Star Trace Gate

The sound of reading under the moonlight gradually faded away.

The scenes rotated, and the consciousness of Ren Ye and the other five people once again followed Song An's perspective and returned to a certain day in the past.

It was a sunny day on the way home from school.

Look at Song An, who was only five or six years old, eating ice cream with big mouthfuls, hanging a dirty schoolbag on one shoulder in a nonchalant manner, looking around at the scenery on the street.

Behind him, his younger brother Song Yi, wearing a clean and tidy school uniform, walked towards home without looking around and at a leisurely pace.

"Hello, Song Yi."

Song An bit his ice cream and suddenly shouted, "Do you have any money?"

"What are you going to do now?" Song Yi looked at them helplessly: "We haven't finished our homework today, so we have to go back early."

On the street, the mischievous Song An took advantage of a store owner's inattention and threw an ice cream stick into the store, dirtying the floor.

He stepped forward, his eyes bright as he said, "...You forgot, today is Dad's birthday."

"I haven't forgotten." Song Yi replied calmly.

"Take out the money, let's go to the cake shop and buy a cake for Dad to give him a surprise, okay?!" Song An might have had a sudden inspiration or a whim, but in any case, he said this without any prior preparation.

Children's thoughts are jumping and their learning ability is strong. They may read an extracurricular book or even a commercial during the day and then feel that they should also honor their parents, win their love, and go home to wash their parents' feet or give them a massage.

The same goes for Song An. He made this decision purely at that moment.

"How about we give him a surprise together?" Song An became more and more excited the more he thought about it.

Song Yi looked at him, his small eyes very calm: "But Dad, I don't like surprises...!"

"You're so stupid!" Song An felt helpless towards this stupid brother. He always felt that he was too dull and rigid. "What father in the world doesn't like his son to celebrate his birthday? Come on, let's go together."

"But……!"

"Song Yi, when dad praises us, you can't say that I didn't pay! We bought this cake together, and I will definitely return my share of the money to you." Song An did not forget to give his brother a shot of prevention as he grabbed his brother and ran away.

Song Yi pouted and replied: "You always lie to me. You will never pay me back, but it doesn't matter... You are my brother."

"I didn't lie to you. I will definitely pay it back this time."

The two brothers ran in the sunshine, sweating and panting, and entered a cake shop.

……

In the evening, at home.

Song An put down his schoolbag stealthily, walked slowly to the door of his father's study, and said softly: "Hey, he doesn't seem to be at home."

"We'll just wait a moment."

The first thing Song Yi did when he entered the house was to go to the bathroom to wash his hands and face and take care of his personal hygiene.

Song An looked at his father's study and suddenly felt curious.

He and his brother had never entered this study room. Even when his mother wanted to see his father for something, she would knock on the door from outside and would never barge in.

Children are all interested in unknown things, and Song An is no exception. He is very curious about what his father is busy with and doing in the study every day.

"Squeak."

Song An tried to push it, but unexpectedly the door slowly opened.

He poked his head into the room and saw that the lights were bright, the furnishings were neat and tidy, and there were even steaming cups of tea on the long table.

"Brother, brother, Dad's study is open...!" Song An turned around and called, "Bring the cake in, we'll hide inside, turn off the lights, and give him a surprise."

In the bathroom, Song Yi immediately rushed out to stop them, saying, "Dad won't let us enter the study room, come out quickly."

"What are you afraid of? We won't do anything else... come here...!" Song An was purely curious and wanted to go in and take a look, but in his heart, the oppressive feeling of his father was too strong. He didn't dare to go in himself, so he thought of dragging his younger brother to take the blame with him.

Song Yi hesitated for a moment, then immediately replied: "Dad said that meaningless blind obedience will only get you into trouble. Come out now...!"

"I'll just take a look, hehe."

Song An said this with a smile, and sneaked into the study room.

Song Yi rushed over at a trot, and stopped in front of the study door. He turned around awkwardly, trying not to look at the scene inside the study: "Brother, you are itching again, aren't you?"

Song An did not reply, but just stood in the study, looking around, with some disappointment in his eyes, because there was nothing special here, just a large collection of books and some personal belongings.

This is undoubtedly boring for children.

Song An took a few glances, then turned and was about to leave.

But at this moment, his peripheral vision accidentally swept across the long table, and he saw a peculiarly shaped photo album.

The cover of the album was yellow, and it was painted with all kinds of weird symbols, like the Taoist symbols you would see when someone dies.

Song An was attracted by the photo album. He turned around and walked to the long table. He reached out and picked up the album, and gently opened the first page that changed his life.

"brush!"

As the album was opened, one specially marked photo after another appeared in Song An's eyes.

Dead people...The photos are full of dead people lying in the mourning hall and next to the portraits, including men, women, young and old.

The ground was covered with yellow paper and millet, which Bai Ling had placed in the corner of the room. The bed was covered in blood, and in every photo, there was a bloody animal head.

In the photo, each room was extremely dark. With the white candles lit, the corpses looked scary and weird under the dim light...

"what--!!!"

When Song An saw these photos, he was so frightened that his soul left his body. The album in his hand fell to the ground unconsciously and closed by itself.

He looked down and saw a handwritten title on the album: "Song Mingzhe's Photo Album of Craftsmanship".

A chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head. Song An shivered and suddenly turned around to run out of the study.

"Oh!"

There was a muffled sound, and Song An felt that he had bumped into someone.

He sat down on the ground and looked up, only to see his father holding some tools for developing photos and looking down at him calmly.

Song An's mind went blank, and countless fragmented images emerged frantically, the mourning hall, the dead, yellow paper, white wax... and the owner of the photo album, standing right in front of him.

"Who let you in?!" Song Mingzhe asked calmly while holding the bag.

"I...I...Dad, I want to give you a surprise!!"

At this moment, Song An felt like he was about to die. His young body suddenly got up from the ground and ran out of the study: "Dad... Dad, today is your birthday, we prepared a gift."

Because he was too nervous, Song An fell to the ground at least two or three times before he ran back to the living room.

Song Mingzhe just stood there, watching him leave, and then saw him run back holding a small cake.

"Dad... Dad... Happy birthday." Song An's voice trembled, his breathing became rapid, and he tried his best to show a smile that was uglier than crying.

Song Mingzhe glanced at him, bent down to pick up the photo album on the ground, and gently placed it on the table.

Song An seemed to be afraid to breathe, and his face turned red.

Song Mingzhe put his things down, turned around, slowly squatted down and asked: "Did I ever tell you not to touch other people's things casually? Before entering someone else's room, you must knock on the door first and get their consent before you can enter?!"

“Dad…Dad, I…I was wrong, but I just wanted to give you a surprise.”

"Why are you always so reckless and impolite?!"

There was almost no change on Song Mingzhe's face. He just slowly raised his arm, took the cake, and threw it into the trash can with a snap.

Song An raised his arms, maintaining the posture of delivering the cake, and shivered.

"Snapped!"

Song Mingzhe stood up, grabbed his son's collar with one hand, lifted him up in the air, and walked to the balcony.

Inside the room, Song Yi closed the door and was also shivering, but he did not go out. Perhaps he knew he could do nothing.

On the balcony, Song An was so scared that he wet his pants and explained softly: "Dad... Dad... I didn't see anything. The album fell to the ground when you came in."

Song Mingzhe was slightly stunned when he heard this, and his eyes finally became sharp. He bent down, pointed at the balcony door and said, "You must learn to be polite and respect others! Just stand here and knock on the door. Knock once and shout, 'Can I come in?' You must knock with your right hand and keep knocking until I feel... you remember what happened today, then it's over."

"Understand?"

He asked softly.

Song An looked at him, his mind full of the dead people and the mourning hall in the photo, and he almost subconsciously replied: "I...I know."

“Don’t be lazy this time!!”

Song Mingzhe said coldly and turned away.

A few seconds later, a knock on the balcony sounded.

"Tuk tuk...!"

"May I come inside?!"

"Tuk tuk...!"

His father had taught him a lesson so many times, but only this time did Song An get really scared and really collapse. He didn't dare to be lazy or slack off for a moment. He just knocked on the balcony door mechanically and kept shouting, "Can I come in?"

Time passes slowly.

Ten minutes later, Song An's right hand had become swollen, and severe pain came from the joints of three fingers.

But my father still didn't stop and still didn't forgive me.

Every time he wanted to stop and get rid of the pain, he would think of the horrific scenes in the TV series.

So, I can only keep knocking.

One hour, two hours...

I don’t know how long it took, but my skin was rubbed against the door panel and became ulcerated, with the flesh turned inside out and blood oozing out.

The raised areas on the three knuckles were flattened and deformed by the constant knocking on the door...

The moonlight poured into the balcony. Little Song An could no longer speak. There was white foam and blood bubbles in his mouth. His consciousness was blurred and his right hand was covered in blood.

From that day on, Song An behaved more obediently than Song Yi in front of his father.

A few months later, not long after Song An entered school, he was investigated by a psychologist... He had serious violent tendencies.

……

The scene changed again, and Ren Ye and the other five people saw a prison room again in their consciousness.

After the explosion of Tiangong Building, Song An's father broke one of his legs and locked him on the bed in the prison room.

He looked like a skeleton, with a dull look on his face.

"Squeak...!"

At some point, the door slowly opened and a thin figure walked in.

Song An looked against the light and saw that it was Song Yi who walked in carrying a bunch of food, daily necessities, and some entertainment products such as game consoles.

He was stunned for a moment, then he said with great joy: "Brother, brother, save me...!"

Song Yi stood in the shadows: "I can't save you, but I can accompany you, brother...!"

At this point, Song An's scenes all ended.

【Congratulations everyone, you have successfully completed Song An's retrospection. 】

[Congratulations to all players, you have successfully passed the test of Tiangong Building and can leave here in five minutes. ]

"...!"

[Congratulations, Comrade Sandbag, you have successfully participated in three retracings. You have activated the special reward for refining the Fiery Sun Fire, which will be used as a boost in your decisive battle.]

[The fire in Tiangong Building buried countless innocent souls; the flames seemed to still reflect the reflections of the tragic deaths...]

[The magical power of the Lieyang Tiangong Fire: Reflection of Burning Corpses. In the final battle, you can use the reflection of the fire to summon the dead corpses in the Tiangong Building to help you.]