Chapter 19: Love and Hate
Is there a positioning crystal in Fang Ai’s room?
Positioning crystals are extremely sensitive for a country's royal palace. The positioning crystals used for direct transmission back to the palace are all placed in an extremely secret basement, while positioning crystals are absolutely not allowed to exist in other places. After all, no king would want someone to enter and exit his most important territory like entering and exiting a bathhouse. However, because Fang Ai was brought into the palace by Gu Yinyue himself, the guards only symbolically checked the luggage she brought in, and did not take any major precautions against her entering and leaving the palace.
After all, Gu Yinyue's prestige among the Guards and the Night Cavalry was second only to that of Yagad and Beichen. The soldiers did not want to offend him, and secondly, they would never think that "the people he brought with him had ulterior motives" - so, they unknowingly caused a big trouble.
Upon hearing this news, Li Ye's eyes darkened, and he seemed to be ready to find out who had let things slide when checking the items entering and leaving the palace - wasn't it clearly stated that one must not be careless with anyone!
Xiao Ying on the side also noticed the intention in Li Ye's eyes. He pulled her and shook his head: Now is not the time to blame.
Instead, it was Gu Yinyue who spoke:
"Where is my mother now?"
"Well...she's still in her room. We have someone guarding the door."
"...Then let's go and take a look."
A consensus was quickly reached, and the rest of the people did not speak. They followed Gu Yinyue and the fallen dark race who reported the news to Fang Ai's residence.
When they entered the room, Fang Ai was sitting at her desk, flipping through a book leisurely. Several guards were standing guard not far from her, looking stern. Upon seeing Gu Yinyue and Xiao Peng approach, they breathed a sigh of relief, as if they had been granted amnesty. They stepped forward and handed over a light yellow crystal and an envelope.
"My lord, this is what we found."
Li Ye picked it up and took a look. It was indeed the positioning spirit crystal. The envelope also contained a detailed topographical structure map of the palace, and even important places were marked.
Gu Yinyue didn't say anything, but just stared at his mother for a few seconds. Fang Ai, as if he understood his son's eyes, immediately nodded and gave him an elegant smile.
Xiao Ping looked at what Li Ye was holding and was silent for a few seconds:
"Ms. Fang, do you remember any strangers entering or leaving your room recently?"
"Oh? Are you so sure I was framed? I think you're the suspicious type."
"If you were the one who was responsible, how could your methods be so shoddy that they could be discovered so easily? If it were you, you would have placed the positioning crystal in someone else's room, and why would you have been so thoughtless as to draw a map on paper with ink?"
"...Hey, you think so highly of me?"
Fang Ai raised his eyebrows in interest, but seemed to be in a good mood. He looked around at the people around him. Apart from the hostility in the eyes of those low-level warriors, most people seemed to be confused about who was the culprit behind this frame-up.
Did they trust her? No, she didn't have such a deep connection with them.
But they believed in Gu Yinyue, and Gu Yinyue believed in his mother - so they believed in her.
This is the atmosphere among the "founding fathers" who built a country with their own strength. No wonder Gu Yinyue, knowing that she was doing well in Youyu, still said a lot of nice things and brought her here.
Here she was no longer the big businessman who controlled the lifeline of the erotic trade in several cities. Her business, the power she had accumulated and most of her property were given to her confidants and subordinates when she left - because Gu Yinyue told her that living in Elysien did not require these - all she needed was the courage to survive.
It seems that her son knows that although she can dominate a certain field, she is still unhappy.
Yes, no matter how much money she has, how big her business is, or how many people are fawning over her, she still has an unpleasant title on her head, and others can still curse her in arguments, and she can't refute it. If something happens to her, her opponents will be more likely to gloat over her misfortune - instead of like now, even if there is hard evidence in front of them, they will still choose to believe her.
Xiang Beichen, although this girl is not present now, the atmosphere she created is always lingering.
This is Elysion.
Fang Ai played with her hair while she was lost in thought.
"No one has ever been to my room, except for the maid you assigned. The key to the room is only held by me and the maid."
