Ordinary Chapter 47: Pillar

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey

 

The rain was relentlessly wetting Jian Nian’s hair and clothes as he followed Shen Si with his head already drenched. Shen Si wasn’t walking very fast. And kept holding his wrist as he walked.

Jian Nian couldn’t help but stare at Shen Si’s back, and the part of his wrist he was clutching seemed to be burning. Although he hated the rain, it didn’t seem to be a big deal if he was with Shen Si.

The moment Shen Si let go of Jian Nian’s wrist, he could see the red marks on his pale wrist from the strong force, and the red finger marks looked a bit jarring. Pulling the sleeve down, Jian Nian leaned against the wall and looked at Shen Si, his dark eyes full of concentration.

“So, Shen Si, can you tell me what’s going on?” Jian Nian said this with a smile on his lips and a slight smile in his, even though it seemed unsightly. “During the journey just now, you occasionally glanced back, but you weren’t looking but behind me. What is behind me?”

Shen Si looked at Jian Nian, “You are quite observant.”

“Of course, after all, it is because it is you. I only pay special attention to you. I want to know if you’re turning back to see if it is me.” Jian Nian said, “It’s as I thought, Shen Si, of course, you are not looking at me when you turn around; you are looking at something I can’t see.”

Listening to Jian Nian’s bright voice, he was always like this in front of him, confident and flamboyant, with an air of disappointment but never disgust.

Shen Si looked to Jian Nian’s right. About two meters behind him stood the dummy with Jian Nian’s appearance. His face didn’t smile and constantly shook the rain on his body; the action was also somewhat perfunctory, like a lazy large dog shaking hair.

“Yes, that’s it.” Jian Nian suddenly reached out and grabbed Shen Si’s collar, his movements gentle, his voice mild, “Shen Si, what are you looking at now?”

Shen Si turned his eyes back to Jian Nian, “I’m looking at you.”

“Lies.” Jian Nian smiled and let go of his hand, “You are obviously looking at my right; how can you be looking at me?”

“But as you know, I would never lie to you.”

Jian Nian and Shen Si looked at each other, and after a moment, Jian Nian turned his head to look to his right. In that area, all he could see was a patch of empty air and the droplets of water left behind as they walked over, and further out was the rain that was falling harder and harder, and the air was all wet with a stifling feeling.

There was nothing, nothing to see.

But Shen Si didn’t lie, as he was not a person who liked to lie, and he cognitively thought it was better to let people know the truth, so, if he said it was him, then it must be him.

“Is it a dummy of my image?” Jian Nian tentatively asked Shen Si.

Shen Si nodded, “That’s right.”

“But why can’t I see it?” Jian Nian frowned slightly, putting away the smile on his face, “No, this playfield may not be a playfield that can be left by simply breaking the dummies, but there are other ways to leave; maybe we were misled…”

Shen Si looked at the thinking Jian Nian, and only after a moment did he speak, “What do you think you are like?”

“Uh?” Jian Nian froze for a moment, then looked at Shen Si, “Shen Si, what do you mean? By the way, just now, you said that you were looking at me. Do you mean that the dummy is me? Although I can’t see what the dummy looks like, how can a dummy be the same as me?” Jian Nian smiled, “But Shen Si did you try to attack it? Did it work?”

“Answer my question.”

Jian Nian no longer spoke but stood in place staring at Shen Si, his dark eyes void of any emotion, as if he had nothing to say.

He was the same age as Shen Si, and even the same height, but Jian Nian’s entire body looked much thinner, pale skin tone and inferior physical quality made him look extra fragile. Usually, when he smiled, one would think he was a bad person, and once he stopped smiling, Jian Nian would expose the deep weakness in his bones more and more thoroughly.

Shen Si didn’t intend to attack the dummy because the dummy did something that was very outrageous the previous time. He didn’t resist Shen Si’s attack, even suggesting that Shen Si could smash him.

In that instant, Shen Si understood that it would be no good at all to break the dummy, and there might even be some unforeseen consequences. Now he was even more certain that there must be an inextricable link between Jian Nian and the dummy, and that would be all the more reason not to break it.

Who knew if something would happen to Jian Nian if the dummy was broken.

“It looks like you are pretty sure it has something to do with me.” Jian Nian closed his eyes helplessly, “Then can you tell me what he looks like now? You ask me what I think I look like; at least tell me what condition he is in now.”

“About two meters behind your right, he won’t come near me but will follow me.” Shen Si turned his head to Jian Nian, “I was chasing him, and he led me to you.”

Jian Nian froze, and only after a moment did he speak, “It does sound like it’s me.”

Just then, Shen Si saw the dummy look up, and he locked eyes with Shen Si, his dark eyes reflecting Shen Si’s figure as he slowly walked over, treading water.

