66 Mirage Mirror (VI)
◎You actually believe in something as illusory as love.◎
Outside the cell, raindrops dripped down the eaves and onto the moss-covered stone steps.
The sunlight poured through the window panes and reflected on the man's pale face. Blood flowed down between his fingers and merged with the puddles on the ground.
He lowered his head, his arms scarlet from the chains. Suddenly, a basin of cold water was poured over his head, the clear water slid down to his jaw, stirring up a chill.
"Are you awake? I've been waiting for so long."
Nangong Xiu struggled to open his eyes, and a white dress came into view. As his muscles stretched, the pain in his body became more pronounced.
"It's you?" After seeing who it was, he frowned deeply. He couldn't believe that the person who had abducted him to such a place was an unarmed woman. "Why did you do this? Who ordered you to do this?"
"you guess."
The girl leaned down slightly in front of him, and the shadow behind her was lengthened by the sunlight.
Nangong Xiu's pupils shrank sharply, his expression turning into disbelief. "You...you are not Alan."
"I thought you were smart, but you're just as clueless," Alan sighed. "It's my first time playing a ghost, and I've exposed so many flaws, yet none of you noticed. I guess I overestimated you."
"What do you want to do?" He said calmly. His hands and feet were tied, and he had no idea of the other party's cultivation level or identity. If he acted rashly, he would probably suffer.
Alan didn't answer. He simply turned around and took a red-hot iron from the blazing stove. He smiled and walked up to him, reaching out to lift his chin. "Don't be nervous. You know everything I'm going to ask next. As for whether you're willing to tell me—"
She paused, then turned to look at the red iron in her hand and said, "It depends on how much you can endure."
"Who are you?" His breath was a little weak, and he intuitively knew that the person in front of him must be no simple person.
"I'm asking you, don't mistake my identity." Alan's fingers loosened, and the scorching heat left a deep mark on his chest. Nangong Xiu's arms suddenly tensed, his facial muscles twisted, but he clenched his teeth tightly and said nothing.
Alan suppressed his smile and said, "Where is the thing hidden? Tell me the truth, and I can spare your life."
Nangong Xiu's eyes showed a trace of undisguised confusion, and then he suddenly understood what she meant. His face changed and he said angrily: "I don't understand. If you want to take action, then stop talking nonsense."
"Do you think I don't dare to do anything?" Alan had expected this reaction from him. Without any hesitation, he grabbed the branding iron and pressed it against his chest. The air was filled with the smell of blood.
"If you kill me, you'll never get them." Nangong Xiu suppressed the sharp pain in his chest, a vein throbbing on his forehead. He stared at her coldly, his voice unsteady, "Since you came here for the elixir from the beginning, you could have just targeted me. Why bother dealing with them? I'm afraid you have other intentions, right?"
"That's not what you should be asking." Alan removed the iron block and waved his hand, causing the chain around his arm to tighten suddenly. She narrowed her eyes and smiled, "You're not stupid, but you're wrong about one thing. Dealing with them is a piece of cake. Why bother?"
"If you can hold out, I'll come back tomorrow." She wiped the blood from her hands and turned to leave the cell. "If you want to stall, then let's see when your friends can find us."
*
The scorching heat gradually faded, and the pupils illuminated by the firelight returned to their dark state. Xie Changyan lowered his eyes and looked at the girl who fell limply in his arms, unconsciously tightening his arms.
"Atang?" There was a slight tremor in his voice that he himself didn't even notice.
Her eyes were gently closed, without any reaction, and her long eyelashes cast fan-shaped shadows on her cheeks, as if she was fast asleep.
He was silent for a long time, raised his hand and gently stroked her cheek. A trace of spiritual power escaped into his consciousness, but immediately disappeared without a trace.
His fingers paused slightly, and his eyes dimmed.
She...why didn't she want to stay with him obediently and had to run off to die?
"I told you, your illusion technique is really poor. Why are you still using it?"
Li Jintang was half-kneeling on the ground, his legs too weak to stand up, and he looked up at him.
The coldness condensed in the other person's eyes was even colder than the snow water beneath him.
This sentence made her feel a little helpless.
"you……"
Isn't this an illusion? If nothing is real, then he must not be a living person.
"Why do you still remember?"
Before she could finish her words, a cold hand reached out and grabbed her neck.
