From the end of the world

Chapter 281 The True Face of Xiaowan 1
Ma Zao summoned up another telepathic photo and closed his eyes, seemingly concentrating on imagining the appearance of the small bowl.

There is no need to be so attentive just to print the imagined picture on the telegraphed photo. This matter is obviously very important to her, so she is very likely to strive for perfection and not allow the picture she prints on the telegraphed photo to have even a ten-thousandth deviation.

After a few seconds, a portrait appeared on the blank reading photo. Ma Zao opened his eyes again and looked down, confirming the information repeatedly as if he was filling out an important form.

After a moment, she solemnly handed the photo to me.

I took it and looked at the portrait in the photo. This was the first time I saw Xiaowan's true face. Until now, Xiaowan had always communicated with me in the form of a shadow in the virtual world, and in my impression it was always covered with a vague veil. At this moment, this veil was finally removed with the help of Ma Zao, and its true face was exposed to my eyes. I actually felt a little impatient.

The first person who appeared in the photo was, as expected, a little girl around ten years old.

She has neatly trimmed black medium-length hair, fair and delicate skin, and a lovely face. She wears goggles around her neck, a young figure that has not yet entered puberty, and dark brown clothes and pants that are suitable for activities in ruins and the wild, reminiscent of an explorer.

She is well-behaved, quiet, and fragile, but you can feel that beneath her weak appearance is a calm and strong soul.

I tried to fit the little girl in the photo with the little bowl in my memory, just like putting the last piece of a puzzle into place. The little girl whose name, temperament, and past I knew but whose face I didn't know, finally became complete in my heart. Perhaps it was not until this moment that I really knew her.

No, maybe there is still something that is not satisfied. I don't want to get to know her in a rough way, but I want to meet her and communicate with her in person. I want to see her talk to me in her true self, and I also want to get in close contact with her in her true self.

I must admit that in the past I only regarded the small bowl as a "prop" to retain Ma Zao, but unknowingly, I also developed a slight sense of closeness to the little girl who was struggling to survive in the doomsday era.

I wanted to help her - I was sure that this was not just a spur-of-the-moment thought.

“Later we can make more copies of this photo and ask Zhu Shi and others to help look for other amnesia patients with the same appearance,” I said.

Ma Zao nodded vigorously, then seemed to remember something and hesitated to speak.

"Do you have any other questions?"

As I asked, I continued to look at the small bowl in the photo, and some thoughts remained in my mind on how to effectively use its appearance information to "find the corresponding amnesia patient." Give it to Zhu Shi and the others first... Zhu Shi... Zhu Shi?
Zhu Shi's face flashed in my mind, as if it was a hint. I looked at the small bowl in the photo again and again. I don't know if I'm overthinking it, but the small bowl seems to have some similarities with Zhu Shi. No, it's not that I'm overthinking, it's just that they're similar.

At first glance, it may be difficult to tell them apart, because Xiao Wan and Zhu Shi are not only very different in their development, but also in their temperaments, or in their facial features. "Appearance" is different from "facial features", the latter of which includes many abstract and impressionistic elements.

Xiaowan's face makes people feel well-behaved and quiet, and at the same time, she seems to have a lot of wisdom. At first glance, she is a quick thinker, good at learning and asking questions, but she will not deliberately show off her intelligence. She is very spiritual and willing to take care of other people's emotions. Maybe it's because I know her situation and how much she cares about others, so I can't help but think that she is a sensible and distressing child.

Zhu Shi is like a heroic knight, strong, kind, and sometimes stubborn. Although he has a gentle side, he will never hesitate when it comes to making decisions, and will not hesitate to give the final blow to the enemy on the battlefield.

If Xiaowan is soft on the outside and strong on the inside, then Zhu Shi is strong on the outside and soft on the inside; they are two completely opposite poles.

However, Zhu Shi also had a time when she acted tender and gentle in front of others, that was when she pretended to be a powerless female college student. The Zhu Shi I met a long time ago - not that long ago, actually - was in that state.

She occasionally talked to me about herself at that time, saying that she "acted a bit like a green tea on purpose, and her voice was deliberately hoarse". Although looking back now, her acting skills at that time were not without stiff parts, and her image in my mind has gradually changed from "Zhu Shi, who is as gentle as an ink painting" to "Zhu Shi, a decisive demon hunter", but if "Zhu Shi" and Xiao Wan are compared together, the similar feeling - at least on the surface, is higher.

