In another sealed room, the bed echoed with moans and groans. A naked woman, her face covered in blood, was grabbed by her hair and smashed against the wall. Then, she silently endured one slap after another, one punch after another.
Allowing the tattoo-covered man to brutally assault her until he had had enough, he pulled off his belt and yanked her face up from the ground, "Bitch, enjoying it?"
Amidst shrinking away and fear, that familiar face twitched, forcing a smile, "Brother Yang, you're so mighty, I really like it."
Even though blood slowly trickled down from the corner of her eye, her smile was still so sweet.
As if joyful.
Please, please, don't hit anymore.
Until the end, she didn't have the courage to say these words.
Ji Jue closed his eyes, not wanting to look anymore.
But those noisy sounds kept entering his ears, until, in the end, they turned into hoarse and muddy voices, like prayers.
"May the rciful Bodhisattva bless, save this child, save her... I, a disciple, am heavily burdened with karma, rightfully dood to the eight sufferings, tornted endlessly. But she is still young, she hasn't even started school..."
In front of the Buddha statue, an old man, tears streaming down his face, kept kowtowing forcefully, praying hoarsely.
And he repeated this over and over, never daring to stop.
Apart from praying, he had no other recourse.
But God and Buddha did not respond.
Only the choking sobs of hoarse prayer, in the midst of deathly silence, gradually ceased.
Enough!
Stop, I'm begging you.
Let go!
Ji Jue covered his ears, but it was no use.
More voices, more images, those mories, scenes, and nightmares continuously flowed into his consciousness and his head. He wanted to scream and cry, but among the countless moans, he couldn't make a sound.
He was still falling, towards an even deeper despair.
Until in the end, a deadly silence.
It was finally over.
For a mont, that's what he thought, until flas erged from the ruins and debris, spreading and lighting up the contours of Hell.
On the scorched earth, flas danced. The wind carrying sulfur and ash lifted, blowing away the sky-blocking black smoke, revealing a glowing red night sky.
Stars twisted and wriggled, like lting glass, dripping a faint light.
Thus, illuminating a world in ruin.
The disaster had swept through.
The nightmare returned.
Shattered sounds, collapsing echoes, the piercing screech of twisted steel, and from afar, a faint and fluctuating song from within the flas, hoarse and broken, yet so tender.
Ten years ago, the Catastrophe of the Raging Flas.
Ji Jue finally understood; he had arrived at the deepest depths of Hell.
His own place.
Above the cracked and broken earth, train tracks had lted red, and carriages off the tracks tumbled across the scorched earth, scattering bones, finally settling into the ashes.
Flas spread among shattered seats, thick smoke billowing.
Among the debris and scorched earth, there were still people moaning, struggling to crawl out of the flas, only to ultimately be smothered in the ruins.
"The sun sets, and night falls."
In the broken carriage, soone gently sang a lullaby, the soft lody echoing among the flas and smoke: "Close your eyes quickly, dreams will embrace you."
Ji Jue stood stiffly in place, staring blankly at the half-broken door before him, yet not daring to push it open.
Wanting to turn and flee, yet having nowhere to go.
"The stars twinkle, the moon rises."
The song gently sang, "Look at the afterglow of the sunset, I will stay with you, wait for you to wake, and go nowhere... waiting for you to wake, good dreams will accompany you..."
Crash!
The broken door fell from the Fierce Fla, and the horrific scene inside the carriage ca into Ji Jue's view.
It was like Hell.
But in Hell, soone was singing, bathed in flas.
She knelt on the ground, cradling an unconscious child, placing the only gas mask on his face. Wrapped him in a fire blanket, using her embrace to block all gaps.
Thus, she revealed a smile.
So blissful.
Just like this, in the burning flas, she sang, gradually losing breath. Only the hoarse song echoed in the child's dreams, over and over, accompanying him, as if it would continue into eternity.
As if she had never been far away.
Ji Jue staggered forward, letting the flas burn him.
Walking towards the end of the dream.
This was the final outco left by that massive disaster.
Cursed, Chosen One, miracles of life... Ji Jue didn't understand what those guys were rambling about; he didn't get it, and they, they all got it wrong.
"The person who should have survived back then wasn't , was it, Mom?"
Ji Jue gazed at her image, softly asking, "I was the lucky one not supposed to be on the survivor's list."
Ten years ago, on this train that could never reach its destination, a child nad Ji Jue should have died in the disaster, turned to Dust.
But soone exchanged him out of Hell.
With herself.
Ji Jue slowly reached out his hand, wanting to touch her cheek, but his fingers stopped mid-air, not daring to move any further, afraid she would shatter into bubbles upon touch, leaving no trace.
Tears could no longer be held back.
"I miss you so much, Mom."
He whispered softly, "Really miss you."
In the silence, no one responded, but suddenly, the sound of flas burning vanished.
Only the song remained.
The song echoed in Hell, again and again, gradually becoming clear, like the tide, slowly rising, unwavering.
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