The End
Chapter 715: Under the sun
“Goodbye!”
Xu Lili waved her hand.
The bright sunlight fell on her face, outlining the bone structure of the tip of her nose.
“What are you doing?”
Wen Ya stepped forward from behind, a small smile on her lips as she looked down at her. “Aren’t we going to see each other again later?”
“What’s it to you?” Xu Lili’s face was a little red, and she glared at Wen Ya in mock anger. “Mind your own business.”
“Alright, alright, say goodbye if you want to.” Wen Ya shook her head helplessly. She raised her hand, ruffled Lili’s long hair, and then held out her arm. “Okay, aren’t we leaving?”
“Let’s go.”
Xu Lili hooked her arm and swung it playfully.
Her legs couldn’t quite straighten, and she limped when she walked. Without someone supporting her, she would often fall—this was the aftermath of having been turned into a frog. It took her a full half-month just to stand normally, and another half-month to relearn how to walk. It would probably take a very long period of rehabilitation before she completely returned to normal.
Wen Ya skillfully supported her and turned her head to look back:
“President, we’ll head back first then.”
“Don’t call me President.”
Not far away, the young man was lazily lying on a chair, not even lifting his head, crossing his legs casually. His knees were blindingly white in the sunlight.
A magazine covered his face, and his voice came out muffled from underneath.
“The Good Citizens Guild has already been disbanded, no one is the President.”
Wen Ya completely ignored him, just looked up at the other side and said strictly: “Hey, stop indulging him. He’s rested long enough. If this goes on, the work will never be finished.”
After saying that, she turned around and supported the limping Lilith as they walked out.
The next second, the magazine covering Wen Jianyan’s face was lifted. He cast a sideways glance, a lazy smile on his lips, looking frivolously at the person who uncovered his face.
“What’s wrong, are you really going to punish my inaction?”
In the sunlight, he stretched his long arms and legs, like a cat that had basked in the sun for too long.
“Come on, darling, I am at your disposal.”
Wu Zhu’s well-defined hand gripped the magazine. He lowered his eyes, his throat rolling, and leaned down as if bewitched.
The young man narrowed his eyes like he had succeeded in a scheme.
He tilted his head back, his smiling lips half-open, comfortably accepting the kiss.
Just then, an enduring voice came from behind:
“…Did you guys forget there’s someone else here?”
Wen Jianyan jolted. The chair, which was already balancing on only two legs, let out a creak, and his whole body swayed, almost toppling over to the side. Fortunately, Wu Zhu was quick-eyed and steady-handed, catching him.
He cleared his throat and let out a dry laugh, pretending to be calm:
“You, you haven’t left yet.”
Behind a desk piled high with documents, Chen Mo sat there with a face covered in dark clouds. The dark circles under his eyes were not the slightest bit lighter compared to when he was in Nightmare: “…What do you think?”
Wen Jianyan cleared his throat awkwardly:
“Sorry, didn’t see you…”
“Even if you saw me, so what?” Chen Mo sneered. “Would you work?”
Wen Jianyan guiltily snuck the magazine back over his face, pretending he didn’t hear anything.
Time passed too quickly.
Although three months had passed since Nightmare disappeared, in their memories, everything was as clear as if it had happened yesterday—if they closed their eyes, they seemed to still be able to see the sky of that day.
Rich, viscous red like fresh blood.
As the last oil painting was destroyed, the anchor points Nightmare left in this world were also completely broken.
The eyeballs hanging down from above suddenly widened in an instant, rolling rapidly, looking bizarre and frantic. Following that, a piercing screech that couldn’t be described with human language stabbed into their eardrums. Everyone uncontrollably bent over, painfully covering their ears, but even so, they couldn’t stop the sound from penetrating their eardrums and drilling into their minds.
What closely followed was a deathly silence.
They put their hands down and looked up blankly.
Above, the red faded bit by bit from the horizon, and a clear, azure color peeked through from below.
Nightmare, which had shrouded this world for who knows how many years, had finally and completely disappeared.
But what Wen Jianyan didn’t expect was that all this wasn’t the end for him, but rather the beginning of a new journey—or a new torment.
Although Nightmare was banished from this world, it also left them a huge mess.
