Chapter 45: Hospice: The dead savior, the fallen prophet…
Li Ming was yawning due to his sleepiness.
It was already dark, and it was pitch dark. Everything in Li Ming's field of vision was blurred, and he could only judge the distance by feeling.
He really suspected that he would be stabbed to death due to negligence... Li Ming fiddled with his fingers sleepily. He wanted to cheer himself up, but in fact he wanted to fall asleep peacefully.
Wake up, Li Ming.
Li Ming patted his cheeks with difficulty, then rushed into the bathroom and gave himself an emergency cold water wash.
The freezing cold water was splashed on his face.
Li Ming looked numb. He really doubted whether he would be hacked to death in his sleep today. But if he took action first, what would be his chances of winning?
The scene of Jiang Huai being hacked to death by Li Ming suddenly appeared in Li Ming's mind for no reason.
Well... Previously he had told Jiang Huai to remember to be a friendly person, but now it was his turn to not be able to do it... Li Ming gave up his idea with deep regret:
It seems I have to stay up all night.
"Did you suddenly feel like washing your face?" The monster standing at the toilet door asked hesitantly. Just now, he saw Li Ming suddenly run away, so he quickly put down the numerous documents on his hand and followed to see what was going on.
Li Ming responded: "I want to drink coffee."
The monster looked at the sink in confusion and said, "Drinking coffee with cold water?"
"No, make me some hot water." Li Ming continued to demand confidently, "I want freshly ground coffee with sugar, milk, and tea, and the tea should preferably be jasmine green tea."
"Um……"
The monster lowered his head in thought. After a few minutes, he said in a distressed tone: "But I don't know the difference between black tea and green tea. You can only rely on luck to taste it."
Li Ming was silent after hearing this: "..."
How come he is really willing to do it!
"I know him. Let me guess." Li Ming asked expressionlessly, "Can you do anything else?"
"Then I'll find you a copy of the Coffee Roasting Guide, and I'll try it step by step according to the steps in the book." The monster said excitedly after hearing this.
After making up his mind, he subconsciously pulled Li Ming's wrist and ran towards the bookshelf in the baking area.
"ha?"
Li Ming was startled by his sudden action. He wanted to shake off the other's hand, but the warmth between his fingers passed through his skin, and he ran after him for some unknown reason.
"Very good, let's take this book."
In the dark library, the monster took out a book with great interest and commented with a smile: "For beginners? It sounds really suitable for me."
Li Ming looked at the other person quietly. Although he couldn't see the other person's outline in the dark, he could subtly imagine the corners of his mouth curled up in a smile.
Could the Faceless Man's imitation be so lifelike? Li Ming thought in confusion: From his understanding, it was impossible for him to be so lifelike.
How long had that human been trapped in the realm?
"Huh? Why are you suddenly stunned?" The monster let go of Li Ming's hand and shook his palm in front of Li Ming. But from his tone, it was obvious that he found it very interesting.
Li Ming quickly slapped his hand away and said, "Stop it, my vision at night is not as good as yours."
After hearing this, the monster immediately warned seriously: "Then remember to walk carefully."
Li Ming was silent: "..."
Sometimes I really doubt whether this guy is naive.
"You go explore the way first, I'll come back slowly later." Li Ming said, his temper suddenly gone, "Let me find the way down to the third floor by myself."
The monster subconsciously made a puzzled sound after hearing this: "Huh? Aren't you going to run away?"
"Why are you running?" Li Ming refuted the other party righteously, "I am weak and can't see at night. It's easy to die if I run away."
Anyway, the monsters in the library weren't that scary, so of course he chose to stay up all night!
I just don’t know if Jiang Huai is okay… Li Ming thought worriedly: I hope my guess this morning didn’t mislead him. If Jiang Huai gets into trouble, he will blame himself…
"Great, then take your time!" The monster walked towards the coffee shop happily. He walked and jumped like a bored person who finally convinced his relatives and friends to go on a trip with him.
I really don't understand.
Li Ming scratched his head in annoyance when he saw this, but when he thought about drinking coffee that he hadn't had for a long time, Li Ming's spirits suddenly perked up.
He actually managed to get a cup of coffee for free.
Long live!
