Volume 7: Frost Chapter 50: Standpoint
After hearing Jiang You's answer, Guan Qingtong forgot what she wanted to ask. After a while, she found her voice and asked, "What is your relationship with him?"
"I just lost a fish tank," Jiang You looked at the fish tank in Zhuang Zekun's hand, "It's pretty, isn't it? It glows, and I put a lot of thought into it. Now a piece is missing, and there's no way to fix it."
Guan Qingtong asked: "Is he alive?"
"How should I know?"
"You know him." Guan Qingtong was sure.
Guan Nuo put his hands in his pockets, tightly holding the copper coins.
Jiang You glanced at Guan Nuo and said, "Maybe. I don't have a good memory to begin with."
Guan Qingtong was a little anxious, but she still suppressed her emotions and turned to look at Zhuang Zekun. Zhuang Zekun was frozen into an ice sculpture.
Jiang You squatted down, touched Jiang Mo's forehead, and then picked him up.
"Brother Jiang." Guan Nuo spoke.
"What's the matter?" Jiang You looked at him.
Guan Nuo hesitated for a moment, but finally he spoke, "Here, eighteen years ago, then, how old are you now?"
"Twenty-eight." Jiang You answered affirmatively.
"Then, then is this fish tank your magic weapon from your previous life?"
"In the previous life, I guess."
"Oh," Guan Nuo breathed a sigh of relief. He then asked, "So you knew the fish tank was here a long time ago?"
"Of course I don't know," Jiang You denied. He glanced in the direction of . "When I first saw it, I didn't recognize it."
Crack.
Crack.
The sound of ice cracking was heard again.
Guan Qingtong noticed that Zhuang Zekun's fingers seemed to move.
"Lao Zhuang?" Guan Qingtong called Zhuang Zekun.
Guan Nuo, Jiang You and Tang Butian all focused their attention on Zhuang Zekun.
Crack.
The ice beneath Zhuang Zekun's feet cracked.
The cold wind blows.
The wind was mixed with tiny pieces of ice that pierced into the skin.
Guan Nuo raised his hand to cover his face. Through the gaps between his fingers, he saw a thin piece of ice peeling off the back of Zhuang Zekun's hand, and then -
boom!
Countless pieces of ice flew out from his body.
Zhuang Zekun stumbled back a few steps, his hair was all wet and stuck to his scalp, his face was red, and he was breathing heavily. His hands tightly grasped the edge of the fish tank, and some of the broken ice melted into water, flowing along his fingers into the fish tank.
Guan Qingtong quickly walked to Zhuang Zekun and supported him. She asked, "Are you okay?"
After Zhuang Zekun stood firm, he looked at Jiang You with a complicated expression, "You..."
"Have you finished reading it?" Jiang You asked.
Zhuang Zekun nodded and said, "I've finished reading it."
"Got it?"
"Understood."
"That's fine." Jiang You held Jiang Mo in his arms and walked in front of Zhuang Zekun. He stretched out his hand, "Give it to me."
Zhuang Zekun hesitated for a moment. Guan Qingtong opened her mouth to say something, but Zhuang Zekun gently shook his head at her, then handed the fish tank to Jiang You.
Jiang You took the fish tank, walked slowly to the round table, and put the fish tank back. The water flowing into the fish tank turned into free spots of light.
"Turn off the flashlight." Jiang You said.
Guan Qingtong picked up the flashlight that had fallen to the ground and turned it off. Guan Nuo followed suit.
It suddenly became dark.
The light spots floated upwards and outwards, reflected on the ice, and the halos of light were cast on the surrounding stone walls.
It’s like standing in a sky full of stars.
Tang Butian stretched out his hand, and a spot of light fell on his palm.
She heard Jiang You's voice.
Jiang You said, "Isn't it beautiful?"
She nodded.
"It's a pity that a piece is missing." The fish tank was filled with light pink mist. After looking at it for a while, Jiang You turned around and said, "It's time to go."
He walked down a step. His knees were stiff from the cold and he walked with difficulty.
"Is that fish tank placed here?" Guan Nuo asked.
"Isn't it good to stay here?" Jiang You walked down a few more steps.
Suddenly, with a loud bang, the ice layer under the round platform cracked, and the round platform fell into the crack. Guan Nuo looked into the crack and saw the fish tank rolling down...
He felt the copper coin in his hand tremble again. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and just as he spread out his hand, three copper coins flew towards the crack.
Jiang You stopped.
He straightened his body slightly and stretched his left hand back with his palm open.
The floating points of light stopped.
The copper coin also stopped in mid-air.
Guan Nuo saw his hand reaching for the coin stop.
He rolled his eyes and looked around. His mother supported Uncle Zhuang and stood up. Tang Butian's fluttering hair stopped...
The copper coins began to tremble and collided with each other, making crisp sounds.
Guan Nuo saw a figure gradually emerging from midair. First came the feet, a pair of very thin and white feet, slender ankles, and calves that seemed to be broken at a bend. There were scars of varying depths on the insteps and calves. The loose light blue shirt covered her knees, and Guan Nuo saw her face, which was very small, with big eyes full of fear.
Jiang You lowered his hands.
Time seemed to start flowing again.
The copper coins stopped shaking and flew towards Guan Nuo, who grabbed them with his hand.
Jiang Mo lay on Jiang You's shoulder and looked at the girl.
