novelslam Chapter 40 The Truth
Chapter 40 The Truth
Police quickly set up a cordon and blocked off the entrance to the scenic area.
All roads leading to Yushan have been put into operation with checkpoints and temporary traffic control measures in place.
There were also some people wearing dark blue uniforms with hexagonal brooches pinned to their chests; they were probably staff members from other departments of the planning bureau.
They were whispering something to the police, firefighters, and medical staff.
The whole scene was grand and orderly, like a precisely operating machine, with each gear spinning at high speed in its own position.
Jiang Yu stood aside and watched all of this silently.
It's clear that this isn't the first time the relevant departments have collaborated with the city planning bureau.
Their teamwork was seamless and skillful, their process was clear and efficient, and there was no hesitation or delay.
It's as if this is their daily work.
The city planning bureau is the core and the driving force behind this operation.
As the one handling this anomaly, Nagihiko is the supreme commander here.
Everyone who comes here is there to follow her instructions and carry out her orders.
……
The cleanup work lasted for about an hour.
The loudspeakers in the scenic area broadcast messages over and over again, their voices echoing through the valley.
"Attention all visitors! The scenic area is temporarily closed due to an emergency safety situation. Please leave in an orderly manner and avoid crowding!"
"Please take your belongings with you, look after the elderly and children, and follow the staff's instructions to leave through the exit!"
Tourists emerged from the scenic area in twos and threes.
Everyone looked confused.
They also seemed to feel that things had happened very suddenly.
Those who had been chasing Jiang Yu like madmen were now mixed in with the crowd.
Security guard, middle-aged woman, little girl with mushroom haircut...
But the expressions on their faces were completely different from before.
The little girl with the mushroom haircut was being led by her mother, her little hand nestled obediently in her mother's palm, while her other hand held a cartoon helium balloon, which floated gently in the wind.
She looked up at Jiang Yu.
The chilling malice that had been in those big eyes was gone.
Instead, it is replaced by a childlike innocence…
And a look that held a hint of curiosity.
It seemed like she was wondering, "Huh? Who's this older brother? Why is he staring at me?"
Then she turned her head away and continued to stare at the helium balloon in her hand, humming an off-key nursery rhyme.
As Jiang Yu watched the little girl's retreating figure, a feeling he couldn't quite describe welled up inside him.
Those tourists who were so frenzied and savage just now, who seemed ready to tear him apart...
Are they really the same group of people who are calmly leaving now?
What exactly happened to them?
Is it...
Are these people the shills for the scenic area?
What the hell is this "core" that my master mentioned?
Evidence of illegal construction?
So that's why these people were so agitated just now?
Jiang Yu felt like his brain was a complete mess.
It all started when I met Nagi this morning…
Everything was like a wild horse, galloping headlong in a direction he couldn't comprehend.
He tried to connect these incomprehensible things...
But no matter how they tried, they couldn't be linked together.
"I'm gone."
Nagi's voice pulled him back from his reverie.
"Okay."
Jiang Yu followed Nagi down the mountain with her bare bottom exposed.
The road was deserted; all the tourists had been evacuated.
All staff at the ticket windows evacuated.
The vendors selling balloons and bubble machines along the roadside also packed up and left.
Only a few crushed plastic bottles and a few torn tickets were left rolling on the ground.
When we reached the foot of the mountain…
Jiang Yu couldn't help but turn around and take a look.
The mountain is still the same mountain.
Lush, verdant trees stretch from the foot of the mountain all the way to the summit, layer upon layer…
The cable car and viewing platform are still there, but there are no tourists.
The scenic area, which was bustling just moments ago, was "sealed off" in the blink of an eye.
It took less than two hours for the noise to turn into complete silence.
A feeling of regret and absurdity suddenly welled up in Jiang Yu's heart.
Such a large-scale scenic area, gone just like that.
So...
No matter what you do, you must abide by the law.
Otherwise, all your efforts will be in vain.
The tourists are the ones who suffer the most.
I spent 100 yuan to buy a ticket to come in and enjoy the scenery...
