/
Xü Beijin “…”
Well, that marks the first time he’s seeing the real little apple when he sheds the obedient form he has in front of him.
He’s both a little miffed and amused. It sure would be interesting if the viewers of the stream could see this. They’ll probably be teasing Lin Qin’s little acts of defiance, comparing it to, perhaps, a wife finding the hidden stash of cash when her husband is hiding it away…
Though Xü Beijin does approve of what Lin Qin’s methods, as any soft negotiating tactics would be lost on such a madman. Employing force is the correct way out.
On this occasion, XĂź Beijin is in tune with Lin Qin.
Besides, a Colosseum like this would be far more receptive of Lin Qin’s overwhelming physical power than other Cell Nightmares, perhaps.
Lin Qin didn’t even find the person who succumbed in this Cell Nightmare or understood what happened beneath everything. Instead, when he crossed the curtain dividing the backstage, a grey fog rolls out, and a door appears.
So Lin Qin left the nightmarish carnage behind without delay… Well, Nightmarish, perhaps.
XĂź Beijin watches his movements quietly. Compared to the other Missiontakers, Lin Qin is certainly having an easy time around.
He just follows his instincts or use his unreasonable force to resolve everything.
While Lin Qin is domineering all around, Xü Beijin is now pondering what Lin Qin’s idiosyncrasies would imply.
The closer he is to eventually meeting NE, the more XĂź Beijin finds a heavy, wet blanket smothering his mind.
Why did NE change? Can they really leave the Tower? What about Lin Qin?
XĂź Beijin is invariably depressed, quite possibly a lingering effect from his near loss of consciousness experience earlier.
First, Mu Jiashi and Wu Jian, then, He ShujĂźn.
XĂź Beijin has come to realise that NE seems to be manipulating things so that at least one person among the groups of Missiontakers that have met up would regain their consciousness.
He ShujĂźn and Mystic are currently in a certain classroom of a school. Probably the classroom of some secondary six students, as it is full of slogans, banners, textbooks and most importantly, mountains of test papers.
Well, perhaps the verb should be ‘was,’ given that most of the slogans have fallen off and the textbooks and test papers are buried under piles of dust all over.
From a window left open, there is even a sneaky ivy peeking inside.
This is a relic of the past, like a screenshot. While the scene in the shot remains frozen in time, outside, time continues marching forward.
As soon as He ShujĂźn arrived, she seems to blank out entirely.
Mystic looks at her, then looks around her, and seems to come to an understanding. Then she decides to stand there quietly and gently wait for her.
After a long, long time, He Shujün snaps out of it, and forces a smile, saying, “sorry about that… I remembered something from the past.”
“It’s alright…” replies Mystic, “what’s important is that we do not let the past become our prison. We can spend our whole lives making up for past regrets, but the present is the only time in our control.”
He ShujĂźn gives Mystic a deep glance.
What does she know? She probably doesn’t know anything. She is just speaking in riddles as she usually does.
But, Mystic is so damned right this time.
He ShujĂźn takes a deep breath, and lets her boiling emotions calm. Rather than being shocked as she regained herself, she is far more shaken by what this Cell Nightmare represents.
She says, “let’s go. I know where the ‘door’ is in this scene.”
Mystic follows, and hesitantly comments, “you don’t seem to want to move forward, though.”
He Shujün goes ‘tch’ with a mocking smile. In this place, she can’t even bother putting up her usual cheery demeanour.
Her emotions are threatening to boil up once more, but she isn’t even sure where they come from, or how.
She knows she has been here. In a time long lost to the past. Yes, it is from a timeline that is beyond recovery – it is from outside the Tower. From Earth.
She says, “I’ll tell you a story,” she looks around and mutters, “but damn… NE, why do you have to put me back here?”
After the complaint, she quiets down for a moment.
They leave the classroom, and start descending the stairs.
“Where are we going?” Asks Mystic.
He Shujün thinks, and replies, “the dormitory…”
Mystic, curious, asks, “the dormitory? When the classrooms are already…”
Already abandoned?
He Shujün thinks about it, then asks Mystic, “say, after the madness has spread throughout humanity, what do you think people’s attitude towards the Gaokao will be?”
Mystic answers, sounding unsure of herself, “I have a daughter… If I try to think as a mother, then I might be really paranoid about her Gaokao result?”
He ShujĂźn realises that when Mystic is talking about her daughter, both her attitude and tone is unremarkably normal. Does this mean that Mystic is entirely sane right now?
But the curiosity gets put aside soon enough, as He Shujün answers, “you’re right. The madness leads to all kinds of extremes.”
She says, “not just to the kids, but even the parents themselves. Well, those that never cared continues not caring, but it is more common for people’s concern over Gaokao to be amplified to maddening heights. Though honestly, the normal Gaokao is an exercise in madness already, if you ask me.”
When she says that, she is recalling how, in the Nightmare with the Raining Hellfire, she once saw a cram school where the parents’ blood is let out to be the ink of their children.
Her expression turns to disgust from the thought.
He Shujün knows her parents are not like that. They are forgiving, gentle, and understanding. At least, when it came to exams… But, the people around her, her fellow pupils, friends, relatives, they all have vastly different experiences.
When Missiontakers see He ShujĂźn, they often end up overlooking her age.
They just think that ‘this is a young woman,’ even if she’s especially cheerful and jumpy, but no one would take her to be a teenage girl.
There are no teenage girls in the Tower. Even children have been conditioned to become uncharacteristically mature and experienced by the Tower, so naturally, it’s the same for He Shujün.
She looks to be just about 20 or so; if she dressed smartly, and put down her façade of youthful optimism, people would naturally conclude that she’s a normal office lady, and not some barely-legal 18-year-old adult.
So no one could have suspected, that when He ShujĂźn entered the Tower, she was actually just 18.
It’s barely been months since Gaokao has ended for her… She thinks. Since her memories about those times are really foggy, just like everything else.
But she thinks she knows she must have entered the Tower post-Gaokao, because she has this impression of herself. She remembers herself to be a secondary school graduate.
But how did she spend her last year of school? She remembers nothing.
When other Missiontakers talk about the problems with their memories, He Shujün would listen quietly, looking like she doesn’t even care. Or she’s happy-go-lucky enough that she wouldn’t mind.
But in fact, she is averse to mentioning her memories, because she doesn’t want to talk about… the Gaokao.
Only she knows why.
Because… of this Nightmare. This Nightmare, in a sense, revealed to her why she subconsciously didn’t want to remember anything either. A situation where ignorance is bliss;
In this scene, they could perhaps see some even more terrifying, irrational things.
And remember, a Nightmare is not quite simply a Nightmare.
Everyone already knows the Apocalypse is real. Those that went into the Nightmare XĂź Beijin pointed them to, would even know that it was in two stages.
So they can’t help but wonder, if the things in the Nightmares, really happened in their surroundings, or even to them, then…?
Of course, the sentiment isn’t universal.
Cue Exhibit A and B, A-One, A-Two, who are in this Nightmare with the mindset of enjoying a paid vacation.
There are also some, that while the people speculate on the implications of the Apocalypse being real, would exchange meaningful glances to each other.
They are the ones that have entered certain Nightmares, which were directly related to their forgotten past.
They would take care not to mention or ask about what the Nightmares are about.
But… Xü Beijin’s Nightmare is allowing them to experience the past, the exact scenes anew. They are revisiting.
Revising Nightmares that have ended up in the trash heap outside the Tower; in a sense, it’s almost as if their memories are also in the bin, where no one cares to look, useless and worthless.
Thinking so, He ShujĂźn has a slightly weird expression on.