Huai Shi opened his eyes and saw the light of the afternoon outside the window.
Dust was detached from the ceiling and danced chaotically in the dim light. The air was filled with a familiar musty smell, and he heard the sound of dripping water next door.
This was his home.
After a dream, he was lying on a broken sofa in the hall.
"I'm … still alive? How long did I sleep? "
He got up in a daze and touched his chest. He saw that the wound was bandaged properly. There was a faint throbbing pain, but it didn't hinder his movement.
In particular, he discovered that the Book of Destiny had transformed from its physical form into his will. He could flip through it on his own with just a thought.
Soon, he heard a voice beside him.
"About ten hours or so. It seems that you're recovering well."
The girl sitting in front of the window looked up at him. Her calm face made Huai Shi uneasy.
"What … happened last night? By the way, Old Liu, Old Liu … "
"Yoo Dong-ri? Ah, he's alive. The operation should be over now. He's in the intensive care unit … If he recovers well, he might have a chance to wake up in the future. But this isn't your fault. It's better to say that you're lucky to be alive after being targeted by Green Sun. "
Ai Qing said calmly, "Although a lot of things happened last night and the mastermind escaped … for you, it's all over."
"Over?"
"Yes, it's over." Ai Qing nodded. "No matter what, what happens next has nothing to do with you. No one will target you in the future."
She stared at Huai Shi and told him solemnly, "Congratulations.
"Congratulations, you can return to your peaceful life."
If Ai Qing had told him this yesterday, he would have been overjoyed. But now, hearing this news, he couldn't feel happy at all.
He didn't even have a happy reaction.
Ai Qing didn't say anything else. She closed the book and prepared to leave. After rejecting Huai Shi's offer, she got up with the help of her crutches and said goodbye.
"What's wrong?"
She saw Huai Shi's absent-minded look and tilted her head. "Is there anything else you want to ask? If you're worried about Yoo Dong-ri's car, someone will drive it away in two days. Don't worry, I'll call you before I come. "
Huai Shi shook his head and looked at her. "I've actually been wondering where I've seen you these days."
"…"
Ai Qing was silent for a long time before she calmly shook her head. "It doesn't matter if you can't remember. It's not important anyway. Just forget about it."
She walked out of the door, took one last look at Huai Shi, and nodded to say goodbye.
"Then, I'm going to Jinling to report on my work. I wish you all the best in the future. I hope we won't meet again."
She said, "Farewell, Huai Shi."
The door closed.
In the silence, Huai Shi was silent as he watched Ai Qing get into the car with the help of the chauffeur. The door was closed, and she walked away slowly, finally disappearing at the end of the road.
.
.
For the whole afternoon, Huai Shi sat on the steps of the garden, his usual place, looking at the bare nursery in a daze.
"Feeling lost, right?"
Crow appeared out of nowhere, stood on his shoulder, and patted his head. "Don't be sad. Come on, have a smoke to relax?
If you really can't, buy a bottle of wine, drink a few sips, and sleep. Everything will be over. "
"Everything will be over?"
Huai Shi looked at her.
"Yes, everything will be over." Crow said casually, "Isn't everything over, Huai Shi? As you wish, you've gotten rid of those messy things and welcomed back the peaceful life you've always wanted. "
Huai Shi did not answer.
Was it over?
Maybe, but the relief he expected did not come.
There was no relief. There was even a trace of anger that came from nowhere … Obviously, nothing was over.
He suddenly remembered Lao Yang's face.
At the last moment, when that bastard looked at him, he was actually smiling. Once he was about to die, it was as if he could be free.
Obviously, nothing could be free. He just sold his life in exchange for another person's life. Would the woman he saved be happy?
What on earth was he so proud of?
And Yoo Dong-ri, who was now in the intensive care unit.
Huai Shi used to think that they were his friends, but now, one of them was shot from behind by him, and the other one was shot from behind by him.
He lost two friends.
And the initiator of all this had already slipped away …
"How could it end so suddenly?"
He raised his hand to cover his face. He could no longer hold back the anger and exhaustion in his heart. "Damn it …"
Crow looked at him with pity.
For the first time in a long time, she saw Huai Shi so angry.
Other than that, it seemed that no matter what he encountered, he would only shamelessly lie on the ground and let the chaotic wheel of fate run over him like an old salted fish.
He was born with a good temper.
Let him be strong. Anyway, I feel good.
However, she had a nagging feeling that Huai Shi was missing something. She was hiding something, or perhaps … trying to hide something.
It was only now that she vaguely understood that perhaps this empty garden was the place where he was most relaxed. Only here would he be able to face her calmly.
Even though he was so resistant to this place in his heart —
"I say, Huai Shi." She asked seriously, "Is this place important to you?"
"Probably …"
Huai Shi looked down at the small garden under the steps and was silent for a long time.
"If you don't want to say it, just pretend I didn't ask." Crow shook her head, "After all, prying into your privacy is not something to be proud of."
"No, anyway, there is no need to hide it. I'm just thinking about how to tell you."
Huai Shi rubbed his face and pondered for a long time, thinking seriously.
He said, "When I was young, I had a high fever."
"At that time, my parents were very angry because they were playing abroad and I didn't take good care of myself. I didn't let them worry, so they gave me money and told me to go to the hospital myself.
But I was too sleepy and uncomfortable at that time, so I didn't go and fell asleep on the sofa in the living room. "
Huai Shi said, "I remember that I had a lot of strange dreams at that time. I dreamed that I seemed to have grown wings and was flying in the sky. I dreamed that this old house could talk, and it wiped my sweat and poured water for me. Later, I heard the sound of someone climbing over the wall from the backyard. His face was covered, and he was holding a knife in his hand … I hid behind the door and didn't dare to speak.
