Confrontation
Upon hearing this, Jing Yao's heart suddenly throbbed with pain, like a tormented thread being pulled. Her feelings towards the Jing family were so complex that she couldn't even articulate them. Honestly, she'd truly resented her father's ruthlessness and resented his snobbery in her youth. Born into the Jing family, she'd earned her status as a daughter of a wealthy family, but it also transformed her into a cold, cold bargaining chip in a power struggle.
Even so, she did benefit from the Jingguo Mansion, and for the first ten years of her life, her father had loved her dearly. Even though she knew he could sell her out for profit, she couldn't help but remember the good old days. Even though Jing Yao believed she and the Jing family were not of the same ilk, she still felt sad after learning that the Jing family had been wiped out.
Love and hate are intertwined in his heart, and this contradictory emotion is once again reflected in Si Pei.
Entangled between life and death, Si Pei haunted her like a ghost, etched deep into her bones, a memory she could neither forget nor escape. She had previously trusted Si Pei because she knew him well enough to believe he wouldn't do something so self-defeating. She had naively imagined he would show some leniency to the Jing family for her sake.
Now it seems that perhaps she still knows too little about Si Pei.
Did she really love Si Pei? Perhaps this was all a pity and love she had developed to make up for the misunderstandings she had with him in her past life. If those weren't misunderstandings, Si Pei wouldn't be worthy of her love at all.
Jing Yao felt both embarrassed and ridiculous, because at this moment she could only brainwash herself into believing that she didn't love Si Pei at all, so as to appear not so stupid as she was when she was fooled around by Si Pei before.
"But your father did..."
The emperor was about to say something when he was suddenly distracted by the announcement from Eunuch Ming: "Your Majesty! Prince Lin has arrived!"
When Jing Yao heard this, he didn't care about the love-hate relationship with Si Pei. The most important thing was to get rid of Si Jue and Yue Ningning first.
The emperor also wanted to meet the so-called "Prince Lin" and see how he overthrew Si Pei.
"Your son greets you, father." Prince Lin showed a happy expression, as if he was truly happy for the emperor's awakening, without any guilt or fear at all.
"Who are you."
The emperor had a stern expression, his eagle eyes fixed on his son who behaved in a dignified and proper manner. The three words that suddenly came out of his mouth without any questioning also scared Jing Yao. She saw it directly while she was still observing the emperor!
She was originally worried that the emperor would not believe her and wanted to find details to prove it, but she didn't expect that the emperor's eyes were much sharper than hers.
"Father, what are you saying? I don't quite understand..."
"Stop pretending. You are not Prince Lin Si Jue at all. I can see it."
After all, he was his own son, so he could tell even the slightest difference. Appearance could be faked, but personality couldn't.
Yue Ningning gritted her teeth. How had this old man figured it out? Hadn't she already enhanced her transformation?! Sure enough, she couldn't hide it from this cunning fellow.
"Come here, capture him for me!"
Without waiting for her to react, the emperor coldly ordered the people around him to go forward and hold Prince Lin down.
Yue Ningning was unable to withstand these expert secret guards alone, and could only let their movements be controlled and stopped.
Jing Yao walked forward slowly. The young man in front of him looked exactly like Si Jue...
Before he could get any closer, the captured boy suddenly raised his head while struggling violently, staring at Jing Yao with his eyes fixed with disdain and resentment. Jing Yao was frightened and quickly took a few steps back.
She had seen that look in her previous life.
"I know who you are." Jing Yao glared back, unwilling to give in. She was not a lamb to be slaughtered now, so she had to show some strength. The corners of her mouth curled up, as if mocking: "Yue Ningning, right?"
Upon hearing this, Yue Ningning frowned in confusion, a look of disbelief on her face. After a moment, she smiled wryly in relief, "There are always people who are better than you."
Although it is not certain how Jing Yao knows her true identity, but considering her past behaviors that deviate from the plot settings, I am afraid that Jing Yao's part of the world line has already changed.
The emperor waved his hand and said, "Let's drag him away for interrogation first."
"Your Majesty, don't do that," Jing Yao advised. "This person is full of tricks. If you don't interrogate her now, it's better to eliminate her as soon as possible to prevent her from escaping later."
Yue Ningning sneered. Jing Yao really understood her. As long as he gave her a chance, she would definitely find a way to escape.
Jing Yao spoke sincerely. The emperor hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Then I will interrogate you first. Who are you?"
Yue Ningning stopped pretending and met the emperor's scrutinizing gaze without hesitation: "I am Yue Ningning. Your Majesty, please don't worry if you haven't heard of me. I am just an unknown person."
"Are you a woman?"
"yes."
