Lin Sanjiu was sprawled on a pile of rubble, motionless. Above her, the roof of the building had been torn open. The smoke and dust were still slowly dispersing, revealing the blue and narrow sky outside.
The black mountain was like a patch of ink that had been washed away by water, or like a patch of smoke that had been blown away by the wind, and was slowly dispersing under the blue sky. Its color grew lighter and lighter, and at last it melted into the wind, leaving no trace of it behind.
Lin Sanjiu still could not believe that Mayor Orlean had been killed by her gun just like that.
Amidst the rubble, there was a man with short limbs and a round body. His face was buried in the rubble, and blood was dripping from his body. The black mountain had absorbed a lot of energy, but the only thing it allowed Mayor Orlean to do was to take out a certain item from the air.
Lin Sanjiu lowered her head and looked at her wrist. The word "freedom" had disappeared, but her libretto was still going on.
Since the antagonist had been defeated, shouldn't the storyline be over?
"Oh, right!" Lin Sanjiu raised her head abruptly. It was only then that she realized that her companion had been quiet for quite some time. She scrambled to her feet and rushed toward the direction where he had been knocked away. "Yu Yuan! Yu Yuan! Are you alright? "
The young man with tattoos had crashed into another wall after he was knocked away. He was now lying in a corner, and his body was covered in rubble and rubble. Lin Sanjiu pushed away the broken pieces of the wall and realized that he was in a terrible state. His only arm was broken, and his body was covered in potholes and blood was seeping out of every inch of his body. She quickly placed her hand on his neck and felt around for a while. Then, she heaved a sigh of relief. There was still a warm pulse under his skin.
She carefully picked Yu Yuan up, and when her gaze fell on his empty knees, she couldn't help but feel her heart palpitate. Lin Sanjiu's stamina was not as good as it was when she was outside the dream. She had no choice but to put him down after she moved him to the corridor. Surprisingly, Yu Yuan had regained his composure. He opened his eyes and asked in a low voice, "How is it?"
"I think it's all over now," Lin Sanjiu replied. She wasn't so sure herself. She showed him her wrist and said, "I've killed Mayor Orlean, and the script you gave me has disappeared … It might take a while before we can leave the Reverie Libretto."
Yu Yuan slowly shifted his gaze, as if it was strenuous for him to even blink, and looked behind her. After half a second, he exhaled softly. "He's not dead."
"What?"
"Just now … one of his legs trembled."
Lin Sanjiu sprung to her feet and picked up the empty rifle. She carried it and walked toward Mayor Orlean. He was still lying face down on the ground, but when she flipped him over with the muzzle of the rifle, she realized that he was wearing a bulletproof vest under his jacket.
No wonder he looked so confident just now. Although the bulletproof vest couldn't withstand the intense gunfire, it still gave him a breath of life.
"Do we have to kill him to get out of the Reverie Libretto?" Lin Sanjiu asked Yu Yuan as she turned the rifle around and pressed the butt of the rifle against Mayor Orlean's head.
"No … No," Yu Yuan tried his best to speak, but his voice was still weak. "He's unconscious. It's not because of him … Don't touch him for now."
"Why?"
"Lest … Lest our Reverie Libretto fluctuate …" He panted a few times as he spoke.
When Lin Sanjiu was about to pick him up again, she saw his broken right arm hanging limply on the ground. She looked at his wrist and couldn't help but be surprised, "Your handwriting has changed. “
Yu Yuan was taken aback as well.
"The words on your wrist are no longer 'Push Hand'," Lin Sanjiu said in confusion. "They have changed to 'Straw'. What does that mean? "
Yu Yuan was stunned. He seemed to have fallen into a state of confusion.
"Is the Reverie Libretto still not over after defeating him?" He looked at Mayor Orlean from afar and frowned. "Help me out first. Let's go out and have a look."
The two of them dragged themselves down the stairs with great difficulty and finally returned to the lobby on the first floor. Lin Sanjiu was afraid that there were still police officers outside, so she put Yu Yuan down and ran back to the lobby to find his gun. He still had a lot of bullets in his gun, so it should be able to buy them some time.
Holding the gun in her hand, she slowly opened the door a little and looked out through the gap.
While they were fighting, some time had passed in Peanut Town. The fire that they had set up had been extinguished, and even the black smoke had dissipated. The only thing that remained were the blackened buildings that stood silently in the morning light. The electric fence seemed to have never been repaired after it was set ablaze. Broken wires were scattered on the ground, making rattling noises as they were blown by the wind.
