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Chapter 775 - 773: "Lv Shu, Ya Sa.

Chapter 775: Chapter 773: "Lv Shu, Ya Sa.

"Tap, tap, tap."

In the dark, lamp-lit corridor, Su Ming’an’s consciousness wavered and sunk.

He stared with dilated pupils at the figure struggling to save him, unable to recognize who it was.

That person dragged him around the corner, past an ivory-white, broken-winged angel statue, across crimson wallpaper reflecting intricate gold patterns, while the air wafted with the scent of cedar and roses from a vase.

From some corner of the ceiling, a broadcast carried an angry deity’s voice:

"Run, keep running. Su Ming’an, let’s see how long you can run..."

Su Ming’an didn’t utter a sound.

His consciousness was constantly sinking into the deep sea.

"...Wake up, wake up."

The person kept running, reminding him not to fall asleep.

Through the haze of his hearing, Su Ming’an raised his head and saw the other’s clear eyes, which were like two amber-stained glass windows. But soon his vision blurred again, and that floating white hair under the light resembled a lively dandelion.

"I’m here to save you," the person said softly.

"Who... are you?" Su Ming’an could not see the person’s features clearly. However, the overly gentle tone allowed him to immediately rule out Lin Guang.

Suddenly, the person’s steps slowed a trace.

"You forgot me?" The person’s voice was faint, but not disappointed, as if they could accept whatever Su Ming’an said.

The sound of the Mechanical Army drawing near echoed faintly in the surroundings, and Su Ming’an immediately turned off the light on his wristwatch to prevent being targeted right away.

Suddenly, you could see nothing in the dark corridor.

The corridors were intricate and complex, marked everywhere with traces of soft tubing. The two people stumbled along in the pitch darkness, like walking inside a monster’s belly.

"I’ve always been waiting for you... I thought maybe one day you would find me," the person said in a low voice, evoking the image of gently flowing night water, "I didn’t leave."

"Lv..."

The tube around his neck began to tighten, and Su Ming’an propped up his sword blade to forcibly create a slight space for breathing.

He coughed, his face turning bright red, trying to call out the other person’s name. He had already figured out who would speak in such a manner.

"When you were away, I read a lot of books," the person continued. "My previous life was too dull, like a one-way street that you can see the end of. In this world, I have always been trying to understand many things. For example, why there are so many people by your side, why it always seems like you don’t really need me."

The person lowered their head, and their questioning was like a sigh:

"Another question has puzzled me for a long time."

"I want to know..."

"What ’love’ truly is."

It was like driving through the night, hearing a distorted singing voice from the radio, their voice wandering by Su Ming’an’s ear, the exact timbre and texture indiscernible.

Su Ming’an’s vision grew heavy, and he coughed violently, covering his mouth to keep the noise from escaping into the corridor.

The other’s face was hidden in pitch blackness, even their outline was invisible. He could smell a light cedar scent in the air, carrying tranquility and warmth, like a quiet, burning fireplace in a winter cabin. Crisp, soothing, it made one want to bury their head and fall asleep.

...What is love?

Since the Ninth World, Su Ming’an seemed to be frequently asked such questions. Or rather, the entire Ruined World appeared to be perplexed by this proposition.

There was the love for family members despite loathing them to the extreme yet unable to sever ties, the unfailing love among comrades, the love for a bouquet of lilies in the spring. And even the love for the ’World’ itself. The types of love were diverse and complex, making them hard to define.

Because he had no childhood, he didn’t understand what love was. The theorem he had always upheld was "only the valuable deserve to be loved," and he kept puzzling over whether he had the corresponding value to be loved. He didn’t need to be a receptacle for love, he just wanted to prove the possibility that "he might be lovable," because as a child he had never successfully proven it.

However, love wasn’t a problem to be proven.

Therefore, he could only arrive at an unsolved answer.

"I remember long ago... you answered this question for me."

The crimson tubes clanked as the two of them made their arduous journey. The person kept an arm around Su Ming’an to support him as they traveled, dragging the heavy tubes, leaving behind a trail of weary breaths.