Therefore, people all over the world were horrified to find that buildings that had vanished for a long time suddenly appeared overnight, gloomy, terrifying, and bloodstained. Some people who had been missing for a long time reappeared, their personalities drastically changed, possessing bizarre abilities, and doing whatever they wanted.
All at once, countless conspiracy theories ran rampant, intensifying, and looking like they were about to spiral out of control.
So, for the peace of their future lives, these Nightmare survivors had to return to their old profession and start the cleanup work once again.
And Wen Jianyan also had grievances he couldn’t voice.
He had clearly won already, why did he still have to work!
No matter how much he yearned for a vacation, things still progressed smoothly against his will—however, regarding Wen Jianyan’s passive work avoidance, they still maintained a tolerant attitude, turning a blind eye. After all, regardless of everything, he was still the greatest contributor to making all this happen.
However, this tolerance was clearly nearing its limit.
Chen Mo was still bringing up old scores: “Do you know how many things we are handling simultaneously right now? Never mind me, even Yun Bilan’s side has been working non-stop for three days—you said you were going there to help a while ago, but actually you went to take refuge. What did you end up helping with? What did you help achieve?!”
“And last month, don’t think I don’t know—”
Under the cover of the magazine, Wen Jianyan secretly winked at Wu Zhu.
Wu Zhu understood implicitly and slightly raised an eyebrow.
Suddenly, the entire world plunged into darkness.
Chen Mo froze. Before he could react, the world became bright again.
—The office in front of him was already empty.
“………………”
Chen Mo’s expression was ferocious. He slammed his fist onto the table with a loud “Bang!”
“Wen, Jian, Yan!!!”
At this moment, the culprit had already appeared outside the building.
Like a child who had successfully pulled a prank, the young man laughed loudly, leaning crookedly against his partner in crime, his expression cheerful and mischievous.
The sunlight overhead was just right.
Wu Zhu looked down at him, letting him mess around while uncontrollably showing a hint of a smile as well.
Finally, Wen Jianyan laughed enough.
“Ah well, forget it,” he wiped away the tears of laughter from the corners of his eyes, seeming to have finally found his conscience, and said lazily, “Since we’re idle anyway, let’s go help out today.”
“Where do you want to go?” Wu Zhu asked.
“Hmm…” Wen Jianyan tilted his head carelessly. Seeming to think of something, he suddenly looked up and let out an “Ah,” “I know!”
An old residential community appeared in front of the two.
Although it was located in a bustling downtown area, there wasn’t a single person around it. Buildings with a sense of age stood in the sunlight. On the sign at the entrance, the words “Antai” were faintly visible.
As an instance, its difficulty wasn’t high, but as a remnant of Nightmare, it was the most difficult type of instance to clean up because it involved a large number of residents, was located at a busy intersection, with cars coming and going around it, and a lot of people to witness it.
High difficulty naturally required the top people to handle it.
Hugo took the cigarette from his lips and turned his head to look over.
Seeing it was Wen Jianyan, he seemed somewhat surprised: “…It’s you?”
“Yeah,” Wen Jianyan raised an eyebrow, “What, not welcome?”
“How could that be.” Hugo smiled.
Although he was one of those who suffered the most severe injuries in the final battle, with the disappearance of Nightmare, there were no wounds that couldn’t be healed—besides the physical wounds, there were deeper, more internal hidden injuries and scars—that shadow that always lingered between his brows had vanished. Although he looked no different than when he was in Nightmare, the aura around him seemed to faintly have a trend toward brightness.
“Where’s Orange Candy?” Wen Jianyan looked around, “I remember she was supposed to be handling the situation here with you, right?”
“Theoretically, yes.”
Hugo said helplessly, “But you know, she never submits to anyone’s management.”
Leaving Nightmare, Orange Candy finally started growing up again. She had grown three centimeters taller than last month, and her energy rose with her height. Every time she went out, it was like a mad dog let out of its cage; you couldn’t hold her back, and she’d disappear in the blink of an eye.
“Anyway, she’s responsible for the north side of the community, but I don’t know exactly where she is.”
Just as the two were chatting casually, a gentle voice came from behind:
“I’ve pretty much checked the situation from the first to the eighth floor—”
Wen Jianyan froze and turned his head.
