Author: 颜凉雨 / Yan Liang Yu

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 107: Extra — Moonlight Forest (Part 2)

Deep within the Moonlight Maze, along a path, the walls were lined with secret doors. Opening any one of them allowed one to traverse through the maze’s wall and enter an adjacent path.

At the end of the neighboring path, a small whirlwind supported a sleeping girl in a black cloak. She lay peacefully on her side, sleeping soundly in her clothes, with a serene expression.

Suddenly, a slight change appeared on her calm brow. First, it furrowed lightly, then relaxed, but soon furrowed again, growing deeper.

Eventually, she opened her eyes, sat up, and looked toward the end of the straight path in confusion.

At the end of that path was a corner leading to the next path, where a strange vibration was distinctly coming from.

The girl in the black cloak blinked gently, and the wind carried her to the end of the path. She turned to see a new straight path.

The girl didn’t move further. First, she shouldn’t enter this path; second, there was nothing unusual about this path. The vibration, coming from a far distance, had likely passed through countless left and right turns before reaching her.

The vibration was faint but clear.

So clear that she could almost be sure she had never encountered such a vibration before.

“Almost”, because she was still 1% unsure of her memory.

She remembered many things. As a Pathkeeper, she was here to test those who were lost. Those who passed were allowed to proceed; those who fail must leave. These memories were orderly and stable.

But she always felt that she had forgotten many things. Her mind was filled with fragments, but these fragments had no images, only sounds. These included phrases like “I have the moonlight. That’s enough,” “This woman is too difficult to handle,” “This must be the fucking final boss,” “Outside, there is a forest”…

These voices were so vague that she couldn’t even distinguish which were her own and which were from others.

But these were just fleeting thoughts.

These small spots in her memory didn’t cause much disturbance in her calm heart.

The vibration weakened, becoming intermittent, and may soon disappear.

The girl silently closes her eyes.

Suddenly, long vines sprout from the walls of the labyrinth, and the next second, [(Illusory) All Roads Lead to Rome] was released.

The vines turned at a corner, then the path was slowly straightened, and the vines continued along the straightened maze wall, following the direction of the vibration. They turned at the next corner, and as the new path was straightened, the vines moved on…

Meanwhile, elsewhere in the maze.

Xiao Bai closed her eyes in some panic and retracted the dollhouse. Xiao Huang, trapped inside, returned to the maze path, crouching and gasping in pain.

“You’re so strange. Others are fine.”

“You’re the strange one…”

……

“Then who are you?”

“A Pathkeeper.”

“Me too.”

After a long stare, Xiao Bai spoke first with disbelief and a bit of excitement. “Where do you guard? I’ve never seen you before?”

Xiao Huang was at a loss for words. How could he describe the location where he guards?

“Far away,” was all he could ambiguously answer.

Xiao Bai wasn’t satisfied. “How far?”

Xiao Huang helplessly looked at her. “As far as your vines have wildly grown. That’s where I guard.”

Xiao Bai frowned in frustration. “I was only chasing the card and didn’t keep track of the path.”

“You didn’t keep track?” Xiao Huang was thunderstruck. “Then how do I get back?”

Xiao Bai smiled sweetly revealing her dimples. “Then don’t go back. Stay here and play with me.”

“……” Xiao Huang felt a little bit moved by this suggestion.

Rustle.

Rustle.

The familiar sound returned. Xiao Huang reflexively looked up and sure enough, dark green vines crawled over the maze wall. Remembering the fear of being bound and controlled by them, Xiao Huang, exhausted, sincerely said, “I’m already here, and I’ve given you the card. Can you withdraw the deadly vines?”

“Don’t name it randomly. It’s called ‘Coral Vine’… No wait.” Xiao Bai approached the maze wall, looking closely at the vine plant. “This isn’t my Coral Vine.”

As if sensing someone nearby, the vine suddenly stopped, lying quietly on the wall.

Xiao Huang also looked closely but couldn’t see any difference from the plant that previously “bullied” him. “Isn’t it the same?”

“Where is it the same? Look at the edges of the leaves; Coral Vine is smooth, this is serrated, and then there’s this vein of the leaf…”

Xiao Huang, still unable to see the difference, was nonetheless impressed.

So the question arose.

“If it’s not yours, then who created these vines?”

Before Xiao Huang finished speaking, the ground beneath them started to shake.

Startled, he looked at Xiao Bai, who was also baffled and surprised.

The next moment, the entire maze path begins to move slowly amidst the shaking!

