Chapter 86: The feeling of being trapped and falling freely only lasts for a very short time...
The feeling of falling only appeared for a very brief moment, and then disappeared quickly, so fast that it made people wonder if it was an illusion.
It was as if I fell off a cliff in a dream, suspended in mid-air for a moment, and then I realized that there was a soft bed beneath me.
Zhong Liu wasn't lying on the bed, but it didn't matter.
At least the carpet felt softer on my back than the mattress, as if every tiny tuft of fluff on it could softly grab me and I would be hunted as slowly and irresistibly as a jellyfish.
Zhong Liu shuddered suddenly, suppressing the sense of crisis that came from nowhere.
...Even when she was chased by that ghost thing just now, she didn't feel such a strong sense of crisis. Where is this place?
She stretched her body to its limit after running so fast and slowly stood up from the ground.
She didn't know why, but even though she was stepping on the carpet with her shoes, she felt like the wool didn't collapse... but it did feel soft.
His eyes darted around.
...What a strange place.
It seemed to be late at night, so there were no lights, but the surroundings were not very dark.
It's as if the stars are flowing slowly in it, and each star is obediently staying where it should be, following the flow of the tide, flickering shallowly like breathing.
Zhong Liu was stunned.
This kind of beauty that breaks the limits of human imagination seems pale in any language in the world. The sky and the ocean are not enough to describe its vastness.
She once thought that the sight of the ladder collapsing was the most beautiful thing on earth, but it is no longer the case.
Zhong Liu forgot why he came here and what kind of danger there was.
She even forgot the huge panic and fear that had just arisen in her. In the leisurely incense, she became calm and quiet.
"——Wake up!" Until the clock suddenly reminded her.
I don’t know if it’s an illusion, but Zhong Liu always feels that Sister Zhong’s voice is not loud, even a little too low, as if she is deliberately lowering her voice, worried about waking him up——
——What woke you up?
A flash of inspiration came to her mind, but before Zhong Liu could sort out her thoughts, she heard footsteps.
Very close, very close, the voice that was clearly unfamiliar to her, yet strangely familiar, was slowly approaching.
...So strange.
Zhong Liu thought to herself, she had just learned to control the essence of wind not long ago, but even in a place like a natural chasm, she could still detect other people's movements from afar.
But she seemed to have lost this ability to perceive this place.
No, to be precise, there is not a trace of wind in this place.
There was not a trace of air flow, and even though the footsteps were getting closer and clearer, Zhong Liu still could not sense the movements of the person coming.
...Is there no air in this place?
That's impossible... After all, if there is no air, then there shouldn't be any footsteps.
At this moment, Zhong Liu suddenly recalled the basic physics knowledge she had learned in high school: in places without air—like outer space—sound cannot propagate. This feeling was a bit disconnected, and it always gave her a vague intuition.
The "person" who was walking towards her seemed to just want to tell her in this way.
——He is coming.
I don’t know when Sister Zhong suddenly stopped talking, as if the reminder to Zhong Liu had used up all her remaining ability to speak that day.
Finally, the footsteps stopped.
In the silence, Zhong Liu heard her own violent heartbeat. She was like a rabbit or a bird with a broken nose, unable to smell the scent of the king at the top of the food chain.
It wasn't until He stood within a few feet of her that she could smell her own fear.
*
So annoying.
So annoying, so annoying, so annoying.
Li An was getting a little impatient. She was a little tired of this shop simulation game.
Although it is not a game as it is said casually, every time Li An sees an animal guest, he can't help but summarize it all into a game.
No game lasts a lifetime—even though she had only been playing for a few months.
But Li An was indeed a little fed up with it.
She is even unwilling to repeat her inspiration when painting, even if there are only slight similarities. It is obvious that she is not a loyal player who can play the same game for a long time without getting bored.
It's three o'clock in the morning.
Li An thought calmly that this was not her working time. She had originally planned to take a break, but Black Cat was not here.
