Extra Chapter: A Fake Worldline (First Update)
The gates of Bufengshan Mental Hospital were finally opened.
Yu Sheng wrapped her coat tighter around herself.
The wind rustled past his feet. He stood at the boundary between inside and outside the door, hesitating to take a step. Ten years of isolation had made even the changing seasons a blurry concept.
"Is it winter?" Yu Sheng asked, her voice so soft it was as if she were afraid of startling something. "It's so cold."
Yu Huaihan took his hand, which was so thin it was just skin and bones, and it trembled slightly. His throat felt like it was blocked by something, and he choked for a long time without being able to utter a single word.
She gripped her brother's hand tightly; his wrist was so thin that he dared not exert any force, as if it would break if he did.
Lan, who was walking on the other side, reached out and smoothed Yu Sheng's long, white hair that had been ruffled by the wind. "Hmm, it's winter now, it won't be cold when we get home."
Yu Huaihan could no longer hold back. She turned her head away, and tears streamed down her face, falling onto the grass sprouting from the cracks in the paving stones.
Spring buds are always so full of vitality, but it seems that Yu Sheng will never have spring.
Ten years have passed. Lu Chenyang has been dead for ten years, and Yu Sheng has been locked up in this mental hospital for ten years, and has been insane for ten years.
The moment Lu Chenyang was pronounced dead by the doctor after all efforts to save him failed, Yu Sheng also died completely.
Also taken away by Yu Sheng were Yu Zhengcheng, Yang Tieshuan, and Chen Yi.
When that revenge occurred, Yu Sheng's soul had already gone with Lu Chenyang, leaving behind only a body driven mad by grief.
Because Yu Sheng was in a severe mental breakdown when he committed the crime, and Yu Zhengcheng's immediate family member Yu Huaihan issued a letter of understanding that he would not be held responsible or prosecuted, the court was able to give a lenient sentence.
However, there was more than one "victim." Ultimately, through the joint efforts of the Lan and Yu families, Yu Sheng was sentenced to ten years in prison. Because her condition was too severe and she lacked the capacity for independent action, she was confined to the Bufengshan Mental Hospital.
During the first year of his imprisonment, the hospital did not allow family visits because the patient posed a serious risk of suicide and harming others.
Later, Lan asked the doctor to pass on Lu Chenyang's clothes and recordings to Yu Sheng, which led to his recovery.
But while the violence has ceased, suicides continue to occur.
Once, twice, three times, countless times.
The doctors had no choice but to put restraints on Yu Sheng, strapping her to the bed and keeping her alive through a tube for liquid food and nutrition.
The drainage tube cannot be inserted into his mouth; Yu Sheng will bite it off. He wants to die and will use any means necessary.
If your mouth doesn't work, use your nose. The feeling of it entering through your trachea is indescribable; it's like a snake being squeezed into your narrow nasal cavity, wet, sticky, and wriggling back and forth.
The nurse pressed his head down, and the doctor said, "This is for your own good, to save your life."
But I don't want to live! What should I do? Can I just die?
Yu Huaihan finally held back her tears, turned around and adjusted Yu Sheng's sunglasses, which were about to slip down.
The sunlight was too intense; Yu Sheng's eyes couldn't take it.
Prolonged tearing caused his optic nerve to gradually atrophy, and now he only has a little light perception left. The world appears as a blurry mix of light and dark to him.
Yes, Yu Sheng went blind.
The two eyes could only see a tiny bit of light, but only a tiny bit. That tiny bit of light was not enough to form a shape, not enough to make out a face; it was like looking at a distant lamp through frosted glass.
"Going home, Ah Sheng?" Lan asked softly.
He was afraid of upsetting Yu Sheng, afraid that any word might trigger the nerve that had been taut for ten years. So today, only the two of them came to pick up Yu Sheng; even Lan Zhong, who had been making a fuss about coming, was kept at home by him.
In the past ten years, Yu Sheng has only been lucid a handful of times.
Most of the time, he was either tied up or huddled alone in a nest made of Lu Chenyang's clothes, smelling the faint scent of that person that had almost disappeared, and listening to the lullaby that Lu Chenyang had sung for him before his death, recorded on a recorder.