Xiao Bai instinctively moved closer to Xiao Huang, and Xiao Huang, trying to be steady, did the same. The two newly acquainted companions stood shoulder to shoulder, anxious amidst the sudden change.

Finally, the maze path stopped.

But the corner ahead was gone, and the section of the path they were on had become very long, stretching beyond sight.

“What’s going on?” Xiao Bai was confused.

“The path seems… to have straightened?” Xiao Huang was also perplexed.

“Should we go?” Xiao Bai asked.

“Let’s wait and see,” Xiao Huang replied.

A breeze came from the end of the path, light and cool.

Xiao Huang’s eyes showed alertness, and he pulled Xiao Bai behind him.

Soon, a petite figure in black appears in the distance.

She rode the wind, approaching slowly, and as she got closer, the coolness in the wind became more apparent.

Finally, she stopped about three or four meters away from them, quietly observing them with an indifferent expression.

“This wanderer must be very strong,” Xiao Huang said to his friend. “You might not be able to handle her alone. I’ll help you.”

The response from behind was a sigh.

“Your brain is no better than the dolls in my room.” Xiao Bai smacked his back irritably. “After one misunderstanding, can’t you ask first?”

Then, without waiting for Xiao Huang, she stepped forward and looked at the girl in the black cloak. “Are you a wanderer?”

The girl in the cloak shook her head. “No.”

Xiao Bai then asked, “Are you a Pathkeeper?”

The girl in the cloak nodded. “Yes.”

Xiao Bai smacked Xiao Huang again, this time with pride. “See?”

Before Xiao Huang could react, he heard the girl in the cloak ask, “Who are you?”

Her voice was as light and cool as her wind.

But now, Xiao Bai and Xiao Huang found this coolness quite comforting.

They both smiled radiantly, one with a bright grin and the other standing tall and proud, and in unison they declared, “We are Pathkeepers too!”

“You are also Pathkeepers?” The girl in the black cloak showed obvious surprise in her serene eyes for the first time.

“Yes.” Xiao Huang pointed at Xiao Bai. “This is the path she guards, and my path…” He paused mid-sentence, glancing up at the distant end of the path, and corrected himself. “Well, this might not be entirely her path anymore…” He looked worriedly at the girl in the black cloak. “You didn’t straighten my path as well, did you?”

The girl in the black cloak looked back, shaking her head honestly. “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Xiao Huang was unprepared for this answer. “Weren’t you the one who straightened the path?”

“Yes,” the girl in the black cloak said. “But I don’t know if your path is included.”

“Then why did you come here?” Xiao Huang was puzzled. He was drawn here by a card, but the card had not flown out again, so what drew her here?

“I felt a vibration,” the girl in the black cloak said. “A very strange vibration.”

Xiao Huang’s curiosity was piqued. “What kind of strange vibration?”

The girl in the black cloak quietly looked at him and Xiao Bai, then, as if identifying the “source of the vibration”, she didn’t answer but counter-asked, “What were you doing just now?”

Doing?

Xiao Huang looked at himself, then at Xiao Bai, and gave a particularly sincere answer. “Talking.”

Xiao Bai rolled her eyes, wanting to tie a Coral Vine around his head to see if it would knock some sense into him.

“I wanted to play a game with him.” She looked at the girl in black. “But he started acting weird as soon as he entered, so I let him out again.”

“Not right?” The girl in the black cloak tilted her head slightly.

“Yes.” Xiao Bai clearly remembered the recent event. “He seemed to be in pain, then started shouting, and the dollhouse began to shake. Is that what you felt?”

The girl in the black cloak thought for a moment and said, “I don’t know.”

Xiao Bai and Xiao Huang looked at each other, equally helpless.

With so many extraordinary events happening, they hadn’t even figured out their own cards, let alone helped others with their questions.

The three of them looked at each other, and the atmosphere suddenly fell silent.

The wind blew along the straightened maze path, reaching far into the distance.

“I’m Xiao Bai.” The lively girl in the white dress extended a friendly gesture, her curious eyes constantly glancing behind the girl in the black cloak. “How did you straighten these paths?”

“Stationery,” the girl in the black cloak answered simply.

To her, it seemed like nothing worth boasting about.

“I’m Hei Momo,” she said, before her thoughts could catch up. After speaking, even Hei Momo herself seemed startled.

“I’m Xiao Huang.” The yellow-haired young man, who loved lively scenes, welcomed the new companion with a gesture of holding his skateboard.

Right, the skateboard!

A flash of insight crossed his mind, and Xiao Huang immediately closed his eyes to sense his skateboard, causing it to move through the air.

