by N. Heller
A sharp squeal tore through the air above her and lodged into the wall behind her, destroying it in the process and raising up a massive dust cloud. Lin Sanjiu knew that she had to keep moving right now, and as she rolled across the floor, another bullet came and shot right through the floor, yet again giving rise to another storm of dust. She really wondered what kind of weapon it was, as a single one of its bullets was all it took to tear down the entire corridor.
The dust that floated about blocked her line of sight. Lin Sanjiu squinted her eyes, but she could only barely make out the outline of Mayor Orlean. He did not make any move and just stood there with his weapon raised.
"Are you mad?" Lin Sanjiu shouted while she reloaded her rifle. "What can you possibly achieve by becoming the king? This is just a dream. You can't stay in your dream forever! Your body in the real world will not be able to hold out that long!"
The dust drifted around her and dyed everything in her vision yellow. She could barely see through anything. Before she could say the next thing in her mind, her sixth sense kicked in. She leaped back, and the second her feet left the floor, a bullet skewered through the veil of dust and rammed into her previous hiding spot.
Her lungs were filled with dust. She fought back the urge to cough and leaned her back against the wall. Utilizing the few moments she had, she began to take stock of the situation. It seemed to her that something was holding the mayor back, for he had not been aiming at her just now. Otherwise, with his destructive weapon, there was no way she could come out unscathed.
"Maybe not now, but who can say that for sure in the future?"
Mayor Orlean let out a boisterous burst of laughter, and Lin Sanjiu could hear the madness in his voice. "Once I'm able to absorb energy straight from a posthuman to feed myself, then not only will those heartless dummies out there be mine, but even you posthumans will also become my property!"
Lin Sanjiu now hid behind the wall of an office. She angled her rifle up, but she could not see her target due to the dust. Besides, Mayor Orlean was talking so loudly that there were many echoes ricocheting about in the corridor to the point that she could not locate his exact location.
"Eventually, all posthumans who'll enter the Reverie Libretto will become my possessions, my energy, my power supply. The black mountain has always told me that once I become the king of the Reverie Libretto, I could even gain the ability to walk between the dream world and reality. I can drag all of the twelve worlds into my dream and make them mine!"
Perhaps his words were too stunning, for neither of them moved.
"This is by far the greatest ambition ever achieved in the Reverie Libretto, and I will get a reward that none of you could ever imagine… No, no… at that time, only I could give out rewards!"
As Mayor Orlean shouted out his delusional dream, the dust storm began lifting. Seeing her chance, Lin Sanjiu raised her rifle again. However, before she could aim at Mayor Orlean, she caught a movement from the dust not far away. A tall figure sprang up from the floor and charged straight at the standing human figure not far away.
"Yu Yuan!" She tried to warn Yu Yuan, but it was too late. A spark rose in the dust, and accompanied by a loud bang, a bullet sprayed out of the white barrel. It hit the tall figure squarely, destroying half of his leg and sending him flying back.
Biting her lips, Lin Sanjiu forced herself not to look at Yu Yuan. She took aim in the direction where the spark rose and pulled the trigger.
No sooner had Mayor Orlean let out a pained growl than she heard a clunk as if something had fallen to the floor. Her eyes lit up and she shot a few more times in that direction before shrinking back behind the wall. Then, a black warhead grazed past the door of the office and smashed into the stairs at the end of the corridor.
"Do you…" Mayor Orlean said in an angry, huffing voice, "Do you really think that you can stop me with a gun?"
Then, she heard Yu Yuan's weak laugh.
"Can't stop you with a gun? Didn't we just hit you in the c.h.e.s.t?"
It seemed to Lin Sanjiu that she did not manage to hit him in his left c.h.e.s.t. 'I should've shot a little bit towards the right,' she chided herself inwardly.
"This kind of injury is nothing to me."
She heard Mayor Orlean laugh again. Yu Yuan was severely injured, so he could not participate in the battle anymore. She had to—
Before she could finish her thought, she felt the floor shake.
Just when Lin Sanjiu began to suspect that her mind was playing a trick on her, the second quake came and shattered her suspicion. The light that filtered through the cracks in the wall dimmed down. It was as if something outside had blotted out the sun.
