Chapter 937: The One Who Can Only Smile
Chu Tianqiu stood silently in front of a classroom door for quite some time—a full few minutes—before finally raising his hand to knock.
"Come in."
A girl's voice came from inside, causing Chu Tianqiu to freeze slightly.
He slowly pushed the door open and saw the figure within.
But that single glance felt like a lifetime.
She was wearing a convenience store uniform T-shirt, her hair casually tied up, and she stared back at him with wide eyes.
Chu Tianqiu's gaze flickered for a moment, then a bitter smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
How many years had it been since he last saw that face?
Her cheeks were no longer sunken, her eyes no longer hollow, her fingers no longer withered—even her clothes were clean.
She was no longer a raving monster, but a living, breathing human being.
"Life Unending"—such a domineering yet eerie ability.
It could tear apart all farewells, trample over every emotion, override all rules, and then make all separations start anew.
At that instant, Chu Tianqiu felt as if he had returned to the moment he first set foot on this land. If not for the sensation of the eyeballs hanging around his neck, he might have thought he had traveled through time.
It was a pity that time in this cursed place never went backward; only vibrant lives repeated their cycles over and over.
The woman before him, who appeared frail, had an experience that no normal "participant" had ever undergone. She had not only been the leader of many participants but had also served as both a "Zodiac" and a "native." She had borne the trust of everyone and endured suffering that no one else had ever tasted.
Now, she stood here perfectly fine, as if nothing had ever happened. Her eyes were as clear as water in this moment, as if she had just arrived for the first time.
"Can I help you?" the girl asked.
After speaking, she looked at Chu Tianqiu's outfit, then her expression turned slightly strange. "You... are you..."
"I'm the leader here. My name is Chu Tianqiu." Chu Tianqiu placed the cans of food and bottled water on the table, then said, "From now on... I look forward to your cooperation."
"Leader..."
"You..." Chu Tianqiu was about to speak but felt it might be presumptuous, so he could only shake his head with a bitter smile and asked politely, "What's your name?"
"Wen Qiaoyun."
"Wen... Qiaoyun." Chu Tianqiu nodded. "Good..."
Wen Qiaoyun thought the man before her was a little odd. "What do you mean 'good'...? Why are you dressed like that...?"
"You mean this?" Chu Tianqiu reached up and touched the eyeballs hanging around his neck. "This is everyone's hope."
"Hope...?" Wen Qiaoyun had never heard such a description before.
"I once had my own hope too," Chu Tianqiu said. "But unfortunately, under the watch of these eyes, that hope faded away bit by bit. Now, I want them to witness with me another path on this land."
"You're a strange man," Wen Qiaoyun said. "You look a lot like a bad person, but as we talk, I don't feel any malice from you."
"I'm really not a good person." Chu Tianqiu slowly walked over to the chair next to Wen Qiaoyun and sat down. "Qiaoyun, on this land, people who are too kind never come to a good end. History has proven this to us countless times."
"What...?" Wen Qiaoyun was slightly taken aback. "But... this really is a strange feeling... We're meeting for the first time, yet when you call me 'Qiaoyun,' it feels so familiar."
The eerie crimson glow of the setting sun cast its light on Wen Qiaoyun's face, and countless images flashed through Chu Tianqiu's mind.
The person he had aided, been confused by, deeply loved, and then killed with his own hands.
Countless scenes twisted and intertwined in his mind, but in the end, they were all stained red with blood.
"Qiaoyun... you shouldn't have come back," Chu Tianqiu said, lowering his head.
"Come back...?" Wen Qiaoyun was momentarily startled, then quickly understood. "Leader, did you know me before?"
"I..."
"I had a feeling earlier," Wen Qiaoyun said with a smile. "I couldn't have just appeared out of nowhere, could I? Did I lose my memories?"
"Maybe so," Chu Tianqiu nodded. "Everyone here loses memories, but you lost more than others."
"So that's it. Then we were good friends before, weren't we?" Wen Qiaoyun asked again.
"More or less," Chu Tianqiu murmured in reply.
"Then... why did you say I 'shouldn't have come back'?" Wen Qiaoyun gave a bitter laugh. "If we were good friends, shouldn't you be happy to see me return?"
"Because I killed you with my own hands," Chu Tianqiu replied.
"Huh...?"
"I strangled you to death right in front of me." Chu Tianqiu raised his head, a look of despair on his face. "Your existence was the only proof that I was still 'human.'"
"I don't quite understand..."
"I thought that by killing you with my own hands, I could become a 'god.' But I never expected this path to be so difficult." Chu Tianqiu laughed bleakly, his body reeking of blood. "Who would have thought that Qi Xia had an even more brutal method... He even used a method that a normal human couldn't bear to abandon his 'human' identity."
The more Wen Qiaoyun listened, the more she felt the man before her was somewhat insane, but she didn't know how to respond. Whether it was Chu Tianqiu's appearance or his words, everything about him screamed "danger."
Yet there was always a voice in Wen Qiaoyun's heart telling her that the man in front of her wasn't a bad person—that he carried a helplessness no ordinary person had ever experienced.
"So it seems that the 'spiritual world' is what marks us as human... 'emotion' isn't it at all," Chu Tianqiu said bitterly. "To me, the most brutal method of 'becoming a god' was merely the beginning for him."
Wen Qiaoyun paused for a long time after hearing this, then reached out and patted Chu Tianqiu's shoulder. "Being a 'leader' must be exhausting... If there's anything you need my help with, just let me know."
"Qiaoyun... when will this cursed place ever let us go?" Chu Tianqiu said. "Isn't killing the one you love with your own hands enough...? Isn't watching the one you love suffer for over a decade enough?"
"The one you love...? Tell me..." Wen Qiaoyun seemed to recall something, her expression shifting. "What were you thinking when you killed the one you loved?"
Chu Tianqiu was silent for a long moment before answering:
"I wanted to set her free. I wanted her to get out."
"You..."
"I wanted to become a god, and I wanted everyone to get out."
"How could you think that way?" Wen Qiaoyun said. "Don't you want to get out yourself...?"
"I..." Chu Tianqiu slowly lowered his head after hearing that. "Once I get out... I'll die immediately. Even here, every day, my head aches so much I can't find peace... I can't fall asleep, and I can't feel sorrow..."
He lifted his head again, wearing a bleak smile as he looked at Wen Qiaoyun.
"Qiaoyun... whether it's sadness, pain, helplessness, or despair... all I can do is smile."