It's unclear what the High Priest gleaned from Zhong Mu's words, but Zhong Mu himself was unaware of it.
He was anxious because Mu He had come with him! And she had gone to the most dangerous place alone! He had been quite nervous these past two days, and his heart would often skip a beat. Sometimes he even suspected that the unease was coming from Mu He. In addition, he had only been able to contact her once, so Zhong Mu was quite worried.
Zhong Mu tied on an apron and busied herself up and down the house, quickly tidying up the high priest's things. Then, remembering there was a bowl of Li Mo's clone in the kitchen, she turned around and went to check it out.
As soon as I stepped inside, I saw the kid who had been terrified by Li Mo's clone earlier cautiously poking around the dark mass in the bowl with a chopstick.
Just as Zhong Mu was about to stop him, he saw a mouth suddenly open in the darkness, chewing the wooden chopsticks to pieces with a crunching sound. The child was giggling, with a kind of joy in being fed.
Zhong Mu looked again and saw that there was only one chopstick left in the chopstick holder in the kitchen next door. It was obvious where the rest had gone.
"I hope your mom won't hit you when she finds there are no chopsticks while preparing dinner." Zhong Mu made a praying gesture, then went forward, picked up the child, and carried the bowl out of the kitchen.
"I've packed everything. If there's anything missing, we can get it when we get to Twin City." After placing the child on the table, Zhong Mu untied her apron, picked up the tentacle dumpling, and prepared to go out. "Sister Priestess, I'm going out of the city to talk to Brother Xiu about our upcoming itinerary so we can go our separate ways. I'll be back in a bit."
"Go ahead." The high priest nodded, turning the wheelchair around a corner. "I'm going to the kitchen to prepare some food for the journey, and also some water. You'll need some dry rations to go to the City of Fallen Souls."
"Thank you, Priestess." Zhong Mu tried to keep a smile on her face, glancing at the anxious child sitting at the table out of the corner of her eye. "The child is still young, don't hit him too hard."
Then they hurriedly turned around and left, leaving the helpless child sitting there.
He used his apron to cover the ball of tentacles he was holding, and walked out of the city, avoiding the residents of the Forgotten City who were packing up their things.
Compared to the first day they arrived, the entire Forgotten City was much more peaceful now. Since they were leaving, they would naturally clean up this old place, especially the polluted blood river from the previous chaos and the large number of corpses that Brother Xiu had just slaughtered today.
Some were reluctant to leave, while others were decisive. They were all busy with their own affairs. The city had completely lost the chaos of the first day. People were talking and moving around, like the aftershocks of a ruptured lake, which had gradually subsided.
The light of dusk fell on the somewhat dark water, reflecting the figures of many people moving about.
Zhong Mu greeted people on the way and quickly avoided the most crowded areas to go out and find Brother Xiu.
He stepped out of the city gate, but his vision changed in an instant. He stood on the floor of a familiar room, and the narrow space around him exuded a strong sense of suffocation.
On the sofa, three people were watching TV happily, their laughter and chatter completely clashing with Zhong Mu, who was standing there.
He realized that it was indeed dusk, but he hadn't noticed. He had been staying in the high priest's room for the past two days and everything had been fine, so he thought he wouldn't trigger this again.
Zhong Mu lowered his head, lifted the apron covering the bowl, and met the gaze of the round eyes inside. The little tentacle ball stared at him in confusion, wondering why he had suddenly lifted the cloth to look at itself.
"I guess I'm hallucinating again." Zhong Mu covered the bowl and took a calm, deep breath.
This time, we must stay calm. If we encounter any provocation from the hallucinations, we should just shove the bowl containing the little tentacle balls in their faces!
Zhong Mu immediately felt much more at ease.
He didn't say a word, but quietly turned around and grasped the doorknob, intending to leave the house quietly, as if he had never been there.
But with a creak, a noise suddenly came from the sofa in the living room behind him. Zhong Mu turned around and saw three people staring straight at him without saying a word.
There was still silence and stillness; there were no questions or accusations, just quiet.
"I'm leaving," Zhong Mu said first. "Children will become independent when they grow up and will leave home. I have found my place and I'm leaving here."
The three people still didn't respond, only staring at him with cold eyes.
"This time it's not that you've forgotten me, it's that I've forgotten you." Zhong Mu calmly pushed the doorknob out, staring into the darkness outside. "I will never come back here again, and you will never be a burden to me again."
Zhong Mu has always believed that a person's childhood family has a tremendous impact on their entire life, influencing their personality, behavior, choices, and thoughts.
He knew he had been affected to some extent, and that his personality had both good and bad aspects, but as long as he recognized his shortcomings, worked hard to get rid of them, and kept looking forward, he would surely be able to get out of this darkness.
He will habitually cook, but he will always cook for the person he loves. He will habitually do housework, but that is to protect his family. He will also wash the other person's clothes and pick them up and drop them off. If it is inconvenient for the other person, he can bear everything and willingly take on the responsibility, provided that he really likes it and is willing to do it, rather than doing it out of necessity.
After figuring things out, Zhong Mu didn't hate his family as much anymore. These things would become his strengths, his attractive qualities.
As for his personality flaws, he has been working hard to change them, and they will be effective sooner or later.
Ignoring the gazes behind him, Zhong Mu stepped into the darkness outside the door.
Leaving home, facing darkness alone, and growing up is part of being human; he simply embraced this part in a hallucination.
He no longer needs to fear being forgotten or ignored. As long as he keeps moving forward, he will encounter many more people welcoming him.
When he opened his eyes, Zhong Mu was standing outside the city gate.
The twilight light fell upon him, casting a long shadow in front of Zhong Mu. Behind him, the bustling activity of the Forgotten City rose again, appearing peaceful and comfortable in the dim light, a stark contrast to the brief silence of the illusion just moments before.
The illusion is a cramped and silent place, while reality is bustling, noisy, vast, and expansive.
Even knowing that this was an abnormal world fraught with danger, he still felt relaxed and at ease.
"Let's go find Brother Xiu." Zhong Mu happily patted the little tentacle ball in the bowl and strode out, but before he could take a step, the little tentacle ball in the bowl grabbed his hand and stammered.
"Right now...we can't go..."
Why?
The little tentacle-shaped dumpling, with an honest and open expression, wriggled in the bowl, "I'm with my boyfriend... I can't go..."
Zhong Mu: ...
"Oh well..."
Zhong Mu put down his bowl, squatted down at the city gate, and began to stare blankly at the yellowish sky.
I can't stand being a third wheel any longer.