“Woof, woof, woof! Woof! Woof woof!” Outside the car, the vicious barks continuously sounded.
Inside, Lu Chu wiped his face indifferently, then retied the rope that connected him with the man back onto his wrist.
He hadn’t brought much things with him when they went out, but all of them were practical items, such as the alarm clock in his house that would give out the time. He searched for the alarm clock and pressed the button, and the clock reported the time — “14:56”
The man had said before, they needed to reach the tower in the centre of the town before about 6:30 in the evening, when the sky would turn dark. Now, before they even knew it, they didn’t have much time left, and even with a conservative estimate, they needed to use about two hours to finish walking the remaining route.
The next part of their journey was relatively simple. First, they needed to follow along the left side of this road until they reached end, then turn left and into the next street. After which, they would pass by a park that had an artificial lake, a quiet and forested stone road, and finally some entertainment facilities. After passing through this park, they would be in an area with scattered villas that had small yards. These villas were built in a circle, and in the centre of the circles was a large vacant lot where the high tower stood.
After about ten minutes, the fierce dogs outside had started to disperse, and not long after that, they disappeared. If they had remained outside for a few more minutes, Lu Chu would have considered getting off the vehicle to kill then, even if the process could be extremely dangerous, and he might even get bitten by accident.
After listening carefully for a while longer, and confirming that the fierce dogs weren’t near them anymore, Lu Chu picked up his backpack again, then tied up some of the clothes he found in the car into something similar to a baby carried, and held Carrot firmly in his arms.
Lu Chu checked everything that he’d brought to ensure that it was all okay, then he wrote in the man’s hand, signalling that it was okay for them to leave.
Opening the door, Lu Chu carefully pulled the man out of the car, and the two of them walked quickly along the side of the road, pressed against the edge.
Along the way, Lu Chu didn’t let down his guard, and carefully listened to everything around, for fear that were would be another emergency situation. Fortunately, this town didn’t have many people, and in front of them was the park. It was during working hours where everything started, and they rarely encountered other people who had lost their senses, so their route to the park was relatively smooth and safe.
After Lu Chu brought the man to the park, he relied on his memories to walk to a small grove, found a quiet area, and squatted down.
The man with the name ‘7’ wasn’t good at talking, and this was even more so after he had lost both of his senses. No matter what Lu Chu did, he would always follow quietly behind, and at this moment, although he didn’t know why Lu Chu would stop in such an urgent and dangerous situation, he still didn’t ask anything and simply stood quietly at the side. Only, his hand subconsciously touched the rope binding his and Lu Chu’s wrists together, and this movement was unexpectedly gentle.
“Rustle– rustle–”
The steady and firm sound of soil being dug sounded in the originally quiet forest, and after a while, came the sound of something being buried.
About half an hour later, Lu Chu finally stood up. He stared at the patch of soil that he had just dug for a while, then turned and led the man out of this dense forest.
The breeze blew through the forest, and some leaves fell, falling upon the small mound that Lu Chu had just dug.
—–
He led the man around the lake in the park.
A carp jumped out of the water and made a crisp splash, and suddenly, Lu Chu said, “I buried Carrot.”
The man didn’t know and couldn’t tell, and this gave Lu Chu the confidence to speak.
“Since I could remember, this is probably the second time that I hated the fact that I couldn’t see. The first time was when my parents passed away.” Lu Chu said, just like he was talking to himself, “I’m not afraid of being criticised, nor am I afraid of encountering difficulties in my life, but because I can’t see, so I can’t see those beings important to me, can’t protect them during dangerous times, and I couldn’t even tell if they’re in pain or sad.”
And he couldn’t even ‘see’ them one last time.
Having said till there, Lu Chu raised his head, and tried to hold back the painful wetness in the corner of his eyes. Then, he tried his best to lift up the corner of his lips to reveal a small and bitter smile, “but I still have to smile.”
Because he promised them, that he needed to live on.
When a person came into this world, perhaps they had to go through such a process, of gaining everything and losing everything, before leaving with a clean slate Although they would be alone at the start and in the end, but the process of living was important.
Lu Chu used the back of the hand that was holding his walking stick to touched his clothes that were stained with Carrot’s blood, arranged his chaotic thoughts, then led the man out of the park’s exit.
By this time, it was slightly pass four in the afternoon, and as long as they didn’t encounter any accidents while passing by the villas, they would be able to enter the tower before dark.
Holding the man’s hand, Lu Chu continued forward.
Their journey was unbelievably smooth, and soon, they reached the tower.
Lu Chu had always heard about the various rumours that surrounded the tower from the town’s inhabitants. The people in this town seemed to hold the tower in some sort of silent and solemn awe, and other than telling their children not to approach it, they didn’t talk about it. Thus, Lu Chu never had the opportunity to understand more about this tower.
When they arrived at their destination, Lu Chu skilfully wrote in the man’s palm.
— We’ve arrived at the tower, but I don’t exactly know where the entrance to the tower is.
The man paused for a while, then said, “when it gets dark, we can enter.”
— Okay.
The process of waiting passed by very fast, and because he couldn’t see, Lu Chu didn’t exactly know when the sky would turn dark, and could only judge the time based on the alarm clock. At about 6:30, he signalled to the man that it was almost time.
This time, the man was the one leading him, and just as they slowly went around the side of the tower, the man stopped at a certain spot, “this is the entrance.”
Immediately after that, before Lu Chu could even respond, he was pulled forward by the man who had did something he didn’t know.
Vaguely, Lu Chu heard the man said, “we’ve entered.”
Then, a heavy sense of discomfort and suffocation loomed over him, and in the dark, there seemed to be something repelling his very existence.
But the thing that caused Lu Chu to be the most surprised wasn’t this strange feeling, but–
Lu Chu stretched out his hand in front of him, waving it from side to side a few times, then squinted, and tried to resist the dizziness.
He seemed to have…… seen light.
The translator has this to add:
Three guesses as to what happens next, first two don’t count.
Is he going to be able to see for the rest of the games now? Or is it just this once?
Also, good bye doggy 😔
awhhh his first time seeing… but I wish he could see carrot before it died….
Poor Carrot, may he rest in peace😭