Chapter 83 Shackles, Boundaries, What to Call Them Up, Down, Left...
When Fu Ze woke up again, it was already daytime.
Judging from his dry mouth and stiff muscles, this was likely a daytime event several days later.
Although he had woken up, he did not make any rash moves.
He lifted his eyelids slightly, creating an extremely narrow slit, and turned his eyes to survey his surroundings.
I am currently in a place similar to a stable, with a thick blanket embroidered with ethnic patterns under me and a high-end women's coat made of rabbit fur covering me.
It's a complete mess.
Just as Fu Ze pretended to turn over in his sleep, Deer Ears' voice rang out from above him: "You woke up a little earlier than I expected."
In the past, Fu Ze might have hesitated to consider whether the other party was trying to trick him.
But upon hearing the deer's voice, fragments of memories about the Clock Tower Square incident flooded his mind like a tidal wave.
The self on the rooftop, the self gliding on the water hose, the self sitting in the back seat of the aircraft, the self who deliberately missed the target by an inch during a sniper duel with Badger Tooth, the self who collapsed unconscious in the seashell.
And what brought these noisy fragments of memories to a close was Hara Mihoshi's silent reply.
The silence was like the quiet before a supernova is born, a silence akin to the buzzing of a tiny bee.
The next second, a torrent of complex emotions erupted, completely shattering Fu Ze's rationality.
He sat up calmly, looking in the direction of Deer Ear with an attitude of "what's the worst that can happen" and "let's see what new tricks you can come up with."
At this moment, Lu Er was standing on the second floor relative to Fu Ze, gently shaking a cup made of bamboo joints in his hand, leisurely looking down at Fu Ze from the open space.
They showed absolutely no awareness of their role as kidnappers.
During the recent large-scale movement, a strange rustling sound came from Fu Ze's wrist.
After confirming that Lu Er had no intention of greeting him, Fu Ze glanced at his wrist out of the corner of his eye.
There was a pair of shackles there.
Unlike common metal shackles, these shackles were hastily woven from dry straw and looked very fragile.
But these things, which should have been light and fragile, now weighed heavily on Fu Ze's wrist, even pressing a red mark onto his skin.
This counterintuitive contrast reminded Fu Ze of the floor tile in the Dragon Spine office that first became hard, then soft, then hard again, trapping him inside, and finally swallowing him up like a swamp.
This is clearly Deer Ears' [Key] ability.
In addition, several heavy chains made of hemp rope were used to fasten straw shackles to iron rings fixed to the wall for tethering livestock.
The classic three-piece imprisonment set.
“I can remove the shackles from you, but you have to promise not to run around,” Deer Ears offered.
Fu Ze remained silent at first, as if he was thinking about something, then nodded slightly to indicate that he agreed to the deal.
But what he was really thinking was: Not run? Only a fool wouldn't run.
However, on the other hand, Lu Er also seemed to have truly believed Fu Ze's promise.
She put down the bamboo cup in her hand and made a "picture frame" gesture with both hands towards the shackles on Fu Ze's wrists.
The very next second, Fu Ze sensed a rather familiar fluctuation.
At the same time, the shackles that had been weighing heavily on his wrists and the hemp rope chains linked to the wall became light, as if their nature had been restored.
Fu Ze tentatively tugged at it.
Sure enough, the shackles made of dry straw were easily torn into three pieces by him.
"Stay here for a while. The water is over there, please help yourself. I'll go get you something to eat." After saying this, Lu Er gracefully departed.
Hearing the sound of the other person's high heels clicking away until they disappeared, Fu Ze, after determining that the other person had really gone far away, immediately jumped out of the window and ran away.
After running a short distance along the path between the large and small wooden houses, he arrived at a place that resembled a central market with people coming and going.
The shop signs here are written in characters he doesn't recognize at all, and the people passing by are also speaking in languages he can't understand.
Lu Er did not change Fu Ze's clothes, so he was still wearing a set of equipment similar to a combat uniform.
It seemed out of place with the atmosphere of the whole town.
Avoiding the curious onlookers, Fu Ze quickly climbed to a high point to observe the situation.
He then discovered that the entire village was situated in a closed cliff, with only one opening to the south connecting it to the outside world.
Because it was unknown when Lu Er would discover his escape, Fu Ze had to act quickly.
After carefully noting down several important road turning points, Fu Ze began his escape.
