Under my feet is the calm Liujin River, and behind me is the Fangyuan Cicada built in Xinjin.

Sometimes, you just can't go on living without hurting other people.

"Your Gate of Truth is not open at all." Weisser said, "You are the only magician who has not released the Golden River."

"As long as we die, the Liujin River will stop flowing completely, and you will be able to escape."

"Even these legendary magicians can't seal their own doors of truth," Ash said in a hoarse voice, "Why should I be immune to this?"

"But you just didn't open the door to truth, I saw it."

"Don't you suspect that you've seen it wrong? All magicians have the Gate of Truth, and once they become the Seed of Divine Fire, they will trigger resonance in the Void Realm, causing the Gate of Truth to be unable to close—"

"I can't be wrong," Weisser said, "I've been watching you the whole time."

Weisser knew that Ash didn't have the Door of Truth because of some idle chat in the virtual world. Ash once ridiculed himself for being a sanctuary magician but not having an autonomous magic spirit that could open the Door of Truth.

However, she didn't lie.

Ash turned his head to look at her, and she looked at him calmly, with a strange light in her eyes behind the fox mask.

"Do you want to deny this fact first, lower my guard, and then find an opportunity to take action? There is no need for this." She said: "I am different from you. If I knew that I was going to eternity, I would not insist on dragging others with me. I must be alone on the last journey."

"The outcome now is either you survive or we both die. Since you still want to continue indulging in illusions, what can I not satisfy you with?"

Ash lowered his eyelids and mocked, "I don't remember that Yin Deng was a good person. Is it because he is about to die that he finally feels guilty?"

“How is that possible?” Weisser said without getting angry. “If it were anyone else, I would definitely kill him first to prevent him from trying to kill me, and then hold on until the last moment, waiting for an unknown miracle.”

"Only for you, I can satisfy all your requests." She stepped into the golden river, splashing water everywhere, and walked towards the non-existent destination bit by bit.

"Why? Am I not the Avenger who has been hunting you down?"

"Yes, Avenger." Weisser seemed to remember something. "Then you can choose any way you like to die. Do you want to kill me with a single blow without causing me any pain, or torture me bit by bit until I die in agony? Do you want me to die by strangulation, by disembowelment, by beheading, or by dismemberment? Although this environment is not suitable for execution, as long as you want someone to suffer, you can always make it happen. When it comes to cruelty, every magician is a genius."

She grabbed Ash's hand and put it on the hilt of the sword: "Come on, revenge for your experience, revenge for your justice, do you want me to give up resistance completely, or struggle a little to satisfy your desire-"

"Stop it, I'm not you!"

Ash pushed her hand away forcefully, and Weisser staggered and nearly fell, but was immediately caught by Ash who was quick-eyed and quick-handed.

"I won't torture others." Weisser's voice actually revealed a hint of laughter, "When I kill people, I always make them think it's just an illusion before waking up."

"…How many people did you kill?"

"If we talk about direct action, there aren't many. But if we talk about wiping out other sects, destroying the Nightfall ground cities, designing ways to make the enemy sects fall into endless deadly battles, and using the Dragon Blood Training System, these indirect methods..." Weisser said calmly, "There are hundreds of thousands."

Feeling the increasing strength in the other's hand, Weisser looked at him with side eyes, and the corners of her mouth under the mask slightly curled up. She knew that the best option here was to lie and act pitiful, but for some reason, she just wanted to expose herself unscrupulously like this, which was completely different from her at other times.

Even before summoning the illusion spirit, she had already learned to hide herself, showing only her intelligence, kindness, amiability, thoughtfulness, and many other good sides, as if she had no flaws. After obtaining the illusion spirit, she even hid her own name. Before she betrayed the Fire Tribulation Cult, all living people would be captured by her beautiful first impression, as if she was the Immaculate Lotus.

But when facing Ash, she couldn't wait to pull out the tangled roots buried underground and put them under the light. She didn't know what she was expecting, but she just hoped that Ash could take a look.

Ash fell silent. They stopped talking and used up their last bit of strength to wade in the Golden River. Although there was no communication, Weisser seemed to be able to sense Ash's thoughts from his body temperature - he would make a decision before reaching the slope.

The closer they got to the end, the greater the resistance of the Golden River became, and the smaller the movement became. Every drop of the Golden River water was like the sound of a giant bell, shaking their souls and crushing their thoughts.

What's worse is that they already know that even if they reach the slope, it won't end. The temptation brought by losing the end point is a more severe test of their will, and every cell in their body is urging them to give up quickly, obey the torrent of history, and accept their own fate.

However, Weisser was getting more and more stable. Although she was almost defeated before, she was never affected by the Flowing Golden River again after that.

