Chapter 108 You said I killed you twice, which two times? ...
The next instant, Lu Yuanyuan's vision suddenly went dark as Yin Xiaozhu, who had sat up, grabbed her arms. Then, something soft and difficult to break free from bound her forearms—it was Yin Xiaozhu's clothing.
She didn't even see how Yin Xiaozhu undressed and tied her up in one go before her arms were already immobilized, pinned in front of her, her bruised fists sinking into her clothes.
The robes of the Shu Mountain clan are made of a soft yet strong material that cannot be easily torn.
Lu Yuanyuan's eyes widened, the whites of her eyes bloodshot, and with each breath, a surge of malevolence seemed to rush in and out of her lungs. Unable to move her hands, she had other parts of her body that could act in her place; without a second thought, she violently slammed her head forward.
The hard skulls collided, and a muffled "crack" could be faintly heard. A sharp pain, accompanied by intense dizziness and nausea, surged from her brain. Lu Yuanyuan's eardrums rang, and it felt as if her brain matter was being violently slammed against her skull. For a moment, her vision went black.
But she knew that Yin Xiaozhu was definitely not in any better shape than her. So what if his spiritual power was higher than hers? Everyone is just skin and bones. His bones might not be harder than hers.
Because she used all her strength, the reaction force was also incredibly strong. Almost simultaneously, as excruciating pain shot through her nerves like sparks, Lu Yuanyuan's head uncontrollably bounced back against the cave wall behind her. Extremely dizzy, and with her hands bound, unable to adjust her falling angle, Lu Yuanyuan gritted her teeth, bracing herself for the pain.
Even if it costs her a thousand lives, she will still injure the enemy eight hundred; she will never be a lamb to the slaughter.
The wind whistled past her ears, and the impact arrived as expected. But unexpectedly, she felt no pain; the back of her head slammed heavily into someone's palm.
At the moment of impact, a large hand swiftly covered the back of her head, cushioning her skull between it and the rock.
As the golden light faded from her retina, Lu Yuanyuan vaguely saw that Yin Xiaozhu's face paled for a moment when his hand hit the stone. Only after the impact subsided did he slowly pull his hand back from behind her head.
A faint fishy smell seeped into the air, dispelling the blurriness in my eyes.
Lu Yuanyuan suppressed her dizziness, shook her head, and tried to free her hands from their restraints. At the same time, she was wary of the person in front of her. In a glance, she noticed that a sharp stone was deeply embedded in the back of Yin Xiaozhu's hand.
The stone, about the length of a pebble, was flat and pointed, and it almost pierced through his entire palm, with bright red blood seeping from the edge of the wound.
The cave walls were uneven, and when Yin Xiaozhu's hand was placed behind her head, it was directly pierced by the loose rocks. If it weren't for that hand cushioning the impact, the rock would have already pierced her head.
Lu Yuanyuan thought that Yin Xiaozhu would stop her bleeding and bandage her first, but to her surprise, he seemed unwilling to waste time on it. With a slight frown, he pulled out the stone fragment and threw it at his feet.
The blood on the back of his hand gushed out even more violently.
Lu Yuanyuan could even hear the wet, sticky sound of the stone being pulled out of the bloody wound. Her thoughts paused briefly before she was grabbed by the collar and pulled in front of him.
Lu Yuanyuan trembled all over, filled with hatred and anger. As soon as he approached, she opened her mouth viciously and bit his neck.
But Yin Xiaozhu seemed to have guessed what she was going to do this time, and immediately grabbed her chin.
The next moment, he felt a sharp pain in his hand.
Lu Yuanyuan bit down hard on his tiger's mouth, her teeth digging into his flesh, grinding it in a fit of rage. Even after tasting the flesh, she stubbornly refused to let go.
Yin Xiaozhu seemed to feel no pain, neither crying out nor pulling away. He approached her from the front, his eyes fixed on her, his voice slightly hoarse: "You said I killed you twice, which two times?"
Lu Yuanyuan's eyes burned, but she didn't answer, her cheeks aching from biting so hard. Seeing this, Yin Xiaozhu raised her hand.