The emperor was even more confused, with wrinkles between his brows. He looked up and down but didn't realize that the figure in front of him was a woman, and she looked exactly like Prince Lin.
"You're wearing a human skin mask?"
Yue Ningning shook her head loudly, a mysterious and strange smile on her lips, so eerie that Jing Yao felt a chill run down her spine. Even stranger was the feeling that Yue Ningning seemed to have a back-up plan, a determination to succeed.
Her eyes never left the emperor. Most people would not dare to glare at the emperor like that. Her attitude was as if she was facing an insignificant person, and she didn't seem to care that her life was in the other person's hands.
The more Jing Yao thought about it, the more puzzled he felt. The uneasiness in his heart gradually rose as the atmosphere became weird.
"How could he look exactly like Si Jue without the human skin mask?"
Yue Ningning smiled and said, "Your Majesty, if you don't believe me, why not check it out?"
The emperor cautiously signaled the secret guard to come forward and check carefully. Jing Yao's breathing became much faster when he saw the secret guard's actions. Even though he took deep breaths repeatedly, he couldn't suppress the panic in his heart.
The secret guard stood in front of Yue Ningning for a long time, but for some reason he didn't take the next step. The emperor looked displeased. Jing Yao thought to himself that something was wrong and something must be going to happen.
Just as she was about to turn around to remind the emperor, she saw the man staring blankly ahead with his eyes, and no matter how she called him, he didn't respond.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
Jing Yao angrily pushed down the emperor who was as motionless as a stone statue, and looked around at this group of people who seemed to be petrified. There was no need to ask why they had become like this. Jing Yao only felt despair at this moment.
“Hahahahahahahahaha…”
The girl's laughter was particularly harsh in the silent hall. She easily pushed away the men who had just grabbed her tightly, and she no longer bothered to pretend to be Si Jue, but changed back to her true appearance.
"Long time no see, Madam Yue."
The closer it got to this moment, the calmer Jing Yao became, and he even had the time to greet her.
"Indeed, Miss Jing, how have you been recently? Do you like the gift I gave you?"
Yue Ningning smiled sweetly and approached her step by step.
Jing Yao didn't realize what gift she was referring to. After thinking about it, he thought it must be the recent assassination attempt, so he nodded and said, "Thank you for your concern."
She moved slowly, gradually increasing the distance.
"Where did you hide Si Jue?"
Yue Ningning shrugged: "In Jingtai Palace, I thought he was too useless, so I locked him up."
Her shameless and frank manner made Jing Yao want to laugh for some reason, but she was right, Si Jue was indeed a waste.
"I originally planned to end my relationship with you, but failed before. Now I have to thank you for coming to me." Yue Ningning smiled seductively, even crazily.
Jing Yao had to hit her hard: "Even if you can kill me, what's the point? Si Pei is almost in Shanghua City. I guess your ability should not be able to control me and him."
If it could be used, Yue Ningning would have killed her long ago. Moreover, killing both of them would be a piece of cake, and there would be no need for such great effort.
Yue Ningning seemed to have been exposed by her and could only force a smile: "Don't worry, after I send you away, I will definitely send Si Pei to the underground to reunite with you immediately. I won't let you two be separated for too long."
[Host, hurry up! You've almost used up all your points to exchange for this ability to control others. If you don't replenish your energy, you'll be forced into a period of weakness!]
If you get counterattacked by then, you’re really finished!
Yue Ningning directly grabbed a dagger from the secret guard beside her. Since she wanted to cut the Gordian knot, she decided to strike first.
Seeing her with a sharp weapon, Jing Yao immediately picked up the nearest stool and used it as a defensive weapon. Yue Ningning chuckled at her presumptuousness and rushed towards her at high speed, the tip of the knife flashing with a cold light heading straight for her heart.
However, before she could reach Jing Yao, Jing Yao dodged her and pushed the cylindrical stool under Yue Ningning's legs to block her way. The latter accidentally tripped and fell to the ground, landing heavily on the stool.
The legs of the stool broke into pieces. Jing Yao seized the opportunity, picked up one leg as a weapon, and stepped on Yue Ningning's hand that was holding the dagger.
"Ah, ah!" Yue Ningning let out a few painful screams from her throat. Jing Yao didn't care to feel sorry for her. After all, this fight was not a joke. It was a matter of life and death. If she was soft-hearted, she would become a dead soul under Yue Ningning's knife.
Yue Ningning also wanted to grab the broken piece of wooden stool with her other hand to fight back, but Jing Yao immediately stabbed her arm with the sharp piece of wood in his hand.
Yue Ningning subconsciously clenched her teeth until blood almost oozed out. The pain was so severe that she almost fainted.
