Ch45 – Apology
Translated by: DMlations/Zryuu
Edited by: Amelea, FistFullOfDollars, Juurensha and Wuxian
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A loud rumble resounded with each stride of the Tyrannosaurus Rex, and each step spanned a distance of nearly five to six metres as it relentlessly pursued them. It suddenly unleashed a loud “ao” which shook the windshield of the jeep until it was rattling nonstop. Yu Hao said, “This gun is useless against it!”
“Aim at its eyes!” Zhou Sheng shouted, “Or its nostrils!”
“I can’t aim!”
The large head of the Tyrannosaurus Rex swayed from side to side and crushed a huge tree trunk it collided with. Yu Hao constantly fired at it as it quickly gained on them, and one of the bullets had hit somewhere that caused the Tyrannosaurus Rex to roar in fury. It had been thoroughly enraged. It quickened, but suddenly, the whole world violently quaked!
The Tyrannosaurus Rex, the jeep, and even the surrounding trees and the soil they were rooted in tossed upwards.
Yu Hao, “An earthquake?”
The conscious world immediately sank down again. Zhou Sheng instantly reacted, “He’s on the plane! Could he have encountered turbulence?”
“What do you mean?” Yu Hao had never been on an airplane before.
The world shook a few times. The Tyrannosaurus Rex wavered and tenaciously struggled to regain its footing, then chased after them again.
“Hold on tight!” Zhou Sheng shouted, “We’re rushing over right now!”
Ahead of them and to their left was a waterfall that converged into a slippery brook. After the stream flowed for about ten metres or so, it plunged down a cliff that was nearly twenty metres high to form another waterfall.
Zhou Sheng, “Ladies and gentlemen! Our plane has encountered some turbulence during our ascent, so it might get a bit b.u.mpy——”
Zhou Sheng abruptly slammed the steering wheel and the jeep swerved on the spot with Yu Hao shouting like a madman. The Tyrannosaurus Rex’s head had almost reached the back seat of the car. Zhou Sheng floored the accelerator, and the jeep rushed out with a loud “boom”. It pulled away from the Tyrannosaurus Rex and careened through the stream. The Tyrannosaurus Rex let out a mad roar as it chased them, but Zhou Sheng turned again and rushed right back!
Yu Hao’s entire face had been doused with water.
Zhou Sheng gritted his teeth. Both of them were drenched from head to toe after being swamped with cold water. The car drove through the waterfall and the Tyrannosaurus Rex quickly opened its mouth and bit into the cascading water.
Zhou Sheng shouted at the Tyrannosaurus Rex, “Please return to your seat and fasten your seatbelt. The toilet will be temporarily unavailable——”
And at that moment, the entire conscious world quaked again. The Tyrannosaurus Rex instantly stumbled and fell, slipping on the bottom of the stream that was covered with rocks smoothed from countless years of erosion. When the Tyrannosaurus Rex fell down, the colossal monster was washed several meters away by the force of the current and the momentum created by its own sideways fall. It suddenly let out an ear-splitting roar as it was swept by the current off the edge of the stream and fell down the 20-metre high cliff.
Zhou Sheng drove the car out of the waterfall. Yu Hao watched the Tyrannosaurus Rex desperately claw and scratch before letting out a helpless wail of anguish as it hurtled down the cliff, still swinging its head violently from side to side.
Zhou Sheng, “Thank you!”
Yu Hao ran over to the edge of the cliff and looked down. He saw that the Tyrannosaurus Rex had fallen all the way down and currently seemed quite confused and disoriented. It crawled out of the puddle at the bottom of the cliff, then staggered as it ran away.
Zhou Sheng smoothed out his short hair and looked at Yu Hao. Yu Hao nodded.
Yu Hao, “You’re really amazing.”
Zhou Sheng, “That’s for sure.”
Against the dusky backdrop of the sky, Zhou Sheng sat beside a rock as he bit a straw in his mouth. The top three b.u.t.tons of his navy blue shirt were unb.u.t.toned and its sleeves were rolled up. This shirt made Chen Yekai seem refined and handsome when he wore it, but on Zhou Sheng it made him look like a hired thug.
Zhou Sheng used a branch to draw a map of the rainforest on the ground from memory.
“I don’t know how long his flight is.” Zhou Sheng said, “We’ve already covered this area, there’s nothing else there aside from the inn.”
“We haven’t been to the center yet.” Yu Hao stood knee-deep in the stream. His upper body was bare as he washed the white shirt that had been dirtied, then wrung it out to dry. There was no sunlight here, and the feeling of wet clothes on his body was difficult to bear.
Zhou Sheng said, “Here, here, and here……are all on fire, so we don’t need to go there. There’s only the central area left, and the entire path that we just came through.”
