Today I Know Who I Am (Part 2)
Feeling the very clear metal and plastic texture behind my ears, all the messy clues today are not as great as my surprise about the headphones at this moment.
Cold sweat was crawling all over my back, and I couldn't help asking myself:
How come I always assume I have headphones?
In fact, if I think back, I will find that I was the only one in the entire camp who almost always took off my headphones.
I did use headphones at the beginning. That was when I was still climbing down the pit tunnel. Wildcat was explaining some common sense about going underground to me in the team channel.
But then, due to Wildcat's misunderstanding, I lost contact with the others and was trapped in a tunnel with no top or bottom. At this time, I thought there was really a monster in the tunnel, so I took off my headphones and put them in my backpack out of fear.
After that, we went down to the mirror camp in the pit, where I fainted due to bleeding and was sent to be alone in artificial amniotic fluid.
At that time, not only my earphones were in the amniotic fluid, but even my backpack and gear were taken away. The team doctor would never let me take a bath with so many things on my back.
Then I reunited with the team leader, Wildcat Gao Liu and the others came over, Yan Er's identity was exposed, and we were in a dead end. During this process, I had no chance or possibility to put on headphones.
It was not until the end of the first loop, when I returned to the tunnel, that I retrieved my backpack and used my headphones once. But then, the loop reset, and I was taken away by Gao Liu in a few minutes after I had just entered the tunnel for the second time, without any memory of what had happened before. Then we all reunited, broke free, and escaped.
The me who got out of trouble was the me who took off the headphones and put them in the backpack after resetting.
After that, various things happened one after another. Zhang Tianyi and I reunited briefly and lost contact again until we reconnected during a deep dive. I don't know when this headset appeared naturally.
When I think about it carefully, everything that happened after I entered the blue boulder was completely full of loopholes and could not stand up to scrutiny.
First, before entering the water, Zhang Tianyi told me that he put all his equipment into a backpack and placed it in a grass nest on the shore. At that time, he frequently entered the water and only had an old water jacket and a replacement oxygen bag.
So, how did he contact me?
Even if he might have brought a spare headset without telling me, he is not a member of our temporary team as a Maverick. How could he enter our team channel and contact me?
In all the incidents, the only two people who did not have headphones actually communicated and cooperated for a long time using headphones.
If the "woman opening the door" incident had not happened so suddenly, causing me to meet the tour guide and Zhou Tingmao by chance, when would I have discovered this incredibly absurd thing?
What makes me feel even more horrified is the question that must be faced:
If there is some kind of "wishes come true" power in this strange story, then how wide is the scope of this promised power and when does it start to take effect?
Was it the moment when I was anxious to meet up with Zhang Tianyi and Gao Liu, and Zhang Tianyi coincidentally rang the communication?
Or was it that I was immediately guided and discovered the deep-diving, moving boulder long before I had been searching for the blue boulder in vain and was afraid to get rid of the parasitic tree roots that were supplying oxygen to the back of my brain?
If everything can be fulfilled, even the subconscious wishes can be fulfilled, then where is Gao Liu? Why haven't I met her yet?
Have I paid the price for this wish come true? What is the price? Is it still in the incubation period, or have I been parasitized as well, but I just can't see it yet?
Thinking of this, looking at Zhou Tingmao in front of him and the three people in pajamas whose painting styles don't fit in, things become particularly subtle.
To be honest, I don’t consider myself a smart person and my brain is just barely adequate.
Single-threaded things are fine, but now it is clear that the tour guide and the couple have one perspective, the three people in pajamas have one perspective, and Zhou Tingmao has another perspective.
When I think about the three stories that need to be pieced together to understand what happened, and the different experiences of several people on my side, my head is overwhelmed. Not to mention that there is a little girl who is safe and sound, which is so normal that it is creepy.
No, that's not right. Something doesn't seem to make sense.
I had no idea what to think of the "mirror" that the towel message reminded me of. There were too many things that I could associate with it as a metaphor, so it seemed unreliable.
But new doubts arise:
The team leader knew that his handwriting was poor, so why did he leave a message? For example, when Wildcat was helping me mark the dense forest environment, his handwriting was very clear and easy to understand.
I don’t want to explain everything by saying “wishes come true”.
Firstly, it is too lazy and leaves no room for thinking or reasoning; secondly, this rule of granting whatever you ask for is too unsolvable, which makes me somewhat suspicious.
I thought about it and asked Zhou Tingmao, "Can you all understand your captain's bad handwriting?"
He was stunned, as if he was stunned by these words, and his face changed.
"I'm the only civilian in the team. Boss, you should have heard what the team leader said. Managing equipment, checking surveillance, and recording daily material consumption all require my signature and confirmation. So..."
So according to his understanding, this broken character seemed to be written specifically for Zhou Tingmao to see, and then he would read it to me.
It was deliberately written in a vague way, as if he was afraid that no one would understand it.
I thought it was strange, and the more I thought about it, the more I felt like there was something wrong. Did I do something wrong from the beginning?
I can understand that sometimes the transmission of information is deliberately encrypted. After all, in the pit, the information was filtered through layers before it reached me from Yan Er, and then to Gao Liu. But if that's the case, why must it go through Zhou Tingmao?
We've been through so much, wouldn't it be better if you could just encrypt the conversation with me using some of the unique words from the pit and the sentry box talks?
Did he want me to trust Zhou Tingmao temporarily? Or did he have to let Zhou Tingmao know something, or was it impossible to bypass him?
Doubts piled up one after another, and the fact that several people in front of him were parasitized became the smallest thing.
In this situation, how did Zhou Tingmao survive, return to the convoy, and then go to the pit with us?