The black-haired, black-eyed Prophet stood a few steps away. He looked at Wen Jianyan, seemingly not expecting him to suddenly appear at this time, and couldn’t help but be stunned as well.
“…” Wen Jianyan slowly narrowed his eyes, “Su Cheng?”
“What are you doing here?”
“I just visited you in the hospital with fruit yesterday, and you’re discharged today? The doctor really works miracles.”
With every question he asked, he took a step forward, and with every step he took forward, Su Cheng took a step back.
That’s right, Su Cheng.
As Nightmare was expelled from this world, he also escaped the shackles of the cruise ship. But even so, he still belonged to the most severely injured group. Shocking external injuries were secondary; the most severe was the price of assimilation with the cruise ship. From his bones and blood to his internal organs, he was invaded by Yin energy. He almost had half a foot in the grave. Even with Wu Zhu’s help, he still needed a very long time to recover.
Which meant, during this period, Su Cheng should be staying properly in the hospital, rather than standing here covered in bandages, leaning on a crutch with one hand.
“And, ‘first to eighth floor’? With this progress, this level of proficiency, you’ve been working here for more than just one day.”
Cold sweat broke out on Su Cheng’s forehead.
“Tell me, who let you out?” Wen Jianyan asked with a smile.
“Chen Mo? No, it shouldn’t be him. Although he’s in desperate need of manpower, he wouldn’t squeeze a wounded patient.” Seeing Su Cheng keep his mouth shut, Wen Jianyan didn’t mind and continued unhurriedly, “Someone who has a say in the later stage rehabilitation at the hospital, has the authority to release people, and is brainless enough to casually let you wander around…”
More cold sweat broke out on Su Cheng’s forehead.
The young man raised his eyes, as if he already had the answer, and suddenly gave a light laugh,
“Chen Cheng, right?”
Seeing his cover blown, Su Cheng could only sigh heavily and confess everything: “Sorry, it’s just that lying in bed all the time is too boring, so I wanted to see if I could find something to do—”
Of course, that guy Chen Cheng was also indeed very easy to fool.
“Don’t worry, I didn’t have him do anything dangerous.”
Just then, Hugo’s voice came from behind.
“Besides, for the wounded,” he held his cigarette between his fingers, his expression unchanged, clearly long accustomed to this cruel “rehabilitation” method, “Moving around more might help recover better.”
Su Cheng immediately nodded: “Exactly.”
Seeing the two singing the same tune, Wen Jianyan could only relent helplessly.
“Fine, I came here to help out this time anyway, so I won’t call the hospital people to drag you back today—but just this once!”
Su Cheng smiled happily: “Okay.”
The marks Nightmare left on Su Cheng were immense. With each deep dive into the instances, Su Cheng’s body and soul had almost been soaked in darkness entirely. Bit by bit, he gradually became that gentle-faced but ruthless, unscrupulous Oracle Tarot Master. However, in front of Wen Jianyan and those former companions who advanced and retreated together, he still occasionally showed shadows of the past, seemingly turning back into that optimistic and sincere little Prophet once again.
“Anyway, next we just need to clear out the remaining traces in the remaining buildings, right?”
Wen Jianyan raised his head, assessing the old community in front of him.
“Right,” Hugo said.
“Don’t worry,” Wen Jianyan guaranteed, “Mission definitely accomplished.”
Hugo: “Of course I’m not worried.”
“Although your attitude is scattered, frivolous, and you often slack off,” his gaze fell on Wu Zhu behind Wen Jianyan, pointing out, “You are very good at pushing work onto others.”
Wen Jianyan: “…”
“There’s another instance on the east side I’m responsible for the follow-up of,” Hugo looked down and glanced at his watch, “Contact me anytime if anything happens.”
After briefly leaving a few instructions, Hugo turned and left.
The sky overhead was azure, and the bright sunlight sprinkled down indiscriminately. The old courtyard walls of the residential buildings were illuminated into a hazy gold. Leaving the lightless eternal night, and no longer being an instance, this place presented a comfortable, relaxing sense of age.
Walking in the sunlight, there was a melting warmth all over his body.
Wen Jianyan lazily looked around.
Suddenly, his gaze paused.
