Chapter 32 The Tower of Gray Dome 32 "Fire!!"...
With a loud bang, all the sounds around Nanmen Jue seemed to disappear. She watched Xu Yang's lips move, but could barely read what they were saying. Amidst the deafening ringing in her ears, a sharp pain shot through them, instantly bringing her back to her senses.
Xiao Nuo pecked her ear hard.
“Her…mother?” she heard a hoarse voice squeeze out of her throat.
“That’s right, you shouldn’t be so stupid as to not know what I’m talking about.” Xu Yang glanced at Wu Qing on the other side and revealed a strange smile. “How about it, isn’t it quite unexpected? But with your ruthlessness, even if you knew her purpose, you would probably still choose to kill her, right? After all, she had the intention to kill you. You didn’t hesitate at all when you killed me back then.”
"South Gate," Wu Qing called out to her worriedly.
Nanmen Jue's fingers began to move again, and the scalpel began to spin deftly once more.
"Alright, I've answered your question. Now it's your turn to keep your promise, right?" Xu Yang seemed to be in a very good mood.
Nanmen Jue remained expressionless, his face as white as ice under the lamplight, making the scar on his cheek appear even more eerie.
“Go ahead and press it,” she said.
Xu Yang froze, "What did you say?"
“I don’t think you’re old enough to have dementia. If you remember what happened upstairs just now, you should know that this threat is useless to me,” Nanmen Jue said calmly. “Or do you need to recall?”
Wu Qing had no idea what had happened up there, but Xu Yang was struck dumb.
Above, the bullet hit, but he was unharmed.
"How did you do that!" Xu Yang's voice sharpened. "No, even if you could stop a bullet, you might not be able to stop this thing from exploding! According to energy calculations, it can power more than a dozen cities simultaneously, so the Gray Tower never lacks energy. How could you possibly withstand something like this? Unless you're not human! You're not... human..."
Nanmen Jue smiled at just the right moment, and Xu Yang felt as if his throat had been choked, his eyes filled with deep terror.
“Press it,” Nanmen Jue said gently. “Once this tower explodes and everyone dies, leaving only the two of us, wouldn’t that be more convenient? You know, we still have some time before we can get out.”
She made no attempt to hide the malice in her eyes; the gloomy, ruthless, and viscous look was like ink seeping into her pupils. The more Xu Yang looked, the more terrified he became, and the more he trembled. He screamed, clenched his fist, and was about to smash the button in front of him!
Before he could bring the gun down, Nanmen Jue quickly raised it and, without hesitation, fired several shots, all hitting Xu Yang in the chest with a metallic clanging sound. Nanmen Jue recalled that she had once stabbed Zhu Wenjie in the neck with a scalpel, making a similar sound.
Props?
Without a second thought, she kept firing as she rushed forward. Although the continuous firing failed to kill Xu Yang, it caused him to lose his balance. He missed the button with his punch, and before he could make another move, Nanmen Jue pounced on him and they began to wrestle.
Xu Yang's skills were practically nonexistent, but he was extremely resilient, as if his entire body was covered by that life-saving gadget. When Nanmen Jue punched him, it was as if he had punched a wall of copper and iron.
If he hadn't encountered Nanmen Jue, he would have been virtually invincible. It's like a sheepdog that can't normally beat a pack of wolves, but when the sheepdog is given a spiked collar, it becomes a game-changer when it enters the pack! Trying to beat him would only leave him bleeding, so how could he possibly kill him?
But the person he encountered happened to be Nanmen Jue.
Nanmen Jue has just obtained his cheat, this is a showdown between props and cheat, a perfect opportunity to see who is immortal!
Punch after punch, Xu Yang struggled to escape from under Nanmen Jue, letting out a sharp roar. It seemed that the prop did not block the pain, but Nanmen Jue held him down firmly. When Nanmen Jue punched him in the eye again, a ferocious rage appeared on his face.
"You fool! I'm going to kill you, I'm determined to kill you!"
When a person is on the verge of death, they will unleash extraordinary potential. Moreover, Xu Yang is a seasoned individual who has improved his basic qualities. He fought back fiercely, and even though Nanmen Jue no longer felt pain, he could still feel that powerful pressure.
Her eyes hardened, and when he resisted, she fought back even harder. But she was still no match for the veteran, and Xu Yang used brute force to throw her to the ground. He then flipped over and grabbed the gun that had fallen to the side.
