Chapter 188 Regret and Awakening
Rong Yuan sat against the wall, his hand on his forehead, his eyes closed, and his brows slightly frowned.
He tried to recall Paco's appearance, but found that the details were always a little vague. The harder he tried, the harder his memory seemed to play hide-and-seek with him. He couldn't even tell which ones were real and which ones were just images in his imagination.
This didn't make sense, because his memory had always been good, and the only reason he couldn't remember was that he had never taken the time to look at the other person's appearance. He had used that guy as a stepping stone, a bridge, and a pass, and what he really should have done but never thought of was... a friend.
The only thing I looked at carefully and remembered for the last time was his bloody head.
What is more painful than losing a friend is that when you lose him, you realize how important this person is to you, but when you recall the past, you find that your memory of the other person is so pale.
Rong Yuan almost hated himself.
However, he knew very well that if it happened again, and time went back to the time when they met, he, who was yearning for the vast world and the boundless universe, and was suspicious and full of doubts and vigilance, would not be able to open his heart and be honest. But at least... but at least, they could mix some more private conversations with the clear utilitarian conversations, and he might be able to take his eyes away from the distant stars and take a look at what the people next to him are like.
As Rong Yuan dug into his memory, he found that he knew almost nothing about Paco. He didn't know how Paco grew up, what kind of dangers he had experienced, what he liked and hated, where he lived, whether he had family and friends, whether anyone was waiting for his return... He never tried to understand, and even if the topic occasionally turned to this aspect, he would quickly change it because he didn't care about these things at all.
All his knowledge of Paco came from Amirida, the Landia girl who actually spent a very short time with Paco, and the media of Picho Star, who interpreted Paco from various angles as a Picho Star scum who was bad to the core, good at disguise, insidious and vicious.
Rong Yuan had never felt so regretful.
"I'm sorry." Pea said in a very soft voice, and the small apology sounded like a wisp of light smoke, which disappeared without being noticed by anyone. It placed its small palm on Rongyuan's finger, knowing that the other party needed quietness, so it stayed silently by his side.
The same scene seemed to have appeared many times in memory. Countless contractors were ecstatic when they first obtained the Merit Book, but when their loved ones, parents, children, close friends, etc. faced death, they could not save their loved ones or even bring them back to life due to restrictions, even though there were countless magical items in the Merit Mall that could save them. Or they could accelerate their death by forcibly trying to save them. It seemed that they had seen that kind of pain too many times. Contractors could not resent fate, but only resent the Merit Book that prohibited them from saving.
The images flashing through her memory were so blurry, but those eyes full of hatred were so clear that they seemed to be right in front of her. Wandou couldn't help but shudder, and subconsciously shrank back towards Rong Yuan's palm.
…
"Tucker, are you... okay these two days?" After finishing the meal in silence, Tiny did not rush to clear the table and asked with some concern.
He himself was not good at speaking, nor sensitive to other people's emotions, and was a very clumsy person in interpersonal communication. He saw Rong Yuan's strangeness, and the words of concern turned over and over in his mind for more than a day, but in the end, the only thing he could say was this dry sentence.
"It's okay. Why do you ask?" Rong Yuan asked casually.
" Because I think... you look a little painful." Tiny said carefully. When he saw Rong Yuan's eyes tremble and look at him almost fiercely, he quickly apologized: "I'm sorry."
He originally regarded himself as a "protector", but for some reason he lost the dominant position within just a few days. The child he picked up seemed to have done nothing, but Tiny felt less and less confident, especially when the other party's face turned stern, he even had the urge to kneel down immediately.
The octopus, which was twice as tall as an ordinary octopus and looked like a large truck compared to Rong Yuan's actual size, shrank its neck in panic, with its tentacles twisted into a knot behind its back. Its round eyes drooped, then quickly raised up to glance at Rong Yuan's face, then quickly drooped back and forth, turning left and right, over and over again, like a child who had done something wrong and was waiting to be scolded.
This silly behavior instantly dissipated the inexplicable anger that Rong Yuan had just felt. He suddenly realized that if he didn't want Paco's tragedy to happen to this kind octopus, if he didn't want to experience the pain of regret again, he should leave as soon as possible. If he stayed here, sooner or later Dini would be implicated and die because of them.
