62 Mirage Mirror (II)
◎ "Atang..."◎
"Bang!"
The door was kicked open, and a man in a black robe approached step by step with a folding fan in his hand. His eyes were dark and not a single light could penetrate.
Qi He? When did he come? Could he be in cahoots with the masked man in green clothes, trying to kill her?
"Let her go." Before she could think about it, Qi He spoke in a deep voice, staring at the other person, shaking the folding fan between his fingers.
The man in green chuckled and moved the dagger a little closer to the girl's neck. "It all depends on your sincerity."
The three of them stood face to face for a long moment. The man in green waited patiently for a response, occasionally glancing out the window. Li Jintang, his hands bound behind his back, stared at him in terror. Remembering the moment the fate book had been thrown down, he couldn't help but shudder.
He... who is he, and why can he see the fortune book? I don't know what happened to the fortune book after it fell...
A thought flashed through her mind - I wonder where Xie An is now? He's nowhere to be found in this room. Could he have been thrown down by the masked man?
"What do you want?" Qi He quickly gave in, his eyes looking as if he wanted to break the man's neck in the next second.
"I'm afraid the City Lord can't give me what I want." The mask on the man in green twitched, as if he were smiling softly. He suddenly exerted force on his wrist, bringing the blade close to the girl's neck. "Hand over the puppet talisman, or I'll kill her immediately."
Feeling the cold blade against her skin, Li Jintang's gaze moved downward stiffly. Fear was like a huge cage, binding her tightly inside.
She only bore a passing resemblance to that "junior sister" he had never met. How could Qi He possibly sacrifice something so valuable in exchange for her life? Furthermore, if the puppet talisman really fell into the hands of the masked man, it would certainly not be a good thing.
"If you want help, I won't stop you." The man in green seemed to see through his thoughts and said coldly, "If a fourth person shows up, do you think I'll throw her down?"
"I'll give it to you."
Qi He raised his arm and threw the folding fan to the ground. "Isn't it just a puppet talisman? Let her go, and I'll hand her over to you right away."
"I have the person in my hands, so I have the final say on what to do." The man in green refused to listen. He lowered his hand, and the handle of his knife made a crisp sound on the table. "Leave the things here. As for you, get out of the door."
Li Jintang's pupils trembled slightly, and she wanted to shake her head to dissuade him, but the blade was pulled back in front of her. If she moved even a little, blood would be drawn immediately.
Qi He did not hesitate for a moment, but walked straight forward, took out something from his sleeve, and placed it in the place he designated without any reluctance.
"What else do you want?" Seeing that the other party tilted his head to examine the puppet talisman, but had no intention of letting her go, he gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with anger, "If you dare to hurt her, I will not leave your body intact!"
"What's the rush? I didn't expect City Lord Qi to give such a precious item so easily." The man in green narrowed his eyes and revealed a sinister smile. "Shouldn't I inspect the goods?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly loosened his hand, pushed the girl on the back with his backhand, then grabbed the talisman and jumped out of the window, disappearing without a trace in the blink of an eye.
The strength in her body suddenly weakened, and Li Jintang fell forward uncontrollably. Suddenly, a pair of hands supported her. She leaned on the man's shoulder almost powerlessly, her body trembling uncontrollably due to extreme fear.
Qi He cut the spirit rope tied around her wrist, put one arm around her back, and soothed her softly, "It's okay, Tang'er, he's gone."
"I... I'm fine," Li Jintang raised her head tremblingly and slowly left his embrace, her eyes reddened. "But your things..."
"It's okay. As long as you're safe, even if he just asked me to sacrifice my life, I would..." Qi He suddenly stopped talking, raised his hand to hook the hair that was stuck to her cheek behind her ear, and chuckled: "What's more, puppets are inherently evil. If my junior sister knew that I was practicing puppetry, I'm afraid she would be unhappy."
Li Jintang didn't know how to respond. He didn't expect Qi He to be so obsessed with this junior sister. He was willing to give so much just because he met someone similar to her.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard outside the door. The young man was seen leaning against the door with his hands folded, just looking at them quietly, with no emotion in his eyes.
"Xie An," Li Jintang released his hand and walked over to his side. "Just now, a masked man entered your room. Are you okay? When I saw you weren't here, I thought you were..."
Qi He withdrew his empty palm slightly stiffly, glaring at the person who came, his eyes full of hostility.
"What can I do?" Xie Changyan ignored his expression and walked straight to the window. He raised his hand and closed the pane with a "swish". Then he sat down in a chair, closed his eyes and rested, and ordered them to leave: "If you two want to reminisce about the past, why not go somewhere else? I apologize for not being able to accompany you."