Jing Yao took the opportunity to hold her down tightly: "I'll give you a chance. Tell me why you want to help Si Jue. What grudge do we have against each other? I know that you are so determined to kill us not for Si Jue, but for other reasons."
Yue Ningning was still laughing even when she was about to die: "If I tell you, will you let me go?"
Jing Yao gave her a cold smile in response: "I'll send you to a quick death."
Yue Ningning, as if she'd just heard some ridiculous joke, tried to laugh even as someone grabbed her neck. Jing Yao, though naturally strong, had lived a life of luxury for years, rarely having the opportunity to use her strength. Yue Ningning, though slightly weaker in strength, had a wealth of experience and a wide range of techniques, which she employed with great dexterity.
Before Jing Yao could react, Yue Ningning used the strength of her waist and abdomen to lift up Jing Yao's entire body. Regardless of the pain, she forcibly raised her almost disabled left hand and flipped Jing Yao over.
Jing Yao's entire back was suddenly pressed against the broken wood. Just as he was blinded by the pain, a flash of light suddenly opened his eyes wide.
The dagger in Yue Ningning's hand was about to pierce her heart, but at the critical moment, Jing Yao suddenly grabbed her wrist to prevent the dagger from falling. Yue Ningning's hands were in so much pain that it was difficult to exert force, and Jing Yao's grip on the festering skin only added fuel to the fire.
However, the desire for life aroused the frenzy in Yue Ningning's heart. She almost ignored all the pain and stabbed down with all her might.
"ah!"
Jing Yao couldn't help but let out a scream as the dagger pierced her shoulder. But at least the spot wasn't as dangerous as her heart. Yue Ningning was furious when she noticed the dagger had shifted her position. She tried to pull out the blade and stab again, but Jing Yao wouldn't let go, even seeming to help her stab deeper.
Jing Yao's idea was simple. It would definitely be better to just stab the shoulder than to pull it out and stab the heart again.
"You lunatic!" Yue Ningning gritted her teeth, her mouth trembling and her eyes red, and she stabbed in with all her might, even veins popping out on her hands and forehead.
Yue Ningning laughed crazily. Since Jing Yao was determined to die, then that would be as she wished.
Jing Yao watched as the blade cut through the flesh and fascia and pierced into his shoulder inch by inch. The piercing pain was clearly amplified and felt by his entire body.
The girl cried out in pain from her throat, and the wound on Yue Ningning's hand also belatedly regained its sense of pain, and she couldn't stop shaking.
Jing Yao seized the opportunity, ignoring the bleeding wounds on his back and the knife wound that almost penetrated his shoulder. He used his free hand to grab the fallen wood chip. Without hesitation, he stabbed it into Yue Ningning's unprotected thigh.
A piercing scream suddenly rang out, like a pig being butchered. The wood had penetrated more than halfway, enough to show how hard Jing Yao had hit her. Yue Ningning was filled with anger, her eyes bloodshot. Jing Yao didn't dare give her a chance to react, and with all his might, he kicked her to the other side.
Yue Ningning slammed hard into the pillar in the hall, and Jing Yao seemed to hear the sound of her bones breaking.
Both of them were injured and they dragged their broken bodies to keep a distance, not daring to act rashly.
Yue Ningning had wounds of varying severity on both her hands and legs, and her waist and abdomen were severely injured. She looked almost dead. Jing Yao was not much better off. The dagger was still lodged in her shoulder, and the blood that kept pouring out had soaked her entire upper body red.
“Cough cough cough…”
Yue Ningning coughed up a mouthful of blood, her hair was disheveled and her face was ashen. She looked utterly miserable, but she still had a crazy smile on her face.
"It seems I underestimated your ability... Hahahahaha... Bitch! Why, why..."
Jing Yao was full of doubts after hearing this, and felt that Yue Ningning had gone crazy and was talking without thinking.
"Yue Ningning, why are you doing this? You clearly..." Jing Yao choked up, thinking that saying such insignificant words at this time would only make her seem hypocritical. She just wanted to know one thing: "Who ordered you to do this?"
“No one ordered me to do that, hahaha…” Yue Ningning rolled over with difficulty and lay on her back on the ground, closing her eyes and smiling, “She’s not even human.”
More and more blood flowed from Jing Yao's body. She was afraid that if she didn't take action, she would die from excessive blood loss. But Yue Ningning might have the ability to bring the dead back to life. She could only drag her broken body to her feet and find a knife that suits her.
"Jing Yao, I hate you."
Yue Ningning turned her head to look at Jing Yao who was walking towards her with a knife, and said almost with resentment.
"I've never met you before, what reason do you have to hate me?" Jing Yao sneered, "If I have to hate someone, I should be the one to hate you. You keep trying to kill me."