He pressed the gun against Nanmenjue's head, lost his mind, and fired wildly.
"No--"
A powerful force struck, shoving Xu Yang away. Nanmen Jue was also thrown to the side. She looked up and saw in horror that Wu Qing had fallen on top of her.
It turned out that Wu Qing had also arrived while the two were fighting. She didn't know how to fight and couldn't get involved, but she stood nervously by the side. So when Xu Yang pointed a gun at Nanmen Jue, she quickly stepped in.
Nanmen Jue knew he was now invulnerable to swords and spears, but Wu Qing did not!
Nanmen Jue's pupils contracted sharply; she only saw Xu Yang grinning maliciously as he raised his gun again...
"No!!!"
A hoarser and more shrill scream came from Nanmen Jue. She pushed Wu Qing away as fast as she could, but Xu Yang fired several shots, and some bullets inevitably hit Wu Qing.
"No...no no no no!"
Nanmen Jue knelt up and desperately tried to stop the wound on Wu Qing's chest with his hands, causing large patches of blood to seep out and soak Nanmen Jue's hands.
This scene was so damn familiar. Zhao Huai Ren, Zhang Chu Xi, and now Wu Qing, all of them collapsed in her arms in this way. So much blood! She couldn't stop it. Could a person really bleed so much? She had never hated being a medical student so much, because everything she had learned told her that Wu Qing was beyond saving.
"Sister Wu, Sister Wu..."
Nanmen Jue was almost at her wits' end. She pressed her wound in vain and called out Wu Qing's name again and again.
"Don't die! Don't die!!"
Wu Qing looked at her with slightly swollen eyes, her gaze gentle. As soon as she opened her mouth, endless blood gushed out, shattering her voice.
“Kill him…” she said softly, “to avenge your teacher.”
Nanmen Jue was stunned. So she knew everything. So she had never stopped thinking about avenging Zhao Huai Ren.
"How can a weak, clerical worker like me take revenge? People need to face reality."
“That’s exactly what you said.” Nanmen Jue stopped his futile movements and stared intently at her face, which was still open but had lost all life. “Why did you, a weak office worker, rush over here? I won’t die, I won’t die.”
Her low, hoarse voice was filled with deep sorrow, and her thin shoulders trembled.
"Foolish woman, trying to pull such a small trick."
Nanmen Jue paused, then slowly raised his red, tearful eyes.
The pain of losing Zhao Huai Ren, the pain of losing Zhang Chu Jun, and the pain of losing Wu Qing all erupted at once, and Nanmen Jue finally shed tears.
Xu Yang casually tossed away a syringe, the needle already bent, showing how much force Wu Qing had used. While pushing Xu Yang away, she used all her strength to stab the syringe in, thinking she had finally found an opportunity to save Nanmen Jue and avenge Zhao Huai Ren. But she didn't know that she was facing an opponent she couldn't possibly defeat.
Xu Yang took a few breaths, looked up and saw Nanmen Jue's tearful eyes, and paused for a moment.
"You're crying? Who are you crying for? For Zhang Chuxi who betrayed you, or for an NPC?" Xu Yang was quite incredulous that he didn't do anything immediately.
Nanmen Jue's body was still trembling. She stared at him intently, without saying a word.
"What beautiful eyes..." Xu Yang's eyes were somewhat infatuated. "Nanmen Jue, let's make peace. I won't kill you, and you shouldn't kill me either. I'll take you back to my guild and we can become partners. Isn't that good? I believe that with the two of us, we can definitely survive in these worlds."
“Cooperation?” Nanmen Jue’s voice was hoarse, his tone extremely suppressed and sarcastic. “Xu Yang, look at what you’ve done… As far as I know, all those who cooperated with you are dead.”
"They were just stupid, useless people. Their deaths are meaningless." Xu Yang saw something in Nanmen Jue's eyes and was even more incredulous. "You're angry? Why are you angry? You killed Qi Mo with your own hands, and Zhu Wenjie was your nemesis too. Aren't you happy that they're dead?"
Happy? Why should she be happy? That's a living, breathing life.
If Zhu Wenjie hadn't wanted to kill her, and Qi Mo had killed Zhao Huai Ren, why would she need to kill them?
Do people who stay in the cycle of reincarnation for too long all become like them? Insidious, ruthless, cold-blooded, killing natives and reincarnators from the same world as if it were commonplace, unable to stir up the slightest ripple.