"You said that love makes one feel warmth and stability," the other person said. "But in the past, no one ever loved me. I’ve always been alone, so I don’t know what that feels like. Some say I’m aloof, inarticulate, and that no one will love me."

Su Ming’an couldn’t hear the other person’s voice clearly, but he could just make out the last sentence.

He thought about how so many people on the World Forum would excitedly shout "Lv Shu" "Tree Treasure" every day, about the many fans who waited eagerly for Lv Shu’s return during the days he disappeared, and about the Lv Shu support groups, the Lv Shu forum sections, the Lv Shu-themed comic conventions...

There should be many people who loved him.

There were none before, but now there were many.

"There are," Su Ming’an said softly. "There are people who love you."

"What about you?" the other person said. "As for you, I won’t say ’love.’ I just want to ask, do you regret making me your companion? Do you feel that I’m actually a burden?"

His voice, accompanied by a refreshing fragrance, faintly, faintly drifted away.

...Not a burden?

Su Ming’an thought of the end of the Fourth World, when Lv Shu and Edward perished together by force, making him have to reset and save them.

But he also thought of the Eighth World Dome, where Lv Shu became the boss in the Ancient Castle level, the man in the black robe, willingly paying the price of death to hand the final victory to him.

Although some of Lv Shu’s actions were not so necessary under the pretext of death resetting, Lv Shu didn’t know this. What Lv Shu could do was to burn everything for him, even at the cost of his entire self, his life, and even his soul.

In the Fourth World as a Witch, he wholeheartedly believed in him. In the Fifth World as a member of the Revolutionary Army, he only thought about losing to him. In the Seventh World, he accepted all his words without objection. In the Eighth World, he was willing to become his stepping stone—as if all honors were unimportant to Lv Shu, as if there was nothing left in Lv Shu’s eyes but to achieve his success.

Undoubtedly, Lv Shu was not a burden to him, similar to Yuanyuan, they were both his spiritual anchors.

Just like in the toughest days—when he, as a City Lord, led the Dawn War. Back then, he met many people with ulterior motives, so exhausted he wished to pass out. Then, Lu said to him, "You can’t rest. If you don’t know how, I can teach you how to deal with these people."

But if Lv Shu had been there, Lv Shu would have definitely said, "You rest, I’ll handle it for you."

If Noel had been there, Noel would have surely said, "Let’s think about it in a different way. Maybe we can make you less tired."

If it were Yuanyuan, Yuanyuan would have said, "It’s okay not to deal with these things."

The World Game allowed him to make many friends, who always helped him from different perspectives. Undoubtedly, they were all part of his "companions." Each was indispensable and unique.

"You’re my companion," Su Ming’an said softly.

"Really?" There was a sob of extreme joy in the other person’s tone. "That’s great..."

"You’ve finally come back," Su Ming’an still couldn’t hear the other person clearly but mechanically repeated, hoping the other could hear.

He almost thought that Lv Shu was truly going to vanish forever.

Although he didn’t know what Lv Shu had been up to these past ten-plus days in the Ninth World, it was good enough that he had returned.

This year is 2022, and they still haven’t been able to gather for the New Year like they did for New Year’s Day.

Lin Yin still waited in the Main God World, waiting for them to return together, to eat candy figurines, to wrap dumplings together. He hoped to make up a New Year celebration with his companions. Not for any other reason but if he didn’t rest, if he didn’t find back a sense of belonging to his hometown, he was about to break down.

The other party promised, "I won’t leave anymore."

The physiological reaction brought about by emotional resonance blurred Su Ming’an’s face despite his calm demeanor, and he couldn’t stop the moisture at the corners of his eyes.

He felt completely drained, mechanically moving forward along with the tubing, like an empty shell infused with all sorts of emotions.

When the other person approached him, supporting him, he didn’t even feel real.

"I’m sorry to make you sad," the other person said softly, "you don’t regret me being your companion, that’s the happiest thing for me. Don’t go so far away in the future, okay?"

Su Ming’an promised, "Only if you don’t go so far ahead."

