"Ke Xun," Mu Yiran stood up and sat down beside Ke Xun, putting his arm around him and covering his head with one hand, "I know what you're worried about. You're worried that the world is controlled by the will of some force, and that this force happens to be the mastermind behind the entire Ru Hua incident. In that case, all our resistance, all our struggles, will probably be in vain, and in the end, none of us will escape death."
At this point, Mu Yiran gently ruffled Ke Xun's messy hair, his voice soft and gentle: "After you fell asleep last night, I also gathered some information. There's a discovery that might comfort you.
"A quantum is a physical quantity divided into indivisible basic units; it's the smallest unit capable of exhibiting the properties of a certain substance or physical quantity. So why can it be divided? Because its energy is not continuous."
"Research has revealed that human consciousness, like matter, is not continuous. It experiences a tiny break every 0.042 seconds. Thus, our consciousness can be considered a quantumized consciousness, measured in 0.042-second segments.
"So, Ke Xun, perhaps the truth is indeed as you imagine: consciousness is also a form of matter, a quantum phenomenon. 'Consciousness particles' are completely different from photons, electrons, gravitons, and other particles, but that doesn't mean they aren't a different kind of particle or a different kind of matter.
"Perhaps we cannot explain why consciousness can have subjective agency while matter cannot, but, Ke Xun, don't forget, as long as we are alive, our consciousness will not leave us. If the force behind it is also a form of consciousness, then in a contest at the level of consciousness, we may not be weaker than it.
"There is something you may have forgotten, but I remember it clearly. It was the third night after entering the painting 'Faith.' You were alone in a tent, not meeting the conditions for avoiding death. Logically, you should have been chosen by the Black Corpse Heaven to die, but it observed you for a long time on your tent roof and ultimately did not choose you."
"Afterwards, we thought it was because you had the correct offering, the purple jasmine, on you at the time. But now, thinking
about it, why did the Black Corpse Heaven linger on your tent roof for so long?" He paused, noticing Ke Xun turning to look at him with blinking eyes. "That's true. Since I had the correct offering, why didn't it quickly turn around and find the other two who didn't meet the criteria?"
"It might seem ridiculous," Mu Yiran said, a slight smile playing on his lips. "The purple jasmine was an offering to the God of Benevolence, its purpose at the time being to expel the God of Evil. That's why the God of Evil couldn't kill you. But at the same time, your spiritual power sent a message—you didn't believe in gods, you'd rather die than believe.
"But this 'god' includes not only the God of Evil but also the God of Benevolence. So this powerful willpower simultaneously resisted the God of Benevolence and the God of Evil, which were originally one entity, creating a balanced struggle with the power of the purple jasmine offering, but also effectively restraining the power of the God of Benevolence."
"With the benevolent god restrained by you, the power of the malevolent god grew accordingly. Suddenly, a bug appeared on the roof of your tent—this god, embodying both good and evil, was caught in this delicate 'balance of will,' unable to stay or leave, and temporarily lingered outside your tent.
"I'm telling you this now only to make you understand, Ke Xun, that a strong will can contend with gods and demons. As long as our own will is strong, we may not be no match for the force behind the scenes. What kind of person can be considered a true strongman? Someone with boundless strength, an indestructible body, and invincible throughout the world? No, not at all."
"Spirit and will represent the heart. True strength lies in a strong heart."
"Yiran—" Ke Xun turned around, hugged the person beside him tightly, buried his head in his shoulder and neck, and took a deep breath of the faint soapy scent of cedar. "Yiran, with you here, I'm not afraid of anything. You want me to be as strong as I can become. Yiran, I don't want to be passive anymore. Let's join forces and take care of that lewd thing that only dares to hide in the shadows!"
Mu Yiran gently curved his lips, grasped the back of Ke Xun's neck, made him turn his face, and then buried his head in his mouth to kiss him.
…
When Ke Xun was awakened by the WeChat message notification, his muscles were still stiff and sore, making it difficult even to turn over in bed.
He opened his eyes and glanced at the person beside him. The bed was empty, and he heard a few soft noises coming from the kitchen.
He turned on his phone screen, opened the "Jinhua Lun" group chat, and saw messages popping up rapidly.
The very first message of the day came from "Ximen Wuyou".
Ximen Wuyou: Brothers! Wake up! Get up! Think of something!
Little Radish Pulling a White Rabbit: ...Sister, it's only four o'clock! Only four o'clock!
Ximen Wuyou: Radish, how can you be so carefree?! We're about to die, and you're still in the mood to sleep?!
Little Radish Pulling a White Rabbit: ...Sister, I can't stay awake for the next ten days straight until the next painting is finished...
Ximen Wuyou: Think of something!
Little Radish Pulling a White Rabbit: What can I think of? My solution is to cling to a powerful figure and survive. Why don't you cling to me too? I'll give you half a leg; I'll cling to the thigh, and you cling to the calf. Ximen Wuyou
: ...Radish, where's your dignity?! Tell me whose leg is thicker.
Little Radish Pulling a White Rabbit: ...
Little Radish Pulling a White Rabbit: My brother-in-law, my brother.
Ximen Wuyou: ...Who?
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: @Mooney, @Corgi
Ximen Wuyou: So, Boss Mu is your brother-in-law? Did you tell your sister about this?
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: I don't have a sister. My brother-in-law is my brother's husband.
Ximen Wuyou: ...? ? ? ...Maybe I learned a wrong family tree?
