Chapter 49 Watching Him Die

"Lu Yuan, you have no parents. Even if you did, they wouldn't want to take you back."

These words were cruel.

Yet they were also the truth.

Lu Yuan had lived in the real world for over twenty years. He had once tried to trace his origins, even searching everywhere for any news of his parents, but to no avail.

Perhaps his parents had forgotten about this child long ago and started a new life.

If he blindly kept searching, he would only be intruding upon them.

Hearing this, the young Lu Yuan's eyes turned red, and he looked as though he was about to burst into tears.

This time, Lu Yuan did not stop him.

A child has the right to cry; it was only adults who lacked that privilege.

Besides, this was his younger self.

There was no harm in crying a little.

Just when Lu Yuan thought his younger self was going to break down and wail, the child actually forced back the redness in his eyes and managed an ugly smile: "Thank you, mister. I've known that for a long time."

Lu Yuan had underestimated the resilience of his younger self.

Or perhaps, even back then, he was smart enough to recognize a lie, yet he had chosen to force himself to believe it, giving himself a slender thread of hope.

Lu Yuan did not know what to say.

His younger self also fell into a daze.

The two of them sat side by side.

After an unknown amount of time, a familiar voice came from beside him: "Mister, I want to go outside for a walk."

Lu Yuan turned his head to look. This was the dream-terror world, filled with all kinds of dangers on the outside; naturally, he did not want his younger self to go out.

Seeming to sense Lu Yuan's thoughts, the younger version of himself stood up on his own: "It's so boring staying here. I don't want to stay here anymore."

Lu Yuan was silent for a long time.

"Go out for a walk, then."

"Children should be out playing."

Lu Yuan agreed.

Suddenly, Lu Yuan felt that reclaiming his body was no longer all that important. He just wanted to make his younger self happy.

Nothing was more important than happiness.

Especially for a child.

His younger self walked toward the door of the psychological clinic. The moment he opened it, the dark world outside was profound and devoid of light.

His younger self looked back at Lu Yuan: "Mister, actually, you are me, aren't you? I have grown up."

Lu Yuan gripped the fruit knife in his hand tightly.

"Mister, is the grown-up me happy?"

His younger self asked out of curiosity.

Lu Yuan gave a bitter smile.

Seeing this, his younger self understood everything: "So growing up isn't happy at all."

With that, his younger self stepped out the door of the psychological clinic, while Lu Yuan's own physical body did not follow him out.

Faintly, a thin, frail phantom detached itself from Lu Yuan's body. From its silhouette, it looked exactly like the young Lu Yuan.

The frail phantom walked into the darkness and vanished from sight.

Thud!

A muffled sound echoed.

Lu Yuan's body lost control and collapsed onto the ground.

Lu Yuan looked at everything before him, remaining motionless for a long time, lost in thought.

It wasn't until the quartz clock on the wall chimed for seven o'clock in the morning that Lu Yuan's dazed mind gradually returned to him.

His younger self had left.

Lu Yuan did not open his mouth to ask him to stay.

He had left this body behind.

Lu Yuan looked at his own body lying on the floor. So the way to reclaim one's body was this cruel—it meant killing one's younger self with one's own hands.

Now Lu Yuan knew how to take back his body.

The door of the psychological clinic was the key.

Lu Yuan got up, walked to the doorway, and mimicking what his younger self had just done, stepped outside.

In an instant, Lu Yuan detached himself from An Shi's body.

At this moment, Lu Yuan was like a soul standing outside the door of the psychological clinic, looking back at the two bodies lying on the ground.

One was his own, and the other was An Shi's.

"So that's how it is."

Understanding dawned in Lu Yuan's heart.

Lu Yuan glanced at the time, then walked back into the psychological clinic and slowly lay back down into his own body.

A moment later, the Lu Yuan lying on the floor opened his eyes once more. This time, he was using his own body.

The feeling of regaining one's body was wonderful.

Lu Yuan adjusted to his body, then lowered his gaze to look at An Shi's body on the floor.

"What should I do with this body?"

A glint flashed in Lu Yuan's eyes.

Right now, An Shi's body had become an empty shell.

Without much hesitation, Lu Yuan dragged An Shi's body directly into the bathroom and locked the bathroom door from the outside.

Having finished everything, Lu Yuan lay down on the sofa and fell into a deep sleep.

...

Eight o'clock in the morning.

Lu Yuan woke up inside the psychological clinic.

It was a sunny day.

Sunlight streamed in through the windows.

"I've returned to the real world."

Lu Yuan stretched his limbs, feeling the warmth the sunlight brought to his body. Suddenly, he felt a strong urge to go back and take a look at the orphanage from his childhood.

After a simple wash, Lu Yuan put on his jacket and walked in the direction of the orphanage.

An hour later, Lu Yuan stood at the grand gates of the orphanage, staring blankly in silence.

The orphanage had long since been abandoned.

The gates and walls were overgrown with vines and wild weeds, obscuring their original appearance.

Clearly it was a sunny day, but the sunlight was distorted and swallowed by these aggressively growing weeds, unable to shine inside. Looking through the gaps in the iron gate, it appeared desolate and eerie.

A small, thin figure abruptly appeared.

It was the young Lu Yuan.

One large and one small, the two of them stared at each other across the iron gate.

Then, the young Lu Yuan flashed a brilliant smile, turned, and ran into the depths of the orphanage, quickly disappearing from Lu Yuan's sight.

Lu Yuan stood rooted to the spot for a long time, until his feet began to feel numb, before he wrapped his coat tighter around himself, stamped his feet, and turned to leave.

Hanging on the gate of the orphanage was an iron plaque bearing the long-abandoned name of the institution: Hope Orphanage.

Buffeted by the cold wind, it creaked and swayed incessantly.

After leaving, Lu Yuan did not return to the psychological clinic, but instead went for a trip to the amusement park of his childhood.

The amusement park had not been abandoned; after over a dozen years of development, its scale had actually grown larger and larger.

Lu Yuan bought an ice cream and sat on a bench beneath the Ferris wheel, enjoying a wonderful moment of solitude.

He was all grown up now.

If he wanted to visit the amusement park again, he no longer needed an adult to accompany him.

As he sat there, Lu Yuan felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him.

Suddenly, a loud crash echoed.

Lu Yuan frowned slightly.

He opened his drowsy eyes, trying to look toward the source of the sound. People were running past him in a flurry, their chattering noises drowning out the mechanical hum of the amusement park rides.

"Someone jumped off the Ferris wheel!"

"Quick, somebody help! Someone's dying!"

...

Shrieks reached Lu Yuan's ears one after another.

Lu Yuan's drowsiness vanished completely. Driven by the instinct to rubberneck, he squeezed into the crowded throng of people, wanting to catch a glimpse.

But just one look was enough to freeze his expression.

The person who had fallen from the Ferris wheel was none other than Zhuang Dong.

Having fallen from a Ferris wheel dozens of meters high, Zhuang Dong's body was practically smashed to pieces, yet his face remained remarkably intact.

A chill crept up into Lu Yuan's heart.

Zhuang Dong was dead.

And he had died right before his eyes.