Chapter 126
At this moment, there was a sudden rumbling thunder outside, as if it was going to rain heavily soon. A dull and moist breath suddenly swept in from the cave entrance, covering the man in black's head and face. The woman next to him was stunned, and slowly walked out following the sound. She curious, but also a little timid. She went out to take a look, and when she came back, her face looked a little solemn.
She did not continue to talk about wanting to eat people. She just glanced at the man in black, was stunned for a moment, and slapped him. With a bang, the man in black fell into coma. When the man in black woke up in a daze, he felt darkness in front of his eyes. His first reaction was that he did not turn on the light. When he was about to find a light, he found that he was tied up.
He then remembered that he was not in a place where he could turn on the lights at will, so he blinked his eyes, and felt that there was no change in front of him. He felt a little disappointed and a little scared. He moved a little closer to the back, feeling that it was warmer and safer here. However, the environment around him seemed to be unchanged. He closed his eyes silently and thought, am I going to die here?
But I haven't received the money yet!
The man in black suddenly thought of money and opened his eyes again. He had to encourage himself to cheer up. He even felt a little angry at himself for almost giving up.
He cursed in his mind, but it was not enough, so he opened his mouth and shouted, "Fuck your mother! Go to hell! You are all garbage! Garbage! Garbage!"
The man in black was happy and felt much better. He closed his eyes and wanted to take a nap. After all, there was nothing else to do here. Even if he really wanted to do something, he had to conserve his energy.
Suddenly, there was a sound of light footsteps. The man in black looked around but didn't see anyone. However, he thought, if it was that woman coming, this place was her territory, and she couldn't have appeared beside him quietly. Then the person who came must be someone else. Who could appear here at this time?
The man in black secretly became more vigilant.
A familiar voice came from the darkness: "Be quiet, I'm Jiaming."
"Why are you here?!"
The man in black was very happy and stood up.
"I came to save you. I was walking on the road and found you missing, so I followed your footprints to find you. This is the only place where people can hide."
Jiaming answered.
The man in black asked suspiciously, "But when you came in, didn't you see any other way?"
Jiaming said, "No."
The man in black asked, "You didn't see anyone else?"
Jiaming replied: "No."
The man in black took a deep breath and asked, "You didn't even see the light, but you came here and found me so accurately? You are amazing! I can't imagine how it happened."
Jiaming laughed, threw away the rope on him, put his hand on his shoulder, leaned over to his ear and whispered: "You don't know, I saw a very beautiful woman, and she invited me to sleep with her in bed. I thought you were still here, but I didn't agree. But, in a place like this, who else could there be besides you? I knew she had bad intentions, and she didn't agree at all, nor did she want to go. Naturally, she didn't count.
But, she also pointed me in the right direction, I don't think there is anything wrong with that, being able to find you earlier is also a good thing, isn't it? "
The man in black said, "That's what you said, and it's a good thing, but you can't just count it like that. You met her, doesn't that mean she already knows you? She also knows you're here, what good do you think it can be? She'll try to eat us! When she asked you, you should have pretended you didn't hear her, how did she know I was here! I'll be implicated by you."
Jiaming asked: "Do you mean you're not leaving?"
The man in black felt that Jiaming was not right, so he did not want to leave. However, he changed his mind and thought that if he continued to stay here, he would die if the female monster got angry. It was the same death anyway, so he might as well go out and die. Even if he died, it would be better to die outside than here. Anyway, there was no advantage here compared to outside.
He had no interest in the female monster, so thinking about this, he nodded and agreed to go out.
Jiaming walked in front of him, asking as he walked: "Why did you hesitate just now? Do you want to stay here? Well, you said I shouldn't talk to that woman, but you are thinking about her in your heart? This is not right. Do you want to monopolize the beauty for yourself? I tell you, it is the most difficult to enjoy the favor of a beauty!"
The man in black smiled and said, "I know."
He grabbed Jiaming's clothes and said, "I can't see very well, please walk slower."
Jiaming said in disgust, "Strange, strange, you have been here longer than me, how come you still can't see? Is your eye damaged? If so, then you must remember to go see a doctor for treatment when you get out. If not, you must remember that it is abnormal for you to be here, and you'd better not come here again. Otherwise, your life may not be in danger this time, but it may not be the case next time."
The man in black responded and thought to himself, the real Jiaming would neither let me hold his clothes nor nag me about these things, nor would he tease me about whether beautiful women are good or not. I can be sure that the one in front of me is fake again. If not, it is probably impossible.
He finally walked out of the cave and finally understood why he was able to get out, because he still couldn't see. Theoretically, if it was pitch black inside the cave, it shouldn't be the same outside.
The man in black asked Jiaming, "What's going on?"
Jiaming replied: "This is normal."
The man in black said, "I can't see anything. Is this normal?"
Jiaming said, "You can't see, either because your eyes are damaged, because you have been in the dark for a long time, or because you haven't adapted to the environment. It's all black here, and if you can't see, there's nothing we can do. It's because your eyes are bad."
The man in black was silent for a moment, then smiled and said, "Okay, where are we going next?"
Jiaming looked at him in confusion and asked, "Strange. Didn't you ask me to go into the mountains with you? You don't even know where you're going?"
