Free Web Novel“Is that... my notebook?”
“Why is it here?”
“Inside The Serpent of the Years’s ‘heart’...”
Shen Baiwei, who had awakened, saw the notebook encased within The Serpent of the Years’s heart. Her chest pounded as if struck by a heavy hammer.
A thick fog of doubt suddenly descended, enveloping her heart.
Indeed, her little notebook was her only “friend” and confidant for nearly the past decade. It was the spiritual pillar that allowed her to survive countless inhuman experiments at Tethys Laboratory, and thus, the most important thing to her.
But no matter what, it was just a notebook of decent craftsmanship, with a similar model costing no more than fifty yuan.
Even if it was affected by her Spirit Mark ability and became a Spiritual Energy item barely reaching D-level, there was nothing particularly noteworthy about it.
However, this seemingly ordinary notebook had been specifically sealed in such a critical location as the ‘heart’ by The Serpent of the Years’s power, the strongest creation of the Saint Plan led by Tethys Laboratory. It was truly puzzling.
“Strange, is there anything about the little notebook that would make it important to it?” Shen Baiwei wondered, quickly searching her memories related to the little notebook.
...
“In the laboratory’s free activity area, there was a very beautiful large bird. I don’t know what kind it was, but I successfully lured it over with the bread left from my lunch and plucked three tail feathers from it.
What should I do with these beautiful feathers?”
...
“After participating in Dr. 013’s power rejection test today, I was rewarded with a cream hazelnut crunch cake. It was so delicious I almost bit my tongue.”
“But...”
“The cake in my memory doesn’t seem to have been this delicious. Is it because I haven’t eaten it in too long?”
...
“Dr. 006 said that today is the last time I’ll participate in an experiment. After it’s successful, I can leave this cursed place and complete the tasks assigned by the Elder Council. That counts as gaining some freedom, right?”
“Limited freedom...”
“This is also the price for asking them to help cure the black night disease, isn’t it?”
...
“That man is secretly observing the Disaster, and I am observing that man. This relationship feels a bit subtle, somewhat like what Bian Zhilin wrote in ‘Fragment’... Speaking of which, this Disaster looks a bit scary, not like a good person. I feel it’s necessary to create a separate file for her!”
“It’s decided then, I’ll draw an ugly doodle for her first!”
...
About 70% of the memories related to the little notebook were mundane daily trivia and mischievous doodles for venting emotions. The remaining 30% were detailed information about Psychic and urban legend that needed to be guarded against. There seemed to be nothing unusual.
However, as Shen Baiwei continued to recall memories about the little notebook, trying to find the reason why The Serpent of the Years sealed it in its “heart,” a strong stinging and burning sensation suddenly erupted from deep within her brain.
It felt as if a cluster of red-hot steel nails were trying to pierce her head from the inside out.
Along with the unbearable pain, as if hallucinating, Shen Baiwei heard voices in her ears.
“How could this be... it was clearly destroyed, yet it reappeared... risk of losing control...”
“urban legend transformation... symbiosis... must be firmly controlled... a perfect tool...”
“Activate Protocol Three... highest level interference... alter the weight of power composition.”
“...”
The voices in her ears were intermittent and indistinct. The source of the voices was not just one, but many—old and young, male and female.
Their tone was somewhat tense, as if they had encountered something difficult. At the same time, beneath that tension was a deep indifference, as if the subject they were discussing was not a living being, but a machine whose parts could be replaced at any time to ensure normal operation.
Although Shen Baiwei did not understand the content of those fragmented words, the fear in her heart surged to an unprecedented degree in an instant.
She felt that she must have heard those conversations somewhere before, and something very terrible had happened afterward, but for some reason, she had forgotten it.
However, that terrible event, though not preserved in her memory, had left an indelible mark on her body and soul.
She tried to recall that memory, but received danger warnings from every inch of her flesh and every cell throughout her body.
It was as if it was reminding her that it was a taboo... a taboo that absolutely could not be recalled or mentioned!