Since she wouldn't budge, we could only look up together and meet his gaze.
After a brief stalemate, Lu Yuanyuan loosened her teeth and smirked, "What? You don't know what you've done, and you want me to help you remember?"
Yin Xiaozhu didn't let her change the subject. He bent down, staring intently at her with dark, deep eyes, and repeated, "Which two times?"
He seemed determined to know the answer.
Since he wants to listen, let him listen to his heart's content.
Lu Yuanyuan looked up: "The first time was when you and I spent the night in Futu Valley."
Yin Xiaozhu's grip on her clothes seemed to tighten, and a hint of emotion, which she had almost never seen before, surfaced in his eyes.
"Back then, I thought I'd encountered a formidable monster and almost died from the pain. The most ridiculous thing was that I overestimated myself and urged you to leave quickly. Little did I know, I was just a tool you used to get through this difficult time." Lu Yuanyuan's fingertips dug into her flesh, her tone becoming somewhat sarcastic: "Actually, if you really think about it, you probably harbored murderous intentions towards me even earlier. When the White Crane Boat crashed, you ignored me and left on your own, actually intending to eliminate me in the chaos. Whether I was captured by the bat demon in the confusion or fell to my death, as long as I died, that was fine. If it weren't for you suddenly realizing you needed to use me as a tool, how could I have survived until today?"
The second time was during the six months she dressed up as Princess Manjushri.
At that time, he was a small monster disguised as weak, who took advantage of her trust to lure her to the snow forest alone and then killed her.
However, this didn't happen in her current body, and without the system's access to the mission portal, she couldn't go back to the past. This was something she absolutely couldn't reveal.
He only spoke the truth because he lost control of his emotions just now.
Lu Yuanyuan paused for a moment before saying, "The second time was this time, in the Spirit Treasure Secret Realm. You were so weak, yet you still came to the stream to find me. Wasn't it because you couldn't control your form and were planning to use my blood to restore your strength?"
"……no."
Lu Yuanyuan was startled, feeling the hand that was pinching her cheek slowly loosen. Without time to think about what he meant, she quickly retreated, finally freeing herself from the restraints on her arms.
Yin Xiaozhu didn't press further. With her bleeding hand hanging down, she said softly, "That night, I went to the river because I heard you calling for help."
A cry for help?
Where did she call for help that day?
Could it be referring to that monster? That night, she was indeed lured to the riverbank by a monster that mimicked Yin Xiaozhu's cries for help.
Does Yin Xiaozhu mean that he, like her, heard the monster imitating her cries for help and rushed over because he was worried?
But after a moment's hesitation, Lu Yuanyuan shook her head and laughed, finding it rather absurd: "Do you think I would believe that? Do I look like such a stupid person?"
The first time she trusted Yin Xiaozhu, she almost died mysteriously in Futu Valley.
The second time she believed the little monster, she was ambushed in the snow. She felt a chill in her chest, followed by a surge of immense pain that coursed through her entire body.
Once or twice, but never a third time.
Yin Xiaozhu stiffened, her hand resting on her thigh seemed to tremble slightly, but she pursed her lips and did not offer any explanation.
After a long pause, he suddenly spoke up: "Since when did it start?"
Lu Yuanyuan's back was pressed against the mountain wall, the muscles in her arms were still twitching, and her mouth was closed as tightly as a clam shell.
Finding that she was unwilling to answer, he changed the question: "What about Duan Lansheng?"
Lu Yuanyuan was highly sensitive to this name and suddenly looked up.
"Aren't you two very close? Why would you use me against him?" Yin Xiaozhu asked, looking at her.
Lu Yuanyuan frowned and said bluntly, "This has nothing to do with you."
Seeing that she refused to communicate, Yin Xiaozhu finally stopped talking.
The dark cave fell silent. After an unknown amount of time, suddenly, a beam of white light shone in from outside the cave.
It was already dark outside, and a heavy rain had started to fall.
By the light of the lightning, Lu Yuanyuan saw that Yin Xiaozhu was facing away from her, hastily bandaging the wound on his palm with a piece of torn clothing.
