Chapter 61: Wheelchair?

(Finally there's someone…… who looks like they can communicate?)

Heimu felt a glimmer of hope and approached slowly.

She walked lightly around Feng Jin, observing.

The other party was statue‑still, showing no reaction to her arrival; even the rise and fall of breathing was too faint to notice.

"Feng Jin?" Heimu called out tentatively, her voice unusually clear across the empty cloud‑sea platform.

No response.

"Can you hear me speaking?"

Still silent.

"I came……." Heimu tried a different phrasing, carrying a barely perceptible guiding tone.

Feng Jin remained in her prayer pose, head bowed with no sign of lifting, as if her consciousness had sunk into another dimension and merged with this dim yellow sky.

Heimu let out a helpless sigh, a flicker of disappointment flashing in her purplish‑black eyes.

Another being immersed in its own world, unable to respond to external stimuli.

The "wounds" of these Golden Descendants were far deeper and more complex than she had imagined.

She glanced one last time at the kneeling figure that seemed to bear endless sorrow and prayer, then turned away; her silhouette gradually faded and vanished on this high‑altitude platform.

However, not long after Heimu left, the stone‑statue‑still Feng Jin suddenly changed.

She slowly lifted her head.

But what was revealed was not her original emerald‑like eyes.

Instead, countless layers of various strange colors overlapped and rotated, forming a vortex!

Like a kaleidoscope, yet it also gave an inhuman, chilling feeling.

It was unfocused, merely staring blankly at the strange, dim yellow sky above.

【A Ge Lai Ya Space】

When Black Curtain Lady stepped out of the teleportation gate and felt the soft, fine sand underfoot, she realized she was on a dull gray beach.

Heavy leaden clouds piled low in the sky, as if icy rain could fall at any moment.

Indigo‑blue waves rolled in with a dull roar, washing the shore repeatedly, leaving white foam that quickly receded, over and over, conveying a suffocating sense of eternity.

Her gaze was quickly drawn to a solitary figure on the beach.

It was a woman with dazzling blond hair, seated in a wheelchair.

The wheelchair's style was archaic, yet above its back floated a complex fan‑shaped emblem emitting a faint green light, slowly turning—out of place against the dim seascape, and it exuded a mysterious air?

(A Ge Lai Ya……? Why is she sitting in a wheelchair?)

Heimu felt a question rise in her mind.

What concerned her more was that, although the woman didn't look as frenzied as Na Ke Xia nor as completely shut off as HaiSeYin, her intuition told her that this Golden Descendant's aura hid something…… not to be trifled with, even giving off a "don't mess with me" vibe.

She gathered her focus, stepped forward cautiously, and her high heels left shallow prints in the sand.

She moved to A Ge Lai Ya's side and carefully examined her face—thankfully, her features were delicate, her skin normal, not the twisted monster she'd imagined, and Heimu silently breathed a sigh of relief.

A Ge Lai Ya seemed unaware of Heimu's approach; her blank, unfocused teal eyes stared fixedly at the distant horizon where sea met sky, as if waiting for something—or as if she had already seen through everything.

Her lips twitched slightly, as if she were silently saying something.

Heimu leaned in to listen, but the wave noise drowned out everything except a few muffled syllables.

She couldn't help but lean in a little and whisper, "What are you saying?"

A Ge Lai Ya's eyeballs slowly turned; her vacant gaze finally focused and landed on Heimu.

Heimu's heart gave a slight start.

(A reaction!)

This is practically a major breakthrough!

The few I'd visited before either vanished, fell asleep, or completely ignored her.

All I heard was A Ge Lai Ya repeating in a flat, yet oddly penetrating voice: "I say…… life is fragile as thread."

Her voice wasn't loud, but it struck like an icy needle, piercing the waves' clamor.

After saying that, she turned her gaze back to the distant sea, resuming her former pose, as if that moment of eye contact had never happened.

