OBS Chapter 3131 Beyond the End of Time
Chapter 3131 Beyond the End of Time
Chapter 3131 Beyond the End of Time
The doctor did not have the same emotion as Shade. Coming here for the first time, he was trying to sense the traces of the devil:
"Yes, there are indeed traces of demonic power. Let's look for it."
He gave an order and walked towards the bookshelf on the left side of the office.
Shad then walked towards the desk and saw a pile of student papers waiting to be reviewed, a just-opened retirement notice from the university's Office of Faculty Affairs, Professor Wood's unfinished work "A Study of Vista Woodland Folklore", and a promotional flyer from the "Palm Tree Dessert Shop" a street away.
An old fountain pen was placed on the pen stand with its cap inserted. The ink in the ink bottle, whose label had blurred, was left with only a thin layer of ink at the bottom. A lightning-shaped mark was drawn in blue-black ink on the edge of the blank manuscript paper, probably because the owner of the fountain pen was testing whether the pen was still usable.
The originally smooth wood grain of the tabletop has been gently caressed by the fingertips of time, forming a thick patina with a deep luster. Every tiny bump and scratch tells the story of what it has experienced.
It can be seen that the owner of this desk is usually very busy curled up in this small office. The arrangement of all the papers, books and furniture shows that the owner of the office is just out for a while and will soon come back to finish his work. Maybe after get off work he will go to the dessert shop to buy some raspberry tarts that are on sale.
In this era, Shade was probably the person who knew Professor Yuk Wood best, but he did not lament the old professor's fate. Everything here was left here intentionally by the other party, perhaps to induce Shade to have some special emotions.
He was just wondering how much time could change. The evil creature that was regarded as the greatest threat to the material world in the early Second Era, left behind such an ordinary "legacy" after its departure:
"Will anyone miss this old professor who was identified as a 'hero'?"
[Of course, aren’t you? ]
"No, I don't miss him, I just don't have much."
The drawers under and on both sides of the desk were not locked, and they were filled with personal belongings. After checking, Shade put them back in place. There was no trace of the devil here, and the doctor had found the target:
"Found it. It's a book."
When Xia De was looking through the desk drawer just now, in order to take things more conveniently, he had already sat down in the armchair. He wanted to get up and check, but the doctor had already walked over with the book.
It was a normal-sized book with a black cover. The title "Soul Stories" was written in red ink on the leather cover.
When the doctor put the ring on his finger on the book cover, black smoke with a foul smell immediately came out. When the ring was taken away, the book cover seemed to be burnt by fire, but soon returned to normal:
"There is also a letter, which seems to be for you. The envelope says 'For the Chosen One or the One Who Calls God'."
The doctor handed the envelope to Shade again. After opening it, the letter was quite simple:
"[Someone hid information about the 'Great Devil' in this book. In the year 12398 of the Fourth Era, this book was lost in the forest. Please handle it with caution. Any mortal who opens it will be irreversibly transformed into an evil spirit or demon; any mortal who knows its contents will become an anchor for a certain existence to return.]"
"It looks like another dangerous item that the professor has stored in the forest. He left in such a cool way, leaving behind so much trouble."
Xia De sat down and read the letter, then looked up and asked the doctor:
"What is the Great Demon?"
"It's the one we know. Normally, people wouldn't write down names like Demon King or Original Demon directly on paper. Even if it's just a title and not the real name, this title itself is dangerous enough."
The doctor explained, frowning as he took the book in his hands and examined it. He tried to lift a corner of the cover, but found that all the pages of the book were as if they were stained with super glue:
"It can't be opened, but it doesn't look like a seal from the Ancients. Instead, it looks like the work of a witcher. This thing is too dangerous. I'll take it back and deal with it. Detective, take a few more things and leave. Don't let the church identify what's missing here."
This is the most reliable solution, and Xia De is unwilling to bring this kind of thing to his home:
"The ancients would not lie. The description in the letter is true. I didn't expect that such a dangerous thing would appear again just after the battle in the woodland ended."
He sighed and sat behind the table, folding the letter and putting it away. The doctor reached out and turned on the old brass metal gas lamp on the table. When the light shone on Shad's face, the doctor held the table and said:
"On the contrary, I think this is a good thing. I have been chasing that thing for so many years, but I have found almost no information about it. Now that I have completed the transformation, obtained the third core spirit rune, and mastered the power of the hunter, the key information has naturally appeared in front of me."
