Awakening

The land opened toward the sea, and in the distance, the ocean met the sky. Only here, the sea was blue, while the sky was a sheet of bloodred. A figure clad in full iron armor stood at the zenith, locked in combat with a colossal alien monstrosity. As the war saber in his grip cleaved downward, a river of molten lava tore across the sky. The monstrosity split apart in midair. Exhausted, the iron armor began to shatter as well, falling from the zenith. It felt like a sheer, vertical plunge—one entirely beyond his control, where he could not struggle or even twitch a muscle. And as he plummeted, his consciousness was steadily ravaged by a frantic, scalding power. ...Someone leaped up from the ground and caught him, Cushioning his fall as they landed. Then came the subsequent images, viewed through a subjective, warped, and blurry gaze: The severed corpse of the colossal monstrosity lay sprawled across the ground nearby. All around, a boundless sea of people boiled over with fervor... Tens of millions turned toward him, cheering in a deafening crescendo. In a daze, the scene repeated from the beginning... This time, Han Qingyu did not see it through to the end. Startled by the sudden sensation of falling within his consciousness, his whole body twitched, and he woke with a jolt. His forehead and back felt cool and damp. Thinking he was drenched in a cold sweat, he raised a hand to wipe it away, only to find nothing there. His body merely felt somewhat stiff and sore. A faint, unfamiliar chemical scent drifted into his nostrils. Without overthinking it, Han Qingyu slowly opened his eyes... Relief washed over him. Before him was still his familiar home, his familiar room—including the old stacked cabinets and lacquered wooden chests directly facing the foot of the bed, as well as the folded old cotton quilts piled on top of them. Those were said to have been his mother’s dowry back in the day. The date was already January 13, 1995. More than three months had passed since the strike with which Han Qingyu had ended the Zenith War. Focusing on what lay further off rather than close at hand, Han Qingyu failed to notice at first that the bed and bedding right beside him were entirely different now. He slowly turned his head and saw his mother, Zhang Jiexia, sitting on a chair beside the bed. From her expression and eyes, his mother seemed sorrowful and anxious. Yet she held a handful of pumpkin seeds, unconsciously cracking and eating them one after another. It gave off an odd, complicated impression. "Mom," Han Qingyu called out. Zhang Jiexia snapped her head around to look at him... Her mouth opened, but no words came out at first. She looked bewildered and at a loss. "What's wrong? Mom, did I fail the exam again?" His mind was still somewhat muddled, but the most important matter surfaced immediately. Han Qingyu sat up, full of guilt, and asked, "Are the scores out? Did Plague Chicken check for me and call with the news?" Zhang Jiexia kept staring at him. She coughed sharply twice. "Qingzi, you... do you feel unwell anywhere in your body?" "No, I'm just a bit foggy from sleeping." Han Qingyu stretched, looked back at her, and said, "I'm sorry, Mom, I..." So he really had failed again. *Sigh, damn that English exam... Wait, why do I suddenly feel like my English is actually pretty good?* His mouth reacted automatically, right on the verge of uttering his next sentence in English. "You're faking it, aren't you, Major Qing?" Zhang Jiexia's gaze suddenly turned deeply suspicious, and her tone grew frosty and fierce. "Huh?!" Han Qingyu's mind went blank, having failed to catch her words properly. *Clatter.* The chair beside the bed wobbled as Zhang Jiexia abruptly stood up and strode out the door. *** Outside the courtyard of the old Han family residence, there had originally been a vegetable garden tended during idle hours. Now, a simple, two-story brick building stood upon that plot. Zhang Jiexia hurried out of the old house and went straight into the new building like a whirlwind. "He's awake! Doctor Zhe, Doctor Zhe?! My Qingzi is awake!" Hearing Zhang Jiexia's shout, the group of people inside the building instantly turned around in excitement. "Really?" Standing on the edge of the crowd, Zhe Qiuhong appeared relatively calm. A bright smile graced the corners of her mouth as she said, "See? Didn't I tell you, Auntie? Qingzi's body has recovered remarkably well. There's nothing wrong with him at all..." "Yes, I could tell just now. Thank you." Zhang Jiexia nodded, paused, and carefully searched for the right words before adding, "But his head seems to have broken." The entire room gasped. "Huh?!" "Do you know what he just asked me? He asked if his college entrance exam scores were out!" Zhang Jiexia said, her eyes betraying a hint of nervous dread. "Amnesia?!" He Tangtang exclaimed with an exaggerated look of shock. He glanced at the others nearby. "Judging by that, did he just snip away everything that happened afterward related to the Great Spikes?" "Holy shit!" Yang Qingbai froze for a moment. "Is he faking it?" "Yeah... But if it's real, does that mean... does that mean he won't recognize any of us? Except Plague Chicken?" Milla looked worried, turning toward Zhe Qiuhong. Then, the Little Prince, Zhu Jiaming, calmly walked up to Zhang Jiexia. "In that case, you'd better hurry up and tell him he failed, Big Sister." The scene descended into brief chaos. Zhang Jiexia was torn between remembering that she hadn't told her husband yet and worrying about her son. Her helpless gaze swept around the room before settling once more on Zhe Qiuhong. Over the past three months, Zhang Jiexia had been thoroughly won over by Doctor Zhe's miraculous skills. Not just her—all of Fenglong'ao had been completely won over. "It's all right, Auntie," Zhe Qiuhong said in a steady, gentle tone. She opened a folder in her hands, flipped to one of the pages, and pointed. "You see, I actually anticipated this... First of all, there is definitely no problem with Qingzi's brain. In other words, this certainly isn't the sort of temporary amnesia caused by brain trauma you see in television dramas." "Then why is he like this?" Zhang Jiexia asked, worried. "Explaining this scientifically would be extremely complicated." Zhe Qiuhong closed the folder, straightened up, and patted her chest reassuringly. "In short, you