“Thank you, Adam.”
Shen stood up and moved to stand before Adam. “Where is it?”
“It is hidden really well. I had to spend a lot of effort to find it…” Adam beamed at Shen. “This was not included in our earlier agreement oh!”
“I understand,” said Shen with a smile. “What do you want in exchange?”
“Mmm…” Adam bit his lip and pondered for a moment. “A candy house! A big, big, candy house! One as big as a castle!”
“Fine, it’s agreed, then. A candy castle.” Shen rubbed Adam’s head and said, “Tell me, then. How do I get the key?”
“Bang!” Adam jumped up and down a few times before reaching out with his hand to pull Shen toward a corner portion of the garden.
“Shen!” Cheng Cheng had stood up, her face dark and uncertain as she quickly followed them from behind. “Must you do this?!”
“Sorry.” Shen shook his head gently without turning back.
Adam led them beneath a grove. Looking around, he pointed toward the root from a tree and said, “It’s here! Dig!”
“Well done, Adam.” Shen smiled. Crouching down, he used his hand to dig out the soil there.
Cheng Cheng’s mouth was open. In the end, however, she said nothing.
It did not take long for Shen to dig out a small pit. Wrapped around the root of a tree was a lock of red hair. It was shining with light.
“Using her own body part to create a projection, which maintains only whatever is necessary. That is how she could hide it so well. It even managed to slip past my senses.” Shen carefully untied the red lock of hair and stood up. Then, he turned to face Cheng Cheng. “She is truly smart. She knew, even if she had left behind a doppelganger that had power, it would be incapable of stopping me. Thus, she chose not to endow you any combat abilities.”
“Endow is not the right word.” Cheng Cheng shook her head. “Like I said before, unlike the one you left here, I am not just an echo. The one who chose to give up all power was me. After all, I have no intention of fighting you.”
“I understand.” Shen extended his hand to gently touch Cheng Cheng’s face. “Is there anything else you want to say?”
“Whatever the reason may be, if you cannot tell me the answer, then at least answer this question from me.” Cheng Cheng released a gentle sigh. “You… … do you regret it?”
Shen fell into a momentary state of silence. He did not nod his head; neither did he shake his head. “In hindsight, the me from back then had other choices to choose. In fact, there were better choices. Besides, after making that decision, I failed to achieve the result that I had wanted. No matter what, I had not done right by you. And yet…”
He sighed before slowly continuing, “We are not Gods. We cannot predict what the future brings. When standing before the forking path within history, no one could ever make the right decision. Everyone makes mistakes. However, it is impossible to bring the memories of what happened after back to the point before that decision was made. Thus, the word regret has never existed for me.”
“Is that so… … I understand what you mean.” Cheng Cheng revealed a smile before reaching out with her hand to place it on Shen’s hand, which he had placed on her face. “Do it, then.”
Shen slowly nodded and the lock of red hair that was on his left palm suddenly ignited. In but seconds, it had been reduced to ashes.
While the lock of red hair was burning, the Cheng Cheng before Shen slowly dissipated.
Her dissipation began the moment the red hair burnt until only ashes were left.
As for Shen, his gait remained the same, unchanging, his right hand still outstretched, still touching her cheek.
Only after Cheng Cheng had completely disappeared did Shen slowly put down his hand.
A key was shining on the ground.
“Sorry, Cheng Cheng.”
Shen picked up the key with an impassive face and walked toward the door that had appeared before him.
…
A beach, the sea breeze and sunshine…
The sea waves rolled gently as they lapped the sand on the beach.
The beach was empty save for a large patio umbrella, which was creating a shade for a beach chair.
Beside the beach chair was a cup of black tea on a small table. Little droplets of condensed water lined the inner surface of the cup and they exuded silky cool air. There were no stalls in the vicinity.
Cheng Cheng, who was wearing a bikini, lay on the beach chair. She had a pair of sunglasses on her face as she picked up the cup of black tea. After taking a sip, her hand moved to place it back on the table when her hand suddenly trembled.
The glass cup slipped from her hand to fall on the beach. Although it did not break, the black tea and ice cubes within them were spilled all over, leaving a puddle of dampness on the sandy beach.
