Chapter 124: Fractured Memories

"Nuonuo, Vunian, Dianshao, Youba... Self, kin, humanity, ethics. Hehe, Brother Jing, the four instructors leading this team seem to have quite the stories behind them..."

Inside the skull of the giant octopus doll, the youth soaked in nutrient fluid giggled as he raised his head. He scanned the four instructors currently in deep sleep, a look of pure delight on his face, as if he had just discovered his favorite toys.

As for Nuonuo and the others, because their deepest memories were being forcibly pried open, they were convulsing and struggling even in their deep slumber, clearly in immense agony.

"However, the most interesting one has to be this person..."

Having said this, the youth fixed his gaze on the peacefully sleeping Mu You.

"What kind of memory is this? I haven't even probed it yet, and it’s already making me tremble with excitement. Let’s all witness it together!"

Following the youth's soliloquy, the scene before Mu You’s eyes shifted dramatically.

Gloomy. Everything was still gloomy.

In the distance, the faint sounds of a ball bouncing and children playing could be heard. A lonely boy, however, stood in a corner of the square, silently picking up stones from the ground and tossing them away one by one.

"Hey, do you know how to play ball? Want to join us?"

A pair of running feet approached, followed by a childish voice filled with excitement. The boy was stunned for a moment, a surge of intense hope rising within him, but then, like a deflated ball, he slumped back into his original spot.

"I... I don't know how to play..."

The boy spoke with a look of utter desolation. A tiny spark of longing spread from the bottom of his heart; he hoped the boy opposite him would laugh brightly and say, "Then I'll teach you." But instead, the boy looked at him with an expression of disbelief. "No way? You don't even know how to play ball? Hasn't anyone ever taught you?!"

Having said that, the boy ran off, glancing back at the lonely boy with a look of incomprehension.

The boy lowered his head in disappointment, whispering to himself in a voice only he could hear: "No one taught me. I'm an orphan. From the beginning until now, it's always been just me. Everything—even using chopsticks to eat—I had to learn by mimicking others..."

The boy hugged his head, the stones in his hands slipping away. He stared at the dust rising from the ground, lost in a daze.

"I really wish someone was with me."

As the sky gradually darkened, the other children were taken away one by one by their parents, leaving behind only a punctured ball lying alone in the mud.

The boy stood up, his legs numb, and walked toward the puddle. He lowered himself and carefully retrieved the ball from the water. The scene felt incredibly familiar to Mu You. The moment the boy lowered his head, not just Mu You, but all the invisible observers present saw clearly who the boy was.

It was Mu You.

Young Mu You placed the wet ball on the dirt, rolling it a few times to soak up the water, then cradled it in his hands. He mimicked the way the other children had played, bouncing it up and down, and smiled happily.

Suddenly, Mu You threw it far away. He watched the ball fly through the air, hit the ground, bounce, and fall—over and over again, until it was far, far away.

Watching the ball, now barely visible, the smile on Mu You’s face slowly faded. No one was there to catch the ball. What was the point of playing alone?

It seemed he would never learn to fit in. Some things simply weren't meant for him.

This was the fate of an orphan.

I really wish... someone could be with me.

The moisture in the air gradually intensified. As the sky turned dismal, even the distant thunder became dull and oppressive. Fine, silken rain began to fall from the high sky.

Mu You was stunned for a moment, then squinted slightly. The coldness of the rain felt refreshing on his face, washing away the grime that had clung to it. It felt comfortable.

The group of children from earlier must have been urged by their parents to wash their hands and eat by now.

At this thought, Mu You’s stomach began to growl. He silently held out his dirty little hands to catch the rainwater and carefully rubbed them, but the rain not only soaked his hands but also his clothes, chilling his body and freezing his heart.

Suddenly, Mu You remembered something. He ran off in a panic, racing back to a secluded straw hut in the backyard of the orphanage.

"Dad! Mom!"

Mu You called out anxiously, but there was clearly no one in the room.

Yet, Mu You knelt on the ground, desperate, grabbing handfuls of straw to wipe away the water on the floor.

"Mom, Dad, don't disappear, please don't!"

As Mu You spoke, he began to cry.

On the ground, two crooked, chalk-drawn figures of a man and a woman had already been faded by the rain. With Mu You’s scrubbing, they became even more blurred and unrecognizable.

"Don't go, don't leave me! If you go, there will be no one to sleep with me at night. I'm scared, Mu You is so scared!"

The rain grew heavier, gradually drowning out Mu You’s cries. The straw hut, already leaking, now seemed even more dilapidated.

"Don't... don't..."

Finally, Mu You sat on the ground, defeated. He stared at the 'Dad' and 'Mom' he could no longer make out, tears streaming down his face, unable to say another word.

Does even this world refuse to let me have a mother and father? Even fake ones, drawn on the floor—is that not allowed either?!

Then what is the point of living? There is no one to keep me company, no one to care for me, no one to love me.

From beginning to end, I have always been alone, struggling in silence, living humbly, watching the changes of the world with numbness.

If I am alone, and there is no one to protect me... perhaps there are many other orphans in this world like me. Then... I will protect others.

That way, perhaps they won't have to be alone anymore.

And perhaps, while protecting others, I will gradually be acknowledged, and maybe, we could rely on each other.

Can I? Can I? Is it really possible?!

Mu You wiped the tears from his face, a glimmer of hope appearing in his eyes. In truth, he really wanted a younger sister—a sister he could protect, a sister who would never have to experience what he had been through.

Mu You hopefully picked up the half-wet piece of chalk, just about to draw a small figure on the ground, but then he stopped.

He didn't just want a picture of a sister like this. He wanted someone more real. Of course, a real person would be best.

Mu You curled up between the two blurred figures, staring through the hole in the roof at the black, layered clouds in the sky, his bitterness tinged with a shred of hope.

Tomorrow... I will start working hard to get myself some family, even if they are just fakes, as long as they can talk to me.

Being alone hurts too much—that pain of having no one to compare to.

At this moment, the scene began to shatter. Memories flashed past Mu You’s eyes like fleeting shadows. These were memory fragments that even Mu You himself had no impression of. There was a gap in his childhood memories lasting several years; no matter how hard he tried to recall them, he could never remember a thing.

Outside, inside the octopus doll.

The naked youth spat out a mouthful of blood. He stared at Mu You in disbelief. Who had sealed this memory? This was... a forbidden memory!