95
After the war, everyone's excitement reached its peak because they had accomplished the impossible and saw a day that they thought would never come.
Ning Gu originally wanted to go to the old shopping mall to check out the nails, but when he heard that many people were searching all over the city for a savior who would lead them to "find an exit" and gain a new life, he hid in the Lost Valley and didn't dare to go over.
"Let's do it later," Ning Gu sighed, "It feels too scary."
"I can drive you there via A01," Lian Chuan said, "through a less crowded area, in mid-air."
"No, Lei Yu just said that we are short of energy now and we need to protect the life and reconstruction of the main city," Ning Gu said, "don't waste it casually."
"Sending the savior to see a friend," Lian Chuan said, "how can it be called a waste."
Ning Gu raised his head and looked at him: "Did you do this on purpose?"
Lian Chuan smiled and squatted beside him: "Then let's go later. The daylight will be turned off in two hours. Everyone is almost settled. They will definitely go to bed early today. They are all tired."
"Hmm." Ning Gu held his chin and looked towards the main city. "What do you think will happen to the main city next? There will be a lot of things to do. Cleaning up the city is just the first step."
"That's the business of Consul General Su and Chen Fei," Lian Chuan said, "They know the main city very well and know how to restore it and how to maintain it."
"Will it be the same as before?" Ning Gu said, "All kinds of experiments, all kinds of... After all, there is only one Betelgeuse. Will they continue to want to create a second or third one?"
"Who knows," Lian Chuan said, "People are always greedy. Chen Fei and President Su's generation may have seen more, and their ideas and choices will change. What about the next generation? One day, what we have experienced will become a vague memory. What will people think then? Who knows?"
A few little bats came back hopping: "Come and watch the fun!"
"What's the fuss?" A group of travelers who were helping to clean up the Lost Valley immediately became interested.
Travelers are probably the most energetic perpetual motion machines in the world, always curious about everything at all times.
"The light thorn needs to be relit," said the little bat, "to symbolize rebirth. I said that in a few days, this destructive battle will be engraved on the light thorn, along with the names of the heroes."
A group of travelers and bats went towards the light thorns.
While everyone went to Guangci to watch the fun, Ning Gu and Lian Chuan entered the main city and went to the old shopping mall.
There are still many places on the road that have not been cleaned up. A large amount of black iron cannot be cleaned up by manpower. The main city now has limited machinery that can be repaired. Just the cleaning task will not be completed in a few days.
But it doesn't matter, there is time now.
A very long time.
The travelers' base in Area C has been almost tidied up, including several shopping malls above and below ground, as well as vacant shops in the old commercial district. Many half-collapsed houses have been simply repaired and people have moved in.
For travelers, such houses are much more comfortable than their homes in ghost towns, and they don't have to worry about being blown away by the wind.
"I'm going to find one too," Ning Gu said excitedly, walking into a room at random and taking a look, "This one is big."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan followed him in, "It looks bigger because it collapsed."
"It's much bigger than the little house I lived in in the ghost town." Ning Gu walked around the house. Everything in the house had been looted by the refugees in the chaos. Not even a chair leg was left.
"You can stay in my dormitory." Lian Chuan said.
"You're not coming with me?" Ning Gu turned and looked at him. "You want to go back to the dormitory? You're not a member of the cleanup team anymore. You're just a former hyena who was banished to a ghost town. Can you still go back to the cleanup team dormitory?"
Lian Chuan waited in silence for him to finish speaking, and then spoke after another two seconds: "I mean temporarily, you can live with me in the cleaning team dormitory, the facilities there are still there."
"Oh." Ning Gu came back to his senses, "Why is it temporary?"
"You want to go to the end of the world, don't you?" Lian Chuan said, "But it's okay if you change your mind."
"I have to go," Ning Gu walked out of the small house and headed towards the old shopping mall, "I... probably won't be used to staying in the main city."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan followed him.
There were still some travelers in the old shopping mall who had not gone to Guangci to join in the fun and were counting their supplies.
When she saw Ning Gu coming in, Sister Qi screamed, "Ning Gu—"
Screeching sounds suddenly rang out all around, and Ning Gu suddenly felt like he was back in a ghost town.
Sister Qi rushed out from the crowd of travelers who had gathered around him, hugged him, and patted him on the face: "Let me see, let me see, you're still the same, you haven't changed at all!"
"Be gentle." Ning Gu covered his face, "Where's Dingzi? I want to see him."
"In the room upstairs," Sister Qi patted his face happily, and then patted his shoulders and arms several times. "I just finished cleaning and moved him upstairs first."
Just as Ning Gu was about to walk towards the stairs, Sister Qi stretched out her hand in front of Lian Chuan again: "Little Trumpet."
Lian Chuan wanted to hide, but after hesitating for a moment he finally held on and didn't hide.
Fortunately, Sister Qi still had some concerns about the main city's number one hyena, Little Trumpet, and was not as familiar with Ning Gu as she was. She just patted him on the arm twice and said, "Thank you for your hard work. Have a good rest these two days."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan responded.
