Star River Eternal

Chapter 39

Inside the orphanage, the director and Xiao Yi had a clear dividing line.

The front yard and classrooms were the director's territory. He maintained the orphanage's normalcy, preserving everyone's sanity through those repetitive days. The dorms and the isolation room were Xiao Yi's domain — he curled up in his private space, baring his fangs at the orphanage.

If he wasn't in the isolation room, then he had to be in the dorm area.

The director couldn't walk over there. Maybe he'd only been able to come this far because Xiao Yi deliberately let him in.

From here on, Shen Wang would have to go alone.

'Be careful.' The director finally reached up and touched Shen Wang's hair. Since Shen Wang was taller than him now, he even had to stand on tiptoe.

After not seeing each other for over a decade, the child from back then had become an adult who no longer needed him to worry.

In his memory, Xiao Shiwu was still a child — black hair, black eyes, looking at him with stubborn defiance from inside the isolation room.

When no one played with him, he played by himself. When no one paid him any attention, he could still amuse himself. When he had nothing to do, he would go to the director's office, listen to the old music tapes, humming those ancient, fading songs. He'd listened to every tape he'd saved up.

He was a flowering tree, showing the man he'd become even as a child.

'Child, you must protect yourself, alright?'

Back then, he hadn't just thrown Xiao Qi out the window. But in the end, apart from Xiao Qi, every child he'd thrown out had come back crying. No one could escape the Grade S Contamination Source. Xiao Qi could leave only because he was an S-grade Mutant — he could resist the source's erosion.

So the director picked up the children he'd thrown out, one by one. And every time he picked one up, his heart grew heavier.

The director said, 'I don't want to see you in the orphanage.'

'I already told you, it's not that powerful.' Shen Wang answered him quietly. 'I'll leave here safely.'

The director nodded. Smiling, he kept looking at Shen Wang, as if trying to engrave him into his eyes.

'The director believes in you.'

He said, 'You are the tree that makes the director proud.'

A towering tree that needs no one's help to grow.

/

Shen Wang went alone to the orphanage's dorm area.

To Shen Wang, the dorm area was far less familiar than the classroom section ahead, and it hadn't left as deep an impression as the isolation room. He much preferred the director's office, the director's old, raspy radio, and the occasional Xiao Qi who would appear in the isolation room.

He didn't like the noisy children before bed.

Yes, Shen Wang had hated noise since he was little.

He was sensitive to sound and loved music. The director once said: if not for the apocalypse, Xiao Shiwu might have become a famous musician.

Letting out a soft sigh, Shen Wang walked into the dorm building. The moment he stepped through the door, faint sobbing reached his ears.

A small child in the standard uniform was crouched by the doorway, crying with their back to him.

Shen Wang walked over and looked at the crying child.

Little Xiao Qi was crouching there, crying and pointing below. It was a drainage gutter covered by a steel plate, leaving only small gaps. Shen Wang crouched beside him and looked down. Inside the gutter, he saw colorful candy wrappers.

Those beautiful candies lay scattered in the sewage, turned into trash.

The black water completely buried the pretty candies, the stench rising as if in malicious revenge.

'What are you crying for?' Shen Wang said. 'If the candy's gone, you can save up again.'

'Even without candy, I won't be sad. I won't hate you. If you cry, he'll be happy.'

'He threw these candies away exactly because he wanted to see you cry.'

But this wasn't the real Xiao Qi. It was just something maliciously replaying what had happened, right in front of Shen Wang.

So the small child kept crying, looking at the candy covered in sewage, sad and helpless.

Shen Wang sighed and stood up. He didn't bother with the crying child anymore, turning to go inside the dorm area. The dorm room was empty, over thirty little beds lined up side by side. Each bed had the child's name written on it, and the girls who liked pretty things had even drawn little flowers.

He followed the bed numbers, searching for Xiao Yi's bed. And that's when he saw the trash can beside it.

Inside the trash can was a broken umbrella.

Shen Wang stopped in his tracks. He stood there in silence, but a flicker of displeasure had already crept into the depths of his eyes.

This was the umbrella Xiao Shiwu had given to Xiao Qi.

At some point, a doll had appeared standing on the bed — a worn-out doll facing Shen Wang and the trash can.

'How could he have not noticed?'

'I threw all his candies into the gutter, but the director gave him even more. So throwing those away didn't hurt him at all.'

'But I knew he loved this umbrella the most. So I came back and found this umbrella. I broke it and threw it in the trash — right by his bed. He'd see it the moment he came back!'

'But why?! The director found it before he did! He picked the broken umbrella out of the trash and hid it. He even went out to buy an identical one.'

'Why? How come?!'

The doll screeched, 'He never treated me like that! He only ever likes the other children!'

