WTNL Chapter 728

The End
Chapter 728: Humanity refuses to forget

This felt like a beautiful dream.

Blood silently drained from his body, bringing a cold, trance-like illusion akin to deep sleep. Guided by his consciousness, it flowed into the fragmented hull of the ship, making the pieces mend little by little.

It was like the long years when he had slumbered within the mirror.

But it was also somewhat different.

From his empty chest cavity extended an invisible bond.
The other end connected to somewhere far away, gently tugging at his attention at every moment—an itching, heavy sensation.

How long would he have to wait? He didn’t know.
But it didn’t matter. No matter how long it took, he could wait for it.
He had endured much more chaotic, maddening times; there was no reason he couldn’t wait out this brief moment.

A despicable selfishness stirred in his mind—if he could steady this ship and keep it from sinking, would he…
Would he…
Would he earn a smile from the other person in return?
A moment of joy?

Blood continuously surged out, transported into the capillaries of the cruise ship, maintaining its integrity and blocking the invasion of Nightmare’s will. Although his memories were few and incomplete, he knew that the cruise ship was, in a sense, the core source of Nightmare’s power. As long as he kept doing this, he could weaken its focus, leaving it powerless to pay attention to the other end of the long thread connected to his chest.

He devoted himself entirely to this single task. It seemed that, apart from this, nothing else in the world could distract him.

Time seemed to lose its meaning.

An unknown amount of time passed…
A familiar voice came from a faraway place—nervous, anxious, carrying almost a trace of panic, softly calling his name—”Wu Zhu… Wu Zhu?”

Was it a dream?
But he hadn’t dreamed in a very, very long time.

Warm, soft fingers cradled his face, frantically touching his cheeks, brushing his eyelids, the bridge of his nose, his lips. That warm breath surrounded him, the fine breathing sweeping over his nose bridge like soft down.

How nice.
He lowered his eyes, indulging himself to briefly sink into it.
What a truly, truly wonderful dream…

“This… hurry up and put it back. If you put it back, will it be okay?” The voice grew increasingly panicked. “Just what should I do… what should I do?”

“…”
The faint trembling in that tone made him frown.
The tip of his nose caught the faint scent of blood.

Drip. A drop of warm blood smashed against his chest like an awakening bell. The warm blood of a human flowed into his mouth, rolling down his tongue and into his throat.

His tightly closed eyelids began to flutter, struggling, trying to break free from the restraints of this shallow dream and wake up from this long slumber.

He succeeded.

The young man’s fingers pressed against his throat. Despite forcing himself to be calm, he still couldn’t suppress that slight trembling. Wu Zhu felt the reassuring weight of the other’s body and the slightly damp sweat on the skin pressed tightly against his own.

He sank deeply into the other’s moist, bright eyes.

That beautiful creature, who had always been so sharp and dazzling, frankly revealed his vulnerability in front of him for the very first time—and so, he too, collapsed in defeat along with it.

He heard the other person say in a trembling voice—
“Say ‘okay’,”
“And you’ll be my boyfriend.”

And so, the most beautiful dream rushed over him.

This was everything he had ever yearned for.
And even more.

Countless beautiful colors exploded vibrantly in his mind, incomparably magnificent. Boiling blood surged through his body. Unparalleled joy and greed drowned him like a tidal wave, leaving him overwhelmed and unable to take it all in.

Everything around him seemed to be enveloped in illusory, dream-like bubbles, giving him an intense feeling of unreality.

Was this real?
Was all of this really happening?

The only thing he could do was kiss the sweaty forehead of the person in his arms, then kiss his thin, tear-filled eyelids, kiss his throat, and bite his fingertips. Over and over and over again, as if he could never be satiated, repeatedly confirming the reality of this event.

Ah, you love me.
So you love me too.

Deep in his chest, it felt heavy.
But that wasn’t because of the heart he had lost and found again.
It was jumping around joyfully and uncontrollably in the depths of his long-empty chest cavity, like a lodger who had just moved in, unfamiliar with everything, eagerly wanting to jump out of his body.

Every drop of blood in his veins, every thought in his mind, was pulled by that invisible bond connecting outwards from his heart, uncontrollably leaning toward the human youth beside him.

His bestial side was still clamoring.
Eat him, crush him, only then can you completely possess him and make him one with you!