The man in black thought, of course I don't know! I'm not here to look for my money. If I knew where the place was, I would have taken my things and left. Why am I still lingering here? Do you think I like to linger? You're sick.
The man in black suddenly covered his abdomen and said, "Oh, maybe I caught a cold in there. I have diarrhea and I'm not feeling well. Can you move to the side? I want to pee there and maybe poop too."
Jiaming frowned in disgust: "Okay, I'll go over there, and you don't come over here. If you don't clean yourself up, don't show up in front of me."
This was exactly what he wanted to say. The man in black smiled inwardly, nodded repeatedly, frowned, looked troubled, and said in a hurry, "I'll go right away. Don't come over, don't come over, there's nothing to see."
Jiaming said angrily, "I don't know? Go ahead! Who wants to see you? Disgusting."
The man in black nodded and ran away.
Afterwards, he ran farther and stood up. Although he didn't know which direction he was going, he still kept moving forward. As long as he didn't look back, didn't take the wrong road, and didn't see Jiaming behind him again, it would be fine.
He jogged all the way until he was almost out of strength. The man in black gasped and held onto the tree trunk, wanting to take a rest. He heard footsteps beside him, which sounded leisurely, brisk and a little slow. He stood up suddenly and wanted to find a place to hide. He looked left and right, but found that there was no place for him to hide, unless he climbed a tree. However, it was too late.
The footsteps stopped, and the person who made the footsteps was already standing not far in front of him. With the determination to die, he slowly raised his head, wanting to take a look at what was going to kill him, but suddenly he found that the person standing in front of him was Jiaming.
Jiaming was looking at him in surprise, and noticed that he was very emotional and shocked. He was also a little confused, and murmured, "What's wrong with you? You are so fierce. I thought we were just separated for a while."
The man in black frowned, realizing that Jiaming in front of him didn't know that he had just said he was going to the restroom. His heart skipped a beat, and his eyes lit up. He looked at Jiaming, and his eyes gradually brightened. He almost wanted to rush over and grab him, but he was afraid that he would scare him away if he was too enthusiastic, so he could only restrain himself and ask politely, "Are you Jiaming?"
"What else?"
Garmin paused and asked in confusion, "Why are you asking this all of a sudden?"
He frowned. "Didn't you just say that you had forgotten my name? Now you mention it again. Don't you remember it? What's wrong with you?"
The man in black was almost crying, mumbling, "That man in black was not me, not me. I am the real one. The one you saw was a fake. There must be something nearby, beside us, in this mountain, trying to confuse us, using a fake companion to trick us into going deeper, we don't know where, but they definitely have bad intentions, they want to kill us.
Maybe it wants to eat us.”
Jiaming asked in confusion: "What are you talking about?"
The man in black stood up and patted his clothes. He was about to speak, feeling a little confident after seeing Jiaming, but suddenly he realized that there was another Jiaming behind the Jiaming in front of him. The Jiaming hiding in the dark was just a shadow, revealing a pair of not-so-bright eyes, staring at him. His eyes were dark and as deep as an abandoned passage with a layer of cold railroad tracks underneath.
A red train, emitting white steam, rumbled in from a distance, and then rumbled away with flames burning, like the wind brought by a passing shadow.
The man in black was stunned for a moment, thinking, what's going on? This shouldn't be! This shouldn't be like this! Why are there still so many Jiamings here? Am I going to die here today because of Jiaming? I don't want to!
He tried hard to distinguish, and opened his eyes wide. He could see more things and the situation became brighter. It seemed that after he escaped from the cave, the sky was gradually brightening, but suddenly, it was dark again.
He recognized that the latter one was the real one.
The real Jiaming would not waste his words on him, and the real Jiaming would not be so ignorant as to appear stupid.
The man in black thought for a moment, then smiled at Jiaming in front of him and said, "I suddenly need to go to the bathroom. Wait for me."
Jiaming nodded.
The man in black ran away all of a sudden, as if he was in a hurry. Jiaming, who was behind him, looked a little worried at first, but after the man in black ran away for a distance, his expression gradually became indifferent. He stood there expressionlessly, motionless, like a skinny, lifeless scarecrow standing in the field.
In the blink of an eye, a crow with black feathers appeared on the man's shoulder. It had a bloodshot eye and lowered its head. It took out a fat, soft, wriggling insect from under its wings with its beak, tilted its neck back, and swallowed it in one gulp.
The man in black ran away and squatted down to catch his breath. Jiaming blinked and walked out from behind him, not seeming to be breathing.
The man in black looked at him, stood up, and looked at him. He thought he was a little strange. Because he had seen several Jiamings before, he suspected that the one in front of him was also fake. After squinting his eyes and looking at him, he smiled and asked, "Excuse me, do you recognize me?"
Jiaming nodded: "I recognize it."
The man in black breathed a sigh of relief and asked, "Have you also seen the fake me?"
Jiaming nodded: "I have seen it before."
The man in black asked, "Did you say anything to that man in black?"
Jiaming said: "I didn't say anything. I have nothing to say to the fake one. You suddenly disappeared, and I looked for you everywhere. He suddenly appeared from the side and said to me that he was you, but the difference between you was quite obvious. I don't know why he thought I could see nothing, or he thought I was blind. In short, he said two sentences to me, and I felt that every word was broken.
