63. The Inner Demon Mirror, Part 4: Suicide to Resurrect Oneself
"Tang Xihe! Do you even know your mistake?!"
Before he arrived, his voice preceded his arrival. A man strode out of the house into the courtyard, head held high, with a thick beard hanging down. His voice was like a booming bell, and the moment he opened his mouth, Tangxi's knees went numb.
"Do you even know how much trouble you've caused our Chentang Pass!"
What's going on this time?
Tangxi and Mangran easily guessed that the visitor was Li Jing.
The man who emerged from the shadows had features still in their "initial state," as clean as an eraser; following closely behind, Madam Yin, with her small, quick steps and clutching a handkerchief, also had no features: "Don't be angry, calm down, sir..."
Even though the couple couldn't see each other's faces, Tang Xi could still feel a strong sense of familiarity.
Really?
Tang Xi's eyebrows twitched; he didn't want to see those two faces. Looking down, he found himself still kneeling in the center of the courtyard.
Another time forcing someone to kneel?
He was somewhat dazed, unconsciously recalling the night he knelt in the Tang family's courtyard. Strangely, he hadn't noticed any of the changes in his body immediately, the most obvious example being the change in his field of vision. For instance, when he returned to the "hospital world," Tang Xi hadn't noticed that his field of vision had returned to normal; now, back at the Li residence, he hadn't immediately noticed that his field of vision had become very low, and that he was still in a kneeling position.
Actually, he can tell the difference.
This is the Water Mirror World, not the outside world.
Tangxi shook her head and looked at Li Jing.
Madam Yin, who had no facial features, spoke kindly and gently, one hand clutching a handkerchief and the other lightly resting on Li Jing's arm, "Master, calm down, Tang Xi certainly didn't mean it..."
Li Jing snorted coldly, swung his arm to shake off Madam Yin's hand, and said in a certain direction, "You tell me!"
Du Shi and Wang Yu walked over from both sides, their heads lowered so their faces were not visible. They clutched the hem of their clothes and slowly moved over.
He glanced furtively at Du Shi and Wang Yu, who looked tense, and noticed that the two children's features had grown out and looked exactly like the faces he had bumped into at the hospital. They were also glancing at him out of the corner of their eyes.
Their eyes met, and Tangxi was slightly taken aback.
Are the hospital world and the Nezha world connected?
The Du Shi and Wang Yu before him had grown facial features. They were clearly not as tall as when he met them in the hospital, still looking about ten years old. However, their facial features and face shapes were exactly the same as when he had been in the hospital world, only more immature. It was as if he could see through their faces and see Du Shi and Wang Yu more than ten years later.
Why is this happening? His time back in his previous life was very short...
Tangxi's throat tightened.
This illustrates that even if he is not in the world of the Nezha story, the timelines of the two worlds, no, all the worlds in the Water Mirror, continue to flow and will not stop because he is being guided back and forth.
Furthermore, each world seems to be subtly connected.
"Speak!"
Li Jing roared, "Do you know you were wrong?!"
This was shouted at Tangxi, who was lost in thought. Du Shi and Wang Yu on either side were startled and trembled.
Wang Yu closed her eyes briefly and spoke first, "Dad, actually, actually, I took him out to play. We wanted to go find that old man who can do Tai Chi..."
"Rebellious son!"
Li Jing was furious. He turned his clean face to Wang Yu, stretched out his finger and poked Wang Yu's forehead hard, making Wang Yu cover his forehead and take two steps back.
Tang Xi's eyes darkened.
Li Jing angrily said, "What kind of crappy Tai Chi is this! He runs around outside all day, does he even study anymore! He's always been mischievous, you two older brothers know that... It's infuriating! He can't do anything but cause trouble. What if he actually learns something?"
Tangxi spoke coolly from the ground.
"If I can't do anything, I'll get scolded by you. If I learn something, I'll still get scolded by you. So what do you want me to do?"
Find the most direct moves of the boss in the secret realm, escalate the conflict, and amplify the problem.
Sure enough, the courtyard fell silent for a few seconds. Li Jing became even angrier, drew his jade belt from his waist, and made a gesture as if to whip him.
Madam Yin was so frightened that she clung to Li Jing's arm. "Master! Master! He is your own flesh and blood! Why are you so cruel to him? Come and help! Master, stop!"
Hearing their "mother's" cry for help, Du Shi and Wang Yu dared to step forward. They were both afraid and unwilling to back down. The three of them grabbed Li Jing and dragged her around like a giant roly-poly toy bound together by an invisible rope called blood ties.
