An O. Henry Ending

July 19th.

8:30 PM.

Jiang Xueming and Bu Liuxing settled into the back of the black Volga, about to head to the Nine Realms Station for the next leg of their journey.

As they parted, Jiang Bailu could vaguely sense—

—her brother was going on another adventure, into that terrifying, bizarre, yet fairy-tale-like underground world.

The little sister brushed aside the stray hairs on her forehead, adjusted her bangs, and ran to the car. "Brother, let's touch foreheads!"

Hearing his sister's call, Jiang Xueming's gaze softened. He cupped Bailu's round little face in his hands and leaned out the car window.

Their foreheads met, their eyes filled with reluctance.

"I'm sorry, Brother," Bailu whispered. "I peeked at your journal."

Jiang Xueming didn't speak. He simply got back into the car, took out the journal, and flipped to the page with the will.

Bailu immediately nodded, her voice choked with tears, though she didn't cry. "I saw this too. I understand what you mean. I understand—whether you come back or not, I'll become strong. I won't look for another you in life, nor will I become withdrawn and blame myself. I'll live well. You'll turn into sand, into clouds and rain, into soil and sun, into the sea, and you'll always, always be with me. You'll never leave me."

Jiang Xueming smiled brightly. "Mm, are you ready?"

"I'm not ready," Bailu pouted, looking extremely wronged. Tears finally spilled from her eyes. "How can anyone be ready for this? Ask yourself, are you ready? If I die from that weird brand disease, are you ready?"

"Your story isn't over, you'll never die," Jiang Xueming said sincerely and persistently. "I won't do anything unnecessary. If this will truly reached you while you were sick, it means the people at the station found me and my journal. That little Black Cat, after receiving the journal, will definitely bring you medicine. It's a good cat that keeps its promises and acts fairly—unlike Big Brother Ye Bei's bad white cat, which only teams up with you to cause trouble, making a grown man wear a little dress and play unfair games."

Bailu asked timidly, "Then what if I couldn't hold on, and you didn't get back with the medicine? What would you do if I went to report to King Yama?"

"Then that's good, I won't have to write a second will." Through the car window, Jiang Xueming tidied his sister's hair and continued, "I'll burn you to ashes, so the virus on you doesn't spread. Then I'll take you to a place no one can find. In this place, no one will force anyone to marry anyone. Then I'll start a new life—apart from the funeral, I'll never shed another tear for you. I know you're watching me, just as I'm watching you. If there really is an underworld, which dead person would want to see their closest family crying and mourning?"

"Mm! You're right, Brother!" Jiang Bailu was very sensible and stopped crying, her nose and eyes still red. "Have you thought it through? Do you really have to go back to the station? How long will you be gone this time?"

Jiang Xueming still had that serious, persistent expression.

"If you promise someone something, you must do it. Half of your life was saved by A Xing.

In this house, we owe Brother A Xing a debt of gratitude. We live in his home, eat his food, use his things, and he even arranged for three teachers to tutor me.

We must repay these kindnesses, or we'll become ungrateful bad guys. He's going to the underground world on an adventure now, so I have to bring him back safely. We look out for each other. You help me, I help you. That's how the character for 'person' is written, with these two strokes."

Jiang Bailu understood her brother's meaning. She rubbed the tear stains from her face and nodded. "Mm, I'll wait for you to come back. I definitely won't cause you any trouble, don't worry. You need to focus on your work—I'm eighteen now, I need to grow up, grow up quickly."

Jiang Xueming patted his sister's head and said softly, "Don't rush, take your time. It'll be faster. Taking a detour is actually a shortcut."

"I don't quite understand," Bailu murmured, making a mental note. "But I'll remember it, Brother. Did Big Brother Ye Bei teach you this?"

"Yes, Big Brother Ye Bei told me that," Jiang Xueming admitted. "When I was in desperate need of money and wanted to steal or rob, he helped me out and told me this."

"Taking a detour is a shortcut. Taking your time will be faster," Bailu repeated, then turned and headed back to the main house, her spirits suddenly lifting. "Brother! I'm not applying to art school anymore! I don't want you to teach me to paint anymore!"

From a distance, Jiang Xueming shouted, "You're not going to school? What are you planning to do, sell offal like me?"

Jiang Bailu shouted back, "I'll study hard! But I definitely won't cause you trouble! Never!"

"Good!" Jiang Xueming didn't overthink it and greeted Ms. Sansan by the main gate. "Ms. Bailu, I'll trouble you to look after her! 3301!"

"I'll also trouble you to look after my employer, Mr. Jiang Xueming," 3301 said, dusting off her shoulders and bowing as they had when they first met.

The three coaches stood by, watching them go.

Teacher Li and Teacher Liu high-fived in celebration.

()╯╰()

"That kid's finally gone."

"Great, we can rest now."

