The disheveled strands of hair brushed past the girl's vacant eyes; she seemed to have lost all courage and means of resistance, standing there, letting the fractured light divide her shadow into countless pieces.
Chichu Chun looked up, trembling lips asking the final question: "Why?"
"Do you remember what I told you?"
Xu Xiaoyou removed the mask, allowing Mori to see the face beneath without joy, madness, or distortion—only the tranquility of a deep autumn lake. From start to finish, this was the expression they wore.
"Repeat it."
Chichu Chun didn't understand why the other would ask such a question. She felt like a puppet manipulated by strings, repeatedly rejecting the reality before her, drawing a boundary between her heart and the outside world, severing all ties with her body.
She gave up thinking, gave up trying to pick up her pride and dignity, offered no resistance to Xu Xiaoyou's words.
"Clinging to the status quo only leads to self-destruction..."
