Memories

"She's really about to wake up? But there was no sign just a moment ago..." Xie Xinyu quickly circled to the other side of the bed to check the instrument readings, his fingers frantically pressing buttons while keeping one eye on Xi Chunzhi's movements out of his peripheral vision.

Tu Ran also watched Xi Chunzhi, her palm resting on the other woman's wrist.

Though she still couldn't read Xi Chunzhi's memories, she could clearly feel her struggling — dodging something, fighting desperately to wake herself up.

Finally, after half an hour of agitation.

Xi Chunzhi's eyes snapped open. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead and neck. She gasped for breath, staring at the ceiling, her fingers trembling.

Tu Ran gripped her hand, the warmth of her palm seeping into Xi Chunzhi's icy body, easing her slightly.

She turned her head a fraction, and the moment she saw Tu Ran, her eyes welled up. Tears streamed down the corners of her eyes, one wave after another.

She remembered everything — including what had happened while she was unconscious.

She knew she'd been pulled from the nutrient pod, taken to an underground laboratory, had her neck sliced open so a thing called an "inner core" could be extracted, and had blood drawn for days on end.

She also knew there were many pioneers beside her, all of them being dissected and studied. She'd thought she couldn't escape the same fate. She'd kept trying to wake up, but no matter what, she couldn't move. She was trapped inside her own body, unable to break free.

Watching herself march toward death, she fell into deep despair.

Then she heard the people who'd been draining her blood discussing sending her back up, because Tu Ran had come out of the Threshold.

She was relieved that Tu Ran had survived the Threshold again, but then she overheard them plotting to get rid of Tu Ran too. She was frantic, yet there was nothing she could do.

She felt sunlight on her body and knew she'd left that cold, damp underground laboratory — most likely arriving at the Medical Department. When she heard the nurses chatting as they cared for her, she knew she really had made it to the Medical Department.

She was glad to be temporarily free from the danger of being dissected, even as she worried about Tu Ran's safety.

Tu Ran came to see her.

She paid the astronomical medical bills.

She touched her arm.

Throughout it all, she kept trying to warn Tu Ran to watch the people around her, that the laboratory crew wanted her dead.

But she couldn't do a thing.

Tu Ran visited her every so often, each time sitting for a while before leaving. She longed to see Tu Ran, because it proved she was still alive — that the lab people hadn't gotten to her yet.

Then one day, a patient with symptoms similar to hers arrived in the ward.

She knew that person must also have had their inner core dug out. She wondered why they'd been sent up, assuming only the lab people extracted pioneers' cores, and figured the newcomer had a friend with a high "danger rating" like Tu Ran.

When all the lab nurses and doctors had left, she heard Tu Ran's footsteps approaching. Then a pair of hands appeared at the back of her neck.

Ice cold.

Tu Ran touched the scar on the nape of her neck.

That sudden gesture made her realize Tu Ran knew about the inner core.

And that she'd done it right after learning about the other comatose patient with the same symptoms.

A guess quickly formed in her mind: could the other unconscious woman's inner core have been dug out by Tu Ran?

And if so... did Tu Ran have abilities too?

She desperately hoped so — that would make it much harder for the lab crew to deal with her.

She relaxed.

At the same time, she quietly hoped that a Tu Ran with abilities might find a way to cure her.

The hope was slim, but she held onto it.

Then she learned that her vital signs were plummeting — she was about to go into organ failure.

She accepted her fate quickly and calmly.

If she died, it would lighten Tu Ran's burden.

At least she knew Tu Ran had abilities, knew she'd live well on her own.

Revenge didn't matter anymore. The people behind that underground lab surely wielded enormous power, and she'd rather Tu Ran not provoke them for her sake.

Just as she was ready to die, something unexpected happened: Tu Ran pried open her jaw and fed her something.

It melted on her tongue, a flowing sensation spreading through every limb. She knew — that was an inner core.

And there was that familiar feeling — it was her own core, the one she'd lost.

She didn't know where Tu Ran had found it, but she understood the process must have been arduous. Her core had been given to the people pulling the strings; Tu Ran must have investigated countless people and taken countless risks to recover it.

She fought with everything she had, using the inner core to tear free of the shackles binding her soul, and finally opened her eyes.

The moment she saw Tu Ran, the joy of survival, the gratitude and heartache for Tu Ran, the agony of having been voiceless all this time — it all flooded her chest, and she couldn't control her tears.

Tu Ran was frozen in place.

One thought occupied her mind: how was she supposed to comfort Xi Chunzhi?!

In the original body's memories, Xi Chunzhi had never cried.

Since transmigrating into this body, Tu Ran honestly hadn't seen much of Xi Chunzhi. Besides following her home that first night, she'd been dispatched to Regaken State the next morning. By the time she'd returned from that mission, Xi Chunzhi had already gone into the Threshold, and the two of them had been missing each other ever since.

Everything she knew about Xi Chunzhi came from the original body's memories.

Now Xi Chunzhi was crying like this, and she could only stand there helpless.

Seeing her tears soak the pure white pillow, Tu Ran finally snapped out of it. She pulled two tissues from the box on the table and gently wiped the tears from her face.

Xie Xinyu, meanwhile, paid little attention to their exchange — his focus was entirely on the machines before him.

They showed Xi Chunzhi's bodily data fluctuating as of 5:15.

That was right when he'd finished his check and left.

But there hadn't been any obvious change before he left.

"Did she show any other changes before you called me?" Xie Xinyu asked Tu Ran.

Tu Ran moved her gaze from Xi Chunzhi's face to Xie Xinyu, who was still studying the machine's readouts rather than looking over.

"No. She moved the moment she did, and I called you immediately." Tu Ran's voice was flat — there was no way she'd tell him the truth.

Xie Xinyu was baffled. He turned to Xi Chunzhi. "Do you have any memories from while you were unconscious?"

Xi Chunzhi glanced at Tu Ran, then said, "No."

Her voice was still hoarse, and Tu Ran promptly picked up the cup by the bed, lifted her head slightly, and helped her drink a few sips to soothe her throat.

"Did you feel anything during that time?" Xie Xinyu finally tore his gaze from the instruments to look at Xi Chunzhi. "What made you wake up so suddenly — were you stimulated by something?"