The ward door slowly closed.
The nurse pushed the gurney, carefully navigating the corridor.
Along the way, wounded people were constantly being brought into the hospital while others were being carried out. The air was thick with a mixture of disinfectant and blood, and the urgent ringing of ambulance carriage bells could occasionally be heard from outside the window.
Ten minutes later.
The gurney stopped in a private room at the very back of the hospital.
The room was not large, but it was exceptionally quiet.
Heavy curtains blocked out most of the sunlight, and a coal stove stood in the corner, making it much warmer than the public ward outside.
The nurse settled Ryan in, gave a few brief instructions, and then tactfully left.
Once the door was closed again, Alvin slowly walked over to it. After confirming there was no one around, he quietly clicked the lock shut.
He turned around.
The private room fell completely silent.
Alvin reached into the very bottom of his toolbox and pulled out a palm-sized silver box.
Opening the lid, he revealed a slender glass ampoule resting quietly inside.
Dark red blood shimmered with a faint luster under the light.
Alvin couldn't help but chuckle.
“Just drew this from Simon yesterday.”
“I originally planned to keep it as a backup.”
“But not even a day has passed, and I have to let you benefit from it first, kid.”
This, after all, was Simon's essence blood.
He then skillfully snapped the ampoule open.
Next, he let the droplet of blood fall onto a silver tray he had prepared in advance.
The moment the blood hit the silver tray, the fine, intricate patterns on its surface slowly lit up. An extremely faint, silvery-white light crawled along the grooves, eventually enveloping the entire drop of blood.
Alvin reached out his right hand and gently pressed it against Ryan's forehead.
His other hand steadily held the silver tray.
As if drawn by some invisible force, the blood in the silver tray slowly transformed into fine, crimson threads of light, gradually seeping into Ryan's body.
The entire process lasted for about a dozen seconds.
Only when the final wisp of crimson light vanished did Alvin slowly pull his hands back.
He looked down to inspect the patient.
The hairline cracks on the back of Ryan's hand had finally stopped spreading.
A trace of color had also returned to his face.
Alvin let out a soft sigh of relief.
“Consider yourself lucky.”
“But Simon's blood really is effective. I'll have to draw more next time.”
He placed the empty silver tray back into his toolbox.
Then, he couldn't help but shake his head with a smile.
“Once you wake up,”
“you're definitely buying the drinks.”
“I drained so much of his blood yesterday; it would be criminal not to treat him.”
...
Time slipped away bit by bit.
The sunlight outside the window slowly shifted.
The private room remained quiet.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Ryan suddenly knit his brows.
His fingers twitched slightly.
Alvin immediately set down the book in his hand and stood up.
A few seconds later, Ryan slowly opened his eyes, met with a blurry mess of distorted light.
The entire world seemed to be viewed through a sheet of water, making it impossible to see anything clearly.
Alvin didn't say a word, simply reaching for the glasses on the bedside table.
“Put these on first.”
He skillfully placed the glasses on Ryan. As the lenses settled, the blurry world instantly snapped back into focus.
Ryan slowly let out a breath.
“The hospital?”
“Yeah.”
Alvin sat back down in his chair.
“East End Mercy Hospital.”
“You've been asleep for a whole day.”
Ryan rubbed his temples, which were still throbbing slightly.
After a brief silence, Alvin stared at him, the smile on his face gradually fading away.
“Now,”
“tell me.”
“what exactly did you do?”
The room fell silent once more.
Ryan kept his head lowered. Only after a long while did he slowly utter a name.
“...Chris.”
The lingering trace of ease on Alvin's face instantly froze.
“That lunatic?”
Ryan nodded.
“He took me to Moth Port.”
“And then we went out to sea.”
Alvin didn't interrupt.
He simply listened quietly.
Ryan continued:
“He said he wanted me to truly understand dreams.”
“He even took me to catch a certain kind of fish.”
Alvin's brow suddenly furrowed.
“What kind of fish?”
“He said”
“the fish in that sea are all transformed from moths.”
“They're no different from ordinary fish.”
“But after eating them, they will transform into corresponding things based on each person's unique Principle.”
“I ate one.”
“And I felt The Glory inside my body indeed grow a bit.”
A sudden silence fell over the room.
Alvin didn't reply immediately.
He just stared at Ryan in silence.
After a long while,
he slowly took a deep breath.
“You actually dared to eat that.”
Ryan was taken aback.
“Is there a problem?”
Alvin let out a cold laugh.
“Of course there's a problem.”
“You dared to shove something from that place into your mouth so casually?”
He stood up and walked to the window.
After a brief silence, he slowly said:
“The sea outside Moth Port was never a normal sea in the first place.”
“To be precise,”
“everything there is tainted by the shadow of Moth.”
“Be it the fish,”
“the seaweed,”
“or even the driftwood floating on the water.”
“None of it might be what it originally was.”
“Instead, they are... transformed from something else.”
Ryan's brow slowly furrowed.
“You mean...”
Alvin turned back.
“Why do you think those fish can increase your Glory?”
“Because they are products of Moth's transformations themselves.”
“Moth can change,”
“and it can bestow change.”
“What you ate was never a fish.”
“It was a small fragment of the Secret Histories belonging to Moth.”
The air in the room suddenly grew heavy.
Alvin continued:
“It indeed can make the Lantern's glow grow.”
“Chris didn't lie to you about that.”
“But the problem is,”
“the thing that grew might not just be The Glory.”
“No one knows if those things belonging to Moth have truly left your body.”
“And no one knows if they will suddenly start to change one day.”
Ryan fell silent.
Alvin lightly tapped the edge of the bed.
“That's why I said”
“to stay far away from that lunatic.”
“It's not because he wants to harm you.”
“It's because, in his eyes, these things aren't dangerous at all.”
“Today, he feeds you a fish transformed from a moth.”
“Tomorrow, he takes you to see the seabed.”
“And the day after, he might just have you reach for a door in your dreams.”
“He thinks it's fun.”
“But whether other people go mad...”
“...he has never cared.”
At this point, Alvin couldn't help but curse.
“Damn it.”
“People of the Moth Principle all have a screw loose in their heads.”
“Their defining trait is that they think every change is worth trying.”
“As for whether they can change back afterward...”
“...they couldn't care less.”
Ryan gave a wry smile.
The image of Chris standing at the bow of the ship, smiling as he said, “Actually, there's no harm in looking; it'll do you some good,” flashed in his mind.
Looking back now,
that smiling face seemed deliberate no matter how he looked at it.
Alvin looked at Ryan and shook his head helplessly.
“If you really want to grow your Lantern's glow in the future,”
“I can help you find proper ways to do it.”
“At least you won't wake up one morning to find yourself growing wings, shedding scales, or turning into a moth entirely.”
“As for Chris...”
Alvin snorted coldly.
“From now on, when he speaks,”
“you'd best only believe half of it.”
“The other half,”
“keep it to save your life.
Rate on N.U.
