Ch105.2 – Sea of Blood

The totem's radiance set off a fierce gale, the zombie giant disintegrated into light particles with a whoosh and vanished, revealing the figure of Ou Weihong's soul. Golden light spilled onto the Earth and swept across the whole Ying City like a tide. Yu Hao, Zhou Sheng, and Chen Yekai raised their arms at the same time to shield their eyes from the glare.

“Watch the sunrise.” Zhou Sheng said, “It's over.”

Yu Hao landed on the black dragon's back, thoroughly exhausted. Zhou Sheng continued observing for a moment, on guard against an ambush that could catch them off guard, like what had happened in Chichén Itzá. It was not until the entire city began returning to its original state, and a red light appeared on the horizon, before he flew to the top of the TV tower with Yu Hao.

“We're done fighting.” Yu Hao said.

Chen Yekai said, “It's been tough.”

Zhou Sheng, Yu Hao, and Chen Yekai sat side by side on the edge of the TV tower as they looked out into the distance. Layers of dark clouds receded, revealing a rising sun that was red through and through on the horizon.

The sun had risen.

In the central part of Ying City, the skysc.r.a.pers were like Rubik cubes; countless components rapidly rea.s.sembled as they steeply rose from level ground.

“It's really beautiful.” Yu Hao said.

Chen Yekai said, “But I didn't notice the sun in my own dream the previous time.”

Yu Hao said, “Because you're the master of the dreamscape.”

“Do you guys shuttle through dreams just to see the sunrise?” Chen Yekai asked.

Zhou Sheng smiled and answered, “I guess so? No matter how difficult it may have been, after seeing the sunrise, it always feels like most of it was worth it.”

The sun had risen; the rising sun ascended from the east, and red light illuminated the earth.

The ruins of Ying City destroyed during the battle all turned into millions of bright-coloured pixel cubes like Lego building blocks, and the city was being unremittingly rebuilt.

The b.l.o.o.d.y flower below the skysc.r.a.per dissolved and disappeared as it seeped into the ground. The verdant plantation transformed into Boston ivy that quietly covered the entire city.

The sun had risen; red clouds filled the sky, and the gentle blanket faded.

Dew on the lush leaves reflected the sunlight; the earth restored its clamorous vitality. Big white clouds in the clear blue sky was reflected on the gla.s.s walls of the innumerable skysc.r.a.pers, like graffiti that had been painted on the streets.

The Gundam stood at the top of the building, while Ou Qihang stood in front of the Gundam. He lifted his fingers as he faced the Feathered Serpent G.o.d and black dragon that flew past in the sky, and saluted them.

The Feathered Serpent G.o.d and black dragon were suspended in the air on one side of the platform. Zhou Sheng stood on the black dragon as he looked down at the tiny Ou Qihang on the roof.

When Yu Hao was thinking of saying good night, Zhou Sheng steered his black dragon to land on the roof.

Within an instant, millions of swirling, rectangular screen-like pictures were cast out of of Qihang's body!

“That……” Yu Hao suddenly remembered the way Zhou Sheng talked to him in his palace through the projection of their memories. That day, Zhou Sheng taught him how to transfer a portion of his memories in the dreamscape, and now he was forcefully transferring all of Ou Qihang's memories out of him!

Chen Yekai just watched Ou Qihang quietly, while his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Ou Qihang took half a step back and looked all around him. His memories swirled around him like pictures in a trotting horse lamp, each image containing a scene of a memory from his life — his father holding his hand as they went to the amus.e.m.e.nt park; getting out of the car and walking into his school; sitting on the roof while Yu Hao approached him from behind……

“There are some things that I can't let you remember for a lifetime.” Zhou Sheng said, “I hope you understand.”

Ou Qihang, “……”

Ou Qihang frowned deeply and looked at Zhou Sheng, “You want to erase all my memories of you guys?”

Zhou Sheng was calm and collected, as if he were just talking about a meal. He lightly tapped with the jingubang he wielded, and the memory he tapped flew towards him.

“Yes.” Zhou Sheng answered, “Don't resist, I don't want to fight with you here.”

“Wait!” Ou Qihang immediately said, “Give me the chance to say some things.”

Yu Hao and Chen Yekai both sat on their mounts, suspended in the air beyond the platform on the skysc.r.a.per.

Zhou Sheng, “There are a lot of words that lose their meaning when you say them, right? You're a smart kid.”

Ou Qihang glanced at Chen Yekai, then at Yu Hao, and suddenly laughed.