Lu Yuanyuan tilted her head back. Just now, she had been frantically beating Yin Xiaozhu, venting her anger like a trapped beast tearing at its predicament in despair, burning up a great deal of her strength. But now, after a long silence, her brain, which had been burning red with rage, had gradually calmed down.
She didn't understand why Yin Xiaozhu didn't kill her immediately.
They've already completely broken off relations, what is he still waiting for?
Lu Yuanyuan's throat tightened, her breathing quickened, and she turned her head to glance at the cave entrance. Her heart, which had been almost dry in her chest, seemed to start beating again.
If he doesn't kill her now, is she... not yet at her wit's end, and perhaps still has a chance to survive?
That's how people are... Even if they've been knocked down countless times, they won't truly give up as long as they see a glimmer of hope.
However, there was a barrier at the entrance of the cave, and Yin Xiaozhu did not turn around to look at her, which must have meant that she was certain that she could not get out.
Lu Yuanyuan clenched her fists.
She was already completely at his mercy, and she couldn't figure out how he intended to treat her. But as long as he didn't kill her for the time being, she still had a chance to survive.
Exhausted both physically and mentally, Lu Yuanyuan was utterly weary. With a jumble of thoughts swirling in her mind, she finally succumbed to her weariness and fell into a deep sleep.
When I woke up, it wasn't fully light yet.
Lu Yuanyuan huddled in the corner. Hearing footsteps approaching, she immediately woke up, scrambling to her feet and warily watching the newcomer. At the same time, she subtly sensed her spiritual power and tried again to transfer her consciousness into the puppet's body, but this time she failed again.
After a short while, Yin Xiaozhu stopped in front of her and said, "I went out and tried it just now. There's something blocking the way up, so we can't go back the way we came. If we follow the river, we should be able to leave this place."
Lu Yuanyuan never expected that after such an ugly scene yesterday, Yin Xiaozhu could still put on an expression as if they were still in Shushan and nothing unpleasant had happened the next day.
If it weren't for the bruises and swelling on his face that hadn't subsided, and the pain in her fists, she would have really wondered if she was dreaming yesterday.
At this moment, Yin Xiaozhu squatted down and suddenly reached out her hand.
Lu Yuanyuan was both frightened and wary, and reflexively shrank back, only to find that he had simply taken out some fruit he had picked from outside from his pocket and handed it to her with his uninjured hand.
Seeing her resolute rejection, Yin Xiaozhu paused, a hint of unreadable emotion flashing in her eyes.
Lu Yuanyuan dared not accept or believe his advances at all.
Every time I accept his kindness, I always have to pay a heavy price afterwards.
She no longer wanted to guess the hidden meaning behind his every move.
She had tried, but never figured it out.
Lu Yuanyuan turned her face away, considered the probability of a successful resistance, and finally stood up silently, but didn't grab his hand or touch anything on the ground. Seeing a chance to live, she naturally wouldn't lose control of her emotions like yesterday, hitting and cursing him.
Wherever I go is better than wasting my life here.
Once she's outside the barrier, she always manages to find a way to get rid of this person.
Yin Xiaozhu took a step back, seemingly waiting for her to catch up. But seeing that she was unwilling to walk alongside him, he paused, then walked out, seemingly certain that she would follow.
Lu Yuanyuan did catch up, and as she walked, she asked in her mind, "System, is there something wrong with the puppet I buried in the mortal realm? Why can't I switch bodies?"
From the moment she attempted to alter the plot, she avoided speaking to the system as much as possible to prevent revealing her true thoughts and causing the system to conclude that she had malicious intent. However, Xiao Ruo's sudden appearance yesterday made her suspect that the system might have played a role in her actions.
Fortunately, the system didn't punish her after this failure. Probably because she had been careful all along.
That's right, Xiao Ruo exposed her in public for plucking all the Corrosive Flowers underwater, but this only made the people of Shu Mountain see that she was two-faced.