However, just as he was about to reach the canyon exit, Deer Ears' voice came again: "You came by smell? Your nose is really sharp."
At the same time, Fu Ze felt his shoes suddenly become extremely heavy, almost sinking into the ground beneath his feet.
The sudden stillness of the shoes caused him to stumble as he hurried along, but the stiffening of the shoe uppers then firmly pulled him back to his correct position.
On the side of the road, a deer-eared creature sitting on a rattan stool, holding a large leaf and fanning a stove, looked over with a smile.
She clearly knew that Fu Ze would run away after the shackles were removed.
But she was also certain that Fu Ze couldn't escape.
So she simply sat down at the town's only exit and waited for Fu Ze to walk right into her trap.
Just then, the sound of food exploding came from the stove, and she immediately turned her attention back to it, using a fork to move the charcoal brazier under the stove away.
"For your main course, would you like to choose between roasted sweet potatoes and roasted sugarcane?"
Seeing that Fu Ze remained silent, Lu Er made the choice for him.
"I would recommend you choose roasted sweet potato, because I want to eat roasted sugarcane, but I also want to try a bite of roasted sweet potato."
Fu Ze, who was trapped in place by the shoes: ...Then do you still need to ask for my opinion?
Just after Lu Er served the two portions of food, she once again made that gesture resembling a picture frame to Fu Ze.
"Come on over, eat it while it's hot."
As she spoke, Fu Ze's shoes became soft again.
Knowing that he couldn't escape the woman's clutches for the time being, Fu Ze simply took the opportunity to sit on the stool opposite Lu Er and accepted the roasted sweet potato that had been broken off by her.
The sweet potato was just pulled out of the charred embers; its skin was charred, and some black crumbs would fall off when touched.
However, once the outer skin is peeled off, the fibrous pulp inside smells extremely sweet.
Stimulated by the temperature and smell of the roasted sweet potato, Fu Ze felt his stomach cramp, as if urging him to quickly stuff the food in his hand into his stomach.
Since things have come to this, let's eat first.
Even if we want to escape, we have to eat first.
Watching Fu Ze's actions, Lu Er handed over another plate of smoked meat salad and sighed, "It's so good to be young, you can eat and sleep so much."
Fu Ze: ...
If you hadn't given me that injection, I probably wouldn't be able to eat and sleep so well.
After stuffing most of the sweet potato down his throat, Fu Ze felt he had regained a lot of strength and his mind was clearer, so he took the initiative to ask, "So, what exactly is the purpose of bringing me to a place like this?"
"So that you can see two things," Deer Ears blinked. "We're short on time, so we'll set off after we finish eating."
-
Just as Lu Er had planned, after the meal she took Fu Ze on a pre-prepared sidecar motorcycle.
She rode the main body of the motorcycle, while Fu Ze sat in the sidecar, and the two of them drove harmoniously towards the distant jungle.
The deeper you go into the jungle, the fewer traces of human activity you find, until eventually even the paths trodden by wild animals disappear.
Along the way, Fu Ze had nothing to do, so he kept wondering what Lu Er was going to take him to see in this deep mountain forest.
Could it be some prehistoric site? Or perhaps a nature reserve?
But what does this have to do with me?
Just as he was racking his brains trying to figure it out, Deer Ears spun around and brought the sidecar motorcycle to a stop in front of a cliff.
She took off her helmet, shook her hair which had been flattened, and looked intently into the distance.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?"
Fu Ze looked in the direction of her gaze.
The sea of trees beneath their feet stretched outwards, its vibrant green seemingly erased by some force as it reached the distance, gradually fading until it finally blended perfectly with the gray-blue expanse of the horizon, like a giant curtain of emptiness.
There were no birds, no clouds, only an endless, still void that swallowed all colors and sounds.
Indeed, there is a kind of wabi-sabi beauty that evokes a sense of sorrow for all things.
But why would Deer Ears go through all that trouble just to bring me to see the scenery?
Then, Deer Ears coaxed, "Come and stretch out your hand."
Following the deer's movements, Fu Ze reached out his hand...
Then he touched something solid.
?
Fu Ze was somewhat taken aback, and before Lu Er could give any further hints, he incredulously reached out his other hand and received the same sensation.
But there was clearly nothing in the area I could see.
Before Lu Er could explain, he took the initiative to lean to the side a few times.
The thing still existed, and it continued to spread outwards without any sign of disappearing.