I had no choice but to walk away from him. He chased me and asked me why. I said that I suddenly changed my mind and didn't want to go with him. I didn't want to give him anything. I told him to get out of here as soon as possible. Otherwise, don't force me to kill him!"
The man in black was startled, and felt his neck getting cold. He touched his throat, looked at Jiaming cautiously and asked, "You wouldn't want to do that to me, would you?"
Jiaming said: "No, you are not fake."
He paused, smiled and asked, "Are you serious?"
The man in black nodded quickly: "Really, really, you can touch it, I guarantee that the others are fake, only I am real. I am not lying! No!"
Jiaming said, "I can trust you."
The man in black nodded repeatedly and breathed a sigh of relief: "What happened next? How did you find me?"
Jiaming said, "I originally found a cave, but it was too dark inside, so I didn't go in. I was walking outside and heard footsteps, so I went to see. I saw you, but because of the distance, I couldn't immediately confirm whether it was real or not, so I followed you all the way."
The man in black asked in confusion, "But, didn't you say that you were not in good physical condition before? How could you follow me all the way? I have already jogged for a long distance several times, but how come you are still so calm, as if there is nothing wrong with you? You haven't walked at all, and you are not breathing heavily, nor are you blushing?"
Jiaming said, "To be honest, after I came in, I seemed to have changed my body. Maybe this mountain is a little special. We just happened to come here today. We shouldn't have come out at night, but we are already here. Once the arrow is shot, it cannot be retrieved, you know that, right?"
The man in black nodded: "I understand. Let's continue to go inside. Either we go out, or we get the money and then go out. It's the same. Anyway, it's impossible for us to suddenly fly back to our residence safely now."
Jiaming said, "Yes."
The man in black felt that he was telling the truth after hearing his concise answer, so he nodded and said with a smile: "Then let's find a way to leave here as soon as possible. Do you remember where you put the money before? Let's go and take a look now! If we can find the money there, we can take it and find a way to leave. If not, we can find another way to get out."
Jiaming said: "If I could find money, I wouldn't be trapped here. This place is different from the outside world. It doesn't seem like the same world."
The man in black sighed: "Maybe we are just unlucky."
Jiaming turned around and walked forward. He roughly identified the direction and said to the man in black, "Go this way. Maybe you can see some money. Wait for me."
The man in black followed for a while, and suddenly he lost sight of Jiaming. He thought he was lost again. He wanted to shout but was afraid of being heard and found by the monster. He sniffed and wanted to hide. He found a place not far from where he thought he was lost and hid there. Jiaming came back with a bag of money, found his hiding place and said, "Let's go."
The man in black nodded.
The man in black walked for a while and felt the sky suddenly brighten. He squinted his eyes and looked up at the sky. He found that it seemed to be getting brighter, so he asked, "Is it almost morning?"
Jiaming replied: "We have walked this distance, and it is not suitable to go out before morning."
The man in black smiled and said, "That's right."
Jiaming nodded.
The man in black suddenly realized what was happening and asked, "Have we gotten out yet?"
Jiaming nodded: "Yes."
The man in black asked, "How did we get out? I didn't seem to feel anything."
Jiaming said: "My body brought us out. When I went in, I used someone else's body. Maybe you and I only saw that face and body as mine, but in reality, they were not."
The man in black asked tentatively: "Is this an illusion?"
Jiaming echoed casually, "Maybe we accidentally stepped into a trap set by someone in the mountains to hunt monsters."
The man in black muttered, "If they're hunting monsters, why are they making such a fuss? I really don't know what kind of monsters there could be in the deep mountains. I think most of them are just rumors. If people living nearby hadn't been stopped from going up the mountain, or hadn't entered that strange, illusory world, there wouldn't have been those weird rumors about monsters."
Jiaming said: "It doesn't matter, we got out of it anyway."
The man in black nodded, then froze for a moment, as if he had remembered something. A drop of cold sweat dripped down his forehead. He asked cautiously, "Should we go back?"
Jiaming asked: "What are you going to do?"
The man in black said, "Go back, because someone followed us in, but we didn't see them when we came out. Could it be that they entered that strange world with us and didn't come out? We didn't see them, did we? If they came out, they shouldn't have appeared in front of us, and they shouldn't have been invisible after we came out."
This does make sense, but he stuttered a little, as if he was getting nervous again.
Jiaming glanced at him, smiled as if he knew everything, and asked, "Shall we go back now?"
The man in black nodded, not knowing whether his choice was right.
Jiaming asked again: "Do you really want to go back? What if we can't get out after we go in? Maybe they'll be dead when we see them? Maybe when we see them, they'll have turned into monsters and become part of the mountain? Maybe they'll go crazy and kill us when we go in? Do you really want to go back?"
Don't you regret it?
The man in black hesitated for a long time before finally nodding: "I have to go back. I have to take a look."
Whether you can succeed is one thing, but if you don’t do it, it’s equal to zero.
Jiaming smiled and said, "Okay."
He nodded: "I'll go with you."
The man in black was very grateful and said, "That's great!"
Jiaming nodded: "Yes, very good."