“If you wanted me to be closer to you, I certainly wouldn’t be standing here; I certainly wish I could stay in your eyes forever.” He stood at Jian Nian’s reach, his left hand on Jian Nian’s left shoulder, Shen Si could see his wrist with glass cracks, at that moment, intertwined with the finger marks on Jian Nian’s wrist.

Seemingly aware of Shen Si looking at his shoulder, Jian Nian subconsciously put his hand on it, only to touch his own shoulder. The hands overlapped one after the other; Shen Si took two steps back and frowned slightly with a little subtlety in his eyes.

“He is me, and I am him. If he gets hurt, I get hurt, if I die, then he will also…” ‘Jian Nian’s’ voice was calm as he just stared at Shen Si, saying words that seemed completely unimportant, “Then likewise, he will die.”

“If you die, Jian Nian will also die?”

Jian Nian, who was completely unaware of the situation, froze for a moment, but in the next instant, he understood that Shen Si was talking to his other-self.

“Here, the Survivor’s ability doesn’t matter; it doesn’t even matter what it actually is.” ‘Jian Nian’ put it this way. “What matters is the heart.”

Shen Si looked at him, “Why are you telling this to me? If you don’t say it, many people will die in this playfield because of it, right?”

“Yeah, the nature of my existence is to bring death, but who made me be Jian Nian?” ‘Jian Nian’ laughed, “Just because I am him, you haven’t killed me in the first place, so that I will tell you about it. I can’t help it; I just like you too much.”

… 

Ning Yangze had probably smashed seven or eight dummies, but those dummies continued to appear in front of Ning Yangze with a very generic image. Still, even if at first he’d be confused for a second or two, the next moment, he would immediately recognize that this was a dummy.

Although he knew this was a very common and simple playfield before he came in, he didn’t expect it to be simple.

This looked more like a basic playfield for newbies.

After breaking another He Xin dummy, Ning Yangze shifted his direction and went ahead, and at that moment, he seemed to hear a voice from across the road.

Leaning against the wall and cautiously walking over, Ning Yangze looked across the street, and after about three seconds of looking, he walked out with a sigh of relief.

It was Bai JunYi, not a dummy.

“Mr. Bai?” Ning Yangze walked out, and for the first time in a long time, this was his first encounter with a companion.

But just a moment after walking out, Ning Yangze froze slightly; he stood at the alley entrance, neither leaving nor staying, his eyes kept staring behind Bai JunYi. Just now, because of the wall cover, he couldn’t see, but he realized that there was someone else behind Bai JunYi.

Bai JunYi turned his head to look at Ning Yangze, “It’s Team Leader Ning; how’s your side? Have you found Parasite?”

Ning Yangze gulped and surveyed his head somewhat subtly, “That, Mr. Bai?”

“What?”

“Do you see anything behind you?” Ning Yangze pointed behind him.

Bai JunYi’s hand, which was checking the movement of Parasite, halted, half crouched he stood up from the ground, golden eyes showing a little doubt. He faced Ning Yangze, the rain making his whole body wet, and in the rain, those golden eyes seemed to be washed colder and colder.

And just behind Bai JunYi, a man just like him was standing, those golden eyes also gazing at Ning Yangze, the curtain of rain hazing his silhouette.

“I must find Parasite.” Ning Yangze heard ‘Bai JunYi’ speak. “One way or another, I have to settle it here because this is the last chance, right?”

Bai JunYi could obviously see that Ning Yangze looked at something behind him, so he turned his head, but all he saw was a curtain of rain and empty space; yes, there was no one. It was impossible for Bai JunYi not to notice if someone was there, but Ning Yangze’s expression didn’t look like he was faking either.

“Get out of the way, Mr. Bai!”

Ning Yangze rushed forward, and as he pushed Bai JunYi away, the sword in his hand stabbed straight through.

Crack, the sword blade stopped in front of ‘Bai JunYi,’ Ning Yangze could feel the tip of the sword piercing his clothes, and it wasn’t flesh inside, but something hard like glass.

It was a dummy, all right.

But… 

Ning Yangze took the sword back in his hand, and he looked at the motionless dummy in front of him almost blankly. Bai JunYi, who didn’t understand the situation at all, stood in the rain and looked around but still couldn’t see anything.

“Why don’t you duck?” Ning Yangze’s voice snapped strangely, “You are a dummy, right? What are you planning to do if you don’t dodge or attack?”

‘Bai JunYi’ opened his hands, those golden eyes with a brilliant glow, and smiled as if he was the sun on a sunny day, carrying a warm and comforting aura.

“I must find Parasite, no matter what, as long as I can find him and then kill him here; that is my purpose. And the pillar of my perseverance to this point.”