In the library at night, only the signs for safe exits were lit with green lights. Their lights were not strong and seemed even dimmer than the white lights of the tall buildings outside.
But it was these tiny lights that gave Li Ming a lot of sense of security in the darkness.
Li Ming's eyes gradually adapted to the light of the dark world. Previously, because the young man was wandering around him, he couldn't pay attention to the light and darkness around him.
People like him are definitely easy to die... Li Ming covered his face with numbness. Not to mention that now is obviously a great opportunity to escape, but his feet have already stepped on the stairs leading to the cafe on the third floor.
Forget it, just treat him as a fool.
Li Ming held the handrail and walked towards the coffee shop on the third floor.
The rich aroma of coffee beans drifted to his nose. One of the results of the high commercialization of Spring City Library is the spacious and empty coffee shop in front of him.
Outside the bright and spacious floor-to-ceiling windows, twinkling lights flicker in the night.
"If you arrive earlier, the view will be better."
The monster scooped coffee beans from the paper bag with a coffee spoon and laughed: "But because you came much later than I expected, you can't see a lot of the scenery."
“It’s proof that civilization is flourishing.”
The monster looked up at the lights outside the window and sighed softly, "But it is now declining. Declining, then becoming weak, and finally dying."
"For tens of millions of years, all civilizations that have been watched by the abyss have ended up like this."
"Who are you?" Li Ming asked subconsciously.
"Who am I?" The monster repeated the question in a light tone, but soon a smile appeared on his lips and he said, "I think you already know who I am."
The survivors of civilization can also be called the 'Lost Ones'.
"You are a survivor of a civilization that was swallowed by the abyss thousands of years ago." Li Ming answered calmly. His tone was calmer than he thought.
"Yes, it seems you had expected this."
The monster sighed regretfully. His tone was like the sadness of a child whose beloved things were taken away by adults: "But I don't like the title of 'civilized survivor'. Rather than survivor, I think it is more like the curse of the abyss."
The sound of boiling water suddenly rang out.
"Wait a minute." The monster hurried over to the hot water machine and frantically pressed many buttons on the machine. As he pressed, he muttered to himself helplessly:
"Eh? Why is it different from the instruction manual? Shouldn't their instruction manuals come in sets? Ah——"
Seeing this, Li Ming remained silent.
Li Ming decided to avoid the monster's position and reached out to turn off the machine.
After successfully shutting off the hot water machine, he explained to the monster who was obviously an idiot: "I used to work part-time in a coffee shop. These machines will have problems with insensitivity after being used for a long time. You need to press a few more times or use more force to make it work."
"My life has been a failure," the monster murmured hollowly after hearing this.
But after thinking of something, the monster quickly cheered up. He handed over two cans of tea and looked at Li Ming eagerly and said, "Quick, tell me which one is jasmine green tea and which one is jasmine black tea."
Li Ming said indifferently: "...Heh."
In his life, he never thought that he could beat others in common sense.
Li Ming lowered his head and smelled the fragrance carefully: "The one on the left is black tea, and the one on the right is oolong tea."
"Ah? Aren't they all jasmine green tea?"
“…”
Li Ming made a sharp comment: "Your theoretical knowledge is very solid, but your practical ability is almost nonexistent."
"This? How can you blame me for this?"
The monster's eyes widened after hearing this. "Who told them not to put labels on the jars? Besides, I was in the abyss not long ago. Just learning their language is amazing."
Li Ming nodded absentmindedly.
But after his fingers touched the uneven parts on the tea can, Li Ming suddenly felt strange and asked, "But isn't there a word on it?"
"What word?"
"Can't you read traditional Chinese characters?"
"Eh?" The monster raised his eyebrows and muttered, "Don't lie to me, I know this is a decorative pattern on the jar."
"..." Li Ming was silent.
He said with difficulty: "Forget it, I'm not that particular, I'll just use oolong tea."
The fragrance of oolong tea lingered in the room. The coffee bean grinder was making a monotonous and repetitive mechanical sound. Under the night sky, their dim figures were reflected on the wall by the light outside the window.
The monster awkwardly pushed a cup of smoking oolong tea in front of Li Ming:
"Here, try it."
The monster said with strange confidence: "Although I am not confident in my craftsmanship, I can be sure that it is not poisonous."
Don't make him proud in a place like this!
