Extra 1
Li Rong leaned against the wall, trying to ease the pain and fatigue from his initial rehabilitation. Sweating had actually made his mind clearer, though it was actually more like a blank.
He didn't understand the complicated theories and meanings that the experimenters explained to him, but he could feel a sense of excitement from their irrepressible tone of voice.
Li Rong panted, letting his chest rise and fall violently. However, he felt that he might vaguely know the source of this excitement, perhaps because the experiment had made good progress.
He tilted his head back and closed his eyes. It was a development he couldn't understand. Every day without the potion was equally tormenting for him. Tired moments like this could help him forget those things, those memories that were already ingrained in his mind.
As if remembering something, Li Rong buried his face in his palms and sighed. He didn't know why he had met Xue Heng. At least from all the memories he had now, the current situation did not fall into any of the side effects the previous researcher had told him about.
A week had passed since he woke up, and every time he asked a different researcher, the answer he got was the same - just asking him to wait a little longer.
Li Rong raised his head, his sight meeting the one-way glass window. The research center was still ablaze with white light, while the sky in the distance had already darkened.
The dark clouds covered the setting sun and the moon that was about to rise to the horizon.
Xue Heng, he moved his lips and made a very soft sound. Why was it him? Or was there something even more terrifying? If that was Xue Heng, how did they do this?
Even putting all that aside, why did they suddenly decide to stop using the drug—did something go wrong with the experiment?
Raindrops as fine as silk threads fell from mid-air. Li Rong stood up, leaning against the wall. His fingertips touched the cool glass. He thought clearly about his situation. Now he knew nothing.
I couldn't understand what the researcher said, and I could only see from the few seconds of surveillance video every day that Li Qingyue was still continuing his rehabilitation.
He drew back his fingertips, clenched them into fists, and pressed them against the glass, slowly closing his eyes. However, he felt that he was the one who should know better.
The scenes in his dreams, the things he had personally experienced, and even every night when he woke up from a deep dream, all reminded him of this.
Li Rong's breathing gradually calmed down. The rain outside seemed to be getting heavier. A mechanical reminder sounded. For him, today's rehabilitation time was enough.
He didn't plan to go back to the room now. The empty place would only trigger the memories he had just stuffed into his head, and immediately turn them into the same heart-wrenching pain as that day, which would make him remember it more clearly each time.
Aside from the rain, this day was exactly like every other day he'd ever spent. When the notification sounded again, the person on the other end had been replaced by the researcher on duty that day.
A clear female voice advised him not to worry, to go back and have a good rest, and then continue rehabilitation after he had rested.
Li Rong wanted to ask something, but felt he didn't need to embarrass the researcher, who had already signed the confidentiality agreement. He nodded at the camera inside the room, then slowly walked out, dragging his weak legs.
He took a towel to dry his washed hair, then paused because of the vague pain, bit his lower lip and lay back on the bed.
There are moments like this every day, and today it was relatively late. The pain spread first from my fingertips, then moved to my chest, as if there were blood clots of varying sizes stuck inside, pent up and unable to find a release.
Today, Li Rong couldn't tell whether this was the pain he himself was experiencing or the pain brought to him by those memories.
Li He, Li Ziqu, Li Gou Wa, the little blind man, and Shen Zixing...
It turned out that these were the things the potions wanted him to forget, just like watching a movie in person.
He thought so, using the movie as a pretext to convince himself that the pain was understandable and could be simply considered a side effect of the experiment.
Li Rong turned over, lying on his side with his legs curled up. He closed his eyes, knowing clearly in the lonely night that this was not just another movie for him.
But he was still as confused as ever. If it wasn't a movie, then what was it?
Li Rong clutched the clothes on his chest, and the dull pain in his chest slowly compressed his breathing space.
It was all him, and yet it wasn't him. He gave a wry smile and waited for the inexplicable pain in his body to subside before he reluctantly fell asleep.
Even if he still dreamed about those things, it was still much better than this state of confusion where he couldn't grasp anything - after all, if he thought about it any further, he would even doubt whether he was "himself".
They didn't make him wait too long. Li Rong breathed a sigh of relief and let the researcher behind him push his wheelchair out of the small but empty room.
In fact, it had been almost a month, and they had only allowed him to video chat with Li Qingyue a few days ago. Although Li Qingyue's strength was still very weak, he could already speak a few words clearly.