Jiaming walked in front and the man in black walked behind. The two walked on the same road and soon returned to the mountain. They were about to go out and go home, but when the man in black walked here, he suddenly felt a sense of loss in his heart, as if he had lost something. He followed Jiaming closely and continued to move forward. He didn't want to regret it, but hoped that everyone could die.
As long as everyone was dead, he wouldn't have to worry about anything.
That's great.
Jiaming walked deeper into the mountains. The man in black blinked and began to look around, as if there was someone here.
Jiaming stopped and smiled at the man in black, "I want to take a break. Do you want to go somewhere else?"
The man in black was skeptical: "It's not impossible, then I'll leave first?"
Jiaming nodded: "Okay."
The man in black ran out, just like he had done several times before, and soon disappeared in front of Jiaming, as if the Jiaming behind him was another fake.
Jiaming did not chase him, nor was he in a hurry. He just rested. After a while, the man in black came back, panting and saying, "I think I saw them. Let's go over there."
Jiaming said, "Okay."
He stood up, patted his clothes, and said with a smile: "Let's go."
The man in black nodded, feeling somewhat uneasy as Jiaming followed him, moving forward step by step. When they arrived at a place he knew exactly where it was, this uneasy feeling reached its peak.
He was almost trembling, but tried hard not to show it. He turned around and said to Jiaming, "This is it."
Before he finished speaking, the surrounding branches and bushes began to shake, and a group of people suddenly stood out from inside. They were all wearing official uniforms and were clearly government officials. They were of the same mind, holding knives in their hands, looking at Jiaming with a powerful aura and sharp eyes, as if they could pierce into Jiaming's mind and break his thoughts.
Jiaming's heart did beat faster because of their sudden appearance, but it quickly calmed down. He looked around, found a stone to sit on, and looked at the man in black. The man in black was still standing there, at a loss, like a child who wanted to pay but couldn't find his wallet on his clothes. His hands began to sweat, and he lowered his head, shielding his eyes with his head, not daring to look at Jiaming.
It was as if Jiaming was the judge and he was the defendant.
Jiaming smiled and asked leisurely, "Are they related to you?"
The man in black said, “Yes.”
Jiaming asked: "They asked you to arrest me?"
The man in black said, “Yes.”
Jiaming asked, "They told you that you could see me in that house, get money, go back to save your father, escape the torture of the debt collectors, no longer have to worry, you could get protection from the government, and you could get rewards from the government. The debt collectors could not go against the government. As long as you took my money to pay off your debts, they would not do anything to you.
They can't do anything about your father, your future residence, your future wife and children, can they?"
The man in black nodded with difficulty: "Yes."
Without waiting for Jiaming to ask further, he suddenly raised his head, as if encouraged by some unknown force, staring at Jiaming with red eyes, like a dying rabbit with disheveled hair, and shouted: "You don't owe any debts! What do you know? You can't understand me at all! You didn't recognize who I was at first, and I had to tell you.
In your heart, I don't count anything. You don't consider me a friend. You don't want to give me money. Do you think I know nothing? I'm not wrong! It's your problem! If you didn't go to Kyoto to look for your relatives in a big way, you wouldn't know me. I wouldn't know you have money. I wouldn't have owed debts and lost relatives because of bad luck. I wouldn't have been caught by the government. It's all your fault.
You made a mistake, you should make amends. You owe me all this. I should have reported it from the beginning. Then, what happened later wouldn't have happened. The debt collectors wouldn't have lived in my house, wouldn't have suspected me of not paying back the money, wouldn't have killed my mother, wouldn't have taken my father away, and things wouldn't have come to this point today!"
He took a deep breath, and seemed to have finally convinced himself in his heart. A subtle and twisted smile appeared on his face: "Yes, it's all your fault, it's all your fault. How could it be my problem? I have no problem at all. It's all your fault. Hahaha!"
Jiaming nodded: "Okay."
The police slowly closed the circle, as if there was not a person inside, but a ferocious tiger that could hurt people at any time.
When the man in black finished speaking, the policemen closed the circle and walked in front of Jiaming. They seemed to be relieved after taking off their heavy armor. They stared at Jiaming and said, "Don't even think about running away! This time you can't escape even if you have wings."
Jiaming nodded: "I didn't want to run away. Didn't you see that?"
The officer smiled and said, "I hope you mean what you said and will take responsibility. We have also met many prisoners. Before going to prison, every one of them would say to us, 'I will not run away. Tell me what happened. Let me know what happened. I can swear, on my name, that they always break their oaths, as if they have no credibility at all.'"
Quite funny.
We all think so. Even if you want to deceive us and run away now, it's too late. We won't let you escape. Even if you really want to run, you will definitely be caught by us, and your end will be much more miserable than ours."
Jiaming said, "I know. You don't need to remind me."
Suddenly someone shouted from a distance: "Kill!"
If the first shout was still vague, the second shout was much louder than the previous one. A group of people jumped out from the bushes, with knives in their hands, and killed all the officers.
The officer panicked and shouted, "What's going on? What's going on?"
The man in black also wanted to escape. He took one last look at Jiaming, turned around and ran away.