But when he lowered his eyes and saw the other raise his head, those sparkling eyes landing on him, then revealing an intimate smile different from what he showed outsiders, the fierce desires roaring in his chest would fall asleep, as if suddenly turning into a docile pet that could be molded and squeezed without resistance.

And so, as if bewitched, he leaned over, as if gently pulled by that string in his chest, retracting his fangs to beg for a kiss.

Yes, this was a beautiful dream.
He asked for nothing more.

Nightmare, the world, conspiracies, revenge—they could all go to hell.
As long as he stayed here, stayed by his side, this dream would never wake.

However, for his lover, this did not hold true.
He wanted more, wanted to do more, wanted to save more.

Well then, alright.

The god of the old world lowered his eyes and devoutly kissed his lover’s lips.
Between their hearts, invisible chains entwined.

—I will become your sharpest sword, your most loyal army, your most unbreakable shield.
Whatever you want to obtain, I will seize it for you.
Whatever you want to achieve, I will help you accomplish it.

At the final moment, he raised his head, bearing that same light smile as always, and left a promise on his lips.

—”Later.”

Then, he sealed it with a kiss.
Thus, he would be fearless, invincible.

The sky was as bright red as blood.
Golden power surged fanatically, squeezing everything he had into it without restraint or reservation.

One livestream after another was forced to run, impossible to shut down by any means.
It was like forcefully prying open Nightmare’s eyes, forcing its gaze to concentrate on this fatal disaster.

Eyes, large and small, rolled madly in the sky. Everything that was supposed to sustain its existence began to awaken, defy, attack, and devour. Everything it relied on to live was collapsing. Finally, when everything reached the critical point—
Rupture.

The tumor that had invaded, parasitized, and cursed this world for so long was finally, at this moment, completely eradicated.

The haze shrouding this sky gently rippled away, vanishing without a trace.

In the instant it disappeared, those cages that had fragmented and besieged the god vanished into thin air. Hundreds, thousands of fragments returned to where they were supposed to be, once again becoming a part of Him.

Everything was returning to the right track.
His stripped divinity returned once more. His power, His existence, were once again acknowledged by the rules of the entire world.

The whole world bowed at His feet, respectfully welcoming the god’s return.

Drip, drip.
Blood fell from the sky, drop after drop, forming a continuous curtain, eventually turning into a grand rain of blood that washed the world.

He did it.
Everything was over.

However, the moment he stood in this world as a victor, a terrifying premonition assaulted him.
The heavy chain at his chest suddenly began to grow light.
As if it was… vanishing.

In that instant, his mind went blank.
He didn’t think of anything, nor did he have the time to think, because no matter how fast his thoughts were, they couldn’t outpace his frantic actions.

In a mere fraction of a second, his entire body had already dived to the high platform.

In his dilated, horror-stricken golden pupils, the reflection of the young man falling backward like a white bird was captured.

Time stretched into a straight, seemingly endless line.
Sounds fell into silence.
Everything around him seemed to be annihilated along with it.

He reached out his hand, his fingertips desperately reaching forward—like a dying man doing his utmost to grasp a spiderweb dangling in front of him—
Almost, almost, he was about to catch him…
He would be able to stop all of this right away—
If only—if only—

And then—
He grabbed empty air.

The pure white edge of the clothes gently brushed past his fingertips, dissolving into nothingness.

A gentle wind, seemingly still carrying body heat, flowed lightly through his fingertips and across his palm, hooking slightly as if reluctant to part, before quietly dissipating.

“…”
He lowered his head, his gaze falling blankly.

Empty.

An immense terror seized him.
How could it be empty?

At this moment, a true nightmare, one capable of destroying almost everything, shrouded him from above.
He stared blankly at his empty palm, as if watching the beautiful dream extinguish at his fingertips with his own eyes.

“……………………”

He abruptly raised his eyes. His pupils contracted sharply, flashing with a light bordering on madness.

Wen Jianyan had his mark on him; an invisible bond closely connected the two of them. No matter where the other was, he could feel his existence, and could even feel his emotions through that mark—joy, anger, sorrow. It was as if long threads extended from his chest, heavy and warm, pulling at him every moment, reminding him of the existence of another person in the world.

But right now, at this very moment, the other end of that thread was unpreventably, bit by bit, growing lighter.

