ‘Long Xiruo’, was astonished by the power of Wind-Chasing Wolf. And his power was increasing… increasing crazily, as if it was hard to see its limit in this short time!
‘Long Xiruo’ had to count the remaining time secretly, while trying to attack him with all she had!!
“Hahahaha!! Come and kill me!! Master Long!! Come and kill me!!” Wind-Chasing Wolf cackled about as mad as a hatter, “Did not you say you will be very strict to me? Why are your moves so soft? Are you going through menopause, so you got weaker? Ha ha ha ha!”
“Stop being unscrupulous, wild kid! You do not know anything!” The True Dragon of the Godly Land snorted now, “Wind-Chasing Wolf, your power has been raising too quickly, can you bear it… look at your current face! You are cutting your own throat!”
However, Wind-Chasing Wolf did not hear it; instead, he continued attacking Long Xiruo more frenziedly!
At this time, his body had expanded to a certain extent… and started to exude a lot of blood, those weird curse incantations on the surface of his body also began to turn colorful!
“It’s not the place to put my power to good use… if you can, let’s go fight by that river!” ‘Long Xiruo’ snorted.
While Wind-Chasing Wolf roared with laughter, “But I can use my power properly… Master Long, are you worried about those humans beneath? Tut, tut… interesting!!”
All of a sudden, Wind-Chasing Wolf waved both his hands. Two huge bloody paws flew beneath him abruptly, “It is too noisy… what the hell are you doing!! Get out here!!!! You guys all disappear!!!”
‘Long Xiruo’ gnashed her teeth, and could only pause her attack on Wind Chasing wolf; instead, she flew down, and caught it steadily, before the bloody paw hit them!
It was too dangerous… the True Dragon of the Godly Land had to glance at the gym with thousands of people beneath subconsciously. There seemed to be something below, which let her want to have a look… ‘Who is singing?’
But this intention just flashed over her brain… Now, she had not in the mood to listen to these human’s songs!
“Wind Chasing Wolf.” Her voice turned a little indifferent, “Humans and monsters could live with each other peacefully all long these hundreds of years, because they have an agreement… and you, are breaking this agreement now!”
“Cut the crap! I have said that if you are capable, come and kill me! If not, don’t order me then!” Wind Chasing Wolf snorted, “True Dragon of the Godly Land… it will not be a loss if I am killed by you!”
‘Long Xiruo’ took a deep breath; suddenly she shouted in a low voice, “Gui Qianyi!”
At the moment she spoke, a spectacular cold light was shot from the side near ‘Long Xiruo’ abruptly—a walking stick!
A walking stick— what ‘Long Xiruo’ wanted was the sharp sword hiding in it!
Pulling out this stick sword with cold light, ‘Long Xiruo’s’ killing intent seriously increased… The anger of the True Dragon of the Godly Land made Wind Chasing Wolf feel strong pressure.
His body could not help quiver slightly under such strong intention of killing… but the look in his eyes became crazier and crazier.
Those bloody red curses were getting more and more colorful.
“Sorry… Wind Chasing Wolf.” ‘Long Xiruo’ waved the sword, a slight hint of reluctance flashed over her eyes… but it soon faded away and golden light around her body faded… and finally disappeared.
But instead, the partly hidden and partly visible huge shadow in the night sky— Shadow of the Dragon, rose up!
‘Long Xiruo’ stepped forward, closing the distance between them. The sword’s cold light had emerged in front of Wind Chasing wolf—it had been stabbed towards his chest!
Pa–!!
But Wind Chasing Wolf raised his both hands, grabbing the sword firmly! His palm was scarified at that moment and bled… but at last, he grasped this sword tightly!
“Your power seems to have increased unexpectedly…”
‘Long Xiruo’ pushed the sword… but she found she could not do it!
Though the shadow could use part of its original body’s power, it was still merely made of beads by Gui Qianyi and could not compare to the whole body of the True Dragon—’Long Xiruo’ could not absorb the limitless power from the ground constantly!
She could not be protected by the ground… the so-called power of the True Dragon had been decreased sharply!
“True Dragon of the Godly Land… True Dragon of the Godly Land, has so little power!!” Wind Chasing Wolf became more and more crazy, “Why!! Why!! Is this all your power!! You should be stronger than me!! You should be stronger than me!!!”