"The black mountain is here!" By the time she realized what was happening, Yu Yuan's desperate voice wafted into her ears, "Kill him!"
The world outside had completely dimmed. Half of the town hall was screaming under the pressure of the black mountain. Countless bricks and metal bars cascaded down on them like rain. Knowing that she had to act fast, Lin Sanjiu threw herself down and rolled along the floor.
Lowering her body to avoid the deadly shots, Lin Sanjiu responded by showering all her bullets on Mayor Orlean.
She wished that she could exchange locations with Yu Yuan right now. She had finished firing all her bullets, yet she did not know if she hit her target or not.
She narrowed her eyes to see through the thick veil of dust. When she saw the still standing Mayor Orlean, her heart clenched and began to fall to the pit of her stomach. The black mountain had consumed everything under its shadow; its body was opening up as if it wanted to devour the entire town hall along with the people inside of it. Suddenly, just as Lin Sanjiu thought they were doomed, Mayor Orlean dropped to the floor like a marionette that had its string cut.
A loud thud traveled into their ears clearly. Then, the sky above them began to clear up.
Chapter 766 - The Bad Guy Is Defeated, But The Story Go On
Lying in a pile of rubble, Lin Sanjiu did not move. It was not that she couldn't move due to being injured, but just that she was too stunned to respond at the moment. There was a large hole in the ceiling, and the smoke was ebbing away. Very soon, the clear blue sky appeared in her vision once again.
Like diluted black ink or a plume of smoke in the teeth of the foul wind, the black mountain began dissipating. Its color slowly faded in the wind until there was nothing left.
Lin Sanjiu still could not believe that she really killed Mayor Orlean with her gun.
In the piles of crumbling walls and ruined curbs, there was a plump man with short limbs lying eagle-sprayed amongst the stones. Blood pooled underneath his body. Even after the black mountain had absorbed so much energy, all it granted Mayor Orlean was the ability to "pull something out of the air".
She lowered her head and looked at her wrist. The phrase "freedom" was gone, yet her libretto went on.
'I have defeated the main villain, shouldn't the storyline be over?'
"Oh shoot!" It was only now that she realized her comrade had been too quiet. She sprang up from the ground and darted where she last saw him fly off. "Yu Yuan! Yu Yuan! Are you alright? Answer me!"
Yu Yuan had rammed into the wall when he was hit by Mayor Orlean. Right now, he was embedded into a corner of the wall, with plenty of rubble and broken bricks piled on his body. Lin Sanjiu went on and moved those pieces of rubble away. She realized his condition was far worse than she originally imagined; his remaining arm was crippled and there was blood seeping out of his battered body here and there. She pressed her finger to his neck, and after a second of fumbling, she let out a sigh when she sensed the imperceptible pulse throbbing under his pale skin.
'That's good. He is still alive.'
She carefully helped Yu Yuan to his feet. When her gaze rolled past the area below his knee, her heart leaped. Her strength was not as great as it was in the real world, so moving him to the corridor was all she could manage at the moment. Then, Yu Yuan slowly cracked his
eyelids open as he regained his consciousness. "...How is everything going? Is he dead?"
"I think it is over." Be that as it may, Lin Sanjiu couldn't be sure of that as well. She lifted her wrist for him to see and continued, "I have killed Mayor Orlean and the phrase you gave me is gone. Maybe we still have to wait a little while before the Reverie Libretto pushes us out."
Yu Yuan did not make any comment. He raised his eyes sluggishly and stared behind her. After a short while, he sighed. "He isn't dead yet."
"What?"
"He… tripped just now."
Lin Sanjiu shot up from the ground. She held her rifle, which had run out of ammo, and went close to Mayor Orlean. He was still lying prone on the ground, so she flipped him over with the tip of her rifle. Then, she saw the flak jacket underneath his shirt.
It was only now that Lin Sanjiu saw the reason why he looked so confident just now. Even though the flak jacket could not protect him from the deadly deluge of bullets she showered on him, it still saved his life.