Jiaming did not stand up, nor did he say anything. He just sat on the stone and rested by himself, squinting his eyes and looking like he was about to fall asleep.
The last officer finally reacted. These things were probably related to Jiaming. He rushed to Jiaming, grabbed Jiaming by the collar and was about to punch him. Jiaming turned his head away and was not hit by him. However, the other people who had already killed here had already killed the officer with a knife.
They killed the man, pulled him by the collar, and made him lie on the ground. His head tilted to the other side, and he looked like he died with his eyes open. The people next to him raised their legs and kicked the man's body and head apart, not caring at all whether he was dead or alive.
They said to Jiaming, "We were almost late."
Jiaming said: "Yes, but fortunately, no one was late."
They looked at each other and said with a smile, "We won again this time, that's great! Let's have a celebratory drink when we get back! Let's all be happy."
Jiaming said: "This is something to be happy about, but we have to clean up the body. If someone finds it when they come in, there will be a big commotion, which will be disadvantageous to us."
The young man walked out from the back slowly and said, "It may not be bad for us. It seems that our event is about to happen. If we mess things up a bit and put some psychological pressure on them, they will see us and throw away their weapons and flee. Isn't that a good thing?"
Jiaming asked: "What if they see you and think of their dead brothers and want to fight you? You are now attacking by surprise and are well prepared. If they are more prepared than you and attack you by surprise, you may not have any chance of winning even if you want to attack by force. By then, a large number of brothers will be dead, and what will you do with the corpses?"
The young man couldn't help but feel sad when he thought of the scene of corpses everywhere, but he still forced a smile and said, "What can we do?"
This is like asking yourself.
"We are just doing our best and leaving the rest to fate. If we can't do what we want to do while we are alive, then what's the point of living? If we die, we will die together. Walking on the road, we won't be alone. Isn't that good enough? I don't understand. If life is meaningless, dying is a good thing."
The young man blinked and said to Jiaming, "I know you are different from us. You are like a lotus in a quagmire. You don't want to be stained by our mud. Even if you are pure and untainted, others will think that you are muddy from the root. You can't get rid of it. You just look pretty. If you say you are a show-off, you do look like one at a glance."
You are very useful to us, and we can't say that we have no contribution to you. Let's just make do with each other, and maybe things will get better after a while, and it won't be too late to go our separate ways then."
Jiaming sighed: "Okay."
He smiled and said, "Now that it has come to this, I don't want to argue with you. It would be bad if we both get upset. I should go back and rest."
Jiaming stood up and said, "However, these people know where I live. I don't think it's necessary to continue living in the same place. Don't you have other places to go? Give me a place to live. We depend on each other. You can't leave and leave me alone."
The young man smiled and said, "Oh, so we can rely on each other now? Well, since you have a request, we will do it for you. It is not difficult. However, after this happens, you will definitely not be able to continue living in Kyoto. Otherwise, you will die without knowing how you died."
Jiaming nodded: "I understand."
The young man said: "If possible, I still hope you can try not to go out."
Jiaming said, "I didn't go out when this person found me. I didn't go out from before he came to find me until I moved into the house. They found me, but it's not my fault. Everything has its clues. What can I do? I'll just wait to die. You are different from me. Isn't that the difference? That's good too.
It is better than living like you are dead but not yet dead."
The young man smiled and said, "Why be so pessimistic? Things will get better."
Jiaming said: "It's not certain whether it will get better or worse."
The young man thought about it, nodded and said, "Indeed."
They returned to their residence, packed up their things, and left quickly, each dispersing and blending into the crowd. They looked inconspicuous and it seemed that they would not be discovered last time. I really don’t know how they were discovered last time. If they believe everything the man in black says, then it’s useless. If they don’t believe it at all, then they have no idea and can only be skeptical.
After arriving at the new place, Jiaming packed up his things and moved in. One day, two days, a period of time passed peacefully, and then something happened. During the day that day, there was a lot of noise outside. Jiaming just looked out through the crack in the door, or listened by sticking his mouth against the door. He heard people arguing, fighting, and making trouble. There was no peace anywhere.
At night, it is even more amazing.
A group of people holding torches walked up and down the street, and the whole city was under martial law.
Things got out of hand.
There were sounds of fighting and shouting everywhere, and the flames seemed to be endless, shining brightly under the starlight in the dark night, even brighter than the moon.
Jiaming waited until daytime. The city was quiet and bleak. No one dared to go out at this time. Everyone was worried that they might die if they went out. No one opened the door. Jiaming originally wanted to open the door, but when he saw this situation, he thought it would attract too much attention, so he climbed over the wall stealthily and ran out. Not long after he went far, he bumped into someone.
He hid and observed the people who came. He found that they went to knock on the door. When no one answered, they kicked the door open and wanted to find someone inside. However, before yesterday, there was only Jiaming inside. After just now, there was no Jiaming inside. Those people got nothing and were so angry that they threw everything on the ground and shouted angrily: "Disgusting, disgusting!"
Jiaming sneered in the dark, thinking, do you really think that others are rats in a cage waiting to be caught?
The people began knocking on doors nearby, asking if they had seen the person in the house come out, and if they had seen where the person went after coming out.
