Mazao's Friend 4

Number Two is really Mazao’s friend!
Am I dreaming? Though this certainly is a dream...
Mazao could never imagine that I would somehow manage to contact her friend who was lost in the future. She herself most likely never thought of trying to contact her. It is not that she doesn't care about her friends, but rather that the very idea itself lies within a blind spot.
It is much like the protagonists of web novels with a rebirth theme, who rarely consider whether the world of their original future will continue to develop after they are reborn into the past, and how it might develop. If you asked them whether they would like to talk to people living in their original future, they might be moved; if you don't ask, even generating the thought itself is quite difficult. And even if they thought of it, it would be impossible to take it seriously as a realistic problem.
I deliberately spoke out loud: "You are the little girl Mazao mentioned, the one who was in a pair with her?"
Hearing this, Number Two was stunned for a moment, and then seemed to forget even her sadness as she asked with a mix of surprise and delight, "Mr. Number Three, have you met Mazao Sister, and have you spoken with her?"
"Yes, I have met her," I said while organizing my words in my mind. "Besides, you have misunderstood something."
"What is it?" she hurriedly pressed.
"I am not someone living in the apocalyptic era," I said. "Like Number One and Number Four, I am someone living in the era before the apocalypse descended."
Incredulous, she said, "How can that be? If you aren't from the same era as me and Mazao Sister, how could you possibly meet Mazao Sister..."
"Perhaps you won't believe it, but Mazao traveled through time to our era..."
I recounted what had happened between Mazao and me.
Needless to say, these events were all embellished. I could not blatantly say that I was a villain trying to use Mazao to satisfy my own desires; instead, I painted myself as a kindhearted person who could not sit by and ignore a "young girl dragging her frail and tender body deep into the darkness alone."
I don't know if it's my imagination, but lately, it seems I've done nothing but lie to the people around me. Lying to Chang'an, lying to Mazao, and now, I am actually lying to such a ten-year-old little girl.
Tallying it up, the only person I have had a truly sincere interaction with recently is Zhu Shi, with whom my acquaintance is not all that deep.
However, I am not lying out of malice now. I genuinely intend to help Mazao. Especially after confirming the concepts of the "God's Seal" and the "Apocalypse" from others, I have truly developed a desire to investigate the end of the world.
More importantly, if Mazao knew that I possessed a fragment of the God's Seal, and even knew that I could use the God's Seal fragment to contact Number Two, perhaps she would not leave me this time, and I wouldn't need to continue trying to imprison her.
During my narration, Number Two interjected with questions from time to time.
Her vocal timbre was innocent and childish, and her way of speaking matched a child of that age, but the angle of her questions was actually quite calm. Some of her questions seemed to contain hidden probes, attempting to test whether I was making up lies to deceive her, especially probing my relationship with Mazao.
Yes, from her perspective, even if I had conversed with Mazao, it didn't necessarily mean we conversed as friends. Perhaps I was Mazao's enemy, and she had to test my stance first.
The excitement and joy she displayed earlier upon assuming I was from the apocalyptic era might even have had an element of acting to them.
That is truly remarkable for a child of this age; perhaps it is a premature maturity brought about by the apocalyptic environment. If this kind of acting were combined with her childlike appearance, I might not even have realized it. It is only a pity that she is now a blurred shadow, allowing me to weigh her statements more objectively.
When my narration concluded, she fell into a brief silence. I also patiently gave her time to digest the information.
Perhaps she is feeling rather bitter inside right now. She has lost her own name, facing the desperate situation of soon deteriorating into an evil demon; yet Mazao, her protector, has unexpectedly arrived in a peaceful world before the descent of the apocalypse.
Here, there is neither madness nor evil demons, and one can even eat delicious food and enjoy all the various conveniences of modern society.
Often, the final straw that breaks a person is not poverty, but inequality.
A moment later, Number Two let out a breath, and yet she made a sound of profound relief: "...I see, Mazao Sister really did head into the past..."
There was no resentment in her voice. Sometimes there are people as kind-hearted as this, or perhaps it was just because children do not have such convoluted thoughts. Seeing that the person Mazao protected with her own hands reacted this way upon learning of Mazao's whereabouts, I felt somewhat happy for reasons unknown.
Come to think of it, Number Two had forgotten even her own name, yet she still kept Mazao's name on her lips and in her heart, which shows the sincerity of her feelings.
At the same time, details in Number Two's words also surprised me.
"You said 'really'?" I did not let those words pass. "You knew she would travel through time?"
"Rather than saying I knew, it's more like I had a feeling..." She also seemed to be earnestly recalling. "...I'm sorry, I've forgotten a lot of things. Right now I can't even remember my own name... I only remember that the fact Mazao Sister would return to the past had something to do with me, but... I really can't remember why I would have such a thought."
