Oh no! I'm surrounded by female ghosts!

Zhou Zhengyang, his face bruised and swollen, squatted down beside Su Ming, looking at the fairy tale on the last page of the notebook.

The fairy tale is called: "The Little Spider's New Well"

The little spider hid in the crack of the rock and waited until dawn.

It peeked out from the crack, and all around was quiet.

It was starting to miss the well where it first lived.

But where is that well?

All it remembered was that there was a crooked tree in front of the well, and next to the tree was a stone covered with moss.

But it ran too far and didn't remember the direction at all.

Now it dares not go anywhere; there are many scary things outside, so it can only hide in the cracks in the rocks.

Every day it would quietly gaze outside.

But everywhere it went were things it didn't recognize.

Until one day, it discovered a broken pottery jar.

The jar was upside down on the ground, with a small hole in the mouth, just big enough for it to crawl in.

The little spider endured for several days, but finally, out of curiosity, it crawled inside.

It's black, round, and small inside.

Its heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"This place looks like that well."

So the little spider moved.

It lived in the jar.

No longer obsessively searching for a lost homeland.

It no longer obsessively seeks out the star that once belonged solely to it.

Because at night, with so many stars in the sky, it can't tell which one is its own.

Just like, not all round holes can be called wells.

Not every dark place can be called home.

Gradually, the little spider got used to its new life.

Although the jar was not large, it was large enough to serve as a new well for shelter.

One afternoon, a rustling sound came from outside the jar.

The little spider poked its head out and saw an old snail slowly crawling along.

"Old snail, have you ever seen a well?"

The little spider added, "A round, deep well, next to which is a crooked tree and a moss-covered stone."

The old snail stopped, slowly turned its head, thought for a long time, and said, "I have seen many wells."

"Some wells are round, some are square, some are very deep, and some have dried up."

Which well are you referring to?

The little spider was stunned.

It never imagined that there would be so many wells in the world.

It thought that the well was unique and belonged exclusively to it.

"Then..." the little spider's voice trailed off, "Have you ever seen a well with a crooked tree next to it?"

The old snail thought for a long time, then slowly said, "Child, trees will grow old, fall, and be cut down."

"The wellhead was open, exposed to wind and sun, rainwater poured in, and soil filled in."

"The well you mentioned may have disappeared."

The little spider felt as if something had stabbed its heart.

It murmured, "That well...it's gone?"

The little spider suddenly felt very cold.

It shrank back into the jar and added another layer of netting.

As night deepened, the little spider curled up in the center of its web.

It gazed at the narrow slit of light above its head and murmured softly, "I can't find the original well anymore."

"From now on, this will be my new well."

After reading the fairy tale, Su Ming looked at Zhou Zhengyang, who seemed to be deep in thought.

What do you think?

Zhou Zhengyang frowned: "According to what Dr. Chen wrote."

"My general understanding is that after the little spider left the original well, it could never go back, and it gradually got used to its new life outside."

"Is Dr. Chen implying that once humans become like them, no matter what their original intentions were, they can never go back?"

This is what Su Ming understood.

He knew it.

No matter how firm your will or how strong your persistence.

Once you become one of them, your thinking and cognition will undergo an irresistible reversal.

The little spider's new well—the "new" represents its rebirth and also its adaptation.

The original well was originally covered by a large rock.

The little spider tricked the big rock into moving the well opening.

Therefore, the well opening has been open since it left.

Exposed to wind and sun, rainwater seeping in, and soil filling in, it is indeed possible for it to disappear.

"No, no." Su Ming shook his head.

The written descriptions in the story only represent the first layer of meaning.

This meaning is the easiest to understand.

But each of Chen Zhiwei's fairy tales has a profound meaning.

Following Lin Jiajia's line of thought.

Instead of looking at the specific content, summarize the core of this fairy tale.

After much thought, the word "habit" came to Su Ming's mind.

No matter how dangerous or unknown the outside world may be.

Once the little spider steps into the outside world, all it can do is get used to it.

Combine this with the two fairy tales mentioned earlier.

The core theme of "The Spider-Man and the Black Stone" is: escape.

The core theme of "The Wonderful World Outside the Well" is regret.

Therefore, it can be inferred that the core theme of "The Little Spider's New Well" is: habit.

Combine these three fairy tales into a single sentence.

Even if you regret it after running away, you have to get used to it.

"No, no, that's not right."

Su Ming shook his head again.

This fairy tale was not written by Chen Zhiwei for Wen Qi, but for herself.

That's not a habit, but... a new beginning.

2020 was indeed a time of new life for Su Ming, the time when he was officially born as a human being.

"newborn?"

Zhou Zhengyang also heard Su Ming's murmur.

