This name made Dong Chengling slightly lost in thought. She walked to the balcony, opened the French windows, and let the cool night breeze blow into the room.
"I thought you preferred raising cats, Ren Suo."
Dong Chengling turned to look at him and smiled, "Cats and birds really can’t be raised together."
"You’re wrong, I don’t like raising cats." Ren Suo shook his head. It was manageable before he acquired "Evolution of the Cat" from "Devouring the Spirit of the World," but after that, besides improved agility, optimized sleep, and being easily soothed by head pats, the most significant change was that cats naturally gravitated towards him and he could understand what they were saying.
In the past, he found ’MEOW MEOW MEOW’ quite adorable, but now that he understood them, he knew these meows meant things like: ’Man, my balls are itchy,’ ’My balls are dirty, need to lick them clean,’ ’Hahaha, this sand sculpture human, I insult him and he’s still happy.’
All beauty originates from distance, just as even the most beautiful girl cannot escape the cycle of life, unless she is one of the Paper People.
Dong Chengling sat next to Ren Suo and asked, "Why did you suddenly want to talk about this with me?"
Having just gotten some information from the game and wanting to probe a bit, of course Ren Suo couldn’t reveal the real reason and simply said, "I just felt like talking about it, no particular reason."
"That’s nice." Dong Chengling leaned sideways, resting her chin on her palm, her expression somewhat melancholic. "Maybe this is what they call... a connection of hearts?"
A connection of hearts? Ren Suo was slightly taken aback. What, is she a bird too?
"When I was in junior high, I spent my summers in my hometown." Dong Chengling’s left hand pressed against the glass coffee table, her fair fingers tapping out pleasant sounds on the glass as if playing the piano—Ren Suo deeply admired the strength it took to make such sounds with just her fingertips.
"I usually leave my hometown around this time to go back to the city for school. Each time, Grandpa would prepare lots of things—fried, salt-baked, sun-dried—stuffing them into my hands to take back... He always wanted me to grow up healthy and plump.
"I was a left-behind child when I was young too; my parents worked in the city and didn’t have time to take care of me, so it was always my grandparents looking after me. Later, when my grandmother passed away, my parents came back for the funeral and took the opportunity to take me to the city for school.
"When I was young, Grandpa always took Little Fei with him when we went out. Little Fei was a bird he raised. I don’t know what species it was, but I remember its chirps always sounded breathless and strained. It also seemed to have difficulty flying, as if it were very old. Despite this, Grandpa called it Little Fei, saying it used to fly as fast as a plane. Grandpa, it seemed, had never left our hometown his whole life; he’d never even ridden a train.
"I was very close to Grandpa. Every year around this time, I dream that I’m back in my hometown, seeing Grandpa as usual, always in a spot where the sun couldn’t reach, lying on a bamboo chair, teasing Little Fei, who would weakly chirp in response... but Grandpa passed away when I was in high school."
Ren Suo had anticipated this turn in the conversation and asked, "What about Little Fei then?"
"I don’t know. After Grandpa died, it just disappeared. But it was too old, and having been raised by Grandpa all its life, it really had no survival skills..." Dong Chengling extended a finger into the air as if there was a bird there. "Maybe it followed Grandpa."
Ren Suo fell silent. He didn’t know what to say. He had never experienced such profound loss, and anything he said would feel like weak, meaningless pleasantries. Finally, he blurted out, "Your Grandpa would definitely be happy for you as you are now."
"Maybe." Dong Chengling looked at Ren Suo and smiled. "Ren Suo, you suddenly saying you want to raise a bird and naming it Little Fei really surprised me, because these past few days I’ve been reminiscing about Grandpa and Little Fei..."
Ren Suo shivered inside and quickly said, "This is what they call a connection of hearts!"
"Yes." Dong Chengling nodded. "I’ve never told anyone else, and you don’t know my parents... You being able to hear my longing, that’s wonderful."
Dong Chengling’s echo: "Same Heart."
Ren Suo blinked, looking at Dong Chengling. The two made eye contact, and for a moment, everything quieted down.
Just when Ren Suo was about to feel something, Dong Chengling said, "You know, Ren Suo, people’s abilities have limits..."
