Chapter 32: Go in My Place, to See the Mountains and Rivers of That Other World
“The Fool’s Library?”
Emis paused, the pudding on her fork suspended mid-air as she froze in place.
She furrowed her elegant brows, falling into deep thought as a flicker of recollection flashed through her eyes. “It does sound… a little familiar.”
“Ah, I remember now.”
After a long moment, Emis lightly clapped her hands. “I think the Shorewatcher sister mentioned it once before.”
“Shorewatcher?”
Rast repeated the name softly, finding it strangely familiar.
He glanced at the blonde girl in front of him, whose expression suggested she wanted to say more but hesitated, and couldn’t help but smile. “It’s okay, Xiao Ai. You can speak freely.”
“Some things, some mysteries, we still need to figure out eventually… Even if, in the end, the truth isn’t what I had hoped for, it doesn’t matter.”
“Mm.” Emis gently nodded.
She tidied up the remaining utensils on the table, then pulled open the curtain nearby.
Outside, the bright moon hung high in the sky.
The entire town of Canaan was cloaked in tranquil night, with the occasional glow of kerosene lamps like lonely lighthouses upon a vast sea.
“I know, Rast, that you spent an incredibly long time in that world called Deep Blue Port—so long that you forgot many things.”
“So… I guess you wouldn’t remember either, the great fire in Canaan ten years ago.”
Emis stood by the window, gazing at the town in the night. The candlelight on the table flickered brightly, illuminating her eyes.
“It’s been too long, and I can’t recall the exact details either… But it was a huge fire. The elders in the town said it might have been the greatest disaster in Canaan’s history. It nearly reduced the entire town to ruins.”
“And it was then that the Shorewatcher sister appeared.”
“No one knew her real name, nor her origins. They only knew she called herself the Shorewatcher.”
“Shorewatcher sister saved many people during that great fire, and afterwards helped us rebuild the town of Canaan.”
“It’s strange when you think about it—despite the severity of the fire, the town was rebuilt in just a few months, exactly the same as before the fire. It was like something out of a storybook, like magic.”
Emis spoke with a melodious voice, and her sky-blue eyes flickered slightly. “Oh, right. At the time, Rast, you pushed me out of the burning house first, while you yourself were buried under the collapsing building.”
“I knelt on the burning ruins, trying to dig through the bricks and rubble, but I couldn’t do anything…”
“In the end, it was the Shorewatcher sister who pulled you out of the wreckage.”
As if remembering something, she smiled faintly. “Maybe because of that, you admired the Shorewatcher sister a lot at the time. You even said something like wanting to become a Shorewatcher when you grew up.”
“The Fool’s Library… I remember the Shorewatcher sister mentioning it casually when chatting with us.”
“However, she didn’t stay in Canaan for long. After the reconstruction was complete, she left the town.”
Emis paused briefly in her words. “Oh, and it seems that ever since the Shorewatcher sister left, Rast, you began experiencing frequent drowsiness…”
“And the dream of that place called Deep Blue Port also began from around then.”
In his mind, the stabbing pain intensified.
Collapsing walls, falling floors, hot winds full of ash, twisted and melting metal pipes in the heat… and the sky, scorched red and black by smoke and flame.
And the woman who, finding him still alive amidst the burning ruins, smiled with heartfelt relief.
Her face had long become blurred in the fragmented memories, yet Rast still remembered that smile—
Perhaps it was the most beautiful smile he had ever seen in this life.
Only, as always—
When Rast tried to delve deeper into those memories, the images shattered once more and plunged into the void of darkness.
“Sorry, Xiao Ai. You said so much, but I still can’t quite remember.”
“It’s alright, Rast, there’s no need to apologize.”
Emis gently shook her head. She looked out at the swaying lights with those sky-blue eyes. “Even if you can’t ever recall it, that’s okay.”
“If the past can no longer be traced…”
“Then all we need is to create brand-new memories together, to fill that void with vibrant new colors.”
“Alright, let’s not dwell on those troubling things anymore. Let’s talk about something cheerful.”
As if trying to shift Rast’s attention, the blonde girl clapped her hands softly.
“According to Miss Shiltina, that Deep Blue Port you were trapped in before, was actually a constantly looping and restarting historical remnant in the Nightworld?”
“And this time, you all successfully cleared the historical remnant of Deep Blue Port.”
“Does that mean, Rast, that you’ve been freed from Deep Blue Port? And after that, you can go to the real world where Miss Shiltina is?”
“Mm.”
Rast nodded. “According to Shiltina, that should be right.”
“But my understanding of this so-called real world is entirely based on the few words Shiltina shared with me. I don’t actually know what kind of place it truly is.”
“Is that so?”
Emis tilted her head. “In that case, I hope there’s a vast golden prairie in that world.”
“Mm? Why?” Rast asked.
“Because whether in Canaan or Deep Blue Port, you’ve never had the chance to see that kind of scenery… No matter how beautiful the harbor view is, you’d get tired of it after seeing it hundreds or thousands of times, right?”
“I saw it in a travel journal I borrowed from Grandpa Mayor. The journal said there are many places in this world one must visit at least once in a lifetime.”
“Like golden prairies as tall as people, where you only see cows and sheep when the wind blows through the grass; like islands floating in the sky; or a water city where all the buildings are on the water and you need a little boat just to go outside…”
Emis lifted the hem of her skirt and spun around lightly. “So, Rast, can you promise me something?”
“If that other world really has those landscapes, please make sure to go see them.”
“Then, tell me all about the mountains and rivers of that world, the floating islands, the water city, and the golden prairie…”
Looking at the girl in front of him, whose eyes shimmered with hope, Rast gently nodded.
“Mm, I promise you.”
Compared to the cities ablaze with lights all night long, night fell early in the border town.
Not long after nightfall, Rast and Emis bid each other goodnight and returned to their own rooms.
Rast lay on the bed, gazing at the dark sky outside the window.
This time, he didn’t use mental suggestion to force himself asleep—he simply closed his eyes quietly, waiting for sleep to slowly rise and embrace him.
…
When Rast’s consciousness awakened once again, the scenery before him was completely different.
Beside him stood a dark, illusory door, shrouded in the night and rippling with wave-like distortions.
As Rast appeared, that illusory door slowly dissolved into the night.
Then, he heard hurried footsteps and saw people in uniforms appearing around him. Each wore a standard emblem at the collar.
On the emblem, tiny stars sparkled and glimmered.