“...”
Was it because it was too terrifying and painful, and her body’s self-preservation mechanism selectively forgot it, or was her memory erased by those people from Tethys Laboratory?
Both are possible. Tethys Laboratory’s technology could achieve both experiments more terrifying than death and forced memory erasure.
But what was their purpose in doing so?
Tethys Laboratory always pursued high efficiency and high profit and would never conduct meaningless experimental trials.
“Could my escape from that cursed place be related to that forgotten experience?” Shen Baiwei thought.
Shen Baiwei had always felt that her reason for escaping Tethys Laboratory and betraying the Elder Council was too simple. After all, there were certainly more than one experimental subject with similar experiences and ideas as her, but the Elder Council always found a way to make them give up.
No experimental subject had ever successfully escaped from Tethys Laboratory, except for her...
Before this, Shen Baiwei attributed her success to her persistence and a bit of luck, but now, she suspected there was a deeper reason.
Suddenly, a wet, viscous sound arose, like a large mass of flesh violently writhing.
Shen Baiwei heard the sound, interrupting her thoughts.
Following the direction of the sound, her pupils constricted sharply.
She saw the flesh of The Serpent of the Years’s “heart” covering the little notebook, along with dense, chaotic black lines, violently writhing at some unknown point, continuously converging, as if a distorted, grotesque mouth was about to swallow the little notebook.
As if sensing a threat, the little notebook vibrated violently, a pure white glow trembling, emitting a low hum.
Pain, wailing, fear... all sorts of emotions suddenly surged in Shen Baiwei’s chest, intense but without a sense of reality, ephemeral like smoke, making it difficult for her to distinguish whether they were her own emotions or emotions transmitted to her by the little notebook through a subtle connection.
Or... both?
“But that’s not important!” Shen Baiwei thought, a determined look flashing in her eyes as she took a step and rushed forward.
At that moment, she had only one thought in her mind—that is my most important possession, and no one or urban legend can take it away from me!
Although the notebook might have initially been just a boring, limitless prank.
However, for Shen Baiwei, that notebook had long ceased to be just a simple, ordinary notebook.
It had accompanied and supported Shen Baiwei through the most difficult and painful times. The seemingly unnutritious content recorded on it was a mark proving her existence in this world and the eyes that led her through the dark shadows enveloping her life to observe the beauty of the world...
...
Moving closer little by little, her heart pounded like a drum.
When Shen Baiwei woke up, she was not far from the little notebook, less than five meters away.
However, crossing these short five meters was more difficult than any path she had ever walked before.
Spiritual Energy from The Serpent of the Years surged like a tsunami, constantly washing over her body.
Like a crumpled piece of paper being squeezed by a large hand, her bones and muscles constantly emitted horrifying wails, and her body twisted and deformed.
The chaotic black lines covering the little notebook, symbolizing the Serpent’s punishment, agitated and emitted a sharp noise that seemed to shred consciousness.
As Shen Baiwei got closer to the little notebook, the chaotic black lines swept across her body. In an instant, bone-deep pain struck, countless tiny wounds appeared on her skin, and dense crimson blood beads emerged.
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“Thud—thud—thud—!”
The dull thuds of flesh being destroyed were continuous.
Under the attack of those black lines, in less than two or three breaths, her entire arm reaching for the little notebook was reduced to nothing but a section of blood-stained white bone.
And in addition to the physical pain, those black lines also brought deeper damage, carrying a special corrupted Spiritual Energy that entered her body through the grotesque wounds and spread throughout her limbs and bones as the Spiritual Energy circulated within her.
Aging suddenly descended.
Her tender white skin visibly developed wrinkles and age spots; her bones became brittle as if calcium had been lost; organ failure brought dull pain throughout her body and a strong sense of weakness, dizziness, and drowsiness...
For a moment, Shen Baiwei truly thought she was going to age and die in pain.
However, at that moment, a hand entered her blurry vision.