—How is that possible?
—How could he allow such a thing to happen?

Without regard for his newly recovered body, he recklessly extended and overtaxed his yet-to-be-fully-formed power. Doing everything in his power, exhausting every means, he searched frantically.

But there was nothing.
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
Nothing anywhere.

How could that be?
The warm, soft touch of the young man’s lips seemed to still linger on his own. His smiling eyes seemed to still be right in front of him.

He had said—
What, are you going to give me a final kiss, darling?
He had said—
Why so greedy? I’ll owe you for now and pay you back later.

Something that had always been inseparable from him, something that—even if it were at the ends of the earth—always remained connected to his heart, was being gouged out bit by bit. Their bond was being severed little by little by some invisible existence. The agony was worse than having his heart ripped out alive.

Yet, no matter what he did, he could not stop the other’s existence from being falsified and erased by the rules. He could only watch helplessly as the mark faded away bit by bit.

When the madness grew to a certain critical point…
He suddenly quieted down.

The god, who had regained the recognition of the rules, lowered his eyes, not saying a word. He was very quiet, so quiet it was terrifying.

In an unseen corner, deep within the shadow cast by his brow ridge, hid a pair of chaotic, brutal golden eyes overflowing with hostility.
Like a vicious, man-eating dog whose everything it had ever dreamed of had been snatched away in an instant.

Even the malice he had exhibited a long time ago, when he was betrayed and suppressed, was far from being even half of what it was now.

All vivid emotions that once resembled those of humans had vanished. Now, only absolute, thorough bestiality remained.

The light in his eyes darkened bit by bit.
It seemed…
As soon as that final bit of restraint disappeared, the only chain tightly binding the trapped beast’s neck would snap, and the reason stopping him from committing atrocities would cease to exist.

But the next second, a spark of clarity suddenly appeared, instantly dispelling all the gradually forming bestiality.

He lowered his eyes and suddenly pressed his hand against his wrist in panic, as if wanting to stop something.

“Wait…”

On his wrist, the cursed seal that was originally branded deep into his skin was beginning to fade, losing its original color bit by bit, as if slowly healing—after all, this was the cursed seal Nightmare used to imprison and bind him. Since Nightmare had disappeared, this seal naturally lost its meaning and began to gradually fade away.

“No!”
But he didn’t want it to disappear.
It couldn’t disappear.

His fingertips dug deep into his flesh without mercy, brutally tearing open the unblemished skin beneath. Like a sharp knife, they carved deeper bit by bit following the lines. Boiling golden blood surged from the wound, dripping down his fingers to the ground.

Wen.
The wounds wrapped from his arm to his shoulder; where he couldn’t reach his back, he used his power to rip it open.

Jian.
Golden runes abruptly appeared on his waist and abdomen; lava-like blood flowed deep within every stroke.

Yan.
Nails as sharp as razors sliced deeply into his skin, the final stroke finishing right over his heart.

However, at this very moment—
Wen Jianyan’s process of disappearance suddenly stopped.

That thread, which was becoming fainter and lighter bit by bit, suddenly stopped vanishing.

A person’s existence was turning into nothingness. The lie that “he never existed” was being turned into the world’s reality bit by bit.
However, if there existed some tangible, undeniable, inerasable proof in the world…
Then the lie could never become the truth.

Therefore.
In this altered world, the god turned his own body into bloody evidence.

Wen Jianyan, could not be falsified.

---

Unfortunately, on this body, no matter how deep the wound, it could not last long.

The spell formed by blood only lasted for a few short seconds before the skin underneath began to heal.

He didn’t even blink. His fingertips sank deeply into his shoulders, and so, once again, fresh blood dripped, his flesh mangled.

At the same time, the humans in the distance had begun to leave the depths of the cruise ship. They looked up at the clear sky in a daze, but had completely forgotten who had brought them here.

“…”
His lips pulled back into a fierce arc, revealing sharp, gleaming canine teeth.

But the next second, as if thinking of something, he suddenly squeezed his eyes shut, forcibly suppressing the malice rising from the bottom of his heart.

No.
Wen Jianyan liked them.
Wen Jianyan didn’t want them to be hurt.
Wen Jianyan…

The power in his fingertips was uncontrollable, deeply tearing through muscle and tendon. Scalding golden blood surged out. It seemed that only through this could he forcibly control himself from unleashing his beastly nature at this moment.

