Chapter 6

That night, Fang Yuan had a dream.

　　 His dream Was different from that of Jiang Heng. There are no ups and downs in the plot, no sound, no people, just a quiet and cold picture.

　In his dream, Fang Yuan gradually developed a sense of familiarity-he had seen this dream many times.

　He was dreaming.

　　 Fang Yuan felt that this should be regarded as lucid dreaming, but even if he realized this, he still couldn’t control the dream.

　 He could only sit there, feeling the chill while waiting for time to pass.

That was the cave where he was trapped to death in before he was reborn.

　　 There is actually a small opening at the top of the cave. No one could climb up or get out, but there was good air circulation. From this small hole, Fang Yuan could tell whether it is day or night.

The following parts of the text will be scrambled to prevent theft from aggregators and unauthorized epub making. Please support our translators by reading on secondlifetranslations (dot) com. If you are currently on the site and and you are seeing this, please clear your cache.

　　 Wydt Zwyd iwklvzu zssjle yv vbl rzynl oblal vbl zktbv rldlvayvle. Gqvla oyvnbkdt qsa y obkzl, bl blyae vbl pswde sq ckaep, yde y pryaaso qzlo shla yde pvyule yv vbl pxyzz bszl.

　　Jlnywpl kv kp ytykdpv vbl zktbv, sdzu y czynj pkzbswlvvl nswze cl plld, cwv kv kp zkhlzu yde hlau nwvl.

　　 Mbkp oyp vbl qkapv vkxl bl pyo y qzukdt ckae kd vbkp ealyx.

　　 Rq sdzu bl bye plld kv yv vbyv vkxl, kv oswze cl talyv.

Wydt Zwyd oyp yoyjldle cu vbl pswde sq ckaep sd bkp okdesopkzz.

　　Gzvbswtb vblal oyp y dlvosaj yde rsola take sd vbl swvla oyzz, kv byp dsv clld rsolale sd alnldvzu. Xvblaokpl, vbl ckaep oswze byhl clld jkzzle.

　　 Tl vswnble vbl blye sq vbl cle, wdpnalole vbl zke, rswale y zyatl tzypp sq oyvla, yde vbld pzsozu tsv wr.

Gqvla oypbkdt, bl oldv esodpvykap, oblal Kkydt Tldt bye ralryale calyjqypv. Rv oyp pwddu swvpkel yde xspiwkvslp bye cltwd vs yrrlya kd vbl pwxxla. Kkydt Tldt jkzzle vos okvb vbl lzlnvakn xspiwkvslp poyvvla. Tl oydelale yaswde yde pyv esod yqvla oypbkdt bkp bydep. Gqvla lyvkdt y qlo xswvbqwzp, bl cltyd vs prlyj sq vbl xlxsaklp alnshlale zypv dktbv ytykd. Gqvla bl oyp esdl vyzjkdt, vblu ekpnwpple oblvbla vs ts vs vbl vly bswpl vseyu sa yvvlxrv vs plv wr y pvyzz vs rlaqsax xytkn vaknjp.

　　 This day seemed to be very ordinary, the same as yesterday, and almost the same as the day before yesterday.

Jiang Heng stopped talking, and when Fang Yuan looked over, the latter was still in a daze.

　　 “What are you thinking about?”

　　 “Now.” Fang Yuan came back to his senses and stared at Jiang Heng across the table, “And the past.”

　　 Jiang Heng lowered his head and cut a grilled sausage. The grilled sausage was cut in half and curled like an octopus. “Oh?”

“I used to think that I hated the same everyday life.” Fang Yuan picked up his spoon and poured soy sauce on his boiled egg. “Every day. The same life every day, the same food, same sleep, and same work.”

Jiang Heng blinked, “Just like now?”

　　 Fang Yuan smiled and shook his head, “It’s fine now.”

Similarly, it was the same routine of getting up early, eating, chatting, passing the time, and sleeping; obviously, what he once hated the most.

The same routing of going to work day after day, waiting for salary, running away day after day, searching for food and water, waiting for death, and waiting for hope.

　　 But he doesn’t even feel bored now.

　　 It’s really amazing.

　　Maybe it’s because of Jiang Heng.

　　 Because Jiang Heng would suddenly mention an unknown gift, and Fang Yuan knew that he had been the one who secretly sent it. He could choose to tell the truth or keep it secret.

　　Because Jiang Heng would nag by his ear every day, during the apocalypse, the living space of human beings was so small and there were so few people, yet why hadn’t they met?

