The Sunken Sun

Death and rebirth are unfamiliar territory for others.

But for Yu Xing, these are probably just some of the milestones he will have to go through as long as he lives.

When his body reached its limit, the unbearable curse reduced his body to a pile of dust.

Injury is painful, but if every organ and every cell is shattered, then naturally you won't feel the pain.

Yu Xing felt that there was a period of time when she had no memory of it, only an instinctive impression.

He felt as if he was actively piecing himself together and growing, the fragments intending to recombine along their original paths to form an identical body.

However, this impression was not profound, more like the depths of a nightmare, leaving only a few uncertain remnants after waking up. For example, now, Yu Xing opened his eyes from the darkness and saw a fruit that was glowing faintly. The vengeful face on the fruit was staring at him.

My thoughts returned to normal.

The black mist still shrouded him.

He sat up abruptly, looking around warily, only to find that it was completely unnecessary.

The process of absorbing the curse is far from over; this is only... the first death.

First resurrection.

After a brief period of adjustment, the body, which had just been pieced together, began to crumble once again.

Yu Xing let out a long breath, forcing herself to recall all her experiences over the past few years, desperately trying to remember those familiar faces, and then closed her eyes to await her second death.

I don't know what time it is now.

They left that school... what was it called...? Did they really leave?

Perhaps they've already returned to the hotel; Zhao Mou will surely tell Carlos everything that happened at the school.

I should have brought Carlos along; if we had Carlos's paper doll, their communication would have been much easier.

Wait a minute, why bring him along? Paper doll... what is a paper doll?

Yu Xing helplessly discovered that his mind, affected by the curse, was still in complete chaos, and trying to recall anything smoothly was as difficult as climbing to heaven.

Furthermore, my whole body aches and feels bloated; this kind of "eating" is truly unbearable.

After uttering this sentence, Yu Xing's vision went black again.

Second death.

The second resurrection.

Yu Xing sat cross-legged beside the pit. After dying twice from being forced to explode, he found that his physical fitness had improved significantly.

The manifestation was that he was physiologically trembling, but the pain was far less intense than at the beginning.

And this time, it seems he has held on for several days and is still alive.

However, he still struggles to think clearly.

The third death.

The third resurrection.

Time had completely vanished. Yu Xing tilted her head back, staring listlessly at the fruit-shaped face above her.

Is this fruit safe to eat?

I don't know if it tastes good. If it does, I can bring it to Zhu Yan to try. That girl likes to be around all sorts of ugly things.

How has Zhu Yan been lately?

What other cases did you help me investigate...?

Yu Xing pondered this, she scratched her head and was surprised to find that her hair had grown to her waist.

Why is it so long? It looks like it was soaked in the lab before.

Cut your hair before you go out.

He didn't really like long hair because it always reminded him of... who was it again? An opera singer.

The fourth resurrection.

Yu Xing could actually control those branches long ago, but he didn't have the time. But this time, he finally decided to target the fruit, manipulating some branches to move him to the side of the fruit.

The vengeful spirit stared at him.

Yu Xing looked at the back of his hand, a bloody mess, opening and closing repeatedly, he reached out and plucked one of the Sunken Sun.

The picked fruit no longer shone; it had a cool, slightly stinging sensation, and its presence was evident in his hands.

It's hard to hold onto, like an ordinary person holding a branding iron.

Yu Xing played with it for a couple of moments, then, not wanting to add any extra pain to himself, playfully aimed at the hole in the ground and tossed the Sunken Sun into it like a basketball.

Right in the basket.

The fifth resurrection.

My thinking seems to be going more smoothly, and my body's reaction isn't as strong.

Yu Xing didn't know how much time had passed since he came down; he only knew that he had been undergoing reformation time and time again.

He was a complete victim of that transformation, and the power he gained set the stage for his tragic aftermath.

Now it's done willingly, both out of hatred and because of increased power.

"Does this mean I'm much better than before?" Yu Xing thought somewhat childishly.

If it were from the very beginning, he wouldn't have had such a resilient spirit; he would have already been thinking about destroying everything around him.

Unlike now, he's trapped in this place, remembering he can't leave.

The sixth resurrection.

My mind is a bit blank.

Yu Xing looked at the dissipating black mist, opened her eyes, and stared blankly for a long time.

His hair spread out at his feet like a carpet, blending into the uneven branches, tangled and intertwined, making him look as if he had grown into the tree.

It's almost over... a concept popped into his mind.

I'm a little hungry.

I want to eat... I want to eat... What do I want to eat?

The screams and fear of the people flashed before his eyes, and that negative emotion excited him.

But then, another scene flashed through my mind.

A figure stood in an unknown space, chopping the ingredients under his knife again and again, crimson liquid flowing from the blade... oh, it looks like tomato juice.

The figure was wearing an apron, head down, earnestly cooking; the face looked... like his own.

I'm hungry, but I still want to eat cooked food.

Qu... those two little girls used to really like to eat that.

Zhao Mou can also cook. When he lived with his teammates, the kitchen was never empty, because someone would always cook.

These people are...

Who is it?

Yu Xing blinked, trying to piece together these fragmented memories.

There were several familiar faces among them.

When I think of them, my indifferent and lifeless emotions seem to stir slightly.

Oh right, there was that little girl surnamed Qu, a blue-haired one, a weirdo who was older than him, and Zhao Mou, though he couldn't quite remember what Zhao Mou looked like.

It seems like there's someone else.

Have no idea.

It seems someone has been forgotten.

The seventh resurrection.

With his thoughts flowing more smoothly, the surrounding black mist visibly thinned out. After reshaping his mind, Yu Xing rubbed his temples and sat up.

What was he thinking before he died last time?

Oh, I forgot someone.

But I just can't remember. She should have been a very interesting person, so why is it so vague?

Yu Xing frowned.

Without realizing it, he no longer cared about what the marks on his body looked like, nor about his physical condition, because the pain had truly become something he was used to.

It's not cold anymore, and I'm not shivering.

The problem is that his long-standing memory turmoil couldn't be quickly cleared up, so he forgot someone and couldn't remember them either.

Zhao...

Zhao Mou's younger brother.

Yes, that's the person.

Why did he think of this? Probably because this was the first teammate he met after entering the Absurdity.

After that, we seemed to become friends.

He didn't consider them friends.

He should be the senior; he's the one who taught that person a lot.

With each death, his control over the curse gradually increased. Everyone else remembered, so why did he forget this person?

Yu Xing was lost in thought, without any particular destination in mind.

Perhaps I have to die again before the cycle of being drawn into the curse can end.

The black mist churned and seeped into his skin little by little.

He exhaled with difficulty and looked up.

The faint light was his only companion in this underground place; between the light and shadow, thick fog and shadows spread freely.

Shadow?

A figure standing in the shadows suddenly appeared in Yu Xing's mind. The figure seemed to sense something and turned around from the memory.

Her cold, pursed lips seemed to mock him for forgetting something so simple.

Yu Xing smiled. He remembered it; that feeling of suddenly forgetting something and then suddenly remembering it again was quite nice.

Zhao Yijiu, huh?