Edited—

Zhou Jiayu stared at the hand flopping on the ground, his entire expression frozen stiff. The hand bounced on the ground for a while, then its movements gradually slowed, going limp as if it had lost power.

Zhou Jiayu broke out in a cold sweat on his back from fright. He looked around and discovered that his surroundings were completely dim, with only the weak light cast by the oil lamps on the walls. Beyond five meters, one could barely see anything. There was no Lin Zhushui beside him, nor those strange things from before. He had fallen into a bizarre silence.

Fortunately, Xiao Zhi was still in his arms, tugging at Zhou Jiayu’s sleeve and continuing to say, “Eat, eat…”

Zhou Jiayu said, “Eat? Xiao Zhi, eat what?”

Xiao Zhi said, “Eat you, eat you.” He seemed somewhat anxious, grabbing Zhou Jiayu’s sleeve and pulling him in another direction.

Zhou Jiayu instantly understood. He began following Xiao Zhi’s footsteps, walking in that direction. Xiao Zhi had been so agitated earlier, probably because of the massive thing that had suddenly appeared before them. His “eat you” was clearly telling Zhou Jiayu that thing was extremely dangerous.

Zhou Jiayu followed Xiao Zhi forward while thinking in his mind about exactly when he had grabbed the wrong hand. He remembered that earlier, the oil lamp in the tunnel had suddenly gone out, and then Lin Zhushui had reached out his hand toward him. At the time, Zhou Jiayu hadn’t thought much and placed his own hand on top. Now thinking about it, perhaps from the very start he hadn’t been holding Lin Zhushui at all, but rather some strange thing… No wonder the hand’s texture had felt a bit odd. Moreover, at the time, Lin Zhushui had even told him to turn off the light. Now that he thought about it, that didn’t seem like something Lin Zhushui would say—after all, his Sir had always believed that the more you trained your courage, the bigger it got.

Thinking to this point, Zhou Jiayu glanced at his right hand and wilted, thinking that in the future it would still be safer to honestly hand over a cigarette.

The tunnel was very long. Xiao Zhi seemed to be leading the way for Zhou Jiayu. Zhou Jiayu said in a small voice, “Xiao Zhi, where are you taking me?” The scenery inside the tunnel was almost identical. Zhou Jiayu observed the oil lamps and even discovered that the damaged parts on the lamps were approximately the same. He seemed to have walked into a loop, endlessly repeating the same path.

Xiao Zhi said, “Run far, run far.” He seemed nervous about something behind them, feeling that this thing would threaten Zhou Jiayu’s life.

Zhou Jiayu said, “Okay, Xiao Zhi, wait a moment. Let me burn a talisman paper first.”

Xiao Zhi stopped his footsteps and looked at Zhou Jiayu with wide, hopeful eyes.

Zhou Jiayu took out the talisman paper Lin Zhushui had previously given him from his bosom, along with a lighter. He squatted down and lit it, watching as the talisman paper turned to ash on the ground. After the talisman paper burned, it emitted a scent similar to sandalwood. This fragrance smelled very familiar; it was the unique scent that belonged to Lin Zhushui.

Zhou Jiayu sniffed this smell and felt his mood calm down.

“Let’s go, Xiao Zhi.” Zhou Jiayu held Xiao Zhi’s hand, and the two continued forward.

The repeating scenery made one’s nerves grow increasingly tense, as if climbing a staircase that would never reach an end. Zhou Jiayu’s body also began to feel unwell. At first he thought he was just too nervous, but after careful consideration, he painfully discovered that this feeling seemed to be oxygen deprivation.

Dying from oxygen deprivation was an extremely painful thing. Ordinary people died with miserable appearances—their faces and throats scratched until bloody and mangled, blood foam overflowing from their mouths and noses. In the end, the skin of the corpse would also display a strange blue color.

“Huff… huff…” Zhou Jiayu forced himself to slow down his breathing frequency, but the oxygen grew increasingly thin, to the point where his body also began to feel a sense of weakness. His originally quick footsteps began to slow, and large patches of black spots appeared in his vision.

“Uh… ugh…” Zhou Jiayu covered his throat, struggling to lean against the wall.

Xiao Zhi discovered Zhou Jiayu’s abnormality and called out, “Baba, baba.” He seemed somewhat anxious, jumping onto Zhou Jiayu’s shoulder and beginning to use his tiny hands to fan wind at Zhou Jiayu with all his might.

