Chapter 133: Night Talk

"Of course,"

Old Master Liu laughed happily.

"Nothing happened today, after all!"

He looked at Tiger.

"Isn't that right, Huzi?"

"Indeed, indeed."

Tiger nodded repeatedly.

Everyone laughed, Yan Jing included.

Aside from Yan Jing, everyone else thought he was telling them to keep the secret.

Only Yan Jing knew his true intention: to let the rest of them feign ignorance and wash their hands of the incident.

"Where did those last few Second Tier experts go?"

Yan Jing asked.

"Once I realized they weren't the ones we were looking for, I fell back. Those two from Dandelion Manor probably escorted the real Yu Xiran away,"

Chen Nian said slowly.

The Old Man chimed in, "That guy from Sleepland came after me. Tried to drag this old man into a dream. But... heh, am I just anybody? I shattered his dreamscape right then and there. He coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood and made a run for it."

"I couldn't tell you were skilled in the mental domain, Old Man."

Yan Jing smiled.

"Heh, but of course! Back in the day, I was studying poetry at three and had memorized the classics by eight. I was all about well-rounded development..."

The Old Man had started bragging again.

But Yan Jing noticed the strange expressions on the others' faces.

Sensing something was wrong, he walked over. Before the Old Man could react, a tendril of weird energy shot out, flicking his sunglasses right off.

"Fuck, my sunglasses!" the Old Man yelled. But his first reaction wasn't to search for them; he immediately covered his eyes.

Even though Old Master Liu moved incredibly fast, Yan Jing still saw.

Those two eyes, one black and one white, had completely turned the color of blood and were caked in thick scabs.

At this moment, the Old Man was likely completely blind.

His hearing had probably been affected, too.

Otherwise, with his reflexes, his sunglasses would never have been flicked off so easily.

"Ah, it's nothing serious!"

Seeing the silence around him, the Old Man chuckled and took the sunglasses Tiger handed over.

"It was an ultimate move. Don't you guys know about ultimate moves? They're in comics all the time. Using one comes with a price."

"Isn't that right, Nizi?"

"Y-yes... Mantou... also has... an ultimate move."

Mantou nodded, trying to suppress the tremble in her voice.

Her eyes had already turned red the moment she saw Grandfather Liu in this state.

"Will you recover?"

Yan Jing asked only this.

After learning the Old Man just needed a week of rest, he nodded.

"Then we'll head home first."

And so, the group hurried back to Rotten Vegetable Village through the night.

At the Old Man's suggestion, they went to Chen Nian's house and even called over An Ze, who had already gone to bed. They hung out until midnight before finally dispersing.

As Yan Jing was leading Mantou home, she suddenly stopped him.

"Yi... Ji... to-tomorrow... you're going to the Amusement Park with Mr. Tiger... can... can Mantou go too?"

Mantou gave a silly smile.

"I... I kind of... want to go... with you."

Yan Jing patted her head and smiled.

"I'm sorry, Mantou. Not this time."

He wanted to take her along, but it just wasn't possible.

He was going to see if he could find any clues regarding Mr. San. If Mantou tagged along, she would only be dragged deeper into a vortex she could otherwise stay out of.

He was glad she had taken the initiative to ask. It proved the little bit of memory he had altered was working.

"O-okay... then, Yi Ji... you... be careful..."

Mantou pursed her lips, a small smile on her face.

"Mantou... will wait for you... to come back... at the village en... entrance..."

"Okay."

Yan Jing smiled and nodded.

"Yi Ji... I... have one more thing... I want to tell you..."

Mantou stared at the moonlight by her feet. For some unknown reason, she had finally mustered up the courage.

She remembered never daring to tell him this before, but today... something seemed to have changed.

She didn't quite understand it. She was too clumsy. But she truly wanted to tell Yan Jing her most important secret today.

"Go ahead,"

Yan Jing said gently.

"Yi Ji... actually... actually, Mantou... can only... live for two more years... oh wait... no, no..."

Mantou grew flustered. She hadn't expected to misspeak about something so important, and she quickly waved her hands.

"I-it's a year and a half..."

She gave a silly giggle.

"Mantou... Mantou has a sickness... that means... I can only live this long..."

"Yi Ji... Mantou... Mantou... is so happy to... to have met you..."

"Yi Ji... meeting... meeting you... is the happiest... thing for Mantou..."

"I... I just wanted to... to tell Yi Ji... this."

Mantou let out a long sigh of relief.

She had practiced this speech privately for a long time. Though she was still a bit nervous, she had finally gotten it out.

She hadn't expected Yan Jing to lower his eyes. His gaze flickered uncertainly in the dim moonlight, and his voice was deeper than ever before.

"What kind of sickness?"

"I... I don't know... even... even the doctors don't know... what sickness it is..."

Seeing Yan Jing like this, Mantou thought he was angry. She said in a panic, "I-I'm sorry... Yi Ji... I... I shouldn't have told you this..."

Just as she finished speaking, Yan Jing raised his head with a sudden smile.

"It's okay, Mantou. Tell me all about it."

With that, he took her hand and led her into his house.

"Maybe it isn't a sickness."

They sat on the bed. Yan Jing spoke to her in an encouraging tone, wanting to know what was going on.

Unexpectedly, Mantou's very first sentence left him stunned.

"Yi Ji... inside Mantou's... inside Mantou's body... there's... there's a bird..."

She looked up at him, as if worried he wouldn't believe her.

"I-it's true... Mantou... Mantou wouldn't lie to Yi Ji..."

"Yeah, I know."

Yan Jing recovered his wits and patted her head.

"And then?"

"That little bird... is very... very amazing... but... but Mantou... Mantou... isn't amazing..."

Mantou looked up with a smile.

"So... so... after that bird dug into Mantou's... body... it said... it said Mantou... could only live for five more years at most..."

"And now... it's already been three... over three years..."

Mantou continued to look at Yan Jing as she spoke, stars and moons seemingly twinkling in her beautiful eyes.

She smiled faintly.

"Yi Ji... I... I'm so happy... that I was able to meet you again... in these final... final five years..."

"You gave Mantou a name... took Mantou to eat ice cream... rode the Ferris wheel... went to very, very tall buildings... and met so, so many good friends..."

"Before meeting you... Mantou... was Garbage Lady... now, Mantou... is... is Mantou..."

"Yi Ji... after Mantou dies... will you... will you remember Mantou?"

"When that time comes... everyone will forget about Mantou... Yi Ji... can... can you remember Mantou?"

As she spoke, she reached out with trembling hands and hugged him.

Moonlight spilled into the room through the window.

On the edge of the bed, the two gently embraced.

"Yeah."

"I will."

"Everything will be okay."