Heimu was about to press on and keep questioning or trying to communicate, but she heard A Ge Lai Ya gazing at the sea add another line, her tone carrying a hint of mockery:

"Are you deaf?"

Heimu: "……"

Her purplish‑black eyes widened a fraction, and the corner of her mouth twitched uncontrollably.

(Good grief…… this one not only reacts, but also insults people?)

She steadied herself, deciding not to quarrel with someone (possibly) mentally unstable.

She tried asking a few more questions, like "Do you know where you are?" and "Do you need help?", but A Ge Lai Ya, like a monk in deep meditation, gave no further reply, completely treating her as if she were air.

(Fine, at least we managed to exchange a sentence…… even if it wasn't a pleasant one.)

Heimu shook her head helplessly, gave up on making progress here, and her silhouette slowly faded away on the dim beach.

【Sai Fei Er Space】

Carrying the frustration of previous failed visits, Heimu stepped into the space marked "Sai Fei Er."

The light suddenly became bright and warm, making her instinctively narrow her eyes.

Before her lay a vibrant scene.

Sunshine bathed the land, green grass carpeted the ground, a clear‑bottomed brook babbled along, unknown wildflowers dotted the banks, and the air smelled of fresh grass and earth.

This contrasted starkly with the oppressive gloom of the earlier spaces.

(Here…… does the art style seem a bit off?)

Heimu felt a murmur in her heart.

Her gaze quickly locked onto the riverside, where a figure sat on a small horse stand, holding a fishing rod.

She was a lively-looking girl, intently staring at the water surface while humming an off-key tune.

Heimu cautiously stepped forward and greeted: "Hello?"

Sai Fei Er turned her head at the sound, revealing a face with clear eyes, and naturally replied: "Oh, hello!"

Her tone was light and cheerful.

Heimu felt surprised again.

(Not only can she communicate, but her attitude is so normal?)

Among the Golden Descendants who are either mad or silent, this is practically a breath of fresh air.

"Do you know me?" Heimu asked tentatively.

Sai Fei Er tilted her head, sized her up, then bluntly shook her head: "I don't know you. Who are you?"

Heimu tried chatting with Sai Fei Er for a while, the topics being nothing more than "The weather's nice today," "Have you eaten?" and similar small talk.

Sai Fei Er responded readily, her tone lively, even complaining a bit about the sun being hot, her whole person exuding a vibrant energy.

(While others suffer, she's doing fine, enjoying a pastoral idyll here?)

Heimu muttered inwardly, feeling it quite miraculous.

"What are you doing here?" Heimu asked, looking at her fishing rod, getting to the point.

Sai Fei Er gave her a "Do I even need to answer?" look, then said irritably: "Fishing, duh! It's obvious—didn't you notice?"

Heimu's gaze fell on her fishing rod—the thin rod stretched toward the water, but its tip……was completely empty, with no fishing line at all...

(……So, Schrödinger's fish?)

Heimu stifled the urge to facepalm, not exposing this obvious absurdity on the spot.

She found Sai Fei Er's condition increasingly interesting.

"Why are you fishing?" Heimu continued, following her line.

"Of course to eat!" Sai Fei Er answered matter-of-factly, then a hint of concern appeared on her face: "My grandmother's health isn't great; I need to catch some fresh fish to nourish her."

She said that, then impatiently waved a hand at Heimu: "Hey, don't disturb me here—you've scared the fish away! Go on, go on!"

Heimu looked at her earnest "fishing" pose, and at the natural expression when she mentioned her grandmother, feeling a mix of emotions.

This Golden Descendant's "confinement" manifests quite differently—she does not suffer overt pain, but lives in a self-deceptive, seemingly normal yet illusory daily life.

(As of now, her situation seems fairly stable, even perhaps… 'good'?)

Heimu felt Sai Fei Er was worth further observation; perhaps her very "normality" was itself a breakthrough.

"Alright, I won't disturb you." Heimu went along with it, smiling: "I wish you… catch a big fish."