Chapter 472

Chapter 472: Chapter 469: "How I Long to Meet You.Xiber turned back.

A wobbling figure was approaching from behind them, clad in a tattered leather coat, hair disheveled, cheeks smeared with coal-like dirt, even the legs of their pants were marked with mud and leaves. They seemed as though they had been through a long journey.

On their face was a pair of glasses, and on their wrist a watch. Clearly, these items were not produced in Qiongdi.

...This person was a stranger.

Ming’an had heard before that occasionally, people from the outside world would accidentally pass through the Black Wall and come to Qiongdi. Since the Black Wall had entry but no exit, once they arrived they couldn’t leave and had to settle in Qiongdi, much like Teacher Fang who sponsored Xiber.

However, these strangers generally had blurry memories and even their sanity needed a long time to recover, likely a negative effect of passing through the polluted barrier.

The staggering stranger in front of them must have mistakenly entered the Black Wall and wandered within it for some time.

Thereupon, Ming’an deduced—that the barrier he had just cracked was the one leading into the depths of Qiongdi.

"Hey, any reaction?"

Xiber stepped forward, patted the stranger’s arm, but there was no response from the other party.

Xiber’s attempt to stop was futile, so she directly kicked out a leg, tripping the stranger over, but the person only struggled in the black mire for a while before standing up again.

Like a walking corpse, this stranger with muddled consciousness only knew to walk forward. He moved towards the cracked barrier and seamlessly merged with it.

He successfully entered Qiongdi.

Strangers could pass through barriers freely. But once inside Qiongdi, after getting tainted with the aura of the land, they could no longer merge with the barrier as before—the barrier would start to block them. That’s the reason behind the Black Wall’s one-way passage.

And having been tainted with the aura of Qiongdi, Ming’an and Xiber couldn’t merge with the barrier like the stranger did, and if they couldn’t break the barrier, they could very well end up trapped inside the Black Wall.

Xiber sat down with a thump, the black mire surging up to her chest.

Her breathing was rapid, her gaze drifting, her face growing paler and paler.

"It’s so annoying," she said, "...Really sucks, we should have kept that stranger, made him stay and play with us."

"Hmm?" Ming’an said, "Why would you think such a thing?"

"Because we’ve failed," Xiber lifted her head, "We can’t break the barrier, we can’t get out, so all that’s left is death."

"..." Ming’an observed the barrier before him, disregarding Xiber’s resignation.

He believed that since the reward for completing the Bai Shen Stone task was teleportation to this place, there must be something suitable for him here. It couldn’t just be a trap meant to let him die, that was his conclusion based on game mechanics.

Although he couldn’t see anything around him, there must be a way out from this place.

He took a step forward, about to call Xiber along, but then he suddenly saw her with her head buried, laughing.

Black mire smeared across her face, like a thick layer of lacquer, making the paleness that showed on her face even more conspicuous, the floating white hair almost translucent under the light.

She was laughing.

Desperation in it, resignation, powerlessness.

Her mental state seemed quite bad, perhaps affected by the environmental pollution. She suddenly began to babble.

"...This ending isn’t too bad, after all," she said, "At least there’s someone beside me."

She lifted her head.

"I think, this is much better than... being bitten to death by wild wolves, stepping on a trap and dying, falling into a three-meter-deep pit and starving to death, or dying from a curse’s premature onset," she said. "If that person from outside could have stayed, then there would be three of us, whether we play cards together, or take advantage of his muddled state to draw on his face..."

She trembled slightly, the vibrant red robe on her body fluttering with her trembling.

Her eyes began to dart about wildly, like a mental patient on the verge of madness.

"Calm down a bit. It’s not the most desperate time yet," Ming’an reached out to pull her, but saw that she also extended her hand at the same time.

That mud-covered hand gently pulled his robe.

She tugged at his robe, her movements soft and gentle, akin to an incredibly tender inquiry.

"...Su Ming’an."

In the thick darkness, the mud clung to her emaciated frame like maggots.

"...I’m really tired."

Tears welled up in her eyes.

