Chapter 77077 The Last Remnant Soul
Wu You said, my body is in the back mountain.
It’s kind of creepy when you think about it.
Because of a corpse and an obsession, an illusion connecting the future and the past was created. Even novels dare not write like this.
"Then let's go to the back mountain now!" Little Lotus said, and then he took my hand and started to climb out the window. He looked even more anxious than I was.
I gently placed my hand on the back of his, stopping his movements. The moment our fingertips touched, he turned back as if sensing something.
"Ayu..." He lowered his brows and his voice became deeper, "But what are your concerns?"
I looked at him, and that moment of hesitation finally turned into a plea: "Nezha, I haven't seen my mother for a long time."
This was the first time I called him Nezha. Perhaps I had called him that before, but that was so long ago. Little Lotus seemed to have become his nickname, but I couldn't forget that his real name was Nezha.
His eyes softened, and his clenched hands loosened slightly, turning into a more gentle grip.
"I know."
"I'll wait for you."
If my body is found, does that mean I'm done with this fantasy? But I haven't seen my mother in a long, long time.
So, let me stay a little longer.
…
The next day, I saw Wu You as I was leaving the house. She looked haggard, clearly having not slept well that night. She gave me a forced smile when she saw me.
"Ayu..." She hesitated to speak, and looked at me with such a melancholy look.
I took a deep breath and said to her, "Let's go to school together, Ayou."
Perhaps it was because I knew I was about to escape this illusion, but this remembered path to school seemed to be coated with a strange and gentle sheen overnight. Every ordinary detail was magnified, becoming vivid and precious.
Passing by a breakfast stall, the aroma of fried dough wafted through the air. The woman with the booming voice deftly flipped golden dough sticks. "Classmates, the same as usual?" she called out to us out of habit. I smiled and nodded. Although I couldn't taste it anymore, I still bought two and handed one to Ah You. She took it, taking small bites, the heat blurring her drooping eyelashes.
Sunlight filtered through the cracks in the camphor tree leaves, casting flickering spots of light on us. A few younger boys, chasing and playing, whizzed past us, their backpacks slapping against their backs with a soft puff, the wind they stirred filled with boundless energy.
The owner of the corner bookstore was displaying newly arrived novels, their covers either fresh or classic. Ah You's gaze lingered on them for a second, and I said with emotion, "Ah You, I really look forward to the day when your novel can be displayed there, too."
It's a pity that I didn't have the chance to see it.
But think about it, as long as you can keep living, what can you not see? It's just that by then... things and people will have changed.
Everything was glittering, bustling, vibrant. Every inch of this road was filled with a sense of being alive that I had long ignored. I had never noticed it before, but now I watched and listened greedily, trying to etch this bustling warmth into a memory that would soon return to eternal silence.
Ah You walked quietly beside me, her silence heavier than usual. But she held my arm tightly, as if if she let go, I would disappear like a colorful bubble in the sun. And wasn't I the same?
We walked slowly like this, through this bright and gentle morning that seemed to be stretched out.
When I reached the school gate, I saw Nezha, waved to him, then let go of Ayou's hand and ran towards him.
I looked back at Ah You. She seemed to be crying, but also laughing. Finally, she wiped her tears and walked into the school.
…
I asked my homeroom teacher for three days off. She approved it without a second thought, showing none of the sense of crisis you'd expect from a college entrance exam candidate. Perhaps after I realized I was an extra person in Class 3, my homeroom teacher's memory of me began to fade, until it finally became a blank.
That being said, it doesn’t matter if I don’t ask for leave.
For the next three days, I stayed with my mother. She wasn't surprised I'd taken time off to spend time with her. I'd wanted to travel with her, but it was too tiring. And I wasn't sure if there were any other options in this environment.
Just spending three days in peace like this is enough for me.
I went to the market with my mother early in the morning, listening to her chatter about the little things going on in the streets. The market was really cheap, and we bought a lot of things. At noon, she and I cooked together. I'm not a very good cook, but I made good pasta. My mother tasted it and said it was better than B&Q's—though I don't think B&Q's pasta is that good either.
After lunch, I watched TV with her. She knitted a sweater while watching TV, saying that she would finish it when winter came. I looked at the sweater with only half the sleeves, and tears flowed again.
This is how ordinary people's lives are, no big ups and downs, three meals a day, four seasons a year.