This statement abruptly pulled Ren Suo out of the ambiguous atmosphere. "Huh?"
"The only thing I’ve learned from my short life is... the more you strive and try, the more you realize people’s abilities have limits... unless you transcend humanity.
"Be you an emperor or a general, a beauty or a genius, none can defy the laws of nature: the cycle of birth, aging, sickness, and death; the passage of time.
"When a person is cremated, their components are nearly the same as apatite. After millions of years, don’t they just re-enter the natural cycle, leaving no trace? Is a human’s brief life truly meaningful?"
Ren Suo was stunned. "It is, isn’t it?"
"Of course, it is." Dong Chengling smiled. "Why else do we visit ancestral graves and honor their memory?
"Why do newborns need a hundred days’ celebration and a birthday every year?
"Why, when humans reproduce by exchanging bodily fluids, do they still host a ceremony for relatives and friends to witness, and need to register with the government to get a certificate?
"It’s because over thousands of years, humanity has slowly imbued life and death, time, separations, and Inheritance with enough meaning. Although these are intangible and often useless, it’s these ’meanings’ that differentiate a short human life from a pile of apatite and a tombstone.
"But meaningful apatite still scatters with a gust of wind, and an inscribed tombstone is still just a stone."
Dong Chengling looked at Ren Suo and earnestly said, "Do you know? What made me the happiest tonight was your advancement to the second turn. Because that means you have caught up.
"I had already determined my own path, for which I am willing to give up many ’meanings’ in life. Those ’meanings’ are gifts prepared by humans for their short lives, which barely span a century. I believe that when I reach the end of the road, a future filled with deeper ’meaning’ will be waiting for me.
"However, if there are fellow practitioners who walk alongside me, I would also be glad. I don’t know whether I will surpass humanity or turn into a pile of apatite when I reach the end of the road. But even if I fail, I can then fully blame the world and not haunt myself with regrets."
Fellow practitioners... Is she referring to me? Ren Suo wondered.
Of course, I am! Ren Suo thought. Even though I enter lotteries, play games, fudge my way through papers, and use rewards to enhance my Talent, I know I’m a diligent Cultivator.
What’s most important is that he heard the echo from Dong Chengling: "Fellow practitioner."
"I will follow you, and soon I will catch up to you," Ren Suo promised, somewhat thoughtlessly.
"It’s a promise then."
Leaning on Ren Suo’s shoulder, Dong Chengling whispered, "I just finished cultivating... let me lean on you for a while."
The echo from Dong Chengling: "Relaxed, leaning."
Ren Suo guessed, Dong Chengling probably has never told anyone why she works so hard at her Cultivation. Now that she’s shared her hidden secret with me, it’s natural for her to feel relaxed and want someone to lean on.
After a moment, Ren Suo heard a voice in the depths of his heart:
"Key is in sleep mode, beginning retrieval."
She’s asleep, Ren Suo thought. He picked Dong Chengling up—she was surprisingly light—and carried her into her room. Following his own habits, he turned on the air conditioning, covered her with a blanket, and ensured she would have a good Sleep.
Ren Suo gently placed his hand on Dong Chengling’s arm, waited for a few minutes, and then quietly left.
As Ren Suo closed the door behind him, Dong Chengling slowly opened her eyes. Curled up like a little bear under the blanket, she turned to look at the chair where Ren Suo had just been sitting. With a smile on her face, her dimples showing, she let out an indistinct HMPH sound.
As Ren Suo walked downstairs, he was stunned:
"Negative emotion from Dong Chengling, +10"
All the notifications for negative emotions from his bonding partners were unblocked, so he could immediately know if his actions had any adverse effects. Why else would I dare to be so bold with Yu Kuangtu? It’s because he’s easy to bully! Ren Suo mused.
But I just left without doing anything! How could Dong Chengling still be a bit dissatisfied? Ren Suo wondered.
Being too shocked, Ren Suo didn’t notice the Black Bell creeping up on him. By the time he spotted a shadow in the corner of his eye, it was too late—
"Damn you, you dead cat—"
"Boss, boss, I was wrong—"
"Negative emotion from Ren Suo, +233"