Is he really okay...but why does he look a little strange?
"Tang'er, since Mr. Xie has spoken, let's go out." Qi He smiled slightly and reached out to hold her hand.
While the puppet talisman was incredibly useful, it was also extremely loyal to its master. Forcibly breaking its control would only result in a severe backlash. Xie Changyan opened his eyes and raised his hand to remove the gauze wrapped around his wrist.
There was a figure flashing outside the door, and it was obvious that the door was closed tightly, but at this moment he was too lazy to find out how the person got in.
Without even blinking, Xie Changyan said coldly, "Get out."
The girl giggled, not a trace of fear on her face, and approached him step by step with her hands behind her back.
This is an illusion caused by the strong backlash of the puppet talisman. He will inevitably see the person he least wants to see.
"It was all you, I know it all." She walked up to him and stopped, tilting her head slightly, poking her finger at his heart. "You were the one who wanted to use me, and in the end, you were the one who got sulky when you saw me with someone else. You, do you have to make yourself so contradictory?"
"I'm not... angry."
The three words "sulking" seemed incredibly hypocritical to him, so he thought he'd removed the middle word appropriately. Xie Changyan looked away, never looking directly at her. "Are you done? Get out of here."
"You clearly know I'm not the real her, so why are you reacting so violently? Are you scared?" The girl suddenly tilted her head, half-knelt in a position no ordinary person could do, and stared into his eyes. "What are you afraid of? Are you afraid that I won't forgive you?"
"Don't worry, I will certainly forgive you," the girl smiled. The moment she saw his dark eyes suddenly light up, she stopped smiling, straightened up, and looked down at him, her words filled with sarcasm: "But whether she will forgive you or not is not certain."
"Atang..."
He stretched out his hand as if possessed by a ghost, but his arm just hung helplessly in the air - the illusion caused by the backlash had been forcibly suppressed by his spiritual power, and she... would naturally dissipate as well.
"Will you regret doing this?" The girl's last words drifted in the air, but he heard them clearly.
Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his heart. The boy frowned and raised his hands to cover his chest involuntarily.
How strange... all his previous injuries were no more severe than this one. Why did this little pain cause him to suffer so much that he felt like he had lost his soul?
He clearly already got what he wanted, so he shouldn't feel this way anymore.
The young man leaned against the wall with his eyes half closed, as if he had accepted the sudden pain calmly, but also as if he was still trying desperately to dispel it with his spiritual power.
After a while, he slowly raised his lips.
Regret? How could he possibly regret it?
Even if he had to do it again a thousand times, he would still do it.
Love is the most boring and useless thing in the world. He can't let it tie his hands and feet.
*
"Masked man?!" After hearing her brief account of what had just happened, Qiu Yan jumped up from the couch and pulled her over to examine her carefully, his eyes filled with regret. "Atang, if I had known this would happen, I should have been with you. Did he...did he hurt you in any way?"
"I'm fine, thanks to..." Li Jintang paused and looked back at the people behind him, "Thanks to City Lord Qi's rescue, I was able to escape danger."
After hearing this, Qiuyan raised her eyelids and glanced at the newcomer, feeling extremely puzzled. This man was the lord of a city after all, so how... how could he do such a thing as stalking a girl? Although she didn't know what his purpose was, it was probably not coming for them, but only for Li Jintang.
"The most important thing right now is to tell Brother Qu and the others..." Li Jintang said anxiously, but a voice came from behind her and interrupted her.
"Mirage...it's impossible for anyone else to come in after the door is closed." Alan had unknowingly stood at the doorway and happened to overhear the conversation between the two. "If what you said is true, then this masked man is most likely one of you in disguise."
Li Jintang was stunned for a moment before saying, "Of course I wouldn't lie, but...but who would pretend to be..."
She didn't say anything else, but she became suspicious of Alan's words.
"Impossible! We've lived and died together. How could anyone do such a thing?" Before she could speak, Qiu Yan retorted without hesitation, "I'll go find my senior brother and fellow Daoist Nangong right now, and we'll leave. No matter how many monsters are guarding outside, we'll just fight them to the death. It's better than dying here in obscurity."
After she finished speaking, she walked straight out the door. Alan seemed stunned for a moment, then followed her.
"Tang'er, I haven't checked your injuries yet." After the two men walked away, Qi He walked up and asked with concern, "Did that person hurt you?"
She shook her head and sat on the couch in a daze, her thoughts becoming hazy for a moment.
Ever since she came to this place inexplicably, she has not had a single day of leisure.