She had to stay in the research center for rehabilitation and follow-up observation. The researchers there didn't seem to have many confidentiality regulations and sent her their daily plans one by one.
It would take six months for her to fully recover. This was the only good news he had heard: his sister only needed six months to resume her normal life—attending classes with her classmates, not being tormented by endless pain at night, and being able to go out whenever she wanted.
She can touch the furry little animals with her own hands and no longer have to react violently to even the slightest change in weather or temperature.
Whenever Li Rong thought of this, he would unconsciously frown, and this time was no exception. The wheels scraped against the floor, occasionally running over bundles of wires, interrupting his thoughts.
The smile remained, but he suddenly felt that a month wasn't enough. Aside from the weeks of pain that kept him awake every night, he had barely been able to make sense of the different people, the different situations, and the different versions of Xue Heng that each person knew.
Perhaps he was the military supervisor who had not yet arrived at Yumen, or perhaps he was the man in white clothes holding an umbrella, fetching a book in the rain. When he closed his eyes and opened them again, he would become Xue Congzhi, who was bowing and kneeling in the court.
He shook his head. Xue Heng should have finally arrived at Yumen, also wearing the same white clothes. He picked wintersweets between his fingers and ushered in a new dynasty.
"You may have to wait a moment." The researcher said apologetically, pausing to look at his phone which kept beeping.
Li Rong hummed and nodded to indicate that he didn't mind the short delay - for him now, these few minutes were a rare buffer.
He hadn't figured out his own affairs, nor had he figured out Xue Heng's affairs. Xue Zhuozhi, Xue Congzhi, seeing faces that seemed so familiar to him, he didn't even know how to call them.
The researcher quickly replied to the message, said goodbye to Li Rong, and continued pushing the wheelchair forward. He felt his heartbeat and the sound of the wheels gradually converge.
The wheelchair passed through door after door, and when he looked up again, he saw the person he was so familiar with in this experiment. He didn't need to think about anything else, nor did he need to speculate again.
The man had changed into casual clothes. The light-colored striped shirt softened his temperament, or rather, it matched his style very well. He seemed to have just heard the sound and turned around, frowning.
Whether it is Xue Congzhi, who was dressed in white and white like snow and wielded a sword to change the dynasty, or Xue Zhuozhi, who spoke eloquently and advocated the policy of inaction.
Li Rong felt that all his speculations for almost a month had collapsed into some absurd fantasies in front of him. He was standing there. It was Xue Heng, the good man who was willing to give a stick to others, and the person he had met before.
Every time, whether you can see it or not, whether you can hear it clearly or not, that person will always be there.
Li Rong still couldn't utter a word, even though he had recognized the other person. He bit Xue Heng's name between his teeth, wanting to call out but not yet. The researcher, as previously instructed, turned and withdrew, leaving them alone.
Xue Heng took over the researcher's work and fixed the wheelchair like the other person did, then squatted down and looked directly at Li Rong who was sitting on it.
Their eyes met, Li Rong gripped the armrest tightly, but still couldn't make a sound - before Xue Heng spoke.
"Li Rong," his voice was deeper than what he remembered. Li Rong understood a little. This should be Xue Heng after he was crowned, or perhaps even later, the Xue Heng that even Shen Xingxing had not seen with his own eyes.
As if he was relearning the intonation, Xue Heng paused for a little longer when speaking, but still clearly expressed what he wanted to say.
"According to... what they said, I... should thank you." Xue Heng still had a faint smile on his lips. "Although I haven't figured out what happened yet, and there's not much chance of figuring out what happened."
He reached out and grasped Li Rong's trembling fingertips, slowly recounting the information he had come across this month. "They showed me the information they obtained from you. To be precise, it was your memories and part of mine."
Li Rong listened to him read out each name—Li He, Li Fuquan, Li Ziqu, the blind boy—but Xue Heng paused. Warm body heat touched his cold fingertips, and he remembered that he had never told anyone involved in the experiment about what had happened.
"Chen Yi, Chen Zixing." Xue Heng finally guessed it. This was something he shouldn't be surprised about. If he thought about it carefully, it might be very strange. As long as he saw Xue Heng, he was sure that he could guess it.
Li Rong retracted his fingertips, nodded at each name, and then shook his head again for each name. He should know clearly that those were all him, and those were not him.
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