Interlude 13 of Chapter 188: Going Home.
Nanmen Jue stood at the door for a while, until someone noticed her and seemed to be approaching, before she stepped into the room and closed the door.
Inside the door, she and the little girl stared at each other. She silently observed, while the little girl's eyes were empty, reflecting nothing.
"What are you daydreaming about? It's not like this is the first time you've seen a puppet." Yu Wanyan's voice was chattering in her head, she wasn't lonely at all. "Hey, why aren't you saying anything? Why are you trying to act so profound like Nanmen Jue at such a young age, or are you going crazy with joy at seeing another version of yourself?"
The second half of her sentence was directed at Zhang Zhi. Nanmen Jue used the same method he used on Zhang Zhi to turn Yu Wanyan into Zhang Zhi's neighbor.
Originally, when she was in Nanmen Jue's sea of consciousness, Zhang Zhi was afraid that she would affect Nanmen Jue, so she was usually in a deep sleep. But since Yu Wanyan came in, she was worried that Yu Wanyan would do something bad to Nanmen Jue, so she stopped sleeping and kept an eye on her at all times.
Yu Wanyan was sharp-tongued, constantly criticizing this person and that person, and Zhang Zhi rarely talked back. But now, faced with this issue, she could no longer remain silent.
“Ah…” Zhang Zhi said.
"That's it?" Yu Wanyan was very dissatisfied. "It'll be revived soon, and this is your reaction?"
Zhang Zhi whispered, "Even if you killed me, am I supposed to thank you?"
Yu Wanyan was furious: "You..."
The two women started arguing. Nanmen Jue's gaze swept past "Zhang Zhi" and turned to the room.
Surprisingly, it was a living room that looked quite normal, except for the excessive princess-style elements that made it look like a room in a medieval castle, rather than the laboratory she had imagined, like the one for a research fanatic.
"I just made this request to you in the previous world. How did you prepare Zhang Zhi's body?" Nanmen Jue interrupted the two girls' argument.
If you were to say that Yu Wanyan felt guilty after killing Zhang Zhi and prepared a body in advance to bring Zhang Zhi back to life, she would never believe it.
She had a guess in her mind, and Yu Wanyan immediately confirmed it.
"I can communicate with my puppet and issue commands remotely, so it doesn't matter even if I enter the cycle of reincarnation," Yu Wanyan said smugly.
Nanmen Jue increasingly understood how Yu Wanyan, an underage girl, could thrive in the reincarnation space. She might not be the strongest, but when it came to survival, no one could surpass her.
“Didn’t you want two bodies back then? But I’ve never seen the other one, and I don’t know what to make it like, so I could only make this one first,” Yu Wanyan said. “Making a puppet from scratch is very troublesome. I usually just kill people and use them directly. To make a puppet like this, it would be good if I could make one out of three! If you hadn’t asked for it, I wouldn’t have bothered with this.”
Nanmen Jue said, "If you want to, you can be resurrected, right?"
Yu Wanyan, who had been so smug and cheerful just moments before, suddenly fell silent.
Nanmen Jue took two steps in the room before Yu Wanyan's voice rang out again, this time becoming extremely harsh.
"You think someone like me would never actually die for you? I dare to do this because I've left myself a way out, right?"
Nanmen Jue hadn't expected that a casual question would lead Yu Wanyan to this point, and she fell silent.
Yu Wanyan became increasingly aggrieved as she spoke, shouting in Nanmen Jue's mind, "Nanmen Jue, you're a bastard! Whether I can be resurrected or not is up to you, isn't it? The right to use that item is yours. If you hadn't used it, I would have already been reincarnated! If I had used that item, I would have become a wild ghost bound to you. How could I be resurrected? I, you, you are the ultimate, invincible, and utterly despicable bastard! Let me tell you, even if I could be resurrected, I wouldn't live. You have to remember the debt of saving you for the rest of your life!"
After a long silence, Nanmen Jue said, "I'm sorry, I forgot. I didn't think that way."
"Heaven is watching what people do, don't deny it... huh?" Yu Wanyan didn't expect Nanmen Jue to apologize to her. She was so shocked that she fell silent.
Standing in the princess-style room, Nanmen Jue's cold and austere aura was completely out of place. Seeing her staring at a certain point in the room with her gaze unfocused, Yu Wanyan's pent-up grievances and anger vanished.
“…Just remember that.” Yu Wanyan said, “This body is almost ready. The child can go in anytime. Get her out of here quickly. I need to be alone with you.”
Zhang Zhi always kept quiet in such situations; she was used to others arranging her fate.
Nanmen Jue said, "Zhang Zhi, do you want to enter this body?"
Zhang Zhi was stunned.
“If you don’t enter this body, your soul will be bound to me forever. When I die, you will automatically break free, just like in the Ghost Realm of the previous world. As for what will happen after you break free, it depends on the rules of that world. Like in the previous world, you would become a monster.” Nanmen Jue said patiently. “If you enter this body, you will be able to deceive the rules of any world and be recognized as a living person, except in the Reincarnation Space.”
"What am I here?" Zhang Zhi asked softly.
“It’s a prop,” Nanmen Jue said. “Yu Wanyan is dead. She transferred her system space to me, so you will become my prop in name only.”
