WTNL Chapter 735

Chapter 735: Epilogue (6)

Survivors

[Part 4]

“This is far enough, Auntie. You don’t need to see me off any further.”
“Alright, alright. It’s getting late and it’s dark outside. Be careful on your way.”
“Come over whenever you have time, just treat this place as your own home. If there’s anything you like to eat, just tell Auntie…”
“What’s the trouble? You are Lili’s friend.”

The light flickered behind her, clearly illuminating the stray hairs by the woman’s ear and her misty, kindly eyes.
“Besides, Auntie feels a kinship with you.”
“…”
“If one day Lili comes back, maybe you can…”
The night breeze blew, scattering the woman’s hopeful voice.
The trailing sounds dispersed in all directions, quickly disappearing without a trace.

“………………”
Standing in the darkness, Wen Ya listened quietly, not speaking for a long time. After a long while, she finally gave a soft reply.
“Okay.”

In the distance, the night had unknowingly swallowed the sunset.
Wen Ya had walked out of the building’s entrance.
The windows upstairs had already lit up one by one, while the residential compound was sparsely populated.

She turned her head to look back.
The glass separated two distinctly different worlds. The warm yellow light couldn’t penetrate the night; the shadows of the trees in the distance were pitch-black, rustling and swaying in the evening breeze.

On the boundary line between the two worlds, Wen Ya stood silently, gazing towards that direction from afar.
A single lamp shone steadily.
Waiting for the dead who could not return.

“…”
As if stung by the light, she abruptly withdrew her gaze and lowered her eyes.
Slender fingers pulled her coat tighter. She turned her back to the light, stepped forward, and walked straight into the shadows of the street in the opposite direction.

---

The cemetery was halfway up the mountain.
The night wind was very cold. A full moon hung in the sky, with a few lonely stars shining beside it.

The city lay far below. Its lights flowed continuously day and night, like another world.
But here, it was entirely dark, so quiet it seemed forgotten by everyone.

In the deepest part of the darkness, nestled close to two inconspicuous tombstones.
Due to the passage of time, thick layers of fallen leaves had accumulated on the ground.
Even the portraits on the headstones had blurred over time; through the dust, one could only faintly make out a distant smile.

Between the two tombstones lay a child spread-eagled.
The freezing night wind, the hard ground… these conditions, enough to make anyone restless, seemed unable to affect her sleep quality at all. Her head was tilted, resting against one tombstone, while her lower leg hung over the front of the other. She slept deeply, uninhibitedly, and freely.
It looked as if she was pillowed in her mother’s embrace, kicking at her father’s leg.

An unknown amount of time passed like this.
She rolled over and finally woke up.

Orange Candy yawned widely, slowly sat up, and looked around with sleepy eyes.
Then she stood up, rolled her stiff neck, and stretched her body, letting out popping sounds like bones growing.

The surroundings were still very quiet.
The night wind swirled, sweeping past like a sigh, plucking a few dead leaves from her hair.

She turned to look at the two tombstones behind her and said with a grin: “Haven’t slept this well in a long time, thanks.”
The night wind whimpered, fluttering the hem of her clothes.

“Don’t be mad. It’s not that I didn’t want to come lately. Mainly, I was kidnapped for three years, so I couldn’t.”
She raised her hand and carefully wiped the dust off the photos with her fingertips.
Instantly, the time entrenched within the dust vanished with it.

“Although not being able to come back was really annoying, I did meet a lot of interesting people. Maybe in the future there’ll be a chance to…”
Two serenely smiling faces emerged from underneath, gazing at her quietly with a frozen, gentle expression that would never change.

“…”
Orange Candy suddenly quieted down.
She silently stared at those two faces, standing there for a long time.

“Alright, I’m leaving.” After a long time, she said.
It was unclear who she was saying goodbye to.

“…See you next year.” The little girl leaned forward, rested her forehead against the cold stone, and said softly.
In this moment, she seemed to take on a demeanor fitting her physical age.
“Dad, Mom.”

The city still shone in the distance.
The gentle night breeze swirled around her, the cold stars twinkled overhead, and the dark cemetery was left behind, quietly gazing at the departing person.

---

Wen Ya abruptly stopped her steps.
Not far away, a tall young man stood leaning against a streetlight. His eyes were lowered, seemingly waiting for someone. The light above had turned on at some point, reflecting a pale golden hue onto the fluffy, pure white crown of his head.

This street was very desolate, with few people coming and going. Precisely because of this, he looked especially conspicuous.

