Chapter 301 - 66: Diary

"No, no, you’ve got the character all wrong!"

The middle-aged man explained,

"They’re childhood friends! Besides, in Cheng Mengxue’s memories, she’s never dated anyone or had any kind of romantic entanglement. Don’t go improvising! You’ll ruin everything!"

"You need to understand, Yini. Not every pair of childhood friends develops romantic feelings. We have to stick to the facts. Just act like a childhood friend, and that’s it!"

PSHHHT—

Seeing the two bigwigs before her in such a panic, Li Yini covered her mouth and let out a stifled laugh.

"Oh, honestly. Who do you think understands this better, you or me?"

Her acting in that moment was sublime, as if Cheng Mengxue herself had truly come back to life.

"The memories may not show any romance, but the feelings are good. You could say that I understand her feelings for Jiang Ran better than anyone—even better than Cheng Mengxue herself."

Li Yini picked up her phone, looking at her own reflection in the black screen.

"I’m a fake."

The lips of the girl in the reflection moved.

"But my feelings for him... are real."

THUMP.

As he read this part of the diary, Jiang Ran’s fingers began to tremble.

He held his breath and flipped the page, his eyes landing on the final paragraph of the entry—

[I am Li Yini. Starting tomorrow, when I meet Jiang Ran, I must temporarily forget that name.]

[I’ve prepared for two whole years. I came to East Sea, full of confidence.]

[And when I complete my mission and leave East Sea, I’ll be just as... confident!]

...

...

The banks of the Huangpu River.

The sun sank below the city skyline, staining the surface of the river red, like a flow of molten lava spreading beneath the water.

The clouds were fiery red, the entire world awash in crimson, sky and earth bleeding into one.

Wang Hao leaned against the riverside guardrail and sighed.

"I can’t believe this happened. I never thought... you were right from the start. That Xiaoxue... was really a fake..."

"Plastic surgery, memory downloads, forged DNA reports... I’m fucking speechless. Is this even the real world anymore? Did I fucking transmigrate into a science fiction novel?"

"Still... sigh, I don’t know what to say. I just... I don’t know..."

He was rambling, scratching his head.

"I just feel... really disappointed. I thought Xiaoxue was really alive, that our trio was finally back together. But to think it was all fake!"

He was deeply frustrated.

Wang Hao took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with a lighter.

"But it’s good that we finally know the truth. And if you think about it, she wasn’t completely a fake Xiaoxue. At least the memories were real! Maybe her soul was, too!"

"If she wasn’t the real Xiaoxue, why would she have pushed you away and taken a sniper bullet for you at the end? She came here to kill you, remember? All she had to do was kill you to get her brother back from those human traffickers. Her brother was her whole world!"

Jiang Ran didn’t speak.

He took the lighter from Wang Hao’s hand...

CLICK.

He flicked the lighter, and a fierce, windproof flame flared to life.

Jiang Ran held the copied pages of the diary to the flame. The paper instantly yellowed and blackened where it touched the fire, then burst into a blazing inferno.

Wang Hao exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"Well, whatever the case, this whole farce... is finally over."

Jiang Ran nodded.

’Yes.’

’All those lives lost... and for what? Just a farce.’

He watched the diary burn in his hand, feeling the warm breeze on his face as a montage of memories flashed through his mind—

"I’m sorry, Jiang Ran."

Under the moonlight, Qin Feng looked back one last time, pressing the send button on his phone.

"Forgive me."

.

"Kid! Why are you jumping out the window?!"

Old Tian rubbed his aching back where he’d been kicked and got to his feet.

"Doesn’t this room have a door?"

.

"My name suits my personality. I’m very strict."

Teacher Yan Chonghan pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses.

"We will now... begin class!"

.

"They all say my dad is a bad person."

Tian Xiaoli looked at the white clouds outside the window.

"But in my heart... Dad will always be the best dad in the world."

.

"You big idiot!!"

Cheng Mengxue, soaked to the bone, slapped him across the face.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

.

"This is a kiss from a girl, you know."

The city lights twinkled outside the window. Her fragrant lips brushed against his cheek, light as a dragonfly landing on water.

"It’s not a kiss from your childhood friend. This is... a kiss from a girl, you know."

.

"Jiang Ran..."

Cheng Mengxue, who feared pain more than anything, grit her teeth. Her face was a mess of tears, blood, and grime, and her eyes, full of bitter reluctance, were fixed on him.

"Save me..."

.

The gold coin flipping at the round table. The Magician’s severed head. The Witch’s tarot cards at the amusement park. The rooftop confrontation from the micro-movie. The Ferris wheel over the burnt courtyard wall. The giant eye opening in the center of the spinning ring—

WHOOSH!

The flames on the diary flared to their brightest. With a powerful throw, Jiang Ran hurled the fireball toward the ceaselessly flowing Huangpu River.

"You’re right. This farce is over."

The fireball plummeted toward the river, its burnt ashes dancing wildly in the wind.

"And now..."

Jiang Ran narrowed his eyes, his gaze fixed on the horizon where the red sun had vanished.

"[The real game has begun!]"

...

...

「United States, eastern suburbs of Los Angeles, church ruins.」

"Ah Ze!"

Fang Yang burst into the dilapidated, abandoned church.

The ceiling had long since rotted away, and the ground was a muddy mess, covered in moss.

After escaping from Hang City, he had followed the Priest’s arrangements and hidden himself away in Los Angeles. But since then, he hadn’t heard from the Priest at all.

’He knew it. Something must have happened to the Priest!’

But of all times, his younger brother, Fang Ze, had contacted him through some unknown means and asked to meet here.

Fang Yang was very nervous.

’I’m a suspect in several murder cases. It’s only a matter of time before the police catch me. How can I drag my brother into this?!’

"Ah Ze! Where are you?!"