“It’s only in name. My puppet and I have no distance restrictions, as I said before,” Yu Wanyan interjected. “Once it comes to life, you should get as far away as possible and not disturb my time with Nanmen Jue.”
“Don’t worry about what she says,” Nanmen Jue said. “Whether you are in a spirit state or a physical state, as long as I am alive, I will not ignore you.”
"Hey Nanmen Jue! Don't you have any conscience?" Yu Wanyan said angrily. "This little girl hasn't even been officially resurrected yet! Be careful, or I might not tell you how to transfer your soul if I get upset!"
She was just saying it casually; she couldn't wait for Zhang Zhi to get out of Nanmen Jue's head so she could have Nanmen Jue all to herself, so Nanmen Jue completely ignored her.
Zhang Zhi didn't hesitate for long. "I want to enter this body."
"Have you thought it through?" Nanmen Jue asked.
"Yes, I've made up my mind," Zhang Zhi said firmly. "But if I do this, there's only so much I can do to help you. With a body, at least I can do more things."
Nanmen Jue was speechless for a moment, then said, "You don't need to consider this."
"I understand," Zhang Zhi smiled. "This is my own decision; I want to be resurrected!"
This was Zhang Zhi's own decision. After checking that there was nothing wrong with the body, Nanmen Jue began to peel away Zhang Zhi's soul as instructed by Yu Wanyan.
As for He Ting's body, Yu Wanyan said that a portrait could be drawn so she could see what he looked like, and then she could instruct Nanmen Jue to do it.
“It’s very simple, anyone with hands can do it,” Yu Wanyan said.
Before Nanmen Jue entered her workshop and saw those huge and complex finished and semi-finished machines, she actually believed that statement.
The fusion of soul and body takes several days, so Nanmen Jue left Zhang Zhi in Yu Wanyan's room and returned directly to the real world.
She left her home, and now she's back, still in her own living room.
In the familiar surroundings, memories of the past rushed back, leaving Nanmen Jue stunned and unable to recover for a long time.
Her feelings before leaving and after returning were completely different.
At that time, she still held onto a naive fantasy, wishfully believing that Nanmen Yu must still be alive, trapped somewhere waiting for her to rescue him. Perhaps deep down she had considered the worst possible outcome, but she had to find him alive or dead, and people always need a reason to live.
Now, she can't even have fantasies anymore.
Nanmen Jue raised her head in a daze and looked at the house where she grew up. There used to be four people here, but now, only she was left. She suddenly felt that the house was frighteningly empty and frighteningly cold.
Her mind was blank; it was as if many images were flashing through her mind, but she didn't look at any of them closely.
The fact has already happened, but her brain is still refusing to accept it; everything feels unreal to her now.
Suddenly, an unusual brightness shone through the window. Nanmen Jue walked over and thought for a long time before realizing that it was snowing.
Large snowflakes fell from the sky, landing on the windowsill and melting in Nanmen Jue's lifeless eyes.
This is the first snowfall of the year in the real world. It turns out it's already winter. No wonder it's so cold.
Nanmen Jue stood by the window as snow gradually piled up on the ground, turning the world into a pure white expanse.
Suddenly, a scream rang out, and a little girl, bundled up like a ball, skipped and hopped into the snow, joyfully shouting, "Daddy! Mommy! Sister! Come quick!"
A loud child's voice pierced the night, and soon a young girl's voice rang out: "Don't shout, don't other people need to rest?"
Three adult figures approached the little girl, and her voice trailed off, becoming inaudible as to what they were saying. However, sporadic bursts of laughter still drifted up from below.
The little girl, with one hand on each side, skipped and hopped along with her family.
They might be going out for dinner, or going for a drive, or visiting their grandmother or maternal grandmother. Today might be Saturday, and after they've had a wonderful evening, the family will still be together when they wake up the next day.
Nanmen Jue was so engrossed in watching that he didn't even hear Yu Wanyan speak.
“Hey, I’m talking to you!” Yu Wanyan said.
Nanmen Jue casually hummed in response through his nose.
Yu Wanyan said, "You..."
She started to speak, but then fell silent.
Nanmen Jue didn't urge them. The two stayed quietly for a while. Yu Wanyan said, "My parents treat me like a monster. I don't really understand what family affection feels like. To be honest, I'm very angry to see you like this. If I had a body right now, I would have already slapped you. But then I think, it's probably because you're sometimes so clumsy that I cherish you so much. If I only liked your face, I would just peel off your skin and store it."
Her sweet and beautiful voice always said some very scary things, but this did not frighten Nanmen Jue, who listened to it expressionlessly.
"It's strange, I hate it when people show their vulnerable side, but seeing you like this, I just want to hug you." Yu Wanyan sighed, "Don't look so gloomy. Didn't you want to get revenge on that snake? What are you going to do about it?"
Nanmen Jue stirred and said, "If I want to fight the main god, I'm not enough on my own."
Before Yu Wanyan could speak again, a flapping sound came from outside the window. Nanmen Jue looked up and saw a black crow appear under the blue sky, flapping its wings and landing in front of Nanmen Jue's window.
The crow raised its head, its beady black eyes revealing human-like emotions. It raised its front claws and tapped twice on the window.
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Author's note: It seems like it's almost finished.
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