Mother

As he turned around, the words died on his lips. Was this energetic-looking man with his hair slicked back really her son?

"Heng, are you dating someone?"

Yang Huifen's eyes suddenly reddened as she asked, both delighted and uncertain.

Wu Heng looked at the haggard woman before him, her eyes red with emotion and her face full of joy. He didn't know what to say.

The other soul was gone. Although he was also the child she had given birth to and had grown up in this body, neither of them had known about the other for the past twenty years. She had gained a son, but she had also lost one.

"No, I've just suddenly realized a few things about life. I don't want to keep wasting it."

Knowing that saying too much could lead to trouble, Wu Heng answered in the manner that came naturally to him.

For some reason, he suddenly felt afraid—afraid that everything before him was fake, afraid of losing it all.

"Good, good. That puts Mom at ease."

Yang Huifen carried two sets of bowls and chopsticks to the table and served up the two portions of fried rice.

"Go ahead and eat. I got off work late today. You must be hungry, right?"

"Yeah, a little."

Wu Heng picked up his bowl and shoveled in a big mouthful. He glanced at the plastic bag, which was printed with "Hu's Egg Fried Rice." He wondered how this place's fried rice could be so delicious. He'd have to try it again tomorrow.

As he ate, he glanced at his mother, Yang Huifen, only to find her watching him with a constant smile. The wrinkles at the corners of her eyes crinkled with delight.

"Mom, why do you keep looking at me?"

Wu Heng felt a little strange under her gaze.

"What's wrong? Can't I look at my own son? I was just thinking that now you're so handsome, you're sure to find a pretty girlfriend."

Yang Huifen replied cheerfully, but just as she was about to continue, her phone rang again.

"Hello, Team Leader Liu. Yes, I'm back already. All right, can it wait until tomorrow? Oh. Okay, okay."

Watching Yang Huifen take the call, her hair streaked with white, Wu Heng felt that he needed to sell those ginseng roots soon.

After dinner, Wu Heng and Yang Huifen watched TV together for a while, then went to their separate bedrooms to sleep.

The morning sun rose slowly. Brilliant dawn light passed through the gauzy clouds and fell gently on the windowpane, welcoming a warm morning.

Wu Heng got out of bed lazily, stretched, and twisted his body. A series of crisp pops came from his bones.

He went to the window and pulled back the curtains.

The white clouds drifted slowly outside. Air laced with wisps of cooking smoke streamed in through the window.

Across the way, he could see people in the neighboring apartment building collecting laundry, brushing their teeth and washing their faces, and walking back and forth on their balconies.

Children's songs from downstairs, the crack of an old man's exercise whip, birdsong from the trees, the engines of electric scooters and cars starting up, greetings, and conversations all blended together.

His mother, Yang Huifen, had left for work half an hour earlier. Wu Heng no longer needed to sleep, even for long stretches, but he still wanted to experience this feeling at home.

Wu Heng picked up his phone and checked the forum. There were already over a hundred replies to his post about the century-old ginseng, ranging from offers and expressions of interest to suspicion and scolding.

He read through them carefully and found someone with the username "Medicine Valley Old Freak." He sent him a private message.

The man's profile verified that he was the director of a traditional Chinese medicine hospital, and the price he offered was quite reasonable. He seemed very sincere.

The reply came instantly. It seemed someone had been keeping an eye on the messages.

After sounding him out and discussing the details, Wu Heng decided to bring all three roots to the deal. They were collectibles he had bought at a high price in the story world. They varied in age and appearance, and they had been harvested and preserved at different times. Anyone could see they were collector's items.

Wasn't it possible that the older generations of the Wu family had secretly collected a few valuable things?

Wu Heng quickly washed up and left home. As he locked the door, he heard the neighboring door open too.

He turned around and saw Lili, whom he'd run into at the entrance to the residential complex the day before. They smiled at each other in greeting, but said nothing.

Wu Heng hurried to the teahouse where they'd agreed to meet. After some negotiation, the other party offered ten million yuan for the three ginseng roots and said he would buy as many genuine century-old wild ginseng roots as Wu Heng could provide.

Wu Heng looked at the ten million yuan that had just arrived in his account. The money had come quickly, but this would be a one-time thing. The old Wu family weren't descendants of royalty; they couldn't have passed down so many collectibles that he could sell them every day. If he did it too often, people would inevitably get suspicious.

After that, he casually bought some clothes, electronics, and a Price sedan worth a million yuan, then hurried home.

"Heng, where did you get all this money? You haven't done anything bad, have you?"

That evening, Yang Huifen sat at the table and looked at the five million yuan Wu Heng had transferred into her bank account. She asked with a mix of excitement and worry.

"Don't worry, Mom. Look at the name on the transfer: Miracle Hand Studio. It's a famous traditional Chinese medicine hospital. I made the money through an online herbal medicine business. It's all legitimate."

Wu Heng casually made up an explanation. He wasn't the sort of fool who would hide his earnings from his family because he thought they couldn't handle the news.

He believed his mother could handle this amount of money.

"So it really is! Heng, now you won't have to worry about finding a wife. I'll save this money for you."

Only after seeing the verification on her mobile banking screen did Yang Huifen believe him.

"There's no need to save it. I'll earn plenty more later. You can quit that factory job, so I can focus on making money without worrying about you."

Wu Heng picked up a cup of ginseng tea and handed it to Yang Huifen.

"That sounds good. Mom will go tell them at the factory tomorrow. Then I can be like Old Lady Zhang on the third floor and spend my days taking walks in the park and exercising."

Yang Huifen wasn't one to fuss over things. She had worked hard because she had no choice if she wanted to raise her child. Now that he could earn money, she could finally relax.

After taking care of things with his mother, Wu Heng returned to his room and studied the Lighthouse again.

According to the handbook, the fourth day of every twelfth instance-month was "Lights-Out Day." Everyone would be summoned to the Lighthouse. At that time, both the Lighthouse and the branch towers belonging to the Tower Masters would go dark, and the monsters in the Mystery Domain would run rampant.

Only by entering an instance and returning to reality after completing it could one avoid the disaster. Anyone who believed they were strong enough could also stay at Lighthouse Plaza without entering an instance. As long as they could withstand the attacks of the unknown monsters in the Mystery Domain, they would be fine.

However, that month's instance would be a large-scale horror instance with a death quota. It would be difficult to get out alive without a certain level of strength.

There were now only three and a half months until Lights-Out Day. It wasn't fair to someone like Wu Heng, who had entered the Lighthouse late, but fairness had never been part of the Lighthouse.

The handbook said that many Tower Masters had tried to work out whether the Lighthouse was good or evil. After all their reasoning, they had come to a four-word conclusion: It doesn't care!

Wu Heng didn't like being passive, so he planned to enter the story world early and experience several more worlds to build up his strength quickly.

Wu Heng sat down at the table, picked up pen and paper, and began recalling the plot of the Tumbbad world.