Naoto Ikeda was pressed on the table, and a knife went in.
He struggled symbolically a few times at first, but his body, ruined by irregular life and alcohol, was powerless to resist the three strong thugs.
After struggling a few times, he gave up.
If life deceives you, lie down and take it.
At the moment of giving up, Naoto Ikeda felt a sense of relief.
To be honest, he didn't understand why Shigeru Ikeda had to stand up again and again just now, even if he stood up, nothing would change.
Obviously the result has already been predetermined.
What a stupid, stupid son.
If I had known, as a father, I should teach him a truth: it is easier to choose to give up, and if you want to live a relaxed life, you have to give up frequently.
You see, once you give up, even death becomes less scary.
It's a good thing to give up.
Naoto Ikeda, who gave up, began to hallucinate.
He saw a Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva holding a Zen staff and wearing a red scarf around his neck.
—Are you here to extradite me to a blissful life? How is it possible, a person like me...
The light behind Jizo became stronger and stronger, gradually engulfing Jizo's figure, leaving only the red scarf and the ringing bells from the shaking of the Zen staff still clear.
The red scarf also disappeared in the light, only the regular sound of the Zen stick, and then the light and shadow turned into scenes of fast-tracking scenes.
This is probably the legendary revolving lantern.
All the pictures seem to be repeating an endless closed loop: self-indulgence—venting—reflection and regret—and then self-indulgence again.
Naoto Ikeda looked at the repeated images, and intuitively and deeply felt how hopeless his life was.
Yes, he is such a person, he was in the past, he is in the present, and if there is a future, he will probably be in the future.
The rotation of the screen is getting faster and faster, probably the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva who caused this phenomenon can't stand this meaningless repetitive life.
Like mud, a life without any value.
Suddenly, the rotation slows down to the speed of standard 24-frame film.
Seeing his young self, Naoto Ikeda was reprimanded by the workshop director: "What did you do! Waste! How many times did you make a mistake today? The progress of the entire workshop has been slowed down by you! You will cause everyone to lose their bonuses !"
Naoto Ikeda suddenly remembered this scene, it was in...
The young Ikeda Naoto in the picture said: "My son made a lot of noise last night and didn't sleep well..."
"Shut up!" The workshop director yelled, "You are not the first one in this workshop to marry a wife and have children! No one else is like you! So, the post-war generation just can't do it. The bombing of the factory still completed the production target of the factory!
"Is your son more terrifying than B29?"
Ikeda Naoto watched this scene silently, and he remembered that his life did not seem to be a worthless reincarnation.
He too had been young in an age so long past that he had forgotten.
It was the child, the scourge that changed everything.
The revolving door continued, and Naoto Ikeda watched himself being scolded in class every day, and went all out to the supermarket to buy discounted half-price bento after get off work. In order to save his son’s milk powder money, the couple’s dinner was half-price bento.
He saw his son crying like an air defense siren in the middle of the night, and he had to get up with his tired body to help his wife change diapers together.
He saw that in order to subsidize the family, even his wife had to take over the job of pasting packing boxes at home. The originally small and warm home began to be filled with materials and tools for his wife's work.
He saw that the smiles of himself and his wife were gradually replaced by sad ones.
— Ah, sure enough, it would be nice not to be promoted to Ah Mao.
As expected, my life has become a mess since the birth of A Mao.
If there is no Amao, then I should be living happily now.
The revolving door changed again, and he saw his younger self riding a bicycle on a sunny day with his wife in a sun hat on the back seat.
She is more beautiful than a rose.
Life hadn't destroyed her skin, callused her beautiful hands, scarred her beautiful nails with paste from cardboard boxes.
She hugged Naoto Ikeda's waist and smiled happily.
Although the two of them are too poor to even go to the cinema, even if it is just like this, they can feel the joy of life while riding a bicycle in the fields.
Yes, this is the way life is, and this is the way life should be.
Looking at the shining days spent with his wife, Naoto Ikeda wanted to cry but found that he no longer had the ability to cry.
A dying man neither speaks nor weeps.
He can only quietly wait for the end of life.
It doesn't matter, soon the bastard who ruined his life will also be sent by those three gangsters.