‘Long Xiruo’ gnashed her teeth abruptly, pushing the sword at full strength… finally, it moved!
Getting closer and closer to the chest of Wind Chasing Wolf!
But at the same time, her body was getting faint… getting fainter and fainter!
Damn it… she did not expect Wind Chasing Wolf to have so much power. Did it consume too much at the beginning… persist a little more!! At least… at least!!
‘Long Xiruo’ roared, that was the current unwillingness of the True Dragon… the body turned into bubbles in a flash! Only the sword was still grasped in Wind Chasing Wolf’s hands.
The true dragon that suddenly vanished… and the sword that lost all its power now became empty.
Wind Chasing Wolf was shocked at the current situation and looked at the sword which was only one inch from his chest; he looked down, “Why… there was just a little bit, just a little bit…”
“Why!!!!!” Wind Chasing wolf looking up to the moon, raging abruptly, “Why!!! Why not let me die!!!!! Since you came to stop me!!! Then just kill me!!! What is this now!! You left!! What is this!! What the hell is this!!!”
He vomited a mouthful of blood abruptly and the curses on his body became more colorful, as if something was waiting to emerge from his body!
All of a sudden, Wind Chasing Wolf raised up the sword, putting in at his neck, with a hoarse voice, “Since… all of you cannot kill me…”
The sword had cut open his neck, but it stopped entering his quivering body— that was the instinctive reaction, which stopped him from committing suicide.
“Ridiculous, I don’t even have the courage… I, I can not hold on anymore…”
Wind Chasing Wolf sighed; he took his last glance at the world… he had had such thoughts before, when he was standing in a high position.
If he was able to fly, he could look down the whole world from above.
And now, he could fly and look down from above, but it was his last glance… Did he have anything to regret?
Suddenly, he calmed down, holding the sword and putting it at his neck again.
But at the time, he saw something that had him stop his suicide for now. He saw… “Cheese, and this one is…”
…
Long Er suddenly collapsed down the ground suddenly, and the bead she held in her hand rolled down as well, “Gui Qianyi! What kind of useless skill is this! You have said it can last 5 minutes! But why was it over in 3 minutes!!”
Gui Qianyi was helplessly saying, “Master, old turtle did not estimate that it would expend so much energy… During normal times, this old turtle estimates that it will be last for 5 minutes!”
“Estimates?”
“After all, it was made with the blood of the True Dragon for the first time… I, I could only estimate the result.”
Long Er glared at him, but she was also clear that it was useless; so she looked up to the sky with a frown, “Wind Chasing Wolf… what will he do next?”
They witnessed Wind Chasing Wolf abruptly diving down… That place seemed to be part of the ceiling of the main field of the gymnasium.
Long Er climbed on Gui Qianyi’s turtle back without hesitation, “Gui Qianyi! Let’s go to have a look!! He just tried to kill people… and now we don’t know what he will do… He is totally crazy! And I can feel it when I fought him. A kind of craziness almost swallowed him!”
…
Mo Xiaofei body suddenly started to drop down and almost hit the ground; but he soon controlled his body.
The ninth place had been checked… and they didn’t find something like bombs hiding in the fireworks.
There was still a half!!
Mo Xiaofei didn’t stop encouraging himself… he looked at the stage subconsciously… as if some power was encouraging him as well, or he would not have been insisting till now.
“Yet, still feel afraid of falling… right? Sure.” Mo Xiaofei cheered up one more time, running to the tenth place, “However… if I fall, just stand up!”
The suddenly falling shadow… A huge, partly hidden and partly visible shadow of a dragon hiding in the dimness shocked Mo Xiaofei and he couldn’t calm down for a while.
“What on earth is it…”
…
…
He felt his head was very heavy… but he could open his eyes.
Cheese heard the song, which was so warm and firm… so he tried to open his eyes.
At the moment he opened his eyes, Cheese’s thoughts and his body, became empty… and his gaze could not move!
Could not move from this figure!
His throat was hurt so much as if he was being burned. Tears dropped like a widespread flood. He could only hold this figure in front tightly and called out the name hiding in his heart, “Dad!! Dad!!!”
It, which was in front of him, stretched out its hand to touch Cheese’s head gently. It didn’t talk, but just touched his head gently.