“Hey!”
A call came from not far away, the sound like a sudden clap of thunder, violently exploding in his ear.
Wen Jianyan jolted, waking up as if from a dream, and turned his head to look in the direction the sound came from.
Su Cheng, leaning on a crutch, stood not far away. He waved the clipboard in his hand at Wen Jianyan and said, “Stop spacing out, we should go.”
“…”
Wen Jianyan couldn’t help but turn his head again, looking towards the direction just now.
In the shadows, it was completely empty.
“What are you looking at?” Wu Zhu turned his head, following his gaze.
“…Nothing.”
He paused and answered.
After that, Wen Jianyan seemed a bit absent-minded.
The sunlight couldn’t reach into the stairwell. Even though it was noon now, the air was still a bit cold. The exposed skin was stimulated, raising a layer of small goosebumps—everything around looked no different from his memory, dirty corridors, rusted iron doors… But with Nightmare gone, it also became a harmless empty shell, no longer possessing any deterrent force.
“Remember? This instance was the first time we met Chen Mo,” Su Cheng looked around, seeming to think of something, and laughed, “You pretended to be an NPC here, even made a fake prop, and fooled him and his friends completely.”
Wen Jianyan looked up at the familiar surroundings and blinked.
“It was alright,” he said modestly, “Just average.”
Su Cheng: “I wasn’t praising you.”
“I remember, when you saw me back then, your expression was like you’d seen a ghost,” Wen Jianyan recalled, “I was pretty worried at the time, afraid Chen Mo and the others would see something from your expression.”
“But he didn’t.” Su Cheng shook his head, “If he really saw something, he wouldn’t have worked his life away for you later, getting squeezed to the point he is now.”
Wen Jianyan: “…Hey, don’t say such terrible things, we clearly call this having shared goals and regretting not meeting sooner.”
Su Cheng: “Do you dare repeat that sentence in front of him?”
Wen Jianyan let out a dry laugh: “…Let’s pass on that.”
After chatting a bit about the past, the originally somewhat quiet atmosphere finally became relaxed again. Regardless of what interlude happened before, it was no longer important now.
“Tell me, how specifically does your work proceed?” Wen Jianyan asked.
“You came at a good time, the most complicated part here is already over,” Su Cheng looked down and flipped through the folder in his hand, “All the supernatural events in Antai Community happened on the thirteenth floor. Orange Candy is entirely responsible for that side, and it’s basically done. What we’re doing now is just some follow-up cleanup work. Simply put, it’s just going door-to-door to check if there are any marks that haven’t been dealt with yet, and then checking a box on the form.”
Hugo was right, he really didn’t make Su Cheng do anything too dangerous.
It could even be said to be very boring.
Sunlight poured in through the window. In the corridor, countless bright golden dust motes danced randomly in the air. Even without Nightmare, this place was far away from the center of the incident. Let alone serious supernatural traces, there weren’t even any fake tricks to fool people. It was no different from any ordinary room.
“Thud!” Suddenly, a heavy sound of something hitting the ground came from one of the rooms.
Su Cheng, who was checking the other side, heard the noise and couldn’t help turning his head: “What’s wrong?”
Wen Jianyan stood inside the room. He didn’t answer immediately, just looked at the ground.
A bronze statue fell to the side, its three faces showing joy or anger.
…That was a Bodhisattva statue.
Su Cheng followed Wen Jianyan’s gaze and soon saw the Bodhisattva statue on the ground. He froze at first, then quickly felt relieved:
“Ah, you found this too.”
Wen Jianyan turned to look at him, “Too?”
“Although this place is far from the thirteenth floor where the murder happened, it’s in the same community after all. So, whether they believed it or were half-skeptical, they would all get a few statues to put at home to ward off evil. Now the whole community is full of this stuff,” Su Cheng raised his hand. At some point, several sealed bags had appeared in his hand, each containing a Bodhisattva statue, “See, look, it hasn’t been long, and I’ve already collected so many.”
“But don’t worry, they aren’t the real thing, basically just serving a symbolic purpose now.”
Saying that, he handed over a sealed bag: “Put it in, label it, and it’s done.”
Wen Jianyan reached out and took the bag from Su Cheng:
“…Wait, done? So fast?”
