Su Nian's casual question was like a pebble thrown into a deep pool, stirring up ripples that could not be calmed in Xie Chen's mind, which had just experienced a logical storm.
Is it because of this?
Her gaze, the lingering sensation of her fingertips on his palm, all pointed to an answer he couldn't decipher with his existing database. His fingers, gripping her wrist tightly, loosened almost imperceptibly for a moment, as if those slender wrist bones had suddenly become scalding hot, burning away his proud rationality.
He abruptly released his grip, as if shaking off some dangerous, uncontrollable virus. A clear red mark was left on Su Nian's wrist, a stark contrast to his slightly pale complexion.
He didn't answer her question, nor could he. He simply gave her a deep look, his gaze as complex as a scrambled star map, a mixture of lingering confusion, a chilling sense of offense, and a fleeting, awkward evasion that even he himself didn't realize. Then, he turned, almost hastily, back towards the floating soul model, leaving her with his back.
It was as if he could rebuild the crumbling wall of rationality simply by no longer facing her overly clear eyes.
Su Nian watched his retreating figure, rubbing her reddened wrists. Instead of anger at being treated so roughly, a strange…understanding rose within her. It seemed she had finally found the first key to unlock this complex lock—not resistance, not submission, but…disruption. Disrupt his cold, data-driven logic.
[Host, he seems... to be avoiding things?] 088 whispered, [According to the emotion model analysis, this behavior usually means...]
"It means he can't explain everything that just happened using his theory," Su Nian thought to herself, a faint smile playing on her lips, a smile she herself didn't even notice. This feeling was somewhat like when she was writing a novel and finally grasped the core essence of the awkward male protagonist—dangerous, yet filled with the exhilarating feeling of seeing the light after the storm.
Over the next few days, Xie Chen noticeably reduced his direct interactions with Su Nian. He spent most of his time immersing himself in adjusting and "optimizing" the soul model, seemingly trying to offset or "prove" that Su Nian's "absurd" conjecture was wrong through more precise data control—the model's stability must stem from his precise energy manipulation, rather than some unquantifiable physical contact.
However, Su Nian could sense that something was different.
He would still feel faint energy ripples when she "unconsciously" revealed habits related to the fragmented world, but he no longer recorded and analyzed them immediately as before. Instead, there would be a very brief pause, as if he were resisting this "interference." His gaze towards her also became more subtle and complex, no longer a pure scrutiny, but more like... observing an unpredictable yet captivating puzzle.
Su Nian decided to add fuel to the fire.
She no longer deliberately avoided those habits, and would even occasionally create some "unintentionally." For example, when he was working on the model, she would softly hum that e-sports tune, not loud, but enough to make his fingers pause slightly as he typed on the virtual keyboard. For example, she would imitate the way she brewed tea in the fantasy world; although the tea set here was simple, the specific rhythm always drew a fleeting glance from him.
She was like a patient angler, slowly releasing the bait, testing the reaction of the wary and powerful prey underwater.
Xie Chen's reaction was contradictory. On the one hand, he seemed to be trying his best to maintain a calm and rational appearance; on the other hand, Su Nian could clearly sense that the cold energy field around him was constantly fluctuating at a low frequency due to her subtle and continuous "interference," like an undercurrent surging beneath a calm lake.
That day, Su Nian sat by the window, gazing at the distorted city lights outside, and suddenly spoke softly, as if talking to herself, or perhaps to someone who seemed focused on their work:
"I wonder... what happened to the reforms in the slave dynasty? How are those freed slaves faring..."
She didn't look at Xie Chen, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of his straight back stiffen for a moment. The air, thick with the smell of gunpowder and dust that belonged to the fragments of the tyrant, intensified slightly, only to be quickly suppressed by him.
He didn't respond, he didn't even lift his head.
But Su Nian knew that he had taken her words to heart. Furthermore, on that intricate soul model, in the area representing the tyrant's fragments, new data fluctuations that he couldn't fully control must have arisen.
This silent, ongoing psychological tug-of-war reached a small climax late one night.
