Duan Jingfu went to the laboratory to check, but there was no trace of Ruan Chen.
He searched along the passageway, finding signs of a struggle along the way.
A painful scream came from ahead.
It was Ruan Chen's voice.
That's the direction where the Ten Famous Swords are located!
His heart leaped into his throat. Ruan Chen didn't have permission to go there. If she accidentally went in, she would definitely die there!
He had only found a second suitable vessel after so many years. If it were to be destroyed like this... how much longer would he have to wait?
The moment Ruan Chen's fingertips touched Chi Xiao, countless fragmented images pieced together into disjointed fragments, rushing wildly into her mind.
Or perhaps those memories were already hidden deep within her mind.
Some of these scenes she had seen when she first tried to mobilize her spiritual power, some she had seen when she first met Chi Xiao, and some she had seen when she uncontrollably revealed her murderous intent to Ruan Zhengde...
Ruan Chen felt as if her head was about to split open.
Or perhaps the soul is about to be torn apart by the massive influx of information.
This time, many of the images are connected and much clearer.
“Ruan Chen, if you don’t behave, I’ll send you back to Meicheng and return you to your stepfather. He’s waiting for you to go to the Pleasure Hall to make money for him.”
"Little sister, you're still too young. How about you give your school spot to your older sister? If you don't agree, I'll have Dad send you back to the slums. You'll die at your stepfather's hands, won't you?"
"Chenchen, Mom will protect you. I told you, you are my own daughter."
Amidst the bizarre and surreal scenes, Ruan Chen heard the screech of brakes, saw Ye Huanhuan lying under the wheels of a truck, surrounded by blood, and heard Ruan Yu'er and Ruan Luo crying out in anguish.
On the day of Ye Huanhuan's funeral, she saw Yu Wanqing in a wedding dress holding Ruan Zhengde's hand.
She saw Ruan Yunhan and Ruan Qin standing side by side, enjoying the spotlight as outstanding graduates of the First Military Academy.
She witnessed Ruan Yu'er being forced into an arranged marriage to a man more than forty years her senior. On the wedding day, Ruan Luo jumped from the room where he was imprisoned, becoming paralyzed from the waist down. Ruan Yu'er ended her life in the wedding car with a sharp hairpin.
She saw herself fleeing in a sorry state from the cannibalistic den of the Ruan family, returning to Meicheng to find Cong Rao, hoping to gain her protection, but all that awaited her was a cold tombstone.
Cao De, who had clearly died in the fire, came back to life. His face was so ferocious it was almost unreal, and he still had a mouthful of black and yellow teeth from smoking. He said coldly to Ruan Chen, "The second year after you returned to the Ruan family, I beat that woman to death. Who told her to be so disobedient? Back then, I sold you to the Ruan family for 300,000 yuan. They said they needed you to marry a crazy, stupid cripple. Did you sneak back?"
She saw a group of filthy men grinning as they surrounded her. They said to her, "Your father sold you again, but this time you're not so lucky to be sold to the Ruan family."
Ruan Chen retreated step by step, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion.
She felt pain everywhere; her head ached, and her heart ached too.
She saw herself wandering aimlessly in the wilderness, lost in the endless fog.
As the fog dissipated, she saw the words "Crescent Bay".
Then the scene suddenly changed, and her eyes seemed to be covered with blood, so heavy that she couldn't open them. Even the small gap she managed to squeeze open was full of blood.
She heard someone question her, "Ruan Chen, why did you betray us?"
"Ruan Chen, the Ten Famous Swords are not worldly powers; you cannot use them as tools for indiscriminate killing!"
"Ruan Chen, it turns out that all you ever wanted was destruction!"
"Stop her! She's going to detonate it!"
The image became clear again, and she saw herself sitting inside the warship controlled by Chixiao, her eyes coldly looking down at the city engulfed in blood and fire.
It was once the decadent and extravagant capital of Jingzhou.
Two warships hovered to her left and right, namely Zhanlu and Qixing Longyuan.
A man's voice came through the communicator, cool and magnetic, yet carrying a hint of tenderness and affection: "Is this what you wanted?"
Ruan Chen suddenly woke up!
Although it was clearly a grown man's voice, she couldn't be mistaken; it was... Fu Jianzhi!
She finally understood what reality was.
The images rapidly rewound, Fu Jianzhi's voice shattered along with time, and Ruan Chen felt as if her mental energy was being torn apart by forces from several different directions at the same time. Chi Xiao's calm and irresistible voice rang out, "Stay calm, come to my mental network, and I will take you away."
"Chixiao, did this actually happen... or is it a parallel universe?"
Chi Xiao was silent for a moment, then said, "Parallel universes do not exist."
"Then what is this?" Ruan Chen felt her mental power being steadily enveloped by Chi Xiao's mental net, and she was finally able to recall those scenes that seemed to have been experienced firsthand from the perspective of an undisturbed outsider.
Another possibility occurred to her, and she asked incredulously, "Is it...rebirth?"
Chi Xiao's tone was somewhat helpless, "Ruan Chen, you should know that so-called rebirth does not exist."
"so....."
Chi Xiao's slightly androgynous voice rang out, "You've come too early. You'll find out later."
Ruan Chen felt a pair of warm hands wiping away the blood that had smeared on her eyes.
"Teacher Duan?"
Duan Jingfu's eyes showed genuine anxiety and concern. "Ruan Chen, how are you now? Are you alright?"
Ruan Chen opened her eyes and saw a mess on the ground. The man who attacked her was now a riddled corpse lying not far away, while Chi Xiao... as if everything just now was a dream, lay quietly on the control panel.
Duan Jingfu helped Ruan Chen stagger out of the car. "Can you still manage to drive me to the hospital now?"
At the hospital, Ruan Chen sat outside waiting for the test results, with Duan Jingfu sitting beside him.
Only then did the two finally have time to talk about what had happened in the lab.
"Teacher, what's wrong with that person? It looks like he's trying to kill me."
Ruan Chen held her water glass with her head down, but kept a close eye on Duan Jingfu's every subtle expression and movement.
“He was in the same project team as me before. Later, there was a hazardous materials leak on that project, and he got infected and became like this,” Duan Jingfu said with regret and helplessness. “After that, he kept complaining that the institute’s safety measures were inadequate and blamed the rest of us who worked on the project together. Over time, he developed murderous intent. I always thought that he wouldn’t hurt me, but I never expected him to be so heartless as to actually target you.”
Duan Jingfu's expression remained normal throughout.
"By the way, what happened in the room? I saw broken glass all over the floor. Are the things stored inside alright? Also, last time you seemed to have a connection with the Ten Famous Swords in that room. What about this time?"
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