Frightening Joke: Above the Mist

Time is too short to say goodbye.

The withering of the Fog Realm Mother Tree, the entanglement of Zhou Tian and the resentful baby, and the shattering of the world all happened simultaneously.

Bai Yanliang looked at Xu Zhifei, then at Zhou Tian, who was gradually merging with the resentful baby and becoming pure malice.

"If fate allows, we'll meet again."

He smiled at Xu Zhifei.

Xu Zhifei's lips twitched, smiling just like he used to.

But in the end, he showed a rather sweet smile.

"Mm."

At this moment, two people with almost identical destinies made almost identical choices.

The survivors of Ye City couldn't see what was happening in the stormy sky nor could they see those two people clearly.

As for the former companions of Fog Gathering, they seemed to sense something, raising their heads with effort on the trembling ground to look at the sky.

Xu Zhifei closed her eyes, all the power of the Fog Realm was under her control at that moment.

Her body twisted and deformed rapidly, her skin became mottled, her limbs elongated, and her face blurred at a speed visible to the naked eye.

The Fog Realm Mother Tree was dying.

But a new tree, with self-awareness, was being born.

Xu Zhifei could still perceive the world; she saw the range of mountains at the horizon, the raging white crests by the coast, the birds and beasts scurrying in the deep valleys, and the struggles amidst the apocalypse.

Bai Yanren was right, yet also not right.

For life, having self-awareness means truly being alive.

So Bai Yanren believed that self-awareness is the most important aspect of a life.

However, both Bai Yanliang and Xu Zhifei slowly realized on this journey... that individuals with self-awareness occasionally make incomprehensible decisions.

Some things seem to transcend one's own existence.

Bai Yanren believed it was impossible for people to abandon their self-awareness.

Yet in the evolution of human civilization, countless people knowingly met their demise, vanished into oblivion, yet pressed forward nonetheless.

Because truly living was never about clinging to an eternal self, quietly watching everything flow naturally.

Rather, at a certain moment, it is about living brilliantly, leaving everything to be passed on to future generations.

Life is an ever-flowing long river, never a stagnant pool that neither increases nor decreases.

Zhou Tian chose to be stagnant water, whereas Bai Yanliang and Xu Zhifei chose the river.

Perhaps their self-awareness would dissipate at this moment, but that winding, majestic river would continue flowing.

At least at this moment, survivors of Ye City saw it.

A massive human-shaped silhouette transformed into a golden tree.

The golden light it emitted was not dazzling but rather soft.

Its roots dug into the earth of the Mortal World, its branches extended into the boundless deep space, and the tremors and collapse of the heaven and earth suddenly came to a halt.

Yet, at that moment, a piercing scream echoed across the universe.

Zhou Tian and his child, the baby that had long since turned into a resentful baby, merged into one, transforming into a massive flesh monster occupying a corner of the sky.

It was like the stuffing for a dumpling, chopped to the verge of breaking apart.

Bai Yanliang looked at the mass of flesh, then took one last glance at Xu Zhifei, who had become the new tree of the Fog Realm, and murmured, "Goodbye..."

He was Bai Yanliang, and he was Bai Yanren, a being created by Zhou Tian and Meng Zhen, a child raised by the Mortal World.

No matter who he was, at this moment, he held a pure, human heart.

Bai Yanren's will activated, focusing all remaining consciousness.

The Wuji Gate... opened.

Bai Yanliang stood in front of the massive flesh monster Zhou Tian had become, a door behind him, blood swirling inside, resembling mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

There were no words, no goodbyes.

The Wuji Gate devoured the enormous, sky-covering flesh monster and also swallowed Bai Yanliang's insignificant figure.

Then... it silently closed, disappearing completely.

————

Unknowingly, a decade had passed since Xu Zhifei became the Fog Realm Mother Tree and Bai Yanliang brought Zhou Tian and the resentful baby monster into the Wuji Gate.

The Human World seemed to have been rewritten by some invisible rule, with everyone knowing that a great disaster occurred ten years ago.

Mountains crumbled, the earth split, winds howled, and tsunamis surged, as if the end of the world was imminent; but... at a certain moment, all these phenomena vanished completely.

In their memories, no strange occurrences were present, only the sudden disappearance of the disaster seemed unusual.

Yes, humanity was unaware.

The material world and the world of consciousness have an essential conflict; this level of "correction" cannot be resisted by human power.

However... there were some exceptions.

For instance, certain individuals still had the key imprint in their palms.

Song Que, Yu Wenxuan, Yu Sheng... those few individuals remembered.

They returned to ordinary lives, occasionally gathering together, as if waiting for something, waiting for something to return.

————

The Fog Realm.

The newly born Fog Realm Mother Tree was more mystical and spiritual than the previous one.

But the Fog Realm remained the same, with consciousness-less residues crawling on the tree, occasionally falling onto the grey meadows.

On the vast and boundless landscape, only a greyish-white expanse could be seen, with a single tree standing high.

One day, a door opened in the Fog Realm.

A figure stepped out.

He approached the tree, raised his hand, and touched the trunk. The leaves swayed, rustling as if someone was chuckling softly.

The newcomer was Bai Yanliang.

He stayed at the foot of the gigantic tree in the Fog Realm quietly.

He was born beneath this tree and now returned here, fittingly.

In this world, Bai Yanliang was still god-like, able to create and manipulate everything with a mere thought.

Yet, he only built himself a small wooden house beneath the tree.

He was also waiting, waiting for someone who seemed much like him yet was fundamentally different.

Bai Yanliang also returned to see his old companions, without them knowing.

Yu Wenxuan went to a peaceful countryside, becoming a literature teacher. He smiled more, genuinely, though occasionally lost in thought.

Yu Sheng, like a newborn, lived a life once more, curiously observing the world.

Song Que inherited the family business and had been using family resources to search for their traces over the years.

However, in that world, their traces had long since vanished completely, yet Song Que persisted, believing his memories were real.

But Bai Yanliang never got to see Xu Zhifei again.

She truly became a tree, her consciousness utterly dispersed into the world.

Another ten years.

Bai Yanliang returned to Ye City.

At dusk, he arrived at the Ye City Riverfront, where sparkling waves and the gentle breeze, along with the setting sun, stirred memories within him, as past events stood vividly in his mind.

Bai Yanliang stood beside the railing, time moving forward, yet he remained stationary.

Twenty years ago, he nearly lost his physical body, but after taking Zhou Tian and the resentful baby into the Wuji Gate, his other body condensed under the influence of consciousness.

By a twist of fate, he had accomplished what Zhou Tian dreamed of.

But for him, this was not a blessing.

He had been to this riverfront several times, also having met her here several times.

The river lapped against the shores, scattering fragmented thoughts. The orange hue of dusk cloaked him, casting a long shadow.

Bai Yanliang leaned against the railing for a long time until the breeze picked up, bringing a chill.

The wind was rising.

Time seemed to pause at that moment; in a daze, Bai Yanliang glimpsed a white silhouette leaning beside the railing in the sunset.

Maybe it was the wind, for the river suddenly became turbulent.

The figure strolled towards him, appearing genuinely before him.

"Shall we have a cup of coffee?"

She asked, with that still somewhat awkward smile on her face.

Bai Yanliang's lips curled into a smile:

"Sure, but I'll still just have hot water."

(The End)