The collapse of the initial fusion body is not a gruesome massacre of flesh and blood, but a more chilling dissolution and engulfment at the energy level.
He transformed into countless streams of black light of varying shades, like silk being torn apart by an invisible force, struggling and shrieking, yet irresistibly drawn towards the corrupted Xie Chen. Within those streams of light, the aloofness of an immortal lord, the languor of a vampire prince, the ferocity of a tyrant, and the stubbornness of an e-sports god faintly flashed... These were the aspects that Su Nian had gradually approached and even fallen for, but now, before the absolute madness of the source, they were fragile and utterly vulnerable.
The corrupted Xie Chen stood rooted to the spot, arms outstretched, as if welcoming the return of some destiny. His eyes were closed, his face expressionless, only his aura visibly rising, solidifying, and becoming increasingly unfathomable. The pale blue energy field in the room flickered and shimmered as he absorbed it, as if providing energy for this feast of mutual devouring.
"No...stop!" Su Nian cried out in a trembling voice. She wanted to rush over and interrupt this terrifying process, but the binding force pressed down on her, making it extremely difficult for her to even lift a finger. She could only watch helplessly as the figure that had once stood in front of her gradually became thinner and more transparent.
[Warning! Warning! High-concentration homologous soul energy has been detected in violent conflict and fusion! The energy level exceeds the observation limit! Host! Quickly find a way to interrupt him! If he successfully devours it completely, the power will be completely out of control, and this "cage" will truly be unbreakable!] 088 issued a sharp alarm in her mind, her previous gluttony and unreliability vanished without a trace, leaving only pure panic.
"Think of a way... what can I think of..." Su Nian's teeth were chattering, and a huge sense of powerlessness was almost overwhelming her.
The last wisp of dark light belonging to the initial fusion body, like a dying firefly, struggled to flicker for a moment before finally disappearing into the chest of the corrupted Xie Chen.
He suddenly opened his eyes.
In that instant, Su Nian seemed to see countless fragments of worlds swirling and colliding in his eyes, ultimately being completely suppressed and swallowed up by a more powerful, cold darkness. His gaze was deeper and emptier than before, yet also more… “complete.” A despairing completeness.
He slowly turned his head, his gaze falling on Su Nian once more. In that gaze, there was no longer the complexity and struggle that had been revealed in the initial fusion, only a pure, ten-year-old possessiveness.
“Now,” he began, his voice seemingly a blend of multiple qualities—deep, magnetic, yet carrying a chilling coldness—“it’s quiet.”
He walked towards Su Nian, his steps steady, each one feeling as if it were stepping on her heartbeat. The pale blue energy field around them fluctuated with his will, and the pressure on Su Nian suddenly increased. She groaned and almost collapsed to her knees.
He stopped in front of her, looking down at her as if examining a lost treasure that had been found again and could not be allowed to be damaged again. He reached out his hand, his fingertips icy cold, and touched her cheek.
Su Nian shuddered violently, trying to avoid it, but she couldn't even turn her neck.
“Look,” he said, his fingertips slowly tracing her skin with a chilling tenderness, “how peaceful the world is without those noisy ‘impurities.’ Only you and I remain.”
His touch sent shivers down her spine, and fear gripped her heart like icy vines. But she knew that crying, begging, or resisting would only be a more stimulating catalyst for this man who had gone completely mad.
"Xie Chen..." she forced herself to speak, her voice weak with pressure, "Can...we talk?"
"Talk?" He tilted his head slightly, seemingly intrigued by the word, a cold smile curving his lips. "Talk about what? Talk about how you left back then? Talk about where you've been these past ten years? Who you've been with?" He tightened his grip on her chin, forcing her to look up and meet his gaze. "Or talk about... how you treated them, whether you were the same as you treated me back then, all pretense and deception, getting what you wanted and then leaving?"
His words were like poisoned needles, piercing Su Nian's heart one by one. She couldn't deny that that was indeed her initial purpose. But...
“No…” she struggled to explain, her mind racing, searching for any possible flaw in her statement. “I admit it was a mission at first… but later… things changed later…”
"Oh?" He raised an eyebrow, a crack seeming to appear in the icy depths of his eyes, revealing a deeper, more inquisitive desire... Dangerous. "What's different? Is it your dependence on the one who taught you to play the piano? Or is it genuine affection for the tyrant who abolished slavery for you?" He had clearly "seen" her experiences in other worlds, every word dripping with venomous jealousy.
