On this green artificial lawn, only the moonlight shone in the sky. Here, Xiang Qingxia was lying on the ground, unconscious. A distance away was a mage in a black coat who had lost both arms. Walking out of the shadows of the trees and leaves was another mage. He walked in a group with an air of returning home after a simple walk.
" Therefore, this also ended in failure, Araya," Toko said. Araya did not answer. "You find yourself in a cruel state. You began your death chronicle, creating your own twisted world, bearing the pain that everyone has experienced. Why? Why must you be so obsessed? Why do you so selflessly seek the spiral of origin? Have you ever dreamed of saving the human race like you did in the past?”Her voice was pitying, almost in her own way.
He paused. The beat. Then," The reason has long been forgotten.”He retreated into his heart to reminisce.
After a long period of being forgotten, he realized that he could not save anyone. As long as there was life, there would be no true justice. Happiness will not be realized for everyone. What about those who could not find salvation? No answer? The dice game that God played did not seem to bring justice to the right people, and when he realized this, he realized that salvation did not come to this world naturally.
Therefore, he decided to record his death. Record everything until they end, until the end of this material world. Through it, he could filter out true happiness from the patterns. If he could see the stream stretching to infinity, and observe all those who live without justice and salvation, then perhaps he could reach what could be called true happiness. Perhaps he could give meaning to all meaningless deaths. If the world and every person in the world came to an end, then he would be able to observe the true value of mankind. Even a simple observation was valuable. This was the only common salvation he could find for himself and mankind.
Hearing the scratching sound of Toko lighting a cigarette with a lighter, Araya's fantasy was shattered.
"Lost your memory, right? Well, I want to know what kind of person you are,"said Toko. "I've never been able to do anything great. I only hope to get a clear conclusion. If the only thing these mortals can leave behind for history is the ugliness of their existence, then at least I can declare that this is their value. If I could observe that their lifetime of injustice was their legacy, then I had at least observed this. Toke did the same thing. He stared at the night sky in disdain and frowned.
"That is why you must reach the Spiral of Origin. Yes, I see it now. Because there was a record of everything, from beginning to end, you could observe it from there. You want everyone to die, and observe the value of humans from your little vantage point above everyone else.”
"There are only a few steps to go, but reality has to go its way. It laughed at me, showed me the ship that opened the way, and let it hinder my progress. This was indeed an unstoppable force. Though I tried so hard that no one knew it, that no one would trigger the paradox, and wash this pocket kingdom from the pattern, I was stopped even when I was ready. The power that ensured the world's continued existence was my true enemy.”Araya's words were expressed in a harsh voice and stuttering. He had already begun to recede.
Turk sighed deeply. "Reality? No, Araya. This time, it's not deterrence that's stopping you. You did what you could do perfectly, and the deterrence didn't work. Believe it or not, you were at least indirectly influenced by Tomoe Enjō and his pure feelings for his family.”
But Araya refused to believe that he was defeated by such a simple thing; He deceived reality and treated reality as his enemy. "Even if this is true, it must be the power of deterrence that gives him strength. He made him make decisions and actions that might cause me to fail. He did not act out of love for his family. Human actions were only for survival, and they were disguised by simple decorations such as emotions.”The hatred in his voice was strong, but Turk just shrugged.
Because she knew that Araya did not see himself as a man now, but as an ideal carrier. A man driven by such a strong desire and became a symbol for such a long time, and was no longer the human she knew. Toke remembered that when she was still a newbie, Araya had made a simple observation, but it eventually became his most profound observation: The enemies of all mages are my enemies. My enemy is consensus. Although she knew that it was futile to tell him at the last moment, she still continued to tell her friends and men that she had once known that she wanted to break up.
"There's one last thing I want to tell you, Araya. This was good. I don't know if you know him, but a famous psychiatrist once had the collective unconscious. This was the idea of a huge spirit pool, where the archetypes of all human collective history and thoughts resided. This should be very familiar to the Buddhist concepts you are familiar with.”I already know. This wasn't Gaia Theory, but rather the collective consensus of mankind. Buddhists called it Alaya to Qingxia.”
