Chapter 448: Echoes of a Shattered Dream

The Doll turned into an old man.

It sounded rather eerie.

But just as in the courtyard earlier, the pollution we encountered acted the same way—imperceptible to oneself yet transformed in the eyes of others.

So Lu Xin felt there was no need to panic just yet.

He drew in a deep breath, looked around, and immediately noticed that every figure surrounding him had changed.

He found himself in a bustling small town.

Nearby flowed a small river, bordered by a wall built from bluestone blocks, alive with chattering crowds and bathed in the glow of a warm sunset.

Lining both sides of the road were dazzling shops, each doorway overflowing with fresh flowers.

He had been here before in this small town.

The moment he stepped into the wasteland, he saw a phantom shaped entirely out of mental radiation…

That phantom was the very image of this town.

When he first entered the museum, he saw life unfolding inside bottles—all scenes set in this small town. But unlike before, when he was merely an outsider gazing in, now he was inside one.

At last, he had stepped into the bottle.

……

A slight dizziness overwhelmed him as Lu Xin noticed many people trailing behind him.

There was a well-behaved yet unusually silent girl.

A gentle woman with short, even hair and a kind face.

A hearty man, missing one leg.

And two robust, lively little boys.

Each held something different—some carried vegetables, while others pushed bicycles.

In his hand, he clutched meat and a bottle of white wine.

“Let’s go, big guy,”

urged the man on the bicycle, “Fengxia and Kugeng are hungry, and Youqing too.”

Lu Xin didn’t know who these people were until it suddenly dawned on him—they were all part of that old man’s dream.

He had entered through the old man’s traits, merging into his very life.

A closer look revealed that with two old men already around, plus himself, there were three in total—even though the townspeople could only perceive one old man in both him and the Doll.

Relieved, he identified the Doll by her stance, grabbed her hand, and stepped aside.

The family seemed perfectly normal, chatting and laughing as they strolled toward the end of the road with the old man.

“Jia Zhen, go back and stew some meat for them,”

commanded a voice, “Alright, alright—stew plenty today so everyone can eat!”

“……”

Such harmonious family scenes were indeed beautiful.

……

“Is this small town the world inside a bottle?”

After the old man receded into the distance, Lu Xin looked up at the perpetually clear, blue sky over the town.

Yet that sky felt deceptively false.

For those who entered the town willingly sank into sweet dreams, they never noticed any problems.

But Lu Xin, who had entered with a skeptical heart, found everything awry—he could even see the town as if it were a shattered mirror, clumsily patched together and distorting reality.

As his doubts mounted, a peculiar force seemed to stir within the town.

Within the brilliant blue sky, a pair of eyes suddenly opened, coldly scanning the entire town.

It, too, had sensed an energy foreign to the museum.

……

“Phew……”

Lu Xin looked up and smiled at the eyes now fixed in the sky.

He could sense a powerful force spreading through the town.

It sought to engulf him entirely, even tearing pieces of his mental power apart.

This had to be the Disaster Museum’s instinct—to collect fragments of his memories.

And those were the very memories he dreaded, the ones he longed to forget; part of the collection.

“If you’re drawn to disaster, then what is it that you see in me?”

Murmuring to himself, Lu Xin slowly took a step forward.

“Creak……”

A crisp sound echoed as the scenery around him suddenly distorted, like glass wrinkling under pressure.

It felt as if he were standing on a calm lake, where even the slightest movement could trigger colossal changes.

From this perspective, shattering the small town seemed almost effortless.

So he cautiously stepped forward once more.

Clatter, clatter.

More transformations erupted around him, images refracting different hues of light.

Fine strands of mental energy surged in from all directions.

This energy seemed capable of tugging memories from the deepest recesses of one’s mind.

People naturally hide many memories.

Yet sometimes those memories burst forth involuntarily, shattering all peace and joy.

That is exactly what happened to Lu Xin—perhaps even more intensely.

Endless recollections gushed like a fountain from the depths of his mind.

