Chapter 15: Familiar Sound of a Thousand-Year Cycle (Part 11)
I almost couldn’t get out of bed this morning. If I couldn’t get up, I might never get up again.
That long-lost feeling of fatigue swept through my whole body. My head was heavy, and it was hard to open my eyes. My body didn’t feel like my own.
I opened the bottle cap, tilted my head back, and stuck out my tongue to lick the remaining medicinal liquid. As soon as a drop touched my tongue, my headache subsided considerably, and about eighty percent of the drowsiness was gone.
No, that’s not right. If I took one drop a day, it would be just enough to last until the winter break. But perhaps I had unconsciously taken more of the medicine. My instincts were craving it…
I had considered the possibility that I was being deceived, that I was becoming addicted. But I always felt that Senpai wouldn’t lie to me. It wasn’t out of trust, just a gut feeling. Yet, sometimes, these ridiculous instincts are so accurate they feel like a joke played by fate.
The medicine just ran out. This morning, I happened to choose an open-air hot spring to soak in, and then I happened to run into Senpai. When three “just happened” things coincide, it can’t be called a coincidence anymore. Maybe there was something between this person and me… Even I can’t help but think so. No, I am hoping for it.
Heh, a shallow woman, craving romantic plotlines. But when it reaches this point, wouldn’t anyone feel they were destined for each other? Maybe I am the chosen one…
“It started raining at the most annoying time…”
There wasn’t a soul on the street, and time itself seemed to have stopped.
I looked up at the sky.
It looked like this rain… wouldn’t stop anytime soon.
In the end, I ran away. I don’t know why I ran away.
Senpai, what he said was clear. That black medicine would no longer be available because its curse had been taken by him, who killed it with his own hands. To be honest, it was a bit nonsensical. But he didn’t seem like he was lying, or rather, he had never lied to me.
He wasn’t here to “discuss” with me or to give me “choices.” He was merely here to settle “aftermath.” I had no right to choose.
SF Light Novel
He intended to erase my past life memories, which had not yet returned, and then I would no longer fall into a coma. It was a good thing for me. It was supposed to be a good thing…
But I ran away. For no reason, just because of an impulse, a momentary urge, and that hand pushing me from behind seemed to urge me to move.
One hundred seconds, a little over a minute and a half. Even running at full speed, I couldn’t get very far. Considering the difference in physical capabilities between men and women, it wouldn’t be difficult for Senpai to catch me.
So, in a contest of speed, the outcome was bound to be me being caught. Therefore, I had to think of a way from another angle. This wasn’t a race; it was a battle of wits, to see if I could hide somewhere he couldn’t find me in this short amount of time.
I ran into the locker room. Without even bothering to dry off the water droplets on my body, I hastily put on the yukata provided by the inn. I was actually wearing something else too… but there was no time to slowly put on my underwear now.
Stepping out of the locker room, I jogged along. I wasn’t very familiar with this place, but if I headed towards a secluded path, Senpai wouldn’t find me immediately, right?
How much time had passed? I don’t know.
There was no sound from behind me!
Senpai didn’t seem to be following!
He was completely unharmed after I bit his neck hard. Before I made my move, I had already prepared myself to commit suicide if I managed to bite him to death. But he didn’t die. The wound disappeared instantly. I was overjoyed. Although I hadn’t expected to confirm it this way, this result was what I had hoped for.
…Was it “I” who hoped for it?
My head started to hurt, and my eyelids felt heavy… Even though I had taken a drop this morning, I shouldn’t have felt drowsy again for at least the rest of the day.
Holding my forehead, I walked out from the deserted alleyways. Finally, I saw a road. It was a path paved with bluestone slabs, but it seemed a bit old and uneven, stretching about fifty meters.
The rain was still falling.
Following the bluestone path, I arrived at an open area and finally heard sounds. The eaves of what looked like a bustling row of stalls formed a line, creating a lively scene. It seemed to be in the preparation stage, mostly shop employees, but there was an indescribable sense of incongruity.
“Huh? Little girl, how did you get in here? The festival hasn’t started yet,” a slender woman setting up a stall suddenly said to me.
“Oh my, looking at you, you haven’t realized it yet?” Seeing my questioning look, she smiled and said. “Hehe, never mind, don’t mind me.”
“Here? Just as you see, we’re about to hold a festival, a carnival day where everyone gathers to play and dance. Of course, it’s also a day for small vendors like me to make a good profit.”
So, it was indeed some kind of festival? But it was strange, why was there a festival in winter… If it was a New Year’s festival, it should have already ended.
“But you’re too early. The festival starts tomorrow and will last for seven days and seven nights.”
“Seven days and seven nights?” Wasn’t that too long?
“Yes, seven days and seven nights. Everyone, adults and children alike, forget even about going home, a non-stop carnival day and night. It will be very happy,” she said with a smile.
“But this has nothing to do with you, little girl. You must have gotten lost. Then you should keep going forward. You should be heading further ahead.”