Most of them shook their heads and said they didn't know. Some said they seemed to see it but it was not clear. They pointed in a direction but it was wrong. Others said they did not open the door or hear anything and they were just sleeping and wanted to go back to sleep afterwards.
Noisy.
Jiaming took advantage of this opportunity and ran away. On the road, he saw another group of people, rushing around, their bodies covered in blood and the color of ashes from fireworks, their clothes and shoes were tattered, it seemed that others had just slept for a night, while they had spent a night lying in a fire of corpses.
Jiaming narrowed his eyes and felt that their identities could be confirmed, so he cautiously signaled to them. They immediately spotted Jiaming and became very alert. When Jiaming came out, they recognized him and reluctantly put their minds at ease. They said to Jiaming, "It was too scary. We thought it was an enemy and we almost killed him right away."
They sighed and said, "We failed, which is normal. How can success be so easy? It doesn't matter. Many of us died, and many of them died too. There are still many people in this world who are not involved with us and are living in peace and stability. They can still have a tomorrow. The world will not stop turning without us. What is there to be afraid of?"
Jiaming said, "My residence has been discovered again. Someone has already gone to look for it. They are still asking around who saw me and where I went. You don't want to go there. Where were you originally going? Go now! Take me with you."
They looked at each other, nodded and agreed.
So Jiaming followed them all the way to the city gate. Soon, they left Kyoto and arrived at a large mansion nearby. The mansion had high walls, deep tiles, glazed green windows, and colored tin paper that felt soft to the touch and swayed in the breeze.
Jiaming asked: "We failed this time, will there be a next time?"
They thought about it and said to Jiaming, "We have to wait for the notice from above."
Jiaming frowned and asked, "How come you guys also have it?"
They laughed and said, "How could we have nothing? If we had nothing, we would have died long ago. We wouldn't even have a little food or anything."
As they talked, they shed tears, perhaps because they suddenly thought of their dead brothers.
Jiaming did not see the scene with his own eyes, but seeing how they looked like they had survived the disaster, he could imagine how cruel and terrifying the scene was. He wanted to ask some other questions, but seeing their expressions, he could not ask any more questions. So he got up and left them with an excuse, and went back to his room to rest.
After a while, they woke everyone up in the middle of the night and said to Jiaming, who was still half asleep, "Okay, okay, we're leaving here. You can't stay here alone. Something might happen. You have to come with us. Come with us. Do you hear me? This isn't a very close place, it's a long way. You have to be careful and don't fall to your death."
Jiaming nodded dazedly.
They started to hurry.
They walked everywhere, taking many small paths and remote roads that no one walked on, for fear of being discovered. Jiaming found it strange and asked them: "Why can't you disguise your identities? It's impossible for others to read minds and see that we are different from ordinary people. Besides, none of you are rich kids. Walking on the road in the wind, frost, rain and snow, what can they see?"
They replied: "It may not be obvious, but if we are caught, we will be killed. It is better to walk here in peace and safety than to be caught and killed."
Jiaming snorted and said, "You are just cowardly and afraid of being caught and killed. Forget it, if you think so, then just take this route. Tell me your destination and I will go alone. Even if they suspect me, it is impossible for all of them to recognize me. Even if they have seen the portrait of the wanted person, I may not be able to run away. When the time comes, I can reach the destination and then meet up with them.
If I can't reach your destination, I will die. You can also come and kill me. Just go on your own. You don't need to worry about me in the future. It's great. It saves you trouble, and it saves me trouble too."
Jiaming paused and almost said "we", but he thought, there is no one around me. If there is "we", it is only me and me. The other "I" is another person, but where is he? Is there really such a person? Does he really exist? He still can't say it. If he says it, it will be false. If he doesn't say it, it will be true.
He nodded.
After thinking it over for a while, the men finally agreed and let him go. They said to him, "If you betray us, we will definitely kill you. You know, being cut into pieces is very painful, but we will never show mercy to those who betray us. If you betray us, we will treat you in the same way and guarantee that you will suffer more than you do now."
Jiaming nodded: "I understand."
His attitude seemed a bit perfunctory, but after walking for such a long time, it was normal to be a little bit bored.
They waved to Jiaming as a farewell, Jiaming nodded, and then they went their separate ways.
Jiaming was caught. He was walking when he saw a road. He walked until he came to the city gate and the entrance to the city gate. There were many people queuing there. He didn't know the situation, so he walked in and queued up. He was at the front of the line when he realized that this was not a place for buying things or crossing the road, but a place for inspection.
He scratched his head, feeling a little embarrassed. He was arrested when he wanted to give it a try. Fortunately, the reason they arrested him was unkempt, not treason.
They threw him into the prison and left him there. He could only figure out what to do on his own. He cried out to heaven and earth but no one responded. He was trapped for a day or two without food or water. Finally, someone came and took him out and threw him into a hot water pool with many people. Outside was a pile of identical clothes, pants and shoes. Outside was a prison guard guarding the door, saying to them lazily:
"These things are all yours. Whoever finishes washing first can come out and put them on. Whoever washes slowly will have nothing to wear and will have to make do with them. To show our tolerance for you, you can be spared the death penalty. However, if you make a mistake, you can be spared the death penalty but cannot escape the punishment of life. When you have washed and put on your clothes, we will take you to do something.