"What?" said Araya, stammering the word. Turk ignored him.
"Seren Araya, don't you think this is very strange? You were born with a name, and that name always tied you to your goal, and you never knew it. It was as if reality had trapped you from the beginning. You have created many contradictions today, but you are the greatest of them all.”Toko's words were deeply imprinted in Alaya's mind, violating his thoughts and shaking the foundation of his claims. Although he did not answer her, the intensity of his eyes began to weaken. However, his heavy expression remained. Toko thought that maybe until the end.
Araya didn't admit what Turk said, but spoke. "This organization has reached its end.”
"I think you'll start from scratch. The n-th time was definitely when. You're really stubborn, you know that?”Turk knew that life was also a spiral. Finally, she frowned at Araya, threw the cigarette on the ground, and extinguished it, never actually putting it in her mouth. She had never really hated that man. Because she was very seriously aware that if she had only made one mistake... or perhaps not, she would have become very much like him: One was not a real person, but the embodiment of an idea, completely devoted to a theory.
Araya coughed violently, and blood flowed out of his mouth again. Despite the weight of time, Xiang Qingxia's eyes finally worked slowly but surely on Alaya's body. Starting from his left shoulder, his body turned into rotten gray ashes.
"I have no other ship to carry my soul. But the wheels are turning, and it will be hundreds of years before the cycle of reincarnation presses me back into the material world.”
"At this point, there will be no more sorcery, art, or witchcraft. The consensus was winning. And you will be alone as always. But I know you still won't stop.”
" Of course, I wasn't defeated."
Tiko closed his eyes. Their years of separation and brief interaction were now over. Aizaki Teko closed her eyes and asked her the last few questions about Seren Araya.
"What are you looking for, Araya?"
"True wisdom." His arm disappeared into nothingness.
"Where are you looking for it, Araya?”
When the left half of his body turned into ashes and danced in the wind, the black coat fell off. At the last moment of Alaya, Turk opened his eyes and watched him walk to the end.
"Araya, where will your struggle lead you?”
But before he could answer, the last Soren Alaya had already disappeared. But Toko felt that she knew what he would answer.
Beyond this self-contradictory spiral material world.
Toke looked away from the gray ashes floating in the wind and took out another cigarette from his pocket to light it. The smoke danced back and forth like an impossible, unreal illusion.
/20
Though I don't seem to remember what happened or why, I found myself walking up and down the city. The weather was pleasant, and the sky was blue as far as the eye could see. Although there was not a single cloud in the sky to hide the sun, the white, dreamy sunlight was warm, but not really annoying. But it did shroud the city and the main street in a mirage, bathing it in the air of some vast desert. It had been cloudy day after day since November, but today, wearing my crimson kimono, it felt like a day after summer.
Finally, I walked into a café that I had frequented recently. The Arnerby Cafe seemed gloomier than usual. Perhaps it was because of the quality of the sunlight today--the lack of electric lights--the sunlight coming through the windows--the only way to light it up was to make the shadows more obvious. In any case, this was probably what the client wanted.
I saw an empty table, its surface plain and unadorned, bathing in a ray of white sunlight beside an open window. Directly behind it was another table, where light could not reach and was projected in the dry darkness. The religious solemnity that shrouded the whole event was the reason why this place was popular among certain groups of people. Today, I am one of them.
The two tables I saw were the only ones that were empty. I sat at the table by the window. Coincidentally, I was sitting at the same time as another person. A young man was sitting at an empty table. So I waited, and so did the young man. We sat with our backs facing each other.
The silence itself was almost a miracle. I remained as calm as everyone else around me, and while I waited without complaint, my usual grumpiness did not show. As I considered the reason for my rare silence, I was satisfied that the person sitting behind me seemed to be waiting in vain just like me. I have a like-minded person, which makes me feel very comfortable.
