He remembered me? Lin Yuan realized this.

No one remembered what happened last night, but Xun Hua did. He remembered her, and also yesterday, he had used the word “again.”

Lin Yuan repeated yesterday’s actions, pulling the person onto the bed, and treating his wounds.

Xun Hua was too thin, his back’s bones protruding, the thin skin covering them, crisscrossed with all sorts of wounds from abuse.

Under the moonlight, he was as pale as a corpse.

Lin Yuan thought, such a disgusting place shouldn’t exist.

If yesterday, Lin Yuan had just casually helped, today, the same wounds, the same thin and bony back, evoked a more uncomfortable feeling in her heart.

The deepening of emotions was perhaps because he had become an acquaintance.

An acquaintance she had spent a night with, seeing him being treated like this again, she felt anger and sadness.

So emotions between people gradually changed during interactions.

Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, some becoming deeper, making it easier to understand each other.

Lin Yuan looked at the strange wounds, not understanding why humans could have such malice towards their own kind.

She carefully treated those wounds.

Xun Hua lay there, his eyes open, not caring what Lin Yuan did to him.

His hands were tightly bound by a rope, the rough rope almost cutting into his flesh, when Lin Yuan’s dagger slid between his skin and the rope, cutting it, he didn’t even flinch, indifferent to whether the sharp blade would pierce the rope or his flesh.

Only when Lin Yuan covered him with the blanket again did a pale hand reach out and grab the edge of the blanket, as if that thin layer of cotton could protect him.

Xun Hua was still alive, he had body temperature, he could move.

But Lin Yuan felt that he might already be dead, like a withered tree, empty inside, numb, the tentacles could hardly capture any emotions from him.

Lin Yuan went into the bathroom, washing the bloodstains on her hands under the faucet.

Cold water flowed over the skin on the back of her hand, washing away the bright red blood.

This was a bizarre world, yet sometimes it felt so real.

Windsor, who was already dead, and Windsor, who was alive before her. Xun Hua, who was still alive, and Xun Hua, who felt like he was already dead. It made Lin Yuan feel a little confused.

She heard Windsor’s soft voice outside, “Xiao Xun, be a little more obedient… It’s rare to have such a gentle guest…”

Lin Yuan wiped her hands clean and walked out, hoping Windsor would stay and accompany her.

Windsor looked very happy.

“Of course, I’d be very happy to accompany such a beautiful guest.”

She sat down beside Lin Yuan, sitting very low, nestled by Lin Yuan’s feet, looking up at her, her eyes full of smiles. She held Lin Yuan’s hands, pressing them against her cheeks.

She seemed very humble, as if Lin Yuan could do anything to her. But she also gave Lin Yuan an unusually resilient feeling, as if this soft body could withstand great suffering.

Windsor’s hands were actually very rough, covered in calluses and dead skin, but her cheeks were plump, rosy, young, with a living warmth.

Lin Yuan couldn’t associate this face with the corpse sitting by the window, head lowered, lifeless and gray.

She gently touched that warm cheek and withdrew her hand.

“I want to hear you sing.”

Windsor started singing, her voice gentle, with a calming power, soothing the pain in people’s hearts in this brightly lit, joyous night, bringing peace.

The silver-haired head on the bed moved slightly, and he fell asleep under the moonlight.

During this time, the manager here came knocking, “Windsor, you haven’t finished your work yet, don’t hide in there and slack off.”

Lin Yuan opened the door and saw a translucent being like a slime, piled on the ground.

The monster, with two cloudy eyes, spoke in a rough, male voice, “Windsor, what are you doing in Room 8 again? Don’t disturb the guest, hurry up and get out of there and work, or I’ll beat you to death.”

Windsor seemed very afraid of him, hiding behind Lin Yuan, biting her lip, her face pale with fear.

Lin Yuan sprinkled a handful of imperial coins on the ground. “I want her to stay with me.”

The monster’s eyes lit up, it wriggled its sticky body, picked up the coins on the floor one by one, swallowing them.

“Bring me the most delicious food and drinks,” Lin Yuan said.

“Okay, okay, as you wish,” the monster repeatedly agreed, greedily licking every coin on the floor. Finally, it wriggled its body, sliding downstairs, leaving a long, wet trail behind.

The door closed, and the table was piled with food.

The black shadows of the guests passing by occasionally flickered on the yellowed paper covering the window by the door, those shadows elongated by the lights, like twisted monsters.

The swaying lanterns, the moving black shadows, the superficial noise… were all shut outside by the dilapidated wooden door.

In the small room, the moonlight was tranquil, a sick patient lying on the bed, two girls huddled at the small table, eating delicious food.