“Of course.”
Su Cheng glanced at Wu Zhu not far away and shrugged somewhat helplessly.
“While you were leisurely strolling, the guy with you already finished handling all the remaining contents at the fastest speed,” he pointed backward, “Go look, all those outside are this guy’s ‘loot’.”
At this moment, Wen Jianyan had completely calmed down.
He took a few steps outside and looked behind Su Cheng.
At some point, the corridor had been filled with divine statues. They were all sealed in bags and placed into specialized containers.
Wu Zhu looked at him expectantly, like a large dog waiting for praise.
“Sigh,” Su Cheng stood aside, shaking his head with a look of disapproval, “This is how your laziness got spoiled.”
Regardless of how despicable the means of completing the work were, done was done, so everyone could get off work early.
Right after leaving the community, they bumped into Orange Candy—seeing Wen Jianyan, her eyes lit up immediately. She ran all the way over, jumped in front of Wen Jianyan, compared her height with her hand to his head, and yelled loudly: “Look, look! I grew taller again this month! A full three centimeters!”
“Just wait, sooner or later I’ll be taller than you!” She said smugly.
Bai Xue: “Slow, slow down…”
He chased a few steps but just couldn’t catch up, so he had to bend over, hands on his knees, panting. Leaving Nightmare, his face now had a rosy complexion. Right now, because he couldn’t catch up to Orange Candy, he looked a bit pitiful.
“What are you guys planning to do next?” Orange Candy raised an eyebrow and looked at him, “Eat?”
While talking, she had already made the decision on her own.
“Oh right, there’s a barbecue stall over there that’s really good! Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!”
As she dragged Wen Jianyan’s arm forward, she turned her head to look at Bai Xue, commanding with her usual irrefutable tone: “Hey! Little Bai Xue, call the others!”
Bai Xue scrambled to pull out his phone.
Just like that, what was clearly the simplest of dinners inexplicably had more and more people participating.
Hugo had just taken out his cigarette box when Orange Candy snatched it, pointing fiercely at the “No Smoking” sign nearby. Chen Cheng sat at the table looking frivolous, rocking his chair idly. Wen Ya sat next to Xu Lili, the two chatting with smiles, Yun Bilan occasionally interjecting; the blond youth sat on the side eating fiercely with his head down, barely having a chance to look up and interject; halfway through the meal, Chen Mo, who had been busy in the guild all day, hurried over, followed by Qi Qian and An Xin, who had heard the news and come to freeload food and drinks…
Not far away, the sun was setting in the west, and large swaths of fiery clouds ignited the sky, plating the whole world with a peaceful golden-red color.
Wen Jianyan rested his head on his hand, his eyes half-closed, a layer of water misting his eyes from the alcohol, and a slightly flushed color showing on his cheeks. A smile played on his lips as he watched everyone laughing and messing around.
He was in an unexpectedly good mood today, drank a little too much, and soon felt a bit dizzy.
“I’m going to wash my face.” Wen Jianyan shook his head and stood up.
The next second, he quickly pressed down Wu Zhu, who was ready to follow him, and said helplessly:
“Please, I’m just going to the restroom, no need for you to follow.”
Saying that, he leaned over. Perhaps because of the alcohol, his actions were no longer restrained, but instead had a carefree laziness. Amidst everyone’s teasing or joking gazes, his eyes filled with bright, smiling intent as he lightly planted a kiss smelling faintly of alcohol on Wu Zhu’s lips.
“Be good, wait for me to come back.”
*
“Bang.”
The back door of the car was opened, and a person got in with the wind, rapidly rattling off an address.
The taxi driver froze and couldn’t help but glance in the rearview mirror.
“…”
In the back seat, the young man raised his head.
That handsome face still bore a hint of light red, but there was no trace of drunkenness to be seen anymore. Through the rearview mirror, he stared steadily, his eyes completely still.
“Sir, please go faster.”
He said softly,
“I’m in a hurry.”
The somewhat skidding wheels made a sharp friction sound on the ground, stopping steadily outside the building with a “Screech.” Wen Jianyan counted out a few bills, “Keep the change.”
The setting sun gradually dissipated, leaving only the dark blue sky. Not far away, a few scattered lights were already lit.