Li Jing's anger had not subsided. "How much of Chen Tang Pass's fortune was wasted by giving birth to you, you wretched child? Since your birth, everything you've eaten, worn, used, and cultivated—everything you've received has been obtained by absorbing the foundation of my Li family!"
"..."
How wronged!
Was Li Jing in the original text really like this?
Tang Xihe rubbed her knees, looking a little bewildered, and got up to shake her legs.
He doesn't remember the story, only the general plot.
Who remembers the fairy tale books they once flipped through in a hurry?
Looking back now, Qin Xiuluo was actually willing to descend to the mortal realm to find out the reasons behind the different legends just because she noticed some unusual details... She was a bit stubborn, but her approach actually made a lot of sense?
Seeing that Tang Xi had stood up without permission and dared to be distracted, Li Jing sharply pulled the jade belt in his hand, making a crisp snap.
The blow nearly hit Tang Xihe's eyelids. Wang Yu, Du Shi, and Madam Yin worked together to hold Li Jing, barely managing to save Tang Xihe from the blow.
"Dad! Why are you so angry!"
"Hit me if you want! I'm the one who took him out to play!"
"Master!"
Tang Xi's eyelids twitched, not only because Li Jing suddenly launched an attack, but more so because Li Jing's twitch reminded him of someone.
Hatred surged within me.
It was him. Tang Xi was 80% certain. Since Wang Yu and Du Shi were people from her previous life, then the person playing the role of her father was him.
Li Jing was still roaring, "Now you actually dare to steal Chen Feng's cultivation spot, occupy a place on the Ark, and even skin the dragon, causing this monstrous disaster!"
"Are you trying to completely ruin the Li family's thousand-year-old foundation and make your mother and father a laughingstock?!"
Upon hearing the name Chen Feng, Tang Xi was shocked once again.
Is there a frequency mismatch?
And this time, they actually stumbled into the real world outside the water mirror!
No, which one is real...?
Shocked, Tang Xi was unsettled and somewhat dazed.
This further enraged Li Jing, who was already furious, and his face gradually darkened.
"You wicked child! I knew you were a freak all along, I should have killed you back then! I, Li Jing, have lived a life of integrity, how could I have given birth to such a wicked son!"
"What kind of bewitching potion did that old Taoist priest give you, making you abandon even the most basic filial piety and run around learning that bullshit Tai Chi every day? Listen carefully, I gave you your life. How can you be so affectionate with an old man who's on his deathbed? Where do you put my face?"
Tang Xi watched as the features of Li Jing gradually emerged on his face.
There are absolutely no such details in mythology. Nezha committed suicide because he pulled out the dragon's tendons and peeled off its skin.
But the words of "Li Jing" made Tang Xi suddenly realize the truth.
This was originally aimed at his inner demons, Tangxi and himself, so it's normal for them to "cross over".
But Tangxi and Kuai are indistinguishable.
Which one is true?
Is it true that he is currently being punished and scolded at the Li residence?
The Li Jing before them was not the Li Jing of the mythological stories. Just as Tang Xi had expected, the features that appeared were very familiar to him.
With deep-set eyes, a high nose bridge, and sharp features, his pupils shrink when he gets angry, making the whites of his eyes appear exaggerated, giving him the look of a born villain.
He looks exactly like his biological father from his previous life, and he is also exactly the same as his biological father Chen Feng in this life. If you really look closely, the only difference between the two of them is that this "Father of Water Mirror" has a beard.
Tang Xihe was all too familiar with this furious face. In his past life, he would have shown the same expression when he lost his temper in the hospital; in this life, upon learning that Tang Xihe could board the Ark, Chen Feng's angry expression was exactly the same as the "Li Jing" before him.
We are now in the Water Mirror World.
Even though Tang Xihe deliberately avoided returning to the Tang family, that face still haunted him like a nightmare. Then Tang Xihe realized something, and his stiff gaze slowly fell on the face of Madam Yin, who was sobbing beside him.
Lady Yin's facial features gradually became visible.
She sobbed softly, looking pitiful. She gently pressed a handkerchief to the tears welling up in her eyes. As she lowered her hand, that familiar face came into Tang Xihe's view.
"Tangxi and... I know you're wronged. But your father is a general, he can't ignore his reputation! Don't go looking for that old man anymore. Aren't our family's marksmanship enough for you to learn? Why do you have to learn other people's useless things!"
“We…you should quickly apologize to your father, as a way of showing filial piety, and don’t implicate your brother…”
God.
You're messing with me like this.
