Welcome to Rewind World Game
Chapter 735 - 732: "Nightingale and the Rose

Chapter 735: Chapter 732: "Nightingale and the Rose

Chun Kylstia died from jumping off a building.

She was only sixteen years old.

Perhaps the wind was too strong today, the height she chose was too great, or maybe fate was too cruel to her as her body landed right in front of Su Ming’an, her blood splashing like paint.

Her eyes retained a crimson hue, indicating that up until the moment of her death, she was still desperately fighting against the invasion of "Ta Wei." Only when she understood that her rationality couldn’t survive did she choose to leap to her end.

Because "One-and-a-Half Dimensions" is sandwiched between One Dimension and Two Dimensions, her body didn’t disappear but lay starkly on the street, half-illusory with Yuan Guang and half-drenched in blood.

The light lingered around her eyelashes and in her blood-stained palms.

When humans can’t resist the "Whispering" of "Ta Wei," suicide becomes the final method of resistance.

Of the Kylstia family’s third generation, there was only Che and Yuanyuan; no one spoke of Chun. When he heard Chun’s surname, Su Ming’an knew the girl who tenderly nurtured the first lily of spring would surely not survive.

History is so cruel—"Those who do not exist in the future are sure to have died in the past."

But he didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

They met only once, and the next they would meet would be in everlasting farewell. The harbinger of hope, that first lily of spring, turned out to be her last memento.

"We hope you saw the colors of spring and felt happiness..."

By that time, Chun had probably already prepared for her suicide.

The operation had already begun, and people had no time to bury Chun. Her body was taken away by a cart, to a faraway place out of sight, leaving behind scattered droplets of blood along the way.

Just like, a wilted lily.

...

[Ruined World·Northeast Corner]

The blood-red sunset enveloped the landscape, with the village’s buildings resembling uneven shadows.

Raggedly dressed people trembled as they knelt in a row. Dozens of fierce-looking Exotic Beasts surrounded them.

Commanding the Exotic Beasts was a young man with white hair, wearing a brown cape and carrying a traveler’s pack, a traveler weathered by exposure to the elements. A golden ginkgo leaf peeked out from the pocket on his chest. His arms, waist, and thighs were all wrapped in snowy bandages, and even his neck bore the remnants of purplish bruises.

The village chief knelt and pleaded with the white-haired youth, "Please, spare us!"

The young man with white hair just sneered, without uttering a word.

"I’m sorry, we shouldn’t have attacked you. We were blind and couldn’t see, please forgive us!" a woman beside him cried out: "We thought you were just a normal traveler, that’s why, that’s why..."

"If I were a normal traveler, by now I would have been killed by you lot, even my clothes and food taken away," Lin Guang’s eyes filled with gloom: "It’s a pity I’m not, so, you must pay the price."

In the Apocalypse, human nature deteriorates. Many small towns perish from the cold, and refugees cannot travel the long distances to seek refuge in Doomsday City. Thus, they completely transform into demons, starting to rob other refugees, even assuming the guise of bandit villages.

Lin Guang was just passing through this village; as soon as he did, these villagers suddenly and inexplicably swung hoes and sickles at him. Although they didn’t hurt him, it made him experience once more the evil of humanity.

...What good is there to save in these people?

...Once their lives are threatened, they become as vile and despicable as primal animals, capable of committing merciless deeds to stay alive. Looting, child exchange, cannibalism.

Lin Guang stepped forward, grasped the collar of a burly man. The man was so scared that his face was streaked with tears.

"Traveler, please spare me, I was just starving..."

"Please spare him, we have nowhere else to go..." the people pleaded en masse.

Ignoring the pleading crowd, Lin Guang suddenly looked up. His eyes widened slightly as if waiting for something, and after a moment, his Adam’s apple moved, and he called out loudly:

"Lewis—come and stop me, where are you?"

His voice carried far and wide, like a fledgling eagle swooping across the desolate plains.

As he held the trembling burly man in his hand, he looked around, searching the empty land around him.

"Lewis, you will see me, right? You always manage to save everyone in time, even a bunch of irredeemable evildoers. As long as they are in danger, as long as I am about to strike them, you always show up in time, stopping me, standing against me—because they are the weak, and I am the bad guy.

"So—come and stop me, hate me, rebuke me, call me a devil—you like these vile humans so much, you are their hero, now come and save them!"

