Chapter 935: Chapter 935: Twenty Years of Unchanging Warmth
Myths are like history through a funhouse mirror, full of the unbelievable, but you can always find a hint of truth.
Anyway, after learning the truth behind many human myths, I really felt like I was about to cry. Even though I don’t know if there’s any connection, I genuinely think the 2012 rumors must have started from something absurd and frustrating. Maybe it was just the Mayans running out of space while carving their calendar, or Dingdang forgetfully never turning on the world again after sleeping in, or perhaps, on some ancient day, a bunch of aliens came along two hours and twelve minutes after sunset to hold an outdoor barbecue...
The gigantic Atlantis Continent hovered in the cloud sea beyond the world’s edge for a while, only to continue sinking after the night ceremony concluded, fully submerging into this indescribable cloud mist. Gigantic beams of light still hung in the sky, slowly sweeping the heavens as symbols of the cannons the gods used to scour the earth tens of thousands of years ago. The laser light illuminated a part of the sky, while the thick clouds rolled and surged within the bright spots, like a rushing ocean turned upside down in the sky. Despite each beam lighting only a small area of the sky, the fleeting glimpses of the surging cloud sea created a peculiar and magnificent sense, as if...
The entire world was collapsing toward you.
With the night ceremony concluded, the monsters’ banquet also reached its end. Most monsters left through the teleportation gate back to Demon Town, while some brazenly went down the mountain to find familiar Atlantian friends for lodging. For instance, Moriya, whose courage nearly matched that of an explosion-proof shield, went to exchange work insights with Mercury. A few monsters were still lingering in the Giant Stone Square, gathering in small groups and chattering endlessly about who knows what. Youyouzi and Yukari Yakumo were mumbling about something suspicious not far away, glancing over here while talking. Hmm, I’m actually quite worried that Youyouzi is considering crashing at Sandora’s place, which might cause Sandora to go berserk.
Ibuki Suika limped past me, her sake gourd listlessly dragging on the ground along with her clanking chains. It was abundantly clear that the Big Horned Lolita was in an extremely bad mood. Being defeated by Lin twice in a row might not be the saddest part; what’s truly disheartening seems to be the manner in which she was defeated: the first time she was smaller than the opponent and was flicked down to the basalt layer by a fingernail flick, and the second time she was bigger, yet the opponent didn’t even lift a finger and she nearly punctured her own foot... It’s the kind of duel where victory isn’t even possible; only Cu Xiang would actively suggest it. Anyway, I’ve never seen anyone foolish enough to happily pick a fight with a Star Domain Divine Race.
That bunch of second-generation folks could use a brick to make an Ultraman poop, even Dingdang has an unbreakable body, fight my ass.
"Boohoo, it hurts, it hurts..." Suika staggered over again, plopping down on the ground, stretching out her foot to us, "Why does just a little bump hurt so much!"
"Disrespecting a god brings unending pain." Lilina pulled a piece of ice from Chiruno beside her to mix a frozen treat while giving Suika a sidelong glance, "But translated into plain language, wounds caused by the Star Domain Divine Race generally don’t heal quickly, at least not until the Divine Punishment period ends. They’re way more severe than tetanus."
It’s indeed a brilliant metaphor, but even more remarkable was that upon hearing this, Bingdisi lifted Lilina and tossed her into oblivion, leaving only a fruit dish for us to share.
"Let me have a taste," Chiruno bouncingly pushed over, looking pitifully at the fruit dish while nibbling her fingers, "I don’t even know what I taste like myself yet."
At this moment, I felt it didn’t matter who was at the top of the food chain because Chiruno appeared intent on forming her very own food chain...
Suika sat on the ground in a defenseless little girl posture, with a look of anxiety as she twiddled her toes. The supposed end of the Divine Punishment period was a completely uncertain concept. From experience, the Divine Thunder Punishment after offending Dingdang was instantaneous, over in a flash, while Lin’s case seemed to be different. The punishment for vexing her was continual—I remembered Suika long ago complaining after Lin accidentally broke her horn about why it took so long to grow back, with no progress for a whole month...
I felt quite sympathetic toward Suika’s plight. It seemed probable that she’d be hobbling around like Li Tieguai for the next month.
After the lively gathering ended, Qianqian quickly felt bored and went home to sleep, taking a bunch of little leaders with her. Even Lilina, who had just flown back from the other side of the city, was urged back by Big Sister with the reason of having "the body of a child who needs to sleep early regardless of her actual age." As for Suika, who had been muttering and grumbling, I eventually found her a crutch. Now she had both good news and bad news: the good news was that she could finally shake off the nickname of the Ice Cream Superhuman, and the bad news was that if a 2012 version of Crossing the Ocean with Eight Immortals was filmed, she might just get a spot... With the crutch and sake gourd, this little girl was just too amusing.