They were completely unaware that the place they had entered was an illegal tourist attraction.
……
The two returned to the parking lot via the same route they had taken.
When I got to the car...
Jiang Yu was stunned.
He stared at the car in front of him, his eyes wide as saucers.
"Wait... what's going on?"
A black Audi A8 was parked in front of them…
But it wasn't the car we drove here.
The car I drove here was an older model A8, manual transmission, with rather boxy body lines and headlights that had a slightly outdated rectangular design.
The interior is dark brown, but you can tell it's been around for a while; the leather on the steering wheel is worn and shiny.
But this car in front of me…
It's the latest A8 model this year.
The car body has smooth lines, and the headlights are sharp yet elegant matrix LEDs.
The grille is wider and lower, making the front of the car look both composed and fierce.
The wheels have also been changed from the old 17-inch wheels to 20-inch matte black forged wheels.
The center console, which used to be covered with densely packed physical buttons, has now been replaced by a large screen.
Jiang Yu walked around the car once...
At first, he thought he had mistaken the car for another one.
But the license plate remained unchanged.
It's the same license plate number as this morning.
and…
The fluffy white seat cushion on the driver's seat is still there.
There are even exaggerated butt prints left by Nagihiko after she sat on the cushion.
The seat angle hasn't changed; it's still the same angle that Nagihiko adjusted this morning.
Female drivers' seats tend to be positioned further forward.
However, Nagi is quite large, and if she sits too far forward, she will hit the steering wheel, so her seat is positioned further back.
Jiang Yu remembers this very clearly.
Nagi walked to the car and opened the door.
Her movements were casual, and she didn't notice the change in the car at all.
Or perhaps she noticed it but didn't take it seriously at all.
Jiang Yu felt his brain boiling.
"Sister Guang, this car..."
"Can you drive?" Nagi interrupted him.
"meeting…"
Jiang Yu got his driver's license during summer vacation when he was in college.
Moreover, he was a truck driver in his previous life, and his driving skills were superb.
"You can drive when we get back, I'm too tired."
After saying that, Nagi Hikari tossed the car keys to Jiang Yu.
Jiang Yu took the car keys and looked at them…
The car key was also changed to the key for the new A8.
It's nothing like the old-fashioned kind that you have to twist in the morning.
Nagi Hikaru plopped down in the back seat.
Seeing Jiang Yu holding the keys but not getting into the car, she looked puzzled.
"What are you standing there for?"
"Guang-jie, haven't you...didn't you notice? This car...it's changed!"
Jiang Yu's voice unconsciously rose eight octaves: "When we came here this morning, you were driving an older model A8, a manual! How come you're driving a new A8 now?"
Nagi glanced at him, a playful smile flashing in her peach blossom eyes.
"What's so strange about that? The anomaly has been resolved."
"The anomaly has been resolved... What does it have to do with the car?"
"Of course it's related."
Nagi said calmly, "It's the same principle as only a few people in the world knowing about the fifty-six ethnic groups and the fifty-six flowers."
Jiang Yu: "..."
This was the first question on yesterday's written test.
He chose "ethnicity".
But everyone around me chose "zodiac sign".
He thought he was wrong at the time, but Lin Wei said he got a perfect score.
This is a case of the minority defeating the majority…
"So...it's not that I remembered wrong, it's that this car really did go from being an old car to a new car?"
"yes."
Nagi pointed to her feet: "Look, the clutch is gone. I kept pressing the clutch this morning, and now my feet feel completely empty. Do you think you're mistaken?"
"Then...then why is this happening?!" Jiang Yu asked in shock.
"You're almost at the top of the ladder, why are you making such a fuss?"
"..."
Are you still struggling with whether you are truly yourself?
Nagi's last sentence completely shut Jiang Yu down.
He clearly recognizes all the words...
But when they were put together, he couldn't understand a word.
"What do you mean by 'Am I really myself?'"
Can I not be myself?
Who else could I be?
Seeing Jiang Yu's bewildered expression, Nagi patted him on the shoulder.
