One-Eyed Monster

Every problem has an answer.

Every labyrinth has an exit.

Everything in the universe has its own rhythm; some are enduring, while others are fragile and short-lived. No matter what it is, it adheres to its own laws of growth. It’s just that some people grasp these laws, while others overlook them.

Individuals who grasp these laws and those who do not appear to have any significant differences: they all have two eyes, one mouth, two hands, two feet, and one head.

Perhaps those who grasp the laws walk a slightly shorter path than those who don’t.

Igor and Kadi, for example, seemed to be such a pair.

However, no one would believe Igor was the one who grasped the laws because he simply didn’t look the part.

But, contrary to expectations, most people can only see the surface, not what lies beneath. Igor truly did walk less than Kadi because Kadi was always forced to backtrack due to Igor’s antics.

This was because Igor was constantly stopping, attracted by all sorts of things along the way. Whenever he paused, the homemade rope in his hand would tug Kadi, forcing her, who had been walking straight ahead, to stop and look back. Upon seeing Igor standing still, Kadi would unhesitatingly walk back to him to see what had caught his attention.

Going back and forth like this, Kadi naturally ended up walking more than Igor.

Let’s set aside for a moment who walked more or less and turn back time to see what exactly Igor and Kadi were discussing then.

”Look, this mist is dry. Something’s not right; this more or less points to a problem,” Igor said, continuing their earlier conversation about the mist and explaining it to Kadi with facts.

”The mist shouldn’t be dry! How did I not think of that? Logically, after walking in such dense mist for so long, we should be damp. But why are we completely dry, without a hint of moisture?” Kadi, enlightened by Igor’s observation, suddenly thought of many questions. Igor’s words were like a stone cast into water, sending endless ripples through her mind.

”This seems to be a serious problem,” Igor said, assuming a profound look.

Kadi looked at Igor before her. He was sitting cross-legged on the ground, supporting his chin with one hand, looking very much like an old Scholar pondering a problem.

Is this the same Igor I knew before? That guy was so foolish he’d willingly tell his opponents how to escape. How could such a person possess this kind of meticulous thinking? How could he notice such subtle problems? How could he understand this godforsaken place better than I, a native, do?

Something must be wrong somewhere.

Kadi was puzzled by Igor’s completely different demeanor, yet she had to accept the reality: Igor was right; this mist was indeed strange.

However, Kadi still couldn’t figure out what this strange mist indicated.

”So, what problem does this indicate?” Kadi, after thinking for a long time, finally couldn’t hold back her question to Igor.

”Well...” Igor scratched his head. It was a habit of his; he always liked to scratch his head, whether he encountered something he understood or something he didn’t.

”What is it then?” Already exasperated from being lost, Kadi grew even more irritated by Igor’s deliberately mysterious act, and her face began to show her displeasure.

But with Kadi’s blue skin, it was impossible to discern any emotion on her face.

So, Igor continued unhurriedly, ”Look at the sun. It’s always the same; it doesn’t change. That’s also very strange.”

”Yes, yes, yes, everything’s strange! But what do all these strange things indicate? How can we get out of here?”

”Er...” Igor looked at the impatient Kadi with a sense of disbelief, as surprised as one would be seeing a cat that never catches mice.

”Hurry up and say it! Don’t waste any more time!” Kadi was on the verge of kicking Igor.

”This... this means that everything we’re seeing right now is an illusion!”

”An illusion?” Kadi didn’t quite understand.

”Yes, an illusion! The mist is dry, and the sun doesn’t change. If that’s not an illusion, what is?”

”But everything around us—look at these trees, this grass, these stones, this soil—aren’t they all real things we can touch?”

”Yes, they are.”

”Then what are you saying about an illusion?”

”It must be an illusion. Someone is deliberately making us see these things.”

”Deliberately? Someone?” Kadi was still confused.

”It’s very likely that after walking for so long, we’ve actually been going in circles, or perhaps even just marching in place.”

”Impossible!” Kadi was so surprised by Igor’s answer that she almost bit her tongue.

”There’s a possibility,” Igor said, still unhurried, his demeanor practically begging for a beating.

”Let’s not even talk about the various anomalies we’ve encountered along the way. Just consider all those times you stopped. Were the things you looked at countless times also illusions? To put it another way, if we were going in circles or just marching in place, how could you have seen so many different, strange, and bizarre things?” Kadi’s rebuttal was precise and unassailable.

”What you’re saying seems to make a lot of sense.”

”Because I’m speaking facts.”

”Mm-hm.” Igor nodded crisply, showing no trace of doubt about Kadi’s words.

”Lost is lost. Don’t make excuses for yourself. Now we need to think about how to get out of here.” Seeing Igor nodding like a woodpecker, much of Kadi’s irritation subsided.

”Actually, you could consider what I said earlier about retracing our steps and taking a different fork...”

”If we could retrace our steps, I wouldn’t be this anxious!” Kadi, whose irritation had just subsided, was once again provoked by Igor.

”True, with such thick mist,” Igor echoed, seemingly referring to Kadi’s earlier concerns about it.

”What exactly are you trying to say?” Kadi was now completely bewildered by Igor.

”Look, the sun here is always like this—soft, and emitting no trace of brilliance.”

”So what?”

”Don’t you think it looks like a painting?”

”How does it look like a painting?”

”How does it not? It’s all the same withered grass and fallen leaves. Things can’t be this coincidental.”

”Then how do you explain the things I pointed out earlier? Were the things you stopped to observe so intently also illusions? You seemed to be enjoying them immensely at the time.”

”It’s a good thing I was looking carefully; otherwise, I really wouldn’t have noticed this problem.”

”So, what do we do now to get out?” Kadi pressed. Unknowingly, Igor had already become the decision-maker between them; everything now depended on his judgment.

”Follow the light, and we can run out of here.” Igor smiled. ”This is just a painting, after all.”

Igor’s confidence made it seem as if he had found a breakthrough, yet he still hadn’t explained much.

Other than stating that everything before them resembled a painting, our protagonist didn’t seem to have made many other new discoveries.

A painting—could such an outlandish breakthrough truly lead them out of this Ghost Wind Valley?

Who knows.