A Way Forward

Yu Yu was still trembling and crying, and nothing could soothe her.

Wu Hen looked up. His mother, Yu Yi, looked just as helpless and lost.

Further inside, his father, Wu Yingting, sat in a chair, silently sorting the goods he planned to sell that morning.

From the sight of his father's back, Wu Hen couldn't tell whether he hadn't taken in the world's announcement at all or had already known the truth.

"Come in and talk," Wu Yingting finally said.

Wu Hen comforted his younger sister, Yu Yu, as he closed the front door.

The moment the news was announced, the outside world had already descended into chaos. Car horns blared throughout the city, and even all that noise couldn't drown out the desperate cries pouring from the windows of countless homes!

With the door shut, the world grew a little quieter. The family needed to sit down and have a serious talk!

Thankfully, when Wu Hen looked into the eyes of his three family members, he saw the same resolve he felt in his own heart: their love for one another was no fiction!

"Dad, did you learn the truth earlier?" Wu Hen finally asked.

His father's business had gone bankrupt too suddenly, and in a way that made no sense. Knowing his father, Wu Hen was certain he wasn't the sort to take reckless risks.

His father had become a respected entrepreneur in Licheng. It was impossible for him to lose everything overnight, unless...

"Yes. I found out a year ago." Wu Yingting set down what he was holding and answered earnestly.

"Honey, then what was the real reason you went bankrupt...?" Yu Yi looked at her husband.

His fall had been so precipitous, yet her husband had never explained the true reason to her. But as his wife, Yu Yi could see that he'd been under tremendous pressure this past year, nearly to the point of breaking down!

"I've been there. It was more terrifying than all the nightmares we've ever seen in our dreams put together. To tell you the truth, the first time I went in, I told myself I had to protect you and make sure you weren't exiled to that hellhole."

"I tried again and again and failed every time. Even after I spent every last cent, I still couldn't get a foothold there..." Wu Yingting finally voiced his bitterness and helplessness.

He might have been good at business, but surviving in an unfamiliar world was another matter. It wasn't that he hadn't tried. He'd simply been completely broken by it!

Wu Hen stared at his father in shock. In an instant, he understood why the man who had once seemed so towering had crumbled, why his back had become so bent!

So his father had known the truth all along.

He'd been trying to find a way forward for their family, even at the cost of everything he'd worked for his whole life.

But the world had changed, the rules had changed, and he was older now. He couldn't adapt!

The truth was, just accepting the truth and summoning the courage to seek a way forward was already an incredible feat!

"What's it like there, exactly? Can our family still stay together like we do now?" Yu Yi finally asked.

"I used the last of my funds to buy a guarantee from one of the pioneers. I asked him to take us on as his dependents, so we'd have a shelter in the Nuwa Divine Terminal. But unfortunately, he became a Lost One last month," Wu Yingting said.

Wu Yingting had invested in many pioneers, but it seemed fate had been cruel to him. Not one of them had managed to get a foothold.

"Can the money we have here buy us a place under someone's protection?" Wu Hen asked.

"Yes. Money still matters, even more than before. But the currency replacing stable money isn't gold anymore. It's Yuan You." Wu Yingting nodded.

"What's Yuan You?" Yu Yi asked.

"You can think of it as a kind of otherworldly mineral deposit. The Nuwa Divine Terminal needs this energy source to sustain our world... And even though we all live in the Nuwa Divine Terminal, that doesn't mean we no longer need to eat or rest, or that we won't grow old and die," Wu Yingting said.

"It's like a server. A server needs a steady power supply," Wu Hen said.

"Exactly!" Wu Yingting nodded. "But you have to understand: even if we're virtual, we still truly exist. Our feelings, our intelligence, our memories—we're living individuals, and we're an inseparable family. The Nuwa Divine Terminal created this world, but that doesn't mean we're just useless data. On the contrary, it's protecting the fragile spark of human civilization. You must remember: the soul comes first!"

"We're still independent individuals, with independent souls!" Yu Yu seemed to understand what her father meant. She signed the words carefully.

"Dad, Mom, Yu Yu, actually, I..." Wu Hen knew there was no point hiding it any longer.

He had to tell his father that he'd secretly entered Otherworld Desolate Dust and seen that world for himself!

"Knock, knock, knock~~~~~~"

But just as he was about to speak, someone knocked on the door.

Wu Hen was closest to it, so he had no choice but to get up and answer.

When he opened the door, he saw a man and a woman.

The man wore a leather jacket and sported a stylish beard. He had a solid build.

The woman was strikingly beautiful. She wore light makeup, had delicate features and a lovely face, and her long hair was wrapped in a triangular lace scarf the color of smoky purple. Stylish and elegant, she had an added touch of unique charm.

Compared with the noisy, nearly frantic crowds outside, the pair seemed exceptionally calm and composed.

