RotA – Chapter 74

The dense fog brought by the black vines shrouded the ruins of the city. Far from the fighter jet, the black vines silently took on a human form, walking through the quiet morning mist.

The morning wind, carrying the damp chill of the fog, seemed intent on gathering all the coldness of the human world as it swept past the solitary figure, ruffling her silver-white hair.

Closer now. She was very close to the past she sought. She could feel a summons, something akin to destiny.

Vague memories surfaced in her mind, bit by bit, yet she felt not a trace of joy at recovering her past.

It was endless darkness, heat, and silence.

Her life should have been very simple, merely absorbing nutrients within the mother body, growing slowly in slumber.

She shouldn’t have had human will; she should have slumbered in a place unreachable by the world.

But then came the first great sound, which woke her and tore her from the mother body.

Did it hurt?

It probably did, but she had already forgotten what that felt like. What kind of thoughts could a plant produce? In the end, she was a plant, not a person. She couldn’t remember clearly, nor could she discern if her self at that time was even capable of perceiving the world.

In truth, she had thought of going back.

After gaining this strange body, when she could move on her own, at the moment she began to think, she looked at the unfamiliar world before her, sensed the new temperatures, and felt only fear—a fear so intense she wanted to flee like mad.

How could the her of before have understood what fear was?

Human emotions are truly a terrifying thing.

Chai Yuening was right. Humanity had infected her.

Joy, anger, sorrow, fear, and so many other complex feelings.

She should never have possessed them, but she had come into this world, continuing the emotions of a human girl that had not dissipated with her life.

This is destiny, isn’t it?

Just as Chai Yuening had said, the world was so big, yet they still met.

This must be destiny.

Destiny brought her into this world, and it also let her meet the person who taught her human emotions.

In truth, she didn’t know how big the world was.

She hadn’t been to many places; before yesterday, she hadn’t even seen a partial map of the Old World.

She had always thought the world was very small.

At least, her world was indeed very small. So small that searching through her memories, the things worth cherishing, worth remembering, could be counted on one hand… So small, it seemed it could only hold one person.

But she was willing to believe the world was big, because that person always said so.

The only pity was that she had never had a good look at this big world, and now she had to go back alone.

If the Mother Flower that constantly summoned her to return to her roots was truly the source of all calamity, then when the Mother Flower’s anger subsided, would the humans struggling in the eternal night finally welcome the light of dawn?

She didn’t know.

Would the great fog dissipate? Would the species mutations brought by the black vines stop? Would the beast hordes, seeking to evolve, no longer crave human genes after being unable to evolve further?

She didn’t know.

Everything about humanity’s past and future passed through her mind, fleeting and insignificant.

She only knew that the fuel gauge on the fighter jet showed there should be enough for Chai Yuening to return to the human base.

She wanted her to live well.

Like the humans of the Old World in the books, to live, grow old, get sick, and die freely in a place where they could see the sun and hear the wind.

As for their promise…

She couldn’t eat her.

She was just a plant, how could she eat a person?

She had always been a person easily satisfied. She didn’t need Chai Yuening to give up everything to wander the world with her. Because she knew that fish cannot leave water, birds must be able to fly, and a human separated from their people would likewise not be happy.

She was not human. Her world could consist of only Chai Yuening, but Chai Yuening’s world could not consist of only her.

During the days they spent as fugitives together, she could feel the confusion and unease suppressed in Chai Yuening’s heart. If they hadn’t met An De and An Li, Chai Yuening, like most humans lost in the Fog Zone, would have died in a fog that seemed like it would never lift.

A tear slid from Chu Ci’s eye. There was no one to wipe it away.

She had her own fated destination. Chai Yuening couldn’t change her destiny, unless they died together in this raging torrent.

But she didn’t want that.

That they had been able to walk this far together was enough.

Her life, what could barely be called a human one, had truly begun from the moment she met Chai Yuening after losing her memories.

Along the way, many people had cast looks of pity or guilt at her, as if the world’s debt to her meant she had endured so much inhuman suffering.

But having come into this world and met someone who would disregard life and death for her, she didn’t feel it was painful.

She still lacked something of a human’s nature, still perceived the world with extraordinary slowness, and still hadn’t learned how to feel the joys and sorrows in the hearts of humans other than Chai Yuening.

But that was alright. It didn’t stop her from hoping for humanity’s immortality, from hoping for humanity to have a bright future.

Because she had endured humanity’s greatest malice, yet had also been fully embraced by humanity’s tenderness, even if only for a brief moment.

Even if just for that person, for everything that person cared about, she should sincerely pray for this special race.

Chu Ci walked through the fog. She passed the towering buildings of the Old World city, her human fingers turning into vine tendrils, lightly touching a black vine flower blooming outward from a shattered glass window.

It was as if, through these “kin” of hers, she could see exactly how this place had deteriorated from a bustling metropolis, bit by bit, into its current dilapidated state.