'I can't stand seeing you all happy together!'

Even now, Zhou Xiangzhe doesn't know about this.

He remembers life at the orphanage, thinks about the umbrella Shen Wang gave him, and believes that umbrella is still there. He doesn't know his umbrella was broken long ago by a jealous child, thrown into the trash, and that the director found it first and hid it all.

That's why Zhou Xiangzhe thinks he still has that whole umbrella, not that all he had left before leaving the orphanage were its broken ribs.

This was enough to make Shen Wang furious. He grabbed the doll, saying, 'You really disgust me.'

The doll let out an androgynous laugh. 'You're angry! You're angry! Hahahaha! Finally, you're angry!'

'I love seeing you hurt and angry! Only then do you understand how much I've suffered!'

The doll shattered in Shen Wang's hand, but immediately a new doll stood up from another bed.

'You know what, Xiao Shiwu? I hate you the most. You and me, we were both the outcast kids. So why are you so popular?'

'Xiao Qi likes you — he'd give you his own candy. The director likes you — he'd find all kinds of music tapes for you. They liked you, too — they were just scared of your episodes. They even wanted to visit you in the hospital together. Only me! I was the only one who got thrown away!'

'And you! You abandoned me too!'

'The director is a monster too, but you only see me as the monster! Why!'

Shen Wang shot and shattered the new doll.

'Because being a monster has its standards. Some people have a monster's shell but still a human heart. Unlike you — you were already a monster when you were human.'

'Of course you can't compare to anyone.'

The doll shouted angrily, 'I am not a monster!'

The remnants disappeared into the floor as if they'd never been there. Every bed in the large dorm room began to tremble, creaking and groaning.

'It's because of all of you that I became a monster. But that's fine — as a monster, I finally have the power to take revenge.'

'I'll make every one of you taste my despair and pain!'

Shen Wang smiled. His harmless face became strikingly eye-catching with that smile, but the humor didn't reach his eyes.

He looked so unrestrained and free.

'You really think I can't find where you are?'

'Of course you can't.' The doll's broken voice echoed through the air. 'I've become eternal darkness. I speak to you from here, but I don't exist. You'll never find me.'

Shen Wang raised an eyebrow slightly and said, 'Eternal darkness?'

'Then I know exactly where you are.'

The bullet shattered the window glass and shot straight into the darkness outside. Bang — the sound of something being hit.

Shen Wang had seen the surveillance footage left from when the orphanage was swallowed. It was a sudden blackness, engulfing the entire orphanage in an instant. That was why it was dark everywhere out there, while the orphanage itself was brightly lit — as if the director was burning himself up to light lamp after lamp.

Xiao Yi had been swallowed by the darkness in the isolation room, so he too had become part of the black.

Creak. Creak.

A one-meter-tall doll was clinging to the window, staring at Shen Wang. A bullet was lodged in its forehead. Unlike the earlier dolls, this one was entirely black — black skin, black eyes, black hair. Like a creature of the dark, it hid silently in the blackness.

The doll's black glass eyes were filled with resentment. Shen Wang could still make out a child's features in its face.

In truth, it had been there all along. Hidden in the darkness outside the orphanage, it had watched Shen Wang's grown-up figure with bitterness. It had followed him and the director to the isolation room, and then followed Shen Wang to the dorm area.

It was its gaze that brought fear to everyone inside the orphanage.

He had become the doll his mother gave him, as if he could never accept that his mother was the one who abandoned him.

Contaminants are monsters of desire, monsters of extreme emotion, monsters of mental aberration. The more you suffer, the easier you are to contaminate.

'You found me. But what of it?' The doll said with that bullet still in its forehead. 'Xiao Shiwu, you've grown into an adult, but you're still human. You can't beat me.'

'I've waited over ten years. Finally, you've come back.'

'The orphanage isn't whole — how could I let you live out there in peace!'

'Everyone, everyone has to suffer with me forever.'

Shen Wang looked at him calmly. 'You're too full of yourself.'

After the Grade S Contamination Source outbreak, the Anti-Contamination Center immediately deployed. They sent everyone useful from Central City to seal off the entire Grade S Contamination Source, absolutely forbidding anything from entering or leaving. Even now, [North Star] Second Squad is still guarding it.

So it had never left the orphanage — even now, when the source had expanded and contaminated the surrounding residential area.

But it didn't understand what an S-grade Mutant meant, or that the present Xiao Qi could crush it like a toy.

'It hurts so much. I'm so lonely. Why is everyone happy except me?' Black tears slid down the doll's face. 'Everyone should be as miserable as I am!'

With a squelch, the doll's scream cut off. Its eyes went wide.

Because from the bullet lodged in its forehead, a blood-red thorn suddenly sprouted. The thorns burst out like an explosion, and in an instant they'd drilled into its plastic skull.