He waved the book in his hand towards Shade, who was sitting in the armchair:
"This is no longer a coincidence of fate. I would even say it was meant to be this way."
"But it could also be a trap. Fate is a double-edged sword."
"Traps are also clues. At least it's better than knowing nothing."
The doctor is very confident:
"I am looking forward to deciphering the contents of this book. I will be satisfied no matter what it is. Recently, I have been feeling more and more that perhaps the goal that was almost impossible to achieve can actually be achieved. Even if this book is useless to me, I will continue to pursue it. I will pursue it until the end of time, until I and this world are destroyed together."
"The end of time. That's a heavy statement."
Shade was hunched over in the armchair, trying to feel what Professor Uke Wood felt at the end of his long life, and how he felt when he was a mortal. But strangers were different from the ancients, and all he could feel was deep fatigue - there were too many papers to read.
“Heavy?”
The dense snowflakes were blown by the wind and hit the window glass, making a short and dense sound. The doctor thought of the topic just discussed in the corridor, and couldn't help laughing at Shade:
"But didn't you also promise the girls that you would hold their hands until the end of time? I only have one goal to pursue, but you promised so many. Detective, detective, I'm really worried that one day you will be hacked to death in your apartment by the girls."
The stranger actually did not reject the possibility that he would face such an ending. He knew what he had done:
"Doctor, do you know what the end of time is like?"
"Compared to you, I have no talent for time."
"but I know."
He does know the end of time, and he has even been there himself. It is precisely because he knows what the "end of time" is that he does not think that the promise of "the end of time" cannot be fulfilled. What is really heavy is the story after the end.
This autumn he saw the story of time in Vista Woods. Even if love that transcends time is born, it will eventually meet death at the end of life; those who escape death try to deceive time, but eventually turn into ashes; those who explore the secret treasures of the past for wealth eventually die in the fire in the past; no matter how touching the friendship between dragons and humans that transcends time is, in the end both of them leave.
As time goes by, even the World Tree no longer exists.
Those stories that seem long and eternal will eventually become the past. Even if you make a vow to "end of time", when you really reach the end of time, you will understand that everything you hold may be lost.
"Why do you look so sad all of a sudden?"
The doctor stood by the table and asked in a somewhat strange tone. Xia De put his hands together on the table and looked at the light of the old gas lamp:
"Because I know what the future of the world is, and what the end of everything is, I am afraid of the end of time. It seems far away, and seems unreachable. But as long as time continues to flow, it will come one day.
I can sit here and talk to you about this topic easily, but when time really comes to an end, can I really continue to hold their hands? "
The doctor still held the table with one hand, which was a very relaxed standing posture:
"A typical psychiatrist might say something like 'Don't worry about the future, focus on the present and enjoy this moment,' but I'm not a typical psychiatrist."
After boasting, he got down to business:
"Your situation is exactly the opposite of mine. You worry about the known future, and because you know it, you are afraid; while I worry about the unknown future, and because I don't know what will happen, I am afraid.
But whether we know what the end of time is or not, just as you said, it will definitely come. So, what you should worry about more is whether you can really keep your promise before reaching the end of time? Don't underestimate time, detective, and don't overestimate yourself. "
The blue eyes looked at Shade who was sitting there:
"I'm after a powerful enemy, and you want to hold on to those hands. Tell me, detective, do you think you can keep holding their hands?"
"I promised, and I must do it."
The stranger answered quietly, but the doctor pointed out:
“Things that seem unchanging can always change easily, especially people’s hearts.
I hope you can always keep your promise, so let me ease your anxiety about the future. Obviously you overlooked one thing, commitment is relative, when you make a vow, it means not only you have to hold their hands tightly, they also have to keep their promises and hold your hands tightly. "
Xia De felt as if he understood what the doctor wanted to say:
"I'm not alone anymore?"
"Or, don't think that you are the only one who has to bear the anxiety. The girls you messed with are also sharing the heavy vows. Until the end of time, oh, dazzling and eternal, is it really that simple?"
The doctor looked at the snow outside the window and his own reflection in the window, wondering what he was thinking.
But his "consolation" did make Xia De feel better, because he felt that he could answer the doctor's almost sighing question:
"What is dazzling and unchanging is my obsession, something I can never let go of."
