Farewell

The harmonica melody was beautiful.

And the harmonica's tune seemed to carry an indescribable rhythm, transcending ordinary music.

It was like the feeling the nightmare had given Qing Chen last night.

But while all the prisoners were immersed in the wonderful music, Qing Chen could not suppress the surprise and shock in his heart.

Because he had heard this song before... "Farewell."

"Beyond the long pavilion, beside the ancient road, fragrant grass stretched green to the sky."

Qing Chen's pupils gradually contracted. Wasn't this a world after transmigration? Why did it also have the song "Farewell"?

When he had first seen the Mechanical Civilization, he had assumed this place had nothing whatsoever to do with Earth.

But it now seemed that he had been wrong. Could this be Earth's future?

Qing Chen began searching through his memories, trying to find clues among the books he had memorized in the reading area yesterday.

But the result disappointed him once again. Those chicken-soup-for-the-soul books and philosophy could not help him.

The harmonica fell silent, and the clamor of Prison No. 18 rose again.

At one moment, Qing Chen suddenly felt that this prison was like an arena for beasts.

Behind each alloy gate were locked steel monsters representing every kind of desire.

When the gates opened, he was no longer as green and wary as he had been on his first day. Instead, he walked straight past the prisoners lined up in formation and headed directly for the plaza downstairs.

Moving on his own did not draw the attention of the drones in the sky, nor did any robotic guard spare him an extra glance.

The moment he arrived outside the cafeteria, Lin Xiaoxiao greeted him with a beaming smile. "Good morning... Didn't sleep well?"

Qing Chen had dark circles beneath both eyes. He looked coldly at Lin Xiaoxiao, thinking, Don't you know perfectly well whether I could sleep well?

Some said that a dream could last no longer than eight minutes, an extremely brief span compared to an entire lifetime.

Yet after escaping the nightmare yesterday, Qing Chen had checked his countdown. That nightmare had trapped him for more than two hours, and he had felt no passage of time within it at all.

Moreover, after breaking free from the nightmare, he had lain in bed thinking over many things and had not fallen deeply asleep until the middle of the night.

Although Qing Chen possessed an eidetic memory, he was still fundamentally an ordinary person. He was different from special people like Lin Xiaoxiao; he could not stay up most of the night and still be full of energy the next day.

Li Shutong glanced at Qing Chen's complexion and said, "Ordinary people suffer a severe loss of vitality after coming out of a nightmare and remain listless for half a day. But you're different. You broke free of Xiaoxiao's control in the nightmare and picked up a dagger. The fact that you can still stand today is already remarkable."

Qing Chen sat down across from him and asked bluntly, "How do I become someone like him?"

Li Shutong smiled. "You're certainly direct. But you can't walk his path. You're better suited to walking mine."

The moment those words were spoken, Qing Chen clearly sensed something strange in both Ye Wan's and Lin Xiaoxiao's expressions.

For some reason, he suddenly felt that the atmosphere had become more solemn. Even the napping Big Cat raised its head to look at him.

He very much wanted to ask what kind of path Li Shutong's path actually was.

But judging by Lu Guangyi's attitude toward Li Shutong, this man was likely a very famous figure outside. That meant many people probably knew what path Li Shutong was referring to.

And Qing Chen was a transmigrator. Saying some random nonsense might be fine, but asking questions that displayed a complete lack of common sense could be fatal.

Qing Chen set aside his doubts and asked again, "How can I walk your path?"

"Don't misunderstand," Li Shutong said with a smile.

When Li Shutong smiled, the traces years had left at the corners of his eyes made Qing Chen realize that he might be older than Qing Chen had imagined.

Li Shutong continued, "Ye Wan and Lin Xiaoxiao met me too late, so they could not walk my path. And although I appreciate you now, it is not enough."

"I understand." Qing Chen nodded.

That made sense.

He felt that if someone immediately took a liking to him and then taught him everything they knew, that person probably had a problem.

What he faced might not be an opportunity, but danger.

But for Qing Chen, merely being able to touch the edge of that mysterious world was already enough.

It was something he had once daydreamed about, something that had never existed on Earth.

And now, he was already very close to those things.

"How about it? Are we still playing chess today?" Li Shutong looked at Qing Chen. "You don't seem to be in good spirits. Why not rest for a day? Chess is all about meeting a worthy opponent. If I won while you were in poor condition, there would be no enjoyment in it."

As the prisoners lined up to receive their meals and eat, more and more prisoners began moving freely around the cafeteria.

Today was somewhat different. Many prisoners watched Qing Chen's side while they ate.

Some even stood up holding their trays, their eyes fixed intently on the chessboard.

In truth, not many of the prisoners present could understand Chinese chess. It was an entertainment activity that had long fallen out of its era.

But Li Shutong liked it, so everyone had reason to pay attention.

What if they also had talent for chess and caught Li Shutong's eye?

Of course, that was merely wishful thinking. More people watched the game because they were simply too idle.

In the past, Li Shutong had studied endgames by himself, and no one had dared stare in this direction. Now that Qing Chen was playing against him, the atmosphere seemed much more relaxed, and Ye Wan no longer cut people down with his gaze.

Nearby, even Lu Guangyi watched with great interest. A group of people followed behind him, surrounding him like stars around the moon.

Lu Guangyi greatly enjoyed this.

On either side of the chessboard, Li Shutong waited for Qing Chen's reply. Qing Chen, however, stood and said calmly, "No need to rest. Tou Qu Di Ting endgame: rook two across to five, rook five forward seven, cannon two across to eight, rook five across to six, pawn four forward one."

Chinese chess was originally a back-and-forth contest, but Qing Chen this time cleanly stated every move he would make, as though he had already determined that Li Shutong would cooperate with his moves. He directly calculated the game through to its conclusion.

Qing Chen's red side sacrificed its rook to draw in the black general, echoing the final pawn four forward one and forming an absolute kill.

It was an exquisite move that ordinary people would find difficult to conceive.

Others might not know what Qing Chen was talking about, but Li Shutong certainly did.

To break the Tou Qu Di Ting position, there was only this one path!

Li Shutong looked up at Qing Chen, then turned his black general upside down on the board. "I thought you weren't in very good condition, and that if I won, it would count as taking advantage of you. It seems I worried for nothing."

Within the crowd, one of Lu Guangyi's lackeys heard Lu Guangyi mutter, "He won again. That's way too cool. It doesn't matter what he won at—if you can beat someone like Li Shutong even once, it's worth a lifetime. I want to learn Chinese chess too!"

The lackeys who had just been gathered under him did not quite understand why Lu Guangyi would be interested in something like Chinese chess as well.

After all, although Lu Guangyi's combat ability was outstanding in Prison No. 18, his education level was absolutely among the lowest.

At this moment, Qing Chen looked at Li Shutong and asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

Thank you to Li Dongze, Dancing Sword, and Dian Dian Dian Dian Dian Dian Dian for becoming this book's Alliance Leaders. Generous bosses—may you enjoy fortunes as vast as the Eastern Sea and lives as long as the Southern Mountains!