He took a forceful, deep breath, then opened his eyes. His gloomy golden eyes reflected everything happening in the distance.

…Fine.

A silent sigh brushed across the sky.
It seemed like helplessness, and also like compromise.

And so, invisible power crushed down.
The undead on the cruise ship fell into slumber once more.
The debris of the deck briefly gained the ability to withstand the sea.

---

Once, once, and once again.

The wounds left on the god’s body recovered at a visible rate, but before they could fully heal, they were sliced open again, deeper and more ruthlessly.

He obsessively, repeatedly, over and over again carved Wen Jianyan’s name onto his own body. Meanwhile, following the pull of that faint, ethereal mark, his entire being plunged deeply into the crevice between reality and nothingness.

He was going to find him.
The light of madness flickered in his eyes.
He absolutely would not rest until he achieved his goal.

—Even in death, it is absolutely impossible for you to get rid of me.
I will pay any price, exhaust every means, to firmly catch you and imprison you by my side, for all eternity, without end.

Dragging his scar-riddled body, he searched tirelessly.

Every time he wrote the cursed runes formed by the other’s name on his body, that originally faint and invisible bond would deepen a little.
Every wound was like a shackle; every bone-deep scar he carved added another chain to drag Wen Jianyan back from nothingness to reality.

With every minute, every second, he got a little closer to him.
A little closer.

Occasionally, he would cast his gaze toward the human world.
Every time he saw those people living ignorantly and happily, whenever his hostility rose again, he would mercilessly tear his body and skin apart once more, tracing the spell formed by the other’s name with his blood. It seemed that only through this could he remind himself:

Wen Jianyan liked this world.
Wen Jianyan loved the people living here.

And so, he lowered his eyes as the blood from his fingertips dripped down.

The divine blood, unweakened and unsevered by the rules, fell from the crevice between reality and nothingness, landing onto those oblivious humans. Surely, given time, they would inevitably recover their original health.

Then, he retracted his gaze and continued his search.

However, in a place he could not see and did not intend to look at—

The crowd, whom he thought were completely ignorant of everything, turned around blankly. They stared at the empty space beside them, seemingly searching for someone’s trace.
Even though they lived in this seemingly flawless world, they became increasingly unable to endure the missing void in their hearts.

Deep within the university campus—the only place mended by his blood and power—the principal, whose existence had merged with the school itself, hunched his back, pressing his violently throbbing forehead as if enduring some sort of mental labor pain.

The information broker walked into the campus and scavenged wantonly, completely unaware of what he might encounter next, until he was firmly bound by fine red threads, unable to break free no matter how much he struggled.

The university principal approached step by step, leaning down in front of him:
“Just answer one question for me, and I will let you leave alive.”
“If the truth of this world has been altered, then is there any place that would be unaffected by it?”

---

Inside the picture framing shop.

On the wall hung that unfinished portrait.
The young man with blurry features smiled faintly within the frame.

The world, at some unknown time, had fallen into a dead silence.

And then—
Everything in the entire world exploded with a boom.

A torrent of information washed over everyone’s minds. Countless brightly colored, vivid images surged like a hurricane or a tsunami, instantly snatching away everyone’s breath, heartbeat, and sanity.

Scenes from the past resurrected in their minds—

The silver-tongued liar.
The King who ruled over everything.
Like a pale star, like a flame.

“…”
No one knew who spoke first, or perhaps everyone spoke at the same time. The familiar name broke through the confines of their throats, rolling off the tips of their tongues, eventually transforming into a trembling voice that melted into the air.

“…It’s you.”

They remembered.

Such a bright, such a dazzling existence—how could he be so easily erased from their memories?

He was the one who gathered everyone of different personalities, different factions, and different desires here. He was the one who personally planted the seeds of freedom and rebellion. He was the one who single-handedly brought about the destruction of Nightmare.

The one and only Pinocchio.
Wen Jianyan.

In this instant, the false lie that had deceived the entire world for so long could finally no longer be maintained. Like a giant bubble, it was popped by the “cognition” of countless people.

When no one believed it, this monstrous lie would perish along with it.

Wen Jianyan would not disappear.
Because humanity refused to forget.

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