MASG chapter 116

 

At Mo An’s insistence, Zhang Mingqiao and Xia Li accompanied Xia Xiaoxiao to the neighboring ward. On this side, only Mo An and Lao Gui were left.

Once the “parents” left, Mo An completely relaxed. However, he also looked like he had lost a kind of energy and drive. He revealed helplessness and dejection everywhere. “Now it’s done. He’s afraid of me.”

“Don’t be discouraged.” Lao Gui sat down to comfort him. “Actually, think about it. Your situation is much better than mine, right? I didn’t even manage to blend in as a family member. Why can’t I be his long-lost uncle?”

Mo An lay flat on the bed, adjusting to the unfamiliar dizziness from the concussion. He sighed and said, “You can’t just compare to the lower limit; you have to compare to the upper limit, too.”

“If you keep talking like that, I really won’t bother with you anymore.” Lao Gui really wanted to pull out his IV tube. “Besides, you’re not even a person.”

It would have been fine if he hadn’t said that. Once he did, though, Mo An actually perked up a bit and sat up again. “I think I might be a person here.”

“What do you mean by ‘might be a person’?” Lao Gui asked back.

“My blood is red—you saw it, too. My physical ability has dropped and my constitution has weakened. These are indisputable facts. So I infer that, in the virtual world, I have more human characteristics.” As Mo An spoke, he interrupted his own train of thought. “But the fish in the pond are afraid of me…”

“That’s easy to handle.” Lao Gui said brightly. “When you go back, find a chance to get in the water and see if you turn into a mermaid. Wouldn’t that settle it? The big trouble right now is that you must adapt and accept your new identity as soon as possible. If you can’t even grasp your own identity, how can you expect Xia Yu to accept you?”

“I’ve placed it very correctly.” Mo An muttered.

Lao Gui shook his finger. “No, no, no. You’ve been a mermaid for too long. You’ve forgotten how to be an ordinary person. You go in with preconceived ideas, wanting Xia Yu to prioritize you. That won’t work. Your rejection of Zhang Mingqiao and Xia Li is also written all over your face. In other words, you have to get into character. Right now, you are Zhang Mingqiao’s son. You need to repair your relationship with your father and rebuild family ties. Only after that can Xia Yu walk by your side. Understand?”

Mo An felt like his fish brain was about to explode. “So troublesome.”

“See? You’re starting to find it troublesome again.” Lao Gui grabbed his head. “Don’t forget about Xia Xiaoxiao, either. Right now, we can’t be sure if the other person in the lab is her. We can’t be sure if she’s also a target to awaken, and we’re even less clear about her anchor point.” Lao Gui scratched his head. “This mission is really troublesome. Nuwa’s move is too clever.”

“Yeah, this mission… is really too troublesome.” Mo An couldn’t help but voice his thoughts. Dejection washed over him again, making his already chaotic thoughts even more tangled. It was like holding a weapon in his hands but not knowing how to use it. Half an hour later, with Lao Gui’s help, Mo An got out of bed, held up the unfamiliar IV bottle himself, and left the ward.

Outside the ward was the simplest world imaginable. There were no robots or synthetics—every living thing was human. They wore doctors’ work uniforms and had very strange shoes on their feet. When they moved quickly, they shouted everywhere. Mo An listened carefully. Were they actually looking for pens? Not weapons?

What a simple social structure this was!

“Their shoes are really nice!” Lao Gui was clearly tempted. “Since I’m an employee who helps take care of the fish pond, I should get a pair later, too. I heard they’re called holey clog. Do you want some?”

“No.” Mo An rejected them outright. “Ugly as hell.”

“Tch, you don’t know how to appreciate things.” Lao Gui snickered.

The two of them arrived at Xia Yu’s ward. With a door between them, Mo An stood carefully outside. The door wasn’t tightly closed. Through the narrow crack, Mo An could see inside. He quietly observed Xia Yu’s posture and expression as he lay on the hospital bed and noticed a piece of gauze stuck to his cheekbone.

“Is he really okay?” Mo An’s hand rested on the doorknob. With just a push, he could go in and speak with Xia Yu. Right now, he envied Xia Xiaoxiao because she could sit closest to Xia Yu. After half a minute of hesitation, however, Mo An dropped his hand and shook his head in loneliness.

Forget it, don’t disturb him. Lao Gui was right. If he couldn’t blend in, he would only mean well and cause harm, frightening them again. Since he and Lao Gui had entered the virtual world, everything had to be done according to its rules—he couldn’t deny that. No matter how unwilling he was, Mo An gave up his plan to visit. Take it slow.

It was just that—when would Xia Yu accept and remember him? Mo An couldn’t help but turn back one more time. For the first time, he tasted the sourness of love. Probably because Xia Yu had belonged to him from childhood to adulthood, Mo An had never thought that one day Xia Yu would grow distant and that he would only be able to watch him from afar. This very real pain knocked Mo An down, stabbing straight into his heart.

In the evening, the doctors examined them again and finally agreed to their request to go home and recuperate. On the way back, Zhang Mingqiao drove Mo An and Lao Gui, while Xia Li drove Xia Yu and Xiaoxiao. No one had much energy. When they got out of the cars, they split up. Xia Li took the two in front out of the car first, and only then did Zhang Mingqiao bring the two behind him out of the car.

“Today really held you up.” Zhang Mingqiao had already spent the whole day at the hospital. “About the place to live…”

“I’ll just go find it myself. Anyway, it’s right by the fish pond, right?” Lao Gui was already extremely familiar with the villa and had basically figured out its layout. What a joke—his real identity was that of a middle-layer mercenary and bomb disposal expert.