"Should we kill him now? Otherwise, we might not get out of the Reverie Libretto," Lin Sanjiu asked Yu Yuan as she aimed her rifle and pointed at Mayor Orlean's forehead.
"No, don't kill him," Yu Yuan panted, his voice weak. "He's just fallen unconscious. He is not the reason… Anyway, don't do anything to him for now."
"Why?"
"If we kill him right now, it will affect our libretto and I don't want that to happen. Come, help me up," Yu Yuan wheezed again, his breathing ragged.
When Lin Sanjiu went forward to help him up, she accidentally saw his right arm, which dangled feebly by his side, and saw something that was not right. She looked closer and then she exclaimed, "Hey, look! Your phrase has changed!"
"What?" Yu Yuan was stunned as well.
"The phrase on your wrist is not 'pusher' anymore," Lin Sanjiu said, disbelief laced thick in her voice, "It is 'straw' now. What does that mean?"
Stunned, Yu Yuan had no idea what was going on either despite him being more experienced than Lin Sanjiu.
"The Reverie Libretto is still going on even after we defeated him…" He looked at Mayor Orlean, frowning. "Could it be… Come, help me out. I want to take a look outside."
After that, both of them staggered down the stairs and returned to the first floor. Fearing that there would be some remaining police officers outside, after putting Yu Yuan down, Lin Sanjiu went back to get his rifle. After all, if something bad really happened, with his rifle, they could still hold out a little bit longer.
Holding the rifle, she pried the door open and scanned outside through the slit.
The town seemed to have fallen overnight.
Patches of dried blood and rubbish colonized the once clean and wide streets. The buildings were each dirtier and shabbier than the last. There were electric wires coiled around some of the buildings' doors and the windows were mostly missing. Lin Sanjiu couldn't understand how her setting one street ablaze sent the entire Peanut Town looking as if it had been razed by wars.
Just as she was about to holler to Yu Yuan, she saw a man scurrying around in the corner of her eyes. Her eyes widened. The man was wearing one of the uniforms distributed by the town hall, but it looked torn and its color wasn't as brilliant as it was before; however, that wasn't what stunned Lin Sanjiu the most. It occurred to her that he had taken off a lot of weight, as his cheeks were deeply sunken and he looked undernourished.
"What do you see?" Yu Yuan asked lowly.
"It seems that the time in the Reverie Libretto has leaped again," Lin Sanjiu replied. "Those citizens… they look so skinny."
The citizens of Peanut Town got their food and living resources from Mayor Orlean. Hence, once they lost the black mountain and Mayor Orlean, they were not able to feed themselves.
The skinny guy crouched down next to the electric fence. He stared silently at a ditch underneath the electric fence, as if he was anticipating the appearance of a mouse.
On top of him, there was a depiction of the black mountain, now half-destroyed, caught up by the hook of the electric fence and fluttering noisily in the wind. The skinny guy raised his head, pulled the drawing down, rolled it into a ball and threw it aside.
It seemed that the so-called sacred mountain that had existed for a thousand years to protect them could no longer affect the man anymore.
"Since the black mountain is gone, they should be freed already," Lin Sanjiu sighed. Being free did not equate to a lavish lifestyle. You could be a poor wretch, yet you still had your freedom. She wasn't going to restore Peanut Town to its original state, but she couldn't stop feeling puzzled. "Why is my libretto still going on? And your 'straw'... what does it mean?"
Yu Yuan did not reply, as he did not have an answer either.
Lin Sanjiu clipped the rifle to her belt and went forward to lift Yu Yuan. Even though they were in a dream now, she was hoping that she could find some medication so that she could tend to his injuries. Half carrying, half dragging her companion, she heard Yu Yuan suddenly say, "Heart."
"What?"
"Orlean said it before. They do not have hearts," Yu Yuan continued. "You have given them freedom, but I suspect that we have just finished a part of my storyline."
In other words, "fight against Mayor Orlean and liberate the citizens in Peanut Town" was Yu Yuan's storyline all along? And she was just a character in his storyline?
"You are the one who dreamed of them." Lin Sanjiu could sense that Yu Yuan's body was getting colder and colder. "Perhaps, you should begin in that way."
