CHAPTER 62: MEMORY FRAGMENTS

(Late at night, begging for various drowsing insects to drift by ~)

In the Xia Family’s courtyard, the chirping of insects paused. "Xia You," curled up in the armchair, seemed to have fallen asleep, her hand dangling off the back of the chair, no longer holding her phone.

It was already eleven o’clock, and more than twenty hours had passed in "Military Road"; converted to real-world time, that would be just over two hours.

The air carried the chill of the night. Xia You, in a daze, regained consciousness. She complained to herself, deciding it was still better to enter "Military Road" from her room next time.

A wave of warmth came over her; Simon, wearing a sleeveless leather vest, sat across from her chair, legs crossed, casually playing with Xia You’s phone.

"How did you come back?" Xia You, immersed in "Military Road," looked no different from someone who had succumbed to sleep. When Simon returned, he only saw her seated in the armchair, passed out, so he hadn’t woken her. Just that Xia You’s phone had also fallen to the ground, and he had picked it up on a whim.

"A new phone?" Simon unabashedly went through all the contact details and messages in the phone, pleased to find that Xia You was just like before, with few friends, not even a single name of the opposite sex in her contacts.

"Give it back to me," Xia You struggled to stand, a wave of dizzy nausea hitting her. She couldn’t help but groan and squat back down.

Seeing that something was off, Simon walked over to check her complexion. The dim streetlight shone in; Xia You’s eyelashes trembled, her complexion looking very abnormal, skin snow-white but her lips eerily red.

"!" Simon was momentarily stunned.

"It’s just an old problem," Xia You pushed Simon away, not expecting the attack she suffered in "Military Road" to have direct consequences in real life. Could that mean if she "died" one day, the real Xia You would also die? The terrifying thought flashed by, startling Xia You with its sudden emergence.

Only Simon and Xia Yun at home knew that Xia You didn’t actually have any old problems; she wasn’t the real Xia You, nor did she have a brain tumor. Four years ago, when they saved her on Kabi Island, though she was covered in blood, the local hospital found no wounds on her.

"You should stop hanging around here. The matter with Cai Hai, they say it’s been filed. I don’t want mom to know it’s related to you." Simon didn’t push away, standing too close for comfort. Xia You frowned at the smell of tobacco on Simon’s breath.

"So you all have started looking for houses, planning to avoid me," Simon snorted, slipping back into the leather vest on the armchair. Even though he was away from home, he still knew everything that was going on there.

"Think what you want," Xia You looked up at the upstairs, where all the lights had gone out. This upward glance brought on another wave of dizziness.

"Is it you who wants to move away, or is it her?" Simon asked menacingly, pulling Xia You into his embrace.

Tangled shadows of a man and woman flickered under the streetlight.

Xia You’s complexion changed, and her breathing became rapid. Simon quickly released his grip and picked her up, rushing her upstairs.

Even though he had been out for more than a year, Xia Yun still tidied his room regularly. He laid Xia You down on the bed, then opened a window, letting the cool night breeze blow in. Xia You’s breathing steadied, her eyelashes wet with sparkling droplets, unclear whether they were sweat or tears.

Just like that night. Simon slumped on the edge of the bed, watching Xia You, who had completely fallen asleep, filled with regret for his earlier actions. How long ago it had been since he swore never to treat her like that again.

It was a night two years ago, after midnight. Simon had just come back from outside. He was a small-time leader in the organization then, that night he had drunk a lot, ditched a few police cars on his motorcycle, then returned home in a hazy stupor.

After ascending the stairs, he staggered past the bathroom, feeling the rush of alcohol surging in his stomach, so he dashed into the bathroom. He had already forgotten how he managed to open the door lock. All he knew was that after heaving over the toilet for what felt like forever, he finally managed to suppress that uncomfortable drunkenness.

The bathroom was very quiet, with only the sound of water dripping onto the tiles and a period of awkward breathing.

Even after so much time, he could still remember that scene. Xia You, crouched in the corner of the bathroom, her cringed gaze, and her trembling body, with a towel sloppily wrapped around her. Beneath the white towel, her wet hair draped over her chest, and two faint cherry-red spots were faintly visible, making his pupils constrict instantly.

But Simon could no longer remember any of that. He just looked at her, unabashedly, greedily. From her evasive eyes to her dripping body, to her constant attempts at covering herself.

The subsequent events seemed natural to Simon. The way a man should react to a woman he likes, like fire meeting gasoline, the ignited desire could only be extinguished by the very source that lit it. He liked "Xia You," from the moment she opened her eyes and looked at him with clear pupils, or perhaps even earlier, on the beach at that moment, he had already taken a liking to "Xia You."

He just wanted to hold her smooth body tight, to feel her soft waist writhing beneath him, in struggle, in kisses, in gasps. The touch of his hands made him forget everything. Just as tonight, her hot body suddenly turned cold and stiff, and her eyes became hollow. Then Xia You passed out into a deep sleep, a reaction like a brief brush with death. It was as if she was about to leave him forever. Simon sat beside her, lit a cigarette, and then snuffed it out.

"Zero, forgive mom."

"Zero, wait here for me, remember not to go away, I’ll come back as soon as I’ve stolen the money."

"Come with me, from now on you’ll be G8’s Zero, you will be the most outstanding female soldier."

"Zero, from today on, you are Zero only to me, forget about G8," a pair of cold hands traced over her body.

"!!" The day had already dawned, and Xia Yun sat up. She remembered having a dream. But the contents of the dream were forgotten the moment she woke up, no matter how hard she tried to recall, she just couldn’t remember what happened in it.

Simon had already left, just as he did last time, driven away by remorse and fear. It was since that night that Simon seldom came home.

Xia You never told Xia Yun what happened between them. Instinctively, Xia You wanted to spare her mother from further pain; her mother had already suffered so much.

Military Road couldn’t possibly be just an ordinary online game, Xia You thought, after searching through a plethora of popular online games on the market, she became even more certain. If the game could potentially endanger her life, she would have to consider it carefully.

Xia You thought of Yu Xiaonan; he too was from "Military Road," and was with the Rand Military District. Did this also mean that Yu Xiaonan might know some insider information?

Contacting Yu Xiaonan was relatively easy. He had left her a contact number the last time for the sake of a transaction involving military merit.

"I’m full-time at home right now, contact the boss for serious matters," Yu Xiaonan had barely exited the game, his head cloudy; he picked up the ringing phone and roared into it without thinking.

"500, seems like you’ve got plenty of free time," Xia You sensed something off from his words.

Yu Xiaonan only then realized it was an unfamiliar number, and that gentle female voice on the other side of the phone—wasn’t it just the rookie agent from the National Security Department who conned him out of his private stash of money recently, "Damn it, I’ve blown my cover."

Listening to Yu Xiaonan’s wailing on the phone, Xia You said unhurriedly, "Regarding military merit, I wonder if you’re still interested?"

The wailing stopped instantly; Yu Xiaonan immediately replied, "Where are you? I’ll come to you right now." What was Yu Xiaonan most lacking right now? Not women, not money, what he desperately needed was "military merit."