I don’t know what happened to the Book of Fate now... Thinking of the scene just now, Li Jintang suddenly got goosebumps all over his body.
What is the identity of that masked man? Why...why can he see the book of fate?
She stood there for a long time, and suddenly realized that it was unusually quiet outside the door. Qiu Yan had just said that she was going to look for Qu Lingfei and the others, but she hadn't come back for a long time.
Could it be that the masked man was still guarding the door? Li Jintang's heart tightened, and he quickly stood up from the couch. He wanted to ask Qi He for help, but felt that it would be too much trouble for him, so he stopped and walked towards the door.
"Where are you going, Tang'er?" Without waiting for her to speak, Qi He took the initiative to follow her.
Li Jintang placed his hand on the doorknob, turned around and looked at him and said, "City Lord, please rest here. I'll go out and check on them."
Qi He didn't answer immediately. The moment the girl turned the handle, his face suddenly changed, "Tang'er, don't move!"
But it was too late. Li Jintang took half a step toward the door and turned around suspiciously: "What's wrong..."
This sight surprised her.
There was no one behind him, and even the house disappeared, leaving only endless darkness.
She took a few steps back, and cold sweat immediately snaked down her spine like an icy snake, causing shudders wherever it passed.
"Sister Qiuyan?" Li Jintang forced himself to calm down and tried to call out.
The voice echoed in the dark space and returned to her ears, but there was no answer.
What on earth was going on? There was no light anywhere, and it felt like she was stepping on a mirror made of several pieces of glass. Suddenly, a speck of crimson caught her eye not far away.
Is this... a bloody bandage? Li Jintang bravely stepped forward to pick it up, and the smell of blood immediately filled his nose.
Is anyone hurt?
She looked around in confusion, and suddenly felt her feet tremble. She quickly raised her foot and took a half step away. She saw that the piece of "broken glass" where the bandage had just fallen was emitting a faint light.
After a few breaths, the bright light reflected some fragmented scenes.
This may be the only clue that can be found at the moment. Li Jintang approached it hesitantly, and finally took in the beam of light.
【Author’s words】
Here’s another pre-collection of fantasy words. I just wrote the copy today. Sweet cookies, welcome to collect [scatter flowers]
Copywriter
There was a handsome transfer student in our class. On the first day of his transfer, all the girls in the class had their eyes fixed on him.
I was the only one lying on the table, without even raising my head.
This isn't some Mary Sue novel plot, I just don't dare to look up——
Because that guy looks exactly like the male ghost who wanted to take my life in my dream!
*
Female protagonist's perspective
I don't know when it started, but I have nightmares every night.
In my dream, there was a male ghost with long hair who always wanted to catch me. I ran around desperately for my life, and every time I woke up from the dream when I was about to die, with cold sweat on my forehead.
The doctor said that all the dreams were caused by too much mental stress. After taking the medicine, I didn’t have any more dreams that night. I thought my life would return to normal.
But the good times didn't last long. A few days later, I dreamed of him again.
This time, he didn't chase me like usual. Instead, he gently wiped the tears from my face and whispered in my ear:
"Just wait patiently, you will see the real me soon."
Before I could figure out what this meant, a new student came to our class the next day. Although he was stunningly handsome, he was clearly the ghost in my dream!
Why was he walking towards me? Why did he want to sit at the same table with me? How could he have the nerve to tell me not to be afraid?
The transfer student had a gentle smile on his face and waved to me, but I couldn't hold back my tears and my shoulders were shaking.
Woo woo woo woo, I'm really scared, please stay away from me!
*
Male protagonist's perspective
The lifespan of a ghost is endless. I have lived for many, many years, but I still find it boring.
But she is very interesting.
As soon as I saw her, I burst into tears, looking so pitiful. I really wanted to hug her, her face must be very soft...
It's a pity that she ran away when she saw me? Does she hate me?
Suddenly one day, she stopped coming.
I couldn't stand the days without her - it was so boring, so I made a bold decision.
I want to give up the freedom and longevity of being a ghost and go to the human world to find her.
As expected, on the first day we met, I scared her to tears again.
I was very close to her and wanted to comfort her, but she raised her head with tears on both sides of her cheeks and looked at me with resentful eyes.
…
Then she must be afraid of me. There's nothing I can do about it. She looks so scared...
*
Wen Zhao's diary entry: "I held her hand today (actually, we just bumped into each other accidentally). I was so happy."
“She’s so cute she’s so cute she’s so cute she’s so cute she’s so cute she’s so cute she’s so cute she’s so cute she’s so cute she’s so cute she’s so cute she’s so cute…”
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
