I Am Not That Kind of Person

"Clack-clack~ clack-clack~ clack-clack-clack~~"

The train gradually pulled away from the city. The orange-red glow of the setting sun spilled across the land, draping the entire desolate, empty coastal city in a vibrant veil.

With its staggered high-rises and crisscrossing streets, the city was spread out across the earth like a massive mural, slowly sinking beneath the horizon.

Wu Hen stood at the rear of the train, gazing at the city as it gradually receded from his sight...

Dusk began to darken; the veil of night was about to descend.

Amidst the twilight mist, a trace of bewilderment appeared on Wu Hen's face. The city on the horizon had come alive once more.

He even witnessed a truly incredible scene.

The streets and buildings on the edge of the city were growing and expanding across the land, much like the root systems of plants.

Even the barren outskirts that the tracks had passed through earlier were now sprouting low buildings and bizarre streets...

"A city that grows!!"

"This city really is alive, damn it!"

Wu Hen was certain he wasn't seeing things, but his thoughts were in turmoil!

What kind of rules did this Otherworld operate under?

No wonder Su Li said that if they didn't leave this city, they would never have another chance.

Could you imagine? A city that is a living creature, one that "flourishes" and grows every single day!

And then there was that eerie solar eclipse from earlier.

That eclipse was absolutely not the same concept as the celestial phenomenon he knew.

Wu Hen leaned his head out, looking toward the direction where the train tracks extended. Even as they moved away from this living city, the path ahead remained shrouded in a fog he couldn't see through.

Mountains were not mountains.

Forests were not forests.

Even the sky and the earth shifted from time to time, with mirages appearing ethereally and mysteriously between them...

"Xiao Hen, it's dark." Su Li walked over slowly and draped a warm coat over Wu Hen's shoulders.

Wu Hen nodded and followed Su Li into the carriage.

The carriage door shut tightly. It was very dark inside, with only a few Fireflies providing a faint source of light.

Everyone was curled up in their seats. Due to the shortage of food and water, everyone minimized unnecessary communication as much as possible.

It was evident that everyone was struggling hard to survive, yet they were filled with fear and unease regarding the unknown of tomorrow.

"Su Li, we don't have much pure food left," said Auntie Huang, the runner from earlier.

"Can we hold out a bit longer? The food and water on this Evil Soil will only accelerate our loss of self," Su Li said.

"I'm afraid that won't work," Auntie Huang replied.

"Alright then. Tomorrow morning, Xiao Hen and I will go look for pure food," Su Li said.

"Xiao Hen?" Auntie Huang paused, her gaze fixed on Wu Hen.

"Don't ask too many questions. Go do what you need to do," Su Li said, dismissing Auntie Huang.

Though Auntie Huang was surprised, she also seemed accustomed to such things...

Wu Hen, however, had been observing these people the entire time.

It seemed that, apart from himself and Yang Qin, none of them were from Earth.

"Are you curious about our identities?" Su Li naturally noticed Wu Hen's confusion and asked with a smile.

Having shared a life-or-death experience just moments ago, Su Li had gained absolute trust in Wu Hen, and her smile grew increasingly gentle and intimate.

"There is still too much in this Otherworld Desolate Dust that I cannot comprehend," Wu Hen said.

"We all belong to humanity, yet we are subjects of different divine dimensions. The fact that you woke up inside the bodies of the lost means you are subjects of the Nuwa Divine Mother," Su Li explained.

"Is your world also a virtual one?" Wu Hen asked.

"Virtual? Your understanding of the world is still too shallow. Should a place where the soul can rest in peace not be called heaven?" Su Li shook her head bitterly.

Heaven?

Could it be that in the eyes of other human subjects in this Otherworld, people like himself and Yang Qin were already living in heaven?

Upon closer reflection, Wu Hen felt there was some truth to it.

Compared to this terrifying Otherworld, wasn't the place he lived in essentially heaven?

With natural disasters occurring incessantly in recent years, perhaps it was because the Nuwa Divine Mother was already dying in the Otherworld and no longer had the strength to maintain such a heaven for humanity!

Dawn arrived.

The train slowly pulled to a stop near a lush, flowery meadow with a flowing stream.

He had to admit, this was the first time since entering the Otherworld that Wu Hen had seen bright sunshine and blooming flowers, enough to sweep away the gloom in his heart in an instant.

This is the kind of place people should be staying in.

Birds singing, flowers fragrant, and water flowing with a gentle murmur.

"Be careful, and listen closely." After getting off the train, Su Li reminded Wu Hen.

"Is this place not safe either?" Wu Hen asked.

"Don't trust your eyes completely," Su Li said.

Wu Hen scratched his head.

Fine, you're the boss, whatever you say is right.

Not daring to relax, Wu Hen focused on his hearing, "scanning" every unusual sound within a few kilometers. Only after confirming there were no monsters like the delicate-featured, the alluring, or the midnight long-legged ones did he give Su Li a nod of affirmation.

Receiving Wu Hen's confirmation, Su Li then spoke to the group behind her: "You can get off the train now."

"I'll go get water."

"I'll go catch Fireflies."

"Wash off the filth too; the water source here should be pure."

Everyone began to divide the work.

"You come with us; you'll need to carry some things," Su Li said, pointing a finger at Yang Qin.

