Chapter 87: 85 Awakening

85 Awakening

Hearing the nameless low growl and the violent wind emerging one after another from behind, He Jia'an and Yu Lianyun, who were retreating toward the station, both halted their steps. They stared blankly back into the dark abyss behind them, as if they saw the soul of Li Yingqi chasing after them, waving goodbye before vanishing into the netherworld in the opposite direction, drifting far away.

The two let the foul-smelling wind ruffle their hair and sleeves, blowing their cheeks and eyes red.

"Did we fail..." Yu Lianyun pursed her trembling lips.

He Jia'an and Yu Lianyun exchanged a glance, both pairs of sorrowful eyes reading the thoughts in each other's hearts.

Without hesitation, they walked into the subway train parked at the platform. After placing Xin Junmao on a seat in the carriage filled with corpses, the two went to the driver's cabin and started the train.

The two increased the train's speed, racing not toward the way out, but toward an unknown route opened by the Evolution Heaven organization, heading deeper underground, closer to the netherworld.

They were going to have a contest of a mantis trying to stop a chariot against the Daughter of Gluttony at the place closest to hell, even if it meant being smashed to pieces.

Xin Junmao walked on the road back to the performance venue. He did not know how to navigate this intricate maze of a route, so he just walked aimlessly.

The music from the performance venue still echoed all around; the piece currently being played was Haimofen's new work, "Awakening."

While listening to the beautiful and bizarre music, Xin Junmao continued walking, feeling the strange chords leading him to think.

I rejected Miss Zhao's words; what will happen to her afterward?

She must be very angry.

She might be so angry that she rushes out from underground and destroys the entire Cuizhu City.

But in the end, why me?

I am just Xin Junmao, not Zhong Zhe. Why should I be the one to keep the promise she made with Zhong Zhe all those years ago...

But... that is the entire population of Cuizhu City, over ten million people! Do I really want to give up the lives of an entire city just so I can survive?

But... but I am not that kind of courageous person.

Xin Junmao's face was at times conflicted, at times pained; his spirit was also locked in a battle between heaven and man.

He was the most ordinary of ordinary people. No matter what his past life was, in his own perception, Xin Junmao was just an average person who could never produce the perfect answer and could only provide a mediocre result.

Yet even if he lived a mediocre life, and even if his current self had no value to human society at all, he just wanted to live.

He was only in his twenties; he wanted to live, wanted to live the ordinary and plain life he liked. What did he do wrong?

So, why him?

Xin Junmao ultimately complained about his miserable fate. In a world with over seven billion people, why did it have to be the most ordinary him chosen to make this heroic choice?

What the past life did wrong had nothing to do with him!

He grew tired from walking, so he sat down against the corridor wall, took out the Comb, and asked dejectedly, "Can you answer my question?"

The Comb did not react at all. Xin Junmao took it as tacit consent and asked, "If you are here now, and my body in the Real World encounters danger, can you protect me?"

The Comb glowed slightly, as if to say "Yes."

Xin Junmao smiled slightly; this was an expected answer. Then he asked another question, which was what he truly wanted to ask.

"If I keep you with me now, and my parents encounter life-threatening danger at this moment, can you still fulfill my wish and protect them?"

Upon hearing this question, the Comb did not glow again.

Silence was the best answer.

Xin Junmao stroked his forehead and pursed his lips, crying and laughing at the same time. Then he scoffed and stood up, as if he had made up his mind; his back now carried a hint of determination.

If I just follow the sound of the music, I should be able to return to the venue, right? After making his decision, Xin Junmao suddenly felt enlightened, his calmed mind gaining a bit of intelligent rationality.

And things were indeed as he expected. He followed the sound, truly found the entrance door back to the performance venue, and returned to his seat.

"Back from the bathroom?" Lin Ling asked with a hint of amusement upon seeing Xin Junmao return.

Xin Junmao took a deep breath and said earnestly, "Lin Laoban, I want to go out, back to the Real World."

"If you are destined to die, staying here at least won't bring you any pain, you know," Lin Ling said in a teasing manner.

Xin Junmao lowered his head, was silent for a moment, and said, "Even so, I still want to return to reality."

Xin Junmao clenched his fists and said, "I don't want to run away anymore. It's useless anyway; I might as well settle things with her."

As he spoke, Xin Junmao's Adam's apple moved, and he said with a choked voice, "Actually, I know it all. I also feel that I am very excessive, whether it is me as Xin Junmao or my past life, that me called Zhong Zhe.

When I was Zhong Zhe, I gave promises to two girls, but I didn't fulfill a single one. Everything I did was just to make myself feel a little better. So I became a soldier, went to the battlefield, then became a bandit, an executioner, and finally committed suicide out of shame... The roles I played and the things I did were all for myself.

And now I am Xin Junmao, a person who has lived for twenty-some years and is still ordinary, even a bit cowardly. The things I want to do are still for myself. I try to mock myself, pretend to be brave, and escape my own mediocrity. Even though I have actually merged with Zhong Zhe's personality and memories, I am still escaping my own fate.

I don't want to run anymore... At least this time, I want to do something meaningful."

"Is that really what you think?" Lin Ling asked with a smile.

Xin Junmao shook his head, revealing an ugly smile, and said, "No, but I want to do it."

Lin Ling let out a soft laugh, as if he were happier than hearing Haimofen's superb piano skills. He had received another very interesting answer, and then he smiled and said to Xin Junmao, "Wanting to go out is simple; just tear up your Admission Ticket."

Hearing this, Xin Junmao blinked, then laughed at himself, mocking his own mediocrity: "I really am a fool." Immediately, he took out his Admission Ticket and tore it in two.

Feeling the tugging sensation on his spirit, Xin Junmao realized he was returning to his physical body. Before completely exiting the Dream World constructed by Haimofen, he said to Lin Ling, "Thank you, Lin Laoban."

Lin Ling smiled without a word. His gaze turned back to Haimofen in the center of the stage, and he clicked his tongue a few times, muttering to himself, "Humans can always provide some unexpected answers; it really is full of uncertainty."