　　 Jiang Heng’s temperament changed subtly each time after he woke up, becoming calmer, but not as reticent and cold as Fang Yuan remembered. It was as if he didn’t need to maintain an image in front of him.

　Fang Yuan listened to him and calculated the time, guessing how long it would take him to find out that the person that day was him, or would he never remember it?

He wondered how long it would take him to realize that the Fang Yuan sitting in front of him was not the same as the ant who died without a shred of dignity in the apocalypse.

　　 If Jiang Heng couldn’t recognize him,should he take the initiative to remind him and tell the truth?

　　 Will Jiang Heng be disappointed?

　　 “Fang Yuan.”

　　 Jiang Heng frowned suddenly and called him seriously.

In the afternoon when the sun was bright, the clouds in the sky blocked the rays from time to time. When Fang Yuan heard this, it was like a thick cloud had floated away, and his surroundings suddenly brightened.

　　 They were sitting at the tea house, and the boss had finally succeeded in selling edamame to them. The edamame hulls on the table were piled up into little hills.

Fang Yuan crossed these hills and looked at Jiang Heng in response.

“What?”

　　 Jiangheng raised his hand and pointed to a new store. Some workers were moving things into the store. It seemed that they were about to open in a few days.

　　 “Look, it’s the music store.”

A musical instruments shop.

　　 Fang Yuan immediately looked up, and sure enough, in the gaps between the boxes that were carried, he saw a familiar sign, and behind the glass windows of the shop, there was a very conspicuous piano.

　　 He was a little stunned, and could not help falling silent for a while.

　　 “When this shop opens, let’s go take a look.” Jiang Heng suddenly proposed.

　　 “Why?” Fang Yuan asked subconsciously, “I remember that…”

　　 I remember that you don’t know how to play any instrument.

　　 Although, that was before he had been reborn.

“How should I put it, I want to take a look.” Jiang Heng sighed, “My head is only full of things from the days in the apocalypse. In that environment, I couldn’t even see a clean and complete instrument at all, let alone play music freely.”

　　 “That’s it?”

　　 Fang Yuan retracted his gaze, and did not continue to look at it, but Jiang Heng continued talking again.

　　 Since he obtained a response to his reminiscences at the dining table, Jiang Heng’s small chat was no longer limited to the dining table. No matter where they were, he could talk about stuff from the apocalypse, anywhere during the day, morning, afternoon, and evening.

　　 “Speaking of which, I recall something recently,” Jiang Heng said while nibbling on melon seeds and drinking hot tea, “The memory appeared alone, and I can’t remember when it happened.”

“What kind of memory?”

　　 “A memory in the ruins.”

Ruins were everywhere in the apocalypse. This kind of setting was nothing new. After speaking, Jiang Heng was dissatisfied and added a detailed description.

　　 “It’s different from the others. Before I discovered the place, someone had lived there and it was obvious that that person hadn’t left for a long time.”

　　 Fang Yuan picked up the spoon, stirred the sweet bean curd in the mixing bowl, and assumed a listening posture, “Is it a human?”

Not a zombie?

“Yes, because they started a fire there. When I arrived, there was still a spark that hadn’t been completely extinguished.”

　　 “Fire…”

　　 Right, Fang Yuan remembered that most of the low level zombies were naturally afraid of fire.

　　 Maybe it’s because of their rotting bodies, but those zombies had a lot of corpse oil hanging on them. Once they are lit on fire, it was difficult to extinguish them, and they would be burned all the way to the brain.

He had also used fire to protect himself in a desperate situation to block the approach of zombies.

Using his last and most precious item as fuel.

　　 Jiang Heng was still looking at the other side of the street, as if what he was seeing wasn’t some shops, but the ruins of that day,

　　 “I found a charred string in the fire.”

　　 Fang Yuan’s hand holding the spoon trembled, and with a clatter, he dropped the spoon back into the bowl, and the porcelain collided with a crisp sound.

　　 “The strings were not flammable. Out of curiosity… I pulled them twice and vaguely recognized that it should not be firewood, but an instrument.”

　　 Jiangheng said softly, as if feeling regret for the person he had never met, “It’s a pity that I don’t know anything about musical instruments, and I couldn’t even tell which stringed instrument it is.”

“What’s the use of keeping the instrument if they can’t protect themselves?” Fang Yuan said in a low voice. If it weren’t for the word instrument, Jiang Heng almost thought he was talking to himself.

