Mr. Melancholy Wants to Live a Peaceful Life - Chap 100
Yu Hua only now clearly understood his innermost being. He was afraid.
When he had his humanity, he had been afraid that his ideas wouldn’t be supported. When he had stretched out tentative feelers and been rejected in everything, he had hidden his humanity away and used what he believed to be his firmer divinity to “control” everyone.
After he had his divinity, his self-awareness had gradually been swallowed up and his emotions had cooled day by day. He no longer cherished life, and he wasn’t willing to give people another chance.
He looked at the ground littered with the corpses of his companions. What had he been thinking when he did this? He had been thinking, you were the ones who betrayed me first; you were the ones who were beguiled by the System into harming me. I’m absorbing your power not because I yearn to become stronger, but because you were the ones who acted first.
While no doubt there was no error in this way of thinking, what had his original thoughts been?
In You Zhengping’s memories just now, Yu Hua had seen his long-forgotten self from level 11. He had only then faintly recalled his past self. He wouldn’t have thrown down his humanity. He had known very well then that human nature in extreme circumstances could more easily produce malice. He wouldn’t have attempted to force levelers who weren’t yet his companions in an even darker direction.
But now, he had forced his companions step by step to the point of deserting him so he could abandon his humanity with a clear conscience, absorb their power, his behavior moving closer and closer to the System’s.
He was afraid that the self he was now would gradually be consumed by his so-called “divinity” and become the next System.
Though now…
Yu Hua gently kissed the center of You Zhengping’s brow. Here was himself as a human being.
No matter when, Xiao You had stored up the humanity he hadn’t given up and had strode across time to offer it up with both hands.
You Zhengping felt that gentle kiss. He opened his eyes and looked at Yu Hua. His face flushed slightly. They had already been married for many years. His and Yu Hua’s feelings should have been those of a comfortable established couple, no more passion, only warmth.
But Yu Hua was like a treasure trove. If you only searched through it diligently, you could always dig up a new aspect, live daily life like a novel, each moment filled with happy surprise.
As a matter of fact, right now You Zhengping was once again starting to be moved by Yu Hua’s expression.
Within a short time, he had seen the innocent Yu Hua who had just started passing levels, a somewhat callous Yu Hua who still liked to take care of others, a Yu Hua who had been poisoned by power but was still preserving his humanity, and the Yu Hua in front of him, who had accepted and reconciled with himself.
No matter which one it was, all of them could make his face flush and his heart pound. All of them were treasures he wanted to store away.
“How many times am I going to fall in love at first sight?” You Zhengping touched his forehead and sighed a little helplessly.
Yu Hua thought of You Zhengping “falling in love at first sight” with him in different identities. He took Xiao You’s hand and quietly said, “The next time we see each other, will you also fall in love with me at first sight?”
“Of course I will,” You Zhengping said, resigning himself to fate. His eyes lit up. “Have you moved on? Will you come back home with me? I don’t completely understand how the axis of time has changed, but I think this isn’t a parallel world. You’re still you.”
Yu Hua said, “Indeed it isn’t.”
You Zhengping thought that Yu Hua was agreeing to come home with him. But how should they go back?
He considered it and thought that the person who started the trouble ought to end it. So he let go of Yu Hua’s hand and went up to “Guan Shaoguang.” He picked him up and shook him. “How do we get back?”
“Guan Shaoguang” had been defeated by Yu Hua. He didn’t have much energy left. He had lost the strength to fight. After admitting his true identity from frustration, he had lost the desire to fight and had turned around to beg Yu Hua to save him. He hadn’t had such deep-seated hatred to begin with. Everything had been implanted by force by the System. Without the support of real emotions, even deep memories would slowly be forgotten.
But he still didn’t like You Zhengping. Now You Zhengping was shaking him awake. When he opened his eyes, he saw a cheerful rainbow head. He frowned in disgust and turned his head. “I don’t know.”
“What did you say?” You Zhengping was mad enough to want to hit him. “This is a little world you made. You can just remove the little world. What are you playing dead for?”
He brandished his fist.
“Guan Shaoguang”’s appearance said he could hit him if he liked. “If this were still my little world, then reasonably speaking, when Yu Hua knocked me out just now, we should have returned to the original world.”
“Oh, that-that’s right.” You Zhengping lowered his fist. “This place really does seem completely different from what you said at the beginning.”
“Guan Shaoguang” said, “Time is only a human description of the sense of the passage of life using the rules of the planet’s motion. The time ability I control changes that sense.”
You Zhengping remembered the sense of having his time slowed down by “Guan Shaoguang.” His power in fact was something of the “time is fleeting” or “a day feels like a year” change to the perception of time. It was a perception of a certain individual or certain group. It wasn’t a true change to time. The speed of the earth’s rotation didn’t change, and neither did its speed orbiting the sun.
And “Guan Shaoguang”’s little world, reasonably speaking, was a certain fake world. You were controlled into believing that you had gone back into the past, the surroundings would change along with your perception of time.
“So that means that my hair and my clothes shouldn’t be like this,” You Zhengping said.