"I've tried it, whether it's up or down, left or right, it's always there."
After hearing Lu Er's explanation, Fu Ze's pupils trembled slightly.
In other words, deep within this jungle, there actually stands a transparent wall that reaches to the sky?
Suddenly, another chilling thought occurred to him—
Which side is the inside of the wall?
It's the other side...
still……
“It’s us who are locked up,” Deer Ear replied. “Before I touched it with my own hands, I also found it hard to imagine that this world has boundaries.”
As she spoke, she suddenly pulled a small knife from her calf and stabbed it forward with force.
After advancing a certain distance, the sharp blade seemed to have pierced something extremely smooth, sliding down without a sound or spark.
Not satisfied with that, Deer Ear pulled out another gun and fired three shots in front of him.
Although the bullet traveled with great force, it came to a stop and fell down instantly after hitting the boundary.
But when they landed on the ground, they didn't deform at all, completely defying any physical rules.
After two sets of movements, Deer Ears' breathing became a little unsteady: "And it's such an indestructible boundary."
"What exactly has boundaries?"
"What on earth would require such an indestructible boundary?"
She asked questions and answered them on her own.
"Protecting the outer arena? Protecting the inner fish tank? Or... the prison for prisoners?"
These speculations, one after another, made Fu Ze's scalp tingle.
However, it's clear that Lu Er had no hope of getting an answer from Fu Ze.
“This is the first thing I want to show you.” She carefully put away the knife and gun. “As for the second thing…”
Before Lu Er could finish speaking, another voice that Fu Ze recognized rang out: "Teacher, do you want me to admit that I am a thing, or do you want me to deny that I am not a thing?"
At the same time, a rather dashing figure leaped down from a giant tree beside them and landed lightly in front of the two.
It is a sparrow feather.
"Hehe, I've brought the person to you." Deer Ears chuckled. "Goodbye."
"Goodbye." Que Ling nodded.
Although they said goodbye, Lu Er did not move, his gaze remaining fixed on Que Ling.
This hesitant and indecisive behavior was completely different from her previous decisive style of picking out staple food for Fu Ze on her own initiative.
After a while, Que Ling took the initiative to wave her hand to "drive away" Lu Er, saying, "I mean it, we'll meet again."
Once the deer ears disappeared from the path they came from, Fu Ze raised his hand and pinched between his eyes, saying helplessly, "Didn't they say that Que Ling and Kangming Group had absolutely no connection? It seems that even the Adjudication Bureau can make mistakes in its intelligence."
Perhaps he was exposed to too many disruptive news in a short period of time, so much so that the matter of Que Ling was not even worth mentioning.
"Que Ling is Que Ling, and I am me," Que Ling replied immediately.
Fu Ze suddenly opened his eyes and stared straight at Que Ling.
The other person still had a faint scar on their neck.
Clearly, this person is the same Sparrow Feather who was kidnapped by Franka on the rooftop; the person hasn't been replaced.
Accepting Fu Ze's scrutiny without flinching, Que Ling spread her hands and said, "What? You think it's okay for officials to set fires but not for ordinary people to light lamps?"
The implication is, are you only willing to accept Yuan Jianxing playing a "switcheroo" game?
"Of course, this analogy isn't quite accurate." Que Ling chuckled self-deprecatingly. "Because the two of them are only temporarily replacing each other. Once things are over, they will each return to their own lives. But I've been Que Ling for many, many years now."
"If it weren't for Mr. Deer Ear, I might have even forgotten my own name."
Upon hearing what Que Ling said, Fu Ze was unexpectedly overcome with a sense of sympathy.
If Que Ling is focusing on quality when it comes to impersonating others, then he is focusing on quantity.
However, I was slightly luckier than Que Ling; I always remembered my name...
"Since we've brought up names..." Que Ling sat on the ground, completely without any celebrity airs or demeanor, "How should I address you?"
Fu Ze actually found this question a bit strange. Since Que Ling could get Lu Er to bring him to this desolate border of the world, how could she not know his identity?
In the past, Fu Ze would probably have answered immediately – “Fu Ze”.
But now, the name "Fu Ze" is highly bound to another body.
For some reason, he did not want anyone to replace his body.
However, before Fu Ze could come up with a suitable answer, Que Ling continued speaking on her own:
"Bogdan? Wan Chuanqiu? Or perhaps an earlier name?"
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