Before his eyes, visions appeared: he saw his Mom, his Father, and his Sister. They stood not far away, smiling and beckoning him. Then, with graceful turns, they walked down a long corridor and shut an iron door.

Lu Xin recognized that corridor; it had appeared in his dreams before.

A heavy, oppressive feeling settled in his heart.

He watched as his Mom, Father, and Sister vanished, yearning to call them back—but he did not.

Continuing on, everything around him shifted like a revolving lantern. Ahead, he saw a row of children—each sniffing and staring blankly at him. Among them sat a girl in a wheelchair.

Seeing her, an overwhelming guilt welled up inside Lu Xin.

His facial muscles tensed as he tried to force a smile.

But he just couldn’t manage it.

He stood quietly for a while, bowed his head, and kept moving forward.

……

Figure after figure flashed before him as if on fast-forward. He saw Little Nineteen huddled in a wall corner, children in white patient gowns frolicking by a sunset-bathed riverside.

He also caught sight of the kindly Old Director.

Wearing a low-brimmed hat and a dark casual suit, his weathered face bore many wrinkles, his hair had turned gray, and his back was slightly hunched—but his eyes remained bright, and his smile, ever familiar, shone as he sat quietly by the stone bridge, watching him like a proud parent.

Lu Xin’s heart trembled as an unfamiliar surge of emotion overwhelmed him.

He didn’t know how to face this complex old man from his memories—gratitude and resentment warring within his mind.

After standing silently for a long time, he slowly lifted his head.

A gentle smile appeared as he raised his hand in greeting to the old man by the bridge.

“Hello, Director.”

“……”

His voice quivered, yet it radiated warmth.

Then he closed his eyes briefly and continued on.

“Rustle……”

Suddenly, the scene around him changed.

Everywhere were blood-soaked corpses; in nearby shops, flickering lights revealed streams of crimson blood flowing past his feet as familiar faces collapsed into pools of blood.

The overwhelming stench of blood and the sight of mutilated faces nearly drove him insane.

Nosebleeds erupted like a fountain, drenching the front of his shirt.

At that moment, deep inside, he felt an intense, desperate longing.

He wanted to accept the small town’s request.

He knew that the town—or rather, the Disaster Museum—was negotiating with him. It sought, by instinct, to make him relinquish these memories, this sensation, in exchange for promised bliss.

The offer was undeniably tempting.

Yet Lu Xin slowly raised his head and gently shook it, “I refuse.”

“These are truly awful things—I never want to endure them in this life, the next, or ever again…”

“But I still can’t give them to you.”

“After all…”

He spoke slowly, his voice trembling in a way even he hadn’t noticed, “Isn’t the reason I feel pain exactly because these memories were built upon beauty?”

“When beauty is shattered, pain follows.”

“Even when that beauty is broken, I won’t trade these true memories for your false illusions…”

“……”

Though it wasn’t necessary to say all this, Lu Xin spoke with determined earnestness.

After he finished, and as he raised his head once more, he saw all the figures around him disappearing—bloodied faces and twisted, grotesque images. Every person who had graced his life, whether companions, those long forgotten, or those he had reclaimed, were drifting to the far end of the town, slowly fading away.

Even the Old Director stood up among them, gently waving at him.

Then, he slowly vanished.

And not only did the people beside Lu Xin vanish.

In this town, each person served as the center of projections, spawning countless other figures. These projections intertwined into a bustling throng so complex that from the outside, it was impossible to tell real from fake.

After Lu Xin refused the museum’s deal, the town’s true face emerged before his eyes.

He saw the town’s false splendor and its vibrant images rapidly disappearing.

Many people went from being swarmed by a crowd to standing all alone.

In front of burned-out shops, the shop owner sat dejectedly.

Hunched over, he walked alone toward the sunset with an old man.

A girl, lying on a wooden bed in the red-light district, stared blankly, numb.

There was never any happiness or beauty in this town—only soul after soul, burdened with relentless pain and numbness.