Li Ming, who was sitting at the bar, took a sip helplessly and commented seriously:
"It tastes OK. Not great, but OK."
"It's great that it's OK!" The monster applauded himself, "You know, this is the first time I've touched these things. Wait a minute, I'll add some coffee powder for you right away!"
"Ah?" Li Ming was shocked.
The next second, he watched as coffee powder, sugar, milk and other ingredients were poured into the oolong tea in his hand. A metal coffee spoon quickly reached over and stirred the liquid.
Now you can tell at a glance that it tastes terrible.
Li Ming was silent: "..."
Li Ming said with difficulty: "Did you use the Coffee Roasting Guide as a decoration?"
"If you want to hear about the origin and spread of coffee beans, I'm willing to tell you." The monster replied seriously, "But unfortunately I don't have much time."
“I didn’t have time to watch it later.”
So a book is essentially a brick.
Li Ming pulled the corners of his mouth stiffly. But when Li Ming's eyes returned to the steaming coffee powder mixed drink in his hand, he couldn't help but take a sip.
Sure enough, the taste was pretty much the same as I imagined.
"What do you think?" the monster asked expectantly.
"It tastes better than water." Li Ming replied calmly.
Li Ming felt that there was no answer that was more truthful and appropriate than this one. He really couldn't go against his conscience and say that this thing tasted good.
"That's good."
The monster clasped his hands together contentedly and said, "Because I can't taste the flavor. I was worried that it would be so unpalatable that it would make me sick."
You are almost at this level.
Li Ming added inwardly with a blank expression.
"Can I ask your name?" the monster asked gently. The smile in his voice could not be concealed in the darkness.
"Li Ming."
"dawn?"
"Li Ming, the sound of birds singing." Li Ming pronounced the words clearly and slowly.
Although he had no intention of having a deep exchange with the monster at first, now that he was already sitting here, he didn't mind continuing to communicate with it.
"Li Ming..." the monster repeated softly, and then he praised with bright eyes, "From the meaning, it is a nice and memorable name. Especially its pronunciation is close to 'liming', which refers to the moment of dawn."
"In human history, it symbolizes the coming of hope or the beginning of new things."
“…”
Li Ming said indifferently, "If you don't know how to praise, you don't have to."
"But that's what the name means." The monster said with his chin in his hand in distress, "Unless I'm a fool, I can't have guessed wrong. Is it because you hate people like me?"
You guessed it right.
Li Ming didn't like people who would come up to him shamelessly. Moreover, he had been keeping a straight face since the beginning to dampen the other party's enthusiasm.
"Okay," Li Ming sighed, knowing that he was being rude, and apologized, "That's the meaning, although I don't know why I chose it that way."
Suddenly, Li Ming asked, "What's your name?"
Exchanging names is the first step in socializing, and also the first step in establishing friendship. Li Ming thought randomly: Since we have to stay here for one night anyway, why not just...
"I won't tell you." The monster said seriously.
Li Ming was stunned for a moment.
Just when he was about to be unable to suppress his inner anger, the monster said seriously: "I won't let you remember me. Leaving memories is too cruel for both of us."
"Then why did you come to see me?"
Aren't you trying to leave some memories for yourself by doing this?
"Because I'm dying." The monster's tone was calm and sad. "Because I'm dying, I came to see you before I die. Emotions can never be bound by reason."
He explained: “In the abyss, life needs three deaths before it can disappear.”
The first death is the death of the body.
The second death comes from the forgetfulness of memory,
The third death comes from the disappearance of self-consciousness.
"I am heading towards my third death, and I am glad to have met you at the last moment of my life. I am lucky to have you do hospice care for me."
Li Ming said angrily: "I don't know how to do hospice care."
"Just chat with me." The monster approached with a smile, "Anyway, I'm so weak that even a disaster can kill me. I'm sure you can do it too."
"How did you become like this?" Li Ming asked with a frown.
In his opinion, those who can become "civilization survivors" should be the best of their respective civilizations. Even if they are in a miserable situation at the beginning, they should be able to...
Why are you doing so miserably?
"Because I lost my original body." The monster answered without hesitation, "My original body was lost, my talent was taken away, and then I was hunted by a domain master with similar talent."
It can only be described in one word: miserable.