"What does that mean? Are you saying that I have to give every one of them a heart?" Lin Sanjiu asked, but she received no reply from Yu Yuan. She turned her head and her face turned grim. Yu Yuan's condition was getting worse; his face was strikingly pale. She laid him down carefully on the side of the road, as she planned to get a bowl of water for him. Yu Yuan soon closed his eyes, and nobody knew if he had fallen unconscious or if he was just sleeping.
She pushed the door open and walked into the building. After a short while, she suddenly had a bad feeling and rushed out of the building.
She was right on time. There was a group of citizens crowding around Yu Yuan like a swarm of flies. As if they had seen the rifle at her waist, all of them quickly dispersed and went out of sight.
Hissing out in pain, he frowned and said, "What… what is going on?"
Lin Sanjiu had no idea what she should tell him.
'Should I tell him that he almost became the food of the citizens, or should I say that they were just cutting him for fun?'
Suddenly, Lin Sanjiu had a moment of t.enlightenment.
"Yu Yuan." She held the young man with one of her arms as she tightly gripped her rifle. "I think I know how to end our dreams. Can you hold up for a little longer?"
"How?"
"They don't have hearts, and I don't think it is possible for me to put a heart into their c.h.e.s.t one by one. That is too impractical," Lin Sanjiu said. She glanced across the street, pretending that she didn't see the ashen faces that poked out of the corner, and continued, "Since you could give me a phrase, can you give them one as well? Heart. That is the word. Can you do that?"
Chapter 767 - The Purpose Of The Heart…?
The answer was yes.
Perhaps Yu Yuan had exhausted too much energy, he fell unconscious after he murmured a yes.
Stunned, Lin Sanjiu looked around.
Those hiding in the shadow, corners, and alleys, and those who were gone, did they all have the word "heart" on their wrist now?
She cast her eyes down on Yu Yuan's wrist. Amidst his tattoos, she could still see the phrase "straw" clearly. Regardless of what had become of her storyline, she was very certain that Yu Yuan's storyline was still going on.
Lin Sanjiu tried to carry him on her back, but he kept sliding down no matter how hard she tried. Sweat was forming on her forehead, and it was at this moment that she heard a crackling noise above her. She looked skyward and caught sight of an ope
n window and a flitting human head.
"Hey!" she called out, staring at the window, "Can you come over here for a bit?"
The person shuffled but did not respond to her call. After Lin Sanjiu tried again, only then did the person slowly raise her head up. A face that still possessed the innocence of childhood rammed into Lin Sanjiu's vision. The girl looked like a 16-year-old teenager. Her eyes were bright like diamonds.
Lin Sanjiu was first transfixed with surprise, and then she heard a series of footsteps hopping down the staircase. They were getting louder and closer, and when they suddenly stopped, the door opened. The girl stretched half of her body out of the door and asked, "Yeah? What do you want?"
Not all the girls were loved by God. Apparently, this girl was one of the less fortunate ones. Upon closer inspection, Lin Sanjiu realized her skin was way too saggy and ashen-white. There were two deep smile lines flanking her mouth, and she looked like she was locked in perpetual tiredness.
"Can you show me your right wrist?" Lin Sanjiu asked gently, for she feared that the girl might run away.
The girl was slightly taken aback by her request at first. However, she soon came around and stretched her arm past the door. Lin Sanjiu squinted her eyes, and as she expected, she saw a "heart", written in a very small font on her skin.
She wondered how tiring it must have been for Yu Yuan to imprint the phrase onto every citizen in Peanut Town's wrist.
'But, since they each have a 'heart' now, why has my storyline still not ended yet?"
The girl looked at the "heart", but she did not make any response to it, acting as if the phrase was always a part of her. Silently, she retracted her arm.
"Do you have water?" Lin Sanjiu asked. "My friend here is injured. He could use some water."
The girl parted her chapped, blood-crusted lips, and her voice came out as a hoarse, wet whisper, "No, I don't have water. There is no one working in the water supply department, and the water pipeline is no longer working. If you want water, you can fetch it from the river behind the town."