...
The moment Yu Qingtu saw Ruan Mei in that state of utter desolation, she knew Ruan Mei was already on the brink of collapse.
One step closer, and she would go mad.
Years ago, Yu Qingtu had already reached a conclusion.
If Ruan Mei felt nothing for Rrakavasha, then so be it, no harm done.
But if she did...
Then everything Rrakavasha left behind would become the most terrifying retribution imaginable for her.
...No. "Retribution" wasn't the right word.
More accurately, it was fate's punishment for what Ruan Mei had once done, karma finally arriving.
Seeing her expression now, the suffocating bitterness Yu Qingtu had held in for hundreds of years finally eased a little.
Yet she felt no joy, no satisfaction in being proven right.
In Rrakavasha's departure from the mortal world, all three present were losers.
Right and wrong had long since lost their meaning.
Even if one realized their mistakes, even if regret burned their heart, could Rrakavasha be brought back?
No.
For centuries, Yu Qingtu too had believed that time could wash away all regrets, just as it once had for her.
But in the end, that person's face remained as clear as yesterday; some memories refusing to ever fade.
In this world, there are people and things destined never to be forgotten, and never to be let go.
Ruan Mei slowly rose to her feet and walked past the two of them toward the mountain path leading downward, her movements mechanical.
"What are you planning to do?"
The instant Yu Qingtu caught something in her expression, her face changed slightly, alarm bells ringing.
"...I said I would take responsibility for Vash, yet I betrayed that promise... I'm going to bring him back..."
Ruan Mei's lips curved in an abnormal smile, carrying an unsettling hint of madness creeping at the edges.
She was willing to pay any price. Any at all.
The other two didn't need to think to guess her intent.
Black Swan merely frowned deeply, still relatively restrained in her reaction.
Yu Qingtu was not so restrained; her expression changed almost instantly, fury replacing concern.
"Are you planning to keep going insane?!"
"Before, whatever you wanted to do was your own business. I had no right to interfere with your research."
"But this kid called me 'Senior.' I will not stand by and watch you mess with him, nor will I tolerate it. You'd better give up that idea right now!!"
...
Ruan Mei's steps faltered.
She neither turned back nor responded. Her lowered shoulders and solitary back radiated bleak desolation, a portrait of defeat.
Yu Qingtu's voice turned cold as ice.
"The dead are dead. That is reality, unchangeable and absolute."
"I don't know what you're thinking, but do you really not know his thoughts on this matter?"
"A life compiled from digits, data, and sequences, even if it possesses all the memories of the deceased, even if it is a perfect replica without the slightest difference."
"It is still an empty shell without a soul. Why do you still not understand this basic truth?"
"Why does the construct the kid left behind look exactly like him, yet refer to itself as 'I' and directly address its creator by name?"
As she spoke, Yu Qingtu raised her hand and pointed toward the distant plum trees.
There, the puppet was still soullessly harvesting blossoms.
"That was all meant for you to see. He wanted to tell you that no matter how identical the appearance, it is not the original him."
"You want to use the method you're researching now to retrieve your parents, to retrieve Rrakavasha, this is destined to be impossible."
"Even if you truly reach the end of that path one day, what you obtain will only ever be a counterfeit. At its core, it would be nothing more than a pitiful electronic pet mimicking the dead."
"A dead soul will not return, unless the end rewinds time itself, unless Rrakavasha has a next life."
Each sentence struck like a sharp thorn, mercilessly piercing deep into Ruan Mei's heart and twisting.
She fell silent for a long time, then slowly lifted her head to look at the sky.
The winter sun was rare and bright, yet she felt not the slightest warmth from its rays.
'Back then... Vash must have felt the same way...'
Ruan Mei turned back around to face them.
"What?" Yu Qingtu stared at her face, as if trying to confirm something.
"As Genius Society member #55," Ruan Mei asked hoarsely, her voice raw, "can you answer me one question?"
"Ask."
"What is the original essence of life? And what is the essence of birth itself?"
"There are many answers, but none universally accepted. If I knew, I wouldn't just be a so-called genius, I'd be an Aeon. Only Nous, the Erudition, might be able to answer that."
"...I see."
Ruan Mei nodded silently and said nothing more, stepping toward the puppet that was still at work.
Black Swan narrowed her eyes slightly and remained silent, observing.
What Yu Qingtu had just said was in line with her own beliefs, a validation of a shared truth.
Now, as a Memokeeper of the Garden of Recollection, after centuries of growth, if she wished, she could easily "revive" Rrakavasha using his memories.
But would a Rrakavasha revived in that way still be Rrakavasha?
Her answer had always been firm.
No.
No matter what, it would not be him.
It would only be a selfish, foolish delusion, an insult to Rrakavasha's memory.
Yu Qingtu's mind raced with many possibilities. She didn't stop Ruan Mei, only followed a few steps behind, watching her carefully.
The puppet sensed movement and turned its head. That face remained expressionless, empty.
"Ms. Ruan Mei, what are your instructions?"
Ruan Mei knew Yu Qingtu was right about everything.
No matter how similar the appearance, it was still a counterfeit, a hollow imitation.
It would not call her "Teacher" with that familiar warmth.
And even if it did, it would only feel wrong, a mockery of what once was.
At last, she personally experienced what Yu Qingtu must have felt when she first saw Ruan Mei's own counterfeit creation all those years ago.
"In your core directives, how extensive is my command authority?" Ruan Mei asked.
"Highest level," the puppet replied without hesitation.
Two simple words, yet each of the three women felt something different upon hearing them.
Black Swan, who possessed the memories of Rrakavasha's entire life, understood perfectly and remained composed.
Yu Qingtu let out a long, weary sigh.
And Ruan Mei... it was no different from taking another knife to the heart, twisting it deeper.
"Terminate execution of all directives left by Rrakavasha. Shut down immediately."
"Understood. Protocol modification approved. Executing."
The puppet set down everything in its hands, basket and knife falling into the snow. The light in its eyes dimmed rapidly. It assumed a standard standing posture and became completely motionless, a statue.
Seeing this, Yu Qingtu finally relaxed a little, tension leaving her shoulders.
"Figured it out?"
"It is not him," Ruan Mei said softly, the words like ash in her mouth.
"Good."
Yu Qingtu had to admit that Rrakavasha had created the puppet primarily for Ruan Mei, that much was obvious.
Who held the highest authority already explained everything about his priorities.
But now, she no longer felt displeased by it.
However deeply Rrakavasha had once cared for Ruan Mei, treating her as the light of his life and honoring her through every action, Ruan Mei now regretted her former self just as deeply, suffering in equal measure.
Today's bitter outcome was both a punishment and retribution, perfectly balanced.
Ruan Mei put the puppet away into a storage room and slowly looked over the plum forest, as if trying to engrave every trace Rrakavasha had left here over a hundred years into her eyes, to carry them forever.
Such feelings can only be recalled in memory; even then, one was already lost.
Vash was no longer here...
And never would be again. Not in this timeline, not in this life.
Before leaving, Ruan Mei's gaze settled on Black Swan and Yu Qingtu.
"I will not use that method to bring him back. But I will not give up."
Black Swan neither affirmed nor denied, only asked with genuine curiosity:
"If Mr. Rrakavasha has already forgotten you entirely, what then?"
"That will be my problem to solve."
A tear of blood slid from the corner of Ruan Mei's eye, pushed beyond normal limits. She smiled faintly, no longer strange, only desolate and determined.
She would find another way. Somehow.