Only Coach Zhou looked a bit dejected and picked up his luggage, preparing to leave.

"Wait!" Bailu called out to the uncles. "Uncle Liu, Uncle Zhou, Uncle Li! I need your help with something!"

The three uncles froze.

Miss Sansan also looked at Bailu curiously and asked, "Little sister Jiang, what do you want? Are you worried because I'm looking after you? Or are you worried about your brother?"

"No, I'm very at ease with how my brother handles things." Bailu had something else on her mind.

—Sister Xiao Qi told Brother Xue Ming that bad people were coming to harm us.

—Perhaps I'll become Brother's weakness. I can't hold him back.

With this thought, Bailu's eyes grew colder, more [real]—the two teachers watched, increasingly frightened.

"You're not..." Teacher Li began to stutter, that look too familiar. He had seen it countless times these past few days.

Teacher Liu, holding his weapon bag, trembled. "What a joke. This girl looks so frail. Don't scare yourself."

Teacher Li muttered to himself, trying to reassure himself. "That's right. Xing Shao said these two guests were taken to a mountain village when they were young. They might not even be real siblings. Their fighting skills are really based on talent."

Before he finished speaking, Coach Liu shivered, and a pistol fell from his weapon bag.

Bailu caught it steadily, gripping the firearm—

—pulled back the slide, checked the chamber.

—locked the safety, and handed it over in a reverse grip.

The grip pointed towards Teacher Liu, the empty gun chamber aimed at himself.

Coach Zhou suddenly perked up and immediately headed to the training hall with all sorts of supplements and protein powder.

Bailu bowed and said concisely, "Two teachers, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble you for a while longer. I have to go to school every day and will only be free after seven. Please! I want to protect myself!"

The Volga sedan drove further and further away.

A strange silence lingered in the air.

Once again—

—The Volga stopped in the most congested section of HK, amidst the bustling streets, lost in the vast flow of traffic.

Except this time, Jiang Xueming didn't hear Seventh Brother's curses.

He only heard Bu Liuxing whimpering incessantly beside him—

"—Brother Ming. I can't help it, I'm sorry. Just now, with you and Bailu, I couldn't help but..."

A Xing kept pulling tissues, just wiping away tears, and then fiercely blowing his nose.

The scene made Jiang Xueming back down a bit, unconsciously shifting his body to the side of the car door to hide.

He kindly reminded him, "That's my sister, not your sister."

"I cry even when I watch a movie," A Xing explained aggrievedly, "You know I can't stand seeing things like this."

Jiang Xueming decided to seek help from outside the car, " Seventh Brother, can you talk him out of it?"

"Wuwuwu, Bailu is just too sensible. Wuwuwu," Xiao Qi was also crying buckets in the driver's seat, his voice louder than A Xing's, howling even more mournfully, "Talk him out of what? I'm crying too! Damn it! Why is this road so damn congested!?"

Jiang Xueming covered his face with both hands, completely baffled.

—Deep breaths, adjust your mindset.

—Say something else, say something else.

" A Xing, there's something I've been wanting to understand."

"Ask away, I'm listening, Brother Ming."

"In Fang Feng, Mr. David told us that many engineering team members at the stations had gone insane. I was anxious at the time and only focused on Bailu's situation, so I didn't think about it deeply. Later, when I recalled it, it seemed incredible and full of doubts. Do you have any leads?"

"Ah, Madam Canaan didn't reveal any information about that either. What she put into my head was very chaotic, and I don't even know if these fragmented images are real or false—but now that you mention it, if I put myself in their shoes, I think I might be able to figure it out."

"Tell me slowly, I'll write it down in my notebook. Maybe I can even trade it with BOSS for something."

"Let's say, we are construction workers in the engineering team, working underground far from home for many years."

"Mm."

"We might be people who have partners, and for work convenience or other reasons, we have families—but those aren't our true inner thoughts."

"Mm, you mean that dream?"

"Yes, I think these people who [went insane] most likely had the same dream as us. By the seaside, on the bench under that Western-style building, under the illusion of CanaanThe Faceless Lady, they recognized the people who were truly important in their lives, and that's why their personalities suddenly changed, and they embarked on a different path."

"Is that your guess?"

"Yes."

"A very romantic guess."

"You're a romantic person too, Brother Ming. I also want to be like you and leave a suicide note for my mommy."

"It's best not to."

"Why?"

"When she sees that thing, she might hold your funeral in advance. If you don't die then, and your friends and family feel the mood is right, your mommy might personally send you off, and I'll really have to learn a funeral trade."

A Xing pouted, feeling rebuffed, but not discouraged at all. He immediately changed the subject.

"I just thought, if any Armadillo Hunters saw this suicide note—wouldn't they soften their hearts too?"

