The Lost Tomb : Sea Of Sands

Chapter 111: Plan

Wu Xie slowly and clearly described his plan in front of Li Cu. The language and logic were very clear, and he spoke very patiently. It was completely different from the previous narration, making it obvious that Wu Xie had rehearsed the plan countless times, and thought about how best to narrate it so that it was efficient and clear.

Li Cu listened patiently, unable to do anything besides passively listen to the information. Based on his previous character, he might have been bored and tuned it all out, but in today's situation, he had no other choice besides understanding and digesting it.

Little by little, he learned what Wu Xie wanted to do.

Even with the simplest language and most efficient narration, Li Cu was still surprised when Wu Xie talked about the relationship between those first steps and his real purpose. When all was said and done, Wu Xie's explanation connected all of those seemingly illogical things into a single line, causing Li Cu to start breaking out in goosebumps.

He began fear the man who said this all so indifferently, as if everything coming out of his mouth was just a game.

With so many people involved, and so many meaningless sacrifices regardless of the cost, it was definitely a crazy plan. But at the same time, all of those meaningless actions would play a role at the last moment.

He thought of fate, and remembered what the middle-aged man had said about it.

Wu Xie was also creating a kind of fate. He knew the opponent's methods, and had learned how to use them.

He and Wu Xie stared at each other before he finally fell into silent darkness. As the pressure around him slowly disappeared, he started to feel the cold again, along with the pain in his knee, and the stinging of his rotting flesh.

His brain's compulsive inertial thinking [1] slowly disappeared, and he finally became able to think about some of the problems. He could even judge and feel doubt again.

He started to realize that he was about to wake up.

Wu Xie's two choices clearly appeared in his mind, and he knew there wasn't much time. He had to make a choice before the darkness faded.

Did he want to help Wu Xie, or come to a compromise with these strange people around him?

Li Cu didn't hesitate much, and made his decision almost instantly.

Wu Xie hadn't done anything to hurt him this whole time. Li Cu had been very disgusted by this cheap-mouthed, gloomy, and psychotic person in the beginning, but once he thought about it, Wu Xie never really did anything to hurt him.

The first thing these fuckers did, however, was force a snake bite him, without even giving him a chance to catch his breath.

There were oppressive strangers on one side who seemed to have some training, while the other side had a psychotic freak.

He didn't know why, but deep down in his heart, Li Cu didn't like the former very much. He actually preferred the sloppy, troubled Wu Xi more, because he felt that they were kind of similar and he could empathize with that kind of despair.

Li Cu didn't cherish his own life, and didn't even know what a good life was. He didn't know why, but in his few childhood memories, even the sunny weather was depressing and painful for him.

He had been thinking about how to find his own way out, or where his happiness was, or even how to teach himself to be happy.

He usually liked to sprint down the soccer field and shoot long-range outside the penalty area, which was far different from Su Wan's fondness for teasing the goalkeepers. His heart was suffering, he had no way out, no hope, and no idea of what he was living for. He didn't have the luxury to play with a bit of elegance and grace, because it was only in that short moment when he reached the goal that he felt a hint of pleasure.

If ordinary children could trick themselves into going to school and taking exams for their parents' sake, then he didn't even have that basic motivation. As a result, he despaired over the meaning of his existence, just like an old man.

To put it bluntly, he hated his fate, but he never knew that he could still put up a resistance.

He liked Wu Xie's setup. The plan made his hair stand on end, but he expected to succeed.

Of course, there was also logic, which told him that Wu Xie was controllable. No matter what crazy things he did, Li Cu could see Wu Xie's inner simplicity and suffering, and knew he was a weak person. His skills might have been incredible, but the final analysis showed that he was weak.

From all of the eyes around him right now, he only saw indifference.

He was an important key factor in Wu Xie's plan, while he was nothing in the eyes of these black-clad men.

What finally made him come to a decision was his own way of thinking—he hated orderly things, such as the school curriculum and all the responsibilities he had faced in the past.

The decision was made very quickly, and he opened his eyes. The pain started to surge up rapidly, and his mind became more and more awake.

He didn't realize that these decisions weren't actually inadvertent. While he was talking with Wu Xie, there were many things in Wu Xie's heart that had already begun to affect him.

He didn't realize that his eyes were a little strange, and if he could look in a mirror, he would surely feel that his state was quite familiar.

"Tell me, what do you know?" The leader of the black-clad people looked down at Li Cu.

Li Cu sat up and looked at him, hesitating for a moment before he suddenly smiled and said the first sentence Wu Xie had taught him to say: "Someone has a message for you." Li Cu said, "You'll all be killed."

On this day, Wu Xie was making his way to Motuo. His thoughts were drifting along indeterminately, the large volume too distracting for his mind to focus. As the designer of the "maze" in which all of his friends and opponents were already trapped in, he no longer interfered with fate, but there was one last thing left for him to do.

On this day, Beijing was silent. Xiuxiu and her group's life and death were uncertain. Under the greatest pressure, they faced not only unknown enemies, but also the empires they had built in the past. They were isolated, and seemed to be facing a doomed, tragic ending.

On this day, Xie Yuchen disappeared into the vast sea of people for three days, the fog surrounding him still far from unfolding. In the future, what role would he— who was acting independently of Wu Xie's plan— play as the biggest destabilizing factor?

On this day, Liang Wan continued to walk towards the core of the desert ruins. She didn't know what fate was waiting for her, nor did she know where she would end up as Xie Yuchen's pawn.

On this day, Black Glasses was suffering from an illness, Yang Hao had disappeared, and Su Wan was facing a breakdown.

On this day, Li Cu opened his eyes, and Wu Xie successfully cleared one stage of his plans.

On this day, in some dark underground beneath the earth, a silent young man seemed to feel the earth-shaking changes taking place in the outside world. He rarely felt such a peculiar thing.

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Note:

[1] It's psychology stuff. This says "lack of motivation to generate distinct cognitive processes needed to attend to a problem or issue". Basically, Li Cu was being forced to be all chill and take everything in stride/not give a shit because that's how the snake was. Let's just say he had a forced laissez-faire attitude.