“Dad!! Dad!! Am I dreaming? Dad! I missed you very much… I really really miss you!!”
It did not talk and still kept its appearance that had Cheese call his name—It was just standing in front of him!
It sized up the creature that held him and could not conceal its obvious desire… Even if the pain and helplessness were hidden behind his desire.
Its back, its whole back, suddenly stretched wide, from the back of its neck, until its tailbone. All stretched open!
It had sharp teeth, bloody organs… the thing it stretched was a big bloody mouth like a carnivorous plant!
“Dad!! I miss you very much! We all miss you very much! Where did you go! Dad!” Cheese now raised up his head, looking at the familiar face in front of him.
Oh… it had that feeling that only belonged to Shu You~
It was smiling faintly now; it wanted to eat the creature in front, but instinctively, it was unwilling to cause him any pain, so it said gently, “Dad, has been to a very far place and just came back.”
“Where did you go? You left for so long time!”
“It was a very far place, but don’t worry, I have come back.” It still whispered, “I came here this time, just to take you to where I went. Are you willing to come with me?”
Cheese nodded subconsciously, “Yes, I will! I will go wherever dad will go… but, how about mum, my brothers and sisters…”
“Don’t worry, we will go with taking them together.” It both hands pressed on Cheese’s shoulders, and voice turned more softly, “Now, close your eyes first, we can get there very soon.”
While Cheese shook his head hard, “No, I won’t… I’m afraid that it is just a dream! I am afraid that if I close my eyes, you will disappear! I won’t! I won’t… Dad! Cheese is not strong at all… Cheese is not strong at all!”
“I promise that I will not disappear.”
It smiled slightly, “Touch me, I am your real father, and will not disappear… so, close your eyes, right now. Every pain will vanish forever. And we will get together with your mum, brothers, and sisters… we, will be together, and become one entity, forever ever…”
“Is, is that true…” Cheese hesitated and nodded; soon, he closed his eyes.
It went quiet for a moment.
“Dad, are you alright? can I open my eyes?” Cheese tried to ask.
“Just a second, I’m almost ready, alright…” It said lightly, but the horrible mouth opened to its limit, and a huge tongue-and-straw-like object stretched out gradually.
“Oh, dad!” Cheese suddenly said, “Can we hold on for a second after we take my mum… I have some questions to ask you.”
“No problem, what’s your problem?”
Cheese said after a deep breath, “I… I have a friend, there is one thing that I want to ask him.”
That tongue almost got to Cheese’s head. It opened abruptly and turned into a straw, which was huge enough to swallow him!
But it still talked in a sweet voice, “Of course, whatever you want to do, dad will allow you to do that.”
“Great!” Cheese showed a slight hint of a smile.
But right at this time, he could only feel his father’s hands suddenly left his shoulders… Cheese opened his eyes by instinct, and at the first glance, he saw his ‘father’ in front showing a slight hint of a painful expression—a sharp sword pierced through his father’s chest and almost touched his forehead!
“Dad…” Cheese called his name…a kind of panic stopped him from considering!
The father in front, his dad… Shu You’s body, suddenly exploded all of a sudden!
It exploded completely!
After it exploded, blood and meat was sprayed on his face and his body, his feet… and even his surroundings!
It was full of tiny minced meat and blood, which could not be piece back together!!
That sharp sword dropped down the ground, making a ‘clank’ sound… This sound, had Cheese moved his attention to the front.
The place not far… but how far? It might be 5 meters? 6 meters? Or 7 meters… a figure several meters away from him.
It turned out it was Wind Chasing Wolf, who showed crazy look with red eyes!
“Ah… I am so sorry, it seems I broke your beautiful dream.”
Wind Chasing Wolf was looking at Cheese with a sneer, “However, why do I feel happy to see that current look of yours? It probably because… you, the guy that likes to talk about your family, now is aware of the feeling of losing family members, right? One more time.”
“Wind Chasing Wolf…” Cheese lowered his head, with both eyes reddened and body that had been demonized to an extent. He suddenly picked up the sword, “Wind Chasing Wolf!!! I going to kill you!!!!!!”
Several meters was very close… but also very far away from him.
How much time would it spend him to cross it over?