On the third evening, my mother suddenly stopped knitting in the setting sun and whispered, "Ayu, you know what? I dreamed the other day that you were standing in the distance, waving to me, as if you were about to go on a long journey."
My heart tightened, but I saw her kind smile: "After waking up, I found out that you disappeared in Qianyuan Mountain. Later, you were found and the dream disappeared. But these days, I have had the dream again..."
I snuggled up to her, resting my head on her lap, just like when we were little. She gently stroked my hair and hummed that familiar nursery rhyme. The setting sun stretched our shadows so long that it felt like this moment could last forever.
"Mom, if I turned into a little carp, swimming around in the pond, chewing lotus stems and eating lotus seeds, would you still recognize me?"
"Yes, yes... You are my Ah Yu, how could I not recognize you..."
On that final night, I said goodbye to my mother. When she saw me return to my room, she turned off the lights. I opened the window after hearing the door close. Nezha's hand reached in from outside. I took a deep breath and held it tightly.
"Let's go."
But we had just taken a few steps when we saw a person standing under the street light.
It’s Ayou.
"I'll go with you." There was a pleading tone in her voice.
…
The three of us walked through the night toward the lush, rarely visited hills behind the school. Ah You remained silent, her fingers cold as she gripped my hand tightly, as if I were the only piece of driftwood she could cling to.
Nezha was leading the way. It was obviously his first time here, but he was able to move as if he were in an empty place?
The mountain path was rugged, the shade thick, fragmenting the moonlight. The scent of earth and rotting leaves mingled, bringing a chill. With each step deeper, the invisible heaviness in the air grew thicker.
Just as we were struggling to push aside a layer of tangled vines, a burst of laughter suddenly came from the distance.
In the silent forest, it looks particularly eerie.
Students in school uniforms walked past us.
He is a student from Class 2.
I paused. Seeing their vivid figures, the featureless faces on the bus flashed through my mind again.
[Ayu, why aren't you here?]
And now, I am here.
A thought suddenly crossed my mind: join them.
"Nezha, Ayou," I whispered to them, "Wait here for me."
"Ayu?" Ayou looked at me in panic, his eyes filled with tears and rejection.
From the first time I met Ah You in this environment until now, Ah You was only happy on the first day. After that, she always had a subtle sense of worry.
But I had already let go of her hand and was walking towards the group of classmates in the moonlight. My shirt had changed into the same school uniform as theirs, and my smile, practiced a thousand times, was natural and friendly.
"Hey, what are you doing?" I asked loudly, and my voice was so relaxed that it surprised myself.
It was quite strange to have a party in the deep woods in the middle of the night.
They turned around and saw me, with familiar, unclouded smiles on their faces.
"Ayu? Why are you here too? Come and help me check which mushrooms are poisonous?"
There were no questions, no surprises. In this fantasy world, my presence felt completely natural. I blended in with them, chatting and laughing, naturally moving in the direction Ah You had hinted at. Unaware of my intentions, my classmates followed me, discussing classes and outings.
We came to a low, shady spot where the trees were particularly dense and the temperature seemed several degrees lower. The laughter gradually died down.
"Hey, what's that smell?" A classmate wrinkled his nose.
A faint, indescribable smell of corruption wafted in the air.
My heartbeat quickened, and a cold resonance resonated from the depths of my soul. I pushed aside the last of the dense bushes.
It's right there.
Huddled among the dead leaves and dirt, wearing the same school uniform as mine, the body that once belonged to me now lay there quietly and soundlessly, in a stiff, unnatural position. Its skin was a grayish, lifeless gray, its details unrecognizable.
Time seemed to stand still again.
The classmates around me burst into screams of terror and chaos broke out in an instant. Some staggered back, and some collapsed to the ground in fear.
And I just stood there quietly.
There was no fear, no nausea, not even sadness. Just a vast, empty calm.
I finally found it.
The moment my gaze fixed on the corpse, I felt a sudden, burning pain on the inside of my wrist. I looked down and saw the last of the scales on my wrist clearly emerging. Like a clover, it came alive on my wrist, emitting a cold light.
At the same time, I felt an extremely faint yet extremely familiar cold breath emanating from the lying body. As if being pulled by an invisible force, it slowly flowed towards me and finally sank silently into my chest.
The last remaining soul has returned.
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