Chapter 267 - TE·The Long Years (Part 1)

Chapter 267: Chapter 264: TE·The Long Years (Part 1)The blazing fire obscured the scene before his eyes completely.

Su Ming’an watched as White Sand Paradise burst into towering flames and closed his eyes.

The fiery red hues danced outside his eyelids, the heat rushed towards his face, and he could smell the odor of burning wood, hear the sound of collapsing buildings.

All that had once confined people was being gradually engulfed by the consuming flames.

It was over.

He had burned this hellish place to the ground.

In front of him, the deep blue panel’s words were clear:

In his field of vision, the ever-present mist quietly dispersed. He saw the scene before him very clearly.

The flickering flames, vibrant and bright, appeared in this grey-white world like a beam of light merging with the world.

He saw a transparent arrow appear in front of him, the arrow pointed toward the basement direction, seeming to guide him, while Dong Xue had already silently stepped into it.

As he moved forward, his arm was suddenly grabbed.

"Big brother, where are you going?" Mo Yan’s somewhat anxious voice came from behind, "Wait for the fire to die down a bit before going, big brother. There might be all smoke down there."

"It’s fine."

Su Ming’an said.

As he stepped forward, entering that sea of fire, the system’s protective mechanism activated; a white luminescent film attached itself to him, shielding him from the flames.

With his back turned to the sky, scorched red by the fire, he moved step by step into that basement.

Turning his back on Mo Yan.

If he entered the basement alone like this, the results of Perfect Pass would belong to him alone.

...If Mo Yan chose to make a move, this would be the last chance.

Su Ming’an didn’t look back.

He tread slowly down the metal-wrapped staircase, unguarded, descending step by step.

The fire-protective film clung to his body as flames rushed past him like stream water on both sides, his sight filled with a vibrant and unrestrained red.

Step by step he descended, and a hazy shadow was cast in front of him by the brilliant light.

Like the glow of dawn reflecting on the crest of waves, like the onrush of floods, he walked into this section of White Sand Paradise wrapped in glorious red, heading towards the fire engulfing his entire being.

The iron door behind him shut.

Like a heavy stone suddenly dropping from his heart, he breathed out softly.

Until the very end,

Mo Yan didn’t lay a hand on him.

He looked up.

Before him, a young girl dressed in a blood-red dance dress stood on the floor, her back against the wooden corridor illuminated by the flames.

Her cheeks were tinged with red, like tender flowers in bloom.

Su Ming’an saw the girl walking towards him, and the way she looked at him for that instant was so intense it was scorching.

...As if stirring up a deep yet unexpressed emotion.

In that instant, it seemed as if the time around them marvelously condensed; all sights blurred in this moment, with only Dong Xue’s focused gaze upon him remaining, like a rising torrent of gradually reviving, fiercely molten lava.

He heard the words he once said to her.

Dong Xue looked at him.

In a fire blazing like the tides, she, wearing beautiful red dance shoes, was walking toward him.

"They all say I’m naive, that I’m daydreaming, that I am a madman. They say I, we... are the kind that isn’t accepted," said Dong Xue. "So, I, and others like me, gradually faded away, becoming ."

"No," said Su Ming’an. "When a group is striving in one direction, anyone who turns back or leaves will become the odd one out. Not being accepted means you have strength, and you possess endless possibilities. However, you need to become someone who isn’t rejected by the masses to realize your full potential."

"They impose responsibilities on me, wanting me to carry on their surname, squander their wealth, and continue their legacy," Dong Xue said. "Only what’s written in books is the correct answer; only what the elders affirm is worth pursuing; only obedient children get candy — yet we were never encouraged to be creative."

Su Ming’an: "For thousands of years, it has been so. When you were born, this ’imposed’ life also left you with no choice — but it’s not incorrect. After being imposed upon, you have more right to refuse."

Dong Xue: "But I just like someone; I don’t want to grow up. Yet they tell me ... Isn’t love supposed to be a sign of maturity?"

Su Ming’an: "Your relationship with Yang Xia could have been not so extreme. You could have chosen the meaning of pain, but you chose the most meaningless kind."

Dong Xue: "I’ve been here for a long, long time... No one understands me. The despair that looms over us... can never be suppressed — if you now heal Yang Xia and leave this place, then what... what am I?"

Su Ming’an: "You are the preserved innocence, Dong Xue; you will always be young."

The next moment, Dong Xue’s step halted.

Her expression changed, and her gaze gradually cleared.

"Why is your answer so different from before? Earlier, you clearly, clearly told me that everything I did was right, you went along with everything I said... but now, you’re contradicting me in every way..."

"Because the dream is over," Su Ming’an said in a muted voice.

The next moment, in the blink of an eye, he gradually lost control of his body.

He felt as if he was floating, watching that autonomous "himself" in the form of a soul body.