Li Ye raised an eyebrow: Did someone bribe the maids to frame her? But these maids all have leverage in her hands, so logically speaking, they shouldn't have the guts to do such a thing.
As if he understood Li Ye's thoughts, Gu Yinyue spoke.
"It's possible... that this wasn't done in the palace, but before we got here."
Black Disaster immediately came back to his senses:
"You mean, someone knew Aunt Fang was going to Elytheon and secretly slipped something strange into her luggage?"
Hearing what Hei Huo said, Su Jie frowned, touched his chin, and muttered:
"That's not right...what's with the map?"
"Now that you mention it, I have an idea." Fang Ai said, "Is it possible that two groups of people are plotting against me at the same time? Because the spirit crystal was found in my jewelry box, and the map was under the mattress. It seems that I brought the former in without knowing it, and the latter was placed there after I moved into this room, right?"
Many people in the room showed expressions of agreement.
"Then it's easy to guess who the murderer is." Xiao Ying concentrated, "It's Su Mo, right? He's from the same country as you, and with his intelligence network, he couldn't be unaware of your relationship with Gu Yinyue. It wouldn't be like him not to tamper with your luggage. ...As for if there really is another one..."
The room was silent for a few seconds, as if no one had any clue about the other murderer.
Seeing that they were all unsure, Fang Ai simply clapped his hands and stood up from the desk:
"How about you lend me a small group of people and let me investigate this matter thoroughly myself? I'm not someone you can easily bully. If you want to plot against me, you need to be prepared for a counterattack."
"good."
Xiao Ping immediately nodded without any objection.
"Who would you like as your assistant?"
"Give me a few capable Night-Treading Iron Cavalry warriors, plus a few Dark-Fallen who are good at gathering intelligence."
"Okay, I'll dispatch someone to bring them to you in a moment."
"That's troublesome, Master Xiaoping." Fang Ai said with a smile and a wink. "Although you are indeed my son's competitor, it seems that you are a good person now."
“…”
Thus, Fang Ai's incident came to a temporary end. At this time, Yagad and Xifeng led their troops back to the city. The news of a great victory spread throughout the capital, creating a very high atmosphere outside the palace.
Gu Yinyue, Xiao Ying and his party went to welcome them, but knowing that so many things had happened, they could not be excited. Xifeng and Yagard had not had much rest before they joined the search for the Soul-Killing Sword.
On the second day after Xifeng and Yagad returned, Mingxi appeared in front of everyone with Feibai, whose body had been completely transformed, which surprised everyone again.
——His appearance has become almost nothing like the original Xiangying.
His hair had turned into semi-long black, his eyes had turned into amber with a hint of green, and his face lacked Xiang Ying's honest military air, but instead had a more cunning and devilish temperament - this look was more in line with his personality.
Seeing everyone's surprised expressions, Feibai pulled his hair with a half-smile:
"Looks like the plastic surgery was successful? You guys can't seem to recognize me anymore."
"Ah, ah." Black Fate scratched his head awkwardly. "Not bad, he looks like a gorgeous noble."
"Yes, yes." Su Jie nodded hurriedly, his tone seeming to carry a hint of caution, "If the little loach sees this, he might get an electric shock."
Unlike the others, Hei Huo and Su Jie harbored complex feelings towards Fei Bai. After all, aside from Bei Chen, they had spent the most time with Xiang Ying, so they weren't sure how to react to him, a man they shared a memory with. They couldn't be intimate, but being distant felt guilty.
"She won't." Fei Bai laughed at himself. "If even my face is different from Xiang Ying's, then there's nothing about me that would keep her interested, right? I think if I stay away from her, she'll feel less psychologically burdened."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone present fell into an unusually heavy silence.
In fact, what he said was not wrong. Everyone here considered the problem with Beichen as the center, so no one refuted his words, but they all felt very uncomfortable because of the bitterness in his words.
"Um, well," Black Malice scratched his nose, unsure how to comfort her. "...There's no need to be so pessimistic. Little Loach might feel a little uncomfortable at first, but with time, I think you two can become friends."
