Mist

Chapter 50

There was still about half an hour before the next train to Jiang City.

With the rush to Jiang City interrupted, the two found a secluded place, avoiding those who would appear from time to time to stop them from proceeding with their plans.

The tightly closed heart had quietly opened a small gap, and the past which had gathered dust was revealed.

“April 6th, 1439 Star Era. It was a very ordinary morning. Spring had arrived and rain was plentiful. It had rained from early morning till dawn.” Ji Yushi slowly spoke up, “I didn’t get up too early because my father was always the one who got up the earliest. As he worked, he made breakfast for me as usual. It was a very crudely made egg sandwich paired with a glass of slightly sweet hot milk. The table was outrageously messy, filled with formulas I couldn’t understand at the time. Even after I pushed away those papers and finished my breakfast, he didn’t notice. It was only when I was about to leave that he caught up to me with a raincoat and apologised saying that he would have to work overtime again.”

Those fragmentary details may not be important to the case, but it was Ji Yushi’s final interaction with his father.

Song Qinglan listened quietly without interrupting him.

Ji Yushi continued, “He didn’t go to work after I left that day because he had died at home. He was stabbed in the chest with a knife.”

That simple line brought the scene from seventeen years ago before Song Qinglan’s eyes.

Ji Yushi said, “Based on his time of death, he had died shortly after I left. The police investigated the case and checked all the recordings in the community that day and found a suspect from that.”

Suspect?@@@@

Hearing this, Song Qinglan couldn’t help but ask, “The case wasn’t solved?”

Ji Yushi nodded lightly to confirm this. He was a little dazed, as if he was immersed in his memory.

He then turned his head and said to Song Qinglan, “That morning, the murderer and I passed by each other in the corridor.”

Song Qinglan’s breathing stopped. He suddenly felt his chest tighten, “.........”

In 1439, how old was Ji Yushi?

Probably only eight years old.

Ji Yushi didn’t speak too excitedly or sadly. He just spoke as a matter of factly, “I was too young at the time and didn’t see the murderer’s face. Even after suffering from hyperthymesia and becoming able to recall many things, I could only remember the murderer’s clothes and walking posture that day, not his face. It was because I didn’t see it that day.”

Ji Yushi’s hyperthymesia.

Song Qinglan remembered that Ji Yushi had mentioned that his hyperthymesia wasn’t something he had from birth when they were in the rainforest. It was something he had acquired one day and he suddenly found that he could remember all his experiences and all the details.

Well then, was Ji Yushi’s hyperthymesia because of this?

A childhood trauma. Despite desperately recalling and being able to recall all the details, he was unable to change that fact.

How despairing must that have been?

Unable to imagine how a child could handle something like this, Song Qinglan finally understood why Ji Yushi grew up to become what he is today.

Not having the ability to forget.

It was a very cruel thing for people with great pain.

“Later, I was adopted by my father’s friend, who is my current teacher.” Ji Yushi said, “He is a very excellent psychologist. It could be said that without him, there wouldn’t be the me now.”

Song Qinglan, “That’s the person who called you just now?”

Ji Yushi nodded, “Yes. With the help of my teacher, I joined Tianqiong and became a Recorder.”

Song Qinglan understood.

Only after performing 100 Recorder missions, passing the test of time and becoming a Recorder who can be truly indifferent in the face of history, could Ji Yushi be allowed to return to that day to face his father’s death. The reward he wanted was to remember the murderer’s appearance. Even if it was more than ten years too late, he still wanted justice.

For all his life until now, this had been Ji Yushi’s goal. He was clearly suffering from hyperthymesia, but he would continue to go back to the past again and again, filling his mind with irrelevant scenes, only relying on that small source of hope to endure through the pain.

When a person’s life goal is too heavy, one would become very lonely, as if apart from this goal, there was nothing else in life that mattered.

In the terrible world filled with zombies and black walls, Ji Yushi didn’t give up.

In the crevice of time where everything didn’t make sense, Ji Yushi didn’t give up.

But this time, he almost gave up.

Song Qinglan understood how tempting that call just now must’ve been for Ji Yushi.

At the same time, he seemed to understand what he meant by ‘I don’t have that kind of reality’.

Although Ji Yushi had already returned to his senses, Song Qinglan was certain that he had seriously thought about giving up when he received that phone call, and he must have seriously considered the idea of staying in this reality.

It was because Ji Yushi knew. The reality here was only different starting from fifteen years ago. For Ji Yushi, as long as they could return to 1439 to complete his goal, it didn’t matter to him which reality he was in.

What was it that made Ji Yushi change his mind?

Song Qinglan couldn’t guess, but he was glad.

He tried to keep the atmosphere from becoming too heavy, “Advisor Ji, if I knew you earlier......”

Ji Yushi’s clear eyes looked over at him, “?”

Ji Yushi’s momentarily stunned look was actually a little cute. Song Qinglan for some reason felt his heart soften inside.

