107: Chapter 107 No Turning Back

The entrance to the underground waiting room interlayer began to widen.

It wasn't the walls moving.

It was reality being dragged inward, bit by bit.

The hoarding outside Liuqiao Old Station emitted a harsh, grating sound, and the dust on the ground swirled backward into the cracks.

The streetlights parked outside the safety line flickered one by one, as if someone were pulling invisible electrical switches underground.

Zhao Ye stood at the edge of the entrance, his expression grim.

He could see Han Yue.

Han Yue was standing at the end of the stairs, no more than a dozen meters away from them.

Yet this dozen meters felt like it was separated by an old train line; for every step forward anyone took, the path behind them would stretch a little further.

"Han Yue!"

Lin Zhao couldn't help but shout.

Shen Qinghe immediately raised her hand: "Don't let him respond!"

But it was already too late.

Han Yue had heard.

His shoulders moved, but he did not look back.

He simply threw the notebook in his hand backward with force.

The notebook flew out, brushing against the steps, and was caught at the edge of the entrance by a wisp of grey-white firelight.

Bai Ya remotely accessed the Grey Net and immediately locked onto the lingering marks on the notebook.

"I got it!"

Han Yue's voice came from below.

"Don't come in!"

Zhao Ye stepped forward.

The Fate-Illuminating Bronze Bell suddenly rang.

The bell toll was not loud, but it felt like it struck him directly in the chest.

Zhao Ye stopped abruptly, the sparks at his feet blown backward by the chill from the entrance.

Shen Qinghe's face turned pale.

She heard the sound of the rules closing.

This was not a simple underground station.

It was waiting for a "look back."

As long as the person inside responded to the outside, and the people outside responded to the inside, the entrance would expand.

By then, it wouldn't just be Han Yue being dragged in, but everyone within the range of Liuqiao Old Station who could still hear the sound of the train.

"We can't follow."

Shen Qinghe's voice was very low.

Zhao Ye looked at her sharply.

"He's still there!"

"I know."

"You don't know jack!"

Once the words were out, Zhao Ye himself was stunned.

He rarely spoke to Shen Qinghe like that.

Shen Qinghe was not angry.

She just stared fixedly at the entrance, bloodshot eyes fixed on it.

"I heard it."

"If you rush in, the station will open."

Zhao Ye's chest heaved violently.

Lin Zhao stood behind, digging his fingers into his palms until he was almost drawing blood.

He looked at Han Yue and suddenly felt useless.

A moment ago, he had been thinking about bringing him out.

But now, he couldn't even take a single step forward.

On the underground waiting seats, the seventeen lingering shadows looked up simultaneously.

The old woman looked at Han Yue.

"You shouldn't have come back."

Han Yue smiled.

It was an ugly smile.

"I think so too."

His legs were shaking.

He was terrified.

So terrified he could barely stand.

He was no hero, nor did he want to die.

He just suddenly understood that if some things were forgotten by him once more, then truly, no one would ever know.

He pressed the torn page of the notebook onto the steps.

Right there happened to be the lingering light of the Fire Seal that Shen Qinghe had placed in advance.

The paper began to burn little by little.

The grey-white firelight burned along the handwriting.

Liuxia entrance.

Seventeen missing persons.

The old woman's name.

And the moment Han Yue was pushed out of the train door three years ago.

These memories finally no longer belonged solely to the anomaly.

They had been snatched back by Torch.

Han Yue raised his head and looked outside the entrance.

He didn't call for help.

He knew it was useless.

He just shouted one sentence:

"Tell Chen Jue!"

Lin Zhao's eyes instantly reddened.

Han Yue's voice was louder.

"Don't follow my example!"

This sentence was like a slap across the face to Chen Jue in the Safe House, delivered across the channel.

Chen Jue stood at the doorway, his entire body stiff, his lips pale.

He wanted to curse, wanted to rush out, wanted to ask why.

But he couldn't squeeze a single word out of his throat.

The underground entrance began to close.

Zhao Ye slammed a Sealing Nail into the ground, sparks exploded, forcibly suppressing the edge of the entrance.

"Hurry!" he roared.

Shen Qinghe used the Fate-Illuminating Bronze Bell to cut off the ticket collector's shouting, the veins on the back of her hands bulging.

Bai Ya connected Han Yue's notebook to the Grey Net, his voice devoid of any joking tone for the first time.

"Record accessed."

"Lingering list retrieved."

"Coordinates retrieved."

"Han Yue..."

He paused.

In the last sliver of light at the entrance, Han Yue looked back at the row of waiting seats.

The old woman shifted to make half a seat for him.

Just like three years ago.

Only this time, she didn't push him out.

Before the entrance closed, the old woman's shadow suddenly looked outward.

That glance was not at Zhao Ye, nor was it at Shen Qinghe.

She was looking at the firelight.

Three years ago, when she pushed Han Yue out, there was no fire outside.

She could only use her own life to trade for a young man to forget his fear, forget the people on the train, and forget her.

Three years later, Han Yue returned with fire.

Although he still hadn't been able to walk out.

But this time, at least someone remembered where they were sitting, remembered that they were not just missing numbers in rumors.

Han Yue also seemed to understand this.

Before he sat down, he tore off the last page of the notebook and pressed it onto his knees.

The page was illuminated by the firelight, faintly revealing a line of text:

[If someone finds this place, please do not only look for me.]

Bai Ya snatched this line of text.

His fingers hovered over the keyboard, not typing for a long time.

Then he said in a low voice: "Received."

The waiting sign outside Liuqiao Old Station dimmed again.

The two characters "Liuxia" on it did not disappear, but simply sank into the rust, like a pair of closed eyes.

Everyone knew it would open again.

Just not now.

The entrance closed.

Outside Liuqiao Old Station, the sound of the wind suddenly stopped.

Lin Zhao stood in place, not moving for a long time.

Zhao Ye punched the concrete pillar nearby, debris falling everywhere.

Shen Qinghe closed her eyes.

In the Safe House, Chen Jue suddenly rushed forward a step.

Lin Zhao had been guarding against this and pressed down on his shoulder.

Chen Jue's eyes were bloodshot: "Let go!"

"Where are you going?"

"I don't know!"

This was more real than "I want to save him."

He had no idea what else he could do, he just couldn't stand there and listen to someone else die for him.

Lin Zhao held him down firmly, his own voice trembling.

"If you rush out now, his words will have been in vain."

Chen Jue froze.

He was breathing heavily, like a small beast trapped in a cage.

After a long time, he slowly crouched down, hugging his head with both hands.

No one in the corridor laughed at him.

Even Zhao Ye didn't scold him.

On the channel, Zero gave a prompt that was cool to the point of cruelty.

[Han Yue, Jiangbei Candidate.]

[Life signal cannot be confirmed.]

[Anomaly interlayer closed.]

Lu Chen looked at the prompt, his voice deep.

"Correct it."

Zero paused for a moment.

Lu Chen said: "Do not write 'cannot be confirmed'."

After these words fell, there was no sound in Xinhuo Hall.

Zhao Ye stood outside the entrance, blood from his fist dripping down between his fingers.

No one reminded him to bandage it.

At times like this, a little pain actually helped one know that they were still standing outside.

Sacrifice is not just a nicer-sounding term for missing.

It means that Torch acknowledges it failed to save this person, and also acknowledges that what this person left behind will become the path for those who come after to continue moving forward.

"Write 'Sacrifice'."