175: Chapter 175 The System is Back
Lin Feng crouched by the plate, watching the ripples on the water surface dissipate circle by circle, while the cat crouched beside him, the tip of its tail swaying gently. The sound of a cat's purring was still playing from the phone, and the water surface vibrated slightly with the rhythm. He hadn't thought about the system for a long time; those tasks, rewards, and skills seemed like things from a long time ago. Every day, he watched ants, listened to the wind, counted steps, made bowls, made windmills, made rocking chairs, made telescopes, made microscopes, made water glass harps, recorded sounds, and drew ripples. These weren't things the system made him do; they were things he wanted to do himself. The system didn't speak, and he didn't need it to speak.
But that night, the system spoke. It wasn't a rusty creak, but a crisp ding-dong sound, like the highest note of a water glass harp. Lin Feng was crouching by the edge of the canopy tidying up plates when a voice suddenly exploded in his head.
[Ding—Host, long time no see.]
The plate in Lin Feng's hand almost dropped. He steadied the plate, placed it on the ground, and remained crouching without moving. The cat was startled, pricked up its Ear, and looked around; finding no source for the sound, it lowered its Ear again.
[System detected: You have not actively used any system skills for seven hundred and thirty consecutive days. Accumulated unclaimed reward amount: 24.8 million US dollars. Days without skill usage: Seven hundred and thirty days.]
Lin Feng didn't speak. He stared at the water in the plate; there were still faint ripples on the surface, left by the cat's purring.
[Host, do you still remember the system's ultimate goal?]
Lin Feng said, "I remember. To make the world happy."
[Have you achieved it?]
Lin Feng thought for a moment. "I don't know. But they are smiling."
The system was silent for a while.
[System detected abnormal data fluctuations around Xinfeng Town. Source: Unknown. It is suggested that the host activate the Emotional Perception skill to investigate.]
Lin Feng said, "I won't."
[Why?]
Lin Feng said, "If I turn it on, I'll know who is unhappy. Once I know, I'll have to take care of it. Once I start taking care of things, I won't be able to stop."
[But you are the host. Your duty is—]
Lin Feng interrupted it. "My duty is to crouch."
The system fell silent again. This time it was silent for a long time. Lin Feng thought it had left again and stood up, preparing to tidy the plates and go into the canopy. But the system sounded again.
[Host, the happiness radiation range of Xinfeng Town is shrinking. Three months ago, there were two hundred and thirty-seven red dots on the happiness map. Now only one hundred and eighty-two remain. The red dots for Millfield have changed from bright red to dark red. The red dots for Greenfield have changed from bright red to dark red. The red dot for Starry Sky Town has gone out. It's not completely extinguished, but it flickers on and off like a light bulb with a poor connection.]
Lin Feng was stunned for a moment. Starry Sky Town. Old Lady Jack's Starry Sky Town, that Stargazing Point converted from a mine pit. He hadn't been there for a long time. He crouched down, set the plates aside, and asked, "Why would it go out?"
[The system cannot determine. But data does not lie.]
Lin Feng closed his eyes. He thought of Old Lady Jack, remembered her standing by the edge of the mine pit, saying to the bottom, "Old man, I've arrived in New York." He remembered her riding an electric bike with no power for three days from Starry Sky Town to Xinfeng Town. He remembered the day she left, clutching that photo in her hand; in the photo, Jack was wearing a borrowed oversized suit, the sleeves covering half his hands, smiling foolishly. He opened his eyes. "I'm going to Starry Sky Town tomorrow."
[System suggests: Activate the Emotional Perception skill—]
Lin Feng said, "No. I'll know when I get there."
Early the next morning, Lin Feng didn't go to the church, the Coffee Shop, or to see the cat. He put on a backpack, stuffed in a bottle of water, a few biscuits, and the tweezers gifted by Chen Weiyuan. The cat crouched by the canopy, looking up at him. He crouched down and stroked the cat's head. "I'm going to Starry Sky Town. You stay here." The cat didn't answer, but it stood up, walked to his feet, rubbed its head against his calf, then jumped onto the roof of the canopy, crouching in front of the telescope to look into the distance. Lin Feng walked along the main street toward the town entrance. Margaret came out of the Restaurant, saw him with his backpack, and caught up. "Where are you going?" Lin Feng said, "Starry Sky Town." Margaret was stunned for a moment. "What for?" Lin Feng said, "To take a look." Margaret looked at him and didn't ask further. She pulled a rice ball wrapped in plastic wrap from her pocket and stuffed it into his bag. "Eat this on the way."