In fact, his next line was ‘I could accompany you sooner’, but just as it reached his lips, he felt that it wasn’t appropriate, so Song Qinglan cleared his throat, “If I knew you earlier, I would’ve asked them to transfer you over to the seventh squad earlier. That way, you would be able to complete your task earlier and go back to that day sooner, and not be stuck waiting around here with me. In summary, it was my fault.”

Ji Yushi: “.........”

This form of consolation was too clumsy.

*

The bathroom was clean and tidy, but the space was small. With two full-grown men with long legs inside, it made it even more cramped. This scene was quite familiar. Ji Yushi remembered that there was probably a time when the two of them from Team B separated from the rest of team at Runjin Building in the Ouroboros mission and hid in a small room. He had stepped on Song Qinglan’s foot at that time.

The difference this time was that as soon as the door was closed this time, a cold object clamped onto Ji Yushi’s wrist.

There was a ‘click’.

Ji Yushi looked down. There was an additional handcuff around his wrist. He went through his memories very quickly and the details of the carriages they had passed by came to his mind.

When they passed a certain carriage, they happened to encounter a police officer on duty.

Ji Yushi was shocked, “Cap Song?!”

Song Qinglan had no plan on negotiating with him. He then proceeded to handcuff himself with a ‘click’.

He raised his hand. The shiny handcuff completely bound the two together. His expression was even a little content, “Took it from the police officer just now.”

Ji Yushi was speechless, “I won’t be able to escape that easily anyway.”

Song Qinglan leaned against the washstand. He seemed to be able to finally breathe a sigh of relief now and said lazily, “Who knows? Don’t worry, Advisor Ji. Now you won’t be able to escape no matter what.”

Outside the small bathroom window, the scenery blurred into a haze. In a short time, the suspended train had reached maximum speed.

Suddenly, the carriage slammed to the right and a strong sense of weightlessness struck. The two subconsciously grabbed the objects beside them to stabilise themselves and heard the cries of the other passengers outside.

“What’s going on?!”

“I don’t know!!”

Before the two had the time to speak, they heard a loud noise accompanied by a sharp screech. The carriage flipped over and was thrown in a certain direction!

“Ahhh!!!!”

More screams filled their eardrums.

After the carriage overturned, it overhung from a height. The alarm sounded endlessly. The bullet-proof glass shattered and fell off.

Under the hole that had suddenly appeared was a lake 100 metres away from them. Passengers and objects fell from the carriage windows, falling into the water below.

Ji Yushi’s entire body hung from the window. The toilet rolls in the bathroom rolled about chaotically.

Even if it was water, falling from such a high point would undoubtedly result in death.

“Ji Yushi!!”

Song Qinglan grabbed his hand.

Thanks to the handcuffs, it gave Song Qinglan time to react.

The young and tall man had amazing arm strength. In this case, he had grabbed another adult male with one hand. Veins bulged out from his arm.

Ji Yushi grabbed Song Qinglan’s hand back. His body was like a roll of paper, as if he would fall with just a soft blow.

Song Qinglan used his other injured hand to grab onto the shelf in the bathroom. He could only rely on this alone as support. If the shelf broke off, they would die together on the spot.

“Ahhhhh!”

People fell out through the windows.

“Don’t look!” Song Qinglan’s face was turning red. He squeezed out a few more words through his teeth with much difficulty, “Grab onto me!”

Ji Yushi looked back with a pale face. He drove the scene just now out of his mind and used his other hand to grab onto Song Qinglan.

In a situation like this, the Ju-Jitsu Ji Yushi had learnt came into use. He curled up his body and reached towards the washstand with his long legs, managing to find another point of support for himself.

With his life hanging by a thin thread, Ji Yushi successfully opened the bathroom door.

The train had completely overturned and was hanging upside down on the tracks in the air.

The hot steam beside the tracks made Ji Yushi sweat endlessly. Song Qinglan raised his handcuffed hand to help facilitate his movements. He crawled out and managed to pull Song Qinglan out with difficulty.

There were many passengers already standing on the track.

Some were standing there dumbly. Some were crying.

The two who had managed to escape from such a dangerous situation didn’t even have the change to feel scared. The scene before them shocked them.

On the tracks in front of them, a phantom of a suspended train appeared.

The colour was exactly the same as the overturned one behind them, as if their train had been pushed aside because of its appearance.

The beginning and the end of this phantom train couldn’t be seen clearly. It was clearly running at high speed, but at this time it was as if the pause button had been selected. There were no sounds at all.

Song Qinglan randomly picked up an item scattered on the ground and threw it at the phantom,

The item bounced away.

The phantom actually had a physical body.

A large tear had formed on Ji Yushi’s clothes. Following that incident just now, he was in a rather sorry state, “It’s an overlap......”

His brain worked quickly, and his eyes suddenly brightened, “Cap Song, the two realities have overlapped — We must have encountered something crucial!”

Song Qinglan looked at his phone, “Old Duan found Chief Wang.”

As soon as he finished saying that, their surroundings suddenly turned quiet.

When they turned their heads and looked over, they saw all the surviving passengers on the tracks looking back at them.