Little thorns climbed over the doll, brimming with curiosity.

'Black?'

'Ooh! It's charcoal!'

'Is it tasty? Is it tasty? Does master want to eat it?'

'That fragrant scary human isn't here today?'

'Bite it dead bite it dead! Bite it dead now!'

'What is this?!' The pitch-black doll reached up to pull the thorn from its forehead, but those little things were much smarter than it.

The thorns quickly spread out, expanding around the doll's limbs. Sharp spikes pierced into its body, riddling its plastic body with countless holes. The doll tore at the thorns, but they'd stabbed in too deep, too tight. Pulling them off only tore its own skin.

Gun in hand, Shen Wang walked over step by step. He casually pushed open the half-shattered window, stood on the sill, and looked down at it.

The doll looked up and met his eyes.

Xiao Shiwu's black eyes were full of mockery. He wasn't smiling, but it was more derisive than a smile — just like back in the orphanage, when he'd been locked in the isolation room waiting out an episode, yet somehow still looking down on him.

How? A kid who was his inferior in every way, suffering a terminal illness, yet able to look so superior.

It shouldn't be like this!

The black doll raised its hand. A normal doll fell, but it hit the ground and shattered.

'Why...' The doll glared at Shen Wang. 'Why aren't you affected?'

'Don't you wonder why I'm still normal after coming here?' Shen Wang looked down at him. 'Too bad, I can't be contaminated.'

'The “Dancing Doll” has mentally contaminated thousands. That mental contamination is its weapon. But against someone like me who's completely immune, it's useless. Beyond that, the only thing you've got is a main body that can hide in darkness.'

'You're really weak, Xiao Yi.' Shen Wang said. 'Even after turning into a monster, you still can't beat me.'

'Shut up!' The doll screamed, struggling to break free of the thorns. The moment it started to pull loose, the thorns dragged it back.

The harder it struggled, the tighter the thorns bound it. Flecks of red began to stain Shen Wang's black eyes.

He finally smiled, his voice very soft but somehow saturated with sarcasm.

'Goodbye. Hope you never run into me again in your next life.'

The doll screamed in agony. The thorns wrapped around it, dragging it downward. At last, it began to realize what fear felt like.

Contaminants have instinctive awareness. They can sense others above their rank and instinctively avoid them. That's why it only fought the director inside the orphanage and never dared step outside.

Because outside the orphanage, there were two terrifying Grade A Contaminants. Going out there was suicide.

But right here, from Shen Wang, it felt a fear no less than that of facing a Grade A Contaminant.

But why?! Isn't he human? Isn't he Anti-Contamination Center staff?! Why does he bring such intense fear?!

'No, don't...' It finally panicked. 'Xiao Shiwu, I was wrong! Let me go!'

'Please! Aren't we friends? Aren't we family?'

'The director taught us to love each other! Xiao Shiwu! Let me go!'

'Shh.' Shen Wang made a hushing gesture at it.

His pupils finally flooded with blood-red, and strand by strand his hair turned white. He looked even stranger than the doll itself, a powerful aura of a high-grade contaminant radiating from him.

'If you want to play the sympathy card, go find Xiao Qi. Doesn't work on me.'

The doll's eyes widened in horror. 'You're a contaminant?!'

'Look at what you're saying. How could I be a contaminant? I'm Anti-Contamination Center staff — not a monster like you.'

'X-Xiao Shiwu, please, let me go...'

Shen Wang smiled, but deep in his eyes there was nothing but coldness. 'The moment you broke the umbrella I gave Xiao Qi, you sealed your fate. Nothing you say now matters.'

'That was the umbrella I gave Xiao Qi. What gave you the right to break it?'

'Since you love breaking other people's things so much, that means you enjoy being broken. I'm just giving you what you want.'

'What the director didn't have time to teach you, I'll teach you now.'

The thorns tangled tightly around the doll's hands and feet, yanking it down with force. Beneath it, a sheet of drawing paper appeared out of nowhere. The doll screamed, trying to escape, but it was forced into the white paper. Its fragile body made sounds like being crushed.

There was no more black doll. Only a sheet of paper left on the ground.

The thorns rolled up the paper and handed it to Shen Wang. The obedient little things nuzzled against his shoulders.

Shen Wang gazed calmly at the drawing paper in his hand.

'In your next life, remember: never touch things that belong to others.'

The red in his eyes was once again covered by that deep black. His hair returned to an inconspicuous black. Calmly, Shen Wang tucked the thorns back into his sleeve.

He casually put away the drawing paper, hopped off the window sill, and pressed the communicator by his ear to make the standard report.

'Zone 2 Grade B Contaminant “Dancing Doll” eliminated. Confirm whether contamination spread has ceased.'

