Chapter 118: Lullaby

When they returned to Pure Land, the sky was completely dark.

But tonight's Pure Land was different. All the searchlights on the city walls were extinguished, replaced by tens of thousands of small lamps—some hung on the wall tops, some hovered above the streets, some were held by residents. They weren't electric lights, but solar-powered lamps, hand-crank generators, or even simple oil lamps and candles left from before the disaster.

The whole city glowed with warm, scattered points of light in the darkness.

"This is..." Kaiwen poked his head out of the car window.

"The residents lit them on their own." came the voice from Command Headquarters over the comms, "Everyone saw the battle at Position No. 3. At the moment the sky was purified, someone started lighting lamps. Then it spread like wildfire."

As the vehicle passed the city gate, Su Yu saw people standing at the base of the wall. They weren't soldiers, but ordinary residents: elderly, women, children. They stood silently, holding various glowing objects. As the convoy passed, they bowed slightly, without cheers or shouts, only a quiet, almost reverent gesture.

Makusi eased the speed: "This is more nerve-wracking than a parade."

"They're not saluting us," Su Yu said, looking at the seed faintly glowing in her palm, "they're saluting it."

The seed's leaves swayed lightly, as if responding to those lights.

"Stardust Cradle" is located at the deepest part of Pure Land; it was originally Chen Mo's private laboratory and plant cultivation area. After the disaster, he transformed it into a special place: roofless, open-air, with a circular plot of soil at the center, surrounded by glowing fungi and crystals.

The soil itself emitted light—not reflected light, but a soft blue glow from the particles themselves. This was the result of Chen Mo's seven years of research: he screened and cultivated over a hundred kinds of light-emitting microorganisms and minerals, mixing them into this self-luminous "Stardust Soil".

"He said the soil needs light," Han Qing stood at the edge of the cradle, "not just for plants. The life in the soil needs it, the microorganisms need it, even the soil itself…… needs to know it is not alone in the darkness."

Su Yu remembered Chen Mo saying that. It was late at night, the only light in the lab came from the petri dishes. He crouched before the test soil, gently flicking the glowing particles with his finger, his profile in the faint light looking unusually tender.

"If the soil believes there is light," he said then, "it will grow plants that believe in light."

Now, Su Yu stood before the same patch of soil. The seed warmed in her palm, like a tiny heart.

"How do we plant it?" Aili asked, "Like burying a normal seed?"

"I think..." Su Yu crouched, bringing her palm close to the soil.

The soil reacted automatically. Not a physical reaction, but a change in light. The blue fluorescence began to flow, like a stream surging toward Su Yu's palm, forming a vortex pattern on the soil's surface. At the center of the pattern, the soil depressed slightly, just the size of the seed.

Su Yu released her hand.

The seed didn't fall. It hovered an inch above the soil, then slowly sank, as if sinking into water, into the glowing soil. The soil closed together, the surface smoothed, leaving only a faint point of light marking the seed's position.

Everyone held their breath.

One second, two seconds, three seconds.

Nothing happened.

"Did it fail?" Zhang Yang whispered.

Before his words finished, the soil moved.

It wasn't a tremor, but a gentler motion—the soil's surface bulged into a small pouch, the pouch split open, and a tender shoot poked its head out. Not an ordinary green shoot, but a translucent one with golden veins flowing inside.

The shoot grew at a visible speed: one centimeter, five centimeters, ten centimeters. It sprouted a second pair of leaves, then a third. The stem thickened but remained transparent, allowing the internal golden light to flow like blood.

After thirty seconds, it had reached knee height and split into three branches. Each branch tip bore a cluster of leaves, the centers of which began to form buds.

"Too fast..." Kaiwen held up the recorder, his voice trembling, "This isn't scientific; the growth speed is at least five hundred times that of normal plants..."

"This isn't a plant," Han Qing said, "at least not entirely."

The buds opened.

They were not ordinary flowers. They were three glowing, translucent flowers shaped like bells, with golden powder slowly drifting inside. Each flower emitted a different sound—not audible to the ears, but a resonance that echoed directly in the mind.

First: warm. Like a bonfire, like an embrace, like the light in the window when returning late at night.

Second: steadfast. Like an oath, like an anchor, like a hand gripping tight in a storm.

Third: hope. Like sunrise, like a seed breaking soil, like the first star seen when lost.

The three resonances intertwined, forming a wordless, emotion-filled "song." Su Yu felt tears slip down silently. She knew what it was—this was Chen Mo's final legacy, an "self" that could not be expressed in words.