That was a pale hand, covered in lividity, emitting a foul, rotten stench.
That was...the hand of a “Shen Baiwei” who had long ago been swallowed by The Serpent of the Years.
Upon seeing that hand, Shen Baiwei’s heart tightened. She instinctively felt that the “Shen Baiwei” who had been swallowed was sent by The Serpent of the Years to stop her. However, the next scene exceeded her expectations.
That decaying, zombie-like “Shen Baiwei” rushed towards the small notebook that was about to be swallowed by The Serpent of the Years’ “heart,” as if to snatch it away, and then in an instant, turned into dust, scattering.
As that “Shen Baiwei” disintegrated, the surging Spiritual Energy stirred up by The Serpent of the Years’ authority, and the wildly dancing chaotic black lines, seemed to be slightly hindered, pausing for an extremely brief moment.
Immediately after, before Shen Baiwei could react to what had happened, a second “Shen Baiwei,” reduced to nothing but white bones oozing black viscous liquid, rushed forward again, followed by a third, a fourth, a fifth...
A few seconds later, a shocking and unbelievable scene unfolded before Shen Baiwei’s eyes.
All the “Shen Baiwei” who had been swallowed by The Serpent of the Years’ authority gathered at this moment before The Serpent of the Years’ “heart,” desperately reaching out to the small notebook that was about to be devoured.
Shen Baiwei’s past, which had been swallowed by The Serpent of the Years’ authority, at this instant, under the drive of Shen Baiwei’s strong will, caused a backlash against it.
Figures scattered throughout long stretches of time, from different moments, bearing the same unwillingness, appeared here, overlapping.
Shen Baiwei stood behind those figures, watching everything, and inexplicably felt as if she was glimpsing her own back, repeatedly struggling against The Serpent of the Years’ authority in the past.
They might have long been swallowed by The Serpent of the Years’ authority, losing themselves, but Lu Yibei’s call, at the moment it awakened Shen Baiwei, seemed to have awakened them as well, making them recall the struggles they had once made.
Shen Baiwei was very sure they had also heard Lu Yibei’s call, because she felt it...felt the same powerful sound, more than once, at different times, echoing in her ears for a long time, leaving faint but indelible traces. freeωebnovēl.c૦m
That was a call from the past to the present, spanning the entire life of “Shen Baiwei,” invigorating every “Shen Baiwei” who hovered on the brink of life and death!
Although she was not sure why this was happening, Shen Baiwei felt that it was the existence of those traces that ignited this time, the greatest resistance since The Serpent of the Years’ authority condensed into form.
And now, when all the past had vanished, it was finally her turn to appear.
As each figure was completely crushed by the terrifying power enveloping the small notebook, turning into dust and scattering, a whisper of authority description echoed in Shen Baiwei’s ear:
“The Ouroboros is born into the world, devouring yesterday, without beginning or end, beginning is end, sinking into it, giving up one’s body and receiving another, like a dream, like a nightmare...”
After a brief pause, a description of authority that Shen Baiwei had never heard before sounded.
“To stay is to move forward, the pen of record, the eye of witness...”
Under the cover of countless past “selves,” she finally stepped forward, taking the most difficult and final step, enduring the sudden onset of pain that seemed to completely destroy her, grabbing a corner of the «N.o.v.e.l.i.g.h.t» small notebook, pulling it back with force, and then clutching it tightly to her chest, as if holding onto her past, present, and future...
At that moment, a joy of breaking free from shackles and restraints arose spontaneously in her heart.
At the moment she was about to leave the consciousness space, Shen Baiwei vaguely saw the collapse of the Tethys Laboratory. The ferocious great serpent struggled in the burning ruins, and scattered papers fell like snowflakes, gradually covering its body, merging into its body, replacing each of its scales...
————
When Shen Baiwei awoke from her coma, before she could even open her eyes, she heard wails rising and falling.