Su Nian was awakened in the middle of the night by a muffled groan, seemingly squeezed from deep within her throat. Opening her eyes, she saw Xie Chen still seated on his "throne" in the dim light of the energy field, but his body was slightly hunched, one hand pressed tightly against his forehead, his knuckles white from the force. The energy field around him was extremely unstable, dark energy churning, within which crimson light and icy blue fragments could be faintly seen intertwining and colliding—fragments of vampires and immortal lords were simultaneously agitated!
He seemed to be going through a silent, intense internal struggle. Reason was forcefully suppressing it, while ripples of emotion were constantly pounding against the dam.
Su Nian's heart skipped a beat. She knew this might be the result of over-stimulation. She could have pretended not to see it and let him calm down on his own, which would have been more in line with her principle of "self-preservation."
But seeing his lonely figure enduring pain and struggling with his own soul, an inexplicable impulse made her throw off the covers, walk barefoot, and silently go over to him.
She didn't rush into a hug like last time; that would have been too shocking. She simply stopped in front of him, knelt down, and looked up at his face, his eyes closed and his brows furrowed.
Then, she reached out, not touching him, but hovering her hand above his clenched fist resting on his knee. A faint, soothing spiritual energy flowed from her fingertips—the most basic calming spell she had learned in the world of immortals and heroes, its effect on him now was negligible, more like a gesture.
"Xie Chen," her voice was soft, like a feather brushing against the still night, "I'm here."
There were no extra words, just three simple words and a futile attempt to soothe.
The moment she finished speaking, Xie Chen suddenly opened his eyes!
Those eyes no longer held their usual deep composure, nor their previous confusion and bewilderment; only a dangerous, crimson light, almost beast-like, gleam of desperation remained! The vampire fragment's yearning for the "mark" and the immortal lord fragment's obsession with "purification" seemed to find a common outlet at this moment, mingling with the possessiveness of the corrupted entity, erupting like a volcano!
He grabbed her suspended wrist with terrifying force, almost crushing her bones!
“Why…” he stared at her, his voice hoarse, filled with pain and violence, “Why is it always you… why do you have to bother me… why can’t you… just be my ‘stabilizer’ quietly!”
He pulled her close abruptly, gripping the back of her neck with his other hand, forcing her to tilt her head back and meet his eyes, which burned with chaotic flames.
“Tell me!” he growled, his hot, erratic breath hitting her face. “What…do you want?!”
Su Nian was stunned by the pure, undisguised madness and pain in his eyes, and the pain from her wrists and neck instantly brought her back to her senses. She knew that at this moment, he had almost completely lost his rationality and was completely dominated by fragmented instincts and her, the "source of interference."
Fear poured down like ice water, but in the midst of this extreme terror, an even bolder idea sprouted.
She didn't struggle, nor did she beg for mercy. She simply looked directly into his confused eyes and, with all her might, spoke clearly and slowly:
“I want...you to admit it.”
"Admit what?!" he almost roared, his fingers tightening around the back of her neck.
Su Nian gasped in pain, but still stubbornly looked at him, enunciating each word clearly:
“I acknowledge that you need me.”
"Not as a 'stabilizer,' not as a 'variable.'"
"Instead, it's as... Su Nian."
These words were like a final ultimatum, or a key, forcefully inserted into the core of Xie Chen's consciousness.
He seemed to have been put on pause; all his movements, all his roars, all the chaos churning in his eyes, all froze in that moment.
Do you need her?
As Su Nian?
These two concepts, like two nuclear bombs, exploded with a deafening roar in his world, which was built on reason and prejudice.
He looked at her face so close to his, at her brow furrowed in pain, at the unwavering determination in her eyes, a determination tinged with even a hint of pity…
An unprecedented and immense panic overwhelmed him like a tsunami.
He abruptly released her, as if he had touched the most terrible taboo in the world, and staggered backward, crashing into the cold wall.
He looked at her, his eyes filled with an incomprehensible, almost terrifying shock.
The ripples beyond the data have finally converged into... a monstrous wave powerful enough to overturn everything.
(End of Chapter 163)
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