Should she be happy?
She has reason to be happy.
Because she would still feel unhappy about killing someone.
Nanmen Jue trembled, the red in her eyes becoming increasingly alarming. Xu Yang looked at her like this, and his expression softened slightly, even showing some pity.
“I know you’re new, not used to killing yet, and probably still have a naive sense of justice…” His fear of Nanmen Jue subsided, and he began to coax him gently, like dealing with a lost fawn. “But you’ll get used to it, Nanmen Jue. Everyone is like this. Once you’ve been through more worlds, you’ll find that talking about benevolence and trust in these worlds is a joke. People are lucky if they can save themselves. As for killing? Everyone could be an enemy. In this world, you might be a collaborator, but in the next world, you might be an enemy. I wanted to kill you before only because of the benefits Zhu Wenjie brought me. Besides, what does it matter if a few people die? As long as it’s not me who dies, it doesn’t matter who dies.”
"Doesn't matter?" Nanmen Jue said in a low voice.
“You’ll understand, young man,” Xu Yang said. “Although there are guilds, the only thing guilds do is delay the time it takes for people to become enemies. This is based on mutual benefit. When the benefits can’t outweigh the danger of losing your life, what do you think people will do?”
Nanmen Jue chuckled softly.
The laughter grew louder and louder. She tilted her head back and laughed so hard that the veins on her long neck bulged.
"why are you laughing?"
What was she laughing at? Because she didn't need to guess anymore; she had already made this choice—when facing Zhang Chuxi, she proactively placed the chip in her palm.
Just then, a series of chaotic footsteps approached, and Qin Yehan, Tong Gu, and even Lin Suwen, along with a large number of guards, rushed in. Upon seeing the scene before them, they were all stunned.
"South Gate!" Tong Gu exclaimed in astonishment.
Nanmen Jue stopped laughing and stared straight at Xu Yang. Xu Yang didn't even look at the gun pointed at him, but looked at Nanmen Jue with greed and anticipation.
"How are you now? You're doing well now. Following me will save you some trouble."
He glanced suggestively at the top of Nanmenjue's head; with the indigenous people present, he no longer spoke so explicitly.
"Nanmen, what is he saying?" Qin Yehan asked anxiously.
“If we join forces, they definitely won’t be a match for us,” Xu Yang said. “What are you still hesitating about?”
"Okay," Nanmen Jue said gently, "Come here."
Xu Yang was overjoyed. He was about to lift his leg when he remembered the ruthless thing Nanmen Jue had done before, and his eyes hesitated. Just then, Nanmen Jue smiled at him, his eyes filled with tears and the corners of his eyes red. He was incredibly beautiful, yet shockingly broken.
"What are you afraid of? I can't kill you," the beauty said.
Xu Yang was immediately persuaded and strode towards Nanmenjue.
Nanmen Jue looked up at him, then smiled at him, a smile that was mesmerizing.
Just as Xu Yang lowered his guard, she hooked her legs around his lower body, pulled him down with a force, and strangled him with her arms. The two became entangled, and she turned her head and yelled at Qin Yehan.
"shot!!"
"Nanmen Jue!"
Xu Yang roared in fury as he retaliated against Nanmen Jue, striking her body repeatedly. She ignored him, screaming in a broken, hoarse voice.
"Shoot!!"
The last vestiges of hesitation vanished, and Qin Yehan fired the first shot. Then, at Lin Suwen's command, everyone opened fire, and a dense hail of bullets struck the two entangled figures.
"Nanmen Jue, are you crazy?!" Xu Yang's voice finally betrayed despair. "I have durability, and so do you! This way, we'll both die!"
He still believes that Nanmen Jue's immortality is due to a prop.
Nanmen Jue remained silent, even closing her eyes. She used all her strength to restrain Xu Yang, like a hyena biting its prey and refusing to let go.
If she could still feel pain now, she'd probably be dead by now, she thought to herself with a self-deprecating smile.
Xu Yang's roars continued unabated, bullets kept hitting them, one batch of bullets after another was used up... Nanmen Jue didn't know how much time had passed, but Xu Yang's voice gradually weakened. She still didn't let go until Xu Yang's voice completely disappeared and the gunfire gradually stopped.
Someone approached and cautiously touched her shoulder.
"South Gate?" It was Qin Yehan.
Tong Gu's voice sounded like he was crying, "Nanmen, are you alright? Say something!"