The bruises on his face had not yet subsided, but a light suddenly shone in his eyes.

They had only grasped the surface metaphor, understood the helplessness they felt after becoming them, and understood that the past could not be undone.

But it overlooked this most important core.

Habit is passive compromise, being forced to accept the status quo of displacement, and helplessly going with the flow.

But being born is an active choice.

It is to sever ties with the past with one's own hands; it is to know that one's homeland is being destroyed and one's original aspirations are hard to find, yet still choose to rebuild a place for oneself in a desolate and desperate situation.

Su Ming's fingertips brushed over the delicate handwriting on the paper.

This is Chen Zhiwei's handwriting; beneath the gentle and neat strokes lies unparalleled calmness and decisiveness.

Escaping is the beginning of breaking free from constraints.

Regret is a lingering obsession of humanity.

And rebirth is the final chapter of severing ties with the past.

"She wrote about transformation," Su Ming said slowly.

The little spider tricked the stone blocking the well opening and escaped the safe but cramped old well.

At that moment, it abandoned its only homeland.

It wandered in fear and torment in the unknown darkness, regretting its rash escape countless times and longing for that unique old well.

But the moment the old snail revealed the truth, all the obsessions collapsed and crumbled.

Trees will fall, wells will disappear, and the past will eventually be buried by wind, rain, and silt.

There is no eternal resting place in this world.

Spider-Man's disappointment is not regret, but farewell.

Say goodbye to obsessions, say goodbye to the past, say goodbye to that self trapped in the old well, yearning for stability, and fearing the unknown.

"The old well is gone, so it doesn't need to go back."

Su Ming muttered to himself, "Although the pottery jar is small, dark, and simple, far less stable and perfect than the old well, it still chose this place to be the new well."

"That's because the little spider from the moment it moved into the pottery jar was already dead."

Hearing Su Ming's mutterings, Zhou Zhengyang's heart sank heavily.

No wonder the story says that it couldn't tell which star in the sky was its own, and finally understood that not all black holes are wells, and not all dark places are home.

This is not relief, it is rebirth.

Having abandoned their sole obsession and overturned their preconceived notions, they rebuilt their own world on the ruins of desolation.

"Chen Zhiwei is saying, give up on defeating them."

"Instead, we will use the doomsday scenario as a foundation to actively rebuild 2026."

"Every time we cut the doomsday line before, the correction in 2026 was reactive."

"But why can't this revision be our own choice?"

"We can consciously and proactively change 2026 by identifying those sources of pollution."

"The source of pollution is the fragments of their knowledge scattered across the blue planet, and it is also the only lever that can use the past to influence the future."

Give up on defeating them.

It's not that we don't want to win, but that we can't win.

This is unsolvable; it is the cruelest truth that Su Ming brought back from His position.

He reached out and pressed down on the last line of "The Little Spider's New Well".

"Chen Zhiwei is telling everyone who has come this far."

"There's no need to look for the old well anymore."

"There's no need to reminisce about the old stars anymore."

"The past is all ruins; the present is a new beginning."

The little spider curled up in the center of the pottery jar, guarding not just a small hole to hide in.

Rather, it is a self reborn from the ashes.

"Old Zhou, prepare to set up an anomaly containment facility."

At that moment, Su Ming felt as if he had suddenly seen the light.

He even suspects that Chen Zhiwei foresaw today in the doomsday scenario of 2012.

Otherwise, why would she redefine her bizarre identity, establish a special bizarre department, and promote the coexistence of humans and ghosts?

Perhaps she was laying the groundwork for this moment back then.

"Wait, wait a minute."

Zhou Zhengyang hurriedly exclaimed, "Your Majesty, could we have guessed wrong?"

"Based on my understanding of Dr. Chen, she is a rather pessimistic person who only thinks about the worst possible outcome and never considers the best one."

"I once heard Dr. Chen say that only by being able to bear the worst outcome can a prediction be considered perfect."

Su Ming frowned slightly, stared at Zhou Zhengyang for a while, and then looked down and went through the fairy tale again.

"Old Zhou, are you questioning me?"

"I am not the same person I used to be."

"Under the guidance of Chen Zhiwei, Wen Qi, and Lin Jiajia, I dare not say that I got a perfect score in Chinese comprehension, but it was definitely a high score."

"Moreover, not everyone can do this kind of reading comprehension."

Before you can understand, you must first know the cause and effect.

That's correct.

But Zhou Zhengyang always felt that something was not quite right.

He once wondered if the king was overthinking things.

But seeing Su Ming's spirited and heroic appearance, he ultimately chose to keep quiet.

He gave a thumbs-up and praised, "As expected of the King."