He thought of the story that belonged to him and was recorded on the bark of the World Tree, and thought of the "giving up" and "control" that he had not learned until the end. At this moment, he actually smiled unconsciously. If he had really let go at that time, he would not have won the "bicker" at this time:
"Doctor, just wait and see. My promise will not change until the Crystal Throne collapses. I will come to witness your story and your ending, and you will come to see if I can really do what I promised."
The doctor smiled at Shade's reflection in the glass window and said:
"Of course, that's more interesting than the stories of my patients."
"Please don't treat me as your patient. The mistakes I made are not defined as mental illness."
He smiled and said while looking at the gas lamp, and suddenly remembered the dream he had early this morning, in which the long-haired girl hugged his neck and said, "It's great to have you in the Sixth Era."
She knew what "the end of time" meant better than he did, but she still took the initiative to hold his hand. She was the first person to make a promise. Companionship is always mutual. Since Luvia was not afraid, and since those purple eyes were willing to look into the future with him, he would not be anxious at this moment.
Although the snowy winter night was cold, in this small office, sitting in the old armchair under the dim gas light, Shad felt that someone was hugging and warming his soul at this moment.
The love promises of strangers are slightly insignificant compared to the grand doomsday epic of this world, but it doesn't matter. For him, companionship is something that transcends time. Whether it's the girls around him or those girls in distant times and distances, knowing that they miss him, the future is no longer scary.
He... who was always considered by the girls to be good at talking, was at a loss for words at this moment.
The stranger suddenly reached out and picked up a pen from the pen holder, then placed the blank manuscript paper on the table in front of him, preparing to write something. The doctor stood beside the table and bent over to read with great interest.
Outside the glass window, the dark night sky is dotted with silently falling snowflakes, as if the gears of time have quietly stopped at this moment. The dim light of the cold moon is reflected on the window lattice, interweaving with the warm yellow light of the gas lamp in the glass window, outlining a hazy and ambiguous light and shadow.
Books and documents were piled up like mountains, and the flame of the old gas lamp on the desk was trembling slightly inside the lampshade, making Xia De, who was sitting in front of the desk, and the doctor, who was standing beside the desk, feel like they were in an old oil painting with dark tones.
The brass pen tip slid across the paper, making a slight rustling sound. The remains of the ancient world tree had also been used to write down his own experiences and many magical stories, but Shade felt that none of these could compare to the words he was about to write.
That was the promise of the soul, the determination to walk towards the future together. He did not have the literary talent of Dorothy and Flora, but that rustling sound was indeed the echo of his soul touching time.
[Present, Sixth Era, Universal Calendar 1854, Winter, Frost Descent Month. The cold of winter cannot extinguish the fiery soul. The tragedy and comedy of love and sin, desire and punishment in the woods reveals the secret of time. You don't want to lose, so the elves crown you under the world tree; you don't want to let go, so the witch offers you purity under the moon. The ancient forest buried the story of the tree. Now with the long staff in hand, dear stranger, when you look down at the eternal crystal frozen by obsession, in the dazzling reflection, what do you see, is it the future or the scene in your heart? ]
Xia De did not answer "her" question. He finished writing the text in the rustling sound. After blowing the ink dry, he looked at what he wrote with some embarrassment:
"If one day, the mountains and rivers no longer sing,
If one day, the tide loses its way back,
Even if everything is silent and the world returns to nothingness,
I will still hold on to this promise -
Accompany you through the yellow sand until"
Those figures and those smiles appeared before his eyes one by one. Xia De said the last sentence and made a new promise:
"No, beyond the end of time."
The doctor snapped the cap of the pen tightly. He wanted to comment on the poem, but at some point he felt as if a rolling yellow sand was blowing in his face. When he got rid of the phantom in confusion, he just happened to catch a glimpse of the dark golden shadow of a giant tree flashing behind Shade:
"Ha, I knew it would be like this again."
Xia De clasped his hands together and looked at the words on the table under the gas lamp. The doctor ignored the strange vision just now and commented:
"This is a love poem, but I noticed you used the singular pronoun. You wanted to give this to someone else alone? That's a wise decision."
The snow outside the window seemed to be getting heavier. Xia De responded to the doctor's comments with a smile, but at the same time asked the moonlight in his heart:
"Will you also accompany me, beyond the end of time?"
The moonlight smiled and responded:
[You are me - this is the longest lasting promise. ]
The stranger was very satisfied with this:
"And what else?"
She tapped her fingers lightly on the table, seeming impatient, and then she smiled gently and said:
[Outsider, you have gained new power. ]
(End of this volume)
PS: Additional update 2/3.