The twilight fell on his face, leaving only a heart-palpitating chill.
He took large strides, pushed the door open, and walked in.
“President?” The guild members looked over in surprise, seemingly not expecting to see him at this time, “Why are you here?”
“Running an errand for your Vice President, of course.” The young man smiled and shrugged, a helpless expression on his face, “It’s nothing, don’t mind me, go do your own work.”
Saying that, with just a few light words, he easily sent the others away.
Thus, the path was completely unobstructed.
The boxes in the room were piled from floor to ceiling, containing invalidated props collected from various instances. The several large boxes sent from Antai Community this afternoon were placed on the outermost side, containing a massive, uncountable number of bronze Bodhisattva statues.
“Bang!” A box was pushed to the ground, and everything spilled out with a clatter.
Soon, his frantic searching movements paused.
At the bottom of the box lay a seemingly inconspicuous sealed bag.
It only looked like the label on the edge was subtly stuck a bit crooked—that was the mark he had personally made this afternoon.
“…”
Wen Jianyan remained motionless, staring intently at that bag. His chest heaved irregularly, seeming to be caught in some kind of struggle.
Finally, he closed his eyes and slowly reached out his hand.
He grabbed the bag.
Almost the next second after it fell into his palm, a voice came from behind: “What are you doing running here in the middle of the night? We looked for you for a long time.”
“…”
Wen Jianyan stood up and turned to look back.
“President,” Chen Mo frowned, looking at the mess behind him, and shook his head, “It’s one thing that you normally don’t work, but why are you still causing trouble at a time like this?”
“Hey, what’s wrong with that?” Orange Candy burped and said carelessly, “It’s just a little messy, that’s all!”
“…You drank alcohol?” Hugo stared at her for a few seconds and suddenly said.
Orange Candy: “I didn’t, you’re spouting nonsense!”
Chen Cheng gloated on the side: “She drank secretly when you guys stood up, I saw it.”
Su Cheng turned to look at Wen Jianyan: “Come on, let’s go, it’s very late now. If you really need to find something, we’ll help you find it after work starts tomorrow—”
“…”
Wen Jianyan turned his head to look at him.
The next second, like a TV with poor signal reception, the scene in front of him seemed to distort for an instant.
The man’s face was deathly pale, a cold blood-colored mist continuously diffusing from his body, the space below his right arm empty.
The young man was bathed in blood, his throat cut open, not a single patch of intact skin on his body.
The little girl had regressed to her childhood appearance, her eyes blank, only childishness remaining.
The Prophet’s hand still hung in the air, ferocious floral branches piercing out of his skin, and deep within the large hole in his throat, fresh blood gurgled out.
A piercing pain rose from the bottom of his heart. His throat felt as if something was severely choking it, unable to swallow, unable to throw up. A salty, metallic taste spread in his mouth, like countless razor blades spinning wildly, not stopping even when turning things into a bloody mess.
Wen Jianyan gritted his teeth hard, biting back all possible sounds between his teeth, seemingly intending to chew his own pain to pieces and swallow it into his stomach.
His fingers spasmed, gripping the bag in his hand tightly.
Wu Zhu’s gentle voice rang in his ear.
“Come, let go.”
The bag was pulled from his fingers bit by bit.
Wen Jianyan panted, the distorted image having vanished at some unknown time.
Everything around him returned to normal again, as if everything he had just seen was fake, just some fleeting illusion.
Lover, friends were all by his side.
No one wailing, no one dying.
Look, the nightmare had dissipated, the sun rose as usual, the world was beautiful and peaceful.
“Come on,” the freed Yun Bilan waved at him, Xu Lili, who was no longer a frog, held her arm, smiling brightly, the grown-taller Orange Candy hopped around, “Let’s go, we’ll all go together—”
“No.”
Wen Jianyan closed his eyes and heard himself say.
Seeming to realize something, Wu Zhu froze, looked down at the bag he had just snatched from Wen Jianyan’s hand—the Bodhisattva statue originally placed inside had vanished at some point, replaced by some meaningless scrap metal.
Not far away, the young man stood still, his eyes sad but resolute.
His hand hung by his side.
In his palm was the Bodhisattva statue that should have been in the bag.