As he spoke, the clothes under the black cloak became the police uniform he had been wearing during the battle with the ice sculpture head of the league. From Yu Hua’s slightly disappointed expression and “Guan Shaoguang”’s expression of “at last you look normal,” he determined that his hair had also returned to its original form. He relaxed slightly.
Even though Yu Hua liked it, he still wouldn’t go around with rainbow hair, impossible!
“Guan Shaoguang” said, “There’s a viewpoint in the theory of time that time is one dimension in multidimensional space. My ability can be used to find a position from the outside. The only ones that can truly span time are spatial ability users.”
It was as if You Zhengping had been struck by lightning. He pointed to his own nose and said, “You’re saying that the reason this dimension of time happened is because of my spatial ability? That’s impossible. I’m a special ability user who’s only just grasped the barest hint of natural law. I definitely can’t have that kind of power.”
“You truly couldn’t do it,” “Guan Shaoguang” acknowledged readily. “It was some being using you as a lead that did it.”
You Zhengping and “Guan Shaoguang” simultaneously looked at Yu Hua. They had only guessed this far. They hoped that Yu Hua could give them an answer.
While listening respectfully to their dialogue, Yu Hua had also been pondering some things.
He was looking at his own hands. After a long time, he said, “Perhaps I’m the only person who truly passed level 500.”
You Zhengping hadn’t expected that Yu Hua would not only not answer his question, he would even bring up a new one. He said doubtfully, “Hm? I remember Huan Zixu said there quite a few people with over five hundred levels?”
“Those were five hundred levels after I had absorbed half of the System’s power,” Yu Hua said. “Before that, no one could pass level 500. The System wouldn’t let people hold natural law power.”
You Zhengping said, “That does make sense. After you grasped natural law power, the self-destruct device the System placed in your head naturally disappeared. According to what Huan Zixu said, he saw with his own eyes how masters with over five hundred levels were blown up by the System, and they had absolutely no ability to resist. The System’s power was reduced. That just means that the System’s control over little worlds decreased, and that’s why the difficulty of levels was reduced. It became easier for levelers to pass levels, but if they wanted to grasp natural law power, they would need to come to a certain barrier themselves. It wasn’t just passing a level and being able to grasp it.”
Like the ice sculpture head of the league—holding natural law power by force, the outcome was vanishing like smoke after one battle. Their body couldn’t bear such a strong power.
With the System’s power weakened by half, level 500 was like the prior level 250. If you wanted to reach the height of the previous level 500, then you needed at least 1,000 levels. And Huan Zixu hadn’t seen any levelers with a four-digit level count.
Yu Hua glanced at “Guan Shaoguang.” “Their level 500 missions were to kill me and obtain natural law power from me.”
“What about you?” You Zhengping asked.
Yu Hua didn’t answer. He was thoughtful.
Looking at Yu Hua, an absurd idea appeared in You Zhengping’s mind. “Do you not have a level mission?”
Last time, Yu Hua had mentioned that his mission was to kill the giant abyss beast, but during level five hundred, Yu Hua hadn’t mentioned any danger he would encounter.
“After level 398, the System hasn’t issued me any missions,” Yu Hua said.
“Guan Shaoguang” mobilized his memories. In the database the System had given him, after level 398, Yu Hua in fact didn’t tell him his assignment again. He would only participate in others’ assignments, using his own power to help his companions pass the level.
Because Yu Hua was too strong and the “Tyrant” power of natural law was simply a bug level ability, their levels had become easy, and they had gradually come up with the ideas that “we can also pass five hundred levels,” “we’ll also be this strong after getting natural law power.”
Before Guan Shaoguang could question him, he saw You Zhengping hug Yu Hua and say, “Did you hope that if you helped your teammates obtain natural law power, they would fight shoulder to shoulder with you?”
Yu Hua had been waiting quietly, waiting for the people who would fight shoulder to shoulder with him to appear.
“I was only cutting my losses. If they had been reclaimed by the System, it would have been my loss.” Yu Hua patted Xiao You’s back. “Why do you always say things that make me sound so good?”
You Zhengping completely ignored him saying one thing when he meant another. After all these years, could he still not understand Yu Hua’s character? Anything he truly wanted, he wouldn’t come out and say it. He would only quietly wait for you to find out, wait for you to be concerned about him.
You Zhengping suddenly remembered something. “No, wait, if you didn’t take any more missions, why did you go through 3,841 levels? Even if we get rid of the first five hundred, there’s still 3,341 afterwards. What were you doing?”
“That’s right, what was I doing?” Yu Hua seemed to be raising a question, but from his expression, it was as if he already knew the answer.
The phone that had issued a mission to “Guan Shaoguang” suddenly lit up, flashing fierce red light. “Guan Shaoguang” rushed over and picked up the phone. He saw written on it: Warning, warning! Please complete the assignment at once, please complete the assignment at once! If the host refuses to complete the mission, he will be erased in 10 seconds! 10, 9, 8…
“I-I…” Guan Shaoguang looked at Yu Hua, his expression helpless. He had just begged Yu Hua for help and had been refused. He didn’t know how to ask again.