Zhou Jiayu suddenly thought of something. He said with difficulty, “Xiao Zhi, can you carry me?” He remembered that Old Xu from Mount She had said that paper people had tremendous strength.

Hearing this, Xiao Zhi immediately got down from Zhou Jiayu and then stood on the ground and directly lifted Zhou Jiayu up entirely: “Baba?”

Zhou Jiayu: “…” He felt like an excessively scummy father, bullying his frail son. But right now he couldn’t think about that too much, because Xiao Zhi didn’t need oxygen.

The carbon dioxide humans exhaled was heavier than oxygen, so there should still be some residual oxygen in the upper parts of the tunnel. Being held up by Xiao Zhi near the top of the tunnel, Zhou Jiayu felt that suffocating feeling of collapse ease considerably.

“Huff… huff…” Even so, Zhou Jiayu still didn’t dare to breathe in large mouthfuls, afraid of consuming the oxygen too quickly.

After Xiao Zhi saw that Zhou Jiayu’s condition had improved, he also breathed a sigh of relief. Holding Zhou Jiayu, he began running at full speed. It was the first time Zhou Jiayu discovered that Xiao Zhi’s speed was actually so fast. He felt like he was riding a motorcycle, whooshing out in an instant, and even had to brace himself against the wall to avoid falling over.

His son was truly amazing, Zhou Jiayu thought in a daze.

Xiao Zhi seemed to have locked onto a certain direction, running forward the whole way without stopping. Zhou Jiayu’s consciousness, however, grew increasingly fuzzy. He felt that the oxygen in the tunnel had already become too little to sustain his life. His consciousness began to drift, and his body also slowly went limp.

“Baba, baba.” Xiao Zhi anxiously called out to Zhou Jiayu, wanting to keep him awake.

Just when Zhou Jiayu felt he was about to give up, he suddenly noticed that in the darkness ahead, a figure had appeared, seemingly in human form.

At a time like this, no matter what one saw, it would always give rise to a bit of hope. That figure was also moving in Zhou Jiayu’s direction. Soon, when Zhou Jiayu clearly saw the person’s appearance, he suddenly let down his guard: “Sir…”

The person standing in the darkness was Lin Zhushui. He stood at the end of the tunnel, slightly waving his hand toward Zhou Jiayu.

Xiao Zhi placed Zhou Jiayu on the ground. Zhou Jiayu hurriedly ran toward Lin Zhushui.

“Sir.” Oxygen seemed to have returned too. Zhou Jiayu breathed in large mouthfuls. He said, “Where did you go? I’ve been looking for you.”

Lin Zhushui didn’t speak.

Zhou Jiayu felt that Lin Zhushui’s expression was a bit strange. He said, “Sir…?”

Lin Zhushui said, “Zhou Jiayu?” The tone in which he called Zhou Jiayu’s name sounded a bit strange, actually carrying a somewhat ambiguous flavor.

Zhou Jiayu sensitively detected that something was off. His eyes swept toward the ground and discovered a somewhat horrifying fact. The oil lamp at the side cast light on the two of them, but it only left one shadow—behind Lin Zhushui was completely empty. The shadow that should have appeared on the ground was nowhere to be seen.

Zhou Jiayu began slowly retreating.

Lin Zhushui instantly detected Zhou Jiayu’s withdrawal. He tilted his head and actually smiled: “What are you afraid of me for?”

Zhou Jiayu thought quickly on his feet: “S-Sir, there’s something behind you.”

Lin Zhushui said, “Hmm?”

Zhou Jiayu said, “On the wall behind you… there’s something…”

Hearing this, Lin Zhushui actually really turned around, as if wanting to see what was behind him. Little did he know that this action completely confirmed Zhou Jiayu’s guess—Lin Zhushui never opened his eyes. Even if he heard there was something behind him, his first reaction would absolutely never be to turn around and look behind him.

Seeing this situation, Zhou Jiayu turned his head and ran. Xiao Zhi seemed a bit confused, but still obediently followed behind Zhou Jiayu.

Rushing out of this tunnel in one breath, Zhou Jiayu glanced behind him and discovered that that person indeed hadn’t chased over. He was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when he heard a soft greeting come from his right: “What are you running for?”

This voice exploded like thunder, causing Zhou Jiayu to retreat several steps. He looked toward the right and discovered that the person who should have been behind him was now standing to his right, looking at him expressionlessly.