Earlier, for a fleeting instant, a sensation of pain had seared its way across her scalp. It felt as though a piece of her hair had been plucked out.
“Finally… … has the day come?”
Cheng Cheng lowered her head to look at the glass cup lying on the ground. With a gentle wave of her hand, the cup and the wet puddle of sand instantly disappeared.
She stood up and the beach chair and patio umbrella behind her disappeared as well. Even the surrounding beach and sea disappeared, just like a drawing on a black board that had been instantly wiped clean.
The space around Cheng Cheng became an expanse of whiteness.
As for Cheng Cheng, after her earlier actions, she had not made another move. She simply stood there silently, not moving even a finger.
After who knows how long, a spatial rift suddenly appeared before her.
A riding boot that sported various metal spikes and rings stepped forward and onto the ground to create a clear sound.
“Gabriel? Scram!”
Cheng Cheng abruptly raised her head and a murderous expression fell upon the newcomer.
“Why are you so ill-tempered? Did the big auntie come knocking?” The punk-looking youngster grinned cheekily as he waved his hand at Cheng Cheng [1]. He had stepped into the space there.
“Did you forget our agreement? You dare enter my space without my invitation?” spat Cheng Cheng through gritted teeth.
Gabriel shrugged and said with a loud voice, “Even though I am next door, I could still feel the emotional emanations coming off you. I was afraid that you might kill yourself due to your bad mood. So, I came over to check it out. Are you not touched by how caring I am?”
“I don’t need your care. Now, get out.” Cheng Cheng flicked her right arm and a large sword appeared within her grip. “If you don’t, I will kill you.”
“Oh, sure.” Gabriel opened his mouth and gave a yawn. “The two of us… … forget killing one another. If either of us can defeat the other, we would not have had to share this instance dungeon all this time. What is the point of throwing out such a pointless and laughable threat?”
Cheng Cheng responded with a light snort. Without any warning, she instantly appeared before Gabriel.
The length of the large sword was about 1.5 times that of an average human’s height and one metre broad. It was so thick that, rather than call it a sword, it may be more accurate to call it a door. Even so, Cheng Cheng was able to easily wield it as though it was nothing more but a piece of paper. The sword slashed down quickly toward Gabriel.
“Sigh… … the 1,263rd time…”
Gabriel sighed helplessly. He stretched out with his hand to press the air before him and a spherical object appeared before Cheng Cheng’s incoming sword blow.
The spherical object was enveloped with crackling electrical currents. There at the centre of the object was a twist in space. The large sword cut into it, causing it to instantly flash out before disappearing.
However, even the sword was abruptly pulled out from Cheng Cheng’s grasp into the centre of the sphere of light, where it disappeared along with the sphere.
Yet, it would appear that Cheng Cheng had already anticipated the outcome. By the time the large sword disappeared, an even bigger axe was already within her left hand. She swung the axe toward Gabriel.
Gabriel, on the other hand, sent out yet another sphere of light. The large axe, like the large sword before it, disappeared alongside the flashing sphere of light.
“All right! Enough! Stop throwing a fuss!”
After the two attacks from Cheng Cheng, Gabriel took advantage of the momentary opportunity to jump backward. In but the blink of an eye, he had put a considerable distance between the two of them.
But Cheng Cheng was like a maggot clinging insistently onto a bone. No propelling kick was evident and her figure did not even fly forward. Instead, her figure simply flashed and she appeared beside Gabriel.
Gabriel summoned the spheres of light continuously to suck in Cheng Cheng’s weapons. As for Cheng Cheng, she would – with a light flick of her hand – recreate a new weapon for herself. Additionally, every one of them was bigger than her.
Even when wielding such gigantic weapons, Cheng Cheng’s movements remained agile, so much so that it appeared ghastly.
“Damn it!”
Gabriel parried her attacks again and again. However, seeing as Cheng Cheng was not showing any signs of stopping, he finally grew enraged.
“What? Are you finally going to fight back?”
Cheng Cheng gave a sneer. Using her right hand alone, she raised a gigantic siege hammer up high and swung it down toward Gabriel’s head.
