CH 131

Chapter 131 – Hot Spring and Long Night

In May of the 248th year of the Alliance, at the bottom of the Abyss.

“Seeker 1” lay quietly in the ground, its fuel long depleted. As planned, its hull was assembled with other materials, becoming a temporary shelter for everyone.

Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan had a small room.

The space was very small, and the two couldn’t be far apart. During the day, Shi Yuan played by himself while Lu Tinghan sat at the table studying, occasionally being disturbed by the swaying tail of Shi Yuan. The folding bed was also very small, and they slept tightly together — fortunately, Shi Yuan was always clingy. When they slept in a large bed before, he would always take up Lu Tinghan’s half of the bed, so it wasn’t a big problem.

The pollution level beneath the abyss was too high. It was already a year after Deep Dive, and both Pilot Qi Hong and Professor Zhou Qian were unwell. Shi Yuan and Lu Tinghan had to go out frequently.

They traveled to many places, and Shi Yuan also brought back a lot of things to decorate their little house. Mushrooms from the mountains were strung together and hung on the doorframe, singing strange songs in the wind when the door opened. Several harmless fluorescent flowers were placed in cans on the bedside, and Lu Tinghan and Shi Yuan took turns changing the water. There were also a few beautiful twigs, dried fruits, elegantly shaped fallen leaves, and a dead, dried butterfly…

Every time they went out, Shi Yuan always managed to find souvenirs, accumulating more and more.

One morning, Lu Tinghan communicated with the Alliance about the latest situation in the communication room. The data they sent was very useful, and with the simulated abyss signal, the Alliance would soon head to Elton.

In a half-dream state, Shi Yuan heard Lu Tinghan’s voice.

“…Alright, I’ll go to District 10 again to check the data.”

“Is Professor Zhou still resting? Did she ask me to resolve the previous issue?”

“Well, I’ll pay attention to that.”

“…”

Half an hour later, Lu Tinghan pushed the door open and entered.

Shi Yuan asked him, “Are you going out again?”

“Yes, I’m going to collect data in District 10 again.” Lu Tinghan sat on the edge of the bed and touched his head. “Do you want to sleep some more?”

“No, let’s go.” Shi Yuan yawned and got up to freshen up. The morning temperature was very low, and he wore Lu Tinghan’s coat before stepping out.

District 10 wasn’t far, and if they hurried, they could make a round trip in two days.

The two of them prepared their equipment and set off, entering the lush jungle. As they walked, Shi Yuan noticed that something was wrong. The monsters were unusually active, and it was already early morning, yet the sky remained dark — not the gloomy gray of an overcast day but the blackness of night, with only the beams of light he left behind still burning, pointing directly at the sky.

“What’s going on?” Shi Yuan asked Lu Tinghan.

Lu Tinghan replied, “Today, the abyss is particularly restless, and the infection level is very high.”

Shi Yuan asked again, “Why is that?”

“I’m not sure.”

Shi Yuan pondered for a moment. “Could it be that the people on the surface are littering in it?”

Lu Tinghan responded, “…I don’t think so.”

“Well, others are more civilized,” Shi Yuan was convinced.

Luminous fireflies danced, and several bright vines quietly spread, climbing up the branches and blooming with colorful flowers.

It was still dark, and the jungle was pitch black as they ventured deeper into the night.

In the afternoon, they arrived at District 10.

The sky still hadn’t lit up, and the two of them calibrated several monitoring devices, adjusted values, and updated data. It was already late.

When it was time to rest, Shi Yuan asked, “I remember there’s a small hot spring nearby, right?”

“Yeah,” Lu Tinghan replied. “Do you want to go and take a look?”

“Yes.”

The small hot spring wasn’t far, and they reached it in a 20-minute walk.

Pushing aside layers of leaves, a steaming pool of hot spring water appeared before them. The water was clear, and Shi Yuan had taken a liking to it the last time, now finally having a chance to study it.

Lu Tinghan sat on a rock by the edge of the pool while Shi Yuan crouched by the water, cautiously reaching out to touch it.

