Chapter 188
Xie Xubai's cyclical life can be roughly divided into four stages.
The first stage, which is the first lifetime of the cycle.
He was a truly ordinary person, orphaned at eight months old, of humble origins, with mediocre talent, and certainly without the extraordinary memory he possessed. His memories of his parents faded little by little in the yellowed years, he wandered aimlessly for half his life without a place to call home, and finally died quietly and lightly in the endless game.
Perhaps he wasn't entirely without merit, inheriting his father's open-mindedness and strength as well as his mother's sensitivity and optimism. However, he lacked the strength to stop the monster's sharp mouthparts from excitedly tearing at him.
Perhaps he wasn't as insignificant as a feather, because there were once two people in this world who loved him unconditionally, valuing him more than their own lives. But Xie Xubai didn't remember. Who can remember things from when they were eight months old?
Even with Yan Shuo's deliberate guidance, Xie Xubai touched upon the law of time ahead of time. As he grew stronger, countless altered timelines formed a quantum superposition state in his sea of consciousness, no longer just ethereal air. However, for Xie Xubai, who had not yet become a god, they remained chaotic and indistinguishable.
In addition, in order to independently and completely explore the past, one must bear the mental burden of countless cycles. Xie Xubai can only passively receive the gradually awakening memories of his first life and cannot observe them independently.
Therefore, Xie Xubai was unaware of his biological parents' situation.
As a child, seeing Xie Yuchun's unrecognizable appearance, and hearing the gossip of the neighbors, Xiao Xie Xubai had moments of doubt. However, he kept his mouth shut, determined not to hurt his mother's feelings because of his suspicions.
In the hospital scenario, Xie Xubai travels back more than twenty years to his own birth, where he is rejected from the past as an adult.
He wrote down his birth date at that time and also thought about finding his biological parents.
But with the system eyeing them covetously from the front and the unpredictable cycle behind them, coupled with the urgent need to establish a law enforcement agency, Xie Xubai was so busy that he had no time to spare and could only delegate the tasks to his subordinates.
Needless to say, what happened next was that the night Yan Shuo half-coaxed and half-forced Xie Xubai to sleep was the only good night's sleep he had during this period.
As time went by and time again, by a series of unforeseen circumstances, Xie Xubai completely lost the opportunity to learn the truth in advance.
Under this premise, Xie Xubai did not think there was anything shameful about being a content and happy ordinary person. He did not reject accepting his past powerlessness, and he ignored the cloaked man's mockery of his miserable and weak first life.
Even now, he has witnessed firsthand the shattering of a family that was content with a simple life, and the couple's unwavering obsession turning them into vengeful ghosts in endless despair.
His head was throbbing with pain, and he was in a daze. He didn't recognize his biological parents and, following his usual practice, he thought he was doing it out of kindness by activating his mental energy.
Because he was afraid of collapsing halfway through, he sped up the process of purifying the resentment.
The golden light blurred the mother's tearful eyes and the father's red, tearful eyes. They watched their sons, whom they didn't recognize, and insisted on sending them away. Their feelings were filled with reluctance, worry, and love, but no blame.
By the time Xie Xubai realized the truth, it was too late; he didn't even have time to glance at them again.
The couple's souls became increasingly transparent, like ice and snow melting in the sunlight.
Xie Xubai's expression went completely blank as he abruptly cut off the golden light in his palm.
He was oblivious to the pain, unaware that the nerve spasms had caused his breathing to stop. He was going crazy, caring about nothing else, desperately trying to grab the couple rising into the sky. His foot slipped, and he stumbled. The world went black, and he spun around. He felt no pain. He scrambled to his feet, and reached out again, but only the cold air slipped through his fingers—
Xie Xubai missed his target.
*
The cloaked figure in the ink-wash space no longer laughed, nor did he make a sound.
He observed Xie Xubai, who was trembling uncontrollably, with a deep gaze.
The depletion of the split soul's spiritual power affected the main body. The other party seemed to feel cold, subconsciously hugged its arms, buried its head, and curled up into a ball.
Xie Xubai's weakness is actually quite easy to find. Emotions can be the driving force that propels him forward, but they can also drag him into the abyss.
If it were Xie Xubai, who had regained all his memories and experienced countless trials, this blow would not shake him in the slightest.
But now, Xie Xubai's memories are confused, his divided soul is damaged, he is isolated and helpless, the blow of the death of his blood relatives and his self-doubt are enough to forge the first level of his fall.
The cloaked figure showed no triumphant pride in response. Compared to when he had provoked Xie Xubai, his emotions were unusually calm, like a block of ice.
With a blank expression, he raised his hand, and dark energy lines swirled in his palm, taking root and sprouting like thorns, gradually growing into the shape of a crown.
It opened its mouth with a strange tone, containing a unique melody, like an ancient and mysterious ballad.
"I will welcome you with a grand ceremony." (Lyrics)
"Blood paves the red carpet, bones forge the steps, and mountains of corpses form the throne." (Lyrics)
...
As the cloaked figure sang this song, the entire chessboard seemed to come alive, becoming restless and filled with uncontrollable excitement.
She lowered her eyelashes indifferently, cupped the thorny crown in her hands, and leaned slightly forward, intending to place it on Xie Xubai's head: "Welcome—"
Whoosh!
Before he could finish speaking, a blade of light suddenly sliced through the air, aiming for the cloaked man's throat!
The cloaked figure's pupils contracted sharply, and he swiftly turned to the side, a gust of cold wind brushing past his cheek, narrowly avoiding a fatal blow.
The incomplete crown of thorns fell to the ground with a clatter, shattering like crystal and dissipating into black energy lines in mid-air.
A sharp pain shot through his cheek, and he instinctively reached up to touch it, only to find his hand covered in hot, bright red blood.
“You…” The cloaked man looked up in surprise.
Xie Xubai leaned on the chessboard, his forehead covered in sweat. Large beads of sweat dripped from his eyelashes, leaving behind fine, glistening droplets. But his eyes were terrifyingly bright, as if they had been washed by the mist, revealing only a clear and lucid gaze.
Because the rules do not allow players to fight each other, the slashes on the cloaked man's cheeks also appeared in the same spot on Xie Xubai's face.
Xie Xubai raised his hand to wipe it away, not taking it seriously. He swayed a little when he sat up straight, but there was something supporting him from behind.
It is the shell of an evil god.
The ink-wash space does not allow him to enter. If he forcibly breaks in, the surging power will surely annihilate the entire space in an instant, endangering Xie Xubai's life.
But His beloved humans were constantly exhausted and injured, and that damned thing on the other side was trying to put strange things on them and pollute their aura.
Wandering in the spatial rift, unable to do anything, the body is irritable, restless, and wants to destroy everything.
Before being driven mad by this anxiety, the body, which should have no capacity for thought, suddenly had a lightbulb go off in its head and inexplicably learned to divide itself.
If the main body's power is too great, then divide it into a smaller portion.
If a small portion is still too big, then break it down into slices! Break it down into strands! Break it down into granules! Break it down into mist!
Finally, a small patch of black mist successfully emerged from the narrow energy gap in the ink-wash space, eagerly rushing up to press against Xie Xubai's exhausted body from behind.
The cloaked man was still in shock, utterly bewildered as to why Xie Xubai hadn't broken down.
Clearly, clearly...
What exactly went wrong?!
Ignoring the frantically writhing black mist that seemed intent on taking Xie Xubai with it, she looked down at the chessboard world.
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