Her hand held onto his robe, her posture seemed very soft.

"I... can’t move anymore. I’m so tired," she said.

Su Ming’an didn’t respond; he simply reached out and pulled up Xiber.

Her body was entirely covered in black mud, as if she had rolled several times in a slime pit, and upon being yanked by Su Ming’an, her limbs dangled powerlessly, like a small bird being lifted.

As he dragged her along, she chuckled stupidly, with a few strands of white hair floating in front of her pale eyes, which were filled with profound fatigue.

"Su Ming’an, I’m truly exhausted," she said. "Don’t bother with me anymore."

"If you’re tired, then rest." Su Ming’an no longer carried her, instead he simply dragged her along with one hand; the soft mud on the ground meant she wouldn’t be hurt as she was pulled along.

He glanced at the status bar, his SAN value had dropped to 72 points. Such a rapid decrease meant that if he didn’t stabilize it soon, he might not last until the fifteenth day before again falling into the chaotic state of the White Sand Paradise.

In that state, he might kill anyone he met, the sights before him a blend of various hallucinations; he could not allow himself to fall into that almost thoughtless condition.

The black mud was radioactive, and their condition was only worsening. The writhing living things were more like a curse; the curses on Xiber could be triggered prematurely.

They needed to leave as quickly as possible.

Su Ming’an waded through the mud, dragging Xiber like a thin rabbit, the oppressive, damp atmosphere enveloping his head and body, making his legs feel as if they were filled with lead and difficult to move.

"Cough, cough..." Gradually, he began to cough. A dry sensation spread from his throat, and as he continued coughing, he actually coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Bright red blood dropped onto the mud, merging with it like water into water, his body feeling even heavier.

"It’s useless," Xiber’s voice came from beside his hand. "Without becoming gods, we cannot break through the Black Wall."

Su Ming’an kept walking.

"I understand, even the slightest error in decision-making could lead to death; we shouldn’t have teleported in here..."

She kept talking.

Su Ming’an didn’t stop his steps.

"...let’s end it," she said.

"Thank you for being with me till here."

Su Ming’an stopped moving.

Without looking back at her, he spoke, "Xiber, don’t treat death too lightly."

Blood traced down the corner of his mouth, which he wiped with his right hand, smearing his face with black mud.

"I hope you understand—life doesn’t get a redo. Since you once wanted to live so badly, then don’t keep thinking about giving up, I will get you through this," he said.

"Ha, hahaha..." Upon hearing his words, Xiber began to laugh.

She lay sprawled in the black mud like rotten sludge, like discarded trash, her laughter wafting out, sounding somewhat muffled.

"You’re so cute... no, I should say innocent," she said. "But it’s useless, I’ve already seen it, my ’Prophecy.’ We won’t succeed; we won’t win in the end, absolutely not..."

"I don’t believe in prophecies," Su Ming’an said. "Someone once told me that she could foresee dreams. But whether it’s foresight or prophecy, it’s the same, the future is in your own hands, I... won’t leave the future up to some foreknowledge."

Xiber’s head tilted, her hood fell off, and the Cursed Fire Flower at the end of her hair faintly glowed in the darkness.

In her eyes, there was a crystal-clear shimmer.

"You’re not someone who wants to die," Su Ming’an said. "—To die here in this unknown darkness, to die without a sound, then who were you speaking to when you once proclaimed ’to show everyone the light and freedom’? How have you survived these past ten or so years? You don’t want to struggle anymore, you’ve succumbed to this world and Destiny, you’re no different from those who died from the curse’s outbreak, you’ve fulfilled your brother Fengchang’s wish to successfully die in a corner where no one is around—is this the significance you wanted to prove? Is this the goal you wanted to achieve? Whom do you want to fulfill? What do you want to change? What have you saved?"

"Xiber, death is the simplest thing," he said. "When you die, there’s no more, nothing needs to be changed, the world keeps on spinning and everything becomes unrelated to you—it’s easy to release yourself this way. To keep on living, that’s the hardest thing. If this is indeed your so-called ideal and faith, then our first meeting was a mistake on my part; I had thought that the you who stood alone between heaven and earth would, to some degree, be different from others."