"But your talent has been taken away, why are they still chasing you?" Li Ming asked curiously.
"Talent is just an external manifestation." The monster said gently, "The adaptability of this talent proves that you can still awaken the lower-level talents of your sequence path in the future."
"Li Ming, this is just another accumulation process from 0 to 1."
"They don't intend to destroy me now, they intend to destroy me in the future when I reach the top of the sequence. They want to destroy any chance that may allow me to return to the throne."
"...What a cruel world." Li Ming commented dully.
"Yes, this is the abyss."
The monster sighed calmly: "The abyss is a dead world without light, wind, or sound. There, the only way to see the blue sky and white clouds is to become the master of a domain, or to be affiliated with a domain."
"But what's fake is still fake."
"Many survivors I know came to the world for this reason. This is the closest place to the sky." He murmured softly, as if he was melancholy about a cruel reality: "But why, Li Ming?"
"Why are we born without being able to see the sky? Why are we born with sin?"
The monster laughed at himself and said, "I was born after the catastrophe. When I was born, the abyss had already submerged my planet. I have never seen a normal sky."
The only time he saw the sky in his life was when the abyss swallowed the planet.
But then, the abyss swallowed everything.
As the survivors of civilization, they were trapped in endless killing and would never see the dawn again.
"Li Ming, there are gods in the universe."
The monster said in a sad tone: "But God doesn't love us. He doesn't love us."
"I don't know, I know nothing." Li Ming stood up irritably after hearing this and said, "Even if you come to ask me, I can only answer that I don't know. Listen, if you really want to get an answer, you can--"
"Go out and turn left to find the prophet? Or the savior?" the monster suddenly said in a cold voice.
How did he know?
Li Ming was startled. The irritation that had just overflowed disappeared like a flame extinguished by cold water. Li Ming said hesitantly: "Do you know what you are saying?"
"I know."
The monster nodded seriously, but then his face was stained with guilt: "I'm sorry, maybe you feel that what I said just now is presumptuous, but I don't have any intention of blaming you."
"I am a bird with broken wings, and so are you," he said self-deprecatingly.
"Hmm..." Li Ming sat back angrily.
This person spoke in a very flowery way, and he was a little confused about what the other person was trying to convey.
Li Ming, who finally calmed down, chose his words carefully and asked cautiously:
“Why do you say savior and prophet?”
Could it be that the "memory return" mentioned in the comic forum can also happen in a disaster? Li Ming was confused: if this could really happen in a disaster, he felt that the future would be very bad.
"I used to be an S-class Apocalypse, and I was also an S-class Disaster in the past. It's not difficult to know these things." The monster explained calmly, but soon he said with regret: "But only in this civilization did the savior appear."
"It's really amazing."
It's hard to tell whether the monster's last words were full of resentment or confusion.
So that's not the case... Li Ming felt relieved after hearing this, but soon he sighed and said, "If you really want to know the answer to this question, I think you should go directly to the savior."
"Only the Savior could know the answer to the question."
In the dim light, the monster's sight suddenly focused on Li Ming. Li Ming could feel that the shadow in front of him was examining him, as if it was bothering him about what he had just said.
"Li Ming, how do you define a savior?"
"Are you asking me?!"
Li Ming pointed at himself in disbelief. After seeing the shadow nod slowly and carefully, he finally couldn't help but pull the corners of his stiff mouth.
How come Jiang Huai’s debt fell on him?
"Let me think about it... Let me calm down and think about it..." Li Ming murmured in confusion.
He quickly looked around in confusion, and shouted at a loss: "But now I just want to imagine the embarrassing moment in the passionate youth comics when the protagonist is predicted by the prophet to be the savior."
"Pfft——" The monster couldn't help laughing after hearing that.
However, after thinking for a moment, he asked hesitantly: "Do you think the prophet is important?"
"Maybe." Li Ming scratched his head awkwardly.
Although he did not think that people's achievements would be elevated because of prophecies, when he learned from the forum that 'the little fortune teller came specifically to find Jiang Huai', he did feel that Jiang Huai's value suddenly increased.
It turns out that so many people are looking forward to the future of JAC.
"The great cause of the savior will never change because of prophecy. Only the prophet will be deified because of 'successfully predicting the savior.'" the monster retorted solemnly.