Little Radish Pulling White Rabbit: I'm not going to talk about it anymore. I'm going to sleep a little longer. I played a dungeon with Brother Dong last night, so I went to bed a little late.
Ximen Wuyou: ...You guys! What kind of people are you?! You know you're going to die?! You still have the mood to play games!
Lotus Pond Serenade: Wu You, you woke up so early?
Ximen Wuyou: I didn't sleep all night... Lotus
Pond Serenade: Sigh, me too. I kept falling asleep and waking up, and I kept having nightmares. I wanted to cry but I didn't dare to cry loudly, afraid my parents would hear me from the other room. Ximen
Wuyou: Crying is useless. I want to cry too, but who am I going to cry to?
Lotus Pond Serenade: You're stronger than me. My throat's all swollen now. I'm planning to get up early and run out so my parents won't find out.
Ximen Wuyou: Where are you going in this cold weather? It snowed again last night, and it hasn't stopped yet.
Lotus Pond Serenade: I don't know… My mind is a mess right now. I don't know where I'm going or what I should do. Last night I was thinking, rather than dying so tragically in the painting, I might as well just swallow a bottle of sleeping pills in reality. At least I wouldn't suffer. But when I see my parents, I don't want to commit suicide anymore. I can't bear to leave them…
Ximen Wuyou: Who isn't? Everyone has attachments. How can you just let go… But I've come to terms with it a bit. Since I might die at any moment, I might as well do whatever I want before I die, and make myself happy. I'm planning to go shopping as soon as it's light, max out my credit card, buy clothes, cosmetics, and bags that I usually can't afford, eat things I'm afraid to eat while dieting, and then go to my idol's concert!
Lotus Pond Serenade: ...Now that you mention it...then I'll...
Ximen Wuyou: Right, right? Want to come together?
Lotus Pond Serenade: Okay, actually I've always wanted to get that Dior Rouge Dior lipstick, but I haven't been able to bring myself to buy it...
Ximen Wuyou: The classic satin red?
Lotus Pond Serenade: Yeah, yeah.
Ximen Wuyou: I also think that's the only one of those three shades that looks okay, let's go together. @DeepSeaFeiyu, Fei-ge, do you want one? I'll bring it to you.
DeepSeaFeiyu: I've only used my little black tube twice.
Ximen Wuyou: How can a woman only have one lipstick?
DeepSeaFeiyu: Bring me one, I'll transfer the money to you via WeChat.
Ximen Wuyou: OK.
...
Ke Xun: "..."
Women are sometimes much stronger than men.
Their self-healing ability is truly powerful.
Ke Xun moved his waist, feeling a soreness.
... I really envy people with strong self-healing abilities.
The bedroom door was gently pushed open, and Mu Yiran stood in the doorway: "Get up and eat."
"I can't get up." Ke Xun lay sprawled on the pillow like a dead dog, "I need a kiss from you, Boss, to come back to life."
Mu Yiran walked to the bedside, looking down at him condescendingly: "Are you sure?"
Ke Xun lazily flipped over and jumped out of bed: "No, no, let's eat! Ouch..."
"Did I hurt you?" Mu Yiran helped him up as he stumbled, "Are you alright?"
"Let me tell you," Ke Xun held up three fingers, "This is the maximum I'll have for one night from now on, no more than that, unless you're willing to let me..."
"Don't think too much." Boss Mu ruthlessly suppressed the dog's rebellious spirit, "Wash up and eat."
"Woof." Ke Xun drooped his tail and went to the bathroom.
Although Mu Yiran had moved in, she still did her work, though she tried her best to reduce business trips and delegated tasks to her assistant. Even so, she still spent six or seven hours a day in her study and on her computer, seemingly oblivious to her corgi circling and rubbing against her.
Ke Xun's daily routine consisted mainly of playing on his phone and researching the next art museum they were going to visit in the morning, going to the gym in the afternoon, and then grocery shopping. Occasionally, when Mu Yiran wasn't too busy, they would go to the gym and grocery shopping together. In the evenings, the two of them would discuss art information with their friends in an art discussion group. The
next art museum they were going to visit was located in L City and was called the "Three Lines Poem Art Museum."
When Ke Xun marked its coordinates on the map and added it to the coordinates of all the art museums they had visited, the image that appeared before him made him pause in surprise.
The coordinates of all thirteen paintings previously visited, when connected by lines, formed the letters "TN." This conclusion was reached before entering the Winter's Approaching Art Museum, and everyone assumed that the subsequent museum coordinates would continue to appear after "TN."
However, this time, the coordinates of the Three Lines Poems Art Museum appeared above the "T."
In other words, the "T" everyone previously assumed was no longer a "T.
" "Is it a '+' sign or a '+'?" Ke Xun scratched his head.
"We initially thought 'TN' was an abbreviation for a signature, but now it seems that assumption has been overturned," Mu Yiran zoomed in on the map, staring at the screen thoughtfully. "Perhaps we were too fixated on the English letters. In fact, if these coordinates are connected with lines, there are many other possibilities."
"I'll remove all the lines, restoring them to coordinate points, and then let everyone connect them with lines," Ke Xun said. "Everyone's thought process is different; let them explore freely. More ideas mean more possibilities, and maybe they can provide more inspiration."
"Okay." Mu Yiran watched Ke Xun earnestly assigning tasks to everyone in the group chat, as if seeing the serious-looking young captain managing his team in his youth.
He really was quite adorable.