EnCoffin Me Chapter 106
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 106
Zhen's head cleared. When he left the room and stepped into the corridor, he already looked as usual. Except for some redness around his eyes, there was no sign he had been crying. He remained silent as the saint escorted him back to his room. Once the door closed, he sensed the other was about to speak.
“At least now, you can cry in front of Alexi,” the saint said. “There was a time when you didn't even have the right to cry.”
Zhen opened his mouth. He had many questions he wanted to ask: about the extra strands of thread wrapped around the birds in his memory, the story he'd heard about the protagonist who seemed to be Alexio, and the saint's attitude toward him. The saint seemed to know him, yet refused to reveal more. He had a vague feeling he was special, because he carried fragments of memories from thousands of years ago.
But he didn't ask. He knew the saint wouldn't lay the answers out plainly.
“Am I a resurrected being too?” Zhen asked softly, then continued without waiting for a reply.
“I think so. I'm different from Lucy and Helgdon. I'm gradually remembering very specific memories such as scenes, scents, sounds, every detail. I'm recalling them.”
Zhen smiled.
“Not telling Xixi was the right choice. Otherwise, he'd definitely help me. Xixi looks aloof, but he actually cares about us more than anyone. We've become his responsibility.”
“I won't take too long,” he said quietly at last. “I remember my mission. I am Qizhi's guardian. I must awaken.”
Since he had a clear understanding, there was no need for further discussion. Lucius then turned to leave. Just as he was about to open the door, he suddenly heard him speak from behind.
“But if I ever feel really wronged, I'll definitely go to Xixi and cry to him.”
Lucius pressed his hand harder on the sensory screen.
“When your emotions hit rock bottom, do you have to make others feel bad too?”
Zhen proudly blew on the talisman paper covering his left eye.
“Tomorrow, I'm going to find Xixi and cry to him!”
“……”
So annoying! Whether ten thousand years ago or now, this longest-living imperial son was never easy to deal with!
Lucius returned to his room and found Alexio already asleep, head down on the table. Pupil's clone was still quietly hovering over the lightbrain. Lucius glanced at Pupil and decisively turned off the screen. One after another, they were nothing but an irritation.
Pupil: “???”
He poked the soundly sleeping Alexio, but even in his dreams, Alexio dismissively brushed his hand away, turned over, and went back to sleep. His ability to block interference had clearly reached perfection. Lucius wasn't angry. Instead, he wrapped the sleeping Alexio in a blanket and carefully tucked in all the edges, making a neat roll. The blanket roll tumbled and hit the wall with a ‘thud.’
“...…”
He cautiously observed for a moment. Good, he hadn't woken up.
As for whether he'd be beaten in the morning, that was a problem for the morning.
The lightbrain stubbornly lit up again, and a mini Pupil hovered over it.
【How's my guardian doing?】
“Everything is going smoothly. After all, he's a resurrected being. He's more clear-headed and stronger than the guardians of the other two pillars,” Lucius replied. Then he confirmed, “Once he recovers his memories, you'll be able to re-establish yourself, right?”
Pupil gave him a negative response.
【No, I am the last pillar. Once I stand, it will be a major event that changes the entire world.】
Lucius frowned slightly, clearly unsatisfied with that answer.
“What else is needed?”
【Recognition. Recognition from the ‘spark.’】
Lucius glanced at the neatly rolled blanket where Alexio was sound asleep. Alexio clearly didn't know anything. Although many people had said he seemed about to rekindle everything, Alexio himself hadn't given it much thought.
“How do we get that recognition?”
【Only the ‘spark’ knows. Strictly speaking, the three pillars plus the ‘spark’ together make up the full power of the dark forces.】
【Also, there's something else I need to tell you.】
【Your resurrection was not caused by me.】
These words made Lucius' pupils contract slightly. He looked at Pupil, who met his gaze openly, showing it wasn't lying.
【I am Qizhi, the mother's eye, entrusted with surveying and relaying everything that happens on earth. I do not speak falsely.】
【Our deal does not include bringing you back to life, nor do I have the power to resurrect you after you died from revealing the apocalyptic prophecy.】
“…Because I saw the Underworld River?”
【That might be one possibility. After all, no mortal has been known to see the Underworld River before. Anything could happen… I need to confirm if you have come into contact with the waters of the Underworld River.】
The saint paused, recalling for a long moment before shaking his head.
“Of that period of memory, apart from the Goddess' words, the rest I can no longer recall clearly.”
That was normal. After all, mortals entering the realm of the gods quickly lose clarity of most details except for what the gods deliberately help them remember. It was like how people often struggle to recall their dreams upon waking. Some images might linger, but the dream as a whole felt shrouded in mist.
【Then, it might be because my eye once stayed within you.】
Now, all they could do was speculate. Many truths had been worn down by the passage of time, and since the outcome was already established, perhaps there was no need to delve too deeply. Lucius could only suppress this doubt for the time being and once again shut off the lightbrain without hesitation.
Pupil: “……”
Use and discard. Fine.
Zhen seemed to grow more enthusiastic about the southeast branch, or rather, he forced himself to interact with those people.
He observed the branch's high-ranking officials and noticed they retained some personal emotions and independent thought. This retention was probably meant to help them better handle the outside world. But the lower-level staff were increasingly terrifying the more he watched.
Unlike the lively bustle of the main conservation center, the branch, which had completely turned into a hive, was usually silent. Sounds was only made deliberately when necessary. Once the investigation team from the main conservation center was gone, the fully controlled staff would barely make any autonomous movements.
Alexio crouched in the pocket of the lunatic, who was hiding around a corner. On the other side, three or five staff gathered together, expressionless and silent like stiff statues. But as soon as anyone approached, they would suddenly burst into an animated conversation. Theo's methods were always cunning and cruel.