I was very scared. If I was found by that person, I might die. "
"I didn't want to die."
He stared at the raised ground and whispered softly, "So I killed him."
"…"
Crow was stunned. He turned to look at Huai Shi's face, but he couldn't find any trace of a joke. There was only an unsettling calmness.
"That's right."
Huai Shi repeated calmly, "I killed him."
Hiding behind the door, he used the ax and aimed at the back of the person's head when he came in.
It only took one hit, and the person fell.
Then he did it again, and again, until he had no strength left.
When he found that the person couldn't move, he was first at a loss, then uneasiness and panic. Finally, what emerged was a courage that even he himself was afraid of.
In the daze of the high fever, he dragged the body to the garden, dug up the ground, and quietly buried it with the ax.
He closed the soil, washed his hands, and returned to bed.
It was as if nothing had happened.
Anyway, the stone marrow hall was so remote that no one would come. Anyway, his parents were so lazy that they wouldn't care about the garden. Anyway, no one would find out that he had killed someone.
In this way, he fell asleep in fear. He had many strange dreams, but he couldn't remember those dreams. Along with some of his previous memories, when he woke up, the high fever unexpectedly subsided.
But from that moment on, Huai Shi's childhood was over.
Since then, day after day, year after year.
"Thinking about it carefully, I'm really lucky, right?"
Huai Shi said softly, "At first, I was very afraid that someone would come to catch me, that someone would find the thing I buried in the garden, but until now, it seems that no one has found it …
If I didn't hide it back then, I wouldn't be so tired now. No, if I was killed back then, I wouldn't be like now, living a life that I can't even bear to look at. "
"… Actually, you don't have to torture yourself."
Crow couldn't help but sigh, "Have you ever thought of such a possibility? Maybe, this is just one of the nightmares you have when you have a high fever. "
"Yes, maybe?"
Huai Shi nodded calmly, "I bought a shovel many times, but I lost it many times.
Every time I stood here, I would hesitate. I was afraid of what was hidden underneath. In fact, I'm not afraid of digging up the body, but I'm afraid of the truth. "
He said, "If I dig up here, I won't be able to deceive myself anymore. At that time, how can I go back to my peaceful life?"
He paused for a moment and suddenly laughed softly, "I thought I would deceive myself for the rest of my life."
"Now, it seems that there is no need to be afraid of anything."
With that, Huai Shi picked up the rusty shovel in the corner, returned to the center of the garden, looked for the original mark, and stood still.
Then, the first handful of soil was shoveled up.
Crow was stunned.
Then the second shovel, and the third shovel.
Huai Shi's movements were fast. Even if the wound under the bandage burst and blood oozed out, there was no hesitation.
He chiseled away the weeds in the way, shoveled away the roots underground, and dug out the soil and mud that buried the nightmare.
He was sweating profusely.
"You know, right? About my family … "
Huai Shi had his back to Crow. He talked to her, but also seemed to be talking to himself, "In fact, I know very well that since I was born, my parents have never liked me. After my grandfather passed away, they didn't care about me anymore. They didn't need me at all.
When they were here, I was like a burden in their way. After they left, I became a homeless stray dog. Just like that, they had been tearing down the east wall to repair the west wall, sewing and mending, and they had lived for so many years.
Now, if I can't make money, not only the tuition fees, I can't even live … I feel that such a life has no value.
In fact, even I often think, why do I have to live such a tiring life?
Anyway, it's always so miserable. No matter how much I struggle, it's useless. Sometimes, I'm even laughed at and looked down upon. Isn't it easier to give up occasionally?
But no matter how sad and bitter it is, I feel that I can hold on. Even if I have to betray my dignity occasionally, I won't be angry.
Because I know that as long as I continue to move forward, everything will be fine.
Even if the change is always insignificant.
There are people like Lao Yang who are willing to introduce jobs to me, and occasionally find excuses to give me more money. There are also Old Liu who is willing to treat me to a meal and clean up the trouble I caused in the club. Even if I shoot him in the back, he still wants me to escape when I'm in danger …
Doesn't this mean that my life has value? "
Huai Shi asked softly, but no one responded to his words. Sweat dripped from his face and fell into the pit that had been dug.
"But now —"
He lowered his eyes, raised the pick again, and shoveled down with all his strength.
It was as if he wanted to smash the ferocious face in his memory.
"My value has been denied!"
Bang!
The shovel seemed to have hit something, and a huge crack appeared. But nothing could be seen in the pit. There was no body, no skeleton, nothing.
Only the scattered glow of the setting sun vaguely reflected a cruel outline.
It was like an axe.
Huai Shi bent down, reached out, and grasped the handle.
He said:
"— — I'm going to kill him."
Under the light of the setting sun, the crow stared at the outline in Huai Shi's hand in astonishment — it was an invisible piece of metal forged purely from Origin Substance. Burning rage and icy killing intent mixed together, reflecting a cruel light.
It was the killing intent and death that had been sleeping here for seven years that had been given substance. It was an iron weapon created from nightmares and fear.
It was as if he was holding a flame. In that instant, Huai Shi's right hand was ignited by that invisible force, and white flames rose up.
The true appearance was revealed from the silence.
"So that's how it is, so that's how it is … …"
She murmured softly, suddenly realizing what was happening to Huai Shi's body.
He had broken through the barrier between spirit and matter, and realized the transformation between iron and Origin Substance … …
After seven years, Huai Shi finally crossed the long period of stress. As the Origin Substance burned, his nature sublimated, and he welcomed his own soul.
That was the one and only true soul name that the Silver Ocean bestowed upon him at the end.
— — 'Sealing Hand'!
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