“Sob sob sob…”
Youyou finally broke down. He threw himself at her and circled his arms around her waist as tears streamed down his face. “I’m Youyou! Mommy, how can you not recognize Youyou?! Mommy, I’m Youyou!”
“I said you got the wrong person!”
Yun Shishi pushed him away with all her might. Youyou lost his balance and stumbled backwards, and then felt himself falling into the abyss.
“Arghhhh…”
The boy cried in despair. “Don’t… Don’t abandon me! Don’t abandon me…”
…
When he woke, the sky was gray and overcast with dark clouds. It looked like the end of the world.
Standing on the gloomy grassland, Youyou slowly strode forward and looked at the endless stretch of green. His body fell limply to the ground as he knelt there weakly and dejectedly.
He heard the woman’s voice again, asking him, “Who are you?”
Exhausted, the boy looked up and opened his eyes. The dark clouds overhead was a reflection of his gray inner world.
“Who am I?” He opened his parched lips and muttered, “Who am I?”
He could no longer remember…
He felt as if he had just had an exhausting dream. When he woke up, he had no idea where he was.
“What’s your name?” The woman asked again patiently, “What’s your name?”
Youyou’s eyes widened in confusion and despair as he muttered to himself, “What’s my name?”
“What do you see?”
The boy looked around and shook his head. “I don’t know.”
The grass on the grassland continued to wither, and in an instant, heavy rain poured down. In the rain, he struggled to open his eyes, allowing the rain water to run into them, stinging them painfully.
In the rain, an unfamiliar man walked over. He stood in front of Youyou and bowed slightly.
The boy looked at him in confusion but did not react.
“Do you know him?”
“No.” The boy shook his head. “Who is he?”
“He’s from the Mu family.”
“The Mu family?”
“His name is Mu Yazhe.”
Youyou repeated the name silently, feeling a strange emotion as he did so.
“Do you hate him?”
The boy rubbed his eyes as tears rolled down his cheeks. He wasn’t sure why he was crying, but when he heard the woman’s voice, he murmured doubtfully, “Should I hate him?”
The man gradually disappeared.
In an instant, the world around him changed.
Youyou stood up. Everywhere he looked was dark and endless. There was boiling magma below and a pile of bones in the middle. An eerie sense of fear took root in him.
“Do you remember your name?”
“I don’t know…” The boy shook his head.” I don’t know anything…”
“So what do you know?”
Trembling, the boy hugged himself tightly and replied, “All I know is that I’m alone—”
Alone. He was all alone.
“You’re not alone.”
The boy looked up in disbelief.
“You have a name.”
“I have a name?”
He stood up and retorted, “Liar! I don’t have a name! I don’t have a name!”
“You have a name.”
The woman spoke unhurriedly, “Your name is…”
…
In the darkness, along with a hoarse gasp, a pair of fear-filled eyes snapped open. A ray of moonlight shot into those eyes, causing the pupils to contract violently.
The incandescent light overhead swayed rhythmically, but a pitch black surrounded him. Under the dim light, the lonely shadows tugged at him, it was almost suffocating.
After waking from the nightmare, the fear in the child’s eyes gradually faded and regained focus. In an instant, his expression became cold and calm.