Monster - Chapter 131
Chapter 131: Star City - A Convergence of Fate
After listening to Johnny and Carlo's story, Lou said nothing more. She silently got up, left their suite, and returned to her own room.
From their long conversation, she could tell that the father and son were not lying. Her gradually recovering abilities also clearly told her that Tree was not controlling them as they spoke.
But how was that possible? Was Little Rabbit's surname really Zhao? So the name she gave me was also Zhao? Did Little Rabbit ever tell me the meaning behind that surname? I only remember her saying the name meant I was important.
"I am important…" Lou returned to her room and sat on the sofa. Her earlier frenzy and rage had now turned into cautiousness and terror.
Her hand trembled from time to time, as if those memories she refused to recall were desperately pulling at her, trying to make her explode.
"This is fake. It's a setup by Tree. He… he's misleading me…"
Such a good Little Rabbit, to think she lived such a difficult life in reality, yet she never told me.
"But… my arrival in Leviathan… he couldn't have known in advance. He couldn't have known about my past. I have to calm down and think."
She said she had loved a woman, but she still got married in the end. What kind of terrible accusations did she suffer?
"I have to think, where did things go wrong? That must be it. Tree stole my memories somewhere…"
Little Rabbit missed me dearly after she left, but she could never return to my side. It wasn't intentional, but back then, I hated her for it.
"Oh, right. That must be it. It must have been before I entered the Disorder Land, when I met Pie. Yes, he must have stolen my memories there. He found out about Little Rabbit."
I hated her all along. I… I forced her to break our Sentinel-Guide bond, even when… even when she begged me like that…
Lou tried to calm herself, to think and analyze, but thoughts of Little Rabbit and Zhao Anfu kept surfacing in her mind, constantly distracting her. Her head felt like it was boiling.
She remembered the short old woman she had met in Thriller Paradise, her long, dirty, graying hair, the way she had crawled up the stairs on all fours. She remembered the old woman opening her mouth, which had only a few teeth left, trying to bite her. She remembered her milky-white eyes, her gaunt body, and how she had shot her right between the eyebrows…
Ah—
Lou grabbed her hair and bent over, wailing silently. Her soul felt as if it had been stuffed into a place where no sound could escape. Her precious, precious Little Rabbit… had she really been reduced to that?
As if still clinging to a sliver of hope, she tremblingly took out the points watch from Thriller Paradise from her Space Bag.
It displayed countless points, all accumulated from killing zombies in the castle. Each name on the list seemed to remind her of the unforgivable things she had done.
When she slid her finger to the very top, she saw the first name:
Prey Name: Zhao Anfu
Points: 1
At that moment, an unparalleled panic completely consumed Lou, draining all the strength from her body. She couldn't even remain seated and slid to the floor, muttering over and over, "This is fake, it's a trap… How could I have killed Little Rabbit? She… she wasn't Little Rabbit. I was framed. I… I didn't…"
Lou collapsed on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. She could never have imagined that the Little Rabbit she had searched for for so long, in so many places, would appear before her so easily, only to be killed by her so easily—to die so… so insignificantly, unknown to the world…
"This is impossible…" Even though Lou knew it might be fake, a scheme set up by Tree to break her, she had no way to determine its authenticity, nor could she withstand such a heavy blow.
Even if it might be fake, she couldn't bear it.
"I don't believe it." Crying, Lou clutched the "Nightmare" skull she had snatched from Carlo and his father. Knowing she wouldn't be able to fall asleep easily, she bought a large quantity of the wine Jian Yi had recommended from the points mall and drank herself into a stupor.
The last shred of her sanity told her that perhaps after using "Nightmare," more details, more truth, would emerge to prove that this was all fake, that she hadn't killed Little Rabbit.
Since you've done it, don't regret it, don't cry, silly girl…
The last thing Lin Sandie saw as Zhao Jinyu pushed her away was the girl's crying face.
Lin Sandie felt no desire to blame Little Fool. She knew Little Fool was still just a child, and she could understand her pain at being left behind. She understood even more the youthful desire to escape that pain.
In Lin Sandie's eyes, Little Fool had the right to make mistakes. What saddened her was that Little Fool would have to spend much more time in the future atoning for this mistake, and she had seen that look of inescapable agony on her face before.