The sky grew even darker. The jeep’s headlights were turned on, and the two bursts of light were shining upon Yu Hao in the stream. Several black shadows loomed within the jungle.
“Zhou Sheng?” Yu Hao said.
Suddenly, several panthers leaped toward Zhou Sheng, who was still sitting on the rock. A shield immediately appeared behind Zhou Sheng’s back, and with a “clang”, it blocked the sharp claws of the panthers. Zhou Sheng rolled away and grabbed the shield that had appeared behind him, but even more panthers had rushed out and swiftly drove him into the stream!
“Xfa atf uec……” Itbe Vtfcu iloafv atf rtlfiv jr tf kjr vglnfc lcab atf ragfjw jcv mtbxfv bc j wbeatoei bo kjafg. Lf obgmfoeiis xlmxfv beakjgvr klat ybat ifur. Te Ljb rtbeafv jcv lwwfvljafis aegcfv jgbecv ab rqglca abkjgvr atf pffq, yea atfgf kfgf jigfjvs atgff qjcatfgr bc atflg pffq!
The panthers’ eyes glowed green and they simultaneously roared before pouncing toward Yu Hao! Yu Hao waded through the water to dodge them. He flung out his thoroughly drenched shirt and whacked a panther with it!
“Get lost!” Yu Hao shouted and spun around as even more panthers encircled him, but in the next moment, a miracle occurred!
When the panther in mid air was whipped by the shirt, it seemed as if it had been abruptly hit by an invisible bat which sent it flying!
Yu Hao, “???”
He suddenly had an epiphany. He swung the shirt out, and wherever the shirt was swept, the panthers would be sent flying in all directions before landing harshly on the ground.
“Zhou Sheng!” As soon as Yu Hao broke through his encirclement, he quickly darted towards Zhou Sheng. He used the shirt to repel the panther that was pressing down on Zhou Sheng. Zhou Sheng struggled at first, but when the pressure on him was relieved, he immediately sprang out of the stream and began coughing incessantly. Yu Hao roared angrily, “Come ba!” Then he pushed forward again, swinging his shirt in all directions. In an instant, all the panthers were sent flying and filled the whole sky like a celestial fairy had scattered petals from the heavens, accompanied by their anguished wails.
“What kind of an obscene function is that?” Zhou Sheng couldn’t believe the sight before his eyes.
Yu Hao said, “Let’s go!”
Zhou Sheng immediately turned around and got in the car. After Yu Hao chased the panthers away, he got in as well, and Zhou Sheng immediately drove them away from the waterfall.
They had not yet settled down from their panicked states when their gazes met. Yu Hao said, “This shirt, might be……the protective halo he gave me?”
Zhou Sheng frowned, “What does that mean? Now that I think about it, is this shirt the one you wore on stage? Ohhhh——”
Yu Hao, “What’s that ‘oh’ for?”
Zhou Sheng, “Did he fall in love when he saw you singing on stage that day?”
Yu Hao, “No way!”
Zhou Sheng, “Then how would you explain——”
Suddenly, another mad roar resounded. They had just driven down the mountain when the Tyrannosaurus Rex emerged from the rainforest and raced headlong towards them. Zhou Sheng jerked the steering wheel abruptly and Yu Hao shouted, “It’s coming again!”
Zhou Sheng lost his temper, “I’m so done with this dream!!!!”
“I have a plan!” Yu Hao shouted, “Just do as I say——!”
The Tyrannosaurus Rex cleared a path by smashing its way through and charged at the jeep that was rushing towards the jungle clearing in the darkness of the night. Thump, thump, the Tyrannosaurus Rex produced a loud rumble with each step it took.
At the end of the muddy road, Zhou Sheng turned on the high beam and the engine roared with a “buzz——buzz——” whirring sound. Yu Hao was incredibly nervous. His upper body was bare, and he held his white shirt in front of him with both hands as he stood within the range of the headlights’ illumination.
Zhou Sheng stared closely at the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Tyrannosaurus Rex roared loudly and charged towards the jeep.
In an instant, Yu Hao waved his white shirt as if he was in a bullfight, and with this one shake, the Tyrannosaurus Rex immediately deviated from its original direction and crashed into the dense forest!
Zhou Sheng, “……”
Yu Hao turned around quickly. Zhou Sheng searched through the jeep for a ca.s.sette and stuffed it into the stereo.
“Dong dong ta! Dong dong ta!”
“Buddy, you’re a boy make a big noise——”
Zhou Sheng, “Let’s play some music!”
Yu Hao, “Stop it! I’m about to die from stress!”
The Tyrannosaurus Rex rushed back again towards the deafening noise. Yu Hao waved his shirt to the beat of the music while the Tyrannosaurus Rex let out another “ao” and rushed towards the other side of the forest, crashing harshly into it again!