After a long time, the idiot I had been waiting for finally appeared. He waved at me outside the window. It seemed that he had run here, for he was out of breath. I don't know if he's okay. After all, he was the one who chose to wear a black suit on such a sunny day. He would change sooner or later. I took another look and saw another person outside the window. A woman in white.
I stood up. At the same time, the person behind me also stood up.
I heaved a sigh of relief because it seemed that the woman in the white dress was the person that this guy was waiting for. I sighed and walked towards the exit of the cafe. Strangely, the facility had two exits at both ends, one on the east side and the other on the west side. When I walked towards the west exit, that guy also walked towards the east exit. Before I left the café, I turned around and saw that the guy was also looking back. That guy had red hair and a thin figure. When our eyes met, he turned and raised a hand. I turned around and raised my hand. Greetings. And yet, though I couldn't hear anything, I could almost imagine him saying goodbye. Silently, I also said goodbye and walked out of the cafe.
Outside, the air was still shrouded in the oppressive white mist. It must be getting hotter, because I think I'll be sweating in a few minutes. Under the strong sunlight, I walked to the person who waved at me. For reasons I could not discern, I felt both relief and pain. Although I tried to block the sunlight with my hands, it was still enough to cover the man's face.
I prayed to God that the red-haired fellow would walk like this, to a place where he would meet the one he was waiting for. I must have been fascinated by the solemnity of the Arnerby chapel, even if I could find myself praying. When I looked back, the cafe was gone, replaced by a flat plain that stretched to the horizon. There was nothing left. But somehow, I know this.
I used to think that living meant leaving nothing behind. But I remember someone once said to me: Life is when you try to leave nothing behind but everything behind.
Somewhere, the doorbell rang. When I heard it, I realized I was having a wild dream. Leaving the beautiful desert city, I slowly woke up.
The doorbell rang a second time and I pushed myself out of bed. The clock beside the bed said that it was only around nine o'clock. Because I went out for a walk last night and went to bed at five in the morning, nine is almost not the best time to get up.
The doorbell rang for the third time. Of course, only someone who knew that I was here would have the willpower to continue making calls like this, and that person could be Mikiya. As I sat on the bed, recovering from a strange dream, my heart was still swimming. Now, there were even more reasons to ignore Mikiya. Let him think I'm asleep. I grabbed the pillow from the headboard, hugged it tightly, and lay down again.
The ringing stopped. "Ha, I knew he'd give up," I whispered, pulling up the blanket and trying to go back to sleep.
Suddenly, I heard the sound of a key unlocking the door, and the door opened. I opened my eyes in surprise and started to get up, but he had already come in. " Ah, so you're awake, Xiang Qingxia," Mikiya said. He was holding a plastic bag from a convenience store in one hand. The thought of where on earth he had gotten the key to my apartment made me so upset that I did not realize I was staring at him rather harshly.
"Don't think you'll get any of this," he spat as he hid the plastic bag behind him. "I need breakfast too." There was still a second or two before I understood what he was saying, because I was thinking of something completely different.
"Breaking and entering, that's all," I announced. "What about me? Eat those cheap trash? Don't make me laugh."
"Oh, thank goodness I can have breakfast at your house without you having to pick food off my plate again and again. Maybe you've already gotten rid of this habit.”Mikiya began to take food out of plastic bags and arrange them on the floor. I watched him and had a wonderful time.
The business at the gawa apartment had been going on for two weeks. Mikiya had to go to the hospital because of a leg injury. My own injury was much more serious, and it only took me a week and a few days to recover. The doctor thought it was because of my health. Mikiya still had to go to the hospital for a checkup. He could walk and even run, but the doctor said to avoid the latter until he fully recovered. I remember Mikiya smiling and telling the doctor that even if he wasn't injured, he would try to avoid running.
After that, we never talked about the Okawa apartment again. We don't think it's necessary. However, in the past two weeks, I have sometimes seen Mikiya's face grow more and more serious, which seems to be without reason, when in fact, you have to touch him to bring him back to reality and hear your voice. It was then that I knew he was thinking about it. As far as I'm concerned, my thoughts keep going back to my roommate from a month ago. He brought unexpected changes to my life, which made me very depressed.