Yu Hua put his hand on his shoulder. “All I can do for you is to make you lose all your power and memories.”
As for who “Guan Shaoguang” had been originally, that couldn’t be restored. After the energy of the System was absorbed, he would become a blank sheet of paper, forget everything to do with “Guan Shaoguang,” start afresh.
“At least I can survive.” “Guan Shaoguang” quickly made his choice.
Yu Hua put his power in motion, absorbing the energy the System had imbued him with. This energy was very strong. The System had created a natural law grade master out of nowhere. This had consumed an enormous amount of the System’s energy. Acquiring this energy sealed another 10% of his power.
“Guan Shaoguang,” having lost his energy, fell in a faint. You Zhengping picked him up and put him over his shoulder. He said to Yu Hua, “Have you already thought of how to go back?”
“Yes.” Yu Hua beckoned with his hand. A child and a dog rolled out of his little world. Junjun was still hugging a stack of workbooks.
You Zhengping stepped forward to help Junjun get his footing. The child really had it too hard. Now they were finally going home, he had to look after Junjun.
“Yu Hua, we…” Before You Zhengping finished speaking, a rope flew out of Yu Hua’s sleeve and tied him and Junjun together. The other end of the rope tied itself to Director Ha’s leash.
Yu Hua patted Director Ha on the head and said, “Do you see that passage? Use the speed you used when time slowed down, run until you can’t run anymore, and you’ll be home.”
“Aw-aw-awooo!”
—What passage? I can’t see it.
“Yu Hua, what are you doing? This rope can’t hold me!” You Zhengping struggled desperately, but he found that he couldn’t even escape from this thin rope.
While Director Ha considered with a serious look on its dog’s face just where the passage was and whether it was in a place a dog’s eyes couldn’t see, the world began to overturn.
In the originally boundless wilderness, countless cracks suddenly appeared in the sky. There was a frightening pressure. The whole world nearly collapsed.
The earth cracked open and magma spurted out. Lighting chopped through the chinks in the sky. The moment of catastrophe had befallen this world. At this moment, Director Ha looked where Yu Hua was pointing and saw the road.
This was a road leading up to the sky. There was a swirling passage in the sky that was drawing them in.
The road was being swallowed by the destructive energy around it. Director Ha knew this was no time to hesitate. It strode with its four paws, darting towards the exit.
Junjun, You Zhengping, and Director Ha all simultaneously had the sense of coming home when they saw that passage. They instinctively understood that this was the origin of all special abilities. It was a complete existence, an origin power that had produced countless lives—their world law.
Using “Guan Shaoguang”’s time positioning, with You Zhengping’s ability as a lead, it was the world law helping them open the passage.
“Why would it be like this?” You Zhengping suddenly understood something. He turned his head and called to Yu Hua, “Did you make some deal with the world law that I don’t know about?”
Yu Hua waved his hand towards You Zhengping. He smiled and said, “Don’t worry, I’m already waiting for you over there.”
“What are you saying?” You Zhengping struggled desperately, but he couldn’t use his strength.
It wasn’t that Yu Hua’s rope was so magical. It was that the world law was suppressing his power, forcing him to go back with Director Ha. He couldn’t remain here.
You Zhengping’s mind was clearer than it had ever been. He quickly thought back over what Yu Hua had said: “If you found one day that you had come to your starting point, that wouldn’t be time running backwards, but that the road ahead of you had always been a circle. The beginning was the end.”
He suddenly understood what Yu Hua wanted to do and shook his head wildly. “Let me stay with you, don’t do it alone, okay?”
Yu Hua slowly shook his head. The world became more and more broken. Heaven and earth, sun and moon, all disappeared. All that remained was the road under their feet and the boundless darkness.
Director Ha ran faster and faster. It used speed that surpassed the speed of sound to outstrip the planet’s gravity and sprinted forward, constantly approaching the speed of light. It could feel the terrifying power behind it. This was the System’s power.
Run, run, the end was up ahead.
Director Ha outran the speed of the explosions. It had never been so desperate as at this moment. It ran so fast its fur caught fire, ran so fast its legs ulcerated, ran so fast its tongue hung out of its mouth and couldn’t be pulled.
It knew that behind it, You Zhengping would protect Junjun. It had watched with its own eyes how this Protector protected children from Destroyer 192 time after time. It had faith in the Protector’s convictions and will.
Not needing to worry about what was behind, only needing to run forward, was a truly good feeling. A Siberian husky’s instinct was to run, run forward with its team, find the only way to survive in a frozen world.
In order to run even faster, in order to reach the end point before the world was swallowed up, Destroyer 192’s soul fused entirely with the husky. For the sake of taking the child it had gotten involved in this home, it no longer resisted its fate.
Why should it struggle so hard for the sake of this child?
Probably it owed him a life.
Also, there was the warmth of the countless times he had stroked its head.
In the sky that was splitting apart in all directions, a not yet fully grown husky with its entire body burning with raging flames streaked across the sky like a meteor and passed the boundary of time.