Yu Sheng would try everything to commit suicide, but he would never destroy Lu Chenyang's belongings. So the doctor let him do as he pleased; those old clothes and that recording pen became his only lifeline in this living hell.
"I'm not going back." His voice was hoarse, as if it had been sanded. His voice had long lost its former clarity, leaving only a heavy, sluggish quality. "I'll go see him."
Who this "he" is is self-evident.
Lan Yi and Yu Huaihan exchanged a glance. They should have known that the first thing Yu Sheng would do after leaving would be to go find Lu Chenyang.
For the past ten years, Yu Sheng's only reason for living was probably to wait for this day—to go see him, and then to meet him.
The car drove along a suburban highway, the scenery outside the window gradually changing from towering buildings to desolate landscapes, and finally entered a quiet mountain forest, stopping in front of a cemetery.
Yu Huaihan got out of the car first and tried to help him, but Yu Sheng gently pushed him away. He groped for the car door handle and slowly got out of the car.
The moment his feet touched the ground, he swayed slightly. It had been too long since he had walked such a long distance, too long since he had stood in such an open space.
Lan Yi handed him a white cane, but he shook his head.
He remembered the road. He had spent ten years in a mental hospital, but this road had been in his mind for ten years. He had repeatedly sketched every turn, every slope, during countless sleepless nights.
Ten years have passed. The layout here may have changed, but he remembered that Lu Chenyang's tombstone was in the innermost row, leaning against an old pine tree. He had personally chosen that spot. Lu Chenyang said that pine trees are evergreen, just like love never dies.
He walked very slowly, taking each step carefully.
He didn't let anyone follow him because he wanted to whisper something to Lu Chenyang, and he didn't take his white cane because he didn't want Lu Chenyang to know he was blind. In his imagination, Lu Chenyang should still look like he did ten years ago: handsome, tall, and with bright eyes when he smiled.
Finally, he stopped under the pine tree. The air was filled with the scent of pine needles and earth, along with a faint hint of cologne.
Was it just his imagination? Or had Lu Chenyang really come to see him?
Yu Sheng took a deep breath, but the scent disappeared again.
"Lu Chenyang." Yu Sheng squatted down, slightly out of breath. He hadn't walked this far in a long time, and his lungs felt like a leaky bellows, each breath coming in a hoarse sound.
His fingertips trembled as he touched the stone tablet.
The stone tablet is inscribed with "Tomb of my deceased husband Lu Chenyang" and on the right side it is inscribed "Respectfully erected by my husband Yu Sheng".
His fingers slowly traced the strokes of the name, as if he were tracing the outline of his lover.
“I’ve come to see you,” he said, his voice so soft it was almost carried away by the wind.
Ten years in prison, ten years of madness—he thought he had long forgotten how to cry. But now, warm tears still welled up in his dry eyes, sliding down his face and hitting the ground. The tears were scalding hot, burning his cheeks.
"Are they blaming me for coming so late? They said I killed someone, that I'm crazy, and that they're going to lock me up." Yu Sheng murmured softly, her voice filled with childlike grievance. "But I'm not crazy. I just wanted to avenge you, I wanted to see you. I missed you so much."
The wind grew stronger, lashing against his thin frame. He seemed oblivious, simply squatting before the tombstone, rambling on about his experiences over the past ten years.
He said the food at the mental hospital was terrible, that the restraints made his shoulders ache, that he slept with his clothes in his arms every day, and that he often dreamed of him. He dreamed that he was smiling and saying "the danger is over," that they were acting together in their old house in Changchun, and that he had a gentle look in his eyes when he played the piano.
“I can’t see anymore,” he choked out, “I can never see your face again. But it’s okay, I remember, I remember your smile, I remember your anger, I remember how you hugged me.”
"I was forced to take too many medications, and my mind isn't very good, but as long as it's you, I remember everything. I remember everything."
He pulled a small voice recorder from his pocket; it was given to him by Lan Yi, and it contained the song "The Little Insects Fly".
He pressed play, and the familiar melody flowed out slowly, deep and gentle, as if Lu Chenyang were sitting beside him, humming softly to lull him to sleep.
