Yuanchu closed his eyes and lay back down on the bed without a word. He was exhausted; right now he didn't want to think about anything. Beaches, Light and Shadow, chessboards—they could all just go roll in a ditch...
Right, and if that chattering fellow in front of him could roll out with them, that would be even better.
"Little Chu, how could you fall asleep on the beach? It's so cold. Now look at you—you're all weak and can't even move."
Yuanchu: "……"
"Little Chu, why don't you like to talk? Were you just born that way? That's not right, you weren't like this before..."
Yuanchu: "……"
"Little Chu, you..."
"Damn your grandmother!"
Yuanchu opened his eyes and glared at the grinning old man. He really shouldn't have gone to look at any barrier in the first place. Was this really the guy who used to face down the alien mutation invasion all by himself?
Elder Gu was stunned for a second by the roar, but then went right back to his cheeky grin.
"Weren't you just able to grab my collar a moment ago? Why can't you do it now? What's wrong with you..."
Yuanchu started to get up to prove himself, but he noticed the old man instantly put on a serious expression and stepped away from the bedside.
Yuanchu was left bewildered by the sudden shift. Just as he was about to demand, "What kind of crazy game are you playing this time, old man?", the door creaked open, and someone came in carrying a basket of medicinal herbs that completely blocked the newcomer's face.
"Ah, Xinnian is as fast as ever." Elder Gu flashed over, took the wooden basket from her hands, and set it down by Yuanchu's bed.
"Thank you, Elder." The person replied with a smile.
That's right, it was indeed Han Xinnian returning with the herbs. Credit where credit is due—frail as she looked, she wasn't lacking in strength at all.
"Oh, Yuanchu, you can get out of bed." Han Xinnian covered her mouth in surprise.
Yuanchu only then realized he had already gotten up, and the chief culprit who had forced him out of bed was currently blinking at him.
"Yes, I feel fantastic. All thanks to our Elder Gu."
Yuanchu gritted his teeth, heavily emphasizing every single syllable of Elder Gu's name.
"I told you, Xinnian, this kid may be weak, but he's tough. The moment I saw him turn his head, I knew right away he'd be able to get out of bed."
Elder Gu said this with a straight face, even though he probably didn't believe a single word of it himself.
"Wow, the Elder is amazing." Han Xinnian looked at him in admiration.
"Yeah, yeah, Dr. Gu is truly a miracle worker." Yuanchu put on an exaggerated expression and replied with mock praise.
Instead of acknowledging his praise, the old man looked at Han Xinnian with a warm, approving smile.
"It's still our Xinnian who is so sensible. Such a young girl gathering medicine for you, and look at you—you can get out of bed now and you don't even know how to properly thank her."
"Hehe, it's just what I should do." Han Xinnian smiled shyly off to the side.
There were simply too many absurd things to point out, and he didn't even know where to begin. But to shut the old man up, Yuanchu stood up and thanked Han Xinnian.
"Alright Xinnian, I need to treat Yuanchu's injuries now. After all, this kid shouldn't be out of bed for too long."
"Um... can't I stay here?"
"Uh..."
Yuanchu and Elder Gu exchanged glances. Yuanchu had no idea what scheme the old man was cooking up, while Elder Gu had things he needed to ask Yuanchu. Normally, anyone hearing that would have the tact to leave, so why wasn't this girl playing by the rules?
"Here's the thing, Xinnian. Yuanchu has been weak ever since he fainted, and I need to completely strip off his outer garments to treat him. You see..." Elder Gu put on a troubled look.
"Ah, oh! I'm sorry, I'll leave right now..." Han Xinnian's face flushed crimson, and she practically scurried out of the room.
Once he was certain Han Xinnian was completely gone, Yuanchu forced a humorless smile and looked at Elder Gu.
"It seems the doctor is not only a miracle worker, but a first-rate actor as well."
Elder Gu dropped his habitual smile, turned his head, and looked at Yuanchu.
