Hou Muyao argued with his brother for a while longer. Seeing that he could not persuade Hou Murong, he turned to Wen Wen and said,
"I've told you the news you wanted, now it's your turn to help me. Help me subdue him, and let us switch back."
Wen Wen shook his head and said, "I don't think I need to help you."
"Are you going back on your word?"
Hou Muyao's expression darkened. He knew Wen Wen was stronger than him, and if Wen Wen really decided to renege, he would be helpless.
"It's not like that, it's just that you might be a little upset if I tell you..."
Wen Wen pondered for two seconds, hesitated, and then said, "He has no soul, so he is not your real brother."
Hou Muyao was stunned. He looked at Hou Murong's face opposite him and seemed unable to accept what he had heard. "Soul... gone?"
As one of the souls in this bizarre space, Hou Muyao naturally knew what it meant for a soul to be gone.
Wen Wen nodded and said, "Among the acquaintances other people have found, all of them had souls. But the one you are facing is just a body pieced together with shore flowers."
"If the story you told me on the subway was true, then I guess your brother sacrificed himself to this space out of guilt, in exchange for you being able to live in the outside world again."
"And this body..."
Before Wen Wen could finish, Hou Muyao rushed to Hou Murong's side and pressed a talisman to his chest.
Yellow electric light pulsed from the talisman. After the light faded, Hou Murong's body turned into withered shore flower leaves and fell to the ground.
Hou Muyao sat on the ground with a dazed expression and said, "There really is no soul in here..."
He first laughed through his tears, then cried silently. After repeating this several times, he lay on the ground staring at the gray sky, lost in thought.
Hou Muyao had never imagined that just because he wanted to re-experience life in the real world, his brother would die for it.
Wen Wen stood aside, watching Hou Muyao's expression with a pang in his heart.
"The meeting of the living and the dead will only lead to tragedy. Regardless of the wishes of the deceased, this place should not continue to exist."
Wen Wen scratched the hair below his earlobe and let out a soft hiss. "Hmm, I'm feeling sympathetic towards him, and it seems I can relate. This means I'm becoming more humane. I'll give those children extra homework when we get back to celebrate."
As he was thinking about how to torment those monsters, Wen Wen froze. He heard footsteps approaching behind him.
He mocked himself, "That's right. Since Hou Murong's soul has vanished, and Hou Muyao can still see a false Hou Murong, then this space wouldn't let me off the hook either."
As soon as he finished speaking, a tentative voice emerged from behind him, "Excuse me... are you Wenwen?" Sudan Novel Network
The voice was very familiar to Wen Wen, causing his body to stiffen slightly. He let out a long sigh and said, "Perhaps this is for the best. I've let go of what happened back then, but I still owe an apology."
He turned around. Standing behind him was a woman he knew very well – his mother.
The woman showed a gentle smile and said, "It's been a long time, you've grown so..."
Wen Wen didn't let her finish. He hugged her directly, closed his eyes, and said softly,
"Although I haven't made many friends or had a girlfriend over the years, you don't have to worry about me. I'm living well, and I can take care of myself..."
"Dad isn't dead, and the house is still the way you left it..."
Wen Wen chattered on for a long time, and the woman listened quietly.
"Finally, I shouldn't have gone crazy back then. I'm sorry..."
Two tears flowed from the corners of the woman's eyes, as if she wanted to say something to Wen Wen.
But a warm power emanated from Wen Wen's body, enveloping her and instantly blasting her into pieces without her feeling any pain.
"I've said everything I wanted to say. You should rest in peace now."
Looking at the withered branches of the shore flowers, Wen Wen's gaze was tinged with sadness. He lay down beside Hou Muyao, and together they watched the dim sky.
After crying for a while, Hou Muyao seemed to have adjusted his emotions. He looked at Wen Wen, who was lying beside him, and said,
"You seem to have a story too. Do you want to share it? It might make you feel better."
Wen Wen remained silent for a moment and said, "That was my mother just now. In a sense... I killed her."
"Killed your mother?"
Hou Muyao shifted his body slightly, looking at Wen Wen as if he were looking at a beast.
Wen Wen shook his head and said, "One day I came home from school and found the door to our house open. Several thugs were holding her hostage and robbing the house. She was injured and had likely been beaten. I was enraged."
Hou Muyao thought Wen Wen's "enraged" only meant extreme anger, but he didn't know that Wen Wen had truly "gone mad" at that time.
Wen Wen let out a sinister grin that sent a chill through Hou Muyao. "None of those thugs escaped. They all died by my hands. I made them suffer the greatest pain, and gave no one a quick death."
Then Wen Wen's eyes dimmed. "The last one was holding my mother hostage, begging me to spare him. But I refused and made him die in the most horrific way..."
"But because of that, I didn't have time to save my mother."
After finishing, Wen Wen stood up without looking at Hou Muyao's reaction.
Hou Muyao was right, it did feel better to talk about it. But if the person in front of Wen Wen wasn't a stranger like Hou Muyao, Wen Wen would never have recounted this experience.
"You can't be blamed entirely for this..." Hou Muyao hesitated.
Wen Wen smiled and said, "Thank you."
At this moment, Li Youyou's card game had ended, and she was bidding farewell to her friends one by one.
After saying goodbye, she would likely decompose her soul and offer herself to this space.
Wen Wen tapped his foot and appeared beside Li Youyou. His black hair coalesced into a barrier, enveloping Li Youyou.
Seeing this, Xin Xue's body shimmered with spots of light, and she began to pound frenziedly at the barrier Wen Wen had created.
She bit her lip, completely disregarding the injuries she sustained from hitting the barrier.
She hadn't been able to save Li Youyou before, and this time, she wouldn't stand by and watch her be taken away by this black-haired monster.
Within the black hair, Wen Wen used chains to drag Li Youyou into the containment facility, preventing her from offering herself to the space.
Then Wen Wen dispelled the space and cast a sidelong glance at the sky.
"Where is Youyou? Where did you take her?" Xin Xue's eyes welled up with tears, ready to fight Wen Wen to the death.
Wen Wen glanced at Xin Xue and said, "Shut up, you stupid woman. Get lost."
"If I hadn't intervened, she would have disappeared forever. Besides, I don't have time to deal with you. Something is coming."