Within the system, she has always played the role of a sycophant. Her act of plucking the Bone-Eating Flower still aligns with the logic of this role; she didn't defend Duan Lansheng yesterday, but she also didn't speak ill of him. Therefore, the system cannot judge her as out of character (OOC).
However, this approach wouldn't work in Shushan. Because in Shushan, in order to change her fate in the end, she worked hard to create a persona, elevating her sycophantic behavior to the point that everyone thought she was a very good friend of Duan Lansheng.
Success and failure are both tied to this line.
Lu Yuanyuan came to her senses and realized that several seconds had passed, but the system still hadn't responded to her.
This was unprecedented. The system was online 24/7, and even if it didn't know the answer, it would answer her with a curt "I don't know".
Lu Yuanyuan sensed it with a puzzled look, then froze in surprise.
In the system panel, only the backpack could still be opened normally, containing the items she had previously stored.
The profile and progress panel have both turned gray.
[Health Points] Monitoring has been disabled.
[Force Value] Monitoring has been cut off.
[Spiritual Power Value] Monitoring has been disconnected.
[Character Completion Rate] 100%
She... could no longer sense the system's presence.
Lu Yuanyuan stood there, stunned, before belatedly realizing what had happened.
It wasn't the system that left her unilaterally and without reason.
Instead... according to the plot of "The Enchanting Fairy Tale", the original owner she possessed officially died in the "Bone-Eroding" dungeon.
"Offline" does not refer to the original owner's death, but rather that from now on, the original author will never again use words to depict her life trajectory.
Where the original owner went after leaving Mount Shu, and how he fared... are all unknown.
So the system unbound her, and she was free.
There will never again be novel texts or system tasks to tell her what to do or not to do. Nor will any power force her to smile at anyone or cry to anyone.
From today onwards, she no longer needs to impersonate someone else.
Even if she is as insignificant as a speck of dust, she will still be herself.
It could only be her.
Numbness and despair seemed to have receded from her limbs and bones, giving rise to a tenacious and tiny life force. Lu Yuanyuan took a deep breath and quickly followed.
.
Lu Yuanyuan was determined to shake off Yin Xiaozhu halfway through her journey and escape to the mortal realm to lay low for a while. However, after a day and a night since she set off, she still hadn't found an opportunity to escape.
On the way, she hardly spoke to Yin Xiaozhu and always kept her distance from him.
Yin Xiaozhu wasn't walking fast—compared to his usual pace. Perhaps, he was accommodating her as she followed behind.
Unfortunately, Lu Yuanyuan discovered that even though she was moving so slowly, something was still wrong with her body. Her steps began to feel heavy, her forehead was burning hot, and her strength was waning.
It was as if the heat that had subsided earlier had reignited after being subjected to such a huge shock.
She didn't want to expose her weakness in front of Yin Xiaozhu, so she kept pretending that nothing was wrong.
However, late into the night on the second day, Lu Yuanyuan still couldn't hide.
Curled up in a ball, delirious with fever, she felt someone seemingly checking the temperature of her forehead, like a bothersome fly.
Impatient, she swatted the annoying fly away.
After a brief respite, the fly returned, this time taking her hand. Lu Yuanyuan sensed that it seemed to want to remove the storage ring from her finger.
She instinctively clenched her fist to resist, but was still pulled away. She heard the annoying fly that was snatching her things talking above her head, its voice strangely pleasant: "You have a fever. Give me your storage ring, and I'll see if I have any suitable medicine... to make you feel better..."
Her fingers went limp, and the storage ring was eventually removed. But she didn't know what had been discovered inside the storage ring, because she vaguely sensed that the other person's aura falter. The next second, from the silent night, came the sound of something cracking.
Lu Yuanyuan was delirious with fever and opened one eye a crack.
In the darkness, Yin Xiaozhu was facing away from her, staring stiffly at something in his hand.
It was a translucent, ancient molt, but it wasn't the long, thin shape of a snake; rather, it resembled something left behind by a humanoid monster shedding its skin.
"What is this?" Yin Xiaozhu slowly raised her head, her face pale, and clenched the human-shaped snake skin in her hand: "Where did you get this?"
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