The hairs on the tip of Alexio's ear stood up. Although he wasn't particularly afraid of Theo after acquiring the silver cross, this didn't prevent him from feeling a shiver down his spine.
He slowly closed his eyelids.
After all, he had firsthand experience with Theo's methods.
Back in his former kingdom.
Suddenly, the tip of his ear was pinched. Alexio immediately looked up and opened his mouth to bite, but the other, clearly familiar with his movements, withdrew quickly. Alexio bit nothing but air.
Alexio: “……”
Provoked, he flailed and smacked the other's face.
“What were you just thinking about?” The saint let him cling to his face without getting angry. Alexio felt the moist breath brushing the fur on his belly as the saint spoke. He squirmed awkwardly, then slid down to cling to the saint's collar instead.
“Nothing.”
“…The Holy Temple investigated some things about your past. I stopped them from digging further,” the saint said suddenly. Alexio twitched his ear tips, confused.
“Why did you stop them?”
“Because I believe that one day, we'll sit together in peace and talk about childhood and dreams.” Under Alexio's gaze, he continued, “I'll tell you about the water nymph that marked my childhood, and you can tell me about your old dreams. Maybe the past dreams are broken, but we can still dream about the future together.”
The saint half-lowered his eyelids, and his sky-blue eyes took on an unprecedentedly tender expression.
“If we had been born in the same era, if we had met in childhood, you would have wielded the holy sword to fight evil, and I would have used magic to protect your back… I've imagined this more than once. Of course, the way things are now is fine too.”
Alexio thought about the lunatic from his childhood and felt he must have been much cuter then. He found himself a little drawn to that idea. The topic eased the tension in his heart, and he scratched his pointed ear with his claw.
“Actually, Theo pulled the same tricks in my royal city. He loved it,” Alexio said softly. “He loved to toy with people in his palm, listening to their desperate cries, watching them struggle hard before falling into despair.”
“…Did he do that to you?”
“No, not me. I wasn't important enough then.” Alexio's ears twitched. “I was initially timid and cowardly. Theo's target wasn't me. I was just a pawn caught in the game.”
He stopped talking. Recalling his past self made him uneasy.
“But in the end, you broke it all with your own hands, didn't you?” the saint said. “You had courage, and your courage influenced someone.”
“…Who?”
“Zhen.”
Zhen had been quietly watching the staff member hanging the ornament for a while. She was a young woman from the eastern faction, wearing a smile on her face. Probably because no one else was around, the smile looked very mechanical. With the help of a robot, she carefully wrapped the small ornament with thread and then hung it in a prominent spot.
Zhen stepped forward and first called out to the woman standing on the ladder.
“Hello.”
Instantly, an exquisitely crafted facade appeared on her face. That slight surprise, that hint of a smile, immediately became incredibly genuine. He looked at that ‘real’ expression, his heart chilling.
“Mr. Zhen? How can I help you?”
“May I help you hang those?” Zhen looked up and asked softly. “You're alone, and even with the robot's help, it still looks quite difficult.”
“Ah, well…”
Zhen didn't know how the worm inside her judged this, but in the end, she gave him a smile.
“Then be careful. I'll hold the ladder for you.”
Zhen began hanging the plushies one by one. The little bat plushies were fluffy, with red eyes that seemed to watch him just like Alexio's gaze. Among the many pairs of red eyes, his thoughts grew more chaotic as visions from his dreams surfaced. The captive bird, the subjects, Beizhu City, all flooded in with overlapping distractions.
【And so, the vampires began to enter the city in large numbers.】
He hung up a plushie, the little bat spinning in circles in the air.
【The young king was successfully transformed into a vampire.】
He reached out to steady the doll, its red eyes staring straight into his heart.
【The young king set the city ablaze, reducing it to ruins.】
He awkwardly looked away, intending to climb down the ladder, but as he moved his hand, he realized it had already become entangled in the threads. He tried to pull free, but the threads held him firmly.
【The young king set the city ablaze, reducing it to ruins.】
【The young king set the city ablaze, reducing it to ruins.】
【The young king set the city ablaze—】
He lowered his head, but his bound hand tightened its grip. Before the woman below could speak, he exerted all his strength. With a loud snap, a long string of plushies, already hung and interconnected, tumbled down. Among the falling plushies, he used his freed hand to grasp and remove the talisman from his forehead.
Memories older than a millennium surged forth—
He remembered making a decision. That day was calm and windless. Beneath the gloomy sky, in a court already hollowed out by the Holy Temple, countless foreign ‘worms’ with flickering eyes flickered among themselves. The loyal ministers had become few. The eastern faction, isolated for a thousand years, was powerless against the external devouring forces.
But he should have something he could do, something he must do.
The ‘worms’ whispered among themselves, casting surprised glances at the heavy stone coffin that had replaced the throne in the hall. They did not understand the intention of the imperial son, who had long been under their control.
At that moment, he finally arrived.
He had already taken the zombie blood given by the saint. In this last battle for salvation, he entered the scene as the force to turn the tide.
The imperial son looked out at the gloomy sky. The wind had stopped, but there was thunder, clouds, and his voice.
He sat on the heavy stone coffin, smiling down below, arms spread wide, his broad sleeves falling like bird wings. But he was very different from before. His skin was pale, there were fangs at his lips, and a streak of red at the corner of his eyes. This appearance, wholly belonging to darkness, made the people of the Holy Temple below uneasy.
Their unease soon became reality.
The imperial son opened his arms and asked with a smile—
【I shall reign for a thousand autumns and ten thousand generations.】
【You…】
【Are you unhappy?】