Zhou Jiayu: “…”

“What are you running for?” It was clearly the same face, the same voice, but the temperament of the person before his eyes was completely different from Lin Zhushui’s. He slowly opened his eyes, revealing a pair of black pupils. At this moment they carried a certain evil meaning as they gazed at Zhou Jiayu. He said, “Don’t you like me?”

Zhou Jiayu was struck in the heart by those words “like me,” his entire body trembling slightly. He said, “What kind of thing are you?”

“Me?” The thing before his eyes that possessed the same shell as Lin Zhushui slowly leaned toward Zhou Jiayu. Zhou Jiayu retreated step by step, quickly forced into a corner by him.

“I’m the Lin Zhushui you like, aren’t I?” He spoke in a gentle tone. “Don’t you like me? How come you can’t even recognize me?”

Zhou Jiayu placed his hand in his pocket, ready to take out his talisman paper at any moment. But this man seemed to have seen through his thoughts and directly reached out to press down on his arm. His speed was extremely fast. Zhou Jiayu hadn’t even reacted before being firmly held down by the shoulder.

“Ugh…” This was clearly not human strength. The moment Zhou Jiayu was pressed down by the shoulder, he almost felt his shoulder blade was going to shatter. He gritted his teeth and said, “Bullshit. It’s precisely because I like him that I can tell you’re not him! What kind of thing are you? Why don’t you take a piss and look at your own reflection? You still want to pretend to be Sir’s appearance!”

The moment these words came out, the corners of the person’s mouth before him immediately pressed into a straight line. Clearly his mood had been affected.

Zhou Jiayu continued to mock him with his words, because he saw that Xiao Zhi had already rolled up his sleeves and was charging over here, about to punch this thing. Zhou Jiayu had witnessed Xiao Zhi’s strength. If this thing were really human, he would definitely be knocked down with one punch.

Who knew that the moment Xiao Zhi charged over, that person suddenly turned around, directly lifted Zhou Jiayu up, and then kicked out.

His strength was immense, actually sending Xiao Zhi flying with one kick.

“Xiao Zhi!!” Zhou Jiayu called out worriedly.

“Wuwah—” Xiao Zhi burst into tears with a wah, his crying voice extremely aggrieved, his mouth calling out, “Baba, baba—”

Zhou Jiayu glared hatefully at the person before him, hating until his teeth itched. But unfortunately the strength of the two was completely not on the same level. That person’s hand was like a pair of pincers, firmly pinching Zhou Jiayu’s shoulder and making him completely unable to move.

“You’re still worried about him?” the man said. “You might as well worry about yourself first.” He looked at Zhou Jiayu’s teeth-gritting expression, and suddenly an evil flavor appeared in his eyes. “Do you think Lin Zhushui would accept you?”

Zhou Jiayu pressed his lips together, unwilling to speak.

“Speak.” The man reached out and pinched Zhou Jiayu’s chin. He said in a light voice, “If you don’t speak, I’ll slaughter your son.”

One had to admit, having this person use Lin Zhushui’s face to make this kind of expression truly gave Zhou Jiayu a very uncomfortable feeling. He slightly tilted his head and said with a cold laugh, “Whether he accepts me or not, I’m happy. What business is it of yours?”

The man raised an eyebrow. “Tough mouth.” As he spoke, he released Zhou Jiayu’s chin. Zhou Jiayu breathed a sigh of relief, but felt his body being lifted up again, then heavily smashed against the wall. Both hands were twisted behind his back, tied up by the man with something.

“What are you doing?” Zhou Jiayu was startled.

“Haven’t you always been looking forward to this kind of thing? Why deceive yourself?” the man said.

Zhou Jiayu felt his hand press against his waist, actually about to reach inside. He was startled and struggled like crazy: “Are you crazy—I’m a man!”

“I naturally know.” He said this, but his hand had already lifted Zhou Jiayu’s clothes.

Zhou Jiayu’s brain directly exploded. At this moment, he felt something inside his body pour out. The man behind him let out a miserable scream and instantly released Zhou Jiayu. Zhou Jiayu turned his head to look and saw that the man’s entire body was covered in transparent water, as if something had poured over him from head to toe. And at Zhou Jiayu’s feet, a thin layer of water also floated up. Within this pool of water floated ink-colored lotus flowers. Beneath the lotus flowers, several swimming fish rushed out from the water and stabbed toward the man.

These swimming fish were extremely small and fast, like sharp short arrows, directly piercing into the man’s body. Although the man dodged the vital areas, his body was still pierced several times. Red blood flowed out from his body, pooling on the ground.