Zhou Sheng raised an eyebrow; his tone was unquestionable, and his aura didn't allow Ou Qihang to put up any resistance. Ou Qihang could only nod and said, “When I wake up, I won't remember you guys anymore?”

“We'll meet again someday.” Chen Yekai said.

Zhou Sheng thought about it, withdrew his jingubang, and a suit of armour covered his entire body with a whoosh. He turned into an iron man and began snapping his fingers; every time he snapped his finger, a golden flame appeared out of thin air and burned away a memory of Ou Qihang's.

Following which, a golden light suddenly burst out from the sun in the sky and whistled through the air before landing on a certain part of the dreamscape. A vibration could be felt from afar, and the place hit by the golden fire actually vanished into thin air!

Yu Hao and Chen Yekai turned around and looked at the area that had disappeared.

The golden flames burned up the memories of the rainy night — the pursuing car, the expressway, and mountainside — until there was nothing left. Then, the sun emitted a fire that struck the mountainside in the distance.

All these scenes were being burned by Zhou Sheng's power. Zhou Sheng said, “We have to go.” Then, his finger gently dragged the last scene in Ou Qihang's memory to his front, then stared at Ou Qihang a bit nervously.

Ou Qihang's eyes looked blank and he seemed to be a little confused. The Gundam behind him disintegrated into light particles and rejoined the sky, turning back into his totem.

Yu Hao and Chen Yekai rose into the sky and flew to a place where Ou Qihang couldn't see them.

Yu Hao looked at Chen Yekai. Chen Yekai was still staring at the distant place where Ou Qihang and Zhou Sheng had already turned into two small, black dots.

Zhou Sheng pulled up his iron helmet and approached Ou Qihang. His left hand drew out the Golden Crow Wheel, then he reached through the Golden Crow Wheel to press against Ou Qihang's forehead. His right hand held a picture from his memory; he glanced at it once before letting it float in the air.

“The last one.” Zhou Sheng's voice was steady and calm, “Good night.”

When he said 'good night', Zhou Sheng snapped his fingers, and the memories of this battle of seizing his dream burned up and turned into ashes. At the same time, Ou Qihang exploded into golden light particles with a blast and disappeared.

Yu Hao, who was flying in mid air, felt a strong light flash by his eyes; the entire dreamscape flattened out and he woke up in his room.

Zhou Sheng turned around, yawned, and rubbed his temple. He sat at the edge of the bed stark naked, raised his head slightly, and looked at the sunlight beyond their windows. Then he looked back and smiled at Yu Hao, revealing his canine teeth.

Yu Hao hugged his waist and leaned against his scorching, naked back.

“Which period?”

“Third and fourth, Chen Laoshi's cla.s.s.”

“Then sleep a little more.” Zhou Sheng said, “I need to hurry to cla.s.s. What do you want to eat tonight? Text me.”

Zhou Sheng put on a pair of sports pants, and Yu Hao reminded him, “The temperature dropped recently, wear more layers, put on your underwear!” He hugged his blanket and watched the naked Zhou Sheng pack up his things and walk out.

Zhou Sheng didn't even look back as he said, “There isn't any PE cla.s.s today……that kid might call you, don't let your tongue slip.”

Zhou Sheng's erasure of Ou Qihang's memories had stunned Yu Hao for a moment. Although he couldn't help but think that it was really cruel, Zhou Sheng himself didn't care at all. That may just show how resolute he is about the task.

Has he ever erased my memory? Yu Hao couldn't help but recall some obscure fragments. Just then, a call came — it was Ou Qihang. Yu Hao picked up the call.

“Qihang?” Yu Hao thought, he did call!

It was silent on the other end. Yu Hao said, “Qihang? What's wrong?”

“How did you know it was me?” Ou Qihang sounded doubtful, “I remember I never left you my number.”

Yu Hao nearly let it slip with just his first sentence. Ou Qihang doesn't remember handing him his number, and Yu Hao wasn't clear where Zhou Sheng started erasing his memories from. So he could only say, “Huang Ting gave it to me.”

“I……” Ou Qihang seemed a little restless.

Yu Hao, “What is it?”

Ou Qihang was silent for a moment before he said, “Nothing. I feel like I lost my memory and forgot some important things, so I wanted to ask you. But I don't know where to start.”

Yu Hao tried his best to pretend like nothing was wrong and answered, “Lost your memory? Could it have been done by them?”

“What?” Ou Qihang answered, “Who's 'them'?”

Yu Hao answered, “The investigation team.”

Ou Qihang does remember the investigation team.