/

After the report, Shen Wang let out a soft breath. He left the dorm area, planning to head back to the classroom zone to find the director. He still believed that Zhou Xiangzhe would definitely come to the orphanage.

Zhou Xiangzhe had arrived before him but wasn't at the orphanage — that was already pretty strange. Like Shen Wang said, Zhou Xiangzhe was far more sentimental.

Besides, he'd planned to come back and retrieve his umbrella.

Just then, Shen Wang stopped and looked into the darkness. A colorful butterfly fluttered past his eyes.

The butterfly had a pair of beautiful large wings, very conspicuous in the night. Shen Wang took out his phone and snapped a photo. Only after taking it did he realize the picture captured nothing but black — no butterfly at all.

Shen Wang stood there, watching the butterfly fly to the window he'd just broken. It landed on a shard of glass, gently fluttering its wings.

Just as Shen Wang was about to go look, the butterfly suddenly melted. It turned into a puddle and splashed onto the glass shards. But in the next instant, a familiar creak sounded.

The pitch-black doll coalesced out of the darkness, bit by bit. It twisted its body, reaching its hand out toward Shen Wang.

'Come dance with me!'

Shen Wang stepped back, first confirming the drawing on his person. A dense contaminant aura emanated from it.

As someone extremely sensitive to contaminants — someone who even ate them — Shen Wang was absolutely certain he'd captured the main body.

So, if he was holding the contaminant, then what was this in front of him?

The night faded, revealing countless butterflies hidden in the darkness. They fluttered and danced, beautiful under the dim lights. But it was a deeply terrifying sight.

The Grade S Contamination Source outbreak had devoured all life. How could it leave behind this mass of butterflies?

The doll began to spin. As it spun, it moved toward Shen Wang. The countless butterflies gathered into the shape of a person. They fluttered up and down, and the humanoid figure began to spin and dance like the doll.

More and more of them came, flying in through the broken windows, forming one human shape after another.

First children, then teachers, and finally the director...

The butterflies ran through the dorm area like real people. Shen Wang frowned, because he heard voices.

It was children's innocent laughter and the teachers' hushed scolding.

'Stop messing around, it's bedtime.'

'Everyone, hurry and go to sleep.'

'Don't go to sleep don't go to sleep! Xiao Shiwu, come play with me!'

'Teacher, I want some water.'

Shen Wang covered one ear with his hand, but the sound wasn't dampened at all. It was as if the voices were speaking directly in his head, so blocking his ears was useless.

The butterflies before him also blurred, gradually turning into familiar people in his eyes.

The orphanage children, in their matching uniforms, reached out to him, smiling, inviting him.

'Hallucinations.' Shen Wang judged. 'The contaminant that caused thousands of deaths in their sleep in Zone 1.'

Shen Wang remained calm, waiting for these things to change. Since they'd appeared before him, they wouldn't just do nothing.

He watched the black doll walk closer, step by step. It stopped less than a meter away from Shen Wang. Its outstretched hand was less than twenty centimeters from him, its black nails coated with colorful powder.

It came no closer, its dull glass eyes reflecting his image.

Shen Wang slowly turned his head to the side. A hand had grabbed the doll's arm. It was a person Shen Wang knew extremely well.

Lights lit up one by one, illuminating the entire dorm, illuminating all the butterflies. Startled by the too-bright light, the butterflies scattered, filling the air like a flurry of butterfly rain.

The director stood beneath the light, looking up at the countless butterflies raining down before him.

The doll also dissolved under the director's hand. Butterflies fell to the ground like dusky autumn leaves.

'Director?'

The director turned to Shen Wang. His expression held the same gentleness as always.

'Xiao Shiwu, there's something I forgot to tell you.'

'Actually, we didn't let Xiao Qi come in.'

'Xiao Qi stood outside the orphanage gate for a long time. He wanted to come in and see, but none of us would allow it. We chased him away. Because more than Xiao Shiwu, who was still at the hospital, every one of us knew that it was us who had pushed Xiao Qi out of that final orphanage.'

'In the end, he left disappointed.'

Right. Zhou Xiangzhe came back here — how could he not come to the orphanage? He wasn't inside simply because everyone had refused to let him in.

The director had thrown out several children, but only Xiao Qi had escaped.

They remembered nothing, yet stubbornly understood in their minds that he must not come back.

The director pointed a direction for Shen Wang. 'If you're going to look for him, you need to head that way.'

The lights flickered on the ceiling. With a crack, the innermost tube burst. Countless butterflies landed on the shattered fixture, as if they were all watching the director.

'Hurry and go.'

'The director is very happy to see you again. There's no moment happier than this.'

But more than longing, the director hoped they would live well.

Never come back to this home already devoured by contamination.