“We——will we——will, rock you！”
Zhou Sheng, “Yoho——”
Yu Hao, “……”
The Tyrannosaurus Rex got up and shook its head like a dog, uncertain about whether it should rush forward again. Zhou Sheng jumped over the front cover of the car and said, “Let me play with it too!”
Yu Hao threw the shirt at him and hid behind Zhou Sheng. The Tyrannosaurus Rex was absolutely furious. It charged forward while roaring angrily, and in the next moment, Zhou Sheng jerked the shirt out in one swift move. The Tyrannosaurus Rex stumbled and staggered into the woods, but Zhou Sheng actually chased after it. The Tyrannosaurus Rex had just opened its mouth when Zhou Sheng shouted at it, “Get the h.e.l.l up!”
Zhou Sheng waved the shirt and jerked it at the Tyrannosaurus Rex. The Tyrannosaurus Rex was whipped onto its back, and all its limbs faced the sky as it flew straight upwards. As Zhou Sheng unfurled the shirt, the Tyrannosaurus Rex flew over their heads and harshly crashed into the jungle ten metres away. A loud crash immediately followed, then a tumble and a “boom” as the entire forest collapsed. It was actually an edge of a canyon.
Yu Hao and Zhou Sheng kept gasping for breath. Zhou Sheng pa.s.sed the shirt back to Yu Hao, “Put it on; let’s go.”
The jeep drove through the jungle. Zhou Sheng focused intently on driving, but would occasionally glance at Yu Hao who was leaning on the pa.s.senger seat.
“Sleepy?” Zhou Sheng asked.
“A little.” Yu Hao answered, “What would happen if I fell asleep in a dream?”
“I don’t know, you can try……by the way, shall we exchange shirts?”
“No.” Yu Hao simply refused——Zhou Sheng had never seen Chen Yekai’s photo before; he wasn’t aware of the sentiments in the clothes they wore in Chen Yekai’s dream, and what it meant to the owner of this world of consciousness.
As of this moment, Yu Hao was also in a very complicated mood.
Zhou Sheng, “If you don’t want to exchange shirts then so be it, but why are you staring at me like that?”
Zhou Sheng could only drop the subject. The car turned out of the jungle, and Yu Hao asked, “Where are you driving to? Why are you driving farther and farther away?”
“Look.” Zhou Sheng said, “There’s light near the boundary of the subconscious.”
Yu Hao quickly sat up straight and looked into the distance. Sure enough, near the top of Mt. Tianqing, a faint ray of light beamed down from the sky.
“Have you ever been there?” Zhou Sheng asked.
“I came down from that mountain.” Yu Hao answered, “I don’t think so.”
“Then before you came down, was that thing there?” Zhou Sheng motioned for Yu Hao to look in another direction, where the mountain peak was connected to the mountain ranges.
Yu Hao saw a suspension bridge. At one end of the suspension bridge a solitary peak had appeared, and on top of that solitary peak, a ray of light resembling a beam was cast from the gap between dense layers of cloud and illuminated the peak of the mountain.
Yu Hao murmured, “That mountain had already been destroyed by lightning.”
“The safe haven has been rebuilt.” Zhou Sheng turned the steering wheel and drove the car up the mountain, “This time, it’s right.”
As they drove to the midway point of the mountain, the restaurant they had recently dined in appeared. Zhou Sheng went to inspect it, just in case they missed anything. There was only one table in the entire restaurant — the table that Yu Hao and Chen Yekai had eaten at.
Next, they hiked up the mountain. Yu Hao was extremely embarra.s.sed, yet Zhou Sheng seemed to be his usual self.
Yu Hao, “After we finished our meal that day……”
“It’s alright, I just have a bad temper.” Zhou Sheng knew what Yu Hao wanted to say and answered in an uncharacteristic manner, “Yu Hao, are there times when, I……make you feel like you’re at a loss?”
Yu Hao, “N……no.”
Zhou Sheng, “Really?”
Yu Hao, “Really.”
“I’m asking you seriously, do you like him?” Zhou Sheng suddenly said, “You know what I mean.”
Yu Hao was about to say “I do like him very much as a friend”, but he knew what Zhou Sheng meant so he blurted out without much hesitation, “I don’t like him.”
Zhou Sheng grinned, “Compared to me?”
Yu Hao said, “Will you knock it off, please?”
The mountain road was pitch-black. Zhou Sheng leaned a little closer to Yu Hao and Yu Hao’s heart began to beat violently. Did Chen Yekai’s words affect Zhou Sheng? He could instinctively sense that Zhou Sheng had raised his hand as if he wanted to hold his own, and for an instant, Yu Hao couldn’t even breathe.
But Zhou Sheng raised his hand and placed it on Yu Hao’s shoulder.