Li Jintang did not struggle too much. He gently flipped his hanging wrist, and a ray of light ignited in the snow.
The cluster of light jumped onto the boy's wrist. He frowned and shook his hand away in pain.
She took the opportunity to get up from the ground, and after staggering to her feet, she was shocked to find that he had turned his back and walked away for a long distance, leaving only his intermittent figure.
"Wait—"
She shouted anxiously from behind, but the other party certainly would not stop because of this, and his pace did not slow down at all.
"You can't go..." When she was only a few steps away from him, Li Jintang reached out her hand to grab the corner of his clothes, but accidentally touched the slanting hilt of the sword. The thorn on it pricked her palm unexpectedly. She immediately pulled her hand away and pulled hard on the corner of his clothes.
The sound of clothes being torn was particularly clear in the snow. The boy paused and turned his head slightly. The torn corner of the cloth rippled in the cold wind.
"Do you really want to die?" He spoke slowly and suddenly laughed.
"hypocritical."
After a long moment, he stopped smiling and looked at her calmly. His voice was colder than the wind and snow. "You don't want to die, you want me to die."
"Who ordered you to do this? If he wanted to kill me, he could have done it openly. Why would he have to sacrifice you?"
Li Jintang looked at him quietly, his breathing becoming a little rapid.
She could clearly feel that although the man in front of her looked calm on the surface, he might have already chosen how to die for her in his heart.
"I don't know how to explain it so you'll believe it," she suddenly felt powerless, looking at him with resentful eyes. "Even if the Sect Master orders you to kill someone, you don't have to go. Just inflict a few wounds on yourself with your sword and return to report. Others will just think you did your best and were simply outmatched. Who would punish you for that?"
He was slightly stunned, and then the corners of his lips curled up slightly, as if he was very interested in what he said.
"Your actions are very interesting." He walked back step by step, his hands behind his back, a smile in his eyes, and asked her in a bewitching voice: "Tell me what your purpose is, and I will leave your body intact."
"I've already answered this question. Since you still remember the illusion, why can't you remember those two sentences?"
She suddenly became annoyed and impulsively grabbed his collar. The boy was caught off guard and stumbled a few steps. Then he heard her say word by word in his ear: "Why don't you believe me? I've seen your future. If you go now, you will definitely regret it later!"
"Have you seen my future?" He let her pull him, smiled with interest, and asked a question that shocked her whole body, "Then how long can I live?"
"you……"
Li Jintang let go of his hand, took a half step back in a daze, and looked up at him mournfully.
"You will live a long life."
She was silent for a long time, and finally spoke softly.
"Really?" His smile gradually faded from his eyes. Suddenly, without warning, he reached out and grabbed her throat. His voice suddenly became sinister. "Unfortunately, you don't have much longer to live."
The sudden feeling of suffocation made her feel a little helpless. She pried her hand apart with force and suddenly thought of the scene that night when the man in green suddenly broke in, pinched her neck, and threatened Qi He to hand over the puppet talisman.
Her heart went cold and she shuddered immediately. She tried her best to convince herself that she was thinking too much, but the force became tighter and tighter, and actually lifted her up from the ground. She almost suffocated.
The debris in the snow emitted a faint light, asking her if she needed to leave immediately.
Li Jintang hesitated for a moment, not wanting to give up all her efforts, but her whole body was controlled by someone, and she couldn't move at all, not even nod.
Suddenly, a chill came from behind her. She couldn't turn around to look, but she saw the young man's face change slightly. The next moment, he loosened his hand that was strangling her neck, and swung his sword very neatly to block the golden light.
She fell to the ground and coughed awkwardly. A figure loomed over her from above. She raised her eyes slightly. The man's eyebrows and eyes were quite similar to the young man's, but he was less immature and green.
"Xie, Xie An?" She looked over in disbelief.
The young man in white who came later stared at the person in front of him and seemed stunned for a moment.
The fragments of the Mirage Mirror will take people to the place they most want to go... He ignored the astonishment in the eyes of his other "self" and lowered his eyes to look at her. Unspeakable emotions were surging in his eyes, and his lips opened with difficulty, "Why here?"
There was no time to talk about this now. She looked at the man who turned to leave and said hurriedly, "Xie An, stop him quickly... stop him, don't let him go."
The young man narrowed his eyes and looked at her quietly, with no intention of taking action.
