Xiaoli walked forward, her black hair flying.
In the midst of the diffuse red mist, she put her hand full of pinholes on the back of Su Ming'an's hand, and held the doorknob with him.
Su Mingan held her hand: "It's dangerous outside, you don't need to go out."
Xiao Li shook his head and moved his fingers away from the back of his hand: "Doctor Su, you are very smart, so you have already figured out the story of the first tower, right?"
Su Mingan responded.
At this point in the story, he has already figured out the history that the first tower wants to present.
…
[Dr. Su asked me what I regretted. 】
[I said, if Dr. Su could have come to save us before everything happened...if as early as February 9th, before Xiaoli's organs were removed, it would be...complete. 】
…
["Xiao Li, are you okay?" Su Wensheng helped the girl up. 】
[The girl nodded: "I'm okay. Today is February 8th and the operation has not been performed yet."]
…
The time point that the first tower goes back to is February 8, before Xiaoli was killed.
Therefore, what Su Ming'an meets now is "Xiao Li who was rescued by Su Ming'an", which is a new timeline.
The real Xiaoli failed to escape nine years ago. According to Su Wensheng's memory, when Dr. Su arrived, it was February 13, and Xiaoli had just died. What remains in Su Wensheng's memory is "Xiao Li who was not saved by Dr. Su."
Then, I thought of a passage in Xiaoli’s diary——
…
[The adults want to transform me because the blood of qualified people is very strong. They are thinking that if my blood can be turned into weapons, such as bright red tentacles, like "alien species that can be controlled by humans" - then, They can use me to get more resources. 】
[But, in that case, I will become a walking zombie and will no longer be me. 】
…
Su Mingan raised her eyes and looked out the window.
Dots of dim candlelight shine through the mahogany grid, and the "ghost" figure is like the shadow of a dancing tree. It roars wildly outside the door, and its bright red tentacles spread around, piercing each corpse.
Under the dim sky, its thin body was wrapped in thick red mist, and only a pair of pitch-black eyes and long black hair scattered in the wind could be seen.
——The ghost has black eyes, black hair, and a thin body.
Xiaoli also has black eyes, black hair, and such a thin body.
"The ghost...is 'Xiao Li who was not saved by Dr. Su', right?" Su Ming'an said.
Xiaoli's hands trembled slightly, and she nodded slowly and firmly.
In the timeline when Dr. Su failed to save Xiao Li, Xiao Li was pushed into the operating room and never came out. Therefore, in Su Wensheng's memory, he thought Xiaoli was dead.
However, the truth is that after Xiaoli was pushed into the operating room, the researchers transformed her - Xiaoli grew bright red tentacles and gained unparalleled strength like a strange species, but she finally broke away. The researchers lost control and lost their minds. Killed most of the researchers nine years ago. Since Dr. Su had already rescued Su Wensheng, Su Wensheng did not know what was going to happen next.
Therefore, in this game of "ghosts chasing people" - the "ghosts" do not represent alien species, but Xiaoli, who failed to transform back then.
——The "researchers" were not innocent people massacred by alien species, they were all the executioners who turned Xiao Li into a walking zombie.
That's why "ghosts" hate them so much.
——"Girl" represents Xiaoli from another timeline. Fortunately, she was saved by Su Mingan in advance and was not pushed into the operating room.
The current Xiao Li is the Xiao Li in the timeline who was "rescued by Su Ming'an". The ghost outside the door is Xiao Li from the timeline "who was not saved by Su Ming'an". It was precisely because the negative emotions generated by Xiao Li's massacre of researchers after she was transformed in the past became part of the driving energy of the first tower that the first tower was activated, integrating the past with reality and allowing Su Ming'an to climb over. The causal line can save the current Xiao Li.
If you kill "Xiao Li who was not saved by Su Mingan", you will kill the ghost and stop the massacre. Then the causal line of "ghosts massacre everyone and drive the first tower" will also be erased. When the ghost as the "cause" is killed, Xiaoli as the "effect" will cease to exist. No matter what, she would not exist today.