"Hello, are you Mr. Wu Hen? How was your experience with the Otherworld Helmet you requested from our company?" the woman in the purple headscarf asked with a smile.

"Uh..." Wu Hen didn't know how to answer.

But the three people inside had all heard her.

Wu Yingting in particular shot to his feet and hurried to the doorway, staring intently at Wu Hen.

"You went in?" Wu Yingting asked, his lips trembling.

"I was just about to tell you. I did go in, and..." Wu Hen scratched his head.

"And he did remarkably well. He even got half a piece of Yuan You on his first trip in," the woman in the smoky-purple headscarf said brightly.

Wu Yingting's mouth fell open, his eyes full of disbelief!

His son had obtained Yuan You???

Only those who had experienced it firsthand knew what it took to obtain Yuan You!

People were so fragile and insignificant there!

"It looks like your family adapts pretty well. Wu Hen, could I speak with you alone for a few minutes?" the woman in the purple headscarf asked.

Wu Hen glanced at his father.

Wu Yingting could only nod. His expression was complicated, filled with helplessness, surprise, and a hint of expectation.

"Let's use the room inside. That's your room, right?" the woman in the purple headscarf said.

"Yes." Wu Hen nodded.

Calling it a room was generous. There was barely enough space for a bed. Wu Hen had struggled at first to adjust to going from a mansion to a cramped little box, but he'd gradually gotten used to it. Sometimes, he even found it comforting.

The woman in the purple headscarf didn't mind the dirty clothes strewn across the bed. She sat down naturally on its edge.

This made Wu Hen feel a little embarrassed. After all, boys usually had scraps of paper on their beds they'd forgotten to throw away...

The ones they'd used to blow their noses.

"We received word through the Nuwa Divine Terminal that you came across a piece of Yuan You. You did very well. Very few people manage to obtain Yuan You the first time they enter Otherworld Desolate Dust," the woman in the purple headscarf said.

Hearing that, Wu Hen understood. She was one of the people who'd learned the truth about the world earlier, and she'd probably been exploring Otherworld Desolate Dust for some time.

"Just luck. Pure luck," Wu Hen said modestly.

"One piece is worth a hundred thousand yuan, so half a piece is worth fifty thousand. Take this money and use it to improve your family's situation," the woman in the smoky-purple headscarf said, handing Wu Hen an envelope.

It was stuffed with cash.

Wu Hen accepted it and asked, "If this world is virtual, what difference does it make whether we live in poverty or wealth?"

"Believe me, things will only get better now that the kind lie has been exposed. Everyone will cherish their comfortable, peaceful, nine-to-five lives even more," the woman in the smoky-purple headscarf said.

"I don't quite understand. If we all come from the Nuwa Divine Terminal, why are some people still unlucky? Why are some born poor, some rich, and some unfortunate? Why can't my sister speak?" Wu Hen asked.

"A tree has many leaves. Some get sick, some are eaten by insects, some wither too soon, and some wither before they've even had the chance to grow lush. Is that what the tree intends?" the woman in the smoky-purple headscarf patiently explained.

"I mean, why did the Nuwa Divine Terminal make you so outstanding? I mean, so beautiful," Wu Hen said with a smile.

The woman in the smoky-purple headscarf was taken aback. Then a trace of bashfulness and delight flickered in her eyes.

"You certainly know how to flatter a girl. You seem to be in good spirits, too. How about I give you another present?" she said.

As she spoke, the woman in the smoky-purple headscarf took out a tiny glass case.

Inside were two brilliantly colored contact lenses.

"What are these...?" Wu Hen asked in surprise.

"The latest Brain-Link Technology. Put them in your eyes, and you can enter the Otherworld... Of course, what they really do is wake the individual consciousnesses nestled in the Nuwa Divine Terminal in the real world and give you a vessel you can use to travel through the Otherworld."

"Sounds like logging into someone else's game character. Don't we have bodies of our own in the real world?" Wu Hen asked curiously.

"You've traveled around in there. If we didn't nestle in the Nuwa Divine Terminal this way, what do you think our death rate would be?" the woman in the purple headscarf countered.

"True. The soul comes first." Wu Hen nodded.

"I know you don't like playing on someone else's account. Don't worry. Once you find the Nuwa Divine Terminal, you'll be able to awaken your true self," the woman in the purple headscarf said.

"So what should I do next?" Wu Hen asked.

"Keep your vessel in the Otherworld alive, and make your way back to the Nuwa Divine Terminal," the woman in the purple headscarf said.

A vessel?

She probably meant the body he'd woken up in at the cliffside town.

"What about the vessel's original consciousness? Will it disappear when I enter it?" Wu Hen had ten thousand questions now.

"Their consciousnesses have already vanished while traveling through the Otherworld."

"Lost Ones??" For some reason, Wu Hen suddenly thought of the term Meiqing Muxiu had mentioned!

Discover the new book by the great urban fiction author, Lao Shi!