320: Chapter 118: How to Remember a Person Who Doesn’t Exist 320: Chapter 118: How to Remember a Person Who Doesn’t Exist Nyarlathotep, the god of credit, wields the authority of trust; trust is a currency that can exchange anything, yet it also has a potential for destruction.
Yaoqin had once warned Li Mumu that the slightest crack in her trust for Wendy could lead to extremely terrible consequences.
Defaulting on a loan could lead to being blacklisted (but that’s not the point).
At the time, Li Mumu didn’t care.
On one hand, Wendy had grown up with her from childhood as a close friend, and a teammate bestowed by fate.
If Wendy couldn’t be trusted, then no one else could be more trustworthy.
From another perspective, trust is mutual.
Facing Wendy’s doubt, she immediately counterattacked, “Are you doubting that I’m doubting you?”
This rendered Wendy speechless.
“I have amnesia; why couldn’t you have amnesia too?”
Li Mumu stared at Wendy and questioned, “You said you dragged my soul into Dreamland for Children.
Now there’s an extra corpse here, and nobody can explain what happened.
Have you never considered that you might also have lost your memory?”
Uh…
huh?
Wendy was left speechless by the questioning.
“Alright, let’s not talk about this for now.
Let’s figure out how to get back to the Real World!
We’re not people without backing; you go to Nyarlathotep, and I’ll go to the Guiding Bodhisattva to see who can find a solution.”
When children fight and can’t win, they look for a teacher or parents.
It’s not a dignified behavior.
But this isn’t about a child’s fight; we’ve been tricked to this extent.
If we don’t turn to our elders now, do you really think I have nobody at home?
If this were a world where praying to gods and worshipping Buddha were utterly useless, that would be one thing.
But here, at least in the past, prayers to the Guiding Bodhisattva have always received responses.
So in this situation, the first thing Li Mumu thought of was to pray for divine intervention.
Everyone returns to their own home, to seek their own mothers.
Wendy hesitated briefly but then found Li Mumu’s words quite reasonable, and so the two of them began to pray separately.
On her end, Li Mumu didn’t have a Red String or blood, but she did have a fresh corpse, which, after all, bore a face identical to her own, so it shouldn’t have any objections.
The blood at the throat area had already dried, so she simply cut open her chest, pulled out the heart, punctured it, and started writing on the ground with the fresh blood.
——Bodhisattva Moha Jiedi who Guides the Dead from across the three thousand worlds!
Wendy’s actions on the other side were even swifter; she extended her tongue, drew an inverted cross with her finger, and bit down at the root of her tongue to produce a strange and hoarse musical scale.
From the second throne above the high heavens,
The ladder of human civilization’s progress,
The credit system is the original scripture of order,
The credit system is the ultimate omen of chaos,
Nyarlathotep, Nyarla, Nyarlatotep…
Layers upon layers of fog and curtains of blood-red silk spread simultaneously in the bewildering and enigmatic sky of Dreamland for Children.
Li Mumu faintly heard a laugh of delight tinged with mockery but it quickly faded away.
All her attention was drawn to the compassionate gaze that descended from the heavens above.
Three pairs of eyes opened at the same time, witnessing the past, present, and future.
She saw the past, a girl with a silver halo above her head and white wings on her back standing above the Netherworld Springs, raising scissors to cut her connection to the Blood River Map.
The girl had a face identical to her own.
A massive limb from an underwater creature shot up, piercing through what seemed to be the girl’s fragile body in an instant.
Feathers danced in the sky as a silver light flashed and disappeared.
She saw the present; Li Ya gently caressed her lower abdomen and held Mu Yuming in a tender embrace.
In a photo beside them, only their images remained—Li Mumu no longer existed.
Perhaps sensing the gaze upon her, Li Ya turned her head and made a mischievous face at herself.
You really are my mom!
For the Witch who adhered to the “all is but a dream, String Theory,” whether the daughter existed or not truly wasn’t that significant.
Li Mumu seethed with hatred so intense it made her teeth itch.
She had seen the future—a new life was born into this family, and from the moment of birth, she was showered with love and affection.
An Angel descended before her, crowning her with laurel personally.
Orioles sang, and magpies danced for her.
From the instant she was born, she left an indelible mark upon the river of time…
That son of a bitch, Li Lingling!
That’s right, I’m cursing both of you!
Upon seeing this scene, a sudden epiphany rose in Li Mumu’s heart.
It was outrageously audacious!
I was backstabbed by my sister from the future!
You truly are a dog!
If you like growing wings, just grow them; why stab me in the back?
And why erase every trace of my existence?
Who could have imagined this…
The tides of time and space are so disgusting; you never know who you might offend in the future for what reason, and then they travel back and cut you down without a second word.
Where is the justice in that?
The reawakened Li Mumu clutched her chest, so furious that veins throbbed on her forehead.
I’ve understood the cause and effect, but what do I do now?
A slight pain on the top of her head felt as if it was pricked thrice by a needle, but when she reached to touch it, she felt nothing.
In a daze, a gentle voice echoed in her mind.
“I grant thee three life-saving strands of hair, capable of withstanding disasters of space and time.”
Tears streamed down Li Mumu’s face.
Goddess, do you take me for a monkey?
Although the Goddess’s voice was soothing and I am deeply grateful, can this really solve my current problem?
I’m already dead, how can I be saved?
On the other side, Wendy had also finished her prayers and turned to lock eyes with Li Mumu.
Eight eyes…
no, six eyes…
Wendy’s pair of eyes had turned into two coin-sized black round buttons.
“I sacrificed a pair of eyes to Nyarlathotep in exchange for forbidden knowledge,” Wendy stated, her voice ice-cold and lifeless.
“Even without a physical body, we can return to the Real World.”
“At the time of each month’s moon eclipse—namely, at the end and the beginning of the month in Ming Country’s lunar calendar—we can travel from the Dreamland for Children to the Real World.
However, if we cannot establish a stable anchor in the Real World, we will be expelled back here at dawn.”
“How do we establish a stable anchor?”
Li Mumu didn’t bother asking Wendy if her eyes hurt, as if she needed extra problems to add to her own headache and eye issues.
“That’s the crux of the forbidden knowledge—there are three ways to establish a stable anchor,” Wendy explained, raising three fingers.
“The first way requires a physical shell, making everyone believe you’re still alive, but our physical bodies remain in the Netherworld Springs, and your problem isn’t just physical.
Nyarlathotep told me that even the traces of your existence have been erased.”
“The second way is to masquerade and seek offerings and the accumulation of the Power of Faith.
As long as the Power of Faith reaches a certain threshold, you can return to the Real World through the prayers or sacrifices of your believers.”
“The third method is more technical; we need to create a vessel in the Real World to contain our soul.
Although we still can’t walk under the sunlight, we can at least stay in the Real World for an extended time.”
“My situation isn’t as complicated; my anchor is tied to you.
As long as you can go back, so can I.
Thus, the crux of the problem still lies with you,” Wendy said earnestly.
“A person who does not exist, someone who has been forgotten by everyone, cannot establish an anchor in the Real World.
It’s like a dream—no matter how perfect a lover you meet in your dream, once you wake up, it’s all forgotten, leaving no trace behind.”