Genius Playground

Hang City, Jingshan Bamboo Public Cemetery.

Jiang Ran and Wang Hao ascended the stone steps, one by one, until they stood before Cheng Mengxue’s Tombstone.

”Is this spot okay?”

Wang Hao pointed to a grassy patch of land to the left of the Tombstone.

”It’s all stone around here. This is the only spot we can dig.”

”Yeah,” Jiang Ran nodded.

Then, Wang Hao glanced around furtively, like a thief. Once he confirmed it was safe, he shook himself out and pulled a folding shovel from his sleeve.

Although Jingshan Bamboo Public Cemetery had already removed the metal detectors at its entrance and no longer required security checks, openly carrying a shovel here was still risky. It would be all too easy to be labeled a ”grave robber” and hauled off to the police station.

CLICK. CLACK.

After assembling the folding shovel, Wang Hao bent over and started digging. He needed to dig a small pit to the left of Cheng Mengxue’s Tombstone so that Jiang Ran could bury something inside.

As scoop after scoop of damp earth was removed, the fresh, earthy scent of soil filled the air.

Jiang Ran took the glass bottle containing the letter from his pocket.

He then took a step back.

He gazed at the black-and-white photo set into the headstone, at the girl who was at once so familiar and so distant.

Suddenly, he recalled something Chi Xiaoguo had said when they first met, when she was describing the charm of film cameras—

”What’s real is real, and what’s fake is fake.”

Now, those words resonated with him deeply.

’Why had he always been so wary of the Cheng Mengxue impersonated by Li Yini? Why had he always felt the girl before him was a fake? Why was he always trying to find some flaw in her?’

’The reason was simple.’

’Because...’

’She really was a fake.’

What’s fake is fake. It can never become real, nor could it ever give Jiang Ran the feeling of authenticity.

Now, recalling that night at the Black Pearl Western Restaurant where she drank without getting drunk... the answer had actually been right in front of him all along. But faced with that nostalgic and gentle smile, something had always made him unwilling to open his eyes to the truth.

But now, all of it was over.

’The Positron Cannon still needs to be fixed.’

’The Time Travel Machine still needs to be built.’

’The deceased Cheng Mengxue... still needs to be saved.’

Just as Wang Hao had said, now that the farce was over, everything was returning to normal, back to square one. His own thoughts had become clearer and more direct.

He turned around.

He looked down toward the bottom of the stone steps.

The area was now empty, so clean it was as if nothing had ever happened.

But just a few mornings ago... that very spot had been wreathed in smoke. The haze from smoke grenades had obscured all vision, sealing away that moment in time.

Back then, the girl with the gaping hole torn in her chest, her face contorted in pain, her cheeks streaked with tear-stained grime, had begged him to save her.

Regardless of who that girl had been before, at that moment, she was definitely Cheng Mengxue.

The Cheng Mengxue who was terrified of pain, who flinched away from any sharp object, had shielded him from a sniper’s bullet to save his life.

This was the second time Cheng Mengxue had pushed him away from danger, and it was also Cheng Mengxue’s second death.

How could a person possibly die twice?

Mulling over that sentence, he found it both laughable and tragic.

”All done digging!”

Over by the grave, Wang Hao wiped the sweat from his forehead, then wiped his hands on the corner of his shirt and straightened up.

”Alright, hurry up and bury it. If someone sees us, we’re done for. They’ll definitely think we’re here to steal the ashes.”

Jiang Ran nodded, placed the glass bottle into the pit, and used his foot to push the dirt back in, helping Wang Hao fill the hole.

Afterward, Wang Hao pieced the turf back on top, poured a bottle of mineral water over it, and bounced on the spot a few times with his considerable weight, restoring the scene to its original state and covering their tracks.

”Sigh.”

Wang Hao let out a long sigh.

”I really didn’t expect that the thing that ended up saving your life would be the time capsule Xiaoxue buried all those years ago.”

”Just think, if that handwritten letter hadn’t awakened Xiaoxue’s consciousness at the last moment and made her push you away... wouldn’t you be the one buried here now? I’d have to buy two bouquets of flowers today, one for each of you.”

”Can’t you say anything decent?”

Jiang Ran frowned at him.

”Is your tongue coated in poison?”

”I’m just stating the facts!”

Wang Hao spread his hands.

”Who would’ve thought that the time capsule Xiaoxue buried as a joke over ten years ago would actually be dug up by you more than a decade later and successfully delivered to her future self.”

”I have to say... fate is a wondrous thing. Without that letter, your head would’ve been blown open for sure. You’d be dead as a doornail. Don’t act all innocent now that you’ve gotten lucky.”

”Speaking of which, who on earth did you piss off? To the point that they’d want to use a high-powered sniper rifle to kill you? What kind of heinous crime did you commit?”

Jiang Ran shook his head.

”I’d like to know that too.”

It was the truth.

More than anyone, he wanted to know why Wu Yuanzheng wanted to kill him.

The people the Regrets Mutual Aid Association had killed before were either scholars or scientists. From that perspective, he didn’t fit the bill at all.

If they were after the Positron Cannon, they could have only discovered it this semester at the earliest, but this group had already been targeting him during the summer break.

The only plausible explanation was the short film *Genius Playground*, for which he had written the script... But even if he had accidentally leaked a secret, was it necessary to kill him to silence him?

Too many people had been involved with that short film, and many had seen it. The secret was bound to get out sooner or later.

Could Wu Yuanzheng really kill all one hundred members of the film club, as well as all the judges at the film festival?

If he really had the guts to do that, then Jiang Ran would have nothing to say. After all, the man would be treating everyone equally—anyone who saw it would have to die.

But the reality was, Wu Yuanzheng was only focused on killing him. He hadn’t bothered with any of the other film club members, and he probably didn’t even care if others would actually leak the secret.