Cheese did not know that, and never thought about it… when the sword he grasped was severely stabbed into Wind Chasing Wolf’s body… Stabbed into his heart. At that moment, even he did not expect it to be so easy.
He did not think about it, but just pushed the sword that stabbed into Wind Chasing Wolf’s heart, pushing it into Wind Chasing Wolf’s body. In the midst of his roars of rage with blood and tears, he kept pushing.
Cheese did not stop until Wind Chasing Wolf vomited a mouthful of fresh blood which gushed on top of Cheese’s head.
He leaned against Wind Chasing Wolf’s chest, “Why… why did you have to force me to do this…”
Wind Chasing Wolf looked down and chuckled, “There’s no why… just wanted to see your pain… and let you know how hypocritical you are. At last, you will still kill me… I want you to sense what a killer feels like… Cheese… in this world… there is no way you can get benefits from both sides… is it good… being a goody-goody guy…”
“Wind Chasing Wolf…”
Wind Chains Wolf now threw a punch on Cheese’s chest… which made him spit blood and fall down. He collapsed and could not stand up again.
“Wind Chasing Wolf… cough cough…” Cheese tried to stand up, “Why did you kill my dad… you did not intend to kill my mum, brothers, and sisters… I, I saw the blood bags…”
“Ah!”
Wind Chasing Wolf suddenly screamed painfully because he pulled the sword out of his heart and threw it down the ground, “Oh… really, you found it… but, it is just… for tricking you…”
Wind Chasing Wolf turned about, staggering, and saying weakly back on to Cheese, “Think about it…when you lost the game and sustain the painfulness of the death of your relatives, but suddenly you found… they haven’t died. What would you think of it? Will you be happy? From the hell to heaven, and what about later? Laster, I kill them one by one in front of you. What a nice story line… then you will drop down to the hell… Ah, what a pity that such a gorgeous plan was broken. That was really a pity.”
“You… are really crazy!”
“Yeah, I am crazy.”
Wind Chasing Wolf walked to the edge of the roof and suddenly opened his arms, making a flying gesture, “But do I… do I need to explain everything to you guys? The one and only regrettable thing is that I have failed to kill your family members… except for that so-called father of yours. That was a pity and a failure… what a failure it was…”
He gazed at the thousands of humans beneath… ‘Who is singing? It is so firm…’
–Forgive me for being carefree and for my love for freedom
–Yet, still feel afraid of falling
–Anyone can abandon their ideals…
‘This song is too annoying…’
His pupils started to dilate… dilate, while he began to recall his whole life… It might be the so-called ‘life flashback’ before one’s death?
“Please… please save this kid… no matter how… please let him survive…”
“It is just a thief… and a bastard without parents…”
“He stole it, not me…”
…
“You can live in this place… it is easy for you to live on in this society.”
…
“What is your name… my name is Cheese. Are… you OK? Are you in pain? Do you need me to send you to the hospital? Do you know Master Long? Her hospital is just around here…”
…
“Xiao, Xiaojiang… my name is … Xiaojiang.”
…
“My name is Nini! Nice to meet you guys…”
…
“I am not the killer…”
…
“This bell, you can ask those who listen to its sound to obey your orders.”
“Ok, I want to buy it! even if take my soul as the transaction fee!”
“It now belongs to you… dear customer!”
“Ha ha… the bell! The bell!! Tut tut, I did not expect that there to be such an interesting object in the world!! But!! I want to buy another thing!”
“What do you want to buy?”
“You said one stamp on this card could be used for one discounted trade, didn’t you? There were 2 stamps on it when you gave it to me… now I used one of the two! This bell should be discounted also, right? Which means, even if I exchange it with my soul as the transaction fee, you will not take all my soul, is that correct?”
“Yes, Customer is really clever… then, what will you purchase using the last discounted deal?”
“I want to know the truth of that year! You have said that you sell anything! Since it is not told… then I will buy it!”
“Hold on, customer, it seems that nothing of yours could be exchanged in this trade?”
“Since you said I will not die and will have at least 60 years of lifespan… I bet someone paid something to save me. I am sure about that! That year, someone must have done these for me… thus, I have to know the truth.”
“Customer, don’t you think unawareness will be better for you? Isn’t it good to spend 60 years of your lifespan quietly?”