The road was long. Lin Feng walked very slowly, looking at the ground with every step. After leaving Xinfeng Town, the road narrowed, turning from asphalt to concrete, and then from concrete to dirt. There were fewer and fewer houses on both sides, and more and more fields. When he got tired, he crouched by the side of the road to rest for a while. He took out water from his bag and took a sip; he took out a biscuit and ate a piece. The cat wasn't there, so no one crouched beside him. He crouched alone, looking at the wildflowers by the road. The wildflowers were in bloom—red, yellow, purple, and white—just like the ones on both sides of the road behind the door.
After walking for three hours, he saw the road sign for Starry Sky Town. The sign was old, and the words were almost illegible, but below them was a line of small, newly painted characters: "Starry Sky Town, Population—" Old Lady Jack had said that Starry Sky Town originally had over eighty people. Now there were only sixty-seven. He walked inside; the main street was empty, and the shops on both sides were closed, their windows covered in dust. One was still open—a Grocery Store. An old man sat at the entrance, basking in the sun with his eyes half-closed. Lin Feng walked over and crouched beside him. "Excuse me, how do I get to the Stargazing Point?" The old man opened his eyes and glanced at him. "Are you from Xinfeng Town?" Lin Feng nodded. The old man pointed east. "Follow that road to the end. When you see a mine pit, that's it." He paused. "No one has come for a long time. Fewer and fewer people come to watch the stars, and the telescopes in the pit have rusted." Lin Feng stood up, brushed off his pants, and walked east. The road was a dirt path, bumpy and overgrown with grass. After walking for fifteen minutes, he saw the mine pit. The pit was still there, and the wooden railings around it were still there, with a few faded red ribbons tied to them, just like the one on the cat's bowl. Moisture-proof mats were spread at the bottom of the pit, but they were torn, revealing the stones underneath. A telescope was mounted at the edge of the pit, its tube covered in dust and its lens having a crack. Lin Feng crouched by the edge of the pit, looking down. The wind surged up from the bottom, cool and damp, just like the wind underground that George had described. He closed his eyes and heard the wind blowing against the pit walls, a "woo-woo" sound like someone crying. He opened his eyes, took the tweezers from his bag, and gently scraped the dust off the telescope lens. The dust was thick, and he scraped layer after layer. After five minutes, the lens revealed its original appearance, but the crack was still there; looking through it, the sky was shattered into two halves. He put down the tweezers, crouched by the edge of the pit, and took out his phone—no signal. He opened the recordings on his phone and played a segment of a cat's purring. The purring came from the phone and echoed in the pit, "woo-woo," like the wind, yet also like a sigh. He listened for a while, turned off the recording, stood up, and walked back.
When he reached the entrance of the Grocery Store, the old man was still sitting there. Lin Feng crouched beside him. "Where did all the people in town go?" The old man said, "They left. The young people went to the city to work, and the elderly left with their children. Only a few who can't move are left here, waiting to die." He pointed to the mountains in the distance. "Stargazing Point used to have people coming, but not anymore. The road is too far, the pit is too deep, the telescope is broken, and no one fixes it." Lin Feng took out water from his bag, took a sip, and handed it to the old man. The old man took it and also had a sip. "Are you the person who makes people smile?" Lin Feng was stunned. "You know me?" The old man smiled. "Old Lady Jack mentioned you. She said you crouched at the church entrance, biting a straw. When she left, she told me to tell you that she still wanted to visit Xinfeng Town again." Lin Feng lowered his head. "How long has she been gone?" The old man thought for a moment. "Half a year. She left in the spring. When she left, she was still clutching that photo." Lin Feng took out a pen and paper from his pocket and crouched on the ground to write a letter. "Friends of Starry Sky Town, I am Lin Feng. From Xinfeng Town. The telescope is broken; I will have someone come to fix it. The road is too far; I will have someone come to pave it. The pit is too deep; should I have someone come to fill it? No, the pit doesn't need to be filled. The pit is a place for watching stars. As long as the stars are there, the pit is there. As long as you are there, the stars are there." He finished writing and posted the letter on the wall of the Grocery Store. The old man looked at the letter for a long time. "You're having someone come to fix it?" Lin Feng nodded. "Fix it." The old man asked, "You're having someone come to pave the road?" Lin Feng nodded. "Pave it." The old man asked, "What about the money?" Lin Feng said, "I have it." He thought of the unclaimed reward in the system, 24.8 million US dollars. He had never touched it, but now it was time.
[Chapter 175 End]