Huai Shi opened her eyes and saw the afternoon light outside the window.

The dust broke away from the ceiling and danced in the dim light. The air was filled with the familiar musty smell, and the dripping sound of water next door was heard.

This is his home.

After a dream, he was lying on a broken couch in the hall.

"I ...... Alive, how long have I been asleep?"

He got up in a daze, touched his chest, and saw that the wound was well bandaged, and there was a faint pain, but he was able to move without hindrance.

In particular, he discovered that the Book of Destiny had been transformed from an entity into his own will, and that it could turn on its own as long as his mind moved.

Soon, he heard a voice beside him.

"It's been about ten hours, and it seems that you are recovering well. ”

The girl sitting in front of the window looked up at him, and her calm face made Huai Shi uneasy.

"What the hell was last night...... What happened? By the way, Lao Liu, Lao Liu, he ......."

"Liu Dongli?ah, he's alive, and now the operation should be over, and he's in the intensive care unit...... If you recover well, you may still be able to wake up in the future. But it's not your fault, it's better to say that it's a blessing to be targeted by the green sun and still survive. ”

Ai Qing said calmly: "Although a lot of things happened last night, and the people behind the scenes escaped...... But for you, it's over. ”

"It's over?"

"Yes, it's over. Ai Qing bowed, "No matter what, the next thing has nothing to do with you, and no one will stare at you in the future." ”

She stared at Huai Shi and solemnly told him:

"Congratulations, you can go back to your peaceful life. ”

If Ai Qing had told him this yesterday, he would have been overjoyed and dancing, but now, when he heard the news, he couldn't be happy at all.

Not even a pleasant reaction.

Ai Qing didn't say anything more, closed the book and prepared to leave, and after refusing Huai Shi's send, she got up on crutches and said goodbye.

"What's wrong?"

She saw Huai Shi's trance and tilted her head: "Is there anything else you want to ask?" If you are worried about Liu Dongli's car parked here, someone will drive away in two days, don't worry, I will call you before I come." ”

Huai Shi shook her head and looked at her: "I've actually been thinking about where I've seen you these days. ”

“......”

Ai Qing was silent for a long time, and shook her head calmly: "It doesn't matter if you can't think of it, it's not an important thing anyway, just forget it." ”

She walked out the door, took one last look at Huai Shi, and said goodbye.

"Then, I am going to leave for Jinling immediately to report on my work, I wish you all the best in your future life, and I hope we can not see each other again. ”

She said, "Farewell, Huaishi." ”

The door closed.

In the silence, Huai Shi was silent, watching Ai Qing walk into the car with the help of the driver, the door closed, slowly walked away, and finally disappeared to the end of the road.

.

.

All afternoon, Huai Shi sat on the steps of the garden, the old place that belonged to him, looking at the bare nursery, in a daze.

"Stunned, right?"

The crow didn't know when it came out again, stood on his shoulder, and patted him on the head: "Don't be sad, come, smoke a cigarette and relax?"

It's really not okay to buy a bottle of wine and drink two sips, sleep with your head bored, and everything is over. ”

"Done?"

Huai Shi looked at her.

"Yes, it's over. The crow asked lightly, "Isn't it all over, Huai Shi?" as you wished, you have gotten rid of all that mess and welcomed back the peaceful life you had been thinking about. ”

Huai Shi did not answer.

Is it over?

Perhaps, but the relief he had expected did not come.

There was no relief, and there was even a hint of anger that came from nowhere...... It's clear that nothing is over.

He suddenly remembered Lao Yang's face.

In the last moment, when the bastard looked at himself, he was actually smiling, and once he was about to die, it seemed as if he could be freed.

Obviously, nothing can be freed, he just sold his life in exchange for another person's life, will the woman he saved be happy?

What the hell is he so proud of?

and Liu Dongli, who is now in the intensive care unit.

Huai Shi used to think that they were his friends, but now one of them was shot from behind by himself, and the other was shot from behind.

He lost two friends.

And the initiator of all this has slipped away......

"How can it end suddenly?"

He raised his hand to cover his face, and could no longer hold back the anger and exhaustion in his heart, "Fuck ......"

The raven looked at him with pity.

It was the first time in a long time that she had seen Huai Shi look so angry.

Other than that, it seemed that no matter what happened to him, he would just collapse to the ground with a dead face, letting the chaotic wheel of fate run over him, like an old salted fish.

Naturally good-tempered.

He's strong by him, and I'm cool anyway.

But she always felt that Huai Shi was missing something, hiding something, or ...... Trying to hide something.

Only now did she vaguely understand that perhaps this empty garden was the most relaxing place for him, and only here would he face himself calmly.

Even though his heart was so resistant to this—

"I said, Huaishi. She asked earnestly, "Does this place mean anything to you?"

"Probably......"

Huai Shi looked down at the small garden under the steps, and was silent for a long time.

"If you don't want to say it, don't you ask. The crow shook his head: "After all, snooping on privacy is not a very face-saving thing. ”

"No, there's no need to hide it anyway, I'm just wondering what to tell you. ”

Huai Shi rubbed her face, pondered for a long time, and thought seriously.

"When I was younger, I had a high fever. ”

"At that time my parents were angry because they were playing abroad, I didn't take care of myself, didn't let them worry, and then gave me money to go to the hospital on my own.

But I was too sleepy and uncomfortable to go, and fell asleep on the sofa in the living room. ”

Huai Shi said, "I remember that I had a lot of very strange dreams at that time, I dreamed that I seemed to grow wings and fly in the sky, and I dreamed that this old house could talk, wipe my sweat and pour water, and then I heard the sound of climbing over the wall, and someone came in from the backyard, covering his face, and holding a knife in his hand...... I hid behind the door and didn't dare to speak.