Zhou Jiayu didn’t know where his strength came from either. He directly rushed over and kicked the man violently. This time he didn’t hold back any strength at all, not even considering what would happen if he kicked someone to death.

The man was fiercely kicked by Zhou Jiayu over a dozen times. At first he still resisted a bit, but later he directly stopped moving.

When Zhou Jiayu calmed down, Xiao Zhi was hugging his leg, aggrievedly calling out baba. His body was also stained with water, looking somewhat dirty.

Zhou Jiayu said, “Xiao Zhi, quickly help baba untie the ropes.”

Xiao Zhi nodded and carefully helped Zhou Jiayu untie the ropes binding his hands.

Zhou Jiayu’s hands were free. He picked up Xiao Zhi, then used his foot to flip over the man soaking in the water, wanting to see what exactly was going on with this person.

However, when he flipped the man over, he discovered that the person’s appearance was very strange. His skin was already swollen, looking like he had been dead for some time. Moreover, his face had no resemblance to Lin Zhushui at all; he was completely the appearance of a stranger.

What kind of thing was this person? Zhou Jiayu couldn’t figure it out.

Xiao Zhi shrank in Zhou Jiayu’s arms, carefully touching Zhou Jiayu’s wrist and asking if it hurt.

Only then did Zhou Jiayu discover that his wrist had been skinned during his struggle earlier. The wound looked somewhat fierce at first glance. He shook his head and said, “It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt.”

Xiao Zhi said, “Hit, hit him!”

Zhou Jiayu said, “Okay, hit him.” He kicked the corpse again.

Just as Zhou Jiayu was lowering his head to kick the corpse, he suddenly discovered that the shallow pool of water at his feet began to flow. The ink-colored swimming fish circled around his ankles, occasionally lightly touching his skin, as if calling out to him.

Zhou Jiayu looked at these swimming fish and always felt they were somewhat familiar. After carefully recalling, he suddenly realized that the appearance of these swimming fish was extremely similar to the tattoo Lin Zhushui had inked on his waist and buttocks. It was as if they had jumped right off his body.

“Where do you want to take me?” Zhou Jiayu asked in a small voice, tentatively walking a few steps in the direction the water flowed. Sure enough, these swimming fish also began swimming forward, occasionally turning their heads to look at Zhou Jiayu a few times to see if he was keeping up.

Following the direction of the flowing water forward, Zhou Jiayu noticed that the scenery around him gradually began to change. The dirt on the walls began to grow moist, and fresh air seemed to surge into the tunnel.

Other things aside, at least the oxygen deprivation problem was alleviated. Zhou Jiayu slowly walked forward. After turning right past a bend, before his eyes actually appeared a massive pit. The flowing water at Zhou Jiayu’s feet flowed into this enormous pit. The pit was too deep; Zhou Jiayu couldn’t see what was inside at all. He thought about it, then turned and walked to the wall beside him, took down a kerosene lamp, and threw it down into the pit.

The kerosene lamp tumbled down, its weak light allowing Zhou Jiayu to barely make out the situation inside the pit.

Beneath the pit were actually densely packed, layer upon layer of stacked corpses. The appearances of these corpses all looked extremely ferocious, some even missing hands or feet, as if they had been crudely thrown into this massive hole.

However, Zhou Jiayu noticed one detail: the clothing and dress style of the people in this pit differed greatly from the present, instead looking more like Republican-era attire.

“It hurts so much, it hurts so much…” When a weak voice came from the pit, Zhou Jiayu at first thought he had misheard. But this voice grew louder and louder, so loud that Zhou Jiayu couldn’t deceive himself that this was his imagination.

“Save me, let me out, let me out.” Some were screaming, some were moaning, some were struggling. These people who should have been dead seemed to have been given life once again. They began twisting their bodies, actually attempting to stand up from the ground and climb out from the pit.

One could imagine that this large pit before him had an inseparable relationship with the Republican-era suffocation tragedy. The method of handling the corpses at the time was probably also quite crude. Those unclaimed bodies were probably all just dug into a pit, covered with quicklime, and buried just like that.

Zhou Jiayu couldn’t count how many people were in the pit before him, but the increasingly loud screams and moans began echoing in the originally not-very-spacious tunnel.

When Zhou Jiayu noticed that they were beginning to attempt climbing upward, he felt he should leave quickly. Although the pit was deep, it couldn’t withstand the large number of people. Layer upon layer, they actually grew forward at a speed visible to the naked eye. Judging from the situation, in a while corpses would probably be climbing up.