In the end, only Big Sister and I remained. We both loved this kind of quiet night, and rare moments of peace were not to be missed. Besides, to be honest, the nights on the Atlantis Continent... somehow sounded quite interesting.
Aside from a few kittens in the distance, our only companions were the twelve laser beams slowly sweeping through the sky. These laser beams would continue until midnight, marking the end of a day in Atlantis. During this period, the floating island would move to its intermediate station on the reverse side of the world beneath Avalon Continent, aligned with the temple. The floating island would stay there for half an hour until crossing the stroke of midnight, then speed up and continue its journey, passing through another large hole on the other side of Avalon Continent to return to the surface world. That large hole became known as the "Gate of Apollo," the departure point for the Sun Chariot.
Since arriving in Avalon World, the operational process of the Atlantis Floating Island had become fixed, treated like a statute by its residents and strictly adhered to. The floating island’s circular continental movement was originally automated, but, out of cautious respect for the Divine Relics, its operation was always manually controlled in turns by the twelve Main Gods on Mount Olympus. This again highlighted the unique obstinate nature of the Atlantians.
These details were all revealed by Yakumo Lan. Although I didn’t quite understand why the Atlantians set such a strict floating island protocol, it’s probably related to their religious customs. After all, it’s a Race that loves symbolic meaning in every endeavor. They even tie their shoelaces in a cross pattern...
"There are so many fascinating things around us that we could never have imagined," Big Sister said in a leisurely tone, looking at the Zeus Temple gleaming with a faint white light in the distance. "The night ceremony of Atlantis, the cloud sea of Avalon, the dark regions on the world’s reverse side, and the cloud-shrouded sky. Everyday busyness deprives us of the time to care about these things."
"Sis, you’re waxing poetic?" I lay down on Big Sister’s lap as I did when I was young, smiling as I asked.
No matter how old I get, some habits seem impossible to change. Is this perhaps a victory for Big Sister’s maternal side?
"No, just feeling a bit sentimental," Big Sister replied, wearing that perennial warm smile, as she ruffled my hair. "Don’t you think? These wondrous things are right beside us, with Avalon almost equivalent to our backyard, yet it’s our first time experiencing all this. Is it the distance, or the daily busyness, that makes us overlook such close things? Seems quite obvious, doesn’t it?"
"Well, nothing we can do about it," I shrugged. "It’s not easy to have leisurely time, especially with those endless little devils at home."
Big Sister shook her head: "That’s why I must tell you: learn to relax, don’t take on too much pressure. Ah Jun should be someone who lives easily no matter what, it’s not befitting for you to be constantly on edge."
"I think I’m pretty relaxed," I pondered a bit, "When I first learned the Fallen Apostle was cloning themselves, I even went shopping with Sandora for an entire afternoon. Too relaxed must mean being a bit naive, right?"
"Being naive and being relaxed are two different things," Big Sister gave me a side-eye, "You’ve been naive since you were two and a half, but can you recall any exam where you weren’t tense?"
Me: "...Sis, I’m in my twenties now."
"Even if you lived as long as the heavens, I’d still be your sister." Big Sister suddenly twisted my ear, just like a decade ago, shaking my head on her lap. In that moment, I truly felt like crying without tears, thinking thank goodness Wenwen had already left; otherwise, I’d have to consider silencing the entire Void news industry starting tomorrow. When will Big Sister realize her brother is already an adult...
But just like in childhood, before any attempts of resistance, Big Sister, as if reading my mind, stopped her actions, gently ruffled my hair with a soft smile, and that sudden turn diffused any rebellious feelings into nothingness with no place to go. For twenty years, I still can’t figure out how Big Sister masterfully timed the CD when messing with me...
"Ah Jun always writes everything on his face," Big Sister exclaimed with a laugh, lowering her head to touch my forehead with her nose, "And the first one to read it will always be your sister."
I chuckled awkwardly a couple of times and then fell silent, quietly enjoying this warmth and serenity that hadn’t changed in twenty years.
Perhaps Sandora could merge with my soul, perhaps Qianqian could embrace everything about her lover with her clear and pure heart, but when it comes to the person who understands me the most, it will always be this sister who has depended on each other for over twenty years.
She wasn’t wrong. For a long time, I was tense, repressed, and bearing an omnipresent pressure that seemed never to disappear, only growing heavier. Although I felt my silly optimistic attitude perfectly handled this pressure, my sister could still keenly sense it never really left my heart.