We will build bridges and roads, dig piles, and take you to dinner. After a while, you can leave. If anyone wants to escape, they will be punished twice as much. By then, it will not be as simple as doing some work, nor will it be as good as letting you go when the time comes. You have to think about it! Don't disobey us casually. Don't even think about walking away casually. "
Jiaming was caught as an example for washing too seriously and was criticized, but in the end the government patted him on the back and let him go. While he was working, a man nearby kept squeezing him, causing him to lose his balance and fall into the mud. He was very angry, but thought it was better to mind his own business and let it go. However, that man came again.
This happened three times, causing him to fall from the ground into the mud. He got up and pushed the man down. The man was stunned for a moment, and the people around him laughed. The man got angry and started fighting with Jiaming. Jiaming didn't want to fight with him, but didn't want to tolerate him either, so he knocked him down, kicked him, and pinned him to the ground. The officers above seemed to have finally opened their eyes.
They walked over slowly and asked the crowd to disperse, just like a priest patrolling among ordinary people and spreading the gospel. People around bowed their heads respectfully. Jiaming didn't know and was not experienced, and didn't want to do it, so he didn't let go. The people below resisted for a while, but Jiaming felt that the official was on this person's side, so he knocked him unconscious with a punch.
The officer looked at the man lying motionless on the ground and said to Jiaming, "Fighting is a serious crime. Lock him up."
At night, it rained. Everyone else was resting, but Jiaming was called by the official. The official said to him, "The roof upstairs is broken. Go and fix it."
Jiaming stood up and said, "I can't."
"Don't you know how to learn? Don't you know how to find a way on your own? I'm not your teacher. You've already been to prison, how can you still have dignity? What kind of leisurely life do you still want? Do you think this is a nursing home? Hurry up, hurry up. If you're a step slower, I'll whip you!"
Having said that, when Jiaming reached the roof and was repairing the roof in the heavy rain, the people below did not chase him and beat him. They also knew that it was too high up and it would be difficult to do anything. If they climbed up, it might be dangerous. So it was better for them to supervise him from below and wait for him to go down before giving him a whip. They actually did so.
Jiaming felt that he could no longer tolerate it, so he said to himself, I will tolerate them three more times. If they do it again and again, I will not tolerate it anymore! By then, no matter what happens, it will be their own fault. They deserve it.
Jiaming wanted to rest, but he was whipped again and started to cry out. The man said to him, "The roof up there is broken again. We are calling you to go. The night is not over yet, and the rain has not stopped yet. What do you want to do? You still want to rest? You are dreaming!"
This is the first time.
Night passed and day came. When it was time for breakfast, Jiaming held out a bowl with only a spoonful of water in it. When he wanted to ask, someone pushed his shoulder and even the water in the bowl was knocked over.
This is the second time, he thought.
He endured it. When it was almost noon, the sun was very strong and there was a lot of water on the ground. He walked unsteadily and could not see clearly. He was pushed by someone and almost fell from a height. He grabbed the person behind him, and the person shouted: "Help! Help! This prisoner is going to kill people! He is going to eat me! Someone come and save me! I am going to be killed by him! Ahhhh!"
When he shouted, his voice was shrill. Jiaming was so angry that he fainted. When he woke up, he found himself lying in the open space under the sun. His skin had peeled off and his back was red. He touched it and it hurt a little, as if there were blisters, but it was not serious. The official came over with a whip in his hand and said, "Death penalty for murder."
Jiaming asked: "Who was killed by me?"
The officer said, "If you do this again next time, we won't be polite to you."
Before he finished speaking, he hit Jiaming with a whip. This time, Jiaming was not facing away from them, so he was hit on the face. Most of his face was hit by the whip, leaving bright red blood and marks, and breaking the flesh. Jiaming closed his eyes and thought, this has happened more than the third time.
While he was resting, he vaguely heard someone say that the princess' birthday was coming soon and the officials who came here to look for novel birthday gifts would arrive soon. If someone could go to meet them, perhaps they could get promoted overnight and would no longer have to do the hard work here. Many people wanted to go, but they were beaten back by the officials here.
Jiaming thought that he should start a fire here.
He took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention and slipped to the stream, washed himself, and even washed his clothes. He waited in the bushes until he saw an official passing by. He knocked the official unconscious, changed his clothes, and threw the official into the bushes. He then walked out. Halfway through his walk, he was patted on the shoulder. The man came over and said, "Hey, I didn't expect you to hide here. Aren't you going?"
Jiaming said, "Go, why not?"
The man smiled and pulled Jiaming away, saying as they walked: "We are going to attend a banquet to entertain senior officials. How come you don't even remember this? Why are you wet? Oh, I see. You drank a lot and just got up. You didn't want to be discovered, so you took a shower. Why didn't you forget to change your clothes? If you go out in this outfit, others will know even if they don't know."
Jiaming said: "No one else is as smart as you."
The man was very happy and laughed: "Just for what you said, I will help you. Haven't you always wanted to meet the adults at this banquet and get a recommendation? I also know that you have been very depressed these years. I will say a few good words for you at the banquet. Don't let yourself down. If you do, you can't blame me."
"I won't blame you. Thank you very much."
