Five Miles of Fog (Part 9)

Chapter Nineteen

Back at the inn, Xie Yuan slammed her room door shut without any hesitation, locking Song Ling, who had been following her, out.

Go back to your room and reflect on your actions.

"Master, did I make you angry again?" Song Ling's eyelashes trembled slightly as she stood obediently outside the door, clutching her things, her voice somewhat forlorn.

"No, I'm angry with myself." Xie Yuan poured herself a cup of tea, took a sip, and sat down at the table, rubbing her temples to calm herself. The boy's figure was still reflected on the window paper of the door, seemingly with no intention of leaving. "I don't want to see you right now. You should go back and stay there."

"Master..." He sounded like he was about to cry.

Xie Yuan usually couldn't stand his pitiful and aggrieved tone. People say that a loving mother spoils her son, but she was more like a loving teacher spoiling her student.

The main problem is that her mind is in a mess right now. On one hand, it's because she, as his teacher, hasn't provided him with positive guidance. On the other hand, she's also a little angry at herself for being so weak-willed. She really doesn't know how to calmly talk to him and steel herself to utter those two words.

"Go away."

It's one thing if Song Ling doesn't understand, but as her teacher, she can't just blindly follow along and make a mess of things.

She practically raised him!

Even if I were to take a step back, even if I were to be tempted by beauty, I wouldn't be so desperate as to let it be my own disciple.

Having never experienced a real master-disciple romance while reading novels, Xie Yuan couldn't understand why some masters would rather die than submit, leading to so many tragic love stories. Now that the novels have become reality, she's truly become more honest.

Fortunately, she was a transmigrator, otherwise most people would find it hard to accept. Only after experiencing it firsthand did they realize how incredibly immoral it was.

Especially when someone is perfectly fine and suddenly, out of nowhere, they blurt out a few words that make people blush and their hearts race, all while sporting such a handsome face—who could resist that?

It's not that she's overthinking, it's that she really can't help but overthink!

Song Ling never plays by the rules, and whenever she gets annoyed, she can only verbally scold him.

She would never dare to joke about how she would leave him if he continued like this.

Doesn't her own apprentice know this?

Deep down, he's actually crazy and ruthless. When they were kids, he didn't mind letting her see it; he tried every way to show her his "monster-like, inhuman" side, hoping to make her back down and kill her...

Xie Yuan sighed in frustration. It was all over. Even though she was the master, she felt like she was the one being completely controlled.

Feeling troubled, Xie Yuan could only sit on the couch to meditate and calm her mind, while also making the most of her time to cultivate.

It must be said that this body's foundation is somewhat lacking, but it is indeed a good seedling suitable for cultivation, and it is very compatible and well-suited to the skills she previously cultivated.

——

Outside the door.

Song Ling's delicate profile was shrouded in a faint, lingering shadow because of her words.

These days he has indeed been constantly testing her limits, trying to see how much she can tolerate his unreasonable behavior.

He had considered the worst-case scenario.

But so what? That makes it even less likely that we'll let her leave, doesn't it?

Song Ling casually wiped away the faint trace of blood spreading from the corner of her mouth, then turned and went into the next room.

"611, get out here."

Within the realm of consciousness, a handsome young man in black appeared out of thin air, exuding a chilling aura like a ghost.

611 had just returned from wandering around in another world and was trembling with fear at his icy tone: "Host... is there anything you need?"

Ahhhhh, although its host is very powerful, it is really scary, sob sob sob!

"How's the mission progressing?"

611's voice was barely audible: "Host, the protagonist's aura has been weakened to 45% by you, and it no longer has any effect on you."

"Do I need to care about this?"

Even though it was just a wisp of consciousness, it felt itself trembling uncontrollably, and immediately replied, "Thank you... Lord Xie Yuan, your liking for you is 80%, and your heart-fluttering value is 20%."

Song Ling's voice was as cold as ice that never melts over the Cangshan Mountains and Erhai Lake: "Why is it still so low?"

611 humbly explained, "Host, this is really not low. Lady Xie Yuan likes you, but her feelings for you as a master far exceed what you want..." It spoke softer and softer, timidly observing his expression from the shadows.

"Why is the host so fixated on Xie Yuan's kind of affection? Isn't this better now? Doesn't she like you a lot now too?"

611 mustered its courage and asked the question it had had since he brought it to this world: Over the years, its host had repeatedly traveled back to different parallel worlds, killing countless people. It initially thought its host had become too corrupted and bloodthirsty, but later learned he was searching for someone...

Song Ling's black silk robe was lifted and fell by the surging waves without getting a single hem wet. His self-deprecating laughter mingled with the roar of the tsunami in this lifeless space.