The flowers' resonance spread beyond the cradle. Outside the walls, on the street, residents stopped, lifted their heads, as if listening to a distant sound. Children grew quiet, elders closed their eyes.

At that moment, all of Pure Land was silent as poetry.

The flowers bloomed for three minutes, then began to wither.

It wasn't withering, but transformation. Petals fell one by one, not dropping to the ground but dissolving into points of light in the air, merging into the soil. At the center of the stamens, fruit formed—three tiny golden fruits, grape-sized, hanging suspended at the branch tips.

When the fruits ripened, they detached on their own and floated toward three people.

The first floated to Su Yu. She reached out and caught it; the fruit melted in her palm, turning into a stream of light that flowed into her body. No discomfort, only warmth.

The second floated to Han Qing. He hesitated for a moment, then took it. The same process.

The third hovered in the air, seeming to search. Finally, it drifted to Old Zhao at the edge of the crowd—the old veteran who had joined them at Position No. 3. Old Zhao froze, then, at Han Qing's nod, reached out and caught the fruit.

After the fruit disappeared, the plant's growth stopped. It stabilized at about one meter tall, with three branches, leaves swaying gently, like a tender guardian.

"What is this?" Old Zhao looked at his hand; a faint golden trace flashed across the back of his hand.

"Memory fragments," Su Yu whispered, "Chen Mo's memories, left for us."

Before her words finished, the first memory unfolded in her mind.

It wasn't a visual memory, but a feeling.

Pain. Every inch of him hurt, as if torn apart and barely stuck back together. Darkness surrounded him, but not pure darkness—it was heavy, viscous, trying to seep into his body.

He held a Starlight Crystal in his hand. The crystal glowed, but its light was being devoured by the darkness. He could feel his "existence" draining away, like sand in an hourglass.

But he couldn't let go. Because someone was behind him. He couldn't see them, but he knew—Su Yu was there, Han Qing was there, Kaiwen, Aili, Makusi… everyone he had protected, everyone he had promised to bring home.

The darkness whispered. Not in words, but as a direct temptation injected into consciousness:

"Let go. It won't hurt. Become part of us. Eternal. Peace."

He clenched the crystal, his nails digging into his palm. The pain kept him awake.

No.

"Why? They'll die eventually. The light will fade. Everything returns to darkness."

He laughed. In absolute darkness, he actually laughed.

"Because as long as someone remembers the light, darkness cannot win."

He felt the crystal beginning to crack. In the final moment, instead of trying to hold onto it, he did something else—he peeled off a "part" of himself, the smallest, most core part, from the crystal, like snipping a segment of burning wood.

Then, with his last strength, he threw that small piece of 'self' toward the direction of home.

It wasn't a full throw. It was a 'nail'. Like hammering a red rope into a blizzard, saying: I'm here, waiting for you to come find me.

The darkness swallowed him.

But before being completely swallowed, he saw——

Not an illusion. In the deepest part of the darkness, on the other side of the 'Door of the End', something was glowing. Not the kind of light he wanted to protect, but another kind…… a sorrowful light.

Like a distress signal.

Memory cut off.

Su Yu opened her eyes to find herself kneeling before the soil, hands braced on the ground, gasping. Han Qing and Lao Zhao were in the same state; the three locked eyes, shock in their gazes.

"Did you also see it?" Han Qing's voice hoarse.

"There is light in the depths of the darkness," Lao Zhao murmured, "what he saw at the end…… was it a distress signal?"

Su Yu stood up and looked at the glowing plant. It stood silently in the center of the 'Stardust Cradle', like a silent witness.

"Kaiwen," she said, "analyze the resonance frequency of the flower just now. Compare it with all known energy signals before the disaster."

"Already doing it," Kaiwen stared at the screen, "but Su Yu…… this frequency doesn't belong to any known category. It's not human technology, nor a natural phenomenon. It's more like……"

He lifted his head, eyes wide behind his glasses: "More like a certain 'language'. Very ancient, very basic a 'language of existence'."

"What does that mean?" Aili asked.

"What it means," Makusi interjected, he rarely so solemn, "we thought the shadows were to destroy everything. But what if…… they are lost? What if the 'Door of the End' is not an invasion entrance, but…… a passage for a distress signal?"

That possibility sent chills down everyone's backs.

If the essence of darkness is a distress signal, what have they been fighting against for seven years? What have they been purifying, exterminating, resisting?