Jiaming said.
The two of them chatted and laughed until they reached the banquet venue. Because of the people around him, Jiaming went in without proof. He pushed open the door and went inside. It was a lively and prosperous scene. Many people were drinking, and some were playing flutes and harps. There was already food on the table, which looked hot, delicious, and colorful. Jiaming's stomach began to growl.
The people around laughed: "It seems that you came here hungry because you knew the food at this banquet was not bad. However, everyone is here for the adults, why are you here for the food?"
Jiaming smiled and said, "My family is poor, so I dare not take charge of the meal. I eat frugally. I was afraid of bringing disgrace to the family before coming here, so I dare not eat too much. Since all the adults are here, they can testify that I did not mean to be perfunctory, so I will eat without hesitation."
The others also laughed and said, "Sen*wan* can* clean it up, you can eat it."
Having said that, they certainly wouldn't watch him or speak for him. At most, when someone found something wrong with him, they would take a step back and say in unison that they had already seen that there was definitely something wrong with him.
The banquet officially began. After a bunch of nonsense, everyone ate and drank. Some people also made friends with each other at this time. After eating and drinking, Jiaming said to the chair: "You don't know, I have seen a treasure. It's a pity that it has been lost to the public and there is no chance to see it. It's a pity. However, I recently found the location of the treasure. It is shining with gold and extremely special!"
The surroundings gradually became quiet.
Because the official waved his hand to stop the others from speaking, they could only hear Jiaming drunkenly saying, "That good thing is hidden in the innermost room. Otherwise, it will be discovered and hidden again. It is a good treasure and can be sold for a high price."
The officer asked, "What kind of baby is that?"
Jiaming said: "It must be beautiful, the most pleasing, expensive yet light, not rude, and not like something that a nouveau riche would buy. It is very good, with no faults. Everyone who has seen it will be full of praise for it. If you ask about it, he will definitely not answer, because he is afraid that others will know about it and go to see it, and if they see it, they will be attracted and want to own it.
No one wants to never see their baby again.
That's good stuff.
No matter who asks me, I won’t tell them. No matter who wants it, I won’t give it to them. If anyone wants to see it, hehe, it all depends on luck.”
The official asked curiously, "How can we see that thing?"
Jiaming muttered, "It's not difficult, just light a big fire. The baby is like a diamond that is not afraid of fire. Once the fire is lit, the bigger the flame, the brighter the golden light, and it will be very beautiful."
"Humph, I don't believe it. If there really is such a good treasure, it might be seen by someone like you. If there is such a good thing, why don't you take it yourself, but instead tell it now? Don't you just want to take the credit for helping the adults find the treasure? Why are you pretending?"
Some people on the side were not convinced.
Jiaming murmured to himself, "To be honest, to be honest, I really didn't come here for the credit. Everyone knows that if this thing succeeds, the greatest credit will definitely go to the adults. The adults eat meat and we drink a few sips of soup. If I can drink the soup, I will not only live forever, but also get a promotion and make a fortune. I know I don't have that blessing, otherwise, I wouldn't have stayed here for so many years.
How could I possibly have any merit? Not to mention that I didn't have any merit, even if I did, I can't compete with the adults for this merit! If the adults are in a good mood, they can reward me a little. If the adults are in a bad mood, what can I do? I will be waiting for death, or even a lighter punishment, I will be beaten and scolded. What's the benefit? It's better not to say anything. As long as I don't say it, who will know that there is such a treasure? No matter who you ask, they won't know.
If you don't believe it, you can go ask the people there. No matter if you ask people passing by, people living inside, or people wearing the same clothes as us, they will definitely not say that they know. If you want to go in and take a closer look, they will find a way to stop you and tell you not to go in because the things are inside. They themselves don't know if they are really inside, but they don't want others to look for them.
Is this true?
Why wouldn’t I want the baby? I was afraid that if I alarmed other people, I would not be able to escape and would be charged with knowing the truth and not reporting it.
All the treasures in the world belong to the emperor. As the emperor's treasure, isn't it natural for him to want to celebrate the princess' birthday? If I take it away, I'm afraid I will be charged with stealing someone's love.
I don’t want to be a shameless villain. Wuwuwu——Good baby, good baby, let me take a close look at it, don’t lose it.”
As he spoke, he gradually fell asleep.
Those people lifted him up, put him on the bed, and discussed the situation behind the screen. Sure enough, they sent people to ask, and they all said no.
They wanted to go in and look for it, but were stopped. Although they didn't tell them why, they still wouldn't let them in.
After they revealed their identities, those people did not dare to stop them. However, they still asked them not to go in, as if they knew there were treasures inside that were going to be given to others and were very reluctant to let them go. They believed even more that there were treasures inside, so they asked those people why they not let them in but did not explain the situation?
When they saw that they were about to be punished, they said, "You are all prisoners, you smell bad, there is nothing good to see, and some of you are sick. We are afraid of disturbing your health, so we ask you not to come in. There is no other intention, please don't misunderstand!"
They are saying these things now and they are no longer believed.
The officials and police officers were determined to go in, but there were some people who were not so skeptical and were worried that the prisoners inside really smelled bad and that someone was really sick and could infect them.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