Nanmen Jue didn't move. She held the corpse that had been smashed into dice, like a bizarre work of art.
"It's alright, Nanmen, he's dead." Qin Yehan tentatively touched her shoulder. "Are you alright? Your ability... didn't fail, right?"
His voice, growing increasingly fearful at Nanmen Jue's lack of response, grew urgent and cautious as he tried to ascertain Nanmen Jue's fate.
The moment his hand touched Nanmen Jue's shoulder, he was speechless at the sight of those raised eyes.
Nanmen Jue's eyes were red and her face was still wet with tears. She looked down at the corpse in her arms, her body trembling, and she laughed softly.
"South Gate..."
The next second, blood splattered as Nanmen Jue's scalpel plunged into Xu Yang's head.
One after another...
She acted as if she didn't know Xu Yang was dead, frantically stabbing his head until it was a bloody mess, with brains scattered all over the ground, making it impossible to recognize what it had originally been.
Vomiting sounds came from around her, but Nanmen Jue seemed not to hear them. She continued to torture the head with unwavering determination until Qin Yehan hugged her from behind.
"Nanmen, Nanmen, don't do this, he's already dead." Qin Yehan tentatively reached for the knife in her hand. "That's enough, don't hurt yourself."
"Enough?" Nanmen Jue suddenly stopped, his pupils trembling. "How can it be enough? He carries the weight of three of my lives."
Zhao Huai Ren, Zhang Chu Xi, and Wu Qing all died because of Xu Yang.
She was too weak, too weak. She didn't leave behind any of the people she wanted to protect; one person killed them all.
"South Gate," Qin Yehan said with heartache, "is alright now."
Nanmen Jue's tense arms slowly softened. She stared at the disfigured face and let out a hysterical laugh, but this laugh was vicious.
She answered Xu Yang's previous question.
What would everyone do?
"—Then I'll just not do it that way."
She was born rebellious and refused to associate with things she looked down upon.
Even in death.
...
Xu Yang was dead. Nanmen Jue sat on the ground, letting Tong Gu nervously surround her, trying to wrap bandages around her gruesome fingers. Her two eyes, still red, stared intently as his body was dragged away.
Tong Gu saw the cold, resentful look in her eyes, and his hands, which were bandaging her, trembled slightly.
"Nanmen, don't be like this." The seventeen-year-old boy said sadly, "He is already dead. Don't let death hold you back, and don't let hatred hold you back. People always have to look forward."
Nanmen Jue remained silent. Although she was sitting on the ground, her body was taut and straight, like a longbow with an arrow already drawn.
The enemy was already dead, but she was still in a state of readiness for battle at any moment.
Qin Yehan and Lin Suwen were talking in hushed tones beside her, their eyes constantly glancing towards Nanmen Jue. Seeing her like this, their conversation couldn't continue.
Qin Yehan half-squatted down in front of Nanmen Jue, wanting to touch the scar on her face. Nanmen Jue didn't move, not even her eyes moved, still staring straight at the direction where Xu Yang was dragged away. Qin Yehan's fingers stopped before touching her, and he sighed and put his hand down, clenching it into a fist at his side.
"After Xu Yang escaped, his former guards all switched sides and joined us in killing those monsters and rescuing the president, which is why it ended so quickly." Qin Yehan's worried gaze remained unwavering. "We won, Nanmen. You avenged them with your own hands."
"...Did we win?" Nanmen Jue said hoarsely, then laughed self-deprecatingly.
These people certainly wouldn't understand what constitutes a loss and what constitutes a win in her first world.
Of the six reincarnators, all but her died—either because of her or because she killed them.
The Cycle of Reincarnation, what a wonderful Cycle of Reincarnation! She had just arrived and had already learned such a profound lesson.
"South Gate..."
Both of them looked at her with concern. Lin Suwen slowly walked over, her much more haggard eyes looking at her with only a sigh in them.
Even this stubborn and strong-willed president shed tears.
“I’m sorry, Nanmen, for many things…” Lin Suwen said, “And thank you.”
Thank you for venturing into the Gray Tower alone, disregarding life and death, and piercing through a sky shrouded in darkness.
"All the surviving residents of Grey Tower should thank you."
"No need," Nanmen Jue said. "I just don't want to lose."
Little Crow flew back from somewhere and landed next to Nanmen Jue.