It was a bit hot, the kind of temperature that made one feel comfortable.

Shi Yuan turned to Lu Tinghan and asked, “Can I get in the water?”

Lu Tinghan was a bit surprised. “We don’t have any equipment to test its safety. It might be toxic, or the pollution level could be very high.”

Shi Yuan asked, “Do I really need it?”

Lu Tinghan thought it made sense. If anyone were to get infected, it would be Shi Yuan. The only potential threat might be if the water temperature was too high and caused him to pass out.

So Shi Yuan got into the water.

He lay on the edge of the hot spring, having walked the whole day. The hot water relieved his fatigue, and he quickly felt sleepy, his eyes drooping.

“Shushasha—”

“Shushasha—”

In a pleasant drowsiness, Shi Yuan heard the sound of a pen scratching on paper. He yawned again and looked up, seeing Lu Tinghan taking out a sketchbook and drawing.

Shi Yuan asked, “Are you drawing the hot spring?”

Lu Tinghan said, “I’m drawing you and also including the hot spring.”

Shi Yuan exclaimed, “Wow!” He immediately became happy, wagging his tail vigorously underwater, creating ripples.

He hadn’t been happy for long when drowsiness overwhelmed him, and his head sank little by little.

Lu Tinghan was afraid that Shi Yuan would actually faint from being immersed in the water. He would occasionally call out to Shi Yuan, receiving a muffled response before feeling relieved.

The pen tip slid across the paper, and as the sketch was nearing completion, Lu Tinghan heard a “glob glob” sound. He looked up and saw that Shi Yuan had completely disappeared.

Lu Tinghan immediately stood up. “Shi Yuan?!”

Bubbles emerged from the hot spring. “Glob, glob… glob!”

After a second, Shi Yuan surfaced from underwater, looking bewildered and coughing up water.

He had fallen asleep and ended up underwater. Lu Tinghan quickly pulled Shi Yuan up, helped him put on his clothes, and gave his forehead a gentle flick.

Shi Yuan massaged his forehead and sat beside the hot spring, being fed two large compressed biscuits by Lu Tinghan.

He asked, “Where will we sleep tonight?”

Lu Tinghan replied, “Let’s go back to the No.4 instrument.”

“Okay.”

After finishing the biscuits, the two of them returned to the vicinity of the No.4 instrument.

Lu Tinghan set up the tent. Monsters rustled and roamed through the woods, the cold wind howled, and the temperature suddenly dropped by over ten degrees. The two of them huddled together for the night—Shi Yuan had just soaked in the hot spring, feeling warm all over. He rolled into Lu Tinghan’s embrace, and the chill outside immediately disappeared.

Lu Tinghan said, “Don’t soak next time. I told you it would make you dizzy.”

“I didn’t get dizzy; I just fell asleep.”

“It’s all because of the hot water, same principle.”

“Okay,” Shi Yuan said again. “It would be great if we could soak in the hot spring together. In movies, they always splash water at each other for fun. There are so many things I want to do with you.”

Lu Tinghan didn’t say anything, just pinched Shi Yuan’s face and smiled.

After soaking in the hot spring, it was easy to feel drowsy. Shi Yuan slept particularly fast—usually, he could fall asleep within ten seconds of closing his eyes, but today it only took him five seconds, doubling his speed.

They woke up the next day, and the sky was still pitch black. They had breakfast, checked the remaining instruments, completed their mission in the afternoon, and began the journey back.

Shi Yuan walked through the woods, one foot deep and one foot shallow, saying, “What happened these past two days? It’s so dark, it wasn’t like this in the previous years. I hope — I hope it’ll be bright tomorrow.”

“Hmm,” Lu Tinghan replied.

They trekked all the way back home. This time, Shi Yuan didn’t get any souvenirs, only Lu Tinghan’s sketch: rocks and lush plants, steaming hot springs, and a black-haired young man resting by the shore, with water droplets glistening on his hair.

