On both sides of the stone steps leading down the mountain, the plum blossoms were in full bloom.
Ruan Mei walked down like a living corpse, the scenery before her eyes blurring for a moment.
As the plum branches swayed, time seemed to flow back hundreds of years.
Back then, there had also been winter days like this.
At that time, Qi Zhimu was still young, yet he was more sensible and well-behaved than any child she had ever seen.
Carrying over a dozen deadly viruses, even though he could tentatively leave the medical cabin, he was still incredibly weak.
But he didn't care, saying in a childish voice:
"Even though my health isn't good right now, there are still things I can do to help Sister."
Qi Zhimu held a bamboo basket, standing under a plum tree and looking back at her, his eyes filled with a pure and genuine smile.
"Sister, these plum blossoms perfectly meet the harvesting requirements, right?"
He stood slightly on his tiptoes, pointing at the winter plum blossoms blooming on the branches.
She nodded, and the youth carefully harvested the plum blossoms with a bamboo knife.
The youth didn't speak much, but he always appeared whenever she needed him.
Later, the youth's illness was cured, and he grew a bit taller.
He could hold an umbrella for her, or lift the plum branches for her... A plum blossom petal, carrying a cold fragrance, brushed against her cheek, pulling Ruan Mei's thoughts back to the present.
She returned to the Bamboo House, looking at the equipment that was both strange and familiar, as scenes from the past replayed once more.
More than once, she would lose track of time while doing research, and the youth would quietly wait outside the laboratory, preparing warm snacks and clear tea.
When she frowned in thought, the youth would silently organize the scattered data sheets, his movements very light, for fear of disturbing her thoughts.
Entering the backyard, a winnowing basket used for draining water hung on the bamboo wall.
One year, she forgot the time, and when she walked out of the laboratory, she found that the youth had already finished harvesting the plum blossoms used for making pastries.
"...I saw that Sister hadn't finished her research for a long time, so I took the liberty of picking some plum blossoms. Do you think the quality is up to standard?"
He said it simply, but Ruan Mei saw the tiny scratches on his hands.
The youth, not even ten years old, wasn't tall enough, so it was inevitable that he would get hurt while picking plum blossoms by hand.
She nodded and said they were fine, then asked if it hurt.
The youth shook his head, placed the bamboo basket gently on the table, and turned to go back to the plum grove.
Looking back now, Qi Zhimu's companionship had always been meticulous and gentle, quietly seeping into the years, so much so that one would subconsciously ignore it.
In the past, she had only felt and received the love of her family.
The youth's love was different from everyone else's; even after taking him as a student, it remained unfamiliar.
But she... had never tried to understand or analyze it, thinking it was meaningless and unnecessary.
Too invested in chasing her obsession, she took everything for granted and missed too many inherently warm moments.
The youth who had always silently followed behind her had long since had nothing, seeing her as his only light.
From childhood to adulthood, the youth had always been respectful and restrained toward her, never making her angry.
However, the seeds of all bitter fruit were quietly planted during that day of drunkenness.
Following the traces in her memory, Ruan Mei's fingertips brushed the edge of the winnowing basket, overlapping with the figure from the past.
Her finger stopped at a certain spot, as if it were covered by Qi Zhimu's palm, feeling the warmth he transmitted.
"Heh..."
Ruan Mei withdrew her hand in disappointment, a flash of self-deprecation in her eyes.
Some things are only understood to be precious once they are lost.
Just like the plum blossoms he picked that year, they would never bloom on the same branch again.
But she had to move forward after all.
Even if the night ahead was long and boundless, even if there was no reunion at the end.
Because—this was the debt she owed AMu.
Therefore, it was also the path she had to choose... In the No-man's Land, night fell.
In the underground laboratory of a manor.
On the laboratory screens, layers of geometric patterns made of data spirals shifted, expanded, and flowed amidst the sound of drama.
After stripping away the layers of patterns, what remained was the secret Ruan Mei had protected and carefully crafted.
They were her parents with their eyes closed, their cold faces looking as if they were in a deep sleep.
After staring at her parents' faces for a long time, Ruan Mei turned off the drama and hid everything once again.
Finally, she shut down the Qi Zhimu automaton she had created.
From this moment on, she became increasingly indifferent to the existing laws of life.
The more she did so, the faster her progress became.
She completely disregarded formulas, then ignored the meaning of life, only observing, pondering with her hands, and holding the data to feel it.
Then, she compiled new laws for species.
In the laboratory, those ferns and flowers grew more and more lush.
They grew taller at a speed visible to the naked eye, almost occupying all the space.
Through the gaps in the opening and closing petals and leaves, her parents' cold and simple faces, formed by gathered data, could be seen.
An unknown number of years passed, and just a moment before her sleeping 'parents' were about to open their eyes—
Ruan Mei had almost destroyed the original laws of species evolution in the entire No-man's Land, but... she was still moving toward the goal she pursued.
Again, an unknown number of years passed.
She looked up from her research, gazing in the direction of the starry sky.
The gaze of the Aeon of Erudition descended upon her.
"...Nous..."
Ruan Mei questioned Him, but all she received was His silent stillness.
Ruan Mei seemed to understand something and didn't care.
After this, her temperament became even more indifferent, and she became even more immersed in her research.
She only studied the essence of life.
More diverse forms of life appeared under her simulation.
Some burning lives turned into flowing fire, crawling and weaving beneath her feet; sometimes she felt as if she were the fire itself.
Some flowing lives transformed into liquid light, swirling around her slender wrists; sometimes she felt as if she were the light itself.
Some lives simulated from knowledge tried to develop their own thoughts, consciousness, and emotions.
They sometimes noisily cried, laughed, or wailed, and all of these merged into her body.
But she could not feel them.
The existence of life was ultimately brief; they flickered and vanished in an instant, while only her experiments continued.
Sometimes, her casual research would shake the biological systems circulating in the universe.
Her creations had already surpassed the experience and imagination of the scale of organic life.
She was constantly breaking through her own understanding of life, all for an endless destination.
The world's brilliance is always dazzling, but only by reaching that destination can one have the chance to start over.
Whether there is a single truth to the essence of life is irrelevant.
She had nothing left to lose, but she had something she must seek.
If life could be nurtured, reorganized, and reproduced... then memory could be dissected, Equilibrium regulated, Idrila deconstructed, and Permanence reproduced... At that time, she might understand the essence of life, touch concepts, reach the destination she truly sought, and find everything again.
The trash can nearby was filled with letters.
Ruan Mei picked up the strangely appearing invitation from the Genius Society on the table.
After a moment of contemplation, she did not throw it into the trash can again.
A strange, even morbid smile slowly emerged on her indifferent face.
"Even if the universe annihilates and restarts, I must find you..."
"My... AMu..."