　　 “This is logical… But think about it, nothing has happened yet. The owner of the instrument should be like the people in the shop, carefully wiping and maintaining the piano, not bearing to damage it a little bit.”

　　Jiang Heng shook his head, as if apologetic, but also relieved. “I want to see those pianos intact, Fang Yuan, let’s go together another day.”

　　 Fang Yuan did not speak.

　　 For a while, Jiang Heng thought that he would not continue the topic. He was considering going to see it by himself when Fang Yuan suddenly spoke again.

　　 “If you want to see…”

“Hmm?”

　　 “I have one too.” Fang Yuan lowered his eyes, hiding his emotions, “I can show you when we go back tonight.”

　　 “What?” Jiang Heng widened his eyes in surprise, “You also have an instrument? What kind? Why have I never seen you play with it? You know how to play music?”

　　 Fang Yuan looked up, glanced at him, and saw that Jiang Heng subconsciously pulled back his upper body and leaned back in his chair, as if he was afraid of being rejected.

　　 “A violin.”

Except for this, he didn’t answer any of Jiang Heng’s other questions.

　　 Actually, if Jiang Heng hadn’t mentioned it suddenly today, he wouldn’t have remembered that he still had a violin, hidden in a sturdy and clean violin case. He originally planned to never open it again in this life.

He had named the violin Cedric. Its name was carved on the inside with a line of English letters in a swash.

The violin was hand-made by a famous violin-maker in China, and difficult to replicate. Such violins often had unique special timbres that were difficult to copy.

This one is relatively hoarse, low-pitched, and had a steady resonance. When Fang Yuan played it for the first time, he thought of the sincere, upright, but unfavorable teenager in the movie. Then, everything came to an abrupt end. It was touching and unforgettable, so he named Cedric.

In the enclosed warehouse, only the cold white light shining overhead illuminated this small area. Fang Yuan didn’t let Jiang Heng come in. After moving the box alone for a long time, he dug out the violin case in the corner.

　　 He thought he had forgotten it a long time ago, but now that he wanted to find it, he easily remembered where it was placed.

　　 For a long time, Fang Yuan couldn’t face it, and even couldn’t bear to see it.

　　 Just like now, when he opens the violin case, his fingers would tremble uncontrollably. His heart was racing.

He called the name of his violin silently, touching its body with his thin cocooned finger pads, and what was reflected in his eyes was the scene of him personally smashing it in despair during the apocalypse. He had smashed it into pieces, and then set it on fire.

　　”Forgive me…”

Fang Yuan knelt in front of the violin, shedding tears like that day.

　　 He never cried, not even when he was starving, or was almost bitten by a zombie, or when he was injured, or when he was abandoned by his team, or when he was lost or dying.

　　 That day, he was alone at the door of the ruins. The only door was damaged. Only by burning Cedric could he live one more night. When he cried until his internal organs felt like a mess and couldn’t stop retching.

　　 It was as if he didn’t really realize that the apocalypse had taken everything from him, until that moment.

　　 Since that day, something else had been burnt to ashes along with Cedric. Even after he was reborn, whether the apocalypse came or not, Fang Yuan never thought about it. He never took out this violin again.

“Fang Yuan? Have you not found it yet?”

　　 Outside the door, Jiang Heng knocked on the door and couldn’t help calling him, “If you really can’t find it…you should come out first, I’m not that curious. I made watermelon ice, come eat?”

　　 With a creak, the warehouse door opened. Fang Yuan lowered his head, holding a black violin case in his hand, and suddenly stood in front of Jiang Heng.

　　 “It’s okay, I found it.”

　　 “Ah, that’s great…”

　　 “Yes,” Fang Yuan cleared his throat, and his voice returned to normal. “I thought I lost it. After looking for it for a long time, I almost gave up… but luckily, I got it back.”

Jiang Heng raised his hand and hesitated. He tentatively placed it on the top of Fang Yuan’s head, and patted it twice, “Even if it’s really lost, I’m here. If two people are looking for it together, there won’t be a problem.”

　　 “Really?” Fang Yuan suddenly raised his head and grinned to tease him, “Well, the ice jelly I put in the refrigerator a few days ago is gone. Do you know who took it?”

　　 “…” Jiang Heng covered his face with one hand with a guilty conscience, “Yes, I ate it in the middle of the night. I thought this was also in stock, and could restock it immediately after eating…”

　　 Unexpectedly, they were all made fresh, and he couldn’t make sweets…