Amid the travelers' wild cheers and screams, Ning Gu and Lian Chuan quickly ran up the stairs to the second floor.
The second floor was relatively quiet. Only some lightly injured travelers were resting, as well as Uncle Eight and several travelers with healing abilities.
"Come here," As soon as the old uncle saw Ning Gu, he knew what he was here for and waved at him, "The nail is here."
In a cleaned up hut, there were several layers of mats on the floor and nails lying quietly.
Ning Gu squatted next to him, reached out and touched Dingzi's forehead, pushed his hair aside, and flicked it with his fingers: "Dingzi, long time no see, did you miss me?"
"If he wakes up, he will probably cry when he sees you," said Uncle Eight.
Ning Gu didn't say anything, but light from his fingertips shone and slowly wrapped around the nail.
"Will it work?" he whispered. "E's ability has been withdrawn. Why hasn't he woken up?"
"From the day the puppets were created," said Old Uncle Eight, standing behind him, "they never thought about waking up. They were to fight to the death."
"Like e." Ning Gu said.
"Well," Old Uncle Eight sighed, "Jiu Yi might have a way, and Lost Valley might be able to influence him."
If it wasn't inconvenient now and Jiuyi was also injured, Ning Gu would have probably carried the nail to the Lost Valley.
After wrapping the nail into a golden human-shaped ball, he left the old shopping mall with Lianchuan.
When I walked out onto the street, the light went out.
It was quiet all around.
Then the light spikes lit up again, and Lian Chuan heard cheers coming from afar.
Although he was far away and could only hear roughly what was happening, he could still hear the hysteria in the cheers.
Crying hysterically, laughing hysterically, shouting and screaming hysterically, all the survivors were releasing their hysterical joy at this moment.
Dead family members, companions I will never see again, and all those who died in the flames.
At this moment, all the sadness was released hysterically.
Ning Gu felt a little empty. He had been on edge all this time, worried every minute and every second that he would lose everything he wanted to keep, worried that he would never see Lian Chuan again... He turned his head and glanced at Lian Chuan.
Now everything suddenly ended, and he suddenly felt a little dazed.
"Where are you going?" Lian Chuan asked him.
"I don't know," Ning Gu said, "Do you know where I can find paper and a pen?"
Lian Chuan looked at him without saying anything.
"What's wrong?" Ning Gu asked.
"Do you want to paint?" Lian Chuan asked.
"I don't know either," Ning Gu said, "Anyway, I have a lot of time now, and I want to keep something."
"Paper won't last long; it deteriorates too easily," Lian Chuan said.
"Then I want to write down my story," Ning Gu said, "What should I do?"
"Come to my dormitory," Lian Chuan said. "There are recording devices. You can write or draw whatever you want. It can be saved in the system."
"What if it doesn't exist in the system?" Ning Gu asked, "I don't trust the system."
"It's engraved in the Lost Valley." Lian Chuan said.
Jiuyi's wings had been removed and disassembled into small pieces of raw materials. He was using his fingertips to draw the design of new wings in the air.
"What's the point of drawing this air?" Ning Gu looked at the fleeting cold light that was dragging a short tail in the air.
"What it means is that you two should go away and stop bothering me." Jiu Yi said.
"We've already agreed on the nail. I'll bring him here after Lost Valley restores order," Ning Gu said. "You think of a solution."
"There's no need to wait for order to be restored. There is no order in the Lost Valley," Jiu Yi said. "The only thing in the Lost Valley is my tyranny."
"Then wait until you start to be tyrannical and then think of a solution," Lian Chuan said.
"I have never stopped being tyrannical!" Jiu Yi roared, "I have always been very violent!"
"Now then." Lian Chuan said.
"Why are you as annoying as Ning Gu?" Jiuyi said, "You couldn't even burp before."
"It's settled." Lian Chuan said.
"Let the traveler bring him here and put him in the chanting cave. Maybe he can be useful, but I'm not sure." Jiuyi squatted back on his black iron stool. "Tell me, what else is there?"
"I want to leave some information in Lost Valley." Ning Gu said.
"What message?" Jiu Yi said, "To pee? It's forbidden to urinate or defecate anywhere in Lost Valley."
"Is there any place in Lost Valley where things can be preserved forever?" Ning Gu asked.
"What to save?" Jiu Yi asked.
"Urine and feces." Ning Gu said.
"Do you want to taste tyranny?" Jiu Yi roared.
"... I'll wait for you outside." Lian Chuan turned and walked out.
The boss has been hiding near the Lost Valley recently. When Lian Chuan walked out of the cave, he saw it taking a nap in a small cave.
"Boss." Lian Chuan walked in and squatted next to it.
The eldest opened his eyes and stretched out his tail to wrap around his ankles.
"I'm going to be away for a while in a few days," Lian Chuan said, "I don't know how long."
The eldest sat up and sniffed his hand.
"Ning Gu wants to go out and take a look," Lian Chuan said, "I'll go with him... Maybe there's nothing interesting in this world, just a main city, but I still want to take a look."