He shook his head, opened his mouth again, and softly repeated: “…No.”
Before they had time to stop him, he suddenly raised his hand, and with an almost resolute strength, smashed the bronze statue in his hand down fiercely!!!
Bang!!!
Accompanied by a loud crash, the Bodhisattva statue shattered into powder the instant it hit the ground.
The next second, an endless stream of blood mist surged out madly from it, swallowing everything in the blink of an eye—the ground, walls, buildings, streets, sky… all existence in this world vanished along with it, replaced by boundless darkness.
“…”
And in the center of the darkness, the young man stood alone. He panted rapidly, his body trembling slightly due to violent emotional fluctuations.
There was no light around, he couldn’t see anything.
Even if he opened his eyes to the widest, it was like they were closed.
Just then, something wet touched his ankle, rubbing repeatedly.
Wen Jianyan squatted down bit by bit, feeling around with his fingers—his fingertips touched cold, smooth, furless flesh—he carefully touched its head, scratched its chin, and softly said:
“…Good cat, good cat.”
In the depths of the shadows at the entrance of the community, it was its first appearance.
Inside the residential building, it was its second appearance.
The bronze Bodhisattva statue hidden in the closet was pushed over, crashing down with a clatter by Wen Jianyan’s feet.
The furless orange cat raised its head, a satisfied “purr” coming from its thin throat. It wrapped its tail around Wen Jianyan’s ankle once, and just like it once did in Decai Middle School, led Wen Jianyan to walk forward together with it in the darkness.
Just like that, not knowing how long they stumbled in the darkness, it stopped its steps.
A cold, old, trembling hand touched Wen Jianyan’s wrist.
That touch didn’t contain a hint of malice.
“Clack.”
In the darkness, came the soft sound of prayer beads clashing.
“Xiuqing…” an old, loving voice rang by his ear, “You’re a good child.”
She touched the back of Wen Jianyan’s hand, then patted it lightly;
“Wake up.”
In that instant, Wen Jianyan only felt a sharp piercing pain assault him, like a muffled hammer smashing into his temple with a “Bang,” bringing a feeling like the sky and earth were spinning. Following that, all images rushed madly into his mind.
—
Under the red sky, the little train roared into the distance, soon even its afterimage dissipating from sight.
The lake surface was smooth, dividing the world in two.
There seemed to be something stirring in the depths of the viscous blood color.
“We have to go down?”
“En.” Wen Jianyan responded.
No matter how bizarre the surrounding environment looked, they hadn’t left the train.
Strictly speaking, all the anomalies they were seeing now were brought about by the rules of the train being broken.
If they wanted everything to operate normally and carry them back to the cruise ship—to the location of the oil painting marked by the Dead Sea Scrolls—they had to find and eliminate the source causing all this: Zhang Yunsheng.
“How specifically?”
Wen Jianyan leaned forward, looking into the lake water.
The lake surface was smooth, fine ripples gently swaying on the surface, seeming to hide another world inside.
The red surface got closer and closer, as if the world was tilting to one side.
Then…
The red rushed into his face.
The world was instantly turned upside down.
—So he had never left.
“!!!” Wen Jianyan sharply sucked in a breath of cold air and abruptly opened his eyes.
The red, womb-like membrane ruptured.
The soaking wet young man struggled to crawl out from it. His whole body trembled, coughing violently.
The giant bronze Bodhisattva statue stood with its three faces. The bronze body that had only been slowly enlarging when they fled earlier had now become so large that one couldn’t look directly at it even with their head tilted up. They stood with their heads bowed, their eyeballs almost the height of a person. They looked down with faces showing either anger or joy, chillingly gloomy and bizarrely indistinguishable. At their feet, being “stared at” by them, it felt like an invisible heavy pressure smashing onto the body, making one unable to breathe, suffocating under the weight.
“Cough cough… cough cough cough!”
Wen Jianyan staggered to his feet while coughing.
His body swayed, seeming like he would fall the next second.
A burning sensation came from his wrist.
Wen Jianyan froze and looked down—
Around his wrist, wrapped a circle of golden, scalding blood drops. The fiery touch branded the skin, leaving marks like a string of beads.
That was Wu Zhu’s blood.