"Actually, you don't need to worry too much about the problems between you and Xiang Ying." Su Jie also added carefully.
Feibai was stunned for a few seconds, but finally patted Gemini's shoulder to express his gratitude and shook his head.
"I have my own pride. I don't want to use memories that aren't mine to try to make friends with you. After all, even if you're nice to me, it's mostly because you feel sorry for me, right? There's no need for that, and I don't want to live forever in the pity of others."
He said this with a tilted head and a smile.
"At this point, there's no point blaming you. I want to be myself again, so after thinking it over... Although I'm a little reluctant, you're not my true partners after all, so I'm still planning to leave."
“…”
Now that things had come to this, there was no need to appease or stop him anymore. So not only Black Disaster and Su Jie, but also Atlas, who was about to step forward to speak, stopped talking. In the end, Agard and everyone else joined together to give him a considerable sum of money, plus a lot of daily props for weapons as a gift of practice.
Noticing that a lot of things had happened in the palace recently, Fei Bai didn't want to attract their attention. He told them to mind their own business and then quietly left the palace at night.
However, just as Fei Bai walked out of the palace and strolled around the capital city for a few times, and was about to leave the city, he discovered that someone was following him.
Fei Bai curled the corners of his mouth slightly, and walked calmly to the uninhabited wilderness outside the city before stopping.
Then he spoke to a huge natural crystal pillar somewhere.
"Come out."
The figure opposite didn't seem to want to hide anymore, and walked out from behind the crystal column so openly - it was Xifeng.
"Lord Xifeng, is there anything else you want from me?"
Xifeng did not say anything, but just conjured up a sniper rifle and pointed the muzzle at Feibai who was more than ten meters away.
Non-white eyebrow raising:
"Are you trying to kill me?"
"yes."
"...Why? Because I have Xiangying's memories, and you're afraid I'll use them to harm your Beichen?"
"I'm glad you know."
As Xifeng finished speaking, several red bullets blasted past him with a bang! Feibai narrowed his eyes and dodged several times by jumping back, but was still hit by the bullets in the end, and was instantly surrounded by several red lights.
boom!
The explosion lasted for several seconds before stopping, but after the red light dissipated, Xifeng immediately realized that something was wrong. He jumped a few steps with his gun and kept his distance.
──Fei Bai was only slightly injured, with a streak of blood on his forehead, making his smiling face look a little eerie.
"You're so impatient, Xifeng. Are you afraid that others will find you if you stay out too long?"
“…”
"That's right... If Beichen knew you killed me, she would definitely blame you, right? Not only her, but also Black Disaster and Su Jie... They must be feeling really bad for me right now."
"Aren't you deliberately showing that sad and bitter look in front of them to make them soft-hearted?"
Hearing Xifeng's words, Feibai was stunned, then chuckled in an emotionless tone.
"Is that how you see me? Never mind. Whatever."
Xifeng was silent.
In fact, he also more or less felt that Feibai was innocent, but Yagad would not attack Feibai because of Beichen, so the most cold-blooded person left among that group of people was Xifeng. Even if Feibai had old feelings for them because of Xiangying, since he was leaving, he could not rule out the possibility that those memories would be misused.
If he killed Fei Bai, even if others disagreed emotionally, they would understand Xifeng's considerations rationally.
Apart from Yagad, it goes without saying that Black Disaster and Su Jie would be soft-hearted, Atlas would also hesitate because of the (former) 97% similarity, and Gu Yinyue would definitely not kill for precautionary purposes - especially someone with such a sensitive identity. As for Xiao Ying and Li Ye, they probably have already arranged people to secretly intercept him - but now it seems that Fei Bai's strength has greatly increased after the transformation, and whether the people sent can succeed is also a question.
...It seems that he is the most suitable person to be the executioner.
Xifeng pursed his lips, aimed his gun at Feibai, and unleashed another barrage of explosive rounds. And within the dense, interwoven white light, Feibai's figure began to move. Far from retreating or falling to the side, he moved nimbly through the white light like a nimble beast, his body arched, advancing towards Xifeng, a white sword in hand!
