Chapter 740: The Road Back is Hard to Walk (Conclusion)

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."

Auntie Auntie Ai Ma, who almost fell headfirst, leaned most of her body against Leon. A large patch of the back of her beige gauze dress was soaked through with cold sweat.

Even though she had already broken free from Leon's memories, once she recalled the cold, realistically terrifying suggestion the thin young girl had made, and recalled her expression—calm as if she were talking about what to eat for dinner while discussing how to dispose of her corpse after she died—

Auntie Auntie Ai Ma's heart would still feel just like Leon's back then, as if it had been gouged out entirely and was being kneaded and crushed by someone's hands, hurting so much that she almost lost the ability to breathe.

Is this what Leon has been bearing all along?

After gasping for breath for a while, looking at Leon who was supporting her helplessly, Auntie Auntie Ai Ma, who looked like she had been fished out of water, couldn't help but ask with trembling lips:

"Leon, you... doesn't it hurt?"

"..."

Leon, who understood what she was asking, shook his head slightly, then glanced at the system prompt.

【Through your own observation, induction, and repeated experience, you have obtained a large amount of intelligence regarding the "Black and White Bridge." The heterochromatic badge "Materialist Soul (Crimson)" has been activated.】

【Due to your profound understanding of the "Black and White Bridge's" activation rules, your resistance to this anomalous object has increased significantly, and you are now able to shield yourself from extremely deep levels of influence.】

It's impossible for it not to hurt; I will definitely remember this for the rest of my life.

But for one thing, the influence has been shielded quite a bit by 【Materialist】, and for another, I know the final result is good. Thinking more about Anna at home, who cleans up after the younger siblings every day and gets along with Melanie, those pains weren't so unbearable.

"It hurts... still a little bit..."

Looking at Auntie Auntie Ai Ma, whose eyes were full of shock and guilt and who had clearly misunderstood the extent of his inner strength, Leon smiled with a bit of embarrassment, then explained:

"But thinking that I eventually joined the Cleanup Bureau and didn't let things really develop to that point, and that Anna and the others are still waiting for me at home, and will still save food for me if I go back late, it wasn't so hard to bear."

Is that so...

After hearing Leon's explanation, Auntie Auntie Ai Ma tried to put herself in Leon's shoes.

But no matter how hard she tried, that thin young girl who calmly proposed secretly throwing her corpse into the sewage river to swindle the pension to support the younger siblings was still tearing at her heart again and again.

Liar, how could this not hurt?

I only looked at your memories, and only looked once, and my heart already hurt like it was being cut by a knife. To help me step on white bricks, you had to relive the helplessness and pain of back then again and again, so how could you not be sad?

"Don't think about it anymore."

Looking at Auntie Auntie Ai Ma, who seemed to want to say something else, Leon thought about her situation and couldn't help but secretly pour some chicken soup:

"The pain of the past is all in the past. Compared to what we have encountered and lost, we should look more at what we still possess. The most important thing is to cherish the people before us."

"..."

Cherish the people before us... is it?

Auntie Auntie Ai Ma had already heard similar advice countless times from the red-haired Director, but after sharing Leon's memories on the Black and White Bridge and personally experiencing his past happiness and pain,

facing Leon—who had lost his parents early, worked hard to raise his younger siblings, took the initiative to join the Cleanup Bureau for his sister, became a cleaner with a high mortality rate, and was truly working hard to cherish everything he possessed—this advice she had heard countless times finally walked into her heart for the first time. "Senior Auntie Auntie Ai Ma?"

After looking at Auntie Auntie Ai Ma, who was staring at him blankly, Leon let go of her palm and squatted down slightly:

"We can get off the bridge in a few dozen more steps. For this last bit of the road, how about I just carry you?"

"..."

Although she subconsciously wanted to refuse, looking at Leon's shoulders, which were not broad but appeared so reliable, Auntie Auntie Ai Ma, after being silent for a while, still leaned forward slightly and climbed onto Leon's back.

After her body was suspended in the air, listening to Leon's steady and powerful breathing, and feeling the heart beating like a flame under his slightly thin back, constantly warming her, Auntie Auntie Ai Ma's tense body completely relaxed. She leaned on him with peace of mind and reached out to gently wrap her arms around Leon's neck.

Cherish the people before us, huh...

Finally off the bridge...

After stepping on twenty-some black bricks in a row and being black all the way to the end of the bridge, Leon couldn't help but let out a long breath.

Although he had the shielding of 【Materialist】, which kept him from "vividly" reliving the painful memories time and again, even "scratching an itch through a boot" level painful memories would still be uncomfortable if scratched too much.

Walking a few more steps forward and completely breaking free from the range of the Black and White Bridge, seeing that Senior Auntie Auntie Ai Ma didn't make a sound, Leon, having just acted cool, felt embarrassed to remind her to get down, so he looked up toward the front.

What came into view was a black cliff so high it couldn't be seen to the top. The color of this cliff, named 【Death】, became lighter the higher it went. Its top, which seemed not to exist, seemed to connect directly with the gray, hazy sky of the Dead World.

As for the lower end of 【Death】, it was just like the pitch-black earth of the Dead World, black to the point of purity, with even reflections being very weak, as if it didn't exist at all, having a kind of hollowness as if one would fall into an abyss if they stepped on it.

And countless bright red Death Crow nests were like bright red berries growing on this black earth that bent all the way up from the ground to the high sky, or like bright red blood spots constantly oozing out on this pitch-black curtain hanging straight down from the sky, exceptionally gorgeous yet extremely eerie.

"Seems a bit not right..."

Squinting and looking into the distance at the black wall and the red crow nests, at the end of the Point of No Return... or rather, at the starting position, seeing a huge door like mist, Leon reached out and patted Auntie Auntie Ai Ma's thigh, signaling her to look up, then frowned and said:

"The Director said that as long as we keep walking forward along the Point of No Return, after passing the 【Black and White Bridge】 and the 【Death Crow Nests】, we would be able to see the Dog God guarding the entrance to the Dead World.

But now we've already passed the bridge and reached the range of the Death Crow Nests, and even saw the entrance, so why haven't we seen that so-called Dog God yet?"

"It's fine, just keep walking forward."

Hearing Leon's question, Auntie Auntie Ai Ma, who was using the warmth constantly coming from in front of her to resist the increasingly crazy abuse from behind, said:

"People in the Dead World don't really like the Director, so she must have broken in. And the Dog God's responsibility is to guard the door of the Dead World and not let the living enter the Dead World, so it was probably beaten up by her on the way.

So we can walk forward for another distance. If there's a little dog with three heads tied up by hair that has fainted on the side of the road, that should be the Dog God responsible for guarding the door.

If we don't encounter it along the way, then flip through the Death Crow Nests near the entrance. After the Director knocks out the Dog God, sometimes she's afraid she'll forget where she threw it and no one will help open the door when she comes back, so she'll just stuff it into a nearby crow nest."

"..."

"Oh..."

(End of Chapter)