Wen Ya couldn’t help but freeze.
Why was he here?
She had clearly instructed the others not to follow her for this matter, so his coming this time was for…

Seemingly noticing Wen Ya’s gaze, the other party raised his head and looked in her direction.
“…”
Even though countless questions swirled in her mind, for some reason, the moment she met those eyes, she suddenly couldn’t ask a single one.

Those were a pair of very gentle eyes.
Even when telling lies, they were like this.
Under such a gaze, it seemed nothing could not be understood, and nothing could not be forgiven.

“Hi.”
The young man straightened up and greeted her.
He didn’t ask anything, yet seemed to know everything.

Suddenly, a thick wave of sourness surged up, and the pain that had been suppressed for so long erupted in an instant.
Wen Ya’s lips moved.
“…Yeah,” she heard herself reply with a trembling voice.

Her vision quickly blurred.
In her blurry vision, a shadow fell.
The young man’s gentle voice was carried to her ears by the night wind.
“Do you need a hug?”

“…”
Wen Ya didn’t answer. Her spine bent inch by inch, her forehead pressing heavily against the other’s shoulder. Her fingers tightly gripped his arm, clutching so hard her knuckles turned white.

The darkness hid her momentary collapse.
A soft sigh seemed to come from above her head.
A warm, slender hand stroked the back of her head, accompanied by a gentle hug carrying the scent of grass and trees.
“There, there.”
“There, there.”

The dead cannot return to life; the departed can hardly return.
But the living must still move forward.

A soft, gentle voice came from above: “It’s okay.”
It’s okay, don’t blame yourself. It’s okay, everyone has the right to grieve.

The streetlight stood silently overhead.
In the night wind, the evening stars were lonely.

This hug lasted for a very, very long time.
Wen Jianyan stood in place with lowered eyes, his head tilted, quietly waiting. He seemed to have endless patience, allowing his clothes to be grabbed into wrinkles and his shoulder to grow damp.

It wasn’t until Wen Ya finally composed her emotions.
“…Sorry,” she wiped her face and took a step back. “I lost my composure.”

The momentary fragility just now seemed like an illusion.
In the blink of an eye, she had re-donned her armor, returning to the Wen Ya who was always calm, rational, gentle, and strong, whether in daily life or in instances. Only the residual nasally tone in her voice allowed one to barely catch a glimpse of her true state.

Her gaze fell on his ruined jacket: “I will compensate you for your clothes.”
“No,”
The young man drooped his head.
“This is my favorite one.”
Wen Ya: “…Alright, alright, I’ll send it to the dry cleaners.”
“Okay.” Wen Jianyan’s expression changed instantly. His eyes curved into crescents as he spoke with a beaming smile.

He reached out his hand: “Come on.”
“I’m here to take you home.”
“The others have been waiting for you for a long time.”

---

Outside the cemetery.
Looking at the figure not far away, Orange Candy’s brows were tightly furrowed, deeply enough to crush a fly.
“…You?”
“Why is it you?”

The tall man looked down. A pair of molten-gold eyes gazed at her, his expression placid and emotionless.
Orange Candy glared at him, looking unfriendly, “How did you know I was here?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Did Wen Jianyan send you?”

Whether inside or outside the instance, she hadn’t interacted much with this guy. She only knew he was a non-human with terrifying power, and maintained a long-term improper relationship with Wen Jianyan.

“Yeah.”
Out of the three questions, Wu Zhu only answered the last one.

“………………” Looking at his deadpan expression, as if salt and oil couldn’t enter him (T/N: idiom meaning stubborn/impervious to reason), the corner of Orange Candy’s forehead twitched violently. She only felt a nameless fire flare up.
People who could make her this angry with just one word were truly rare.

“Piss off, I’m not going!”
She turned around to leave.

But before she could take two steps, she suddenly felt light on her feet, the ground moving away from her.
“???”
Orange Candy’s expression lost control, her pupils quaking, almost unable to believe her current predicament.
Wait?
Was she… being lifted up by the scruff of her neck??

But before she could finish speaking, she felt a wave of distortion before her eyes.
After a few dizzying, blinding seconds, the scene before her had undergone an earth-shattering change.
It was obvious they had switched from one city to another.

“…”
Orange Candy felt her stomach churning, almost throwing up.
Wu Zhu looked down. Seeming to think of something, he carefully set her down, as if announcing a disclaimer: “…I slowed down this time.”

I’ll fucking [beep] your [beep]!!!
Orange Candy held in a bellyful of curses, but she had to clench her jaw tightly; otherwise, she might throw up the moment she opened her mouth.

“Are you okay?” Wu Zhu bent down, wanting to check her complexion.
Finally, Orange Candy managed to suppress that nauseating feeling.
“Okay your big-headed ghost!”
Her expression was ferocious.
“Are you sick in the head?!”