“I am not willing to be confused like this! I am myself! Instead of any other guy, whose fate has been controlled by others! I can protect myself! You said I will not die… I don’t only want that sentence! I just thought… since somebody gave me this protection spell… then it is mine! Why can’t I purchase what I want using the protection spell as a fee?”
“Well… alright, I understand. Then, let me reveal what happened that year. Your father, is the first star—Ziwei Tanlang Star①. So the blood in your body flows Tanlang blood… the person that gave you the protection was your father. As to the reason why he gave you this protection, that concerns the other kind of blood in your body—It is the bloodline from your mother. We call it the blood of the Magic Wolf, Fenrir. Of course, your mother is merely a descendant of Xianji, who was one of Fenrir’s sons, so the blood is not as thick as the other descendants.”
“Tanlang… Fenrir? Xianji? My parents… is this… where I came from?! But why… my parents are so powerful, why…”
“It seems to be the problem due to the combination of your parents. Tanlang’s blood could not fuse with Fenrir’s blood. At the moment you were born… Well, do you really want to know it?”
“Tell me that!”
“You broke your mother’s belly and absorbed all her vitality, which killed her… and you were born.”
“I do not believe you!! You lied to me!!”
“As I said, it is not good for you to know the truth.”
“Tell me what happened next!!! What about my father? Why did he put this protection spell over me?”
“I have said that before, the two powers in your body could not fuse with each other. But you absorbed your mother’s power, which caused Fenrir’s power to attack Tanlang’s power. However, the power of Tanlang is an extremely precious power; it lurked in your body to avoid the attack. Later on, your father helped you to think of how to raise up your power, so that the two could be even. Nevertheless, it seemed that your father’s power was not strong, or we can say, the two powers had an unexpected change on your body… That time, your father came to our shop and tried to find out what would happen to your body.”
“Well… since it was the request of the customer, we could not refuse it. Then the customer knew the reason after the analysis… The two powers would try to fuse, until they became one horrible power without any sensibility which will develop its power in your body. Finally, you will be swallowed by it some day later and turn you into a monster. You will not recognize yourself and your thoughts or intentions will be to break everything in the world. You will not feel happy, pain, sorrow… and you will only live for slaughter, forever.”
“But the pity is, that your father did not have enough for the transaction fee because your power was much stronger than his. Therefore, he could only use himself as the transaction fee in exchange for the protecting spell… to let you live peacefully until your 60 years old. The outline of a wild wolf was just the disguise he provided you with. However, so many years passed, the power in your body started to revive.”
“You lied to me! You said I will lose my sensibility and become a killing machine… but why can I still think like a normal monster?”
“Customer, do you forget the protection spell on you? Within 60 years, you will not lose your sensibility within this 60 years. And this shop has never sold fake objects.”
“It is because of you… I just… then the protecting spell I used is… you!! You are so cunning!!”
“Well… that is because Customer insisted on doing so. Let’s skip this topic… because the former owner of this shop had also promised your father.”
“Now I will… why is life so cruel to me… what mistake did I make!!!”
…
“Those people are so annoying! We must teach them a serious lesson, OK?!!! And I am the leader!! Nini! Call me leader!!”
“Leader!!!”
“Ha ha ha ha ha!!! That’s right! Just say like that! No problem!! Ha ha ha ha!!! No problem… No problem… ha, ha ha… ha.”
…
“Nini… did you know? I used to be a disaster and Xiaojiang was right… I should not exist in the world… but what mistake did I make! What mistake did I make!!!”
“What mistake did I make!!!”
“I will kill you!! Finally, I will kill you!! Kill you! Kill Cheese!! Kill everyone!!! Do you know that!!!”
“I killed my mother!! I killed her by myself!! Did you know that!!!”
“Why… why does God treat me like this…”
“I should not exist in this world…”
…
“Wind Chasing Wolf! Stop doing that! We knew that you saved Xiaojiang! I am sorry!”
“That will not work on me!!! Even the True Dragon of the Godly Land is helpless… let alone you! You can’t watch them continue like this! Even if you are reluctant, you have to act like this, because it is the mission of a True Dragon… so you have to bow down your head! Isn’t that right? You will not apologize to me sincerely!”