"We need more memory fragments," Han Qing said, "the plant only gave three fruits, but we have three memory light orbs."

Su Yu took three floating light spheres from her equipment——obtained from the cocoon in the chemical plant zone. The light spheres appeared more lively in the faint glow of the 'Stardust Cradle', like travelers returning home.

She looked at the plant. One of its branches drooped slightly, pointing to a specific spot on the soil.

Su Yu placed the light sphere there.

The soil opened again, swallowing the light sphere. The plant emitted a brighter fluorescence, its leaves quivering rapidly. Thirty seconds later, the tips of three branches began forming buds again.

"It needs time to digest," Kaiwen looked at the data, "the next bloom is estimated…… tomorrow dawn."

"Then we wait," Su Yu sat at the edge of the 'Cradle', "I'll wait here."

The others looked at each other, no one leaving. Each found a spot to sit, backs against the glowing wall or crystal, facing the plant that was nurturing memory.

Silence spread, but this time it wasn't tense silence, it was weary and gentle silence. The battle had ended, temporarily. The mystery deepened, but at least they were a step closer to the answer.

Su Yu looked up at the sky. Because the 'Cradle' had no roof, she could directly see the starry sky. Tonight cloudless, the Milky Way was clearly visible, like diamond dust scattered on black velvet.

She recalled Chen Mo's words: light doesn't need to be much, a little is enough.

Now they had a glowing plant, three memory fragments, and a possibility that overturned all their understanding.

And each other.

Han Qing handed her a packet of heated nutrient paste: 'Eat. You need strength.'

Su Yu took it, eating in small bites. The taste was as bad as ever, but the warm feeling spread from her stomach throughout her body.

"I was thinking," she whispered softly, "if what he last saw was a distress signal…… then who are we calling for help?"

No one answered.

But the plant swayed gently in the breeze, as if thinking.

Late into the night, most people had fallen asleep. Kaiwen dozed leaning against the crystal, his glasses slipping to the tip of his nose; Aili wrapped herself in a blanket, curled in the corner; Makusi and Wang Hu sat back-to-back, eyes half-closed, maintaining military vigilance; Lao Zhao hummed an old-era tune softly, the melody gentle.

Han Qing kept watch. He sat at the entrance, his weapon within reach.

Su Yu couldn't sleep. She stared at the plant, at the glowing patch of soil, at the stars slowly moving across the sky.

Then she heard a sound.

Not heard by the ears, but a weak, intermittent voice appearing directly in her mind:

……cold……

……too long……

……anyone there……

The voice didn't come from the plant. It came from deeper——from deep in the soil, from underground the 'Pure Land', from beneath the foundation of the 'Stardust Cradle'.

Su Yu stood up and walked to the edge of the soil. She placed her hand on the glowing ground.

The voice became a little clearer:

……save……

……we are trapped……

……light…… we need light……

She lifted her head to look at Han Qing. Han Qing was looking at her, his gaze sharp.

"Did you hear it?" Su Yu asked.

Han Qing nodded: "It just started. Very weak, but…… indeed there."

Lao Zhao also woke, he sat upright, hand on the ground: "I heard it too. Like…… a murmuring of many people, coming from deep below."

Kaiwen jolted awake, grabbing the detector: "Underground energy readings are rising! Not shadow energy, but another kind…… similar to 'heartfire', but far older and more exhausted!"

The plant suddenly emitted a strong light. The three buds trembled simultaneously, as if in fear, yet also as if…… responding.

Su Yu felt the pendant at her neck grow hot. Not a danger warning, but the heat of resonance.

She recalled the last of Chen Mo's memory: deep in the darkness, a sorrowful light.

A distress signal.

"They have been here all along," she whispered, her voice clear in the silence, "underground. Not enemies. Prisoners."

A branch of the plant pointed to the ground, then slowly lifted, pointing at the Milky Way in the sky.

A conjecture formed in Su Yu's mind, so crazy that even she herself felt fear.

If the darkness released by the "Door of the End" is not an invader, but an escaped prisoner?

If the true darkness is the place that imprisons them?

If starlight...

Is it the key?

At the darkest moment before dawn, everyone in the "Cradle" woke up, listening to the whisper from underground that grew increasingly clear.

The flower buds on the plant began to bloom.

This time, what memories will they bloom?

And what exactly is the voice from underground saying?

Su Yu gripped the pendant tightly, waiting for dawn.