Nanmen Jue suddenly remembered something, pushed away Tong Gu who was bandaging her, and stood up.
"Where are you going?" Tong Gu's nose was red. "Look at yourself, you're even more tattered than a rag doll!"
"Go find someone, I'll be back in a bit."
Nanmen Jue strode away, and no one dared to stop her. She made her way to the quarantine area without any hindrance and found the area where Zhu Wenjie had been detained before.
"Zhu Wenjie!"
He was indeed still there. After Xu Yang gained power, he didn't care about him at all, leaving him to fend for himself. Without food and water for a long time, Zhu Wenjie was exhausted and lay on the ground like a corpse, barely clinging to life.
Nanmen Jue walked into the isolation room and stopped in front of him.
For a few seconds, she thought Zhu Wenjie was dead, then he suddenly opened his dry eyes and looked straight up at her.
"...Nanmen Jue?"
Zhu Wenjie could barely make a sound. Nanmen Jue turned and left, returning with a glass of water.
Zhu Wenjie drank a few mouthfuls of water as if he were starving, but before he could feel the relief of rain after a long drought, his expression turned painful. The blanket rolled out of his hands, and he curled up on the ground, vomiting clear water, yellow water, and blood.
His inner self is already ruined; for him, drinking water now is like drinking poison to quench his thirst.
“Nanmen Jue…” He could finally speak again, and he murmured Nanmen Jue’s name, laughing tremulously, “Nanmen Jue, I never thought that the last person I would see would really be you.”
Nanmen Jue remained silent.
“I was right. You really are the kind of person who is suited to this space. Ruthless, decisive, and cold-blooded. You thought of killing me after just one conflict. A ruthless person like you is suited to being tormented and humiliated in a place like this…”
His eyes were frighteningly red, and Nanmen Jue half-squatted down in front of him.
“I don’t want to kill anyone, I don’t like killing,” she said softly. “I just don’t want to bow my head, and I don’t want to lose.”
As long as she believes she is right, she will not admit her mistake even if the whole world says she is wrong. If she believes she is not wrong, she will kill all those who want her dead.
Nanmen Jue has always been this kind of Nanmen Jue: straightforward, tyrannical, and self-centered. She didn't want to be a coward who was powerless to fight back after being forced into a desperate situation, so she chose to strike first. She couldn't kill Zhu Wenjie with her own hands, but she did want him to die.
She is never associated with words like "generous" or "forgiving."
"Then why didn't you kill me from the beginning?" Zhu Wenjie stared at her with his cloudy eyes and roared hoarsely, "Why didn't you kill me as soon as you caught me! Let me linger here, let me... slowly wait to die... You are so cruel, Nanmen Jue."
Nanmen Jue remained indifferent to his resentment; she had heard similar things countless times even in the real world.
"I only said a few words to you, look how you beat our child! You're so cruel!"
"This child is vicious by nature and has an antisocial personality. If you don't lock her up soon, it will be too late when she kills someone!"
Those people were absolutely right; given the chance to kill, she would indeed kill.
Nanmen Jue chuckled softly.
Zhu Wenjie's eyes had become unfocused. He used his last bit of strength to glare at Nanmen Jue, so hard that blood streamed from his eyes.
“Nanmen Jue, don’t be so smug. You’re just a newcomer… Now that I’m dead, Xu Yang is also in grave danger, and you’ve offended both Entropy Ash and Ouroboros… You can just wait to die! Cough cough cough! Cough, cough…”
His final vow exhausted the last ounce of his strength. Zhu Wenjie stared wide-eyed at Nanmen Jue, tears of blood streaming down his face, and died.
Nanmen Jue watched him breathe his last, muttering to himself, "Ouroboros... was that Xu Yang's guild? But you're wrong."
She looked down at her dead opponent, "I'm afraid I've offended not just two guilds, but three."
It's hard to say what Iron Drill will think of Zhang Chuxi, the only survivor, if she dies in this world.
She has always considered human nature to its lowest possible level.
Nanmen Jue slowly exhaled, his eyes glazed over, and finally dimmed.
She recalled the trigger that Zhang Chuxi had pressed with her finger in the end.
"Wasn't he very cowardly? But when he finally shot himself, he didn't hesitate for a second."
Suddenly, all the lights in the gray tower went out, and a blinding red light appeared. Nanmen Jue's expression changed, and he instantly stood up.
"High alert! What's happening now?!"
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