Main Story Chapter 13-07: Witness of the Past (过去的证人） | Light and Night 光与夜之恋

 Before reading this chapter, please consider reading Chapter 13-05 here!

The sky has only been gloomy for a while, but the rain has never poured. When it's dusk, the sky is filled with afterglow, that the rose-colored skies are certainly mesmerizing.

Sariel closes the book and looks towards the skies. A faint dejection suddenly descended. He pondered for a while, and dialed a number.

Sariel: The house isn't messed up when I'm not in, right? Tidy it up, I'm ready to be discharged.

The breath on the other end of the phone paused for a second, then followed by a scream in excitement, that Sariel had no choice but to place the phone away from him.

Lizard: Lao Qi?! It's really you?! You're awake!

Before Sariel could even speak, banging sounds could be heard, that the sounds are somewhat recognizable as the sounds of pottery, vases, bookracks or things of the sort collapsing to the ground.

His expression completely darkened.

Lizard: Lao Qi... *sobbing*, I almost thought I'm going to lose you again, how are you doing now? Are you feeling better? Should I send some medicine over? You stubborn old man, you can't get discharged if you aren't done recovering! My lizard life can no longer take another hit like this anymore!

Hearing the noisy yet sincere mumblings from the other end of the phone call, Sariel's expression has calmed down significantly.

Sariel: Alright, I know myself well.

Lizard: Tch, you said you know yourself well, but you're hiding everything from me. If I didn't see the news on that day, I wouldn't have find out that you've fainted on the stage. I've researched the subway route for so long that I can finally bring myself to the hospital. I ended up having my spiritual powers going unstable, turned back to a lizard, and was almost caught by people and sent to the zoo.

Sariel: You turned into a human form?

Lizard: Yeah, how else could I go to the hospital if I don't? Hey Lao Qi, it's not that I'm complaining, but our house is too far from the city center, I was in the subway for over two hours!

Sariel: I only have a single question. What did you wear to go out?

Lizard: Uh, I simply took one of your clothes. But I've washed it clean! I've washed it thrice!

Sariel (sighing): ......

Lizard: But can you come back one day later? You know about it too, I've been overly worried, and I've been worrying about you all day long, that my mind has been wandering...

Sariel: Be straight to the point.

Lizard: The house is a little messy. But I'll definitely clean it! I guarantee that it'll be tidier than before!

Sariel took a deep breath, and tried all his might to suppress his own imaginations.

Lizard: If you were to frown when you're back, I'll volunteer myself to be braised.

Sariel: I'll look forward to it.

Just when I pushed the door open, Sariel looked like he has just placed his phone away. He's now pinching between his brows, sitting by the edge of his bed, and looking very troubled.

You: Sariel!

Sariel looks a little surprised to see me, then walked towards me with a glass of water and handed it to me.

Sariel: Why are you running in such a hurry? Chased by a killer?

You: Thank you...

Sariel: Why did you come back all of a sudden?

I opened my mouth, hesitating on how I should speak. However, after giving it a thought, I still decided to ask him directly.

You: Bob temporarily handed Pristine's main management rights to me, he said... you're planning to leave Warson?

I stared at Sariel, unwilling to miss out even the slightest changes in his expression.

Sariel: Do you want to take over Pristine?

You: This isn't the main point.

Sariel: All you have to do is to tell me whether you want it or not.

You: If you aren't leaving, then I'd want to. I'll bring glory to the brand, even making it worldwide famous, just like the works you've done in the past.

Sariel smiles as he tapped on my forehead with a finger.

Sariel: Shameless boastings.

You: So you have to look after me, supervise me, then you'll know if I'm boasting. Okay?

Please, don't remain silent, and don't brush me off with unimportant talks.

Sariel: Okay.

I stunned for an instant, and I thought I heard him wrongly, so I asked him again, and he's still saying okay.

It's just a single word, sharp but affirmative.

I can't help myself but to look at Sariel. He became much thinner, that his cheeks are even slightly dented, but his past arrogance and loftiness could still be seen through his gaze.

He seems like he has never changed, but also seemed to have changed a lot.

For example, in the past, he would never agree to a request that would take months to fulfill in such a straightforward manner.

Worrying that he'd regret it, I grabbed his hand again, and stamped my thumb on his, like an invisible contract.

Sariel: Happy now? I can't believe you actually ran your way back on purpose only to ask this question.

You: This is very important, I must clarify this properly. After all, director, you are always unwilling to say anything, and you always keep everything to yourself.

Being off guard, he pointed between my brows with his finger again. I rubbed my forehead, then smiled.

You: Are you tired from standing? Do you want to lie down on the bed? How about I help you to go over?

Sariel: I said I'm already fine.

You: But you've fainted for 15 days.

Sariel: I'm an Erda, so I'm different from humans to begin with, it's very normal to recover very quickly.

You: Really? You're not putting on a strong front? You don't have to worry about embarrassing yourself in front of me, I can pretend to forget about it.

Sariel: Are you finding yourself very humorous? I think you should first forget about your past embarrassing moments before talking.

You: I've long forgotten about them. As long as you forget about them too, then nobody else in this world will know about them.

Sariel: Dream on. I remember them crystal clear.

You (Pouty): ......

I can't help but to glare at him. Seeing that I am at loss of words, Sariel actually let out a muffled smile.

I wanted to say something to refute him, but the door is suddenly opened. Turns out it's the nurse in charge of this ward.

Nurse: Mr. Sariel, are you free now? Dr. Li wishes to discuss something with you.

You: Is it regarding his illness?

Nurse: I'm not sure about this either.

Sariel: Understood, I'll head over.

I originally wanted to follow him, but Sariel shook his head, and signaled me to remain here, so I can only nod and watch his disappearing figure in the corridor, but I still can't help but to call out to the nurse who's done tidying and was about to leave.

