IWOL Chapter 67: The Final Outcome

Back at the apartment where they had set off, the bright white light in the box gradually extinguished, revealing the teddy bear lying quietly in it.

The Tang sword was still in Cui Zuojing’s hand, indicating that he was able to bring it out. Seeing that he could keep this useful weapon, Cui Zuojing was secretly relieved. His mood, which had been a little downcast due to Dong Zheng’s emotions, brightened up.

Wang Que wasn’t present since she didn’t enter the box with them.

It was already nighttime in the Pure White realm so Allen turned on the light, illuminating everyone’s solemn face.

Dong Zheng picked up the bear with the black bow tie around its neck and a smile on its face. Resting on its chest was a red blessing card, which read, “I hope you get well soon.”

He opened the card.

[To Tommy:

Only time can mend all wounds.

Love,

Your Grandma.] (1)

“Congratulations for successfully passing [Horror/Survival–Doll’s House]. Your clearance points are being calculated. Please wait.”

The ending of that dark and twisted story had completely wiped out the joy of successfully passing the box. Lin Hangzhi rubbed his face and let out a long breath. Dong Linhai was silent, and only Allen looked slightly better.

“Calculations completed. Successfully passed [Doll’s House], receives 60 points. Collected 5/5 keys, receives 10 points. Killed “Pan,” receives 30 points. Trigger the final ending “True Paradise,” receives 20 points. Your team’s current total is 337 points. Each person gets an ability point X2, and you brought out the props [Stitched-Heart Bear] and [Tang Sword–Blocking the Moon].

In this situation, Cui Zuojing knew that he was the only person in the room not depressed. He said, “Not bad. We got 120 points total. Let’s go home.”

Dong Zheng silently allowed Cui Zuojing to take Fu Zhe’s key out from his pocket and open the apartment door. Then, they all walked through.

Fu Zhe was reading a book in the living room. When he heard the sound of the door being opened, he immediately raised his head. Seeing that everyone came back, he relaxed without realizing it. Smiling, he nodded to everyone. “Welcome back.”

Cui Zuojing hummed in acknowledgement. He didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, but he knew that everyone else weren’t in a good mood. In order to avoid trouble, he was very well behaved.

Victor was still unconscious in Dong Linhai’s arms. Cui Zuojing took Victor and gentlly placed him on the table, saying, “Uncle was able to unlock one of his seals inside the box, but it seemed to take too much out of him. You can take a look at him.”

“Okay.” Fu Zhe got up and said, “Everyone, please take a bath and rest. I’ll call you down once dinner is ready.”

Dong Zheng nodded to him and went back to his room first. Allen and Lin Hangzhi also went back to their room. As soon as they entered their room, they went to take a shower. The scent of urine on their bodies in “Paradise” had not yet dissipated, clinging to them so stubbornly that they couldn’t bear it anymore.

Only Dong Linhai remained in the living room. Seeing that the young man was hesitating, as if he had something to say, Fu Zhe asked, “What’s wrong?”

Fu Zhe and Victor were both gentle people. But, unlike Victor’s naturally gentle temperament, Fu Zhe was a teacher in the real world so his gentleness was honed through self-discipline. As a result, he was better at guiding patiently and systematically, and he remained calm and collected even as he mocked people with quiet sarcasm. Sometimes, people who were stabbed by him didn’t even realize it at all but thought that they were being praised instead.

“My ability seems to have changed a little.” Dong Linhai spread out his hands. The scar that resulted from being stabbed by Pan Chuangen was almost invisible under Victor’s purification. “The situation was particularly critical at the time. A monster wanted to kill Brother Hangzhi with a knife. I couldn’t stop it, so I blocked it with my hands. The result was…”

“The knife became deformed, didn’t it?”

Dong Linhai’s eyes widened and he couldn’t conceal his astonishment. “How do you know?! Right, right, right. The dagger’s blade directly curled inward. Otherwise, half of my palm would have been cut off. I wouldn’t only lose a piece of meat.”

Fu Zhe gave him an understanding smile and said, “Did you have any special feelings at the time?”

Dong Linhai scratched his head. “Well…there was an unusually strange feeling. But, at the time, I was afraid that Brother Lin and I would die. I was too anxious and didn’t remember much.”

“From the beginning when you began practicing bending spoons, I’ve suspected it. You can vaguely feel it, right? What you can really control is not just bending spoons but the metal that composes it.”

Dong Linhai nodded. “When I found that I could only make metal spoons bend, I wondered if it might be related to this. But, I didn’t even dare to think about having the ability to control metal. It just seems too awesome.”

“So you think it’s impossible for you to have it?” Fu Zhe all at once punctured through Dong Linhai’s thoughts. “I always thought that you’re not afraid of anything, and that you’re definitely the type of students that would cause teachers at school the most headache. How come you have such an idea about yourself?”

Dong Linhai pressed his lips together. He was silent for a few seconds before he softly said, “As a matter of fact, I…I always felt lacking and was holding back. When I was still at home, my parents and brother would often spoil me. I didn’t need to worry about anything, so I’ve always been foolish and silly. When I got here, I felt very uncomfortable. I’m not as smart as my brother, nor as capable as Allen. It’s because of these things that Cui Zuojing dislikes me.”

“I could tell that A’Zuo dislikes you.” After stabbing Dong Linhai in the heart, Fu Zhe said, “But, the only reason he has a bad impression of you is because, when Dong Zheng was unconscious, you made him and Dong Zheng sign a blood contract. This burdened him with a lot of things. It could be said that your behavior ruined his plans. It would be very strange if he wasn’t angry.”