Therefore - her death cannot be saved.
At this moment, Su Mingan understood what the ghost said before.
…
["Haha, hahahaha..." Laughter came from the red mist, like a girl's miserable smile: "——It's useless. You don't understand what fate feels like. All your struggles will eventually lead to the destiny. The ending. It’s the same for Xiaoli, and it’s the same for you.”]
…
——Fate.
Su Mingan clenched his hands.
"Dr. Su, I already know what to do, please let me end this." Xiao Li said.
Su Mingan didn't stop her again.
"Creak-" The wooden door was pushed open, and Xiao Li walked out slowly. She borrowed Su Ming'an's knife, cut her wrist, and smeared the blood on the knife.
"The lanterns in your hands hold one of my hairs. Therefore, when a 'ghost' with the same origin as me approaches, it will sense the same origin and the lanterns in your hands will light up. This is the principle of the lantern. ." Xiao Li said: "The props provided by the safe house are also made with the blood and flesh of me, a qualified person. They can suppress things of the same origin, so your flesh and blood are needed in exchange."
Every mechanic of the game is explained. This is not a pleasant game about burning old granny, but a girl’s last desperate cry.
People had failed her and now it was up to her to fix it all.
Su Mingan watched her walk out step by step. The cold wind blew her black hair, and even though she was very young, a few white strands were already faintly visible.
The principle of the old world has always been: one price, one gain. No matter how powerful a "ghost" is, there are still things it is afraid of.
- It's afraid of itself.
The props provided by the safe house are originally made of its own flesh and blood. As Xiaoli's true self, her blood and flesh have the most suppressive effect on it.
Just like three Su Wenshengs can exist in one place at the same time, under the retrospective cause and effect of the tower, two Xiaoli can also exist here at the same time.
"Ghost" stepped back step by step and let out a hoarse cry.
"——Xiao Li." Su Mingan shouted.
Xiaoli stood still, her hands holding Su Mingan's amber knife. The long blade was almost taller than her whole body. Blood coagulated on the blade, dyeing the blade's surface vermilion.
The candlelight shone on her face, and her green cheeks were dyed solemnly and calmly. If she had a few more years, if her time didn't stop, maybe she could really grow into a very good person.
"——What will happen if the timeline is not closed?" Su Mingan said.
[Xiao Li who was rescued] killing [Xiao Li who was not rescued] is an act of closing the timeline. Because neither of them deserves to live in this world, when both of them disappear, the cause and effect will be normal. Therefore, what Xiaoli has to do now is to obliterate the ghost, and at the same time, she will obliterate herself.
Xiao Li clenched the knife, looked straight into the distance, and spoke softly:
"Some nodes of destiny cannot be changed."
"We may make many decisions in our lives, such as whether to have breakfast today, how many glasses of water to drink today, and whether to eat one more bite of tomatoes, but most of these decisions are meaningless. No matter what we do, No matter how many times decisions were changed, they never affected our outcome.”
"Only choices in some key events can lead to different outcomes. For example, choosing to go swimming leads to accidental drowning. No matter how many different choices we have made before - whether to have breakfast or how many tomatoes to eat, Nothing will change the ending of drowning. The only thing that can change the ending is the choices related to swimming."
"As long as the key decisions remain unchanged, no matter how the previous changes are made, the timeline will be closed and the same ending will be achieved."
"It's like the chemistry experiment Xiaowen once taught me when he was teaching me - every move we make may branch off a timeline, such as adding various types of wood to the box, but it is still wood and has not been produced. No matter how many times you add new substances, they are still wood. But if you add chemicals to it and create a new chemical reaction, then there will be real changes."
"In other words, even if you want me to live, at this critical time point, I must erase the traces of the existence of the 'ghost', and at the same time erase me. Because 'we' should not be alive until now. exist."
"I'm sorry, but I can't leave here."
Because this is destiny.
Her young body stood in front of Su Ming'an, and she walked towards the ghost step by step. Her blood dripped on the ground, and bright red flowers bloomed.