You: Uh, excuse me, I'm his friend. I wanted to as, is his condition alright? The doctor called for him not for something bad, right?

Nurse: It shouldn't be, Dr. Li's expression looked quite normal. Moreover, the vital signs for Mr. Sariel is also very stable, all of his indicators are in a normal range.

She pointed at the paper on the bedside rack, and signaled me to take a look at it.

You: Laboratory test results?

Nurse: Yes, although there might be some terms that you might not understand, but the results of the laboratory test and the standard ranges are all labelled at the back. You can have a look, and feel free to ask me if you have any questions.

You: Thank you.

I compared the standard range and browsed it carefully twice, and noticed that every indicators are indeed normal.

But uncertain of the reason, there's an unspeakable feeling about this. Although we can't measure Erdas with human standards, but isn't this recovery speed too quick?

You: He was clearly unconscious for 15 days...

It's better for me to ask for more details. I picked up the laboratory test results and ran out.

The corridor is quiet, only with sounds of our footsteps echoing.

You: Miss Nurse, please wait a moment--

My voice isn't anywhere demure at all, but the odd thing was, the figure in front of me doesn't seem to have heard me at all, and kept moving forward.

Was it my misperception? It feels like her footsteps are getting quicker.

Unknowingly, I've also hastened my footsteps, and turned into the stairs.

The moment I pushed the fire door open, an arm suddenly appeared at the center of my line of vision, and what follows right after, is that my neck is being choked tightly by it!

You: --!

My head buzzed. I subconsciously wanted to yell for help, but I can't even manage to scream.

Blood almost gushed up to my head, and I wanted to calm myself down to think of something, like what should I do to escape? Or how do I call for help? But my mind is completely blank, and it's filled with fear.

Just when I'm trying my best to move my legs, the strength used on my neck became weaker, but there's an even more aggressive, stronger power above me.

At the same time, an old voice sounded from above.

TFW Sariel just asked if we're chased by a killer lmao

???: Don't worry, I won't kill you. I just wanted to make you forget some things.

The sudden sense of suffocation made me almost losing my consciousness completely. In my pitch black vision, I can't see the opponent's face.

I can only feel a flow of warmth gushing from my chest to my head, seemingly about to drill its way out from there.

How odd, why did I come out just now... whose ward was I in... isn't it a working day today? Why am I in the hospital...

There's something stopping me from recollecting my memories, I can feel it. Or perhaps I should say that it's taking my memories away, just as effortlessly as harvesting grain with a sickle. 

I should fight against it, I should feel angry about it... just when this thought is born in my mind, I can feel a power gathering within me.

It's feels like a shapeless hand, grasping tightly onto the escaping fragments of memories, battling and confronting the power above my head.

I heard my body's orders, it said, get angrier, and angrier--

You: Let... let go of me!

The moment I finally struggled to find my voice, I felt an explosion of something in my chest. The hand pressing on my head also pushed me off immediately.

I fell onto the floor from inertia, panting difficultly, and finally took a clear look of the person in front of me.

There's no nurse, it's clearly an old elderly, with a thick chain shackled on his wrists.

???: The God's Power... impossible, how could you have a power like this!

He climbed up from the ground in disbelief, taking out a knife from his sleeve, and fiercely pounced towards me.

Just then, a few vines suddenly appeared, intertwining into a prison in a speed that a human eye can hardly differentiate, and trapped the elderly.

My heart pounded violently, and a single person's name appeared in my mind.

The reassuring scent of sandalwood is wafted from the winds. Is it telepathy? Or is it my hallucination? Right when I looked up, the person in my mind has already stood by my side.

You: Sariel...

Sariel: It's fine now, don't be afraid.

This is my first time I've seen an intention to kill from Sariel's face.

He is rarely angry, that there's rarely any great ripples in his emotions. He has always been cold and distant.

The trapped elderly's bones are entirely crooked, but he's still holding onto the knife, it's just that the sharp edge of the blade is forced to turn towards himself.

???: Sariel, are you going to be enemies with the Erdas for a mere human?! Have you actually forgotten about what happened 11 years ago?

The elderly's expression is filled with rage, seemingly in great pain, that the end of his tone turned into an exclaim.

Sariel: I was the one who got her into trouble 11 years ago, but it's different this time. Why are you wiping her memory off again?

Eleven years ago? He brought me into trouble? But I shouldn't have known about Sariel back then, right?

I am immediately recalled with the few images I saw in a trance in the hospital, could those actually be real happenings instead of my hallucinations?

Sariel: I addressed you as Elder out of respect, but it doesn't mean I will obey you in everything. From now on, don't get close to her anymore.

The elder seemed like he wanted to say something, but the vines binding around him immediately tightened in warning.

???: Everything I've done was for the Erdas, and I would be willing to do so even at the cost of my life. You should be doing the same too!

Sariel frowned upon hearing so. He turned away from the elder in disdain, unwilling to spare another look for him, and helped me to leave the staircase instead.

Sariel: Are you alright?

You: I'm fine. But he, and what you two just said...

The information overload made it hard for me to think, that I had no idea where I should begin asking.

Right then, a warm, dry hand caressed my cheek.

You: *hisses in pain*

It hurts a little. It's probably grazed by accident earlier.

Sariel became very pale, exuding self blame from his gaze. He gently places his forehead against mine, and continuously repeated 'sorry' from his lips.

Sariel: It's my fault for getting you into trouble.

I shook my head by instinct, then smiled, only wanting to tell him that I'm just having some aftershock. However, just when I was about to speak, I was completely stunned.

The heat by my cheek no longer exists, and the pair of golden eyes that were looking at me have also disappeared.

Sariel disappeared. A fluffy fox is what sits right before me.

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