“My master was the best at deceiving me. Her sweet words were more powerful than anyone I had ever met. She even managed to lure me, who had already awakened to self-awareness at that time, into her trap without my knowledge.”

"She once promised me that she would give me a home, but she broke her promise. My home was destroyed, and I no longer have a master."

"However, when everything started over and she never came back, I finally understood that everything I saw in my dream about my ending was real."

"This world wants me to be a dutiful, obedient piece of trash, someone who gets killed and manipulated at will."

"Ha, how laughable. How can these ants arbitrarily determine the fate of my life and death?"

"So what if the sky is destroyed? As for the person I want, even if her soul is scattered and she no longer belongs to this world, I will never let her go."

611 suddenly understood what was going on and cautiously asked, "So, is this the reason why the host awakened me and made me devour another system, seize its memories, and replace everything about it?"

"Its memory is incomplete, but it is a fact that Master is not from this world. Otherwise, she would not have said so many rebellious things to me and only angrily lectured me. Apart from the difficulty in accepting it for a while, she did not resist."

611, with a vague understanding: "Is the host worried that if Lady Xie Yuan has the opportunity to leave, she won't choose you? But 611 feels that she treats you very well."

Song Ling scoffed: "Being good to me and whether she will abandon me are two different things. What I want is for her to always be by my side, not for her so-called being good to me."

"But he left me."

611 witnessed firsthand how the host crawled out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of ​​blood from the moment it was awakened. It had died countless times and killed countless people, but it did all this for only one person.

It belongs to the category of destruction and devouring restriction systems, possessing the ability to interfere with the operation mechanism of the Heavenly Dao in small worlds. Among countless worlds, it is the only one with extremely destructive power.

However, awakening it is extremely difficult, requiring immense hatred, resentment, and despair...

The host single-handedly destroyed countless people in parallel worlds...

611 confidently declared, "Host, don't worry, I'm very capable, I can definitely help..."

"The kind of help you're talking about, is it going to other worlds every day to drink and eat meat, or to listen to operas and watch music?"

611 gave an awkward laugh: "Host, so you knew all along..."

"After playing with shapeshifting for so long, it's time to get down to work."

In the void, a handsome young man in white slowly materialized from the air: "Host, do you want to kill someone? I'm good at that." His tone was quite like a child's smug pride.

"I'll leave the Wujian Pavilion to you. It's just a piece of trash who's blessed with good fortune and protected by the Heavenly Dao, and has never had a care in the world."

611's eyes were filled with admiration: "Don't worry, host, 611 guarantees to complete the mission!"

A bone flute shrouded in ghostly energy appeared in Song Ling's hand at some unknown time.

611 was terrified at the sight of that bone flute. Oh dear, the host was even more terrifying than this system!

"Host, I'll be going now!"

611 fled the consciousness space as if escaping.

Song Ling gently stroked the bone flute, its texture as cold as jade, and could almost still feel the despair, anger, and resentment of being torn apart as she was killed...

There can be countless Song dynasties.

There can only be one Song Ling.

The master belongs to him and can only belong to him.

You can only blame yourselves for not being lucky enough to meet her.

——

The underground sacrificial site in the northern suburbs of Wuli Town.

Deep within the dark and cold underground cave, five stone pillars carved with strange and unknown totems stand here. In the center, a large group of women kneeling with their faces covered by white headscarves are kneeling.

Without exception, they knelt in the center of the sacrificial array, their eyes vacant and blank.

The black-robed man standing outside the formation skillfully pressed a button on one of the stone arrays.

Countless dense black insects rustled and swarmed over the area with pinpoint accuracy, without any earth-shattering howls or hysterical screams.

As the black swarm of insects receded, only white bones remained, kneeling and bowing their heads on the ground.

The man in black robes, unfazed, gave instructions to his subordinate standing beside him.

"The sacrifices here will be suspended for a while. Too many people are dying and it will be difficult to manage. After the livers of those boys are removed, remember to freeze them and store them in the ice cellar. Use the bodies to feed the insects."

"Yes." The man in black robes, who had been given the order, accepted it and quickly led his group away.

Soon only the black-robed man remained in the cave. He turned around, fumbled around on the stone wall for a while, and pressed another mechanism. With a loud bang, a group of young girls, barely clothed and draped in light gauze, shivered from the cold and looked terrified, appeared behind the door.

The man in black robes laughed lewdly. He had finally managed to cut corners and keep these girls for his own amusement, and now he could finally have some fun.

"Pfft"

A sharp dagger swiftly pierced his heart from behind.

He stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

On his deathbed, he heard only a cheerful young voice and a somewhat distressed sigh behind him.

"Killing people in white is really inconvenient; looks like I'll need to spend more money in the future..."