Tong and Bai Zhi

Garbage Mountain.

"Me? I'm just a Kamen Rider who's passing by."

After thinking for a moment, Bai Zhi answered the question above.

"Your name is Tong, right? I brought your friend's information. Can you let me in first...?"

Where is Xing now!?

Before he could finish speaking, Bai Zhi saw a head suddenly pop out from above the pit, asking him anxiously.

"She didn't come home all day yesterday, I was so worried! She promised she'd be back by noon!!"

"... Let me go up first."

Looking at the Girl's face above him, Bai Zhi's gaze flickered slightly before he spoke.

He suddenly understood why the other person's name was Tong (瞳).

Unlike the lifeless state he had witnessed in the first Dungeon, where all the light in the other's eyes had been extinguished, looking into Tong's eyes now... he felt as if he were seeing stars.

Stars in their eyes.

A few minutes later, led by Tong, Bai Zhi followed her to a well-hidden "cave" deep inside the Garbage Mountain.

The interior of this Garbage Mountain was hollowed out and supported by various scraps of timber, with a dozen or so well-fixed rotten logs providing support. Inside this garbage dump, a space was formed that could actually be considered a fairly large cave.

Unlike the filth and mess outside, the inside was quite clean and tidy. There were even two potted plants at the entrance, and a ring of pale yellow powder was sprinkled around the interior to repel the Corpse Rat and cockroaches.

Although the interior was simply furnished, it exuded a warm and inviting atmosphere: two beds, a Four-Sided Table with a broken leg propped up by bricks, a half-broken bowl, and an old but meticulously clean kettle...

"This house took Xing and me five whole years to build, and it's finally finished."

Wearing a worn-out yellow raincoat that looked like it had been salvaged from Garbage Mountain, Tong walked ahead and proudly introduced it to Bai Zhi.

"In the beginning, there were only countless Corpse Rat and cockroaches here, and those..."

"Is it really okay for me to Trust you so much?"

Bai Zhi stopped at the doorway and interrupted Tong.

"We've only just met, is it really okay for you to bring me to your house so readily?"

"No problem, because only Xing knows my name. Since Xing told you my name, it means you can be Trust."

After taking off her yellow raincoat and hanging it behind the door, Tong turned around and spoke to him very seriously.

"We won't easily tell other people our names; this is a promise between Xing and me."

"..."

After a moment of silence, Bai Zhi bent down and followed the other person into the cave.

"By the way, can you tell me? Where exactly is Xing right now?"

After carefully pouring him a bowl of tea with a broken bowl, Tong sat down at the Four-Sided Table and asked him with great anticipation.

"Yesterday, before she left, Xing said she was going to give me a surprise today."

"... Is today your birthday?"

Bai Zhi picked up the bowl on the table, took a sip of the slightly bitter-tasting water, and suddenly asked the other person a question.

"It's not a birthday, it's an anniversary. We don't have such a luxury as a birthday."

Tong looked very serious.

"It's a day to commemorate the completion of our home, a day when we can embrace every hopeful day to come."

"... Home?"

Bai Zhi glanced around the cozy cave once more.

With a slight sigh, Bai Zhi looked directly into the Girl's eyes and slowly began to speak.

"Some things are hard to say, but you eventually have to learn to accept them. I did bring them back..."

"Wait, wait a minute, let me pour you another bowl of tea..."

Seemingly realizing something, Tong's face gradually paled as she listened to his words.

Before he could finish his sentence, the other person interrupted him, frantically reaching for the teacup in front of him, as if that might change something.

Bai Zhi grabbed the other person's hand.

"Running away won't solve the problem; you need to learn to face it."

Bai Zhi looked directly into the other person's eyes.

"That's right, she's dead, but I avenged her, which is why I know your name."

"..."

Immediately after he finished speaking, Bai Zhi saw the light in the other person's eyes dim.

"Although it's hard for you to accept, you have to face it."

Releasing the other person's hand, Bai Zhi spoke calmly.

"Some things..."

"... Get out! You were never here before."

The Girl spoke in a low voice, her nails digging deep into her flesh.

"You..."

"Go out!!!"

"As long as you're alive, there's hope; death is meaningless. I hope you understand this."

With a slight sigh, Bai Zhi stood up from the table before the other person could grab the broken bowl from the table and throw it at him.

"I'll come see you and the book later."

After saying this, Bai Zhi turned and left the cave.

--The cave was deathly silent.

"As expected, this kind of thing isn't really my thing..."

Without lingering at the Garbage Mountain, Bai Zhi headed straight for the market after leaving.

Although he did want to take the other person away from that dirty and messy place, after seeing the home they had carefully decorated, Bai Zhi gave up the idea.

"Protective Suit, oxygen cylinders... I don't need these, but Hitomi absolutely has to bring them. The Black Market?"

It will take three more days for the fog to reach the city. Today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow, he has three days to prepare.

Escaping is a mistake, hiding in a safe place is also a mistake, so all he can do now is face the danger head-on.

He wasn't short of money; he had looted a large sum of money during the massacre of the Wolf Gang.

About two hours later, he returned to the Garbage Mountain with a large pile of stuff.

Following his previous memory, he once again arrived at the well-hidden "cave," but upon seeing the scene inside, he couldn't help but frown.

The once clean and tidy cave interior has been completely destroyed in just two hours.

The broken bowl shattered on the ground, the table was kicked aside, and the two potted plants by the door were uprooted, their Soil and roots scattered haphazardly all over the floor...

--On the other side of the bed, the Girl had wrapped herself up tightly in a worn-out quilt.

Shaking his head slightly, Bai Zhi put down what he was holding and began to clean and tidy up the interior of the cave again.

He could actually understand the other person's feelings very well... or rather, he had felt the same way before.