“It is the Savior who makes the Prophet, not the Prophet who makes the Savior.”
"Why don't we change the subject..." Li Ming said weakly.
He didn't want to be laughed at all night for his momentary thoughts. Speaking of a night... Li Ming subconsciously turned his head to look out the window, and the twinkling lights outside were slowly extinguished one by one.
It's like someone is destroying it.
Huh?
Just when Li Ming was thinking of going closer to the French window to see what was going on, his hands on the bar were firmly grasped by the monster.
Li Ming turned and looked at him strangely.
The monster that suddenly approached lowered its eyes, and the color in its eyes varied from light to dark.
The monster spoke clearly: "If all saviors need a prophet at the beginning of the story to predict the great deeds they will accomplish in the future, then I think I can still take on this responsibility."
"If everything is normal——"
"Li Ming, I want to be your prophet."
“…”
Li Ming was suddenly stunned.
He suddenly connected the words that the monster had just said, which he had never paid attention to. If the prophet could predict the savior, why didn't he go to find the savior first?
Maybe the monster looked for a savior first, but his savior was not Jiang Huai.
"you……"
"I used to be a prophet. I used to be at the top of the prophet sequence." The monster said self-deprecatingly, "But my talent is more focused on myself than the prophets of the current civilization."
"Her predictions refer to humanity as a whole, while mine refer to my own destiny."
"That's why I can see you." The monster looked at Li Ming with complicated eyes and murmured, "Because you play an important role in my destiny."
“…”
Li Ming looked at the monster holding his hands, his thoughts were confused and becoming more and more confused.
So he shook off the other person's hand and said sternly: "I won't believe you."
Li Ming would never believe it.
Why did he say it in such a positive tone, as if he had had some story with this person in the past, when, where, and why he had no idea?
Is the monster seeing the reboot of last week's episode, or the more distant future?
Dead savior, fallen prophet.
This story is terrible. If the world is a hot-blooded youth comic, then their youth comic was ruthlessly cut short from the very beginning.
Li Ming would never believe that he had ever participated in such a bad story.
"I don't want you to believe it either."
If you believe it, he will be unable to help but think about ways to survive.
The monster, who remained where he was, murmured sadly, "But it's good to see you again at the end of my life."
"I have no idea about the future of this civilization, nor do I have any idea about reviving my own civilization." The monster said as calmly as possible, "But I will never help them."
"But there is one thing I must emphasize—"
"I am not here because you are the savior. Even if you are not the savior, you will still play an important role in my destiny."
"It's just that you happen to be the savior, and I happen to be the prophet."
A milky white halo appeared in the sky.
Dawn was about to arrive, and the scenery outside the French window gradually became brighter. But Dawn noticed the heavy dark clouds floating in the sky, and it seemed that there would be heavy rain in the morning.
Something that I don’t know whether it is good or bad.
While thinking in confusion, Li Ming suddenly asked: "Aren't you leaving?"
"No."
The monster looked at the sun that was about to appear and shook his head calmly:
"I came here just to die."
He has forgotten enough memories, and he doesn't want to forget any more. Sooner or later, he will become someone he can't even recognize.
Rather than letting the corpse wander in the abyss, it is better to free it now.
He had already experienced this, and he didn't want to experience it again. There would never be another chance to pull him back from the brink of losing consciousness.
"It's just a pity that in the end... I still couldn't see the sky..."
Under the dawn, the monster's body slowly dissolved like mud. He was much weaker than the faceless men who could actively imitate and replace humans, and was more easily killed by the sun.
Finally, he turned to Li Ming and gave him a faint smile with the appearance of a stranger.
His name is unknown, his appearance is unknown.
From now on, Li Ming's impression of him will be replaced by the real owner of this appearance.
Death is a strange experience.
The monster staggered towards the French window and smiled calmly: "But fortunately I met you in the end."
Because he still remembers...
Millions of years after he fell into the abyss, as he wandered in the desolate wilderness, in his insignificant fate -
The king supported by the corpses stood on the towering pile of bones, and glanced at his direction from a distance. A ray of light from the horizon flashed across his pale eyes.
Overflowing with compassion.
However, it was this one look that made him feel like a human being again.
"I'm really really glad to meet you."
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