"Okay, okay." Yang Qin immediately followed.

After some discipline, Yang Qin had begun to integrate into the group. Dirty work, heavy labor—as long as she was told to do it, she had to do it, without the slightest bit of pretense.

Wu Hen was quite surprised that the female student had such high awareness.

As expected, you can bash a tea-sister for being a tea-sister, but you can't bash a tea-sister for being useless!

With large and small backpacks, bottles, and jars, Yang Qin followed behind the two, looking every bit like a little laborer.

Wu Hen and Su Li wouldn't lend a hand; they were the combat backbone of the team and had to be fully prepared to engage in battle the moment danger arose.

After realizing that Su Li and Wu Hen were the true core of the team, Yang Qin became particularly diligent. She didn't speak unless told to, and she didn't dare to complain even when the backpack was heavy...

With great difficulty, the little maid Yang Qin finally found an opportunity to chime in. She whispered, "If we get the Yuan You, can we return to our own world?"

Wu Hen had been asking Su Li questions along the way, especially regarding this thing called Yuan You.

Su Li told Wu Hen that everything in the Otherworld Desolate Dust would deceive you, except for Yuan You, and that all things required the pure source of Yuan You.

"You are the people of the Nuwa Divine Mother, and your souls are under her protection. In the past, during the peak era, if your physical bodies died, the Nuwa Divine Mother could recall your spirits. However, this required you to establish a spiritual connection with her. Yuan You serves to cleanse your spirits while also allowing you to establish that connection with the Nuwa Divine Mother," Su Li explained.

These words were naturally not meant for Yang Qin, but to help Wu Hen better understand this world and his own situation.

"Sounds a bit complicated," Yang Qin muttered.

In truth, she still didn't fully grasp everything; she just wanted to go home.

"To put it simply, Yuan You is like a mobile Wi-Fi. Once connected, we can upload our spiritual carriers to the Nuwa Cloud. As long as we are on the cloud, we are alive... If our spiritual carrier doesn't make it up in time, we get permanently deleted!" Wu Hen said.

Wu Hen explained it to Yang Qin using this modern analogy, and she finally understood a little bit.

"So, you mean we wake up in the bodies of people who have disconnected?" Yang Qin asked.

"More or less," Su Li said with a wry smile.

There was nothing wrong with them trying to understand things in a way they could comprehend.

It was just that they were still too limited. The strangeness and vastness of the Otherworld Desolate Dust were still, given their current level of perception, like peering at shadows from inside a cave; they couldn't perceive the full picture.

"Yuan You is life."

"Yuan You is money."

"Yuan You is power!"

Wu Hen now firmly believed in these three eternal principles.

To be honest, Wu Hen was also very worried about his family. He had been stuck in the Otherworld for so long this time; what kind of chaos had the outside world descended into?

There must be quite a few people like Yang Qin who were dragged into this reality of the Otherworld without any preparation. How were they supposed to face this panic and strangeness?

"Don't worry, we won't be far from the Nuwa Divine Mother now," Su Li said.

"That's good, that's good. I really want to go back. My family must be so worried about me," Yang Qin said.

Wu Hen was no exception.

Along the way, Su Li patiently told Wu Hen which foods were not tainted and which water sources were safe to drink.

This included Yuan You, which could also be used to purify contaminated items.

"This includes your own souls. After walking in the Otherworld for a long time, you will all be tainted to some degree. When you suddenly find yourself doing abnormal things—for example, wanting to embrace death when you see it, wanting to harm your friends and family, or longing to worship when witnessing something horrific—you have likely been tainted... If you are tainted, you cannot return to the Divine Fetus of the Nuwa Divine Mother. In such cases, you need Yuan You to cleanse yourself even more, and you need to return to the tranquility beside the Divine Mother," Su Li said.

Wu Hen nodded, thinking to himself, No wonder the longer I stayed with my aunt, the stronger my wicked thoughts toward her became. Well, it's this Otherworld influencing me. I knew I wasn't that kind of person...

Beside him, Yang Qin felt more and more uneasy the more she heard. Carrying the somewhat heavy load of food, she seemed to recall something and mustered the courage to ask, "Sister Su, that kind of taint you mentioned—is it just a thought, or can it lead to action?"

"It leads to action. You might even do things while your body and mind are out of your control, and only wake up to your senses after it's done," Su Li said.

"Doesn't that sound just like the intermittent lunatics in our world?" Wu Hen said.

Su Li nodded.

"That... there is something I want to mention. Last night, when we were checking the train for any remaining Midnight Mass, Scar-faced Uncle said he was checking the undercarriage, but it seemed like he stayed at the front of the train the whole time and didn't actually check the bottom of each carriage." Yang Qin finally said the words.

Yang Qin felt conflicted inside.

After all, Scar-faced Uncle had saved her.

She had noticed this last night but hadn't said anything because she was grateful to him.

However, after hearing what Su Li said, Yang Qin felt that Scar-faced Uncle might have had an infection flare-up at the time, and she felt it was necessary to warn the core members of the team, Su Li and Wu Hen.

Wu Hen looked at Su Li and noticed her expression had turned serious, so he couldn't help but call out, "Auntie?"

Su Li did not speak, but instead suddenly quickened her pace back.

"Is the situation bad?" Wu Hen also realized something and hurriedly followed Su Li.