Jiang You took two more steps down.
Cracking sounds came from deep underground, the stairs broke apart one by one, and broken ice rolled down.
"We have to leave." Guan Qingtong said to Zhuang Zekun.
Zhuang Zekun nodded.
Guan Qingtong helped Zhuang Zekun walk out. When she passed by Guan Nuo, she pulled Guan Nuo and whispered, "Let's go."
"Okay." Guan Nuo took a step forward and turned to look at the girl.
"Do you know her?" Guan Qingtong asked.
"I, the first time I met her, the institute hadn't moved yet..."
Jiang You's voice sounded again, "I will give you a name, Xiao Hei, and you will guard this place for three years. After that, you can come and go freely."
After saying that, Jiang You continued to walk down.
Guan Nuo saw the girl bow to Jiang You, then float backwards quickly and into the crack.
The next moment, the entire staircase exploded.
The ground is cracked.
Guan Qingtong, Zhuang Zekun and Guan Nuo ran out quickly and ran into the tunnel.
The light dimmed.
Tang Butian jumped down, a shower of ice chips floated in front of her, and there was a little red, and red light was dancing in Jiang Mo's eyes.
Jiang You pulled Jiang Mo's hat up, pulled the brim down to cover his eyes, and then pressed his head onto his shoulders.
He walked out slowly and leisurely.
Boom!
The dome collapsed, ice, rocks, and sand fell down, the stone walls on all sides shook, and the ground began to vibrate.
Tang Butian walked to Jiang You, then she turned around and walked backwards.
She saw wisps of white smoke coming out of the cracks in the ground.
The ice is burning.
The altar sunk beneath the earth was burning.
Clusters of flames rolled and undulated on the stone surface, and the heavy air was boiling.
Tang Butian slowly backed away. As he backed away, he watched the wall soften and melt...
She turned around, stopped and looked at Jiang You's back.
His steps were a little slow, and he seemed to be very tired.
She took a few quick steps to catch up.
There were constant sounds of cracking and collapsing behind me.
"Has your stance changed?" The cold voice became somewhat vague amidst the noise.
"No."
…
Zhu Wen heard the sound from the door, he stood up and looked inside. He saw a figure running out, he took a cautious step forward, holding the gun handle.
Then he recognized them.
Guan Qingtong and the other two stumbled out.
Zhu Wen asked: "What about Jiang You and Tang Bu Tian?"
Guan Nuo pointed behind him and said, "They are behind us, they..."
"Let's leave here first." Zhuang Zekun interrupted Guan Nuo.
"Okay." Zhu Wen helped Zhuang Zekun climb upwards, with Guan Qingtong and Guan Nuo following closely behind them.
After climbing out of the tunnel, he ran forward for more than twenty meters and then stopped.
Guan Nuo sat down on the ground, gasping for breath.
Guan Qingtong wiped the sweat off her face with her hands. She looked ahead and saw white smoke coming out from the cracks in the sand, gradually forming a line and moving towards them from far away. There seemed to be muffled thunder rumbling underground, one after another.
The sand dunes were shaking, the blue sky was shaking too, and the sky and the earth seemed to overlap.
In the white smoke, something emerged from the sand and grew. It was trees, poplar trees, many poplar trees. The smoke peeled off the leaves, branches, and trunks, and the color was dyed on them. The smoke gathered together.
Guan Qingtong saw three people walking out of the smoke.
Jiang You held Jiang Mo in his arms and walked forward with one foot deep and one foot shallow. A girl holding a wooden sword followed him.
Guan Qingtong couldn't help but exclaimed - behind them, in the middle of the poplar forest, there appeared a pool of clear blue water.
Zhuang Zekun murmured, "How is that possible?"
Guan Nuo stood up and asked, "Is this real or an illusion, a mirage?"
"It's true." Zhu Wen answered him.
Guan Qingtong turned around and asked Zhuang Zekun, "What did you see in the fish tank?"
"There's too much information. I need to think about it," Zhuang Zekun sighed. He looked at the poplar forest not far away. "Qingtong, we're going to be in big trouble. Very big trouble."
Jiang You walked up to Guan Qingtong and the other two.
Zhuang Zekun took a step forward and asked, "Who is that girl?"
"I don't know, maybe it's a little goblin passing by. He looks quite naughty." Jiang You pulled down the hats on his and Jiang Mo's heads. He turned to look at Tang Butian, "Please take care of him for me."
Tang Butian saw Jiang Mo's expression, which was very gloomy. He bit his lip, as if he was enduring something. She said, "Okay."
"Then I'll take a rest." Jiang You put the minced ginger on the ground, and then his body softened and fell into the sand.
Tang Butian walked to Jiang You, grabbed his collar, lifted him up, and put him on her shoulder. Then she reached out to Jiang Mo. Jiang Mo stared at her for a while and grabbed her hand.
Tang Butian looked at Guan Qingtong and said, "Let's go. Go back."
"Xiao Tang." Zhuang Zekun withdrew his gaze from the poplar forest and said, "I have something to tell you."
"Let's talk about it when we get back." After saying that, Tang Butian carried Jiang You and held Jiang Mo's hand and walked towards the car.
Guan Qingtong and Zhuang Zekun looked at each other.
Zhuang Zekun said: "Let's go, we'll talk about everything after we get back.