Wait, I was suddenly stunned. Yes, Zhou Tingmao survived.
He asked Zhou Tingmao directly: "If I hadn't come, what would you have planned? Especially you, what would have been your plan?"
Zhou Tingmao was startled again, and shyly called out "Boss", and asked tentatively: "No, we can't do it without the boss's command?"
"..." I looked at him, hesitant to speak, and thought to myself that it would be best to kill this clam spirit here and put an end to it once and for all.
On the contrary, the female tour guide understood the situation and knew that Zhou Tingmao had the key clue, so she laughed.
She rolled up her sleeves and raised her slippers high again: "It's okay, I'll do it. I don't believe there is a problem in the world where people can't speak human language and can't be cured."
Zhou Tingmao was horrified and looked to me for help.
I sneered and echoed, "Yes, that's right. I'm asking you."
The tour guide looked at me with a smile, then turned around and continued to play the bad guy. The man surnamed Zhou was still talking nonsense, repeatedly asking the two ladies to spare his life.
...Wait a minute?
I felt like I was struck by lightning. I was suddenly awakened from the tangle of thoughts and got goose bumps all over my body.
"What did you call me?"
“——Oh, lady! Boss! Beauty!” Zhou Tingmao was suddenly enlightened and stood up straight.
My whole body stiffened, and the discomfort that always seemed to slip away finally got stuck.
I slapped my face hard in disbelief and asked the tour guide seriously, "Why did you only save me and the little girl when we were being chased by the giant female corpse?"
The tour guide in front of him, who was probably in his early thirties, was slightly startled. Like an older sister, she couldn't help but smile and said gently:
"There are only a few girls in the team. Rui Rui is held by me, and Xiao Liu is being held by her boyfriend. If I don't protect you, who should I protect?"
I turned my gaze to Zhou Tingmao again, and he asked me nervously what was wrong.
At this moment, I realized it too late. After I stood up straight, his eyes were still looking up when he spoke to me.
This is a detail that is usually difficult to notice.
Because when normal people communicate, their sight lines will naturally adjust so that they can look at the other person's eyes at eye level. Even if they are not good at socializing, their eyes will only make occasional contact, and at most they will move their eyes a little to the side or down.
But now looking closely, it was clear that he was speaking to the position above my head.
Who is he talking to?
Who am I in the eyes of Zhou Tingmao and the female tour guide?
I took a deep breath and, relying purely on my intuition, asked Zhou Tingmao again: "Just now I asked you if you knew Gao Liu and Wildcat, right?"
He didn't know why my expression suddenly became so stiff, and nodded in confusion.
"Be more specific." I couldn't help but ask, my heartbeat quickened a little, and my tone became stiff, "What do you mean by know? Met? Chatted? Met once or are you very familiar with each other?"
He was caught off guard by my series of questions, and nervously blurted out: "We are not from the same team. I have only heard of it."
“…”
That's right.
I suddenly felt like laughing, and I got goosebumps all over my body that wouldn't go away at all. Finally, it turned into an answer that finally made sense and was acceptable to me.
Yes, now at least one problem is solved.
Now, rewind to the moment you first enter the boulder.
From my perspective, Zhang Tianyi contacted me, asked "Xu Ranxing?" twice, and got in touch with me.
I didn't respond at the time, but instead changed the subject and asked him where he was.
Then he sighed.
Then, I asked him where Gao Liu was, and his answer became extremely vague. He just said that it was not far away, like squeezing toothpaste, not knowing what he was doing.
Later, when I called him brother and talked to him out of nervousness, he was always a beat slow to respond and didn't pay much attention to me.
It was not until I became suspicious of him and tried to test him, and he realized that I was in danger, that he called me Xu Ranxing again, as if to gain my trust.
I kept wondering if there was something wrong with him, and finally chose to believe him.
But I never doubted myself.
In fact, the earphones that appeared in my ears out of nowhere were not the power of my wish coming true. I should have had earphones anyway.
Among the three people in the water, one of them was wearing headphones the whole time. That person was Gao Liu.
"I" am a senior six student.
That way, the problem is solved.
The reason why I never doubted who I was was because I could remember the experience of falling into the trap almost vividly, with all the details.
Apart from Xu Ranxing, who else would know the whole story?
But I actually forgot that there is actually someone who knows everything better than Xu Ranxing.
Because of the cyclical resetting of the pit, "Xu Ranxing" only picked up everything he had experienced again through retelling later, and therefore did not face the impact and pollution of information directly.
Can be different in height.
Gao Liu did not forget. As the preserver and transmitter of information, Gao Liu was the one who experienced most things from beginning to end and remembered all the details entrusted to him.
Yes, this is not a sentry box or a pit. Names have no power here. How could I subconsciously accept it just because I was called Xu Ranxing a few times?
No, to be precise, I was stupid and misunderstood it from the beginning.
Zhang Tianyi's two calls of "Xu Ranxing" were meant to be looking for someone and to ask me something. But my answer undoubtedly surprised him.
But he came here to save people, he couldn't act rashly and put me in danger of "no life without a heart".
This provides a reasonable explanation for how I was able to get rid of the huge female corpse with the tour guide while fleeing for my life.
They were parasitized by the tree roots, and their physical strength was different from that of ordinary people. But I, Gao Liu, am a person with great skills and can heal myself.
So, although the cat in my hand kept hugging me tightly to vent its grievances, it kept biting me very anxiously, as if it didn't recognize me anymore.
——So, where is Xu Ranxing?
As the custodian of information, was I once again entrusted with some important information by him, but I even forgot it myself?
Why did "I" become a senior from the moment I entered Qingshi?
Why did the team leader use the word "Young Master" in his message? Did he think Xu Ranxing was also here?
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