Unexpectedly, Gabriel neither parried this attack from Cheng Cheng nor counter attacked. He did not even dodge.
He simply halted all his movements and stood there, allowing the siege hammer to slam down on his head.
Bang!
Gabriel’s body shook from the impact. As for the siege hammer, it was incapable of handling the force from the impact and shattered into pieces.
Cheng Cheng, who had not expected her attack to hit, faltered in her non-stop offensive. She looked at Gabriel with an expression of shock.
“Do you feel good? If not, should I let you hit me again?” Gabriel kneaded his head with his right hand, a rueful smile on his face. “Or twice? Definitely no more than thrice! Your attacks are too forceful, it hurts…”
“… … …”
Cheng Cheng stared blankly at Gabriel for a moment. Then, with a snort, the siege hammer fragments on the floor disappeared as well. “Out with it, then. Why have you come here? And don’t give me that bull crap about sensing my bad mood.”
“Are you not going to continue with the fight any more? You will only have this one chance oh. I won’t allow you to save it up and you won’t be getting this preferential treatment the next time.” Gabriel was still kneading his head. “Are you sure?”
A chilling glint flashed across Cheng Cheng’s eyes all of a sudden as light swirled across her right hand and a blade appeared from her palm. “Fine, just stand still and let me give you a stab.”
This time, the weapon in her hand was different from the earlier ones. This blade had no tangible body. Instead, it only possessed a seemingly non-existent silhouette. Only a vague outline could be seen at the edges of the blade.
Seeing the blade caused Gabriel’s face to sink. He hastily took a step backward and waved with his hand. “Hey! Hey! Hey! Cheng Cheng! Are you for real, here? You are even going to take out the Dimensional Rip Blade? You want me to just stand still and let you stab me with that? I am not that stupid!”
“Didn’t you say you are giving me preferential treatment?” answered Cheng Cheng with a sneer.
“Forget it, will you… … … you are too vicious!” Gabriel replied with a bitter smile. “Keep it, won’t you?”
Cheng Cheng looked away in contempt and the Dimensional Rip Blade disappeared.
“Truth be told, you should already know, deep inside, the reason I came looking for you.” Seeing Cheng Cheng keep the Dimensional Rip Blade aside, Gabriel gave a sigh of relief. “If even I can sense it, you… … there is no reason you cannot. The door… … has been opened.”
“I know.” Cheng Cheng nodded in response.
“So… … as expected, that was the reason for your foul mood, right?” Gabriel looked around at the white and empty space around them. “I say, this is your room. Couldn’t you at least create some stuff out? Standing and chatting in this place makes me feel like an idiot. Can’t you at least create two chairs?”
Cheng Cheng cast a cold gaze at Gabriel. In the next instant, the scenery around them underwent a refresh process and the white space became a verdant garden.
A cobbled trail ran through the riot of colours formed by the flowers within the garden.
There before the two of them was a small wooden table and two chairs.
“Thanks.”
Without waiting for Cheng Cheng to seat herself, Gabriel unceremoniously sat himself down and crossed his legs. “I personally did not expect him to return to that place.”
“Who do mean by ‘him’?” Cheng Cheng sat down as well and asked coolly.
“Is there even a need to ask that?” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Didn’t you hear what that metallic digitization kid said? Shen was trapped in Thirty-three Heavens. Mm, I almost forgot. That place is now known as Zero City. And now, someone has opened the door. No matter how you look at it, the one who opened the door should be him, no?”
Cheng Cheng stretched her hand out toward the table before her and a cup of hot tea suddenly appeared before her hand. Picking up the cup, she took a sip before replying coolly, “And what of it?”
“What of it?” Gabriel exclaimed in a theatrical tone. “Don’t you see the importance of this matter? Since the great collapse, all of us came to the conclusion that Thirty-three Heavens is not the final solution. Thus, all of us chose to give up on that place. For Shen to return to that place and attempt to obtain the highest authority, that means…
“He may have… … found the ‘right path’!”
…
1 ‘Big auntie comes knocking’ stands for a woman’s period.↩