The Diary of a Renter
66. The Perfect Crack
The light of the Tree of Hope is as gentle as water. In the Garden of the Heart, the fairytale path of Anne sparkles with the light and footprints left by children running happily. The gentle starlight melody drifts from Shirin's Starry Terrace.
After undergoing the baptism of "countless mirrors," the building entered an unprecedented state of harmony and stability. The arrival of the three primordial beings acted like a stabilizing force, making the foundation of order unbreakable. The tranquil forest of the Azure Emperor exuded a reassuring ancient vitality in a corner of the corridor, while the forging cave of the Heavenly Forging Lord emitted rhythmic and deep hammering sounds. The melody of the ethereal voices in the void acted as a gentle background sound, soothing all subtle anxieties.
However, after running perfectly for several months, Jiang Yu began to notice something was wrong.
At first, it was extremely subtle. When he meditated late at night, the source key no longer emitted pure warmth and peace, but instead contained a very faint, thread-like, icy stinging sensation, as if tiny ice crystals were condensing in the energy flow.
At the same time, he would occasionally "see" some fleeting, fragmented scenes that did not belong to the current reality: sometimes it was the absolute, desolate void that devoured all light in the eyes of the Annihilator; sometimes it was the mountain of bones piled up from countless remnants of civilizations under the throne of the Devourer of All Things, which seemed to still be wailing silently; sometimes it was even... sometimes it was a hint of grievance that flashed through Annie's eyes because of some unfulfilled little wish, or a faint, imperceptible nostalgia for the past, full of uncertainty and adventure, that flickered in Zero's eyes when no one was around.
These fragments of negative emotions and dark memories do not originate from external attacks, but rather seem to seep out from within the Source Key, carrying a heavy, viscous texture.
"Have you been too tired lately?" Jiang Yu rubbed his temples, remaining silent. He increased the purification output of the Source Key, temporarily suppressing the strange sensations, but a vague unease, like a hidden reef at the bottom of the water, began to surface.
67. The Silent Bearer
Jiang Yu began a secret investigation. He avoided the crowd and went alone to the deepest part of the library, where the librarian was restoring an ancient book made of almost weathered animal hide under a dim, ancient lamp made of firefly spirits.
“Grandpa, I need to access the highest-level files regarding the original design of the source key…” Jiang Yu’s voice carried a hint of barely perceptible gravity.
The old man who managed the house looked up, his deep gaze peering through his reading glasses at Jiang Yu, as if he had sensed something. He nodded silently, drawing a complex rune in the air with his withered fingers, and a hidden bookshelf slowly appeared. He took down a black token—neither gold nor jade, and cold to the touch—and handed it to Jiang Yu: "Child, sometimes the truth is heavier than appearances. Are you ready?"
Jiang Yu took the token and placed it on the crystal cabinet containing the most confidential files. The cabinet door slid open silently, revealing only a scroll made of some unknown metal foil. As he unrolled the scroll and immersed his consciousness into it, the truth, like a cold tide, instantly overwhelmed him.
The Source Key is not merely a "sacred relic of order." Its core essence is an extremely complex "balancer of cause and effect and emotions." The Supreme God created it not only to maintain order, but also to actively absorb and transform the "entropy increase" and "negative cause and effect" generated within its jurisdiction.
In other words, it is like a silent bearer, transforming all the negative energy of all beings (including the contained Bosses) such as pain, fear, despair, and resentment into some kind of deep fuel needed to maintain order, or harmlessly sealing it away.
The archives even mention the deeper reasons why the three primordial beings were sealed: it was not that they were purely evil, but that they each represented a kind of cosmic-level, indigestible "negative concept" (the Azure Emperor represents the ultimate silence after the flood of life, the Heavenly Lord of Forging represents the out-of-control cycle of creation and destruction, and the Void Sound represents the blurred boundary between existence and nothingness). The Source Key needs to continuously absorb and balance these concepts to prevent them from polluting reality.
The reason the building is so harmonious is that Yuan Yue (and Jiang Yu before him) unknowingly took on all the shadow aspects.
However, as the number of residents in the building increased and their emotions became more complex, especially with the addition of the three primordial beings, the Source Key's capacity was nearing its limit. Those suppressed, transformed, and sealed "shadows" began to overflow, and the first to suffer were Jiang Yu, who was one with the Source Key.