Yu Hao couldn’t see Zhou Sheng’s expression, but he could guess what Zhou Sheng was thinking. It has already been several months since New Year, and during this period, they have been avoiding a problem that they both tacitly understood.
Yu Hao still likes Zhou Sheng and Zhou Sheng knows it. Rather than mention it, they both just pretended that the issue didn’t exist. Although Zhou Sheng had asked Yu Hao to go find a boyfriend and date, he was always hostile towards anyone who stood a chance of becoming Yu Hao’s boyfriend as he couldn’t stand seeing Yu Hao with other people. In one of his major’s cla.s.ses last week, it was mentioned that for some people, their possessive desires within their friendships was even stronger than that of love.
What the h.e.l.l do you want me to do? Just say it yourself ba. Sometimes, Yu Hao felt like Zhou Sheng was even more childish than he was, and Zhou Sheng’s feelings seemed even more conflicted than his. But even if you asked him to explain himself, he wouldn’t be able to.
Every time Zhou Sheng gets angry, Yu Hao would feel somewhat at a loss. He doesn’t know what Zhou Sheng wants, and he doesn’t know what to do either. Zhou Sheng didn’t like Chen Yekai at first because he could tell that Chen Yekai had some kind of special interest in Yu Hao. So Yu Hao could only try his best not to get too close to Chen Yekai, and the only exception for this was that one time on Mt. Tianqing.
In retrospect, Chen Yekai might have already decided to take action that day. Although he never told them why he had wanted to kill Lin Xun——but Yu Hao has always felt some guilt after he took the knife from Chen Yekai’s hands. If he had been a bit more concerned about Chen Yekai in the month after school had reopened, he might not have needed to go that far.
But of course, this responsibility couldn’t be pushed onto Zhou Sheng either; one could only say that it was Yu Hao’s own choice.
“He’s pretty good.” Zhou Sheng said.
Yu Hao answered, “He is pretty good, but this is just a transference of feelings, and I don’t like him. He still loves Ryuusei.”
Zhou Sheng looked at the darkness that surrounded them, “He’ll move on from it one day.”
Yu Hao, “You know what I mean. Besides, there won’t be feelings where there are none. He’s too outstanding; I don’t like it.”
“So I’m not outstanding ah?!” When Zhou Sheng heard that, he instantly felt like he had been mercilessly ridiculed.
Yu Hao quickly said, “You’re very outstanding, you’re General! It’s just that I think, we……ai, could you stop talking about it? It wasn’t easy for me to force myself to stop thinking about it!”
Zhou Sheng could only say, “I’m sorry, I also don’t know why……anyway, I won’t eat anyone’s vinegar anymore, just hang out with whoever you want to ba.”
Yu Hao, “……”
Zhou Sheng, “What I mean is, ai, forget it, it’s fine as long as you understand. If I act up like that again, just scold me ba. No, treat me like a nutjob. Ignore me and give me the cold shoulder for a few days, and I’ll calm down on my own. I feel quite guilty towards Kaikai because of this too. If I hadn’t said those things to you, perhaps you would have cared more for him……”
“……and maybe then, he would still have a safe haven here……”
Zhou Sheng had his arm around Yu Hao’s shoulder as they walked forward. They circled around the cliff and arrived at the suspension bridge. Everything was tranquil and quiet. The suspension bridge disappeared into the misty clouds, and the pillar of light that beamed down from a crack in the dark ma.s.s of clouds illuminated the peak of the opposite mountain like a sacred light.
“I just want you to be happy.”
In the end, this was what Zhou Sheng said to Yu Hao.
Yu Hao answered, “I understand.” He wanted to say something else, but he held back.
I am pretty happy with how things are now. Of course, if you liked me just a little bit, I would be even happier.
“Cross the bridge.” Zhou Sheng said.
Yu Hao stepped onto the bridge. Zhou Sheng’s hand naturally slid off his shoulder and very naturally held his hand as he led him across the suspension bridge. In Chen Yekai’s dream, this suspension bridge suddenly became incredibly st.u.r.dy; there was no longer a sense of danger from it swaying about like it did at Mt. Tianqing.
“I’m fine.” Yu Hao laughed, “The suspension bridge is very stable.”
“You were so nervous when you crossed it last time.” Zhou Sheng said.
Yu Hao, “I got used to it after walking across a few more times.”
Zhou Sheng released Yu Hao’s hand. The two of them walked forward with one in front of the other. They crossed the suspension bridge and pa.s.sed through the fog. Yu Hao saw the ruins of bricks and tiles strewn all over the floor, and it looked just like it did when he entered the dream world for the first time.
A ray of light cast down from the sky and coincidentally landed on the ruins.
In the middle of the ruins, Chen Yekai stood looking perplexed. He turned around and saw Zhou Sheng and Yu Hao emerge from the fog.
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