“Um, I’m being chased…”
“Are you? Hmm… ‘I haven’t seen any little girl.'”
“Thank you…”
“You’re welcome. By the way, little girl, dressing so provocatively, you might attract bad people. At least use this to wrap yourself up.” The other party suddenly threw me a piece of cloth and pointed to my chest. My face felt a bit hot. I had intended to escape to a secluded place, but I hadn’t expected to end up in such a crowded area.
I lowered my head, thanked her, and continued forward, holding the wrap and covering my chest.
Passing through rows of stalls, I arrived at a riverbank. Bright red flowers bloomed along the riverbank. The river water was a bloody yellow, and mist swirled on its surface. There was a bridge that seemed to stretch endlessly.
This place… I have an “impression” of this place… Ugh, my head started to hurt again… My feet moved uncontrollably toward the bridge. I’ve walked this path before. I’ve seen all sorts of people walk across this bridge, and I myself have crossed it several times.
Crossing the bridge, I reached the other side. There was a platform, and by its edge stood a woman, seeming to be waiting for someone.
…Did I die? Even if I were obtuse, I should have guessed what kind of place this was by now.
Even though it was winter, I didn’t exhale white mist when I breathed. I wasn’t feeling too cold even in just a yukata. Because this was already… ‘another world’.
The path paved with bluestone slabs was called the Yellow Springs Road. The river I crossed was the River of Oblivion. The bridge above was the Bridge of Helplessness. The platform in front of me was the Wangxiang Terrace.
“No, don’t misunderstand. I’m not Meng Po, and there’s no Meng Po as young as me, is there? Hehe.” The woman was indeed very young, probably around my age, but her speech carried a flippant tone.
“I’ve met Meng Po. The first time I met her, she was still called Meng Gu, and Meng Po soup wasn’t called Meng Po soup yet.”
“The first time I crossed the bridge and met her, she handed me a bowl of soup. I refused to drink it, and she said that without drinking it, I couldn’t enter Samsara.”
“I was angry and kicked over her pot. She didn’t get upset and told me that if I didn’t drink the soup, I would have to jump into the River of Oblivion and wait a thousand years to be reincarnated.”
The woman narrated the past events calmly.
“So I jumped, into that river. The River of Oblivion was filled with resentful souls and white bones. I was not someone favored by the deceased. They only wanted me to forget everything here, to become one of them, to sink into the nether sea, without reincarnation, without rebirth, and certainly no afterlife.”
“But after a thousand years, I finally climbed out. My youth had turned to white bones, and I entered Samsara to find him. He was still him, but he had long forgotten me and already had someone by his side to spend a lifetime with.”
“I don’t regret it. This was my choice.”
No regrets? Really? Suffered for a thousand years, just for a few decades to be with that person. After a thousand years of obsession, was it not heartbreaking to only gain a pair of lovers as others walked hand-in-hand?
“Then I died again. The second time I crossed the bridge, the soup was the same, the person was the same. Meng Gu had become Meng Po. She was brewing the soup and asked me, ‘Was it worth it?'”
“I smiled and said nothing, preparing to jump into the river. Meng Po stopped me and gave me a bowl of soup, but it was only half a bowl.”
“That bowl of soup, I drank it. I drank it the few times after that as well.”
Meng Po soup with only half a bowl, meaning only half was forgotten? Then what exactly was forgotten, and what memories were retained?
“I forgot pain, forgetting hardship, forgetting hatred, forgetting sorrow, forgetting fear. Only his goodness remained, only my love for him remained.”
…Only retaining love, it would be possible to persevere no matter what, but such a thing… is simply sweet poison…
The woman’s expression became entranced, and she murmured hazily, “Forgetting feels really good. Floating like an immortal, really, it’s as if there’s no impurity left in my body. So refreshing.”
She smiled hazily and looked at me, suddenly gripping my wrist and asking, “Hey, I’m very curious, what are you feeling like right now?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about!”
“Didn’t you forget everything? Ah, sorry. If you’ve forgotten everything, you wouldn’t even realize that ‘you’ have forgotten, so how could you have any feelings?”
“Who are you!”
I struggled to break free from her hand, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t.
The woman narrowed her eyes and smiled.
“…Who am I? You know very well yourself, don’t you remember me? That’s not right. You’re just pretending not to remember.”
“This is not Wangxiang Terrace, you didn’t just cross the Bridge of Helplessness, that river is not the River of Oblivion, and the path you walked is not the Yellow Springs Road. Those places don’t exist anymore. Even King Yama has become the owner of a hot spring inn.”
My head throbbed violently.
My vision spun.
“This is your mem… your dream.”
Dreaming.
Dreaming of.
Myriad dreams spanning a solitary night.
“I” am “you,” Yuhui Bai.
The rain has stopped.
The flowers on the other shore are as red as blood.
The white-clad girl smiles faintly.