He could even hear the sound of the skateboard sliding… whoosh—thump!

Alright, it hit a corner.

The path straightened by Hei Momo didn’t include the one he guarded.

Xiao Bai, curious as ever, hopped around Hei Momo, trying to see if she could jump onto her wind.

She failed.

As Hei Momo watched her, the indifference in her eyes softened, touched by a faint, almost imperceptible smile.

She gently lifted her hand, and a small gust of wind lifted Xiao Bai into the air.

Xiao Bai joyfully spun in the wind, nearly tumbling to the ground several times, and after enjoying herself, she suddenly remembered something and asked Hei Momo, “Have you ever thought about what the outside world is like?”

Hei Momo paused, looking at Xiao Bai with puzzled eyes. “Why do you ask this?”

Just as Xiao Bai was about to show her card, Xiao Huang on the ground already handed his over. “Xiao Bai and I both have a card like this. The question Xiao Bai asked is the question on the card.”

Hei Momo took the card, examining it carefully.

Xiao Bai found it strange. “Don’t you have a card like this?”

She had one, Xiao Huang had one, and she had thought all Pathkeepers would have one.

“No, I’ve never seen it before.” Hei Momo handed the card back to Xiao Huang, then looked at Xiao Bai. “But I know, outside, there is a forest.”

Xiao Bai: “A forest?”

Xiao Huang: “Have you been there?”

“No.” Hei Momo looked up slightly at the moonlight. “It’s just that… someone might have told me about it.”

“So, let’s play a game in the dollhouse first, and then go to the forest together, okay?” Xiao Bai eagerly extended an invitation, her eyes sparkling with anticipation.

Hei Momo hadn’t spoken yet when Xiao Huang interrupted, “Please, your dollhouse is deadly!”

Xiao Bai blew on hair and glared. “Then you’re dumb!”

“What does being dumb have to do with this…” Xiao Huang was wronged.

In the midst of their bickering, a door suddenly opened on the maze wall. Before they could react, the door creaked open.

Outside the door was lush vegetation, and the night was serene and clear.

Xiao Huang and Xiao Bai looked incredulously at Hei Momo, their eyes wide in the same astonished manner.

Hei Momo smiled. “Shall we go out together?”

If a wanderer passed her test and surprised her more, she would open such a door, directly sending them out of the maze. However, she had never thought to use it for herself.

Even now, she didn’t have much longing for the outside world, but she wanted to spend more time with these two.

The towering trees, the low and dense shrubs, the dew-covered grass, and the little insects hopping on the grass tips painted a beautiful and tranquil picture of a moonlit forest.

The three friends walked in it, unaware of the direction or what lay ahead, simply following their instincts. Along the way, there was constant chattering, mainly from Xiao Bai and Xiao Huang, and continuous amazement, again mostly from Xiao Bai and Xiao Huang. The shared feeling among the three friends was one of freedom and joy.

It turns out the world isn’t just maze paths but also forests, animals, soft soil, and a vast canopy of sky.

Xiao Huang was used to only smelling the scent of grass, but now, he was walking on it.

“You might as well lie down on the ground to smell it,” Xiao Bai joked, watching him walk, stop, and squat.

Xiao Huang was in good spirits, even happy to be teased. Yet, a lingering doubt that had been circling in his mind surfaced as he muttered to himself, “Strange, why isn’t it any of them?”

Hei Momo stopped and seemed to catch on, asking, “What are you looking for?”

“The scent,” Xiao Huang said as he bent down to sniff a small yellow flower in a clump of grass, only to be disappointed again. He stood up and looked at his companions. “Haven’t you smelled it? There’s been a sweet fragrance all along the way, but none of the flowers or grass I’ve smelled are the source.”

Hei Momo looked at him, almost laughing but held it back.

Xiao Bai, speechless, plucked a small, inconspicuous flower from her ear. “The scent you’ve been smelling is from this!”

Xiao Huang stared blankly at the light pink flower in her hand, finally understanding why there had been a continuous fragrance along the way.

Hei Momo couldn’t hold back any longer and chuckled.

Xiao Huang scratched his head, a bit embarrassed.

Xiao Bai sighed, opened her palm, and after a few seconds of concentration, two identical flowers appeared in her hand. She pinned one behind Hei Momo’s ear and the other behind Xiao Huang’s ear, admiring her work with satisfaction.

“This is the Nightrose Flower. Its fragrance is sweet and clear but doesn’t last long. Soon after walking a bit more, the scent will be gone,” Xiao Bai explained, mostly for Xiao Huang’s benefit since Hei Momo, who could also manipulate plants, would already know.