His tone carried the comforting words of someone who had been there for a while, for a newbie.
Don't worry about the details.
"Just remember, the truth is always in the hands of a minority."
"Whether you are yourself or not, you will always be one of the few who possess the truth."
"On this point, there is no doubt."
"Those things that suddenly 'refresh' are not because you remembered them wrong."
"You're not sick; there's nothing wrong with your mental health."
"They shouldn't exist in the first place."
"..."
At this moment, Jiang Yu felt his worldview collapsing.
Because what Nagi said was like a key.
This key unlocked the deepest door in his heart.
That was a door he thought no one would ever open!
Inside the door were all the things that appeared out of thin air.
wrong!
Those who thought he was mentally ill were wrong!
He did nothing wrong!!!
What just happened was not an illusion!
Everything is true!
Jiang Yu felt as if a wrongful conviction had been redressed.
That feeling brought tears to his eyes…
After a long time, he finally regained his voice.
"Guangjie, I want to ask you something..."
"Ask away."
"When I was in high school, a boy named Liang Zhichao suddenly appeared in my class. Everyone said he was my deskmate and we were classmates for two years, but I didn't know him at all..."
He paused for a moment, his throat tightening slightly.
"And also, my younger sister Jiang Ning..."
"No, she's not my sister. She just suddenly appeared in my house too!"
Everyone says my brother and I grew up together and have a very close relationship…
"But I have no memory of her whatsoever!"
"Like Liang Zhichao, she appeared out of nowhere, right?"
Nagi did not answer.
The carriage was unusually quiet.
"Guang Jie?"
Jiang Yu called out again, but there was still no response.
He bent down and looked...
Nagi Hikaru is already asleep.
She leaned back in the back seat, her head tilted to one side, her breathing even and deep.
The collar of her trench coat was slightly open, rising and falling gently with her breath.
She was sleeping very soundly.
That kind of deep sleep where the body is forcibly recharged after being overdrawn.
Jiang Yu looked at her peaceful sleeping face, wanted to say something but then shut his mouth.
Firstly, the fatigue on Nagi's face wasn't feigned; she genuinely needed rest.
Secondly, in this situation, you can't wake them up by calling out to them.
He grabbed her shoulders and shook her violently.
After shaking him for a long time, they still couldn't wake him up.
They're sleeping so soundly!
Why won't he wake up even after all this?
Forget it.
We can only let her sleep and ask her again when she wakes up.
Jiang Yu got into the driver's seat, adjusted the seat, turned on his phone's navigation, fastened his seatbelt, and started the car...
……
Jiang Yu drove very fast on the way back.
He wanted to get back to the planning bureau as soon as possible and get everything sorted out.
Through Nagi's words, he finally understood all the extra things that had appeared since he was a child—the ginkgo tree, the bridge, the basketball court, the scenic spot, Liang Zhichao, Jiang Ning…
These people and events did not always exist.
They appeared out of thin air!
The questions were the same as the ones he took during his physical exam yesterday.
What most people consider correct is actually wrong.
No, perhaps it's not what he "thinks".
Or has most people's memories been rewritten?
Or rather...
Has the entire world's memory been rewritten?
The series of chain reactions caused by the addition of a younger sister in the family is not as simple as the rewriting of memories.
The layout of the house has changed, the rent has changed, the interpersonal relationships have changed...
Why wasn't his memory rewritten?
Why are his memories from childhood to adulthood always "correct"?
What was with that bloody scene today, and what about the half-brain he vomited out?
Was he knocked out of his mind after hitting a tree, or what?
and also…
What exactly is the relationship between the city planning bureau and these things?
Or…
Is he really mentally ill?
Just like the saying "Those who reveal heavenly secrets are all plagued by five deficiencies and three lacks"?
Jiang Yu held the steering wheel with one hand and rubbed his temples with the other.
No, the more I think about it, the more confused I get.
The only thing that's certain now is that this planning bureau is definitely not ordinary.
Moreover, the planning bureau must have some connection to the truth.
just now…
He's about to find out the truth.