They even opened a bottle of wine, and drank a little.

This time, really just a little.

“These sesame-covered glutinous rice balls are very delicious.”

“These are called “Ciba cake” they’re made by pounding glutinous rice, hundreds of times.”

“Really? There’s so much delicious food here.”

“You like sweets, miss, I’ll get you a bowl of fermented glutinous rice balls with sweet wine.”

“Call me Lin Yuan.”

The sofa here was old and small, after taking off their shoes, with their legs curled up, the two girls almost filled it completely.

“Miss Yuan Yuan,” Windsor poured Lin Yuan more wine. “You must have a lover you love very much, right? That’s why, after coming here, you didn’t do anything, and just let me sing to you.”

“Lover?” Lin Yuan, holding her wine cup, carefully thought about it.

She had just made a few friends, and was only starting to resemble a normal person a little. To have a close and complex relationship like “lover,” she was probably still a long way off.

“What kind of person is considered a lover?” Lin Yuan asked her.

She had once had a fiancé, but she hadn’t seemed to experience the intimate relationship that everyone talked about, those mysterious feelings of love and lust that made people so excited whenever they were mentioned.

Windsor froze when she heard this question, then couldn’t help but laugh, “Oh dear, you really are…”

“You really don’t have a lover? Then why are you here?” Windsor, her eyes smiling, the sweet wine reddening her cheeks.

“I’m here to find something,” Lin Yuan said, adding a thought from her heart. “You look very beautiful when you smile.”

Windsor’s shoulders shook with laughter, her eyes and heart full of smiles.

“You’re so good with words, and so gentle, you’ll definitely find a very good lover in the future, Miss Yuan Yuan.”

Am I really good at making people happy? Lin Yuan blinked, this was the first time she heard someone describe her like this.

“A lover…” Windsor, holding her wine cup, her eyes shining, “It’s like a snail crawling on the back of your hand, like butterfly wings gently fluttering in your palm, you can’t ignore him. You’ll long for him, miss his fingers, his ankles, his skin, and the way he looks at you. In short, it’s a being that makes your heart race.”

Lin Yuan took a sip of wine, fingers, ankles, skin… this description sounded pretty good.

It seemed even more appealing than the feelings the tentacles often saw.

…

Lin Yuan had a bit more to drink, in this room, she felt like she had become more talkative.

She didn’t know why, but watching Windsor’s smile, she couldn’t help but want to talk to her more, listen to her singing more. Fortunately, she still remembered her main purpose for coming here.

She wanted to know what kind of person Xun Hua was, why he was the only one here who remembered everything.

“So, do you like Xun Hua?” Lin Yuan asked. “I feel like you care about him a lot.”

“Like Xiao Xun?” Windsor’s eyelashes fluttered, slightly lowering, “How could you think that…”

“Yuan Yuan, you don’t seem to be from here, you don’t know, Xiao Xun, he used to be such a dazzling Guide.”

“A Guide?” Lin Yuan, hearing this unexpected news, looked at the person sleeping on the bed in disbelief. “Aren’t Guides all in the imperial capital? How could there be a Guide here?”

Because that patient was covered in wounds, thin and bony, and almost had no emotions, no outward mental presence, Lin Yuan hadn’t even noticed that this person was a Guide, just like her.

“This is a place for criminals, those sent here are all people who have committed crimes in various military camps,” Windsor looked at Lin Yuan’s reaction strangely, “Of course there are sentinels and Guides in military camps, Guides and sentinels are always together, why would they all be in the capital?”

Lin Yuan was stunned. “Guides and sentinels are always together? Fighting together?”

“Of course,” Windsor said matter-of-factly, as if this was common knowledge, “Guides are powerful warriors, although there are fewer of them, but which military camp can do without Guides? Without Guides, how can humans fight against the monsters in contaminated zones?”

Guides were powerful warriors?

Weren’t Guides gentle and virtuous, responsible for taking care of sentinels’ lives, like flower vases? That was the common understanding in Lin Yuan’s world.

Lin Yuan realized that this world was very different from the one she knew.

Compared to those contaminated zones passed down from the old era, the Golden Tree Contaminated Zone was a relatively new one. Its origins unknown, they only knew that it had formed only three or four hundred years ago.

But Lin Yuan felt that the world three or four hundred years ago was completely different from now.

Windsor told Lin Yuan a sad story.

When she was little, Windsor’s family had been very poor, with many younger siblings. Her mother, unable to bear the burden of life, had died early, leaving only a father who didn’t care much about his children.

At that time, she had lived in fear every day. Afraid of her drunken father’s beatings, even more afraid of the way a neighbor looked at her.

