Chapter 32: Go Take a Look for Me at That Other World’s Mountains and Rivers
“Library of Fools?”
Emis paused, her fork of pudding suspended midway to her mouth.
She furrowed her beautiful brows, contemplating carefully, a hint of recollection flickering in her eyes: “It seems… this term sounds somewhat familiar.”
“Ah, I remember.”
After a long while, Emis gently clapped her hands: “I recall that the Guardian Sister once mentioned it.”
“Guardian?”
Rast silently repeated the name, feeling an inexplicable familiarity.
He glanced at the hesitant expression of the golden-haired girl before him and smiled slightly: “I’m fine, Xiao Ai, just speak freely.”
“Some things, some mysteries must ultimately be clarified… even if the final truth isn’t what I desire.”
“Mm.” Emis nodded gently.
She tidied up the remaining cutlery on the table, then pulled back the curtains a short distance away.
Outside the window, a bright moon hung high.
The entire Canaan was enveloped in tranquil night, with the occasional flickering of oil lamps, resembling lonely lighthouses in a vast sea.
“I know that Rast, you have experienced many long years in that world called Deep Blue Harbor, to the point where you have forgotten many things.”
“So… you probably don’t remember the great fire in Canaan ten years ago.”
Emis stood by the window, gazing at the small town in the night, the candlelight on the table illuminating her eyes.
“The time is too distant, and I can’t quite recall the specific reasons… but it was a very large fire, said to be perhaps the greatest disaster in Canaan’s history, almost reducing the entire Canaan to ruins.”
“It was at that time that the Guardian Sister appeared.”
“No one knew her true name, nor her origins, only that she referred to herself as the Guardian.”
“The Guardian Sister saved many people during that fire and helped us rebuild the entire town of Canaan afterward.”
“It’s strange to say, clearly that fire was so devastating, yet within just a few months, Canaan was rebuilt, looking exactly as it did before the fire, almost as if it were the magic spoken of in storybooks.”
Emis narrated in a pleasant voice, her sky-blue eyes suddenly flickering slightly: “Oh, right, Rast, you pushed me out of the fire first, while you were buried under the collapsed building.”
“I was on my knees in the burning ruins, trying to dig out the bricks and rubble, but I was powerless…”
“In the end, it was still the Guardian Sister who saved you from the ruins.”
She seemed to recall something, smiling: “Perhaps it was because of that incident that you held the Guardian Sister in such high regard at the time, even saying something like you wanted to become a Guardian when you grew up.”
“Library of Fools, I remember the Guardian Sister had mentioned it during our casual chat.”
“However, she didn’t stay in Canaan for long; she left as soon as the town was rebuilt.”
Emis paused slightly: “By the way, it seems that since the Guardian Sister left, you began to frequently experience somnolence…”
“Including that dream called Deep Blue Harbor, it should also have started from this time.”
In his mind, the piercing pain intensified.
Crumbling walls, falling floors, hot winds filled with smoke, metal pipes twisted and deformed by the heat… and the sky burned black-red by smoke and fire.
And that woman, who after discovering him still alive in the burning ruins, revealed a heartfelt smile.
In the fragmented memories, her face was already blurry, but Rast still remembered that smile—
Perhaps the most beautiful smile he had ever seen in his life.
Yet, just as before.
When Rast wanted to delve deeper into his memories, the vivid images would suddenly scatter again, then plunge into the Void’s darkness.
“I’m sorry, Xiao Ai. I’ve made you say so much, but I still can’t quite remember.”
“It’s alright, Rast, no need to apologize.”
Emis gently shook her head, gazing out at the flickering lights beyond the window with her sky-blue eyes: “Even if you can’t recall anything, that’s okay.”
“If the past can no longer be traced back…”
“Then all we need to do is create brand new memories together, filling that void with new colors.”
“Alright, let’s not talk about those troublesome things anymore; let’s talk about something happy.”
As if to distract Rast, the golden-haired girl gently clapped her hands.
“According to that Miss Hiltina, the Deep Blue Harbor you were trapped in was actually a historical echo in the Night World that kept looping and restarting?”
“And this time, you successfully cleared the echo of Deep Blue Harbor.”
“Doesn’t that mean, Rast, you have been liberated from Deep Blue Harbor? After that, you can go to the real world where Miss Hiltina is?”
“Mm.”
Rast nodded: “According to Hiltina, that should indeed be the case.”
“However, my entire understanding of that so-called real world is limited to the snippets from Hiltina; I don’t know what kind of place it will truly be.”
“Is that so?”
Emis tilted her head: “If that’s the case, then I hope there is a vast, golden grassland in that world.”
“Uh? Why?” Rast asked.
“Because whether it’s in Canaan or Deep Blue Harbor, you never had the chance to see such scenery… no matter how beautiful the harbor scenery is, seeing it hundreds or thousands of times would get boring for you, right?”
“I also saw it in a travelogue borrowed from Grandpa Mayor; that book mentioned many places in the world that one must visit at least once in a lifetime.”
“Like golden grasslands where the grass is so tall that one can only see cattle and sheep when the wind blows; islands floating in the sky; or water cities where all the buildings are submerged and one must row small boats even to go outside…”
Emis lifted her skirt and twirled around cheerfully: “So, Rast, can you promise me?”
“If there are those sceneries in the other world, please make sure to visit those places.”
“And then, tell me about the mountains and rivers, floating islands, water cities, and golden grasslands of that world…”
Seeing the girl before him with hope in her eyes, Rast gently nodded.
“Mm, I promise you.”
Compared to the brightly lit big cities, the night fell early in the border town.
Not long after nightfall, Rast and Emis said goodnight to each other and returned to their own rooms.
Lying on his bed, Rast stared at the dark sky outside the window.
This time, he didn’t force himself to sleep with mental suggestion; he quietly closed his eyes, waiting for sleepiness to gradually wash over him.
…
When Rast’s consciousness awakened again, a completely different scenery lay before him.
Beside him was a pitch-black phantom door, with waves of ripples continuously undulating in the door surrounded by the night.
As Rast appeared, the phantom door slowly dissipated in the twilight.
Soon after, he heard hurried footsteps and saw figures in uniforms appearing around him, each with a common badge on their collar.
On the badge, twinkling stars were engraved.
(End of this chapter)