She had compassion for everyone, so she didn't want him to hurt innocent people.
"I had no other choice back then," he said, looking into her clear black eyes, and suddenly he felt a hatred for his past self. "They are not innocent. If you want to save them, there will be more people like you in the future..."
"I didn't want to save them, I wanted to save..."
She hesitated, her voice lowering. "I can't stop the casualties on the battlefield, and I won't come back just for this, but you can't be the one to kill them."
A thought flashed through her mind - if she told Xie An the truth now, could she prevent all this from happening?
Li Jintang grabbed the corner of his clothes and met his gaze, "Xie An, actually you..."
Before she could finish, she suddenly felt dizzy. When she stood still again, the snow around her had disappeared, leaving only an empty hall.
Suddenly, there was the sound of gongs and drums outside the hall. Listening carefully, he could hear the sound of horses' hooves mixed in. It seemed like there were quite a few people and horses.
Not knowing where these people came from or what their intentions were, Li Jintang looked around, then took his hand and hid behind a fallen plaque.
"Xie An, do you remember where this place is?"
His face was solemn, and he seemed to be thinking seriously for a long time before he said, "I can't remember."
"Congratulations to the new leader on his succession to the throne—"
The sound of gongs and drums was getting closer and closer, and the group had arrived at the door of the hall. Li Jintang turned his head and could only vaguely see a person in a crimson robe getting off the carriage from where they were hiding, but he could not see his face clearly.
The new leader... presumably Xie An's elder brother, right? But after he becomes leader, she still doesn't know how he will treat Xie An. Feeling a chill in her heart, she turned her head and glanced at the young man's expression.
He really didn't look well. His fingers resting on the plaque trembled slightly, and two sharp gleams like curved blades appeared in his eyes, as if he was extremely uneasy.
Her eyes softened and she wanted to say a few words to comfort him, but her gaze suddenly fell on the plaque.
"Is there anything written on it?" She touched it, but unfortunately the words were written upside down, and she couldn't tell what was written on it for a moment.
Her sight was suddenly blocked by a shadow. She turned around in surprise, only to see the young man with a gloomy face sticking his hand in the gap. With a "bang", the plaque was burned to pieces. The scorching flames almost jumped onto her, but were stopped by his sleeves in front of him.
"What's wrong?" She had a bad feeling and asked nervously.
"Nothing." He lowered his hands, his eyes fixed on the dark shadow that was getting closer and closer outside the palace gate.
"I'll walk you out, okay?"
He grasped her wrist, a smile spreading across his eyes. Although it was a question, it came out in a statement tone, as if he would not allow her to refuse.
Li Jintang keenly grasped the words: "Send me out? What about you?"
She came to help Xiao Xie An, but... she hasn't done anything yet.
The smile on Xie Changyan's lips froze for a moment. He lowered his head and slowly took out the spiritual rope hidden in his sleeve. With a turn of his wrist, it turned into a ribbon again.
When the corner of the crimson robe brushed past the threshold, a layer of coldness covered her cheeks, and a hazy blue appeared in front of her eyes. Li Jintang didn't understand why he did this, and hurriedly raised her hands to pull off the ribbon, but he held her hands behind her back.
"Xie An, what are you doing..." She wanted to speak, but was shocked to find that she couldn't make a sound.
I wanted to stand up and leave, but my body was completely unable to move.
...Has this person always been like this since childhood?! He loves being tied up and not allowed to move?
The sharp edge of the sword gleamed coldly in the sunlight. He stood alone in front of the hall, looking coldly at the people approaching step by step.
That was a boy who looked exactly like him.
The young man tilted his head slightly, his eyes full of contempt, "You actually believe in something as illusory as love."
"Are you going to kill me just to prevent her from knowing your identity?"
This time he did not deny it. After a long silence, he raised the sword in his hand.
The opponent did not dodge or evade, but instead opened his arms slightly, as if he could not wait to meet the attack.
In the past, he never understood what it felt like to love and be loved. No one would cry for him or come back to save him regardless of their own safety. Even though he knew it was just an illusion, he had no regrets.
What seemed like nothing to him a few years ago, he now enjoys.
The figures around him vanished like bubbles. In the flash of sword light, he casually said:
"Spit on me? But you are me. One day, you will raise this sword and stab your former self."
【Author’s words】
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