"Tell me, why didn't you keep our agreement?"
Yuanchu naturally knew what agreement the old man meant—his toes were not to touch the ocean. But he still stubbornly replied:
"Because I wanted to try swimming."
Elder Gu looked Yuanchu up and down, easily spotting the panic in his eyes, and continued, "You went down to swim? Weren't you playing in the sand by the shore and passed out?"
Only then did Yuanchu realize he had been tricked. The only rule he had agreed upon with Old Gu was the ocean thing, and because he had actually done it, he had subconsciously assumed Old Gu already knew.
"You tried... swimming in the sand?"
Even the stern Elder Gu was amused by this remark.
"Looks like your head is really in a fog. Stay still and let me treat you, you can answer me afterwards."
"Oh..."
Yuanchu nodded. Whether he was bickering with Old Gu or being interrogated, his nerves had been pulled tight. The sudden relaxation actually made him feel exhausted all over again.
"Close your eyes," Elder Gu told him.
Yuanchu obediently closed his eyes. A wave of coolness washed over his forehead, and in no time, his groggy haze vanished completely, replaced by an unprecedented clarity and vigor.
"Alright, now answer my question."
"Aren't you going to take off my clothes?"
"……"
Seeing Elder Gu fall silent, Yuanchu hurriedly smoothed things over.
"I was just joking because you looked so serious."
"Fine, fine, I'll talk, I'll talk."
Yuanchu recounted everything he had seen to Elder Gu in detail.
Elder Gu pondered for a moment and asked:
"Of those scenes, which one do you think was real?"
"Those scenes?" Yuanchu had never expected Old Gu to ask such a question. He thought carefully: the pain and the suffocation were real, but such bizarre scenes and the strange power of the Light and Shadow—were those real?
Seeing Yuanchu didn't answer, Elder Gu rephrased the question: "What do you consider real? What do you consider fake?"
"Is seeing necessarily believing?"
"Hold on," Yuanchu felt the old man was acting a bit abnormal today. Why was he suddenly asking such philosophical questions?
In the past, he would have said with absolute certainty, "What I can feel, see, and hear is real." But what about now? He didn't know.
If those experiences were dreams, then the pain and suffocation were fake. But if they weren't dreams, then the defying of gravity by the chess pieces and the sudden appearance of the island were real.
Just as Yuanchu was wondering how to answer, he watched as a small sapling grew out of thin air right in Elder Gu's palm. This sight made Yuanchu's eyes widen.
"So now, what do you think is real?"
……
Yuanchu walked out of the room with a complicated mix of emotions. He hadn't listened to anything Elder Gu said afterwards, nor could he take it in. It all boiled down to the fact that this realm wasn't what he had imagined it to be.
He looked up and watched with his own eyes as the clear, cloudless sky turned overcast with dark clouds in a matter of mere seconds. So this was what his current mood looked like, was it?
Yuanchu walked aimlessly down the street with a vacant stare, until he caught sight of his childhood friend.
"Can we go now?" Han Xinnian tugged at his collar with a bright smile.
Right. The only thing that wasn't fake was emotion.
Light returned to Yuanchu's eyes. He took Han Xinnian's hand, ignoring the young girl's blushing face, and strode forward.
"Come on, I'm taking you up the mountain to hunt birds!"
……
"Everything is proceeding methodically. I've waited so long, and finally I've seen the scene you spoke of."
A figure appeared in the exact spot where Yuanchu and Han Xinnian had just been standing. It was Elder Gu.
Elder Gu watched the direction where the two figures had disappeared, a subtle, almost imperceptible smile touching his lips. If you looked closely, you would even see tears glistening in the corners of his eyes.
"I hope he won't let us down. But even if he fails, I have time. I will keep waiting until I find the one who completely matches your requirements."
Elder Gu turned around. In the next second, he vanished into thin air, leaving a single tender green leaf to spin slowly in mid-air before drifting down to the ground.