" Well, you know," Mikiya suddenly hesitated. He split the chopsticks with his back facing me.
"What?" I asked coldly, already feeling what he would say.
"I heard from Miss Toko that it will be demolished. I mean, this apartment."
"Is that so? But what about the residents? Where are the things there? All these things..."My voice trailed off.
"Miss Toko said not to worry. She said that 'the mages are in charge of the mages' business', and some people from Ordo will handle everything. They made the fictional family disappear and recorded it as 'touched' in the records. They even destroyed everything under the building. If they could do something fictional, they were a pretty powerful bunch. "I heard they're going to demolish the building this afternoon.”
So he came to tell me. I knew I wouldn't see it; I didn't think Mikiya would either. Still, he told me because he thought I should know.
"It's too early," I muttered.
"Yes, isn't it?" Mikiya said. With these statements, it felt like we had entrusted the Okawa apartment to the past. " But at the very least, all the causes of these events centered on you must now end. I know I'm an outsider to most of them, but this should be their end.”He paused, then said,"You should go back to school regularly." If you don't get your high school diploma and graduation certificate, you'll break Chulong's heart.”
"What is it? My going to school has nothing to do with these strange things. First of all, didn't these things only start after you got involved with Dick? Secondly, before you start to get shards, remove the wood from your own eyes. How can you not teach me a lesson and go back to school after you don't go to school?”"Are you going to college by yourself?"
" Ouch, the suction cup hit my stomach," he mumbled, then smiled and sighed. Ha, that sentence always shut him up.
So we spent the morning together. Although we were resting for two days, Mikiya decided to stay in my room instead of going out. I was lying in bed, desperately in need of sleep, but staying awake was just to keep this guy company. Mikiya was sitting on the floor, leaning against my bed behind him. A month ago, the situation was different.
My thoughts returned to another man. He was sitting where Mikiya was now. Now that he was gone, the room returned to how it was before he came. He had no choice but to die. This made me feel a pain of regret, a kind of emptiness in my heart. Though I told myself it was only a small hole, it made me feel uneasy, just as it had five months ago when I had recovered from my coma.
Then, I suddenly thought of something. If his death made me so uneasy, then what if the person sitting by my bed now disappeared? He was a part of the Qing Xia Clan in the past, and he was also a part of the new memories from June to five months later. This was a time filled with many trivial matters, but even so, these memories should not be thrown away. So I hide them like little babies in my soul.
There's still a part of my memory that I can't remember clearly. Turk called it the hollowness of the soul. I still remember her telling me in her most important voice: A hole must be filled with something. It was still the same now.
So, I want to know, in these five months of personal experience, when did I find the time to decide what kind of person Mikiya would become?
"Hey, Cockut." I really hate this name, but I still say it. I gradually saw my past as a completely different person and began to dislike imitating my past self. Even so, the name, its voice and tone, was my last connection to the past, and I still could not let it go completely. Mikiya obviously didn't see the same meaning as I did, because he didn't look back at me. Once I had something important to say, he was engrossed in one of his paperback literary classics. It was a typical case.
I only said what I needed to say: "The key."”
This caught his attention. "Hmm?"
I moved my face away from him and extended a hand to him, one of which still had the wound from the hilt of the sword I had held two weeks ago. This was just something I thought of on the spur of the moment, but I said it.
"I don't have the key to your room.”
I know I blush like a child when I ask for such a small thing, but I can't seem to stop it. I'll remember it in that strange dream I had before I woke up.
So I let this normal, spiraling day pass like any other, with a man so peaceful that he would never break the peace of the day.
It was winter, and a rare snowfall fell on the city. This was the first time it had seen such snow in four years.
Just like the night Shiki Ryōgi and Mikiya Kokutō first met, the snow on the ground would be drenched in bright red snow in time.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]