"Yes, not only will I kill you, I'll also kill Si Pei." Yue Ningning laughed, "You know, I was the one who sent people to kill your entire family."
"What?...Ah!" Jing Yao was stunned for only a moment when Yue Ningning stabbed Jing Yao's calf with a sharp piece of porcelain that she had picked up from somewhere.
The porcelain shards were more lethal than the wood, each slash creating a larger wound. Yue Ningning used all her strength, tearing the flesh of Jing Yao's right calf almost to the bone. She forced the knife in her hand to stab aimlessly downwards, only opening a gash on Yue Ningning's back before she trembled and let go.
The dagger clanged to the ground, and Jing Yao fell down with a thud. Jing Yao fell heavily into a pool of blood, unable to move. Yue Ningning's face was covered in blood from Jing Yao, and she laughed crazily: "Go to hell!"
Yue Ningning picked up the fallen dagger, but before she could stab Jing Yao in the heart, she was thrown away with the dagger.
"Who! Si Jue, you bastard!"
Yue Ningning desperately struggled to free herself from the arms that held her tightly. The pale man could only be Si Jue. She had been using most of her telekinesis to control the Palace of Heavenly Purity, and hadn't paid attention to the Jingtai Palace, allowing this crippled man to drag his broken body over.
"You said you wouldn't touch Jing Yao."
"Could you have come this far without me, Si Jue? Who are you to judge me?"
Si Jue's eyes were bloodshot, and the pressure from his limbs made Yue Ningning's wounds even more painful. The complete mental and physical rage made her completely explode.
"Bitch, go to hell!"
Amid the system alarm, Yue Ningning stabbed the knife into Si Jue's abdomen without hesitation.
Jing Yao didn't understand why the two of them were fighting each other, but he could still hear that Si Jue was doing it partly for him.
"See? Another person died for you." Yue Ningning pushed away Si Jue who was unable to move. Her body was mixed with the blood of several people, and even drops of blood were flowing down the hem of her skirt.
Yue Ningning smiled bitterly, wanting to cry: "Do you know how much I envy you? Why are you the protagonist of the world? Everyone is on your side, even God is on your side! You are just a character in a novel. You only have these privileges because the author wrote you into the novel!"
"But what about me? I'm a living person. I was hit by a car that ran a red light and was taken to this godforsaken place with nothing. I have to bring Si Jue, a burden, with me and try my best to kill you and Si Pei. Do you know how hard it is for me?"
Yue Ningning became increasingly angry as she spoke, practically yelling at Jing Yao, "I just want to survive, I want to return to my own world... Am I wrong?"
"You're not wrong, so am I wrong? Is Si Pei wrong? You said you didn't want to come to this hellhole of ours, but before you came, I lived a carefree life. Didn't you ruin my life?"
Jing Yao understood that Yue Ningning had her own difficulties and was helpless, but it was not her responsibility to bear the consequences.
"You said the author wrote about me, so what right do you have to change my life for her? Your family is waiting for you. Does that mean my parents and friends are no longer human beings?"
Yue Ningning staggered to her feet and took two steps. "Haha... You're just characters in a novel, it's all fake! It doesn't matter whether any of you are dead or alive, why should I care?"
Jing Yao sneered, "Yue Ningning, you said we were just tools in your eyes, ready to be used at any cost. But don't forget, you are a living person in your world, but I am also flesh and blood here! If my life means nothing to you, then your so-called difficulties are nothing to me... Ha, they are also not worth mentioning."
Yue Ningning said that she was just living in a novel. Whether it was true or false, at least she was living well, had friends and a lover, so she was in the real world.
"Hahahahaha, you call your life that can be modified real? Killing everyone here is just a matter of moving my fingers, including slaughtering over 200 members of your Jing family. It's like a cloud to me. I just want to complete the task."
Yue Ningning had hesitated before, but she firmly believed that this world was fictional, so why should she care about the lives of these paper people?
Jing Yao was furious: "It turns out you are behind this."
"Don't think that others are clean!" Yue Ningning mocked her, "I still have to thank many people in this palace for their help."
"Once you're all dead, I can go home. For my purpose, it doesn't matter how many people die."
"You...bitch..."
Si Jue took a deep breath, pulled out the short knife from his abdomen, and stabbed it from behind.
"Ah! Si Jue! Bastard!" Yue Ningning was already covered in wounds, and Si Jue dealt her a fatal blow. She turned around and tore at Si Jue's neck fiercely.
"System...3022! Come out and save me!"
Yue Ningning rolled to the ground exhausted, but all she could hear was the cold voice of the alarm clock's world system: [The host's mission has failed and has lost its value. The system is disengaging.]
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