don't need to worry, Auntie. Just trust me. Whatever the cause... even if he's faking it, this condition will definitely not last long. I promise." "Oh... So that means Qingzi will be fine?" Zhang Jiexia let out a long breath. Since the science was so complicated, she decided not to pry any further. "Yes, he'll be fine. It won't be long before he recovers on his own," Zhe Qiuhong said with a confident smile. "Actually, staying like this for a little while isn't a bad thing. Think about it, Auntie: over the past few years, Qingzi has been utterly exhausted, both mentally and physically. Wouldn't it be nice if this gives him a chance to relax for a while?" "Mm... that's good then. I'll head back for now." Zhang Jiexia thought it over, turned around, and walked out. The people left behind did not follow her outside. Instead, they all swarmed forward in unison. "Is he really faking it?" Yang Qingbai asked eagerly. "The possibility can't be ruled out." Zhe Qiuhong turned around and set down her folder. "For instance, he might be striking first because he's afraid Uncle and Auntie will worry, get angry, and beat him..." "That must be it. That's totally something he would do," Zhu Jiaming agreed at once. "Or, for example, he might be deliberately pretending to forget because he doesn't want to shoulder too many burdens or carry the expectations of the entire world..." Zhe Qiuhong glanced around the room. "Can you understand that? Given Qingzi's character, he might choose to do those things on his own, but he would never like being burdened with too many expectations—let alone demands." Hearing this, everyone in the circle nodded. They all understood Han Qingyu. Han Qingyu was never the type to willingly take the weight of the world upon his shoulders; his logic toward the world had always been remarkably simple, yet exceedingly stubborn. Looked at that way, it was very likely that Han Qingyu was indeed faking it... Just as everyone was thinking along those lines, Zhe Qiuhong suddenly changed tack. "However, the probability of him faking it is actually quite low. The real reason—or rather, the most likely reason—probably has to do with General Ivan's trait..." That final strike at the zenith over Oceania had unleashed all the ultimate trait energy General Ivan had ignited with his own life, bursting through Han Qingyu's body all at once... That was quite possibly the most powerful offensive trait humanity had ever witnessed. It had exceeded Han Qingyu's control. Furthermore, that energy had not entirely vanished in the end. It had left behind a spark, temporarily dormant within Han Qingyu's heart. "Or perhaps I should put it more simply?" Zhe Qiuhong looked at He Tangtang. "What I mean is, at that time, Qingzi was very likely on the verge of losing his mind. "All of you know General Ivan's condition. So my deduction is that at the very end, while Qingzi was falling through the sky, a vast, madness-inducing energy was constantly battering his consciousness... Qingzi tried to escape it, but couldn't, so he desperately tried to suppress and seal it. "To suppress that energy driving him toward madness, Qingzi pushed himself to the absolute limit... In the end, he unconsciously sealed and froze a portion of his related consciousness along with it." The part that was sealed away was almost certainly all his memories concerning the Great Spikes and combat using source energy. In terms of time, Han Qingyu had subjectively returned to the period after his college entrance exam, before the day he encountered the Great Spike and Lao Jian. "And you still say he's fine?!" He Tangtang asked anxiously. "He is fine. Since he was able to suppress it, he can break through it. And most likely, it won't take long. After all, the bone source energy itself belongs to him, and right now, he is extremely strong," Zhe Qiuhong said with calm conviction. "That's a relief, then." Now that their minds were put at ease, everyone in the room let out a collective sigh of relief. Then, a spark flared in their minds, and they found the situation rather amusing. It seemed things were about to get quite entertaining. *** At the same time, outside the door of Han Qingyu's room. Zhang Jiexia came to a halt and shot a meaningful look at Han Youshan, signaling for him to follow her lead. Knowing his son had finally awakened, Han Youshan's eyes were rimmed with red. Confused by her gesture, he asked in a low whisper, "What's wrong?" "I've got a bellyful of fury with nowhere to vent it," Zhang Jiexia said, tears welling in her eyes. Five years of worry had morphed three months ago into immense anger paired with dread... Zhang Jiexia had held it in for three whole months. Now that her son was finally awake and she knew he was all right, she could hold it no longer. "Huh?" Before Han Youshan could make sense of it, he watched his wife storm inside in a huff. *Smack!* Inside the room, Zhang Jiexia rushed to the bedside, reached out, and delivered a sharp slap to Han Qingyu's arm. She followed up by pinching a fold of flesh and twisting it... but his body was so solid that her hand throbbed in pain instead. The mother let out a wail, and tears streamed down her cheeks. "Mom?!" Han Qingyu looked up, utterly bewildered! He had just been examining the bed and quilts. Before he even had a chance to ask about them, his mother had barged in, crying her eyes out while laying hands on him. The slap and the pinch hadn't hurt him in the slightest, but... "You... you didn't pass!" Zhang Jiexia wept. In that single instant, Han Qingyu's eyes dimmed. Han Youshan's mind turned to mush. "Your total score was only 250 points! You... you're going to be the death of me! "Your father and I worked ourselves to the bone to put you through school, and where have you been these past few years? You were off fooling around, weren't you?! Getting into street fights, weren't you?! "I think you're ready to fly to the heavens! "I think you're doomed to stay single forever, you hopeless boy! "..." While utter pandemonium reigned inside the room, not far outside the window sat a small hillside overgrown with shrubs and wild weeds. Wen Jifei and Wu Xu sat side by side on the slope, gazing at the scene with tender expressions. They had been watching from the very beginning... "Tangtang even told Auntie about him being a dead-iron straight man," Wen Jifei said with a laugh.