Chapter 271: Madman

Lu Ran took A Nian and Sister Chu Yao Yao's ice coffin to fight south and north, his footsteps treading all over the ruins and wilderness of the great rivers and mountains.

Sister Chu Yao Yao's ice coffin was placed in the modified armored vehicle's carriage, surrounded by thermal insulation cotton to avoid damage caused by bumps on the road. A Nian followed by his side,

already able to skillfully use that healing golden light. Every time the battle ended, she would guard beside the wounded, and the golden light surging from her palm could quickly smooth out wounds and ease pain.

Lu Ran always hung that seed ring on his chest, the red rope worn shiny,

the ring sticking to the position of his heart, able to feel his every violent heartbeat. Before every battle, he would find a quiet corner,

lower his head to look at the ring, his fingertips gently stroking the patterns on it, and then lean down, dropping a gentle kiss on the cold surface of the ring.

This action became his habit, and also became a tacit understanding that everyone in the team knew.

They cleared out mutants and remnants of the Black Scorpion organization along the way,

and Lu Ran's enhancement ability became stronger and stronger in battle after battle. His fists had smashed the skulls of mutant beasts, pierced through the chests of high-tier mutants,

and every strike carried a sense of unquestionable ruthlessness. Team members all feared him,

and also felt sorry for him; they knew that what supported Lu Ran to go on was the promise to Sister Chu Yao Yao, and the obsession to build that home.

This day, the team was resting in an abandoned city. Lu Ran sat beside Sister Chu Yao Yao's ice coffin,

his fingers still stroking that ring. A Nian was organizing supplies with the team members not far away, laughter occasionally coming over,

yet it seemed to be separated by a thick barrier, unable to reach his ears.

His mind was a mess, full of Sister Chu Yao Yao's shadow, the wind and snow on the icefield, the unopened letter, and that sentence "Open together after we build our home."

Suddenly, Lu Ran laughed low.

"Ha."

The sound was very light, yet exceptionally clear in the silent carriage.

He laughed again, a bit louder than just now.

"Ha!"

Immediately after, a burst of uncontrollable wild laughter erupted from his throat, sharp and harsh, like an injured wild beast howling in pain.

"Haha!"

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha—"

Team members heard the laughter and stopped their movements one after another,

looking toward the carriage, their eyes full of worry. A Nian also ran over, standing at the carriage door, looking at Lu Ran, not daring to enter.

Lu Ran stood up abruptly, his eyes unfocused, and began to babble, those words seeming to be squeezed out from his throat, broken and crazy.

"Who am I?"

"Am I Lu Ran?"

"Am I Sister Chu Yao Yao?"

"Am I A Nian?"

"Am I that seed?"

"Am I ice?"

"Am I fire?"

"Am I light?"

"Am I black veins?"

"Am I a corpse?"

"Am I an unopened letter?"

"Am I an unbuilt home?"

"Am I a blizzard?"

"Am I silence?"

"Am I a roar?"

"Am I the temperature of a kiss on the forehead?"

"Am I tears at minus thirty degrees?"

"Am I spring?"

"Am I the spring that will never come?"

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha—"

"If the world is fake, is Sister Chu Yao Yao's death also fake?"

"If Sister Chu Yao Yao's death is fake, is my pain also fake?"

"If my pain is fake, have I never lived?"

"If I have never lived, who am I?"

"If 'who am I' is fake, is 'who is me' true?"

"Who bit whom between true and fake?"

"Did black veins bite Sister Chu Yao Yao first, or did Sister Chu Yao Yao bite black veins first?"

"Did healing bite the virus first, or did the virus bite healing first?"

"Did the ring bite the finger first, or did the finger bite the ring first?"

"Did ice bite fire first, or did fire bite ice first?"

"Did light bite dark first, or did dark bite light first?"

"I bite the world, the world bites me back, who is more painful?"

"Is the pain true, or is the bite true?"

"If the pain is true, why is Sister Chu Yao Yao no longer in pain?"

"If the pain is fake, why am I still in pain?"

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah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"Choose to build a home, or dig a grave?"

"Choose to forget, or to remember?"

"Choose to open the letter, or tear it up?"

"Choose to roar, or to be silent?"

"Choose to live on, or to plant your life in the ice and wait for a sunflower?"

"Choose to let A Nian remember, or let A Nian never remember?"

"Choose to let Lin Chen witness, or let the blizzard witness?"

"Choose to let the ring sprout, or let the ring rot?"

"Choose to let spring come, or let spring die?"

"Choose to let Sister Chu Yao Yao live in my dreams, or let me die in Sister Chu Yao Yao's dreams?"

"If dreams can also be infected, can healing abilities cure dreams?"

"If healing means certain death, does letting the dream live count as healing?"

"If the dream lives, does that mean Sister Chu Yao Yao never dies?"

"If Sister Chu Yao Yao never dies, then what is it that dies?"

"Is it me that dies?"

"Is it the world that dies?"

"Is it 'death' itself that dies?"

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah—"

His voice grew louder and more manic, and his body began to tremble violently, as if enduring immense pain. A Nian stood at the doorway,

tears falling down. She wanted to step forward, but was held back by Lin Chen.

Lin Chen's expression was frighteningly dark; he gave a look to Xia Nuan beside him, and the two of them walked toward Lu Ran together.

Lu Ran was still laughing wildly, his mad words coming one after another; he even began to smash his own head with his fists, blow after blow, with frightening force.

"Lu Ran!" Lin Chen shouted, rushing forward to grab Lu Ran's wrists.

Lu Ran turned his head abruptly, looking at Lin Chen with unfocused eyes, then let out another burst of wild laughter,

and raised his foot to kick at Lin Chen's stomach. Lin Chen had been prepared; he dodged to the side and then slammed a fist into Lu Ran's face.

Lu Ran staggered back a few steps, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, yet he seemed not to feel the pain,

and lunged at Lin Chen once more. Xia Nuan also rushed up,

slamming a heavy punch into Lu Ran's back, shouting.

Lu Ran,

wake up!

Lu Ran's movements faltered for a moment, then he struggled even more frantically.

Lin Chen and Xia Nuan restrained him from the left and right, their fists landing on his body one after another.

They did not hold back, each punch carrying force, yet they maintained a sense of restraint, fearing they might injure his vitals.

Lu Ran's wild laughter gradually turned into roars; he struggled desperately,

still shouting those mad words, tears mixed with blood sliding down his face. A Nian watched this scene, crying her heart out, but she dared not step forward.

The team members all gathered around; no one spoke, they just watched silently. They knew that the string in Lu Ran's heart had snapped.

Lin Chen and Xia Nuan's fists continued to fall, one after another, striking Lu Ran's body and striking everyone's hearts. Lu Ran's struggle grew weaker,

his voice grew quieter, until finally, his body went limp,

collapsing into the arms of Lin Chen and Xia Nuan, still muttering to himself, though his eyes gradually regained a trace of clarity.