Chapter 16: Chapter 16: Going Home
As he neared the painting, fear and pain once again erupted in his mind. The two distinct sensations surged and intertwined within Zhang Wenda, the torment so intense he wished for death. He dropped to one knee in agony.
Seeing Zhang Wenda like this, the Black Cat beside him leaped onto his shoulder, ready to extend its claws and shred the painting in his place.
"Wait! I’ll do it. I can..."
Zhang Wenda struggled back to his feet. He pinched the tear in the painting between two fingers, his internal fear beginning to intensify.
But he didn’t stop. Instead, he began to apply more force. With Zhang Wenda’s eyes wide with effort, the painting began to tear.
As the painting ripped, the entire floor began to shake violently. The lights flickered on and off, and the whole building felt as if it were about to collapse.
Fear, despair, sorrow—all sorts of emotions began to surge through Zhang Wenda’s heart. It was as if he was starting to remember something.
Just as Zhang Wenda was about to tear the painting in two, he suddenly stopped. He looked at the painting and spoke, his voice trembling, "No, there’s an emotion missing. Why don’t you hate me? You should hate me. Why?"
Zhang Wenda stared at the painting, frozen in place. Gradually, from the paper, he heard the CLACK of Go pieces, the cheerful chatter and laughter of children, smelled the fragrance of ink from a brush, and the distinct scent of glue and paint.
Gradually, a new emotion began to surface—one he had never felt before, an emotion that was completely foreign to Zhang Wenda. ’Yes...’
The moment he reached out and his finger touched the tear, Zhang Wenda suddenly felt the fear in his heart vanish. In its place, a powerful sense of aggrievement, like a tidal wave, washed over him.
’I haven’t done anything, so why am I being hurt?’
Images of being inexplicably attacked began to surface in Zhang Wenda’s mind.
He could resist any other emotion, but this sense of aggrievement resonated deep within his heart, making it impossible for him to bring himself to do it.
At this moment, he felt that the Youth Palace was not some subterranean monster. It was him. It had the same experiences he did!
’Was my guess wrong? Was I wrong again?’ Zhang Wenda’s mind was a mess. It seemed he had once again assumed the worst of others, judging them with the greatest malice. It had been that way with the rabbit, and now with the Youth Palace.
He didn’t know if he was right, but he wanted to give the other a chance—just as he would want to give his former self a chance.
"I... I don’t want to kill you. We want to go back, understand? We want to go back." Zhang Wenda stroked the wound on the painting with one hand, calming himself and beginning to convey his desire to go home—along with the desperate feelings of the other students—to the Youth Palace.
After he finished speaking, he could feel another presence’s emotions begin to calm, resonating with his own once more. In that instant, their feelings began to synchronize, sharing the same desperate urgency.
"We have to go home. Take us home, okay? Take us home. When we go home, you can go home too," Zhang Wenda repeated.
Just as Zhang Wenda was focused on repeating these words, he felt that urgent feeling begin to shift, coalescing on his forearm.
Zhang Wenda looked down and saw the tiny bit of red that remained. "You want this?"
The moment he spoke, an intense wave of longing surged forth.
"But... how do I give this to you?" Zhang Wenda stared at the painting, momentarily stunned. Then, an idea struck him. He pressed his finger firmly onto the last speck of red on his arm.
Along with a jolt of pain, a smear of red seeped from his arm and appeared on the pad of his finger.
Zhang Wenda lifted his red-stained fingertip and gently wiped it along the tear in the painting. As he slowly traced the gash, the tear miraculously began to mend itself, bit by bit.
As the gash was mended, the uneven ground flattened out, the lights shone brightly once more, and even the globe and triangle ruler behind him were restored.
’It can be used like this?’ Watching everything before him, Zhang Wenda was dumbfounded. ’Could it be that this dead Youth Palace was revived because of the red light on my arm?’
It seemed the red light on his arm had other abilities besides just making him incredibly strong.
The next second, the Youth Palace suddenly shuddered. Then, a sensation like being in a rising elevator began, and Zhang Wenda was instantly overjoyed. ’It’s ascending! It’s ascending!!’
"Thank you, thank you!" Zhang Wenda said gratefully, stroking the Youth Palace’s painting with one hand.
The triangle ruler, the globe, and a plaster bust came over to Zhang Wenda, dancing around him joyfully.
Zhang Wenda smiled. He could feel its emotions; it truly wanted to take them home. That was real. Emotions couldn’t lie.
As they continued to rise, the scorching temperature began to drop. The ascent was so fast that Zhang Wenda had to ask the Youth Palace to slow down to prevent the other students from getting decompression sickness.
Fatty wasn’t with him, so Zhang Wenda had no idea how much time had passed. But when he suddenly found it exceptionally easy to breathe, he immediately understood: some part of the Youth Palace had broken through to the surface, and outside oxygen was flooding in!
Zhang Wenda eagerly pushed open the door and went out with the Black Cat, excitedly shaking the other students awake. "Wake up! Everyone, wake up!! We’re back!"
When Zhang Wenda led the other students back into the hallway and they saw the familiar wooden door, nearly everyone burst into cheers.
Seeing that they had truly returned, Zhang Wenda, having survived the ordeal, stood at the entrance and looked back at the Youth Palace one last time. "Thank you. Thank you!"
"I don’t know what you are, but thank you. Goodbye... no, wait, I can’t say ’see you again,’ because that would mean you’re dead. So... bye-bye."
With that, Zhang Wenda turned and led the other students away from the Youth Palace. The entire perilous journey through the Youth Palace had finally come to an end.
When Zhang Wenda came out with the others, he saw the so-called Teacher Rabbit apparently discussing something with several mole plush toys.
Seeing this, the other students rushed forward excitedly, surrounding Teacher Rabbit and chattering away.
Watching the plush rabbit in the distance patiently dealing with the other students, Zhang Wenda suddenly, inexplicably felt that it didn’t seem so scary after all.
From the students’ chaotic, overlapping accounts, the rabbit and the moles had pieced together what had happened.
Then, Zhang Wenda saw the rabbit walking toward him. "Thank you, child. You saved everyone. You’re a good boy."
But looking at the rabbit before him, Zhang Wenda couldn’t help but frown. ’Is this really the same Teacher Rabbit from before? How come there’s no low-pitched whirring of a cassette tape when it talks anymore?’
But the rabbit’s next words made Zhang Wenda immediately cast the question from his mind.
"You’ve been a huge help to the teachers. For such a good student, the teachers have decided to give you a special reward."
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