“Did I say I wanted to go with you?” Orange Candy was so angry her vision went black.
Although she was indeed preparing to return at that time, that didn’t mean she wanted to be hauled back like this!!!

Wu Zhu seemed to think of something, his movements pausing: “…So, you still have unfinished business?”
Crap.
“Sorry. Don’t tell Wen Jianyan.”
Saying this, he took a step forward and reached out his hand again.

Seeing the other party preparing to lift her up by the scruff again, Orange Candy felt the hairs all over her body stand on end, her voice pitching up: “Don’t you dare?!”
She threatened viciously: “Believe it or not, I will fiercely break you two up right now!”

Wu Zhu: “You won’t.”
He looked down and said earnestly: “Just last night he said I am the person he likes most in the world.”

Orange Candy: “…”
Orange Candy: “……………………”
Who the hell asked you???

It turned out there was a guy in this world even more annoying than Hugo and Chen Cheng.
Damn it, you stupid love-brain!

---

Wen Ya stood still, looking around somewhat in amazement.
The surroundings had changed scenes at some point, astonishingly returning to downstairs of her own home.

“I really didn’t expect you to have this trick up your sleeve…”
As she spoke, she turned her head.

Wen Ya: “…”
“…Weren’t you the one who brought me back? Why are you throwing up?”
At this moment, it was almost hard for her to control her facial expression.

“I’m a beginner at this kind of thing…”
Wu Zhu was a born god. To him, these things were instincts carved into his genes. While Wen Jianyan shared the equivalent authority and godhood, he was a human after all. He had to learn all these things bit by bit from scratch.

“Besides,” Wen Jianyan swayed unsteadily as he stood up straight, his face still pale, “Isn’t a driver allowed to get carsick?”

Wen Ya: “…”
Fine.
Wen Ya let out a long sigh, supporting the weak-legged Wen Jianyan as they walked upstairs.

The door opened in front of them.
The room was brightly lit.
A warm, savory aroma floated in the air.

Bai Xue sat cross-legged by the window, earnestly looking down at the playing cards in front of him. Opposite him sat Yun Bilan in her paper doll state; she stared at the cards in her hand as if facing a formidable enemy, clearly having drawn a terrible hand.
Hugo stood to the side, looking down thoughtfully.

On the sofa, Yang Fan was hugging Su Cheng’s shoulder and bawling loudly, tears flowing continuously from under his bandages.
Su Cheng stiffly craned his neck: “Careful, I’m still paper… you…”
“Sigh, never mind,” he sighed. “Cry, go ahead and cry.”

Orange Candy glared hostilely at Wu Zhu not far away, viciously cursing something under her breath. Chen Cheng stood to the side gloating, having grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds from somewhere.
Chen Mo sat by the table, having taken off his glasses, tiredly massaging the bridge of his nose.
Qi Qian held an odd-looking mug in his hand, leaning sideways, discussing something with Wei Cheng.
Not far away, An Xin and Zhao Ran were hitting it off like old friends, chatting merrily.

“…”
Wen Ya supported the door, standing in a daze.
The room was filled with peace.
Warm light enveloped everything, as if all the past haze had been blocked outside along with the darkness.

“Oh, you’re back?”
Ji Guan, who had just kicked No. 8 out of the kitchen, looked up, a look of pleasant surprise on his face.
“A whole bunch of people, not a single one who doesn’t cause me worry…” he looked at the crowd in the room, unable to help but grit his teeth.

Inside the window and outside the window seemed divided by a distinct line.
But this time, she wasn’t watching from afar on the outside.

Not far away came Ji Guan’s irritable voice:
“And you lot, playing cards, chatting, stop it right now and come help!!”

The two words “Nightmare” represented unimaginable darkness, gore, and death.
Everyone within it had been skinned and their bones drawn because of it.
Tormented to the extreme, losing everything.
Everyone had experienced death and agony, trust and betrayal, loss and despair.
Everyone carried heavy blood debts on their shoulders, stepping on piles of corpses.

Fresh blood flowed to form the path they walked step by step; corpses piled up to form the stairs they climbed out of hell.

They survived, but they were not winners.
They were survivors, bearing the expectations of countless undead to live on.

Everyone here had once walked alone.
But in this moment…
The survivors leaned on one another.
The loneliness seemed to have finally reached its end.

Wen Jianyan walked up from behind and patted Wen Ya’s shoulder.
“Let’s go, let’s go in.”

Wen Ya dazedly turned her head.
Meeting his shining eyes and the smile playing on his lips.

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