"These guys have traveled in the underground world for years; they're not kind souls. If you have this much free time, you might as well look at the email BOSS sent, and check the detailed contents of the letter."

"Mm."

" A Xing, think about the psychological trauma we suffered by the sea. Just this trip alone caused your mental strength and will to survive to plummet to the freezing point—how can you say that experienced Armadillo Hunters in the underground world would soften their hearts just by hearing a story?

—I will never harbor illusions. For these hunters to survive in the underground world and evade the search by armed employees, they must be people with strong willpower, eccentric personalities, and significant differences from ordinary people. Just like you said, that old passenger who guarded your clothes."

"Right, he liked to talk to himself, muttering incoherently."

"That's a precursor to schizophrenia, isn't it? Even if not, it's likely a symptom of having suffered a lot of psychological trauma."

"I hope he's okay."

HK Airport.

Jason Megan sat in the Senior Passenger seat at the airport restaurant.

His young attendant stayed close by his side.

"Hey, young lady, listen to me. I don't have the time to argue with you about useless things. I've already burned my passenger ID."

The young attendant said nonchalantly and patiently, "It's okay! Employer! Your ID can be reissued!"

"But I really want to be a hunter! Do you know how that feels?!" Jason Megan snapped viciously. "Someone like you, who switched careers halfway and is just coasting as a waiter? How can I even talk to you about this?"

"Have you really thought it through?" The young waiter's eyes were watery, innocent, and helpless as they offered a fry to Mr. Megan. "I've looked into your deeds, and I know you lost your previous waiter, but I believe none of that can break you."

"Shut up!" Mr. Megan swatted the fry away, his face contorted in rage. "What do you believe in? What nonsense do you believe in? Why are you acting so nonchalant, opening and closing those thin lips of yours, and casually discussing my past ten-plus years? I took such a long detour at the station! I suffered so much! Now I've finally found a shortcut! How can you..."

"It seems..." The young waiter's face fell with sadness as they bent down to pick up the dirty fry. "You've truly made up your mind?"

"Oh, oh. Don't be difficult, little girl!" Mr. Megan gritted his teeth in anger, his tone instantly softening. "Don't cry! No crying!"

"Mr. Megan, your request is truly excessive." The young waiter clutched the fry, trembling all over, tears about to fall again. "You want me to talk about things I don't want to hear, to accept these extremely unreasonable demands—and then you tell me not to cry? Do you even have a heart? You didn't even ask my name, or my number."

"I, I, I'll eat, I'll eat, I'll be good." Megan carefully picked out half a fry from the waiter's palm and shoved it into his mouth.

The young waiter still pursed their lips, extending a hand to Megan, hoping for a response. "Even though the road ahead is terrifying and dark, please return to the station and activate a new astral node."

"No, no, no, no. No." Megan shook his head in terror. "No."

"Do you have to hunt?" the young waiter pressed urgently, so anxious they were crying like an air raid siren, their words tumbling out incoherently. "Who are you going after? Which newcomer? Do you plan to kill them? Or just get the log?"

"I originally..." Megan fell silent for a moment, then finally said, "Just get the log."

Hearing that their employer had no intention of killing, the young waiter's emotions gradually calmed. "So—you just want a change of mood? A change of job?"

"No! I want to hunt! This is hunting! Not a job!" Megan's eyes were firm and persistent, as if no one could dissuade him, stubborn as an ox. "I can't let this guy become my inner demon! I must complete this!"

"Okay!" The young waiter, disregarding everything else, grabbed Mr. Megan's hand, as if making a vow of unwavering loyalty. "I will help you complete this hunt."

"Really?" Megan's gaze softened, as if he were twenty-five or twenty-six again.

"Mhm!" Though still somewhat immature, the young waiter's attitude was resolute. "To help my employer get better, I will help you complete this ritual, even if BOSS locks me up, I won't be afraid!"

At this moment, Mr. Megan felt incredibly tense. It was as if he heard new notes sounding in the symphonic poem of his life. With the waiter's help, he no longer felt alone—though warriors were solitary, even Don Quixote had Sancho Panza as a squire. Perhaps this wasn't so bad?

The young waiter, on the other hand, was sweating profusely from nervousness. Jason Megan was their first employer, and the first step on their path to crime. Yet, they couldn't bring themselves to stand by and do nothing. If they watched Mr. Megan fall into the abyss, or found Mr. Megan's corpse at a crime scene, reading about it in the newspaper—they probably wouldn't be able to be a waiter anymore. This experience would become their lifelong inner demon.

The fighting spirit ignited in their eyes—

—then it was extinguished.

A young lady at the nurse station held a registration card.

Her voice was sweet, her expression icy.

"Did you two just arrive from Hengyin Nanyuan Airport? I'm sorry, foreign visitors must be quarantined for fourteen days. Thank you for your cooperation. You can walk yourself or call security, but those are two different hotels."