Paco, Tiny, these monks, were not simply tools that could be used. They might have more abundant emotions, stronger desire to survive, and better visions of the future than he did. The two of them, as well as many others—whether they were earthlings or aliens—were not props that Rong Yuan should put on the scale to measure their merits, but fresh, precious lives.
His fingers moved slightly, he hesitated for a moment, raised his palm and covered one of the tentacles that Tiny had placed on the table. The strange touch made Tiny blink in confusion, and then he was attracted by Rong Yuan's words.
"I'm leaving." Rong Yuan said.
"Why?" Tiny immediately panicked and asked hurriedly: "Does living here make you uncomfortable? Or did I do something wrong? Just..."
"It's not like that." Rong Yuan looked into his eyes and soothed him in a gentle tone: "It's not like that. It's...my family came to find me, and they hope that I can live with them."
"Oh." Tiny lowered his eyes in disappointment. The whole octopus seemed to shrink. He said insincerely, "In that case... then, then you can live with your family, that's the best... I'm very happy... Are they treating you well?"
"Very good. I'm sorry, Tiny." Rong Yuan stood up, lowered his head and looked at him, and added: "Thank you for everything you have done for me."
"Nothing." Tiny cracked his mouth and smiled in an ugly way that looked like crying, and said, "I hope you are happy."
"I want you to be happy, too. Tiny, even if I leave, you're not alone." Rong Yuan looked at Tiny's misty eyes and said, "Miss Papara from the hovercraft repair shop across the street likes you, don't you know?"
Although he had lived here for a very short time, he still made a detailed investigation and understanding of the residents around him. It was not difficult to find that the owner who provided him with a shelter had a good admirer. Originally, he had no intention of gossiping. Rong Yuan didn't even understand the impulsive emotions stimulated by hormones between humans, let alone alien octopuses? But at this time, he thought that it might be better to let this slow-witted octopus know.
"W-what!" Tiny looked frightened and said with a tongue tied, "Miss Papa, Pa, Papapaala?"
He was dumbfounded, his mouth was open, his expression was as if he was hit by a hovercraft. Then his face changed strangely: his eyes became longer and curved, his mouth became wider and wider, the flesh on his face stretched to both sides, and the color from the top of his head to all the tentacles gradually darkened. He maintained such a weird, silly expression and laughed for a while, then suddenly woke up, his watery eyes flickered and he dared not look at Rong Yuan, his two tentacles gently nodded towards each other, and he asked shyly: "You... how do you know? Miss Papara is beautiful and kind...maybe...maybe...she didn't mean it at all?"
He asked this question, but in his heart he was eager for a completely different answer. Unexpectedly, Rong Yuan said, "If you want to know the answer, why don't you find it yourself?"
Tiny suddenly looked up and glared at Rong Yuan with resentment. He was surprised to see that Rong Yuan almost smiled lightly. The palpable tenderness and sadness made him stunned, and then his heart was gripped.
Rong Yuan said nothing more and turned to leave. He walked out of the restaurant, opened the door, and walked out. Hearing the sound of the door closing, Tiny was stunned for a moment, and suddenly reacted, jumped up and rushed out the door with an agility that was difficult to replicate, and saw that Rong Yuan had already walked away. At the corner of the street, a blue-gray octopus that was slightly taller than him was waiting quietly. After the two met, they walked side by side into the distance.
Tiny stood there, feeling lost.
"Tini, what are you doing?" a crisp voice asked.
Tini turned his head suddenly and looked at Miss Papara, who had a light pink, round head as smooth and cute as an egg in front of him. His face flushed red and he seemed to lose the ability to speak for a moment.
Papala blinked, as if he understood something, and a more obvious smile appeared in his eyes.
…
"Where are we going?" asked Aimirida, who also used the camouflage suit to transform into a Pichu Star Octopus.
"Go get what Paco left for us."
"All traffic is controlled. All the intersections and main roads are guarded. They can also detect whether the mimicry clothing is turned on. Three hours later, this block will be searched thoroughly. There is no place to hide. The probability of us being caught within five hours is as high as 76%, and the probability of being caught before dawn tomorrow is 99.3%." Amirida bit her lip and said tremblingly. She was very scared. She could still walk because Rong Yuan was by her side. At this time, Amirida said with a tearful voice: "Rong Yuan, I can't think of how to escape."
"There will be a way." Rong Yuan sounded very calm and confident.
"What should we do?" Emilida asked hopefully.
"Thinking about it." Rong Yuan said.