He saw "himself" slowly changing, "his" stature started to shrink, and his hair began to turn silvery white. Amidst the spreading fire, "his" features gradually resembled what Dong Xue would look like grown up.

The look in Dong Xue’s eyes changed.

She started to step forward, at first with small strides, then gradually picking up speed, speeding up, stepping in her red dance shoes across the creaking wooden floor as if she were chasing after something.

As if afraid of being too slow and unable to catch up, her pace was swift.

She moved past the flames engulfing the entire wooden building, her dance skirt like soaring flames.

She reached out as if to embrace "him," but hit a glass wall.

An invisible glass wall.

They faced each other across the glass wall, Dong Xue’s palm against the place where "his" cheek was, her eyes filled with the broken splendor of the setting sun.

And "he"... became the aged Dong Xue, became Yang Xia.

Amid the flames, Su Ming’an, now floating in the air and transformed into a transparent being, saw the white-haired old lady below, touching palms with Dong Xue through the glass wall.

The real Yang Xia took over control of his body.

...For the true essence of Yang Xia had long ceased to be young.

He floated in the sky, hearing the system’s voice.

Dong Xue had always wanted a dress, a bright red backless gown.

She wanted to learn the Swan Dance, but her parents always said she was a boy, that boys should wear dark trousers, and that dance had nothing to do with studies.

But now, with the reflection of the fierce flames, she saw herself in the glass wall, dressed in a flame-like, vivid red dance dress.

She seemed to see herself dancing the Swan Dance beneath the auditorium.

She saw the light in the depths of her eyes.

...Even though this was but a pavilion about to be burned to ashes.

The old lady wore a brilliant red dress, her lips painted red.

She spoke softly, "Dong Xue."

Dong Xue’s body jolted sharply.

As she found her voice again, she realized it was frighteningly hoarse:

"Yang Xia, welcome back," she said.

Through the blood-red vista, she saw her older self, smiling.

"Dong Xue, I always advised you to mature, but later I realized that adults, perhaps, should also preserve a bit of their innocence," the old lady said softly:

"We don’t need to go against the tide of society, nor are we some repressed aberration."

"...Dong Xue, we must still walk freely and with dignity to the very end."

"I grew up, aged, am no longer youthful; I became an old lady."

"I became a scientist in the field of brain research, and my female identity was recognized by everyone."

"I chose to come back, to demolish schools like this one."

"I have grown up, but I do not regret it."

"I have lived this life without a husband, dedicating myself to society and the nation. But I do not feel I lack anything."

"My students are obedient and respect me; they send me red roses and low-fat yogurt, take care of me during the holidays, and celebrate my birthday every year."

"A young man who lost his mother, very young, calls me ’Teacher Mom.’"

"Hearing that, I felt deeply touched."

"Dong Xue, people do not need love to live, but need faith."

"—and sometimes, loving oneself is a kind of lofty faith."

"Dong Xue."

"I love you."

Dong Xue covered her lips.

Tears streamed down from the corners of her eyes, the straps of her red dance dress trembling, her sticky black hair trembling, her gaze also shaking like the sparkling glints on the sea.

This response.

She had waited almost a lifetime for it.

Her reflection in the glass, still softly whispering.

The grown-up her, like a bottle of freshly opened wine, carried an aroma and charm that penetrated to the core; as the wine gradually seeped into people’s hearts... it brewed a scorching, long-accumulated bitterness.

Lost in contemplation.

"Actually, Mother always wanted to save us," the old lady whispered softly: "...She just didn’t understand before."

"And when I laid everything out in front of them, she actually knelt down and begged for forgiveness."

"She said she almost lost me."

"Our mother, too, is great. Though she was an eager single mom wanting grandchildren, once she knew of my change, she no longer opposed and led the demolition of the lab."

"—Do you know? I heard her call me her daughter."

At these words, the brilliance in the old lady’s eyes shone like the tides upon the sea.

For her, there was no greater affirmation.

"Dong Xue, I used to wonder what was the point of my life as one born with a gender misunderstanding and becoming an outcast."

"But later, I gradually understood, that even the worst, most useless thing to come into this world, will always leave a mark."

"Some people—may become projections in someone’s eyes, becoming shadows that cannot resist, trapped in a pit called ’excellence’ from which they can never turn back."

"But education has always been a beam of light, converging into another light."

"I saw the vast world, and the light beyond High Tower."

"Because I understood, no matter what, whether we are discarded wastrels of the system, abnormal outcasts, or beings not accepted by our peers—we all must walk freely and with dignity to the very end."

"You must remember, you are the main character on your own life’s stage, you are the brightest color in the painting."

"You must remember, you are the fledgling bird taking flight, the shimmering star, the radiant future."

"You must remember, Dong Xue, you are unique."

"Because some things."

"Have never existed just to ."