Zhou Jiayu didn’t want to look anymore. He turned around, planning to leave, but heard someone behind him calling his name: “Zhou Jiayu.”

Zhou Jiayu was slightly stunned.

“Zhou Jiayu.” The voice’s owner belonged to Lin Zhushui, carrying that cold and detached flavor from usual.

Upon hearing Lin Zhushui’s voice, the first thought that appeared in Zhou Jiayu’s mind was that that bastard from earlier had returned. But Lin Zhushui’s voice still made Zhou Jiayu hesitate. He slowly turned his body and once again cast his gaze into this enormous pit before him.

This time, he actually saw firelight in the pit, and within the firelight, Lin Zhushui.

Lin Zhushui stood in this large pit. His body was once again burning with gorgeous flames. He slightly raised his head, closing his eyes in Zhou Jiayu’s direction, his thin lips parting lightly: “Zhou Jiayu.”

“Sir…” If this had been before, Zhou Jiayu definitely would have rushed over directly. But having experienced the fake Lin Zhushui earlier, Zhou Jiayu felt a bit of hesitation. He was thinking about whether the person before his eyes was the real Lin Zhushui or an illusion deceiving him.

“Come down.” Lin Zhushui said.

Zhou Jiayu didn’t move, his eyes showing hesitation.

Lin Zhushui clearly also detected Zhou Jiayu’s hesitation. He slightly furrowed his brows, but didn’t continue saying anything. Instead, his right hand lightly waved, and that dazzlingly red flame spread out within the pit.

Where the flame passed, the corpses climbing outward in the pit instantly turned to ash. Their pain was finally ended, leaving the long cycle of reincarnation.

This scene was too beautiful. Lin Zhushui’s flames covered the entire pit, the firelight illuminating the end of the tunnel. But it wasn’t scorching hot; rather, it was a very comfortable temperature for humans.

Lin Zhushui waved at Zhou Jiayu again, indicating for him to come over.

This time, Zhou Jiayu didn’t hesitate anymore. He slowly began trying to climb down along the pit. The moment he stepped into the pit, flames directly lifted him up and sent him before Lin Zhushui.

“Sir.” Zhou Jiayu called out like this.

Lin Zhushui said, “What did you see?”

Zhou Jiayu said baffled, “What?”

“Just now in the tunnel, what did you see?” Lin Zhushui asked again.

Zhou Jiayu thought of that person identical to Lin Zhushui and mumbled a couple of sentences: “Nothing special…”

His skill at lying was clearly too clumsy. Lin Zhushui heard it the moment he heard it, but he didn’t expose Zhou Jiayu. He only said indifferently, “Let’s go.”

Zhou Jiayu was still thinking about what “let’s go” meant when he saw Lin Zhushui reach out his hand toward him, tapping his forehead—The world spun. Zhou Jiayu felt as if his entire person had emerged from water. The scene before his eyes suddenly twisted. Gone was the pit, gone was the tunnel, everything was gone.

When he could clearly see the scenery around him again, he discovered that he was actually sitting at the end of the tunnel. Of course, this tunnel looked modern, with electric lights hanging overhead. Sitting beside him were several people: Shen Yiqiong, Lin Jue, Yu Xiaomian, Yu He, and beside him, Lin Zhushui who was slightly lowering his head, as if gazing at him.

“Awake?” Lin Zhushui asked him like this.

“Mm.” Zhou Jiayu climbed up. Xiao Zhi, seeing that Zhou Jiayu had woken up, also seemed very happy, calling out baba, baba.

Zhou Jiayu said, “Sir, were we dreaming?”

Lin Zhushui said, “Perhaps.”

The electric lights hanging above the tunnel emitted crackling electrical sounds. It was very quiet here, but Zhou Jiayu’s heart had calmed down.

“Thank you, Sir.” Zhou Jiayu curved his eyes. “Thank you, Sir, for saving me.”

“No.” Lin Zhushui, however, said this. “You saved yourself.”

A somewhat blank expression appeared on Zhou Jiayu’s face.

“What did you see?” It was the same question again. Lin Zhushui seemed very interested in this.

Zhou Jiayu said in a light voice, “I… I saw Sir.” After saying this, he saw the corners of the person’s mouth before him actually curve into a gentle smile.

Then Lin Zhushui said, “I also saw you.”

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Author’s Note:

Zhou Jiayu: What kind of me did Sir see?

Lin Zhushui: Mm…

Zhou Jiayu: ??? Why are you taking off my clothes QAQ