Chapter 48
Du Mingxing reached out and removed the amulet hanging from the monster's chest. The rope was very loose, and it fell off with a slight touch. The writing on the amulet was already blurred, and the cloth used to wrap it was so dim that its original color could no longer be seen.
"Do you still remember me? I'm Shen Huaixin, and our partners, Fang Xiaozheng and Tianyu."
Facing Du Mingxing's question, the monster turned a blind eye. It bared its fangs towards Shen Chumo, trying to swallow the huge and essence energy center in front of it: "Roar——"
Shen Chumo looked at Du Mingxing and shook his head: "She is no longer sane."
“…”
Du Mingxing shook his head and struck a pose.
Her movements were a little funny and not standard. After all, she hadn't done it for a year. In addition, she was careless every time she did it and couldn't wait to finish it, so she looked even more clumsy.
"Xinxin Girls Team, we will never be separated."
The monster was quiet for a second, but soon bared its fangs and claws at Shen Chumo again, trying to break through his defenses.
Seeing her lost expression, Shen Chumo said, "It's too late. If it was the early stages of the pollution, there might be a possibility of reawakening a trace of human consciousness. Now, it only has instincts left."
"I know," Du Mingxing lowered his head, "I know."
So, this is her purpose of traveling through time again, to save the world, even if the cost is...
She shook her head, collected herself, and tried to stop thinking about it. But the memories of her rehearsals, spring outings, and even her mischief with them kept replaying in her mind, and it was hard to get rid of them.
"Can you help eliminate... Xiong Chentao? She doesn't want to live like this."
Shen Chumo nodded, and the monster opposite him instantly turned into ashes.
After the last bit of pollution disappeared, the entire runway returned to its original true form. Compared to the original, it was a regular runway that met national standards, but it was completely dilapidated and overgrown with weeds.
Du Mingxing didn't argue, but clasped his hands together and prayed silently in his heart: In the next life, even if we can't meet again, I hope Xiong Chentao will be happy, running forward with laughter and blessings.
Shen Chumo's gaze remained fixed on Du Mingxing, as if he wanted to see through her. However, his mind was far from calm as it appeared.
...Can the inner demon be this serious?
She even exceeded his previous understanding of her, showing her true self to him, grieving for her companions, and becoming more lively and vivid than before, as if she was no longer detached from the world, but a real human being living in the world with flesh and blood.
Before he could investigate further, his sea of consciousness began to vibrate violently.
He had long been accustomed to this. Whenever he thought of Shen Huaixin, his inner demons would backfire and force him to be dragged into his sea of consciousness, where he would either be burned or have nightmares relive. In various forms, it would always take some time to get over it.
Before being swept into the nightmare, he took one last look at Du Mingxing - anyway, once he entered the sea of consciousness, his inner demon would soon be exposed.
Du Mingxing looked around, somewhat bewildered. She had only just felt a strong suction force, and then been sucked into her sea of consciousness. She had no idea what had happened.
However, it is certain that Shen Chumo is not feeling well at this time.
The reason was that they were in the scene where Du Mingxing tied up Shen Chumo and abused him in the secret room when she first traveled through time. She remembered that the original owner slapped Shen Chumo, and after she traveled through time, she felt a burning sensation on her palm.
The next plot she pushed forward should be that Fang Xiaozheng handed her a pair of scissors and said,
"It's better to use a knife."
Du Mingxing nodded. This development was exactly the same as what she had experienced. There was nothing wrong with it.
Then, she heard her own voice: "...Thank you so much."
"It's my duty." Fang Xiaozheng looked like a flatterer.
She remained in the original owner's body, waiting for the plot to unfold. Although the knife-wielding scene was somewhat frightening, in the end, she only cut his hair and uttered a few harsh words, causing almost no physical damage.
…
As he was acting, Du Mingxing suddenly realized something was wrong.
No, what's with the pliers in her hand? When did they appear?
It was a pair of black pliers with a sharp metal head. When she pointed it at Shen Chumo's nails, the hairs on her body stood up.
...This plot is different from the one she adapted?
Then, she lowered her head and saw that Shen Chumo’s fingertips were stained with blood, leaving only a bloody mess.
Witnessing the bloody human experiment scene, Du Mingxing's stomach churned. He heard a sweet voice coming out of his mouth, but the words coming out were extremely vicious.
"Are you a monster?"
"I'm going to tell Mom and Dad that you're a monster. You're not their son at all! You've fooled them all!"
At this time, Du Mingxing completely realized that Shen Chumo already had the memory of the original book.
When the doomsday broke out before, she was very puzzled as to why he could always predict the future, as if he was very familiar with the source of pollution and superpowers. Now it seems that he may have remembered something at that time.
Then why did he insist on saving her...?
Putting himself in his shoes, Du Mingxing felt a chill run down his spine. His two quests for family affection had forced him to give in time and again, only to be stabbed in the back by her after he had done everything in his power to win her back.
“Chen Chumo, why?”