Opening her eyes, standing up, and looking in the direction from which the sound came, her gaze passed through the scattered, already heavily wounded tribal warriors, and she saw the figure of Disaster.
With long silver-white hair fluttering in the wind, a seductive figure in a gorgeous azure long dress, holding a scarlet long blade, stood on a high ground piled with twisted truck wreckage and bones and flesh, emanating an ominous Spiritual Energy fluctuation that continuously surged, as if she were the source of all calamities and chaos.
Disaster stood there quietly, motionless, seemingly having let down all her guard, but whenever a tribal warrior raised a weapon and attempted to attack her, it would repeatedly prove that any resistance was futile against such an existence.
Blazing flames ignited deep within their chests, instantly boiling their blood, like the unstoppable spread of war or Disaster, and the astonishingly hot blood surged through every corner of their bodies, rapidly stealing their vitality.
What was inconceivable was that although they endured immense pain before dying, at the moment they fell, they peacefully closed their eyes, a strange smile appearing at the corners of their mouths, as if experiencing a beautiful dream.
“...”
This state of Disaster is absolutely abnormal!
Has her authority gone out of control?
Just like The Serpent of the Years’ authority, guided by that unseen power, became restless.
Shen Baiwei observed Lu Yibei for a moment, then made a preliminary judgment on her condition. freewёbnoνel.com
But how to help her?
If she approached rashly now, she would be killed, right?
Watching Lu Yibei with a solemn expression, she pondered for a moment, as if suddenly remembering something. She fumbled in her embrace for her beloved small notebook, quickly flipped to the page where she had drawn Disaster’s portrait not long ago, and then picked up her pen to write a small line of text.
“Wake up, Disaster!”
By writing such words in the small notebook, Shen Baiwei called out to Lu Yibei, just as Lu Yibei had awakened her a moment ago.
Although she could not affect Lu Yibei’s more distant past, she could use the records in the small notebook as a medium to influence every moment from when she completed the portrait until now!
This was the ability she gained after breaking free from the shackles of The Serpent of the Years’ authority.
As a recorder and witness, she could not destroy the past in an extreme way, as The Serpent of the Years devoured the past, but on the premise of not affecting an already established past, she could make minor modifications in details to achieve the effect of changing the present...
Just like those historians, with their'Spring and Autumn Brushwork' in recording history.
————
“Wake up, Disaster!”
When Lu Yibei heard such a voice in her ear, she was stunned for a moment.
“...”
Who is it? Chatterbox Girl? Wait, no! This voice doesn't sound like Chatterbox Girl, but rather...Shen Baiwei?
Strange! Why would I hear her call at a time like this?
Could it be that my relationship with her has unknowingly become so intimate that when I'm about to die, she's the first person I think of? Impossible! Lu Yibei thought.
As she was bewildered, she found that the balance between the two deadlocked forces that had caused her to be “stuck” had collapsed.
Her body, condensed from consciousness, was slowly retreating.
The speed increased, and the things seen in her vision gradually turned into a chaotic blur of light and shadow.
Then.
In a trance, Lu Yibei felt a faint power, not belonging to Shen Baiwei, nor coming from the Little Freaks of Hua City, nor any person or urban legend she was familiar with, quietly descend upon her.
As that unfamiliar power descended, the chaotic light and shadow before her eyes suddenly opened up, as if a curtain had been pulled back. In a flash so brief it could only be described as lightning, she glimpsed figures.
Those figures emitted the aura of the world-destroying factors she had vaguely seen when she accepted guidance and moved forward before, but without the terrifying oppressive feeling. Their outlines were not shrouded in impenetrable shadows, but were vivid.
It felt like walking down the street and passing by strangers.
Although they did not know each other, they could feel that the other was alive, having their own different, good or bad, tragic or joyful lives.
Most of those figures were unfamiliar to Lu Yibei, but familiar figures also flashed by, stirring her heart.
Black Peony, Big Boss, and Shaman King, whom she had only met with a distant gaze, but whose terrifying double pupils she had firmly remembered...