"Sis, I remember you once told me that a man is born to bear certain things." I looked at the familiar face of my Big Sister, a face that had transitioned from as tender as mine to mature over time, yet always gave a sense of infinite reliability. But at some unknown moment, the roles had shifted. The brat who used to trail behind her, nose running, had grown up to become a pillar of the family. Would she now lean on this pillar?
"Of course, that’s what I said," she smiled, "Remember when you were in third grade? The first time you had to pay school fees on your own. Forty-two dollars and five cents..."
I paused awkwardly, "And then I bought a bunch of toffee and two plastic dolls at the school gate. Ran out of money and lied that I forgot to bring the two-fifty when I left home."
I remember clearly, Big Sister caught me at the scene...
"Because I was just about ten meters away behind that old poplar tree," she suddenly said. "I saw everything when you bought those things. Back then, the business Mom and Dad left was already shaky. No one in the company wanted to listen to a little girl, thinking of ways to grab what they could before it all collapsed. There was also a group of Mom and Dad’s ’business partners’ waiting to snatch away the last bit of family property from my hands. That’s probably the only time I yelled at you, right?"
"I remember getting a beating too," I mildly reflected on the long-buried secret, now revealed, "Then I washed dishes for a week. You taught me two things I could never escape in life: self-awareness and self-responsibility."
"I’m not going to change what I taught you then," she continued, "Just hoping Ah Jun knows one thing: Responsibility isn’t just about bearing all the pressure. Sometimes, making life easier for yourself and doing better is a way of being responsible, for those who care about you."
"I... understand. I seem to have been a bit restless lately."
"Not just restless, right?" Suddenly, she hugged my head, the warm fragrance rushing at me, making me short of breath. "Why did you go to Taville? What did you want with an Abyss sample?"
"What? How do you know..."
"Just like when you secretly bought snacks and toys during third grade, you never can hide things from yourself and me. I watched you being sneaky and tapped your communication with Taville. Careless brother, didn’t you know to add an extra level of encryption?"
I was speechless for a while, then cautiously asked: "Sis, who else knows about this?"
"Taville knows, and then it’s me. Don’t worry, without your command, Taville wouldn’t say anything. Otherwise, you’d have Sandora leading a court-martial against you!"
There was a hint of helplessness in Big Sister’s tone, mixed with concern. I knew I had worried her with my recklessness again—last time was over a year ago when I carelessly experimented to become a Void Creature, almost unable to return to human form. I scared her then, and this time...
It was still my recklessness, and it happened a few days ago:
I approached Taville to personally contact an Abyss sample. Such things weren’t hard to find; purest Abyss samples were stored, bound by a strong energy field at the research center. They were initial samples collected near the Abyss Gate, uninfected by anything from the Main Material Plane—meaning they were the most dangerous initial specimens still retaining the original infection capability. The mysterious moves of the Fallen Apostles and my own uncertainties about the Abyss pressured me, leading me to decide to contact a pure Abyss with my Void Form to test if my talent could reverse it. After all, it was already proven my Void Form could reverse the Abyss infection in intelligent beings. If it also worked on a pure initial sample, it would be a major breakthrough into the secrets of the Abyss and my power.
I had considered the risk, which was no more than a failed reversal leading to my infection. Yet given my Void Creature physique, a bit of Abyss Power obviously couldn’t pollute me entirely, and whether it could even take effect on me was a question. With all sorts of violent purification equipment at the research center, I thought the plan feasible, at least back then.
This totally hot-blooded notion was naturally discouraged by an alarmed Taville, and I quickly calmed down, realizing I was getting impulsive under pressure, so I eventually dropped it.
But unexpectedly, Big Sister found out in the end. I originally thought I could at least hide it from her.
She stayed with me during this time not just to enjoy a leisurely evening with her brother, but more importantly to guide me... It’s absolutely true, no matter how far I go or how old I get, she’ll always be my sister.
"Hey, Sis, I’m sorry, I was reckless again."
Resting my head on her lap, I quietly admitted my mistake.
She didn’t say much, just gently rocked back and forth for a while before suddenly asking, "Right, Ah Jun, do you remember when I sang lullabies to you when you were little?"
My expression turned subtle immediately: "Sis, I’m already in my twenties..."
"What’s the big deal? I remember you loved to hear me sing when you were little."
I hesitated for a long time, then decided to tell the truth: "Yes, you were obsessed with singing back then. Every night you’d come sing lullabies as I was about to sleep, and then went back to your room after singing me fully awake..."
This time it was Big Sister’s turn to be speechless: "..." (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian () to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)