Her will is like a piece of unpolished jade. The more time washes and carves it, the brighter her eyes become.

Ash was already feeling exhausted, but Weisser kept dragging him forward. He looked at Yindeng's back, as if he could see a madman who could fight against the wheel of history.

In the Gray Fox God Age, she would be on par with those legends and become a human saint who explored the limits. In the Senluo Wasteland, she stood out from millions of believers and became the Silver Lantern Mirror Master who subverted the world.

She would not feel the slightest bit of guilt for hurting so many people. Her will to go against the current meant that as long as she lived, she would continue to practice her own ideals and move forward step by step towards the destructive end she imagined.

If she dies, the Golden River will stop flowing.

She dies, and the story ends there.

Pop.

The water splashed everywhere, and drops of golden water fell onto the slope and then slid down.

Time has no end, but the journey has an end. Weisser led Ash and finally reached the slope.

This is their end point.

She stopped, suddenly turned around, grabbed Ash's sweet tongue and quickly pulled it out. During the whole process, she kept staring at Ash, as if expecting something.

However, Ash kept looking at her calmly. As they knew each other well, the sword could no longer affect their battle.

Weisser felt bored and took the blade back to him. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, the tip of the sword was just right for her throat. As long as Ash took it and stabbed it hard, she would not be able to react no matter how fast she was.

Ash held the hilt of the sword without moving, and suddenly asked, "Didn't I owe you something because I lost the bet just now? Why didn't you use it here?"

"It's such a waste to use it here," Weisser said with a smile.

So how long do you want to stay?

Ash suddenly thought of Igula. When he left Blood Moon through the virtual passage, he refused to wish for Ash to save him. Ash still owed Igula a wish.

You people...

He sighed inwardly and sheathed his sword.

"Even if the Liujin River dries up, Fangyuan Cicada will not disappear." He said, "It has awakened its hunting instinct now. When I am the only one left in the passage, will it eat its fill and let me go?"

In the final analysis, their real threat is not Liujinhe, but Fangyuanchan. Just like if you don't do your homework, your parents and teachers will blame you.

Not solving the problem of Fangyuan cicada and only solving the problem of Liujin River is just like changing the restaurant for Fangyuan cicada, but it will still eat what it needs to eat.

However, this reason only means that it is "possible" not to kill Yin Deng.

Yin Deng didn't say anything, just looked at him quietly. Ash turned his head away from her and asked through gritted teeth, "Am I wrong?"

"You are right." Yin Deng chuckled and said, "By the way, didn't you just ask me why I was willing to meet your request?"

"I think it's the same reason why you didn't choose to stab me just now." She moved closer to Ash, as if she wanted him to see more clearly. "It's all for the same reason."

Ash ignored her and turned to look at Fang Yuanchan behind him.

They walked very slowly, so Fangyuan Cicada had almost finished eating the stock on hand.

There were dozens of legends in the Gray Fox era, and their names were enough to represent the entire Gray Fox era. But here, they could only satisfy Fang Yuanchan's appetite for a few dozen minutes.

Although the golden river water was still washing away his thoughts, at least he didn't have to go upstream. Ash finally had enough computing power to think about how to solve the current desperate situation.

You can't defeat him by fighting. In Liujin River, Fang Yuanchan is almost a god who controls time.

Escape, and there is no way to escape. Let's not talk about whether the Chanchang Warehouse can go back, but to reach the Chanchang Warehouse, you have to pass through Fangyuan Cicada, and Fangyuan Cicada seems to have the ability to turn people nearby into yogurt. The legends that just went downstream, it's not that no one wanted to cross Fangyuan Cicada to reach the Chanchang Warehouse, but they automatically stopped at the mouth of Fangyuan Cicada just passing by.

No matter how he thought about it, it was a dead end at this moment. Ash recalled the props that appeared in his "Aurora's Magician's Manual", but he couldn't think of any that could be used - mainly because he couldn't use magician's methods at all when the magic spirit was sealed...

"Speaking of which," Yaxiu suddenly said, "Is Fang Yuanchan a magic spirit or a great magic now?"

"You don't have to choose between the two." Weisser said, "As the most peculiar existence, it retains the characteristics of a great law while also possessing the spellcasting properties of a magic spirit."

"I mean, since it's a magic spirit and we are magicians..." Ash pondered, "Is it possible for us to control it?"

But as soon as he finished speaking, he shook his head to deny this possibility: "If you want to control the magic spirit, you must at least touch it. But if we even get close, we will become its prey."

However, Weisser stared at the cicada eating thoughtfully. She gently scratched Ash's palm, as if to diffuse her hesitation.

Ash didn't ask. After waiting for a moment, Weisser said slowly, "I might have a way."

"You should remember that my blood is not red, right?"