Keep your distance!
The attack range of the sword and the sniper rifle is too far apart. Xifeng knows that once he gets close, he will be at a disadvantage.
So, while constantly switching bullets, the dense web of light fell and exploded like rain, while he kept retreating, while at the same time dodging and using his sword to deflect bullet attacks, he swiftly approached the opponent's figure. At first glance, Xifeng had the upper hand, but from a bird's-eye view, he could see that on the outskirts of the battlefield, where the dazzling bullets and sword lights intertwined and the figures danced, a white shadow quietly moved behind Xifeng.
Then, by the time Xifeng noticed a red dot inexplicably appearing on the topographic map, it was too late.
At the last moment, he moved his body sideways to avoid being hit by the vital part of the crystal core, but a sword light as long as an arm still fiercely hit Xifeng's upper body from the side, knocking him straight out. He slid on the ground for more than ten meters and stopped after hitting a crystal pillar!
──It was another Fei Bai holding a long sword.
Feibai, who had just been fighting with Xifeng, now walked near Feibai who had attacked him, turned into a transparent white shadow, and merged back into Feibai's body.
"Hmm... Maybe it's my fate's punishment for this. I can't get rid of the word 'copy'."
Fei Bai said this while smiling and shaking off the golden bloodstains on the tip of the sword.
"The special ability I gained after reaching August... is still 'copy'. In a short period of time, I can copy multiple 'me's' to fight. Xifeng, your advantage is sniping from a thousand meters away. Your biggest mistake is measuring me by the combat power of Xiangying in the past. My current combat power is completely comparable to that of the top-grade Yeyue species."
As he spoke, he approached and squatted down in front of Xifeng, whose chest was torn apart by the sword energy, revealing a small amount of internal organs and bleeding profusely.
"Actually, you're being soft-hearted, aren't you? You could have ambushed me from a commanding position inside the city and shot me in the head, but instead you came here to engage me in close combat... You don't want me to die in vain, do you?"
“…”
Xifeng was probably in so much pain that he was unconscious and couldn't even speak. It seemed as if he had used up all his strength just to stay awake.
Staring at the pair of golden eyes that were still murderous, Fei Bai's mouth corners twisted.
"If this tenderness is for me and not for Xiangying... If... you are my brothers and not Xiangying's brothers... If she..."
Fei Bai lowered his eyes and didn't say anything else. Instead, he took out a stack of papers covered with words from the storage space and handed it to Xifeng.
"You're right, Zephyr."
Even Xifeng, who was unconscious, understood instantly when he saw what was written on it - that was the research data of Yagard's research base!
He let out a hoarse groan from his throat and ruptured chest, and stretched out his hand to take back the information, but was interrupted by Fei Bai's easy movement of retracting his hand.
"You know what, Zephyr. I like you guys... but at the same time... I hate you guys just as much."
“…”
"How can I not hate you? If you were in my shoes, could you be open-minded and tolerant, and just laugh it off? ... If you experienced the feeling of having everything and then suddenly losing it all... could you still be tolerant of those who took everything away?"
Fei Bai said this with a wry smile as he looked at the tip of his sword which was pressing against the crystal core on Xifeng's chest which was exposed to the air but couldn't penetrate it.
"You can't understand what I've been through. ...So I have to...take everything from you, and let you taste the pain I've tasted."
"Fei, Bai..."
"I hate you. If I don't remove all of you who are branded in my mind one by one, I will never be able to get rid of the shadow cast by Xiangying's memory. So..."
He sheathed his sword, took a few steps back, and turned around.
"To achieve this, I'll do whatever it takes—even if it means joining forces with Chiyue. I'm just that selfish—I'm sorry that as a copy of Xiangying, I have such a personality."
Fei Bai's face appeared quiet yet subtly ruthless in the night. Now, he and Xiang Ying were indeed two completely different people.
However, Xifeng saw it just a second before he was seriously injured and lost consciousness.
When Feibai turned around and took a last look, there was a drop of light in the corner of his eyes, reflecting the dark blue moonlight, and flashing a light of sadness and hatred.
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