As he spoke, he gently released his hand.

In that moment, he heard the system prompt.

A cold hand, thick with calluses and scars, suddenly gripped his hand fiercely.

Sticky mud slid between their palms, bringing a wet and nauseating sensation, but she didn’t let go; rather, she used his strength to slowly stand up from the muck.

Her movements were slow, but her grip was strong. As she rose from the black mire, she slightly parted her lips, revealing a faint smile.

"Provocation, huh," she said. "I accept the challenge."

She lifted her head, barely managing to stand straight, her legs trembling. Supporting herself with her hands on Su Ming’an’s back, she laboriously climbed up.

Su Ming’an once again carried her on his back.

To be honest, Xiber’s favorability was one of the hardest to increase that he had ever encountered. Her nature was wildly independent, like a lone wolf that tended to its own wounds. Despite being in her teens, her perception and vigilance were not low, and she even possessed no small measure of combat intelligence, holding unique views on various matters of the world.

Such a person was truly difficult to cajole; she had grown up in this environment, utterly different from the simple existence of Moli Qingqing.

He carried her on his back, walking in endless darkness, trying to find a way to break through.

Even though her mental state was not good, Xiber remained very quiet on his back, her lips tightly pressed, head bowed, eyes closed.

"I want to sleep," she repeated. "I want to sleep."

To ensure her mental state didn’t deteriorate further, she wanted to quickly fall asleep while she was still relatively clear-headed.

"Do you need me to sing you a lullaby?" Su Ming’an asked casually.

Xiber laughed softly, "No need, I can sing for myself."

As she spoke, her voice was very light:

"Back when my mother was still alive, she would sing to me. Although the song was difficult, she kept singing. As she did, I would fall asleep."

...Of course, after that, after being exiled from the First Tribe, she learned to sing it herself.

During many nights, cold and hungry, huddled in a thin blanket, and trembling with cold. She would sing.

As she forced herself to sleep, preparing to hunt the next day. She would sing.

Singing on, she would forget everything she had encountered, and then drift into peaceful sleep.

...She knew there was no longer anyone by her bedside to whisper tender care and sing her a lullaby.

So she learned to sing it herself.

So she could only sing it herself.

Even later, when someone had carried her through a sky full of flames and sung her that song, that memory was fading away, growing weaker with the passage of time, gradually becoming fainter in her recollection.

"I’m going to start singing," she said, as she toyed with a lock of her hair. The bright red Cursed Fire Flower was very conspicuous among her white locks.

"I’m listening," Su Ming’an said.

Xiber cleared her throat and slowly closed her bloodshot eyes.

"In the wilderness afar," she began, her voice as soft as a trickling stream singing,

"In the silent Dawn,"

"...I gaze at your Shadow."

"In a crumbling firmament,"

"In pale breathless cries,"

"...I gaze at your Shadow."

Her voice was gentle and slow, floating in the silent dark space, like a harmonious child’s melody.

"In the depths of dark hues,"

"In the years of hesitation,"

"...I gaze at your Shadow."

"Among the shadows of lambs, snakes, and Ravens,"

"I trace your Shadow."

"In the fantasy of blue skies, stars, and the moon,"

"I chant your name."

Her swaying silver strands brushed against his shoulder.

She carried a natural scent of green grass, evoking boundless wild meadows.

Unlike the damp petrol-like odor around them, her presence was crisp and clean.

She sang softly, her voice growing fainter, her breathing more steady.

"I don’t understand the spring breeze, lilacs, or the dew,"

"I can’t see the ocean, the tides, or the seashells,"

"...Born to the night, I don’t comprehend daybreak and light."

"Black Ravens in trees, I listen to the sounds of the night,"

"The light of day too bright, I am in your dream,"

"How wonderful are freedom and light,"

"...How terribly, desperately I long to meet you."

Her voice gradually faded to nothing.

Soft breaths could be heard.

She had fallen asleep.