Dong Linhai also knew that he was in the wrong and whispered, “But I really had no choice at the time. My brother was going to die and that was the only way to save him. No matter what happened, I was willing to try it.”

“I understand.” Fu Zhe smiled, patted his shoulder, and said, “When all was said and done, in this Pure White Realm, everyone considered prisoners as nothing but tools. But, that’s not wholly unforgivable, and your learning ability is very strong. Don’t think about it too much. You must be tired after being in the box for so long. Go and rest.”

After watching Dong Linhai’s figure disappear into the stairwell, Fu Zhe’s smile disappeared. With a small sigh, he tapped his index finger on Victor’s brow.

He could sense the chaos in the depths of Victor’s consciousness. After the seal was lifted, the power would be too strong for his cat’s body and would require some time to acclimate. The emerald green light that rose from his fingertip sank into the white fur, triggering a flicker of lavender light in response.

Get a good night’s sleep, Uncle, he silently thought.

Some time later, Cui Zuojing finished cleaning himself up and came downstairs, holding a bottle of hydrosol and constantly spraying himself with it. Perhaps, he’d been in Paradise for too long that he always felt as if his body had a foul smell.

“Is Uncle all right?” He sat down in front of Fu Zhe.

“He’s fine. It’s probably because unlocking his seal was too sudden, and he wasn’t prepared so he couldn’t adapt.” Fu Zhe placed Victor on his lap and asked, “How was the situation in the box?”

“It was okay. We’ve basically explored everything in the box, which had a dark and twisted true ending. But, the rewards are quite a lot.” Cui Zuojing put the heart-stitched bear on the table and said, “Another SCP item. Plus, everyone gets two ability points upgrade. I also brought out a useful weapon.”

“The true ending…” Fu Zhe knew the shit nature of the box quite well, particularly since everything in the Pure White Ream currently existed to feed the Queen with despair. So, it was the true ending that left a shadow on everyone’s heart. He thought of their gloomy faces after they’d just come back, and rubbed his eyebrows helplessly. “It’s seems I’m going to have to be a part-time psychologist again.”

“Wait until Uncle wakes up. After that, you can both be part-time psychologists together.” Cui Zuojing knew that it definitely wasn’t a job for him. He was accustomed to speaking bluntly. If he tried to enlighten others, it would definitely result in an accident.

However, Dong Zheng could be left to him. The other person seemed to have a strong tolerance.

“By the way, I saw Chang Hui in the box. She admitted that she was the one who put the energy into Dong Zheng’s body, and it wasn’t a coincidence that I became Dong Zheng’s prisoner. Dong Zheng’s mother signed a contract with Chang Hui many years ago. Using her soul as a bargaining chip, she asked Chang Hui to give her black-gold prisoner card to Dong Zheng if he ever came to the Pure White Realm.”

Cui Zuojing didn’t tell Fu Zhe about Chang Hui’s words “Be careful with your friends.” It wasn’t that he didn’t trust him. But rather, he always believed that the closest friends, even lovers, should keep their own secrets.

Fu Zhe was the same. He also wouldn’t tell him everything, as long as it wouldn’t delay their plans.

Fu Zhe pondered for a moment and said, “Then everything has been clarified. However, we still don’t know about Chang Hui’s real position, so even if she seems to have good intentions in the future, she mustn’t be trusted.”

Cui Zuojing nodded and agreed.

“We can investigate Dong Zheng’s mother. Since she has a black-gold prisoner card, she must be a very powerful pilgrim.”

“Leave this to me. I’ll go to the exchange tomorrow to see if I can purchase useful information about her.”

In the middle of their conversation, Cui Zuojing couldn’t withstand his hunger anymore so he went to find two coconut cakes to eat. Afterward, they talked for a while, until Fu Zhe finally said, “You also go and rest. I’ll take care of Victor. Everything else can wait until tomorrow.”

Cui Zuojing agreed. Throughout the entirety of the box, he’d mostly stay outside the prisoner’s space. Even though Dong Zheng’s mental ability had significantly improved after his awakening, it was inevitable that Cui Zuojing would be a little tired about engaging in several battles.

He quickly returned to the prisoner’s space. Dong Zheng was already asleep on the bed after washing up, so Cui Zuojing also fell back onto his own big bed. After a while, he fell into a deep sleep.

Everyone slept until the next day. If it weren’t for the fact that they were all starving, they would have slept even longer.

But waiting for them was a cold kitchen and an empty dining table.

Fu Zhe was in the study, reading while idly stroking the soft fur on Victor’s back. He tactfully said that he wasn’t in a good mood today and didn’t want to cook for so many people at once.

The oily smell of cooking would also be very difficult to wash off.

Furthermore, don’t try asking him, a person with no conscience and no morality, why he couldn’t cook at home.

Allen asked, “Then, what do you eat after so spending so many years in the castle?”

Fu Zhe quietly took out his cell phone and ordered takeaway.

Five minutes later, a mechanical kingfisher appeared out of thin air with a bag of food, placed the takeaway on the table, opened the closed window, and flew out into the chaotic space outside the castle.

Fu Zhe calmly and leisurely opened the chopsticks and said, “This is a bird I rescued many years ago. It can also be regarded as a summoning beast. I divided the power of time and space into a small part of it so that it can travel freely in the castle and the outside world. Or else, how do you think I was able to deliver the letter to A’Zuo so accurately.

Everyone:……………………

After saying so much, it was actually just so he could order takeaway!

None of the six people wanted to cook, and so in the end, they could only decide to go out and eat outside.

___________________

Translation Notes:
(1) The note was taken from the appendix of SCP-2295 “Bear with a Heart of Patchwork.”

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