"You said you'd be my knight in shining armor, that you'd lead me out of the darkness." He leaned against the tombstone, as if resting on a lover's shoulder. "But why did you break your promise and leave me all alone?"
His voice grew lower and softer until it turned into a faint sob.
Lan Yi and Yu Huaihan stood not far away, watching that frail figure, their hearts aching with unbearable pain, yet they dared not approach to disturb him. They knew that this was the moment Yu Sheng had waited ten years for, a time for him and Lu Chenyang to be alone together.
After an unknown amount of time, the recorder's battery ran out, and the melody abruptly stopped.
Yu Sheng raised his head, his empty gaze fixed on the sky. He could only see a faint ray of light, like Lu Chenyang's gentle gaze. The halo of light spread before his eyes, blurring the boundary between heaven and earth.
"I'm so tired, Chenyang," he said softly, his tone eerily calm. "For the past ten years, I've thought about you every single day, waiting for this day every day. Now I'm here, and we can be together forever."
Yu Sheng knew that Lan Yi and Yu Huaihan were watching him from not far away. He also knew that many people were supposed to come to pick him up today, but fearing that he would be agitated, only these two calmest people attended. They were rational, restrained, and would be the first to rush up and stop him if he did anything extreme.
So Yu Sheng hid himself in the shadow of the tombstone to make sure that Lan Yi and Yu Huaihan couldn't see his movements.
Then he stretched out his wrist. It was so thin that the bone was right under the skin, and the bluish veins were clearly visible.
He put his wrist between his teeth and bit down hard.
The first time, my skin broke, and the taste of blood filled my mouth.
He tore and bit, and tore and tore... until the blood vessel finally broke.
There was no excruciating pain as she had imagined, only the sensation of warm liquid flowing out. Yu Sheng even felt a strange calm, as if this body was finally about to complete its final mission.
“They won’t let me die, but all I want is to be with you.” He smiled, his mouth full of blood, his smile carrying a sense of relief and warmth. “Wait for me, I’ll be right there.”
Blood gushed out, and as he raised his hand to touch Lu Chenyang's photograph again, it stained the tombstone red. The red stood out starkly against the gray stone, like a flower suddenly blooming.
"Did you feel the same way back then?" he asked softly.
Yu Sheng's fingers traced the inscription on the monument once more, finally stopping on the small porcelain portrait photograph.
Although all he could see was a blurry halo, he remembered every detail of that face: the slightly upturned corners of his mouth, the straight nose, and those eyes that always held tenderness.
"I want to kiss you," he whispered, his voice as soft as if afraid to disturb a dream. "Let me kiss you, okay?"
He slowly bent down, his movements deliberate and solemn, as if performing a sacred ritual. His blood-stained lips were imprinted on the photograph.
Yu Sheng closed her eyes.
It was a long and quiet kiss.
There was no sound, only the rustling of pine needles in the wind and his own increasingly uncontrollable heartbeat. He greedily absorbed the cold touch, as if he could touch the soul of another world through this lifeless porcelain statue.
Tears welled up silently, mingling with the bright red blood at the corner of his mouth, and fell onto the stone tablet.
“Chenyang…” he murmured between kisses, his breath brushing against the cold stone tablet, “I’m here… this time, I’m really here.”
He leaned against the tombstone, feeling life slip away bit by bit. He seemed to be hallucinating; Lu Chenyang was walking towards him, wearing his familiar police uniform, his smile still gentle, reaching out his hand: "Ah Sheng, I've come to take you home."
“Chenyang…” He reached out, wanting to grasp that familiar warmth, “Take me away, I miss you so much…”
The sound grew weaker and weaker, the body gradually lost strength, and finally slid to the ground.
Blood spread from her wrist, soaking the soil, like a blooming poppy, alluring yet desperate.
The wind is still blowing, the pine needles are still rustling, and the world keeps turning.
But Yu Sheng was no longer cold.
He finally reached Lu Chenyang's side.
The pine trees swayed gently in the wind, as if nodding, as if saying goodbye, or as if witnessing a reunion that had been long overdue.
Spring has truly arrived, and Yu Sheng will no longer feel the cold.
Never again.
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[Fake, fake, fake! This timeline doesn't exist.]
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