She asked unconsciously.
Shen Chumo, who was firmly bound to the chair, raised his head and looked at her with dark eyes, seemingly puzzled and confused, but without hatred.
Du Mingxing moved her hands, realizing she was in control of this body and could finally act without following the original plot. She tossed the pliers aside, squatted down, and untied the knot.
But when I accidentally glanced at the bloodstains on his fingers, I couldn't help but feel a lump in my throat.
"Whether you're a monster or not, whether you're my parents' child or not, it doesn't matter."
"You taught me that the most important thing is always yourself."
"If you don't think you're a monster, then you're not. Similarly, if you want to be a monster, I'll accompany you."
Du Mingxing was about to say something when suddenly there was a tremor and the scene collapsed. She and Shen Chumo returned to the open space in the gymnasium. She was stunned for a moment.
"What just happened... is it over?"
Shen Chumo was silent for a while, then walked away with long legs.
This time, due to Du Mingxing's actions, he escaped with almost no suffering. Her words were still deeply engraved in his mind, trying to awaken the self who once trusted her without reservation.
She said that she would accompany him no matter if they were humans or monsters. Shen Chumo had never had such extravagant hopes in his wildest dreams, but ten years later, she had made such an unreliable promise.
How happy he would have been if he had heard this promise at that time.
Unfortunately, in the reconstruction of his memory over the years, from the original two completely different people to the confusion and interweaving of similar experiences, he could no longer tell whether she had cut his hair, pulled out his nails, or both.
Did she push him into the river, or risk her life to save him? Did she have other motives, or was it just a whim? Every time he pondered this, his head would split, and eventually all the scenes would merge, indistinguishable from one another.
But he always remembered the scene where she stabbed him with the knife twice.
Du Mingxing followed Chen Chumo away. Fortunately, the rain stopped outside and the sun shone down, making the water stains on the buildings and the ground look gray.
Seeing him walking alone ahead, with an iceberg-like expression, Du Mingxing muttered quietly, "Look at you, you've caused so much environmental pollution. The destructive power is comparable to acid rain."
"But fortunately, I am here to turn the tide and save the people from danger..."
After mumbling for a while, she felt really bored and raised her voice again: "Where are we going?"
Unexpectedly, Shen Chumo tilted his head, and the corner of his eyes fell on Du Mingxing.
"Mirror Lake."
"!" Du Mingxing knew this place.
Mirror Lake, once a renowned scenic spot in China, was renowned for its multi-hued gradients of color, believed to be the result of mineral deposits and light refraction. After pollution, it transformed into a transparent water mirror, said to reveal various illusions after soaking in it. While theories vary on its specific effects, no one dares to experiment due to the extensive pollution.
Even the original work didn't give an answer. It only wrote that when the protagonist group passed by, one member fell into the lake and then awakened his superpowers, which was a blessing in disguise.
Du Mingxing was full of curiosity: "Do you know what the effect of Mirror Lake is? I only know that it can see illusions."
"What I saw was not an illusion," Shen Chumo paused, "it was reality."
Du Mingxing opened his eyes wide: "What do you mean by real? Give me more details."
Shen Chumo said "hmm" and passed it over perfunctorily.
Du Mingxing instantly floated in front of him, opening his arms to block his way. "Don't keep me in suspense. You don't want to be pestered with questions every day, do you?"
“…”
The last sentence strongly convinced Shen Chumo, he said concisely: "It will show the truth you seek."
It's a bit difficult to pronounce. Du Mingxing pondered it day and night, and finally had an epiphany the day before arriving at the Cloud Mirror.
She was a little expectant, a little cautious and timid. In the dead of night, she approached Shen Chumo, mustered up her courage, and whispered in his ear,
"What is it you ask for?"
Shen Chumo closed his eyes and said nothing.
She thought he was pretending to be asleep, but had no evidence.
"Then... let me guess what it is."
Her heart beat faster and her chest was pounding, so she didn't care about the other person's reaction.
"Let me think about it," she pursed her lips, eliminating a wrong option, "it should have nothing to do with superpowers."
"It has nothing to do with the survivor base either."
"Or, is there a one in ten thousand chance that it's related to the things around you?"
"for example……"
Shen Chumo opened his eyes, his pupils locked on her in the darkness, lowered his voice, hinting at a warning.
“Chen Huaixin.”
"I'm here," Du Mingxing said with a frown. "I just thought of this. Do you want to go to Mirror Lake to verify whether I am a demon or my true self?"
Seeing that Shen Chumo was silent, she continued: "I know you don't want to see me, but at least you are willing to listen to what I say, which is very good to me."
"After I verify your identity, will you please promise to tell me everything you want to say? Whether it's criticism or curses, I will accept it all."
"Actually, I...I don't want you to ignore me."
After Du Mingxing squeezed out these words awkwardly from his throat, he jumped into the sea of consciousness at lightning speed and disappeared without a trace.
Leaving Shen Chumo lying on his side with a gloomy look in his eyes.
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