Ah...if it happens again, I'd better close the store as soon as possible. Customers and non-customers, get out.
Li An calmed down and although she was not sleepy, she still felt a little annoyed by being disturbed.
The only reason she could barely suppress her emotions was that it was an animal, not a human, who woke her up. If it were a human, she wouldn't even bat an eyelid and would just lie there contentedly.
Li An was too lazy to turn on the light. She looked down at the silver-blue light that was swirling like a snake on the shelves.
It looked very similar to the last guest. If it weren't for the fact that this little thing had an identical thing on its head, Li An would have almost failed to recognize the difference.
Her eyes swept up and down.
A slightly smaller jellyfish lay on the carpet, with a larger, but seemingly lighter-colored jellyfish on its head.
Li An compared them and realized that the big jellyfish above her head was the last visitor.
I don’t know which of these two little things is the guest this time.
It’s best not to have both. Her patience is very limited, and her liking for small animals is only a comparison with humans. After seeing them too many times, they are no longer rare.
"What do you want?"
Li An wondered if her voice was a little too cold, otherwise why would the little jellyfish tremble for a long time as if it was frightened?
She drooped her eyelids and didn't bother to correct them.
The big jellyfish didn't say anything, but Li An noticed that it stretched out its tentacles and pulled at the small jellyfish.
After a while, the little jellyfish said in a trembling voice, "I, I don't want anything."
No?
Why didn't you come to the store at three in the morning and bother people?
Li An's mood dropped a little.
The little jellyfish trembled even more violently. When Li An was too lazy to reply, it said nervously, "Maybe... there is."
This sentence seemed to buy it some time to think, and its tentacles slowly entangled together, like the hands of humans that unconsciously clench when thinking.
It spoke slowly, as if every word was squeezed out of its throat with great difficulty: "I want--"
"The freedom of the bell."
*
The memories that followed were like sinking to the bottom of the deep sea. The huge water pressure and thin light made Zhong Liu unable to distinguish what he said or heard.
The memory is hazy, like an old photo soaked in water, with curled edges, and a slight ocean current will sweep it into the cliffs in the sea.
Falling.
Keep falling.
"——Wake up." Familiar words, but not the sound of a bell.
Zhong Liu blinked slowly, taking in half of the meteor aurora in his field of vision.
Only then did she see clearly that she had been placed on the ground. There was no trace of the black cat around, and she didn't know where it had gone.
Jin Aqing's expression was not obvious, but only those who knew her well could tell that she was in a bad mood.
"You just fell down, and for some reason there was no sound or movement. We didn't notice you until the black cat dragged you out of the bushes."
She felt a little regretful and a little confused, but when she thought that Zhong Liu was indeed very tired and it seemed normal that he didn't make any sound due to extreme fatigue, she gave up her confusion.
Zhong Liu slowly stood up and left that strange place, and the pressure on her disappeared.
As for now, if she had to choose between being chased by ghosts all night and falling into a store, she would definitely choose the former without hesitation.
There is no comparison between the danger and oppression of the two.
The gap between the mayfly and the heaven and earth seemed to be smaller than this, so much so that Zhong Liu almost thought he could never come back.
But fortunately, He had no such plans.
So Zhong Liu came back.
Zhong Liu took two breaths and said, "I might be too tired... I'll go back and rest for a while."
Jin Aqing seemed to have been waiting for her to say this, and immediately pulled two monks over to escort her back.
Zhong didn't come out until Zhong Liu returned to the base and calmed down under the warm candlelight.
Her tone seemed somewhat heavy: "...Do you know what wish you made?"
Zhong Liu said uncertainly: "I should remember."
"……Why?"
This time Zhong Liu didn't say anything, and Zhong, who should have easily understood all her thoughts, didn't notice anything.
...In fact, Zhong Liu himself didn't know why he said that at the time.
It was as if she had felt that the clock had been trapped a long, long time ago and had lost its freedom.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com