I was scared that if I was found by that man, I would probably die. ”

"I don't want to die. ”

He stared at the bulging ground and whispered, "So I killed him." ”

“......”

The crow was stunned and looked back at Huaishi's face, but there was no trace of any joke, only an unsettling calm.

"That's right. ”

Huai Shi calmly repeated, "I killed him." ”

Hide behind the door and use an axe to slash at the back of the head when the man comes in.

It only took one moment, and the man fell.

And then again, and again, until there was no strength.

After discovering that the person couldn't move, he was first dazed, then uneasy and flustered, and finally the courage that made him fearful.

In the heat of his stupor, he dragged the body into the garden, dug up the ground, and quietly buried it with an axe.

I closed the soil, washed my hands, and went back to bed.

It's as if nothing happened.

Anyway, the chalcedony hall is so remote, no one will come, anyway, the parents are so lazy, they won't take care of the garden, and no one will find out anyway, they killed someone.

In this way, I fell asleep in fear, and I had a lot of strange dreams, but I didn't remember those dreams, and along with some previous memories, after waking up, the high fever went away incredibly.

From that moment on, Huaishi's childhood ended.

And from then on, day after day, year after year.

"Come to think of it, I'm really blessed, aren't I?"

Huai Shi whispered, "At first, I was afraid that someone would come and arrest me, and someone would find what I had buried in the garden, but until now, no one seems to have found out......

If you hadn't hidden it back then, you wouldn't have to be so tired now, no, if you had been killed back then, you wouldn't have lived like now, and you couldn't even stand it. ”

“...... Actually, you don't have to torture yourself. ”

The crow couldn't help but sigh: "Have you ever thought about such a possibility? Perhaps, this is just one of the nightmares you had when you had a high fever. ”

"yes, maybe?"

Huai Shi nodded calmly, "I have bought shovels many times, but I have lost them many times.

Every time I stand here, I hesitate, afraid of what lies underneath. Actually, I'm not afraid to dig up the body, but I'm afraid of the truth. ”

"If I dig this place up," he said, "I won't be able to deceive myself anymore — how can I go back to my quiet life then?"

He paused, then suddenly chuckled softly: "I thought I was going to live a life of self-deception. ”

"—Now it seems that there is no need to fear anything. ”

As she spoke, Huai Shi picked up the rusty shovel in the corner, returned to the middle of the garden, looked for the original mark, and stood still.

Then, the first handful of soil is scooped up.

The crow was stunned.

Then the second shovel, the third shovel.

Huai Shi's movements were fast, even if the wound under the bandage cracked and oozing blood, there was no hesitation.

Chisel out weeds that get in the way, shovel roots in the ground, and dig out the dirt and mud that bury nightmares.

Sweat like a pig.

"You know what's going ......on in my family, right?"

Huai Shi turned her back to the crow and talked to her, as if talking to herself: "Actually, I know very well that since I was born, my parents have never liked me, and after my grandfather died, they didn't care anymore - they didn't need me at all."

When they were there, I was like a nuisance to get in the way, and after they left, I became a homeless wild dog again. Just demolished the east wall and repaired the west wall, and the seams were repaired, and so many years have passed.

Until now, if you can't make any more money, you won't be able to live not only for tuition, but also for living...... I don't think there's any value in this kind of life.

In fact, even I often wonder, why is it so tired to live?

Anyway, it's always so miserable, no matter how hard you struggle, it's useless, and sometimes you have to be ridiculed and looked down upon. Wouldn't it be easier to give up once in a while?

But no matter how sad and bitter I am, I feel that I can survive. Even if I have to sell my dignity once in a while, it doesn't matter, I won't be angry.

Because I know that as long as I'm still moving on, everything will be fine.

Even if the change is always insignificant.

There are people like Lao Yang who are willing to introduce me to work, occasionally find excuses to give me more money, and Lao Liu is willing to invite me to dinner, clean up the trouble I caused in the clubhouse, even if I am shot in the back, he wants me to escape when it is dangerous......

Doesn't that mean that my life is worthwhile?"

Huai Shi asked softly, but no one responded to his words, and sweat dripped down his face and fell into the pit that had been cut open.

"But now—"

He lowered his eyes, and the pickaxe lifted again, shoveling down, with all his might.

It's like smashing the hideous face in my memory.

"My worth has been denied!"

Collapse!

The shovel seemed to have hit something, and a huge crack had been made, but there was nothing to see in the pit, no bodies, no bones, nothing.

Only the scattered glow of the setting sun faintly reflected a cruel silhouette.

It's like an axe.

Huai Shi bent down, reached out, and gripped its handle.

He said:

"—I'm going to kill him. ”

Under the setting sun, the crow looked at the silhouette in Huai Shi's hand in amazement—an invisible iron forged purely from essentia, burning anger and cold killing intent mixed together, reflecting a cruel light.

It was a steel arm of seven years of murderous intent and death that had been dormant here with substance, a force of steel created by nightmares and fear.

As if holding a fire, at that moment, Huai Shi's right hand was ignited by that invisible force, and a white flame rose.

From the silence reveals the true touch.

"I see, I see......"

She muttered softly, and suddenly realized, and finally understood what was happening to Huai Shi at this moment.

Breaking through the barrier between spirit and matter, the transformation between iron and essentia has been realized......

After seven years, Huai Shi finally crossed the long period of stress, and in the burning of essentia, his nature was sublimated and his own soul was ushered in.

It was the unique true name of the soul that the Sea of Silver had given at the end.

- 'Forbidden Hand'!