Zhi Zi turned around, looking calmly at An Lan and Ling Yue, and asked, "Aren't you curious why I let Lu Fan decide which world to destroy?"
An Lan nodded subconsciously, her lips moved slightly, but she ultimately did not make a sound.
Her eyes were filled with expectation and curiosity, longing for Tomoko to give an answer.
"Because he is the only one who is qualified."
Tomoko's voice was deep and firm, as if she were proclaiming an unquestionable divine decree, "He originally came from the Wilderness World..."
Upon hearing this, An Lan's eyes widened instantly, revealing deep disbelief.
Her mind went blank; she couldn't imagine what astonishing things Tomoko would say next.
At this moment, in the room, Lu Fan stood quietly in front of a dilapidated mud-brick house.
Looking at that familiar and incredibly dear courtyard, tears welled up in my eyes like a burst dam, and I couldn't stop them.
Those familiar blades of grass and trees, so vivid in his memory, now felt like sharp daggers, piercing his heart and making it hard for him to breathe.
He seemed to be pulled by an invisible force, staggering as he walked toward the house, each step carrying an immense weight.
Stepping inside, the interior is extremely simple in design.
A small bedroom, a somewhat empty outer hall, a simple wooden table, and two plain wooden beds.
On the wall, the portrait of the great leader Chairman Mao hangs quietly.
That was a testament to how he and his grandmother had depended on each other for survival, and their only source of spiritual sustenance during those difficult years.
Later, his fiancée and grandmother passed away one after another, and these things became his only precious memories and all his possessions in his lonely life.
...
"Later, he walked into the wilderness alone and was unfortunately killed by a rolling boulder. By chance, he passed through the spatial barrier between the two worlds and came to your world."
Zhizi spoke calmly, but Anlan, upon hearing this, could no longer contain her grief and abruptly covered her mouth.
She tried to suppress the sobs that were about to burst from her eyes, but tears still silently slipped through her fingers.
She finally understood that the reason Lu Fan cried in his sleep on countless nights was because he dreamed of memories from his past life.
Those pains and sorrows followed him like a shadow, buried deep in his heart.
...
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Fan sat slumped in the courtyard like a statue whose soul had been removed, his eyes vacant.
His eyes were dull and lifeless; the former determination and brightness had vanished completely, as if all hope and passion had been instantly drained away, leaving only endless confusion and despair.
Tomoko stood silently beside him like a monument, radiating a cold and mechanical aura, as if neither time nor emotion could leave any mark on her.
"So, you chose me?"
Lu Fan's voice was hoarse and deep, as if it came from the bottom of a deep valley, carrying the vicissitudes of time and endless weariness, each word seemingly bearing a thousand pounds of weight.
Tomoko nodded slightly, her metallic head gleaming coldly in the dim light, her tone calm and resolute.
"Yes, because you are like a special anchor point, naturally connecting the two worlds. Faced with this momentous choice concerning the fate of humanity, you are the only one qualified to make the decision."
Lu Fan slowly raised his head, his eyes flashing with a complex and painful light, a lingering gloom shrouding his gaze: "So, you tampered with those memories, and you arranged for her to come here?"
Tomoko nodded again, her voice flat and devoid of any remorse: "If I don't create a seemingly beautiful memory for you, you might choose to end your life because you can't bear the cruelty of reality when you first arrive in that world."
Upon hearing this, Lu Fan was first taken aback, then couldn't help but look up at the sky and laugh bitterly.
The laughter was filled with bitterness and self-mockery, like the howl of a wounded beast, echoing in the empty courtyard, heartbreaking.
The memory of receiving a large sum of money from the demolition of his home in his past life, then lying down and running to the wilderness to survive, and finally being crushed to death by a boulder, is nothing more than a carefully crafted lie.
And that so-called harmonious and happy family, the guilt towards parents—it was all a lie.
In fact, his parents cruelly abandoned him when he was two or three years old, and it was his grandmother who raised him with great difficulty.
But he seemed to be a jinx, ultimately causing the deaths of his grandmother and the person he loved deeply.
"Hahaha, no wonder I can't always remember what my parents look like, no wonder I always see fragmented images, no wonder I feel guilty and heartbroken every time I see her... Hahaha, I'm so ridiculous."
Lu Fan covered his face tightly with both hands, suppressed sobs escaping from between his fingers, his body trembling violently, his mind on the verge of collapse.
Those once beautiful memories have now turned into sharp blades, piercing his heart again and again.
...
The Buddhist saying goes: If you don't owe anything in your past life, you won't meet again in this one.
Zhizi turned around, looking calmly at Anlan, her voice slowly rising in the silent space.
"So, I found you, her counterpart in time and space, in the vast sea of people, and brought you here, which can be considered as him making up for the debt he owed in his previous life."
Tears welled up in An Lan's eyes as she thought of Lu Fan's unbearable pain, her heart filled with heartache and helplessness.
It turns out that such a sad story lies behind all of this.
...
After an unknown amount of time, Lu Fan seemed to have used up all his strength to slowly stand up, his legs still trembling slightly.
He looked at Tomoko, his eyes pleading, "Please take me to see them..."
Zhi Zi readily agreed, snapped her fingers, and in an instant, space and time distorted, and Lu Fan arrived in front of a silent tomb.
The surrounding area was overgrown with weeds, and it was so quiet that only the rustling of the wind could be heard, as if even the air was filled with a sense of sadness.
Looking at the two low tombstones in front of him, Lu Fan's legs went weak, and he almost collapsed to the ground again. His body trembled uncontrollably.
He slowly raised his hand, trying to touch the photo on the tombstone.
After hesitating for a moment, he gently wiped the tombstone with his sleeve, his movements soft and slow, as if he were caressing the face of a lover or relative.
"Ten years have passed, and we are separated by life and death. I try not to think of you, but I can't forget you." Lu Fan murmured softly, his voice filled with endless longing and sorrow.
"The Tomb of My Beloved Wife Anlan".
"The Tomb of Zhao Guilan".
These are the two most important people in his life.
One was his fiancée, the woman who worked hard alongside him, happily planning their future and preparing to start a family.
One is his grandmother, the ordinary yet great rural woman who worked hard to raise him and accompanied him through his growth with endless love and warmth.
Their monuments should have been erected together.
He arrived too late.
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