Free Web NovelChapter 85: Chapter 85: Yan Jiu and Masked Man
The third level of the High Tower, the old site of The Sixth Noble Academy.
Just as Ming Che had told Bai Wu, as long as one had money, their children could learn many courses from before The Era of the High Tower.
In such an apocalyptic world, music, fine arts, and photography were no longer necessities.
But it was different on the third level.
There was no sense of apocalypse on the third level. People still chased celebrities, indulged in entertainment, worked, studied, indulged, and decayed.
They were not worried about survival pressures at all, at most they might worry about working too much overtime, affecting the quality of life.
In the first few decades of The Era of the High Tower, people still had a strong sense of potential calamities, but later, the sense of crisis gradually disappeared. After all, there were the Garrison Corps and the Investigation Corps, and there was the High Tower.
The Sixth Noble Academy never lacked students each year, because this place was where various higher society skills were taught.
So a few years later, the academy had the money to build a new campus, and the old campus that had not yet been dealt with became a place nobody cared about.
Especially since two students had died here once, there were rumors that the place was haunted, and the rumors made it even more deserted.
...
In a storage room in the corner of the gymnasium of The Sixth Noble Academy, Yan Jiu was quietly painting.
Candles were lit in the room, and sports equipment covered with dust was placed around, all kinds of balls and gear.
Outside the room was the basketball court, but she didn’t like places that were too open.
She actually enjoyed small, enclosed spaces much, so when she was kidnapped, she volunteered to be locked in a dark room.
This quite surprised the kidnapper who was wearing a smiley face mask.
Or to say, this girl had been surprising him from the beginning.
He particularly liked those children with distorted personalities. In his view, such children had great potential to become Evil Fallen.
Just recently, he had lost such a child by chance. Fortunately, a place like the High Tower always produced some unfortunate lives.
...
...
"According to how the story develops next, I should have two endings. Continue to stay with you, listen to you talk about scandals of the upper levels, and then one day, you take me away from here," Yan Jiu said.
"Or... you will die here, and I will return to the Asylum," she continued.
In the storage room, Yan Jiu put away her paintbrush and looked at the Masked Man in the shadows.
"Which ending do you prefer?" the Masked Man asked.
"If it were two hours ago, I would have preferred the ending you mentioned, but now I’ve changed my mind, I don’t want to leave here anymore," Yan Jiu replied.
"Oh? Why is that, do you want to go back to those lunatics? I should have told you, that is a cage, and those who are locked up there are forsaken pieces that no one cares about," the Masked Man said.
The Masked Man’s gaze fell on Yan Jiu’s painting.
In a very short period of time, she had painted seven paintings. The first showed a neurotic woman sitting on a plane.
The second depicted a strange human with eyes on its arms and horns in crucial places.
The third was of a tall demon with bone wings on its back, moving against the tide of Evil Fallen.
The fourth showed the Evil Fallen with an arm severed, using its other arm to shatter the plane’s cabin.
The fifth featured humans and the woman plummeting in a blood-red sky, the woman holding half a heart in her hand.
The sixth was of a crimson sea of clouds. Above the sea of clouds, the neurotic woman held her hands together, welcoming the endless fall.
The seventh presented a dwarf and a hulking figure running at full speed.
Yan Jiu painted very quickly, but her craftsmanship was exceptionally solid.
"I have someone I like now. Unlike what you said, someone in this world loves me. I’m not a forsaken piece, and there are people who would give up their lives for me. So I don’t want to become Evil Fallen," Yan Jiu declared emotionlessly.
Most of the time, Bai Wu had one expression as well, but he did not look as lifeless as Yan Jiu. freёwebnovel.com
The relationship between the Masked Man and Yan Jiu was less like that of a kidnapper and hostage, and more like that of a teacher and student.
He explained to Yan Jiu the many benefits of becoming an Evil Fallen.
Such as absolute freedom and endless life span. He especially spoke about Yan Jiu’s emotional deficits, stating that such individuals often evolve beyond their level once they become Evil Fallen.
In the world outside the Tower, he would take her to a special region where all Evil Fallen possessed intellect and reason. They would like her unconditionally.
As for humanity, they were merely deluding themselves within the Tower, a race in slow decay.
Only by becoming an Evil Fallen could one embrace the vastness of the world.
Of course, merely not resisting becoming an Evil Fallen was just the first step; the most important part was to make this girl detest the High Tower.
Only sufficient negative emotions could transform her into an Evil Fallen. Therefore, these days, he had been indoctrinating the girl with the various atrocities of humanity, making her aware of the tragedies committed by people.
With her unfortunate childhood, Yan Jiu indeed had thoughts of not wanting to be human anymore, and she even hated the world at times. fгeewёbnoѵel.cσm
But now everything had changed.
"You can leave, I am waiting for him to rescue me."
"The person in your painting? Is he coming to rescue you?"
The Masked Man gazed at the last painting, the blue combat uniform of the Investigation Corps, the height difference that could be felt even through the paper, and that face, which he did not find unfamiliar at all.
"Yes, they are on their way."
The Masked Man looked at Yan Jiu with an expressionless face, then used both hands’ index fingers to stretch the corners of her mouth into a forced smile.
This little girl couldn’t even express the joy of being liked.
What a fine seedling, naturally fitted to be an Evil Fallen.
But looking at the last painting, the person he had recently set his sights on, he felt that maybe he would have to part ways with this young lady.
"No one will love you, your identity is too special, once they rescue you, you must return to the Asylum and never leave again. Even knowing this, do you still choose to go back?"
Yan Jiu hung her head.
Having left such a clue for Bai Wu, she was naturally intelligent, and she was weighing the pros and cons.
But this process didn’t last long, as if she could still hear someone saying, "I must rescue her."
She lifted her head and said earnestly,
"I don’t want to be an Evil Fallen."
"What if the people coming can’t rescue you?"
"I do not want to be an Evil Fallen, please let me go."
The Masked Man sighed and nodded, saying,
"Since you are unwilling, I can only respect your choice, but one day you will understand that the High Tower is not worth protecting."
The Masked Man could have forcibly taken Yan Jiu away long ago, given her constitution, she would quickly become an Evil Fallen outside the Tower.
But the Masked Man had never done so.
He never minded using deception; just like the lie that Evil Fallen are free and the vast world outside the Tower belongs to the Evil Fallen.
Of course, this was a lie because Evil Fallen cannot leave their designated area.
But as long as these lies could make her willingly become an Evil Fallen, he could tell them without a shred of guilt.
"You should go now, they will be here soon, and the person coming is very powerful, you can’t beat him."
The Masked Man remained unmoved, he was well aware of how formidable the dwarf in that last painting was.
This was not the encounter he had planned; he had assumed their meeting would take place outside the Tower.
He let out a strange laugh:
"Indeed, this body cannot beat him, but the chance to confront him prematurely is too good to waste."
