Chapter 163 Night Candle Rules 41 Why did you hide yourself...?
Ying Yao was probably still locked in a fierce battle with the mirror image of Nanmen Jue and hadn't paid any attention to the real Nanmen Jue's messages.
Seeing that he did not reply, Nanmen Jue turned around and went to chase after the mirror image Zhang Jin.
Mirror Zhang Jin hadn't gone far when he heard Nanmen Jue ask if he knew where Mirror Terra was, and he nodded readily.
“We have a connection,” it said. “Can I come with you?”
“Even if you don’t tell me, I’ll still have to ask you the same question,” Nanmen Jue said.
The two hit it off immediately and, with a reluctant Yu Wanyan in tow, quickly headed towards the mirror image.
Without the puppet, Yu Wanyan could no longer keep up with the two men. Nanmen Jue glanced at her, then left her behind as before, speeding away. Yu Wanyan stomped her feet in anger and cursed Nanmen Jue as a deadbeat straight man.
Nanmen Jue ignored her curses and, along with his white reflection, walked through several groups of people, causing a stir among them.
The communicator rang again. Nanmen Jue took it out and glanced at it as he ran. It was Ying Yao.
I'm with Terra right now, at these coordinates.
Nanmen Jue felt relieved, reached out and grabbed his mirror image Zhang Jin, a smile on his lips, "It seems my mirror image has also gone to see the judge a long time ago."
With Zhang Jin and Terra ganging up on her, she might have died if she didn't have any items to save her life.
Mirror Image Zhang Jin was not surprised. "So, now the only Golden Name Mirror Images left alive are me and Terra."
"Between you and Terra, who would win?" Nanmenjue asked.
"Me," Zhang Jin, the mirror image, said calmly and confidently.
Nanmen Jue was not surprised at all.
As they spoke, the two approached the coordinates sent by Ying Yao and saw Ying Yao and Terra standing together in the distance.
Terra was a very tall woman. Although she was not young, her muscles were toned and her height was comparable to Ying Yao's, making her look particularly imposing.
But when she looked over, her eyes were gentle, tolerant, and calm, reminiscent of a mother's.
Nanmen Jue avoided direct eye contact with those eyes. She only glanced at them before quickly looking away, raising the corners of her mouth to ask Ying Yao, "You've taken care of me?"
"It wasn't easy, but at least I didn't lose face," Ying Yao said. "Does it count if I didn't solve it myself?"
“Well, I didn’t do it all by myself,” Nanmen Jue said.
Both of their attention shifted to the mirror image of Zhang Jin, who gave them a gentle smile.
Both of them simultaneously showed a hint of disgust.
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t targeting you…” Terra said.
“It’s alright.” Mirror image Zhang Jin shrugged. “Since the original body is doing nothing, I’m going to take the blame.”
Now that we've gathered together, we're not afraid of any sneak attacks from the other side. The atmosphere has eased, and we can even joke around.
Suddenly, Ying Yao's eyes flickered, and Nanmen Jue, who had also used the "sticky candy" trick before, immediately recognized it and raised an eyebrow knowingly, "They've arrived?"
Ying Yao looked in one direction, and the other two followed suit. After a short while, Zhang Jin walked over alone.
"Seeing the four of us here, you still dared to come over, that takes some courage," Nanmen Jue said with a smile.
Zhang Jin looked at the four of them and smiled, "Looks like I have a spy on my side."
“If you don’t want people to know, then don’t do it in the first place. Zhang Jin, don’t underestimate me,” Terra said coldly.
"Is that so?" Zhang Jin remained noncommittal, his gaze sweeping over Nanmen Jue's face before shifting to the mirror image of Zhang Jin. "Even if it's just a mirror image, seeing 'myself' mixed up with you guys makes me feel really uncomfortable."
Zhang Jin lowered his eyes in the mirror image.
"Why did you suddenly decide to kill Terra?" Nanmenjue said. "Are you so arrogant that you think you and Zhou Yiming alone can take care of us all?"
“Maybe.” Zhang Jin still had that enigmatic smile. “Tara has always been loyal to one side but not to the other. Even Deng Erhuai, whom she treated like a daughter, went to your side, Nanmen Jue. I’ll say the same to you. Don’t underestimate me.”
Nanmen Jue fell silent. Was this seemingly outrageous decision because Deng Erhuai had come to her side regardless of his position?
Just as a stinging doubt began to rise in her heart, Terra's resolute voice rang out.
“Deng Erhuai is an adult. What choices she makes are none of my business, and your decision to kill is none of anyone else’s business either.” Terra’s gaze was intense, like a lioness guarding her territory. “Zhang Jin, you are the one who wanted to kill. Don’t try to shift the blame onto others.”
In the dim light, Nanmen Jue glanced at her quickly.
"Look, you're already on the same page. Is this what a mother-in-law and prospective son-in-law are like?" Zhang Jin said subtly. "It seems you're quite confident that you can definitely beat me, isn't that right?"
Nanmen Jue didn't speak. She looked back and saw Zhou Yiming and Mirror Terra appear from two other directions.
Zhou Yiming leaned against a large tree as if he had no bones, his face so pale it was almost the same brightness as his reflection. His eyes seemed to hold a misty haze, their focus unpredictable.
Nanmen Jue found it hard to look him in the eye, so she turned her head back.
"Looking at it this way, it seems like we have one more person than you," she said deliberately, though inwardly she felt a chill.