Shi Yuan was very satisfied with the painting and hung it by his bedside to admire it every day.

In the following days, the sky remained dark. Lu Tinghan and Professor Zhou recorded this phenomenon and reported it to the Alliance, but no one could explain it.

Zhou Qian said, “It’s another unprecedented occurrence, reminding me of the polar night. Strange indeed. At the bottom of the abyss, I have so many questions. I really wish to know the answers now, all the answers.”

Lu Tinghan asked, “Can they figure it out?”

Zhou Qian smiled and said, “It’s too late. I can’t, but they can.”

It wasn’t the first time either. The world held too many unknowns, waiting for humanity to measure them one by one with the passage of time, eventually submitting their answers.

This pitch-black environment was perfect for sleeping.

On the days Lu Tinghan didn’t have to go out, Shi Yuan slept like a log, holding onto his tail.

A whole month passed, and everyone believed that the darkness would continue indefinitely, including Shi Yuan.

Until one night, he heard the sound of thunder.

More accurately, it was the sound of an explosion.

Shi Yuan was stunned for a few seconds, then got up and ran to the observation room. In front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, he looked up and saw flickering starlight in the dark abyss mist, almost like an illusion.

Shi Yuan’s eyes widened and ran to find someone, shouting, “Lu Tinghan! Lu Tinghan!”

Lu Tinghan was packing his backpack when Shi Yuan rushed in and pulled him to the window. Their heads were close together, and with every explosion, the sky was filled with a new burst of colorful light.

They knew that within that dark misty abyss, there was a tiny universe.

The feeling now was like… after the universe dimmed for several days, a new round of explosions began, and the stars were born amidst the resounding booms.

After watching for a few minutes, Shi Yuan suddenly said, “I’m going to call the others!”

He ran to Qi Hong and Zhou Qian’s room but found that it was pitch black through the crack in the door. It was still early, but the two of them were already asleep. The depths of the abyss were too harsh for humans; they were growing weaker and needed plenty of rest.

“Let them rest,” Lu Tinghan stood behind him and said, “This will be recorded, and it won’t hinder the research.” He ruffled Shi Yuan’s hair and smiled, “Let’s see what will happen together.”

They went back. Shi Yuan placed cushions and blankets in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, making it warm and cozy. Lu Tinghan brought over the equipment, and they sat on the cushions, wrapped in the blanket, while organizing data and admiring the bursts of light overhead.

This lasted the whole night.

In the first half of the night, the starlight wasn’t very distinct, as if viewing flowers through mist. They knew it was getting brighter; they caught glimpses of its colors, but it remained dim and blurry.

Shi Yuan was very interested, alternating between watching and dozing off with Lu Tinghan, enduring until the most exciting part of the latter half of the night: the mist gradually dissipated, and colors burst forth in rounds of dazzling brilliance. When it was brightest, the entire sky lit up, with stars swirling everywhere, and the world became brilliantly illuminated, akin to daylight.

“Wow!” Shi Yuan whispered in awe.

Lu Tinghan also paused his actions, looked up, and the universe fell into his gray-blue eyes.

The two of them silently watched for a long time. Shi Yuan said, “It’s so beautiful. How come you’re not reacting at all?”

Lu Tinghan replied, “How should I react?”

“I don’t know either.”

After thinking for a moment, Lu Tinghan also said, “Wow!”

That word came out of Lu Tinghan’s mouth, and somehow it struck Shi Yuan’s funny bone. He laughed for a long time, then leaned against Lu Tinghan and continued watching.

The cosmic explosion continued until dawn.

With one final deafening sound. This time, it wasn’t stars that exploded but a translucent white light.

In that moment, night and day intertwined, and the universe completed its rebirth.

The day broke.

Shi Yuan said, “Daytime is back.”

“Yeah. We watched the whole night.”

“But it’s beautiful.”

“Yeah,” Lu Tinghan said, “Now go to sleep.”

In the depths of the abyss, the walls of the room were filled with souvenirs. They had experienced a month-long night and now welcomed daylight again in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.