He also did a lot of bad things, so he couldn't go to the Pure Land of Ultimate Bliss.
When the time comes, father and son will go to hell together.
Just as Naoto Ikeda was thinking, the revolving lantern froze on a new picture again.
It was the delivery room of the hospital. The still beautiful wife was half sitting on the bed. Although she was extremely weak, she still smiled and looked at the child in her arms.
He saw his young self, squatting beside his wife's bed, holding the baby's little hand with great joy.
"He looked at me! He grabbed my hand!" Naoto Ikeda shouted happily, "My son's hands are really strong! He will definitely grow up healthily in the future. I have decided that his name will be Mao, and he will grow up It must be as luxuriant as a big tree, and as vigorous as a dense weed.”
His wife smiled, and gently stroked Naoto Ikeda's hair.
Naoto Ikeda was confused, he couldn't tell which was memory and which was reality.
Is this... is it me
Shouldn't I...
The revolving door came to an end, and the figure of his wife appeared in the light of constantly sending images.
That was not the young and beautiful wife in memory, but the yellow-faced woman whose skin was robbed of luster by reality and whose nails could no longer be painted beautifully.
She looked at Naoto Ikeda and opened her mouth slightly.
She didn't make a sound, but Naoto Ikeda heard it.
"The last is the last, do you still want to continue to escape?"
The last is the last, do you still choose to surrender
The last is the last, you still don't want to admit, are you a father
Ikeda Naoto suddenly remembered the way Ikeda Shigeru stood up again and again.
The vitality is like a lush weed.
Naoto Ikeda suddenly remembered the feeling that flowed through his heart the moment he saw Amao coming.
Anyway, it's the last.
Let this slushy, worthless life do its last bit of work.
Naoto Ikeda bit his tongue, and the salty smell of blood filled his mouth all of a sudden, and at the same time, the severe pain made his sinking brain briefly excited.
All illusions fade in an instant.
The glare of the lights from reality made Naoto Ikeda completely unable to see who was who in front of him.
He roared angrily, and with the last of his strength, he pulled out the scissors tied to his body to fix the turned-up skin, and stabbed towards the nearest figure.
He heard screams, but couldn't tell whose screams it was.
He grabbed another figure's arm and bit it down.
He couldn't tell whether the blood in his mouth came from a wound on his tongue or from the enemy.
At this time, his vision recovered a little bit, and he miraculously saw Amao who was still lying on the ground.
Without saying a word, he pulled out something from the wound on his stomach and threw it over, trying to wake his son up.
"Amao! Get up!" he yelled, "Run away!"
While shouting, he turned around and rushed towards the third gangster that should exist in his memory—only by dragging all three of them can he give Amao a chance to escape.
He didn't know that at this moment, he looked like some kind of supernatural creature, like a zombie who ran out of Romero's movie.
Even well-trained enemies can't help but panic when they see this shocking scene.
Therefore, the enemy drew his gun, and in a hurry, he took a high-power pistol without a muffler.
The first shot missed and hit Naoto Ikeda in the upper abdomen.
Ikeda Naoto was completely unaffected and continued to rush towards the last unhurt enemy.
"Amao! Run!"
The gunman fired three consecutive pistols, and the last one finally hit Naoto Ikeda in the head.
When the bullet passed through the back of the head, it took away a large piece of the skull, and the brain matter was sprayed out.
Naoto Ikeda stopped his activities and slowly fell to the ground, but his mouth was still wriggling, wanting to make a final sound.
Still turning his neck, he turned his face to his son—
The shooter cursed, reloading the gun again until the clip was empty.
"Fuck! What the hell?" He looked at Naoto Ikeda who finally didn't move, panting heavily, "What the hell is this? It's crazy!"
No one answered.
Because no one knows.
At this moment, Shigeru Ikeda, the only one who knew what it was, stood up unsteadily.
Shan Mingmin, Zheng Taixian, and Fang Zhixi all looked at Ikeda Mao and kept on guard, for fear that he would suddenly become that thing just now.
Shan Mingmin slowly reached out to the rifle placed on the table next to him.
Ikeda Shigeru looked at the fallen man, then turned around and rushed to the nearest window, breaking through the window.
His actions were so agile that he didn't look like he was seriously injured.