Su Nian's heart pounded. She knew this was a desperate situation, but it might also be her only chance. A crazy idea took shape in her mind.
She took a deep breath, trying to ignore the pain in her jaw and the overwhelming fear that was almost crushing her, and looked directly into his abyss-like eyes.
"It's because of you," she said clearly, emphasizing each word.
Xie Chen, now corrupted, paused. The darkness churning in his eyes seemed to freeze for a moment.
"What did you say?"
“I said, it’s because of you!” Su Nian repeated, her tone carrying a resolute determination, “It’s because of you in the first world! It’s because of Xie Chen from ten years ago, who, though obsessive and chaining me up, would be stunned by my smile and loosen his grip a little when I said ‘it hurts’!”
Her words were like a rusty key, suddenly thrusting into his heart, which had been closed for ten years, making a harsh scraping sound.
The fingers that were gripping her chin unconsciously loosened their pressure.
Su Nian caught this subtle change, and her heart nearly leaped out of her chest. She was gambling! Gambling that beneath ten years of madness, perhaps a trace of the "beginning" still remained! Gambling that the twisted yet real emotion she had once avoided could still become her lifeline in this moment!
"You're talking nonsense..." His voice was low and hoarse, with a hint of barely perceptible wavering, "You only wanted to escape back then..."
“Yes! All I wanted to do was run away! I was scared!” Su Nian pressed her advantage, her words quickening, tears welling in her eyes. “I was afraid of your possessiveness, afraid of being locked up forever! So I left… But I later realized that the other versions of you, the fragmented versions of you, all carried your shadow! The controlling nature of the CEO, the loneliness of the Immortal Lord, the world-weariness of the Prince, the scars of the Tyrant… I saw your facets in them time and time again!”
Her tears slid down her cheeks and dripped onto his cold fingers.
“I’m piecing together your wholeness from among them, bit by bit! I’m making amends… making amends for the mistakes I made out of fear! I came back not because of a mission, but because… I realized I can’t let go!” She choked up, weaving a lie that would touch him most deeply, half-truthfully, “I can’t let go of the first Xie Chen, the one who frightened me, but also… made my heart ache!”
The room was deathly silent.
The pale blue energy patterns on the wall continued to flow, but the pressure exerted on Su Nian had quietly lessened considerably.
The corrupted Xie Chen stared intently at her, his eyes churning with a monstrous turmoil. Doubt, anger, a hint of unbelievable ecstasy, and a deeper, dark desire to tear her apart and see her clearly were intertwined, threatening to consume him.
Her words were like the sweetest poison, precisely injected into his parched and rotting heart. He longed to believe, longed for it for ten years! He longed for her to return not out of pity or a mission, but because of "him".
But his ten years of searching, ten years of despair, and ten years of madness made it difficult for him to easily believe this sudden "repentance".
“Prove it to me.” He finally spoke, his voice hoarse, carrying a fragile vulnerability on the verge of collapse and an extreme, obsessive madness. “Prove that what you can’t let go of is ‘me,’ not those ridiculous fragments.”
He released his grip on her chin, but his eyes remained fixed on her more firmly than any chain.
“Stay here, voluntarily,” he said slowly, each word carrying an undeniable force. “Prove with your actions every word you just said. Otherwise…” The last trace of wavering in his eyes was covered by cold darkness, “I will let you see with your own eyes how I will utterly annihilate every world you have ever cared about, along with those laughable ‘sides’.”
“And you,” he leaned down, his icy breath brushing against her ear, carrying a hellish vow, “will live forever in this ‘reality,’ which exists only for you and me, until the end of time.”
Looking at the undeniable madness in his eyes, Su Nian knew that she had won the first gamble, but had also stepped into a deeper and more dangerous game.
She used her "sincere" lie to temporarily gain a breather, but also placed herself under more rigorous scrutiny.
prove?
How do you prove a lie that is only partially true?
Looking at the madman before her, a man who had embodied all obsessions and whose power had reached its peak, she felt a chill in her heart, yet a flame of indomitable spirit rose within her.
The tamer's gamble has begun. And the stakes are her freedom and his soul.
(End of Chapter 153)
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