He was not the administrator of order; he was the bearer of shadows. This realization made Jiang Yu feel dizzy and suffocated by the weight of the situation.
68. Whispers of the Shadows
Jiang Yu's abnormality could no longer be concealed. He began to occasionally lose focus, his eyes would suddenly become vacant, and he would exude a cold aura that clashed with the harmonious atmosphere, as if an invisible shadow was swaying behind him. Worse still, this "shadow spillover" effect began to affect other residents like a virus.
One afternoon, Uncle Bloodaxe was carefully roasting a batch of precious "Moonlight Salt and Pepper Velociraptor Ribs". When a rib was slightly charred on the edge due to uneven cooking, his originally cheerful face suddenly twisted into a grimace.
"Useless trash!" He let out a low, inhuman roar, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot, and an almost tangible, blood-stained killing intent erupted from his body. With a single punch, he dented his beloved, massive oven made of star iron, sending sparks flying. The surrounding diners scattered in terror. Several minutes later, Blood Axe regained his senses. Looking at his bloodshot fist and the deformed oven, his face was filled with bewilderment and deep regret. He squatted on the ground, clutching his hair and whimpering in pain.
In Shirin's woven collective dream, unsettling fragments of nightmares began to occasionally seep in—the candy castle melted into a viscous swamp, and the stars watched everything like cold eyes. Some sensitive children awoke from the dream, crying in terror.
Even the most composed Rock, during a high-intensity shield parry training session with Zero, when Zero's spatial blade attacked from a tricky angle, Rock seemed to see the gaping maw of some annihilating behemoth. Suddenly, his shield slipped from his hand, and he let out a roar of fear and rage into the void, startling Zero into quickly withdrawing his hand, filled with doubt and uncertainty.
For the first time, signs of chaos appeared in the building, not from external enemies, but from an internal shadow. Panic and suspicion began to spread. Everyone felt that an invisible "pollution" was eroding this pure land, and even the air seemed to be filled with a faint sense of anxiety and unease.
"Did those three ancient beings in the Sleeping Corridor go out of control?" The fox nervously analyzed the energy flow, but all the data anomalies strangely pointed to the same source—Jiang Yu and the Source Key that was deeply bound to him.
69. A proposal made during a frank confession
After being nearly fainted once again by Annie's overwhelming grief over losing her favorite hair clip, Jiang Yu knew he could no longer hide it. Pale-faced and unsteady on his feet, he gathered all the core members and, under the Tree of Hope—a symbolic source of light and life—solemnly revealed the heavy truth.
"...So, the Source Key isn't a filter that purifies the darkness. It's... a sponge saturated with ink, silently absorbing all the darkness." Jiang Yu's voice was deeply weary, yet exceptionally clear, each word striking like a hammer blow to everyone's hearts. "Our harmony, our light, is because countless shadows are borne by it, by me. But now, the sponge is saturated, about to overflow... those suppressed things are backfiring."
The scene was deathly silent; even the sound of the wind rustling through the leaves could be clearly heard. This truth shattered everyone's preconceived notions.
Annie's face instantly lost all color. She hugged Teddy tightly and asked in a tearful voice, "So... our happiness is built on Jiang Yu taking our sadness and fear for you?" Her voice was filled with unbelievable guilt.
Zero's expression was incredibly complex, a mixture of anger, heartache, and a sense of helplessness at having his facade exposed. He grabbed his messy hair in frustration: "Those damn negative emotions... complaints, fear, jealousy... they never really disappeared, you were just carrying them all by yourself, little brother?!"
Jiang Yu shook his head, his gaze sweeping over the shocked, guilty, and confused faces of the crowd, finally settling on the three primordial beings who had silently appeared on the outskirts of the crowd. He took a deep breath, as if drawing strength, and uttered a groundbreaking idea:
“No, it’s not about taking my place. It’s that we mistakenly believe that only ‘light’ and ‘positivity’ are worth existing. But shadows are also part of us. Denying them and suppressing them will only allow them to grow in the dark and eventually cause disaster.” His voice gradually became firm. “I want to sign a new contract with all of you—the ‘Inner Demon Contract’.”
“We do not banish the shadows, nor do we suppress negative emotions. We acknowledge them, accept them, and learn to live with them, and even… guide them. Let everyone’s ‘inner demons’ become part of our collective strength, rather than a time bomb.”