——"Girl".
Her shadow dragged on the ground, reflected in Su Mingan's eyes through the light.
——What is the fate of the "girl"? Did he die in the operating room with a heart filled with dissatisfaction? Did he die in despair with the ghost here? Did he miss the agreement with the young Su Wensheng? Or did he stay in the past nine years ago forever?
In any case, it seemed like there was no future ahead of her. Her future was cut off nine years ago. No matter how she struggled or looked back, her death could not be avoided, just like a butterfly suffocated in a jar.
Su Ming'an reached out and held her trembling arm. Her strength was too weak, and the amber knife was about to crush her.
"I am a qualified person. If a qualified person does not benefit mankind, mankind will be in misfortune." The words in her diary are dazzling.
"Before my parents died, you saved me from domestic violence. We made an appointment to grow up together."
"If a man loves to cry so much, how can he save other children in the future?"
"If someone really comes to save you, they must come back and destroy this place."
--I'm back.
Even though he is not the real Su Wensheng, he is back. He came back with his heart full of hot blood and his heart that had not yet become cold.
The girl's hair was flying in the wind, and there was a faint sword cocoon in her hand. Su Mingan held her hand tightly.
"Please, help me." Xiao Li's voice was very soft:
"I can't get close to the ghost with my strength. You help me get close to it and use my blood to kill it."
"Don't be sad, my death is in the past. Even if you insist on saving me, more people will die because of me, which I don't want to see. Now everyone has witnessed this. This piece of history will reduce similar situations from happening in the future - that’s what I want to see.”
"Please help me, okay?"
Su Mingan held her hand steady.
Just as he respected the Bright Knight's death back then, he also respects Xiao Li's choice now.
The moment he held her hand, he saw many memories.
——Back then, after the relative who adopted Xiaoli died, a new family soon adopted Xiaoli. They manipulated her and treated her like a nanny in the family. Until they were accidentally injured, Xiaoli couldn't bear their death and fed them her blood.
From that moment on - the nightmare began.
Because of her kindness, she revealed her identity as a qualified person. After the family recovered from her illness, they immediately sold her to the research institute.
She was transported to various places, underwent various tests, and endured countless pains. Until one day she was sitting in the car and passed by her home. She saw that the originally poor family had built a large luxurious house. The golden wheat fields were swaying in the wind. The old man and his children were sitting at home. At the door, drinking tea with neighbors and bragging. After they sold her, they became so rich and so happy.
And she was sitting in the car, no matter how many times she screamed for help and slapped the car window until her fists bled, no one came to save her.
After being sent to the experimental city, she was forced to perform various experiments-starvation experiments, burn experiments, and freezing experiments. She was often starved because people wanted to observe her body's reaction. The scalpel cut her skin, long needles penetrated her body, and the restraints restricted her movements. The severe pain always penetrated her flesh and bones. She has no dignity, like a sheep lying on the chopping board.
[She] is still being persecuted continuously.
"If... in this world... there are really... gods who love us... gods... please grant me a miracle, please... you... please..."
"If... Mom and Dad... are still there... then they... will definitely come... to save me..."
She collapsed in the dim ward, repeating, repeating.
"Xiao Wen..."
"Xiao Wen...will come...to save me."
"Then...the bad people will be...defeated...the kind-hearted adults...will give the bad guys...punishment..."
"I must persist until... that time... persist until... the kind-hearted adults descend from the sky... extradite me away from the pain..."
Xiaowen has been comforting her, saying that someone will definitely come to destroy this place and expose all evils to the light. He held her bony hand and promised to go home with her.
But in the end, until she was pushed to the final operating table, the light pierced her tearful eyes, the scalpel flashed coldly and cut towards her chest and abdomen, and the adults looked at her greedily with masks on - until that last moment, she Still praying, still full of hope.
"I have never...done...anything wrong..."
"Gods...angels...please...save me...save...'us'..."
But until the end - the scalpel fell on her heart -
No one came to save her.