It seemed like the town had been ruined overnight.
Bloodstains and garbage were scattered on the streets, and as far as the eye could see, the buildings were filthy. Many of the doors of the red-bricked buildings were tied with broken wires, and eight out of ten windows on the upper floors had their frames removed. Lin Sanjiu had only set fire to one street, but Peanut Town looked like it had been plundered by a war.
Just as she was about to turn around and call for Yu Yuan, she caught a glimpse of the first living person in sight. Her eyes widened when the man moved cautiously and stealthily into her field of vision. The man was still wearing the shirt that Peanut Town had given him, but it was yellowed and torn by sweat. The color of his shirt was no longer bright, and he no longer looked like a fat walrus. His cheekbones were high, and he looked a little bony.
"What's wrong?" Yu Yuan asked from behind.
"It seems like a long time has passed outside," Lin Sanjiu leaned against the door and said in a low voice, "The residents … have all lost weight."
All the resources and rations of the residents of Peanut Town were pulled out of thin air by Mayor Orlean. Without Black Mountain and Mayor Orlean, the people who had lost the ability to survive were thrown into a famine.
The skinny man in the old grey shirt squatted cautiously at the foot of the electric fence. His eyes were fixed on a ditch under the electric fence, and it seemed like he was waiting for a rat to pass by.
Above his head was a tattered picture of the Black Mountain, which was caught by the wire. It fluttered noisily in the air. The skinny man looked up and tore the picture off, crumpled it into a ball, and threw it away.
The Spirit Mountain, which was said to have existed for thousands of years and was the spiritual totem of the townspeople, seemed to have lost its effect on him.
"Now that the Black Mountain is gone, they should be free," Lin Sanjiu sighed. Lin Sanjiu sighed softly. Freedom did not mean abundance. Even if one was poor, it was still freedom. Lin Sanjiu had no intention of returning Peanut Town to its original state. She could not help but wonder, "Why is my libretto still not over? Now that your 'straw' is here … "
Yu Yuan remained silent. Lin Sanjiu had no idea whether he did not have the strength to speak or he did not have an answer.
Lin Sanjiu strapped the gun to her belt and carried him on her shoulder. Even though it was just a dream, she still wanted to find some medicine for him. After she carried him for a while, Yu Yuan suddenly said in a muffled voice, "Hearts."
"What?"
"Orlean said that they have no hearts …" Yu Yuan said in a low voice, "You have given them freedom. That is true. But I have a suspicion that your battle just now is just a part of the storyline in my dream …"
"In other words, fighting Mayor Orlean and giving freedom to the people of Peanut Town" was just a part of Yu Yuan's storyline? Did she just play a role in his storyline?
"You dreamt of these heartless people …" Yu Yuan leaned his body weight on Lin Sanjiu. His body temperature was so low that it was worrying. "Maybe … your storyline is based on this."
"Do I have to transplant a heart to every person in this town?"
Lin Sanjiu thought for a while, but she could not come up with an answer. Seeing that Yu Yuan's face was getting paler and paler, she decided not to think about it anymore. She laid him down on the sidewalk and planned to fetch a bowl of water for him. The moment Yu Yuan laid down, he closed his eyes. Lin Sanjiu had no idea whether he had fainted or fallen asleep.
She pushed the door open and walked into the dark corridor. After she took about ten steps, she turned around and dashed out of the door.
She came out at the right time. A few skinny Peanut Town residents scattered away from Yu Yuan like a swarm of flies. They seemed to have caught a glimpse of the gun on her waist, and none of them said a word before they turned around and ran for their lives.
Lin Sanjiu did not have the time to chase after them. She rushed to Yu Yuan's side and saw that his face and body were covered in wounds. Blood was seeping out of the wounds. Startled, Lin Sanjiu quickly helped him up. After a few seconds, Yu Yuan gasped and opened his eyes.
He frowned and gasped in pain. "What … What's going on …?"
Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth, but she did not know how to answer him.
Should she say that those people wanted to eat on his body? Or did they want to cut him with their knives for fun?
Which answer was more normal?
"Yu Yuan," Lin Sanjiu hugged the young man with one hand and held the gun with the other. "I suddenly thought of a way to end our dream. Can you hold on for a little longer?"
"Wh … What?"
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