"Alright."

The exchange of promises brought a sense of stability. Su Ming’an finally felt a burden lift, feeling if Lv Shu truly disappeared, it would always seem as if he had done something wrong to lead to his loss.

Fortunately, the person had come back.

It seemed they were far enough away from the deity; now he could connect with Mu’s team, Su Ming’an saw the message box of Mu’s team gradually appearing in front of him, and as the view became clearer, he could start making out the surrounding scenery.

The crimson carpet, the paintings on the wall, the tubes swirling around him...

And the eyes of the other person, so close at hand.

The coat scented with the fragrance of snow cedar slightly swayed before him, and as he regained clarity in his eyes, the other person also revealed a smiling face toward him.

"..."

Su Ming’an slowly closed his eyes and opened them again, confirming the scene before him.

And at this moment, the other person also said with full joy:

"Alright, I won’t leave anymore."

"Yasa."

"..."

In that instant, it seemed as if a cold wind had blown between them, scattering all the heavy accumulation of emotions and concentration.

That persistent scent of snow cedar was like a snap of the fingers, cut off by the other person’s call.

Su Ming’an stared with open eyes at the person close at hand... that person...

The other person called him Yasa.

...Yasa.

...Yasa?

A sudden sense of loss gripped Su Ming’an’s heart, and he resisted this name like never before, a sharp pain spreading from his chest.

In an instant, that name, like a cold, sharp knife, pierced through him.

He stared intently into the other’s eyes, gradually realizing how absurd the world could be.

"I remember a long time ago, this area was still called Zone Eleven. There weren’t so many buildings, mostly just dead woodlands."

"I was already looking for you then. Many people said you were dead, but I didn’t believe it, I kept searching... until I found that valley, and I just waited there, kept waiting..."

"I’ve always been a solitary person, not one for talking. My life has been nothing but a monotonous one-way street, with nothing but herbs."

"Today I’m wearing snow cedar scent, which compared to herbs is more refreshing; I thought you would like this scent."

The other person kept talking incessantly, as if grasping at every second to speak with Su Ming’an.

Su Ming’an stared hard at the other person.

From the other’s hazy and deep pupils, it was clear—the other person had slipped back into a half-asleep, half-awake state.

Those pupils were a light Heavenly Sea color, a touch of azure where the ocean meets the sky. They weren’t Lv Shu’s green.

The mental state of Beili Sier was already half-mad; now he had fallen into an even deeper daydream.

—Beili Sier mistook him for the returned Yasa Acto.

—And he mistook Beili Sier for Lv Shu.

In the darkness, they had both promised the ones who couldn’t return not to leave, yet in reality, no one’s promise was fulfilled.

They vowed to people not present before their eyes, delusionally seeing the other party who never arrived.

"Yasa, I remember you like strawberries, so I planted many strawberry trees in the valley."

"In the year before you left, you always said you were tired and wanted to sleep, so I wove a swing and a bamboo bed for you in the valley; there was a place for you to sleep anytime."

"I made many household appliance friends, and they also wanted to meet you," Beili Sier said with a smile, looking at him: "You finally came, I was afraid if you were any later, they wouldn’t be able to wait..."

"Stop talking," Su Ming’an said in a low voice.

His voice was almost inaudible.

"Don’t you like strawberries?" confusion emerged in Beili Sier’s eyes.

"Stop talking," Su Ming’an repeated.

"That bamboo bed..." Beili Sier said anxiously.

"Stop talking," Su Ming’an lowered his head.

As he said this, his eyes could hardly reflect anything.

He only felt a bitter pain on his face, his fists clenched tight.

—It was already too late!

—Yasa Acto was no more!

No matter how many strawberry trees Beili Sier planted, no matter how long he waited, he would never be able to wait long enough.

The living can never wait for the dead.

Even if many "Actos" appeared, no matter how similar, how intelligent and resolute they were, they were still bionic bodies copied out, not that person.

The 20-year-old Acto, had long since been gone.

The white-haired young man he was searching for.

Had also never returned.