"Appear now! Appear now! Lewis!"

He repeated phrases like this dozens of times, his expression extremely serious. He truly seemed to believe in the logic of his words, convinced that he could wait for someone to come.

All around was silence, with only the endless prairie tumbling in the wind, making a rustling sound.

The villagers watched Lin Guang with resignation and despair, suddenly realizing they had provoked a madman with a disturbed mind.

The bandages on Lin Guang’s body, soaked with fresh blood from his fervent motions, but he didn’t care. He placed his other hand on his neck, pressing against the purple bruises there as if doing so could calm him.

Feeling a similar pain, he found solace.

"Appear before me, come and save them..." His words were tinged with naivety and cruelty, believing this would "summon" Lewis.

"Shh shh shh—"

Behind him, the sound of violent friction among grass leaves suggested someone was approaching. Lin Guang immediately let go of his hold, turning back with joyful expectation—

A girl with a ponytail, wearing a lacy puff dress, walked over through the grass, holding a letter in her hand.

Lin Guang frowned slightly, confirming that this person was not Lewis in drag, before he coldly said, "Who are you? Why are you coming near me?"

Upon hearing this, Yamada Machiichi felt a surge of anger: "I have been serving under you for over a decade, and you don’t remember my name?"

He had joined the Deity camp from the beginning and was the third in command in the City of Gods back then. He had used his real name, which should have been quite distinctive, yet this heartless white-haired man had forgotten him as soon as he turned around!

Lin Guang scrutinized the person and found him somewhat familiar. In Yamada Machiichi’s hopeful gaze, Lin Guang spoke slowly:

"Are you... Shan Tingting?"

"I am Yamada Machiichi!!!" Yamada Machiichi raged.

"Alright, Shan Tiantian." Lin Guang promptly forgot upon hearing.

Yamada Machiichi took a deep breath and yelled, "I am Yamada Machiichi! Yamada Machiichi! Not Shan Tiantian. You can’t forget everyone, can you?"

"Of course I remember, I remember Lewis’s teammates." Lin Guang said, "His teammates, every one of them... the blond dwarf, Smiling Tiger, the female Knight, the Pajama Man. I remember them all very clearly."

Yamada Machiichi: "?"

No, he knew who the blond dwarf, Smiling Tiger, and female Knight were, but who was the last one, ’pajama man’? Is there such an oddball?

Yamada Machiichi thought for a long time and still didn’t know who ’pajama man’ referred to, he should be thankful that Lin Guang at least remembered one ’Yamada’ from his name. At least he wouldn’t be remembered as ’Lolita dwarf’.

Seeing that the two of them had started chatting, about a dozen villagers silently fled.

Yamada Machiichi said in surprise, "You’re actually not killing them?"

"I’ve already grown weary of killing," Lin Guang said. "Because being killed is very painful, and no one will be happy because of it... What do you want with me? If it’s nothing, then scram."

Even to his subordinate of many years, Lin Guang was extremely indifferent.

"Here, a letter from your friend, Lewis, for you," Yamada Machiichi said as he handed over the letter.

Lin Guang snatched the envelope in a second, tore apart the outer shell, and unfolded it.

On the letter paper, there were only a few brief lines of small print.

...

[Don’t cause trouble these next few days, thank you.]

[If you don’t cause trouble, I’ll treat you to a meal another day.]

...

To stabilize an unstable factor like Lin Guang, Su Ming’an specially wrote him a letter to calm him down, as for when that "another day" would be, that would depend on fate.

Most likely, there would be no fate.

"I’m leaving," Yamada Machiichi immediately turned around, he didn’t want to stay with a madman for too long. Looking at the almost snowman-like bandages wrapped around Lin Guang, he didn’t know what kind of madness this man had recently engaged in.

"—Wait."

The voice of Lin Guang came from behind, causing Yamada Machiichi’s body to tense, and he hesitantly paused in his tracks.

"Thank you for delivering the letter," Lin Guang said.

Yamada Machiichi glanced back at Lin Guang. He suddenly realized that, compared to 32 years after the catastrophe, the expression on Lin Guang’s face had become a lot more natural and was no longer the stiff and somber look it once was. The bright crimson blood seeped through the snow-white bandages gradually, staining the ginkgo leaf on his chest red.

In the deserted village, only this person stood quietly at the doorway, carrying a thick travel pack, like a wet white-furred dog in heavy rain.