Knowing full well that he was outnumbered, Zhang Jin's composure and arrogance suggest he has some extraordinary trump cards up his sleeve.
"You want to take action right now? Right now?" Ying Yao, who had been silent until now, suddenly said, "Are you willing to do it?"
Zhang Jin was still smiling, but his eyes suddenly darkened. "Ying Yao, what do you mean?"
"No matter what your trump card is, in this space, there is no deal without a price," Ying Yao said calmly. "Now you've only asked one of the three questions, and countless people are eyeing you covetously. Are you willing to reveal your trump card now? We might die, but at the same time, are you putting yourself in an environment surrounded by wolves?"
He pointed behind him in the direction of Zhou Yiming, "Terra is just flattering you, so how can you be sure he's loyal?"
Brilliant! Nanmen Jue almost applauded Ying Yao on the spot.
Zhang Jin looked at Ying Yao meaningfully, as if he had been hit where it was supposed to be, yet also as if he held a hint of condescending pity.
After a long pause, he chuckled softly, "You're right. It's not worth it to take action now, because I want to see what other surprises you can bring."
Zhang Jin gave Nanmen Jue a deep look, then turned and left decisively.
As he left, Zhou Yiming and Mirror Terra turned around, and Nanmen Jue suddenly turned around and walked a few steps quickly.
"The day is bright!"
Zhou Yiming paused, but did not turn around.
Nanmen Jue was unusually speechless. She bit her tongue and said, "If you want to switch sides, we can still discuss it."
This was the first time she had spoken to this person without sarcasm or confrontation. After she finished speaking, a strange feeling swept through her mind. Could her behavior be considered, uh, a honey trap?
While he was lost in thought, the person in front of him suddenly turned around. His movements were unlike his usual lazy and slow manner. He looked at Nanmen Jue, his face seemingly even paler, as if he were angry.
“Nanmen Jue, I don’t know what that idiot mirror image said to you. Remember, it was all bullshit.” His voice was low and almost hoarse, and he spoke rapidly, like a string of notes, as it slipped past Nanmen Jue’s ear. “He is him, and I am me. I tried to kill him, and he hates me. Do you understand?”
After saying that, he didn't wait for Nanmen Jue's reply, turned around and left, his pace as fast as his speech.
Others came forward, staring at his retreating figure with bewilderment.
"What's wrong with him?" Terra asked, puzzled. "I've never seen him so rude."
Ying Yao looked in the direction Zhou Yiming had left, then turned to Nanmen Jue, "What did his reflection say to you?"
“…It’s nothing. I suddenly feel that he might not be beyond saving.” Nanmen Jue swallowed Zhou Yiming’s private words. “Zhang Jin is a sinister person who makes me uneasy. At this time, having a powerful ally is better than having an enemy.”
“That makes sense.” Terra wholeheartedly agreed.
Nanmen Jue felt a little embarrassed, so she turned her head away, and the atmosphere became quiet for a moment.
“Those ghosts are coming,” Zhang Jin, the only non-human being who doesn’t have to get involved in this complicated human entanglement, said lightly.
"Let's find another place to talk." Ying Yao withdrew his gaze from Nanmen Jue.
"Go and meet up with Deng Erhuai and the others." Nanmen Jue felt as if he had been granted a pardon.
Ying Yao turned to look at Terra, "Are you really sure?"
"Do I have any other choice now?" Terra gave a wry smile and gestured to the side. "The news of me fighting against Zhang Jin with you guys must have spread by now. I'm already tied to the same boat as you."
The chemical reaction created by the group of them standing together was too amazing. Since the beginning, there have been eyes watching them, both openly and secretly. They must know everything that happened here.
“No need.” Nanmen Jue still didn’t look at Terra. “You can form your own faction. Just be careful with Zhang Jin and the others. You can also take Deng Erhuai back with you. We shouldn’t have let her out to cause trouble in the first place.”
She noticed that everyone's eyes were on her face, and she immediately felt uncomfortable. She turned to leave, but Terra's gentle voice rang out.
"Nanmen, why don't you ever look at me?"
"You're overthinking it." Nanmen Jue stopped and forced himself to meet her gaze.
“Really?” Terra said. “Actually, I’ve been observing you. When you speak, you tend to make eye contact with people, whether they are powerful enemies or weak civilians. But you rarely look at me. Have we met before?”
“No,” Nanmen Jue said stiffly.
Terra was more than half a head taller than her, approaching her like a female giant. Nanmen Jue felt completely enveloped by her, and the way Terra looked at her was like looking at a child.
Nanmen Jue felt even more uncomfortable, so uncomfortable that it felt like she was about to explode. Tiny ants crawled up her limbs and cheeks, but she gritted her teeth and endured it.
“You’re very good at hiding things, you’ve kept it from everyone,” Terra said gently. “The number of people you’ve killed, the complete opposite of yourself, your tolerance towards Deng Erhuai, and how you sent Ying Yao more than a dozen messages after learning I was about to be attacked, and rushed over without hesitation—that’s the real you. Why did you go to all this trouble to hide yourself, child? What was the reason for all those things before?”
The overly gentle words, the overly gentle address that no one had ever used before, made Nanmen Jue suddenly find it hard to breathe. The ants crawling all over her body became even more itchy, so itchy that they wanted to devour her completely. Her face turned pale, and she suddenly raised her hand and, to the astonishment of the others, pressed her forehead and slapped herself hard.
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Author's note: I hate catching a cold (sniffles)
The seemingly normal but actually abnormal side of the South Gate has finally been exposed.
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