“Yes, you can make do with it for tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll clean things up properly.” Zhang Mingqiao no longer had any extra energy to spare. “Xiao An, how are you feeling now? Do you still feel like throwing up?”

Mo An tried to shake his head. There was a piece of white gauze stuck above his brow bone, and his nose bridge and chin were covered in scratches. “I don’t feel like throwing up anymore… Thank you, Dad.”

“No need to be so polite. I am your father—this is your home. I still remember when you were little and really wanted to learn how to fish. When there’s time later, I’ll teach you slowly.” Zhang Mingqiao glanced at his watch. “It’s already very late. I’ll take you upstairs first.”

Lao Gui stayed behind in the staff living quarters next to the fish pond while Mo An followed his cyber father, preparing to return to his cyber home. The villa had front and back entrances. To avoid the two groups running into each other, Mo An followed Zhang Mingqiao up the back staircase to the third-floor attic.

The attic was much bigger than Mo An had imagined.

“It hasn’t really been tidied up yet. You can make do for now. Tomorrow or the day after, I’ll personally set it up for you.” Zhang Mingqiao was so busy that he couldn’t sit down. “But the bedding has been freshly washed and is very clean. I’ve also already spoken to the school. You and Xia Yu can rest for two days, then go back to school the day after tomorrow.”

“… Thank you.” Mo An stood in the middle of the attic and added one last word: “Dad.”

“You don’t always have to be so distant.” Zhang Mingqiao walked over and offered him some advice. “Don’t worry. Everything will get better. Your aunt and I are discussing taking you to see a psychologist. Don’t let any psychological shadows remain. As for Xia Yu, he was really frightened, but he understands that you didn’t mean to do it. The two brothers should take it slowly; everything will be fine.”

Mo An looked at the hand resting on his shoulder. They were an ordinary pair of hands—hands that couldn’t fire a gun and showed no signs of modification. They were extremely fragile.

“Okay, I’ll work hard.” In the end, Mo An nodded, treating it as the period to end this day’s father–son exchange.

Zhang Mingqiao was already completely satisfied. He sat in the attic for a while before leaving. Once he was gone, the attic became Mo An’s territory. Everything looked new and novel. A child who grew up in real Qingyao City had never lived in a small attic before. The first thing Mo An disliked was the wooden floor under his feet; he was afraid he might step on it and break it.

Not to mention the manually operated lights, the wooden desk and bookshelves, and the comparatively low-tech fan.

However, the window was large, and the view was good, which satisfied Mo An. He stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window and imagined staging a battle here. If he were given a gun, he was sure he could defend the fifty-meter open area in front of the building.

Wait—he seemed to be thinking crookedly again. There was no war here, and no guns. Mo An rubbed his temples, reminding himself to relax. In the end, he walked to the big bed, leaned back hard, and fell onto the sea-blue bedsheets.

The first day of entering the virtual world had finally come to an end.

And this was Xia Yu’s most terrifying day. He had been cautious since childhood, never daring to do risky things or cause trouble. He barely participated in games like jumping down stairs that little boys played. When riding a bicycle, he was always proper. However, the arrival of his stepbrother caused his world to spin, and he fell straight down from three stories.

The doctor said they were fortunate to survive.

All right, he would just treat it as being lucky. Xia Yu thought the same thing when he woke up at night after having a nightmare about falling from a high place. Having personally experienced it, the sensation of jumping off a building was extremely vivid. He kicked his legs and woke up.

So scary… After waking up, Xia Yu was alone, breathing heavily, his neck covered in sweat.

Even though he had returned to his room, the sense of weightlessness from the dream still hadn’t left him. No matter how he turned over afterward, he couldn’t fall asleep properly. As soon as he closed his eyes, the scene replayed itself. In the end, he simply stopped trying to sleep. He leaned against the pillow and counted sheep, but as he counted, he seemed to hear faint footsteps.

Was it real? Xia Yu suddenly opened his eyes, held his breath, and listened for movement in the darkness.

Thump, thump, thump.

It really was footsteps! And right outside his door! Cold sweat instantly broke out all over Xia Yu’s body, and goosebumps ran straight down it. This person definitely wasn’t Xiaoxiao—she wouldn’t pace back and forth at his door. Besides, the family didn’t keep pets. The only possibility was Mo An.

Had he come downstairs? Why was he walking specifically in front of his door? What was he going to do?

Xia Yu didn’t want to suspect his motives, but when people are frightened, they inevitably think illogically. Xia Yu pulled a fishing trophy off the bookshelf and held it in front of his chest as a weapon. That way, if something happened, he wouldn’t be completely helpless.

But what would happen? Would Mo An burst in through the door? Or was he just trying to scare him? Xia Yu shrank back onto the bed and stared unblinkingly at the door. He couldn’t remember if he had locked it before going to sleep. It should be unlocked. He never locked the door when sleeping at home; his sister could come in whenever she wanted.

Had Mo An secretly twisted the doorknob? Xia Yu’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he gripped the trophy tighter. He pulled the blanket up over his body, too.

After a few minutes, the footsteps were still wandering around outside his door. Then they stopped, as if they had suddenly vanished into thin air.

Did he leave? Had Mo An already left? Wrapped in the blanket, Xia Yu gathered his courage and got out of bed to check if the door was locked. He wasn’t wearing slippers, so his bare feet made a light sound on the wooden floor. But when he walked about two meters away from the door, a faint noise struck again. It was especially clear in the early morning, like it was choking Xia Yu’s throat!

Swish—

A white piece of paper slid in through the gap under the door.

On it were crookedly written characters:

[Sorry.]