Touching the flower on his ear, Xiao Huang felt a bit reluctant at the thought of the scent disappearing soon.

“If you really like it, I can give you some Nightrose Flower extract,” Xiao Bai added. “You can apply the extract on anything, and the fragrance will last a very long time…”

She elongated her tone and stretched out her arms to emphasize how long.

Xiao Huang’s lips curled upwards, not only feeling the “long time” but also tasting the even sweeter scent of Nightrose Flower extract, which sweetened his heart.

As the three were about to continue walking, a sudden gust of wind blew through the forest.

The unexpected strong wind pained their cheeks, and simultaneously, a voice echoed in their minds—it’s time to go back.

This voice emerged abruptly but firmly, as if it had been slumbering there, waiting for the right time to sound the alarm.

“It’s time to go back.” Hei Momo was the first to speak, her tone light again, but no longer aloof.

Xiao Bai knew it was time to return too. There was no reason; it just felt like the right thing to do. Yet—

“I don’t want to leave.” She didn’t want to leave this forest or part ways with her companions. After guarding the maze path for so long, this was the first time she felt this way.

“Xiao Bai, can you make Nightrose Flower extract now?” Xiao Huang suddenly asked.

“Yes, but what do you need it for?” Xiao Bai asked, puzzled.

Xiao Huang looked at her and then at Hei Momo, his smile brightening, revealing his white teeth. “Let’s make a promise.”

……

Beijing Time, Owl Time, unspecified.

In the Moonlight Maze, there was no concept of time.

Hei Momo sat mid-air, looking up at the moonlight, feeling peaceful.

She had just been through a battle that was intense and exhausting, but in the end, the wanderers had failed to pass her test.

She thought she could have won more easily if not for the long journey she had taken earlier, which had drained her energy.

Huh?

Hei Momo’s beautiful brow furrowed slightly, wondering why she had such a thought.

A long journey before?

Where did this come from?

Why would she take a long journey? Where had she been? Who was with her? She had no recollection of any of it.

Under the watery moonlight, she smelled a sweet fragrance. The scent was intermittent, elusive, as if hiding somewhere, unwilling to come out.

Hei Momo looked down at the ground, at the mess of green plants and broken stones, and spotted a hint of pale pink.

With a sweep of her hand, the path was clean again, leaving only the crushed pink flower.

Hei Momo descended to the ground, picked up the flower, and placed it in her palm, gently blowing away the dirt.

A Nightrose Flower, a small flower with a sweet scent. Hei Momo recognized it.

But…

Hei Momo brought the flower closer and sniffed it carefully. Indeed, the flower had lost its scent. However, the fragrance that lingered around her hadn’t disappeared. It was still faint, shy, as if hiding somewhere and didn’t want to come out.

“It’s not you, so who could it be?” Hei Momo whispered to the flower as if it could understand.

The flower lay quietly in her palm, offering no response.

Hei Momo thought to discard the flower, but the moment she moved to do so, her heart was struck by a pang of reluctance.

She paused, stayed silent for a moment, and then placed the flower in a secret pocket of her cloak.

But the next second, something pricked her fingertip in the pocket.

Hei Momo was startled, pulling out the object that pricked her—a half-torn card. The slightly stiff corner of the card had jabbed her.

The sweet fragrance suddenly became more intense, almost overwhelming.

Hei Momo widened her eyes, brought the card close to her nose, and sniffed. Yes, it was the scent on the card!

Curiously, she lifted the card in the moonlight, reading the words on it—

1. Why are you
2. Is this your
3. Have you ever thought about

The tear was so clean that only the first half of each sentence remained.

Hei Momo felt inexplicably downcast, but suddenly, she lifted the card higher, and the moonlight illuminated the words on the back.

She quickly flipped the card over. Compared to the neat writing on the front, the back was almost illegibly messy. It was written with Nightrose Flower extract, crowded and varying in size, almost tumbling over each other. She had to look closely to distinguish them—

Hei Momo, Xiao Huang, Xiao Bai, promise, when the wanderers disappear, to go to the forest again together. Hei Momo and Xiao Huang don’t move; Xiao Bai’s Coral Vine will follow the scent of Nightrose Flower extract and find you.

Rustle.

Rustle.

Hei Momo looked up, seeing the Coral Vine already crawling around the corner at the end of the path, heading towards her, full of life and vigor.

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Kinky Thoughts:

This marks the end of volume two. I always enjoy these extras at the end of each volume revolving around the cast in the instances.

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