"If I remember correctly, you two were separated in the process of escaping a Great Demon?" I asked. "Mazao pulled you along for a final spatial transfer, and an 'accident' occurred during this spatial transfer, resulting in Mazao's soul being transferred to the modern era, and moreover into an amnesiac patient with the same appearance and name as herself... Are you saying that this 'accident' was caused by you?"
"I don't remember clearly... I'm not lying, I really don't remember clearly." She shook her head.
"It seems I must first help you recover your memory... at least get you to remember your name," I pondered. "If I find Mazao, I should be able to ask her about the name you used to go by, and then tell it to you... Is this method feasible?"
"It's feasible." She also seemed to rekindle her desire for survival, and then uttered a request: "If conditions permit, Mr. Number Three... I hope you can do it as soon as possible. I can only hold on for ten days at most."
"Ten days... I understand." I nodded. "Pardon my presumption, but judging by your current mental state, it doesn't seem like you are someone who will degenerate into a monster in ten days at most?"
"Mm, just as you imagined, I was originally unable to communicate normally... I don't know if it's thanks to this dream, but right now I can exceptionally communicate with people in a normal mental state." She seemed puzzled by this as well, but could only accept the status quo. "Once I return to the real world, it will be very difficult for me to maintain a conscious awareness."
"I see..." I could only accept this explanation for now, and then asked, "Speaking of which, wouldn't the name 'Number Two' work? I heard from Mazao that as long as you have a name, it doesn't matter even if it's a temporary code name. When you were with Mazao, you probably weren't using your real name either, right?"
"Yes, I used to use the name Mazao Sister gave me. And it is precisely because I still have the code name 'Number Two' that I am able to hold on for another ten days," she said dejectedly. "But this name has no connection whatsoever to my past memories. The foggy dreamland is not something I can enter every day either; if no one around me calls out to me, in the end I will still turn into a monster..."
This is truly a tricky problem. Leaving aside whether I can find Mazao within ten days, even if I can find her, how can I guarantee that I can enter the foggy dreamland again within ten days? Judging by the tone when Number One mentioned this matter, it seemed to be a random event.
My true time limit is not even ten days, but five days. That is the time Mazao and I spent together, and also the duration for which the impact of the jinx constitution will persist with me after Mazao leaves me. Once it ends, I will return to a state unrelated to anomalous entities.
Number Two seemed to perceive my pressure, and she said softly in her childlike voice, "Mr. Number Three, you don't need to be so nervous. I am all alone now; even if I recover my name, I won't be able to survive in the apocalypse for very long. Who knows, after turning into a monster, I might even be able to live a little longer instead."
"It's still too early to give up now. I will definitely find Mazao, and I will also do my utmost to save you," I said.
She only smiled, and then said, "Right, Mr. Number Three, how do you view Mazao Sister?"
"How do I view her, you mean?" I retorted.
Mazao Sister brings disaster to the people around her, which is why she is tabooed and loathed by countless people, and even her former companions drove her out of the team. She always appeared very strong in front of me, but actually she was always crying secretly behind my back, or when she thought I was asleep. I know that," she said softly. "She treated me so well, yet no one had ever treated her that well. And then, Mr. Number Three, you appeared before her...
"Perhaps one day, you too will feel that you cannot stay with her. It might be for your own safety, or it might be for the safety of the people around you. By that time, I hope..."
I interrupted her: "There won't be such a day."
She blinked her eyes.
"Next time, I won't let her run away from my side again," I said with utmost seriousness. "If she says she is unwilling to stay by my side no matter what, then even if I have to impri—I mean, even if I have to use some wild methods, I will make her stay obediently.
"No matter how anyone else curses her or treats her as a harbinger of disaster, I will never view her that way. I swear it.
"So, you can rest assured."
"Is that so? That's good..."
She seemed to smile silently.
And imperceptibly, the fog grew thicker.
I could no longer see Number Two clearly before my eyes, and gradually I could no longer feel my own body. Layer upon layer of gray mist turned into darkness within my field of vision...
Then, I woke up in my own home.
I had returned to the real world.
-
After waking up, I immediately set about verifying whether the foggy dreamland was real or fake.
The foggy dreamland is undoubtedly a phenomenon formed by anomalous power, but even if it is anomalous, it does not mean that everything that happened inside is true. As the grand premise of everything, I had to figure this out first.
The simplest method was to put the information obtained from the dream into practice. I tried placing the black jade I carried with me at a distant spot, and then distanced myself from it. And just as Number One had said, a binding relationship truly existed between the black jade and its owner. After pulling away a certain distance, the black jade automatically returned to my pocket.
The foggy dreamland is real, Number Two is also real, I really did converse with a character from the apocalyptic era... Although the previous practice might still be insufficient as material for judgment, I had already emotionally believed these things.
Two days later, a clue to Mazao's whereabouts finally appeared before my eyes.