Tang Xi was completely flustered, his mind went blank, and he cursed himself for being too slow to react. At this moment, he fully understood that Li Jing and Madam Yin in front of him were the embodiment of his inner demons about his "parents".
Li Jing glanced coldly at Tang Xihe, "A flawed product! He tries to copy this and that; he doesn't deserve to be my son at all!"
Then, ignoring Du Shi and Wang Yu, he flung his arm, turned, and went inside, leaving behind the echoing words, "Your very existence is a mistake!"
Hearing such blunt words, the three actors fell silent in fear, while Tang Xi was relieved.
His parents abandoned him in his past life not only because of financial pressure, but more so because he became a "burden." He was a symbol of broken relationships, he carried an unhealthy dominant gene, and his very existence meant "shame."
Tangxi vaguely remembered that before his euthanasia, he closed his eyes to rest, and the nurse thought he was asleep, so she openly whispered among herself by his bedside.
Mrs. Tang's prenatal checkup results came back; she was carrying a girl.
Then they shouldn't argue, right? Madam Tang has always liked the girl.
Yes, and girls don't inherit this immune disease.
What should he do then?
Why……
Tang Xi didn't want to hear those sighs and lamentations, but the sighs of others still seeped into his heart, making Tang Xi feel inexplicably bitter and resentful.
He suddenly thought of this life.
When he first awakened his memories, he was kneeling in the courtyard because he had taken his father Chen Feng's "Ark spot".
What can you do if you snatch it? The quota can't be changed.
Chen Feng, who was already frequently looked down upon by the Tang family, was furious to learn that he had spent half his life trying to board the Ark but his son had gotten away with it. So he made Tang Xi kneel in the snow for a long time.
Having just regained his memories of his previous life, Tang Xi knelt in the snow all night, thinking for a long time. Even as the sun rose and his body warmed up, he still couldn't figure out whether he had really died once.
But that doesn't matter anymore, because life goes on.
A new week arrived, and it was his turn to take care of his younger sister. So Tang Xihe returned to her divorced mother in the suburbs. This time, Tang Xihe did not return to her biological father as ordered by the court.
He spent more than ten years with his mother and sister before being taken aboard the Ark.
Having boarded the ark and arrived in the secret world, Tang Xi completely severed ties with his past. A sense of fear returned, threatening him from time to time.
Tangxi lived her days in a daze, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion. Sometimes she felt like she might really be dead, while at other times she was acutely aware that she was alive.
So Tangxi found a way to suppress these emotions: get moving.
Once he got busy, Tang Xi truly realized that he was alive. So, relying on the information he had learned in advance from novels in his previous life, he led batch after batch of "fleeting romance" teammates into and out of secret realms to complete missions.
Now I don't have to be busy anymore.
The answer he couldn't understand in his previous life was now revealed by his father through Li Jing's words: the answer was so straightforward, because Tangxi was a flawed product.
Completely relaxed, Tangxi really wanted to rest.
It's so annoying; I'm being punished all the time.
I'm tired of it.
Tang Xi shouted loudly to Li Jing, who was deep in the shadows, "I'm giving it all back to you."
"What?"
Li Jing stopped in his tracks, came to his senses, and hid in the shadow of the eaves.
I said, here you go.
Tang Xi flipped her wrist, condensing her energy into a sword. "I'm giving it all back to you."
"Blood, flesh, bone, soul, and cultivation slots—I'll return them all to you."
As Tang Xihe spoke, she deftly sliced off a piece of flesh from her arm, the sharp blade cutting from her left upper arm to the back of her hand, blood dripping down in a steady stream.
The blood had a strange shape, like raindrops, dripping and as thick as black ink.
Amidst several screams, Tang Xi looked directly into "Li Jing's" eyes and coldly questioned, "Do you think I wanted this?"
"My eyesight is deteriorating, my body is becoming increasingly numb, my limbs are out of control, I have to take medication constantly, I have to go in and out of the hospital every night, I hear people sobbing in the ward, and every morning I wake up to the two of you arguing in front of me. If you don't like each other, why are you with Mom? Is it because there's something to gain?"
With each word Tangxi spoke, the sword slashed down once more.
"You're always arguing, always immersed in your own world, and you'll never hear my voice."
"Anyway, my illness is incurable. Even with medication, I will have to take medicine for the rest of my life to keep controlling it until I die. I should thank you, right? Thank you, Mom, for giving me the opportunity to escape this suffering."
Do you really think I want to live as your child?
"I've had enough. I'm giving it all back to you."
As Du Shi and Wang Yu rushed over, Tang Xi held the sword to her neck.
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