Lin Sandie sat up, expecting to wake up in reality. Instead, she found herself surrounded by panes of glass ground from crystal. Light shimmered within them, and the faint blue lines of the glass gave off a technological feel. Lin Sandie saw countless figures moving within the glass, dressed in the attire of various eras, all busy with their own affairs. Their reflections cast upon the many panes made the surroundings seem both bustling and peculiar, as if all of time and space had been jumbled together.
A floating staircase, also made of glass, led upward. Lin Sandie looked up and saw a figure shimmering like ripples on water, reflected in the multi-colored glass. The figure didn't look real; she could only vaguely make out that It was sitting on a high-backed chair. She couldn't see Its face, but It appeared to be female.
"Pie?" Lin Sandie touched the spot where Little Fool had hurt her and found it had already healed. She stood up and looked toward the figure.
"When you wake up this time, you will remember everything that happened in the dream, and you will be more like a Guide," the voice from above said, soft and gentle.
"The mistake has already been made." Even if she returned to reality now and regained her memories of Aztec, Lou had already suffered through hundreds of years of searching for her. Lin Sandie's previous attempts to prevent it had been utterly useless, which caused her pain as well.
"As I told you before, that is the price she must pay to live."
Why was Lou's desire to live so tortuous and painful? Lin Sandie first asked herself. She knew about Little Fool's early life—her tribe had died from a disease, leaving her to wander the jungle alone. If Lin Sandie hadn't appeared, she would have died soon after.
And it was Pie who had sent her to Little Fool's side. In other words, Pie had given her the chance to save Lou. But she never belonged to Little Fool's era; she always had to leave. This led to misunderstanding, pain, and for Little Fool, endless torment.
After a moment of silence, Lin Sandie stood up straight and asked politely, "What do you need me to do?"
Pie had said before that when the time was right, she would restore her dream memories. For It to say this now meant that something significant had happened in reality.
"The little girl has become completely Bedeviled," the gentle voice said with a slight sigh. "After Tree severed the connection, I can only vaguely sense her state. She has been wandering the Nine Netherworlds all this time. A single straw might be enough to break her."
"What should I do?" The only thing that could break Lou would be related to Little Rabbit. If I wake up and tell her I am Little Rabbit, will she get better? Lin Sandie's heart pounded, and she desperately wanted to return to the real world.
"She's in too deep. Even if you tell her you're Little Rabbit now, you won't be able to pull her out." As if knowing what Lin Sandie was thinking, Pie refuted her idea.
A simple answer could not fully save a soul that had been lost for hundreds of years. In her pursuit of Little Rabbit, Lou had long since been unable to stop herself from descending into madness.
"I want you to kill the little girl."
"Why?" Lin Sandie's brows furrowed tightly.
"She has gained benefits from her previous adventures. If she is killed in a Tower World, she will have a chance to be reborn. Most of her madness will also be washed away by death. Only then can you try to pull her out." Pie did not hide anything, directly stating the reason for Its suggestion. "As for how to pull her out, I believe you will have your own ideas."
For the past few years, It had been training Lin Sandie for this very reason.
"I… don't know if I can do it." Lin Sandie took a deep breath, her heart strongly resisting the idea of killing Lou. Knowing what was right was one thing, but actually doing it was another.
And this was Lou. She had just been beaten severely by a teenage version of her. To face the adult Lou, who had experienced so much more, Lin Sandie had not a shred of confidence.
"Whether you can save her or not depends on you, Lin Sandie."
After a longer silence, Lin Sandie asked again, "Why… why me, Pie."
This was a question she had never been able to figure out. She had asked Pie before, but It had refused to answer.
"Does the answer to that question still matter to you now?" For some reason, Pie's voice was tinged with a hint of a smile.
Lin Sandie fell silent. Pie was right. She loved Lou now. No matter what, whether it was intentional manipulation or fated destiny, she would not abandon Lou.
"…Please let me go back," Lin Sandie said softly. As she finished speaking, the ground beneath her feet suddenly gave way, and she fell. Then, she woke up in the hotel room.
The memories from her dream rushed into her mind like a surging tide. Lin Sandie's heart pounded, her entire being filled with pity and tenderness for Lou. She raised a hand to cover her tear-filled eyes and whispered, "Little Fool…"
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