They came from the ten-thousand-meter abyss, searching for a child that had been stolen from them. They spent half a century growing into every corner of this world, and finally, they had found her…

Chu Ci could feel that, in this moment, everything was so peaceful.

The black vines along the way all began to bloom in one direction.

Red, purple, their faint light tinged the color of the morning fog.

Chu Ci released the flower in her hand and walked forward again.

A voice traveled across from a not-so-distant memory.

—I heard the old folks in the Base say that the surface used to be really prosperous. As soon as night fell, the city would light up with so many lights, and the roads would be full of cars coming and going. The Fog Zone didn’t exist back then. You didn’t have to pick a spot; at night, you could just look up and see the stars and the moon in the sky. When the night got deeper and the city quieted down, you could hear the “chirping of insects and calls of birds in the deep of night” that the books talk about…

The world Chai Yuening had described in her ear when they first met—she was a little curious about it now, but in the end, she had never gotten to see it.

What was this feeling to a human?

She wanted to find someone to ask, but around here, there were no longer any humans who could hear her voice.

All she could do was continue forward.

Everything was about to end.

Yet she felt an intense pain, like a thorny vine, tightly entangled around her flesh-and-blood heart.

Chai Yuening had said she could speak up if it hurt, but in truth, the kind of pain that could truly crush a person was often the kind you didn’t know how to put into words.

She couldn’t describe this feeling, and her steps grew heavier because of it.

She couldn’t help but crouch down, wrap her arms around her knees, and bury her face in her arms, letting her body tremble uncontrollably.

The life of Sample A0027 was both long and short. In this boundless, vast world, it was an insignificant existence. Her sorrow, along with her solitude, would forever be hidden in a desolate land where no human would ever appear.

She was nothing now, having failed to integrate with humanity, and it was impossible to return to her origins in her former state.

Every living being has its own destination—for some, it’s their birthplace; for others, their final stop.

Humanity’s destination is home, family, friends.

She alone had no destination.

Chu Ci thought, she would die.

She would die on some day or night, separated from the crowd; die on some day or night, missing someone.

Just like a fish out of water, a bird that cannot fly.

In that instant, her world seemed to collapse, arriving even sooner than humanity’s apocalypse.

Every rustle of wind and grass seemed to mock her in her ears.

“Isn’t this your own choice?”

A voice startled Chu Ci awake. It was like a dream, so unreal.

Chu Ci lifted her head with some hesitation, turning around in disbelief.

In that instant, time seemed to stand still. She saw that familiar figure in the dense fog.

She had never thought she would follow.

Chai Yuening walked toward her. They met each other’s gaze in the mist.

Chai Yuening crouched in front of her, gazed into her eyes, and asked her, “If it’s so painful, why did you choose this?”

Within her words, there seemed to be a suppressed emotion that she couldn’t quite understand.

Chu Ci: “You, why…”

Chai Yuening: “I respect every choice you make. But what about you?”

Chu Ci: “…”

Chai Yuening: “Accompanying you to the end of your life is my choice. You think the decision you made for me is for the best, so I must accept it?”

Chu Ci: “…”

Chai Yuening: “If I had fallen asleep, I would never have found you again, right?”

Chu Ci: “…”

Chai Yuening’s tone was no longer as tolerant as before. The rims of her eyes were red, tears welled within them. The palms gripping Chu Ci’s shoulders were slick with cold sweat. She seemed to be trying hard to suppress her emotions, but still couldn’t help but tremble slightly.

She seemed truly angry. In Chu Ci’s limited memory, she had never seen such a look in her eyes, one that held back so many words.

Chu Ci opened her mouth, subconsciously wanting to explain herself, only to find that her heart was in chaos, not knowing if it was more sweet or more bitter.

She unconsciously grabbed Chai Yuening’s arm, her eyes wide as if trying to read that complex gaze. It was as if, unable to understand the human heart, she would forever be a lone boat on the sea, unable to reach the shore.

But suddenly, Chai Yuening pulled her into an embrace, one hand coming to rest at the roots of her hair behind her ear. She couldn’t help but tremble violently.

All the emotions suppressed in her heart were completely unleashed in that moment.

Chai Yuening kissed her.

Kissed the corner of her eye, kissed the tear tracks, kissed her lips.

Time seemed to stop flowing. In that stretch of silence, humanity’s destiny also seemed to end at the edge of the world.

For a moment, only the two of them remained in the desolate ruins of the city. All the world’s troubles seemed as if they could vanish completely with the world’s destruction.

Chu Ci finally knew what Chai Yuening had been trying to tell her.

She yielded to that deep kiss, understanding for the first time, truly, why she always felt such pain at the thought of parting.

The world’s destruction should have had nothing to do with her.

But before the world was destroyed, she fell in love with a human.

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Author’s Notes:

I’m just saying, this author is really good at writing sweet scenes. I even made myself cry.