“Whatever you think, it is true that I want you to release the control of those monsters, but what I hope is that you can calm down. The demon of your heart came suddenly, but there is some way to expel it from your heart.”
“I am fine now!!”
‘Leave me alone… I am serious, leave me alone… just hate me… and it is better to kill me…’
‘I… I have no courage to commit suicide… I, I have not…’
…
“I am good… leave me alone.”
‘Ah, this wind is so comfortable…’
Opening his arms and letting the night wind hold him as his body turned lighter; Wind Chasing Wolf’s body gradually fell back.
‘Nini called me leader very loudly… though she did not say that sincerely, but that is good enough. She called so loudly…’
‘Cheese, you brat… do you really think I will not win this game? This master is Wind Chasing Wolf! I don’t need you to concede… I enjoy playing football.’
‘You all hate me… then just kill me… is that enough… yeah, that is enough.’
‘You don’t have the know the reason or act sorrowfully… just hate me and kill me, that is enough.’
‘I am Master Wind Chasing Wolf! Right, Master Wind Chasing Wolf! The way I die is that of a big boss… the big devil that is knocked down by the brave!!’
‘Ha ha ha ha ha!!!’
–Forgive me for being carefree and for my love for freedom
–Yet, still feel afraid of falling
‘This song… has just finished… so much applause, so resounding… so happy… but, it does not seem to be a bad song… about humans.’
But, but!
“Those evil humans outside are starting to occupy our places! And I cannot bear such behavior anymore! Tonight, I must give a serious lesson to those reckless and stupid human beings and let them know Master Wind Chasing wolf’s power! Do all you guys agree with me?”
‘Oh, it is the time to have the last program… be shocked! Human beings!’
Master Wind Chasing wolf will give you the last… lesson!!’
Bleep–!
At the moment of falling, Wind Chasing Wolf fished out a very tiny remote control and pressed down the button!
“Roar!!!”
At the moment he pressed the button, Wind Chasing Wolf used up the last power of him; he clenched his fists, holding them up, “Roar!! I am… Master Wind Chasing Wolf!!! Roar!!”
Boom–!!
A bang!
The enormous flame now exploded all of a sudden; it rose up to the sky… which looked very dazzling! That was a big fire which looked like a flowering rose!
It was splendid! Completely splendid!
When those audiences, who were touched by the singers, were astonished by this bang and subconsciously looked at the sky, all members were amazed by that splendid flame at the same time.
A huge cloth banner drifted down slowly from the night sky with some big characters written on it.
–‘This Master, is Wind-Chasing wolf.’
“Who is Wind Chasing Wolf?”
“I have no idea. This is… an effect by the program?”
“Hold on… look, what is that? Wah!!! Let’s run quickly!!!! Run!!!!”
But right at that time, some black and tiny objects dropped down like drizzle. They fell on audiences’ bodies… it was not the dust of the flame that floated with the wind.
Instead, they were… cockroaches!! Countless cockroaches! Dead bodies of flies… dead bodies of insects… many, many of them, countless of them!
They dropped down on the seats of those audiences, on people’s heads, bodies, everywhere… which was very disgusting. Women were screaming!
Not only that, countless fire crackers at this time had been shot from the circular roof of the gymnasium and from under audiences’ seats… Ping, Ping ping, ping ping ping!!
It caused unprecedented… chaos!!
“Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!!!!!!!!!!”
With a crazy prankster-like laughter, the body of Wind Chasing Wolf kept dropping, dropping, dropping.
Dropping.
‘Ah…’
‘This Master, is Wind-Chasing wolf’ …
① : It is a term of astrology, widely used in Chinese fortune telling skills, such as Feng Shui, Ba Zi(for predicting people’s fortunes, and the luck that changes every ten years) etc. Tanlang Star is a star with good luck, in the field of health, family, marriage, treasure, and even lifespan. The concept of Tanlang could be used in time and dimensional orientations, when Feng Shui teachers help guests to design and arrange guests’ house, and even tombs of their ancestors, for pursuing good fortune and avoid disasters. For example, in the direction of Tanlang Star, one can put their working table there for improving their work efficiency, or place pink crystal ball or accessories, even spells there for praying for a girlfriend or boyfriend, lovers or marriages which could come to them in the foreseeable future.