Ma Zao probably had never seen Zhu Shi in the form of Junior Sister Zhu, otherwise she might have said that they looked very similar.

Thinking of this, I suddenly recalled the conversation that Ma Zao had with Zhu Shi after he first met Zhu Shi.

——Have we met somewhere before?

——Why are you asking this suddenly? ——I feel like I've seen your face somewhere...

Perhaps seeing my strange expression, Ma Zao finally said what he wanted to say: "Zhuang Cheng... Do you also think that Xiao Wan and Zhu Shi are a bit similar?"

"Isn't this somewhat similar? I think there is definitely some kind of relationship between Xiao Wan and Zhu Shi."

Although there is no evidence, I still used strong words. I don't believe this coincidence is just a coincidence, especially since this matter is not unrelated to Ma Zao, which further deepens my suspicion. There must be a potential causal relationship.

Now it was Ma Zao who felt a little unconfident: "Are they really that similar?"

"Have you done any research in this direction?" I asked.

It seems that the similarity between Xiaowan and Zhu Shi in Ma Zao's mind is not high enough to sound the alarm, but she still said this: "I privately asked Zhu Shi if she had any relatives with children who were close to Xiaowan's age and suffered from amnesia, but she said no. Not only did no one meet both conditions, but no one even met one of the conditions."

Considering that Mr. Zhu had killed all his brothers and sisters of his generation, I even suspected that Zhu Shi not only had no "children of relatives who met the requirements", but he didn't even know if he had any "relatives".

Ma Zao seemed to have thought of the same thing and had a strange expression on his face.

"Is that so? But considering that the apocalypse may be in the future, maybe these are not children who exist now, but children who will be born in the future..." I speculated.

She looked at my expression and followed my line of reasoning: "Born in the future... For example, Xiaowan could be Zhu Shi's daughter born in the future?"

If this is true, then Xiaowan is truly a man of the future, and we probably have to abandon the idea that "Xiaowan is a mentally ill patient in the modern world."

To put it another way, even if Xiaowan is really a person with amnesia in the modern world, and his soul traveled to the apocalypse, this assumption cannot be based on the assumption that "Xiaowan is a blood relative of the Zhu family." As far as I know, it seems that only Zhu Shi's mother, Zhu Jiu, has suffered from amnesia in the Zhu family.

It's impossible that Zhu Jiu and Xiao Wan are the same person. What steps would allow Zhu Jiu to become a little girl who looks very similar to his own daughter in the doomsday era?
Could it be that the truth is that Zhu Jiu secretly cheated on her husband and had an illegitimate daughter, and then the illegitimate daughter fell into amnesia, and her soul traveled to the apocalypse era and met Ma Zao? But from what I learned from Mr. Zhu about Zhu Jiu, it seems impossible that she is a woman who would have an extramarital affair... However, the marriage between Zhu Jiu and Ying Lingyun cannot even be described as "perfect". If someone takes advantage of this opportunity...

Wait, what am I gossiping about in my mind?

Ma Zao seemed to be struggling with other things, and she murmured to herself, "If Xiao Wan is Zhu Shi's daughter, then if I change the future and Zhu Shi doesn't give birth to the child as planned, will Xiao Wan disappear?"

"Assuming that the doomsday era is not the afterlife but the real future, then your mere existence here is a change to the future. However, the future that Xiaowan is in has not changed at all," I said.

She shook her head: "No matter how history changes before the end of the world, once the end of the world comes, everything will be changed by the color of destruction. Our current activities may not have reached the level that will cause significant changes in the end of the world.

"Moreover, the time and space of the apocalypse are constantly changing. Even if history has really changed, it may not be observable. Some survivors of the apocalypse may have disappeared due to historical changes, and some terrain and buildings may have changed, but they are insignificant compared to the frequent drastic changes in the apocalypse itself. What's more, Xiaowan has been living far away from human habitation, so it is even more difficult to detect."

"...But we can't just sit there and do nothing because of this. That way, we won't be able to do anything." I was also thinking, "Also, if we want to prevent Xiaowan from being born in the future, then we not only have to keep an eye on Zhu Shi, but also find her father, right?

"If Xiaowan is really Zhu Shi's daughter, then who is her father?"

"..."

Ma Zao's gaze rested on me, and her expression suddenly froze.

(End of this chapter)