Chapter 271 Epilogue - New World Arc (Sixty-Eight)

Yu Qingzhou originally thought—

He would never have the chance to leave this place in his entire life. However, suddenly, he was told that he could go out.

The boy's feelings at that moment were more of bewilderment than excitement and joy.

"Why……"

Without realizing it, Yu Qingzhou blurted out what was on her mind.

Discipline doesn't take into account what the teenager is thinking.

He was simply following orders to send someone out. Seeing the young man standing there hesitant, he grew increasingly impatient.

If there hadn't been people waiting outside, they probably would have used physical means to "invite" the person out long ago.

"Why? You'll find out once you get out."

Disciplining him was rather unpleasant.

I don't know what's wrong with this person. If it were someone else and they knew they could leave but were still dawdling and reluctant, I don't know how happy they would be...

She was about to say something more, but the next second she heard the boy calmly reply, "I understand."

You'll know what you're talking about...

The guard looked puzzled, but the next moment the boy nodded slightly and clearly said thank you.

"Thank you for bringing me here, thank you for your help."

Without waiting for a response, he turned around and walked towards the exit without looking back.

The disciplinarian was left standing there, looking completely bewildered. He thought to himself, "This person is really seriously ill..."

On the other side, Yu Qingzhou walked step by step on the road leading to the unknown.

What awaits me outside right now?

Death, freedom, or something else...

Yu Qingzhou was unable to make a judgment.

He had been here for so long that he had developed a delusion—as if everything about the outside world was his own imagination, and only everything in the detention center was the only reality.

However, at this very moment, the exit is right in front of us.

As Yu Qingzhou was about to escape from the cage that had imprisoned her for so long, she did not feel any particular joy.

Most of the time, there was just confusion...

Thinking back to the world he once lived in, it seems like nothing special.

Those I hated are all long gone, and those I once liked...

None of them were left behind.

No family, no friends, nothing to care about.

Even if I died right now, I would still be like this—

As I was thinking this, I suddenly heard the woman's calm voice.

He said he hoped you could live a long and healthy life, ideally a hundred years.

Words that were neither a blessing nor a curse lingered in my mind like a spell.

When she came to her senses, Yu Qingzhou had already reached the doorway.

Just one step away is the outside world.

It is both the old world we have been away from for a long time and... a new world full of unknowns.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward.

Suddenly, the scene before her eyes brightened, and Yu Qingzhou unconsciously squinted, vaguely seeing a figure standing under the white light not far away.

Something that seems familiar...

The overwhelming sense of déjà vu almost overwhelmed him.

Once her eyes had fully adjusted to the light, Yu Qingzhou was finally able to see the person walking towards her.

Tall stature, beautiful face, and that all-too-familiar white lab coat.

"Dr. Shen..."

Yu Qingzhou blurted it out almost uncontrollably.

The moment he finished speaking, he suddenly stopped.

No. This person is not Dr. Shen!

Dr. Shen isn't that tall, and the color of her hair and pupils is wrong...

Most importantly, no matter how similar their faces are, the person in front of them is undoubtedly a real man.

But what if this person wasn't Dr. Shen?

Why do they give off such similar vibes?

Needless to say, Yu Qingzhou had already caught a faint, familiar, cool fragrance in the air, a scent he had only ever smelled on Dr. Shen before…

Yu Qingzhou stood there, as if under a spell, staring blankly as the person approached.

Standing still in front of him, he slightly raised the corners of his mouth to reveal a faint smile.

Looking at that smile, Yu Qingzhou unconsciously reached out and grasped the hand that was offered to her.

The newcomer seemed quite pleased with the boy's cooperative behavior, and the corners of his mouth curved upwards slightly.

The dark pupils, looking down, perfectly captured the boy's bewildered expression.

"Hello, nice to meet you—"

The young man's voice was lower and slower, always sounding somewhat nonchalant.

He paused halfway through his sentence, then muttered to himself, "I was going to say that, but it just doesn't feel quite right."

--What's the meaning?

Yu Qingzhou was truly baffled, both by the young man in front of him and by what he was saying.

Then, he suddenly realized something. Their handshake seemed to have lasted too long and been too tight.

Yu Qingzhou was thinking of saying something to remind the other person, but she saw that the young man also seemed to have noticed something, and he lowered his eyes and looked thoughtfully at the two clasped hands.

Just as Yu Qingzhou thought the other party had realized the inappropriateness of the situation and was about to let go of her.

Suddenly, I felt a pulling force on my hand.

Before Yu Qingzhou could even realize what was happening, she staggered and fell in that direction.

A familiar, cool fragrance wafted towards me.

Yu Qingzhou heard a heartbeat that had stopped and was exploding in her ears.

At the same time, there was a slight vibration in the air as another person spoke.

"...So this is what it feels like?"

A slightly confused voice came from above.

"that--"

Yu Qingzhou felt it necessary to say something to break the strange atmosphere.

"Just call me Chen Yun."

As the young man said this, he suddenly loosened his grip on the boy.

Yu Qingzhou instinctively took a half step back, and the two returned to the distance they were at before embracing.

Yu Qingzhou looked at the newcomer with suspicion and uncertainty, still completely bewildered.

but--

He felt like he'd heard the name Shen Yun somewhere before.

My chest felt like it was being squeezed.

Deep Rhyme... Deep Reflection of Snow...

The two names swirled and intertwined in my mind, just like those two incredibly similar faces.

The boundaries of existence are gradually blurring, becoming ambiguous, and indistinguishable...

A thousand emotions surged within me, but in the end, only one sentence escaped my lips.

"……Who are you?"

“Chen Yun. I’ve already said that.”

The young man pointed it out calmly, then added understandingly, "Also, like the previous Dr. Shen, he is also E026."

“E026…”

Yu Qingzhou murmured the number repeatedly.

Instead of feeling enlightened by the answer, my doubts only deepened.

Isn't the numbering system a means of unified management used by the ward?

Could it be that the young man in front of me was once a member of the ward, which is why he has the same number as me?

But if that's the case, why would the same number correspond to two people at the same time?

That's so strange—

"What exactly... what exactly happened?"

Yu Qingzhou felt that her long-held perceptions, or rather beliefs, were gradually being distorted and disintegrated, and that the self she had constructed was teetering on the brink of collapse.

"That's exactly what I'm going to explain to you."

youth--

A deep, calm voice came through, carrying a strange calming effect.

Yu Qingzhou raised her head in a daze and looked at the person opposite her again—the young man's gaze was calm, and there seemed to be a dark color spreading in the depths of his eyes.

When he spoke again, his tone seemed much gentler.

"The truth about this world."