This proposal met with tremendous resistance. Members, represented by Fox and some rationalists, considered it too dangerous, playing with fire. "Legitimizing negative emotions? The system will crash!" Fox vehemently objected.
But at that moment, the three primordial beings expressed an unexpected stance.
The figure of the Azure Emperor emerged from the forest's illusory form, his voice ancient and peaceful, like the rustling of leaves: "If you deny decay, how can you see blooming flowers? If you suppress life and silence, vitality will also stagnate. Balance comes from accepting opposition."
The resounding voice of the Heavenly Forging Lord echoed from the cave, carrying a metallic resonance: "The flames of destruction are also the light of forging. Rejecting shadows is like wielding a hammer with one hand; how can one forge something complete?"
Even the most mysterious ethereal sounds carried a melodious thought, roughly meaning: "Silence... is not nothingness, but the foundation that encompasses all things. Noise is also a melody."
Their support, imbued with wisdom originating from the very beginning of the universe, significantly diminished the voices of opposition. With Jiang Yu's persistence and the witness of primordial existence, an unprecedented, solemn, and slightly tragic "contract ceremony" was held in the center of the Heart Garden.
There were no dazzling light effects, only a sincere, even painful, confrontation with one's inner self. Everyone bravely stepped forward, and under the gaze of the Tree of Hope, confessed their "shadows."
After the ceremony, the energy field of the entire building underwent a fundamental change. It was no longer a pure, reassuring, but somewhat thin "light," but rather a "real" field where light and darkness intertwined, rich in layers and depth, and closer to the true nature of life. Dark patterns symbolizing shadows quietly emerged on the leaves of the Tree of Hope, yet they appeared even more vibrant, as if they had weathered a storm.
70. Light in the Shadows
The "Inner Demon Contract" did not bring the expected chaos, but instead brought a deeper stability based on true human nature. The residents no longer needed to pretend to be perfect, could face their negative emotions honestly, and learned how to coexist with and transform them.
The burden on the source key is greatly reduced because it no longer needs to suppress all the shadows alone. The shadows are distributed, acknowledged, and channeled, and instead become a new source of power for the building's defense and creation.
The Azure Emperor's power of "Life Silence" can unleash an absolute defensive domain in times of crisis, rendering all attacks ineffective.
The "Destruction Fire" of the Heavenly Forging Lord was guided as the ultimate means of material reconstruction and energy forging, with astonishing efficiency.
The "empty melody" of ethereal sound has become the most perfect information encryption and stealth barrier.
The building evolved from a seemingly perfect "greenhouse of light" into a real and powerful "sanctuary for the soul," capable of encompassing all the light and darkness of humanity. Its power no longer stems from the rejection of darkness, but from the complete acceptance of humanity.
At night, Jiang Yu sat at her desk. Outside the window, she could hear Uncle Bloodaxe humming as he relit the stove and tried out a new recipe, and Zero and Annie arguing and laughing over the last piece of candy. Small, negative emotions still lingered in these sounds, but they were no longer driven by fear; instead, they had become part of the fabric of life.
He opened his diary, the pen tip tracing lines on the paper:
On [Date], the moonlight was hazy; my heart held both shadows and light.
Today, we signed the "Inner Demon Contract".
Uncle Zero admitted he was afraid of the quiet, Uncle Bloodaxe admitted he missed the battlefield, and Annie admitted her little selfishness.
I admit that I'm afraid of losing everyone.
The Green Emperor said that deathly silence is the other side of life.
Duan Tianjun said that destruction is for better creation.
The void says that nothingness encompasses all existence.
It turns out that acknowledging the shadow requires more courage than fighting it.
The source key is light, and so is my heart.
Our home is no longer just one color, but every color is real.
True strength is not the absence of weaknesses, but knowing where your weaknesses lie and making them a part of you.
Goodnight, to us who are no longer perfect, but are more complete because of it.
Goodnight, this home that is made unbreakable by its authenticity.
Closing the diary, Jiang Yu felt an unprecedented sense of ease and peace. The shadow remained, but it was no longer an enemy to be driven away, but a partner to dance with. The Source Key throbbed steadily in his chest, light and darkness flowing harmoniously within it, like the alternation of day and night, natural and eternal.
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