“Is it?” Ou Qihang hesitated, “Maybe? Do you have time? I want to verify some things with you……”

Yu Hao said earnestly, “What you should be doing now is focusing on your studies. Wait until the end of your college entrance examination ba.”

Ou Qihang didn't speak any more, and after a long time, he uttered a soft “un”, “Bye.”

Yu Hao hung up the phone. Zhou Sheng's move had caught him off guard, and it was extremely powerful, which scared him a little. Zhou Sheng could erase other people's memories at will, and that was both an extremely strong and terrifying ability. If it was Yu Hao, he would have probably retained the memories of reality and just erased everything regarding the dreamscape.

Yu Hao pondered over it and suddenly thought that it was reasonable for Zhou Sheng to have done what he did —— the memory of the kidnapping on that rainy night was the start of Ou Qihang's realisation that they had the ability to enter dreams. If he hadn't directly burned the memories at the source, the series of events that happened afterwards wouldn't match up. In that case, Ou Qihang would just think that he had forgotten memories regarding the kidnapping incident……he immediately took his phone and texted Zhou Sheng.

【I've thought it through.】

Zhou Sheng replied him very quickly.

【He could try to verify with someone else, and people could rack their brains trying to come up with all sorts of reasons. In this way, the loss of this portion of his memory can be explained as a side effect of the drug that had knocked him out, and that it only flared up after some time pa.s.sed. Or they could think that he had knocked his head during the fight, resulting in a concussion that only acted up afterwards.】

Yu Hao had to admit that Zhou Sheng had planned it out perfectly. He might have already thought about what to do the first time they entered his dream. Looks like this guy would do everything he said he would, and him retaining Chen Yekai's memories wasn't because he was soft-hearted, but perhaps because Chen Yekai could help them understand the Golden Crow Wheel to some extent.

Yu Hao could now see the similarities between Zhou Sheng and Satan; his intelligence could also be thought of as him having a scheming heart. Of course, other people may fear Zhou Sheng, but he wouldn't. They are lovers after all.

Yu Hao got up to brush his teeth. He saw that the toothpaste had already been squeezed out, and warm water had been fetched and placed beside the sink. He suddenly felt a little complicated, yet also a little happy.

His phone rang again. It was Li Yangming this time. Yu Hao glanced at it and turned it on loudspeaker mode.

“Laoshi's here.” Li Yangming said, “Yu Hao, are you guys done with your morning exercise?”

Yu Hao almost choked. Xue Long went to inspect their room this early in the morning? Did water seep into his brain? But Chen Yekai's voice rang out on the other end, “I'll talk to him.”

It's Chen Yekai……Yu Hao had gotten a fright. Chen Yekai said, “You guys rented a place outside? I don't see anyone this early in the morning.”

Yu Hao had forgotten to tell Chen Yekai. After rinsing his mouth, he said, “How did you even manage to guess that?”

“Fu Liqun doesn't fold his blanket.” Chen Yekai answered, “What would you like for breakfast? I'll bring it to you.”

Yu Hao hung up and sent the address to Chen Yekai. Chen Yekai wore sports attire and had evidently just woken up too. His hair was a little messy, but he appeared very energetic and nodded at the Li Yangming who was on his bunk, “Don't tell Xue Laoshi.” As he spoke, he opened the door and went out.

Yu Hao brewed some pour over coffee for Chen Yekai. Chen Yekai, dressed in a blue Li Ning sportswear and a white pair of shoes turned a chair over in reverse and straddled it. He fell into a trance as he sat at the dining table and looked around him. Yu Hao was about to admit to his crime of not notifying him when Chen Yekai said, “It's not bad to have a small place of your own and live in a world that belongs to just the two of you. You could consider it as breaking in to a marriage.”

Yu Hao laughed. Chen Yekai watched as he poured the water from the pot through a filter paper; Yirga Chefe dropped into the gla.s.sware.

Yu Hao knew that he must have something to say by coming here this early in the morning. Was it about Zhou Sheng's ability to erase memories, or Ou Qihang?

However, he didn't take the initiative to ask and just patiently sat on the other side of the table opposite Chen Yekai. He didn't really like it when people joked about him and Chen Yekai, so he wouldn't especially try to matchmake Chen Yekai and Ou Qihang. After he asked the first time in the ward that day, and Chen Yekai said that he had 'no feelings,' Yu Hao believed that he really didn't feel anything. Unless he said otherwise, Yu Hao thought that between friends, they had to at least trust each other on something like this.

After waiting for half a day, Chen Yekai still didn't say anything and just stared at his coffee in a daze, so Yu Hao flipped through his notes. Chen Yekai's cla.s.s was almost over.