The eldest brother snorted.
"Don't worry," Lian Chuan said, "I still have the claw you gave me. It's a talisman."
The eldest shook his ears.
Lian Chuan hesitated for a moment, reached out and pinched the tip of its ear, then stroked the hair on the tip of its ear.
The boss looked at him.
"Ning Gu asked me if I had ever touched the little tuft on the boss's ear," Lian Chuan said. "I really don't remember whether I had touched it or not, and I didn't expect him to ask me this."
The eldest lay back on the ground, yawning and pushing his paw against his leg.
"I'm not saying goodbye to you," Lian Chuan said, "I'm just saying something."
"Lianchuan!" Ning Gu's voice came from outside.
The boss let out a series of breath sounds from his nose.
"Here." Lian Chuan stood up and walked out of the cave.
"I thought you..." Ning Gu was obviously relieved when he saw him, "Jiu Yi asked us to go to the coffin. He said that it was not in our world, nor in our time."
"Yeah," Lian Chuan nodded, "I think that's the only place."
When walking towards the fat 8-shaped cave, Ning Gu reached out and grabbed Lian Chuan's hand.
"It can't be lost." Lian Chuan said.
"What do you care about me?" Ning Gu glanced at him.
"Have you decided what you want to draw and write?" Lian Chuan asked.
"No," Ning Gu said, "I'll think about it when we get there."
"How do you draw and write?" Lian Chuan asked again.
"I don't know!" Ning Gu shouted.
"Don't learn from Jiuyi." Lianchuan said.
"You draw and write," Ning Gu said, "just follow what I say."
"Yeah." Lian Chuan smiled.
This cave hidden deep in the Lost Valley has experienced such a great battle, but it remains the same without any change.
It is still the same opening, the dark void with no end in sight, and the blue sky and white clouds can still be seen.
Ning Gu looked up for a while and raised his hand.
A small golden ball of light appeared from the fingertips, flew out of the opening, floated into the darkness, and then hovered in the air, motionless as if frozen.
At this moment, it seemed as if this small ball of light was pulled out of their world and became a huge distance away.
Ning Gu stared at the ball of light for a long time before turning back: "You can't help me write?"
"Sure," Lian Chuan raised his hand and grabbed his hand, "Tell me, what do you want to write?"
"Hello, my name is Ning Gu." The golden light from Ning Gu's fingertips was like a stream flowing in the sun. As Lian Chuan held his hand and moved it slowly, he wrote the words, "The person next to me is Lian Chuan."
I don’t know why I write these things, and I don’t know who will see these things in the future or in the past. I just want to remember them.
We kept our own world and we did not destroy it.
I don’t know how it all started, and I don’t know if it will ever end, but we are still here.
Some people fight, some people die, but we are still here. We can cry, laugh, feel sad, be afraid, be happy, and be upset. No matter what happens, we are still here.
We will always be here.
"Draw me." Ning Gu looked at the rows of golden words in the darkness.
Lian Chuan's hands did not move.
"Quick," Ning Gu said, "draw me."
"Do you think I know everything?" Lian Chuan said.
"You can't draw?" Ning Gu glanced at him, "Then what gave you the confidence to laugh at the city logo I drew when you were in the ghost town?"
"Just because I can't draw doesn't mean I can't laugh at you," Lian Chuan said.
"What should I do then?" Ning Gu raised his hand, "I want to draw our faces below."
"… If you don't mind," Lian Chuan said, "I'll try."
"I don't mind." Ning Gu said, "I won't laugh at you."
Lian Chuan held his hand and drew a circle under the words that were shining with golden light in the dark.
"What is this?" Ning Gu asked.
"Your head." Lian Chuan said, and then he took his hand and drew a vertical line under the circle, "Your body."
Ning Gu was silent.
Then Lian Chuan drew four small lines on each side of the vertical line.
"My arms and legs." Ning Gu said.
"Yes." Lian Chuan said, and then took his hand and drew an identical one next to it, "This is me."
"Can I take it back?" Ning Gu said.
"Take back what?" Lian Chuan asked.
"I'm not laughing at what you said." Ning Gu said.
"No, it's too late." Lian Chuan said.
"There must be some difference between us, right? Who can tell which is me and which is you?" Ning Gu was speechless.
Lianchuan moved his hand and wrote "Ninggu" and "Lianchuan" under the two "portraits".
"Now we can tell the difference." Lian Chuan said.
"If this thing is seen by some other world, some other savior, some other bug, or some other thing," Ning Gu said, "if they see it, will they think that the people in our world... look... a little..."
"It's enough for us to know it ourselves." Lian Chuan said, "Is there anything else to draw?"
“… I won’t paint anymore,” Ning Gu said, “Do you have anything to write?”
"No." Lian Chuan let go of his hand.
"Wait," Ning Gu pulled his hand over again, "Just write something. I don't want to be the only one speaking here."
"Okay." Lian Chuan thought about it, grabbed his hand, and wrote another sentence under the lines of words.
The world is not over yet.