Superman Termination Manual - Chapter 316

Chapter 316: Chapter 194: Fireworks, Lies, and the Last Wish of a 17-Year-Old Girl

On July 20, at 7 p.m., on the Ring 7 Elevated Bridge.

Watching the red and black dice slip from the strange thing’s hand, Bai Qiuwu slightly furrowed her brows.

She had intended to lift the Jingu Bang to stop it, yet she couldn’t help but think,

“What is this strange thing up to now?”

Thinking thus, her movements slowed for a moment. Before she could swing the staff horizontally, the dice had already pierced the night sky, plummeting straight toward the earth.

The next moment, a sudden explosion stunned her for a second. She turned her head to the right and, through the eyeholes of the monkey mask, gazed up at the sky of Huanjing.

In the blink of an eye, dazzling fireworks swallowed her view.

Bang, bang!

The sound of the fireworks cracking filled the night sky. Faintly, amidst them, she could hear people’s exclamations and admiration. The sounds, distant and near, echoed around her ears.

She tilted her snow-white neck back, silently gazing at the night sky, as if she had forgotten to maintain her fiery, golden eyes, the flames within slowly extinguishing.

The reddish-gold hue in her pupils faded, as if it had been covered by the blaze of the fireworks.

The deep valley of her eyes reflected the myriad of fireworks in the sky.

The evening breeze, coming from one end of the horizon and passing through the starry sky, quietly knocked her hood off without a sound. The hair at the nape of her neck fell like a waterfall and swayed in the wind, lightly brushing against the back of her metallic long coat.

Bai Qiuwu remained silent for a long while, then slowly turned her face.

From behind the mask, she lifted her clear eyes and stared for a few moments at this perplexing figure, then she slightly opened her mouth, only to close it again.

“Uh… did you just seem to have something to say?” the strange thing asked.

Bai Qiuwu hesitated for two seconds, then slowly asked, “You once said that you can’t control the outcome of the dice?”

“Oh, you remember that clearly, huh?”

The strange thing said, turning back to meet her gaze, “That’s right, I can’t really control this dice.”

“So what?” Bai Qiuwu said, “You also said it was a carefully prepared gift for me, but it turned out to be otherwise.” She paused, then whispered, “It was just a random toss.”

Upon hearing this, the strange thing first lifted its right hand, gently stroking its chin, then cocked its head in a puzzled tone, asking: “That’s strange… did I ever use the word ‘carefully’?”

Bai Qiuwu paused, slightly opened her mouth, and looked down for two seconds, recalling. Then she turned away and said coolly, “Oh, sorry. I was being presumptuous.”

“You know, I actually wanted to summon a band to dance for you. Anything from Michael Jackson to The Beatles, as long as you like it.”

“Are you serious?”

Bai Qiuwu crossed her arms, tilted her head, and the monkey mask on her face wobbled.

“Well, I also feel that’s unlikely fitting your personality. You probably prefer something more serene.”

“No.” Bai Qiuwu said, “I don’t like music and wish my ears could be a bit quieter.”

“Is it because that monkey in your mind is always clattering?”

“I’ve tried wearing headphones and turning the volume up high, but it still couldn’t drown out its noise.” Bai Qiuwu said softly, “It’s noisy enough, adding music makes it even worse.”

“Still, on a birthday, some people hire a famous band to celebrate that important day. Wouldn’t you be happy?”

“You say that as if… you know me well.”

Bai Qiuwu spoke softly and sat on the bridge railing, gazing downward at the city. On the bustling streets below, children were yelling excitedly at the sudden fireworks.

The strange thing shrugged, walked leisurely to her side, and sat down on the bridge railing.

It said, “I really do understand you… a girl who is overly serious, who likes to keep everything pressed in her heart. Facing divine erosion every day, clearly helpless and lonely, yet never able to muster the courage to speak to those around her, not even daring to say ‘help me,’ thus keeping all the signals of seeking help hidden deep in her heart like a swamp, holding onto them until she sinks deeper.”

Having said that, the strange thing spread its hands. “You know, most martyrs and ascetics are male. This is the first time I’ve seen a girl, not just any girl but a 17-year-old girl, bearing such labels…”

It sighed. “Humans are like goldfish: no matter how good they are at swimming, they sometimes need to surface for air, or else they will drown.”

“There you go again, speaking these mystical musings.” Bai Qiuwu sighed softly.

“So you don’t like that, huh?”

“From what I’ve observed about you, you could act a bit more normal,” Bai Qiuwu paused, “but you just don’t want to.”

“For instance, how would you define normal?” the strange thing countered, “Are those who over-care about others’ looks, suppress their own hearts, and live carefully in society like livestock ‘normal’; while someone like me, who expresses my thoughts openly and is misunderstood by others, is ‘abnormal’?”

It paused. “Then, do you think, perhaps, that it’s the society that is diseased?”

Bai Qiuwu shook her head.

“The normal I’m talking about is just for you not to speak in such weird ways.” She said, “Sometimes you’re quite normal.”

“For example, when?”

Bai Qiuwu thought for a moment and said, “Like that day under the elevated bridge, when you said ‘two voices are talking in my head,’ I’ve forgotten what you said then, but the way you spoke was very normal, not so neurotic, more like you were speaking your heart out.”

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