As she grew older, that neighbor would come to their house more often, asking her father to drink with him. When he was drunk, the way he looked at her, like a hungry wolf staring at its prey, made her shudder.

Windsor carefully avoided this person, but in the end, she couldn’t avoid him. Once, when she was returning home after buying wine, before she even reached her door, she was dragged into an alley by that man’s hairy arm.

Her mouth was covered, and she received several slaps on her face. The man, reeking of alcohol, hit her while pulling at his belt.

Windsor, at that time, hadn’t believed anyone would come save her.

Her father was already drunk, even if he wasn’t, a father like that probably wouldn’t care about her.

She couldn’t even call for help, her face swollen, her mouth covered by that smelly hand.

She could only scream in her heart, if thoughts could also be heard, then her screams must have traveled very, very far.

So far that they were heard by the moon in the sky.

That was the first time Windsor had seen Xun Hua. The young officer in a Guide uniform appeared in the dirty alley and coldly said, “Get lost.”

The man, who, in Windsor’s eyes, had been an insurmountable mountain, clutched his head, wailing as if someone was beating him in his mind, tears and snot streaming down his face, he stumbled away, trembling.

“Although, my life didn’t get any better afterwards, I always remembered the person who helped me that day,” Windsor said to Lin Yuan.

She accidentally drank a bit too much, tears shimmering in her eyes. “Every time I thought about how there were still such people in this world, I would feel a little stronger.”

“Then what?” Lin Yuan asked her.

“Then, then I actually saw Xiao Xun here,” Windsor’s expression dimmed, the smile disappearing from her eyes.

“They said he was a bright moon that had fallen into the gutter, but I think the moon is the moon, no matter where it is. How could a rat like me, who has always lived in the gutter, not like the moon?”

“I just want to be able to help him a little, to repay the kindness from back then.”

“Oh dear, look at me,” she wiped her flushed face. “I’m sorry, I accidentally said too much, making you listen to such unpleasant things, how about I sing you another song? Yuan Yuan, is there any song you’d like to hear?”

“I liked the song you sang last night,”

“Last night?” Windsor thought, puzzled. She remembered that this was the first time she had sung for Lin Yuan.

They must have all been drunk.

“Last night, the song you sang, about the rat,” Lin Yuan said. “Very cheerful, it made people happy, rats, there are also cute ones, they’re also worthy of liking the moon. I like rats.”

“Really? I do have a song about rats, how did you know?” Windsor smiled again. “You really like rats?”

“Yes, just started liking them, I like rats, I also like crabs, snakes, and birds… they’re all very cute, I feel like they’re much better than the cold moon.”

Windsor then sang a song, a cheerful song she had written herself, about rats.

Time passed, and a rumbling sound like thunder came from afar, as if something was burning. It was even louder and more intense than last night’s commotion.

Xun Hua on the bed developed a high fever again. His entire body was burning hot, neither antipyretics nor physical cooling could bring his fever down.

But he seemed awake, his cold, numb eyes softening in the heat. He kept looking for Windsor, as if she was his only support in this world.

A gentle knock came from the door, it was the secret signal Ni Ji and Lin Yuan had agreed upon.

Lin Yuan quietly poked her head out and saw Ni Ji standing outside.

“Someone set the tree on fire,” Ni Ji whispered to her.

Perhaps inspired by Ni Ji’s fighting style last night, several sentinels had gathered together today, they had collected a lot of flammable and explosive materials, making long-range incendiary bombs.

They probably wanted to completely burn that strange tree and see if there was anything else beneath the abyss.

They made a big scene, even from here, she could see those fireballs flying through the sky.

The huge crescent moon hung in the night sky, and flickering flames on the ground, like a fire burning under the moon.

“I’ll go take a look,” Ni Ji said. “I’ll be back soon.”

He glanced at the room Lin Yuan had been in, and changed to sign language.

He had been hiding nearby just now, and had heard most of the conversations inside.

These two people are very unusual, Ni Ji said in sign language, especially the one on the bed, I have a feeling he’s a bit dangerous, you…

“I’ll be careful,” Lin Yuan responded to him, making a reassuring gesture.

Before leaving, Ni Ji opened his mouth, but didn’t say anything in the end.

Fortunately, Lin Yuan was a Guide, good at capturing subtle emotions, and she suddenly had a flash of inspiration, adding a sentence to the departing sentinel.

“Hey, I like rats, crabs, snakes, birds, and also killer whales.”

【Great.】

【She’s improving.】

【Good job.】

【Rats really are very cute, they’ve even taught the main body how to do this.】