Chapter 223 Epilogue - New World Arc (Part 20)

[—Yu Qingzhou?]

A gentle breath lingered behind him, and the boy vaguely heard someone calling his name.

That familiar voice became distant and elusive through the filter of dreams.

[A metaphor for a light boat.]

The sound drew closer, followed by a soft touch against the edge of my ear.

It was warm with a suspicious dampness.

That was... some terrible fragments from the depths of his memory were instantly awakened, his heart pounded heavily, and a suffocating and powerless feeling that almost drowned him struck him in an instant.

At the same time, a strong thought popped into my mind.

Wake up, wake up now!

Otherwise... otherwise...

However, the stiff body was completely unable to obey the call of his will, which made Yu Qingzhou feel an immense fear all of a sudden. The feeling was even more painful for the boy than the external attacks being inflicted on his body.

It's like my soul has been sealed off.

Trapped within this body, helplessly awaiting what was to come, with nowhere to hide and no way to escape.

Just like the younger version of myself in my memory.

Loquat...

Through the swaying bushes, he seemed to see the child again, lying there, his face covered in blood and dust, long since unrecognizable as a normal human being...

It became tattered and broken, with only that scarlet eye reflecting the gloomy sky and its tiny, tiny self.

The perspective shifts, and he is now lying motionless on the ground, his eyes wide open in death, watching the dust fall in clumps, watching himself being buried little by little...

[Let's leave it at that, right here, with my beloved mother.]

The intact version of herself leaned down to look at him, her small hand touching his stiff eyelids, which were stiff from death, warm to the point of almost burning.

For the dead, the living are like flames, untouchable.

His eyelids were ultimately unable to close.

He could only watch as the last handful of soil gently fell, sealing his nose and mouth perfectly, allowing his unable-to-close eye to find the peace it deserved.

He buried himself like that...

Or perhaps he buried himself with his own hands... He couldn't tell; perhaps it was both, or perhaps it was just his imagination.

—And who is he?

Is it a light boat, a loquat, or a seed left behind in a foreign land, or a small sapling quietly withering and flourishing in a corner?

If I had a choice, perhaps being a tree would be good too... At least, being an inconspicuous loquat tree would still be worthy of my mother's constant care.

However, plants and trees have no heart; without a heart, they cannot feel sadness, nor can they experience happiness. They will not feel guilt, nor will they experience joy or delight.

Just live simply, feel the changing seasons, and receive the nourishment of heaven, without having to take responsibility for yourself or worry about others.

That kind of life doesn't seem so bad.

As I was thinking this, the faint touch on the edge of my ear suddenly became clear.

And then, winding down from the auricle to the most sensitive earlobe, a tingling, moist sensation gently envelops that soft flesh, before suddenly and gently biting down...

With a loud bang.

Yu Qingzhou suddenly woke up from a nightmare where she couldn't move.

The seat beneath him made a loud noise, drawing strange looks from those around him.

The teenager involved simply lowered his head and remained silent.

He was like someone who had just been rescued from being buried alive, his forehead pressed against the hard edge of the table, his chest heaving violently—nothing but breathing.

The sounds of breathing and heartbeats almost drowned out everything else.

Only faint, indistinct sounds could be heard, sometimes near, sometimes far, as if they were shrouded in a giant glass dome.

This imagery rekindled the discomfort of being trapped in the previous dream.

Yu Qingzhou couldn't help but shiver. Fortunately, the strange feeling quickly faded, and the hustle and bustle of the world enveloped him again, but in a gentler and more unintentional way.

The hustle and bustle here does not refer to a noisy environment in particular, but rather to the environment itself.

In reality, aside from deliberate attempts to create it, very few people can truly experience quiet.

Even in the most disciplined library, there are all sorts of subtle sounds—footsteps, coughs, turning pages, even breathing…

In fact, Yu Qingzhou was currently in a reading room of the detention center.

The books I had borrowed before were still lying next to me.

Later, I got too tired. I just wanted to lean against the table and take a nap, but I fell asleep and had some strange dreams.

And also—

Who made that noise just now?

A question suddenly rang out in the reading room.

The voice was very high-pitched, which was undoubtedly an auditory torture for the boy who had just woken up from a dream and was still in a daze.

However, he wisely refrained from any instinctive actions, such as covering his ears.

Because the visitor was the librarian of this place, an old woman known for her fierceness.

Don't let her short stature fool you; this little old lady has a shrill, ear-piercing voice and a variety of ways to torment people.

Previously, someone offended the old lady by not following the reading room rules. It was a minor matter at first, and an apology was usually enough to get by.

I don't know what that guy was thinking, he insisted on arguing with the old lady, and as a result, he was punished by standing in the outer room and loudly reciting the reading room rules for 48 consecutive hours without stopping, without being allowed to drink water or go to the toilet...

Yu Qingzhou was unsure whether that fellow was ultimately able to complete the punishment.

But after that, none of the residents of the entire detention center ever saw that guy again. It was as if he had suddenly vanished into thin air, and no one knew his exact whereabouts.

One widely circulated theory is that the foolish guy was sent to a recycling center.

While Yu Qingzhou was reminiscing, the old aunt repeated the question she had just asked.

The anger in his voice was almost overflowing, it was hard to tell whether it was simply because someone had broken the rules and he was unhappy, or whether he was in a bad mood to begin with.

[Oh, still not admitting it? Do you think you can get away with it by pretending to be deaf and dumb, or are you so arrogant that you think you're immune to all consequences, and want to openly declare war on the management here like some other self-righteous fools?]

As she spoke, the old aunt's sharp gaze slowly swept across the entire reading room, finally settling on Yu Qingzhou's pale face.

At this moment, not only the old woman, but also everyone around her, all turned their gazes to the boy, as if it were a silent accusation.

Seeing this, Yu Qingzhou's heart sank heavily.

He suddenly regretted not admitting it immediately, and it seemed that those few seconds of distraction had been taken as a deliberate provocation by the other party.