... With no foundational logic for thinking, unable to perceive positive emotions, unable to interact with others reasonably, unable to love or be loved. Just like someone born without senses, swathed in black, forever exhibiting a mix of innocence and cruelty in their behavior.

"Forget it... I’ll leave you with a saying, from Oscar Wilde’s ’The Nightingale and the Rose’," said Yamada Machiichi, also a soft-hearted person, as he began:

"[The one who can desperately seek life and death for a single rose may also dismiss the rose indifferently, such a pity the nightingale didn’t understand, just as it didn’t understand the complex human heart.]"

It was just a piece of advice, but he wouldn’t say more. Lin Guang had already committed unforgivable crimes, he had killed so many innocent people, something that could never be washed clean.

Lin Guang stared at him blankly.

"Thank you, although I didn’t understand what you meant," Lin Guang said: "Shan Sweet Sweet."

"—Yamada Machiichi!!!"

...

At six o’clock in the evening, in the inner city, in the central banquet hall of Doomsday City.

Under the extravagant glow, a red carpet stretched all the way, lining the pearly white steps at the end of the hall, extending to the second floor platform.

Colored wines, cakes, steaks, and other extremely luxurious foods of the ruined world adorned the scattered snow-white tables in the hall. Dressed in formal attire, people held bright golden crystal glasses in their hands and conversed in low tones.

The banquet had not yet begun, and the host—City Lord Yasa Acto had not yet arrived. The chatter of the people was faint.

The dinner invited some highly esteemed individuals from the inner city, including the Great Commanders, Generals, and allies of Doomsday City, such as the Freedom Alliance, Tribunal, Hope City, Antofa City, Yaoguang, and the senior ranks of various powers.

——In this situation, Su Ming’an had come as the City Lord of the Underground City.

Among the forces that kept their stances and silence, Su Ming’an was the only obvious resister. As he stepped into the banquet hall, countless gazes fell upon him.

In the 42nd year of the Catastrophe, Su Ming’an had attended a similar banquet in the same hall, with Su Rin having helped him behead the female City Lord of Ninth City, Heracles. The positions of many people, even the placement of red wines and desserts, were exactly the same.

But by the 71st year of the Catastrophe, positions had shifted, and he had unexpectedly become the enemy of these people.

He saw the deep crimson in many people’s eyes—under the unabashed oppression of an impostor, many were unable to control the desires in their hearts. The city-state was like a leaky wooden building, infested with invaders everywhere.

"..."

Ming’an walked across the red carpet and blended into the crowd, accompanied by Cheng Luohe, who had volunteered to come.

"Chief, that impostor hasn’t arrived yet," Cheng Luohe said as he sat down in the booth. His sharp, gleaming eyes scanned the men and women around him. As a sniper, this was his subconscious action.

These people, in their suits and gala dresses, casually sipping their drinks and exchanging banter, hadn’t considered that outside so many were starving and cold.

"There are many attendees at the dinner, mostly the leadership of the powers," said Su Ming’an. "All familiar faces..."

All from the past forty years, those who had once shaken hands with him, claiming they would fight for him.

These people were not unaware of Acto’s issue, but ideological control and personal desires made them pretend not to notice, continuing to enjoy the benefits they had fought for themselves over a decade ago.

Who the ruler was, and how inept the ruler was, had nothing to do with them. On the contrary, they could take advantage of it to live even better.

Su Ming’an judged that even if he stood up now and announced his identity, many of those who had turned a blind eye would pretend not to hear. They had changed, acquired families and children, were no longer the young lads standing alone, nor did they possess the original intention they had when first setting out to conquer the world.

The brilliance, ugliness, and variability of human nature had been fully displayed in the short forty years of the Dawn War.

"Tap, tap, tap."

Suddenly, the banquet hall fell silent.

On the second-floor platform, steps of leather shoes on smooth tiles echoed.

Light cascaded from the dome above, trapping the long, white figure of a person. The crowd couldn’t help but suppress their breath, their gaze shifting upwards, like a dazzling spotlight.

"Damn impostor, a thousand cuts wouldn’t be enough..." Cheng Luohe crushed the glass in his hand.

Su Ming’an lifted his eyelids and glanced at his own fully healthy state.

The man stood on the highest step, bathed in the golden light of the banquet hall, his gaze similarly looking far off in Su Ming’an’s direction.

He seemed to be smiling.