Chapter 220
Xie Xubai remained silent.
Stephen's actions were not impulsive.
“They say time heals all wounds, but decades later, I still can’t forget that I couldn’t save my family, that I couldn’t save Lisa… I’ve become intolerant of everything, and I hate myself more and more. Living only brings me pain…”
Stephen's eyes were dull and lifeless, like a tree that had been ravaged beyond saving, withered and decaying from its roots.
"Perhaps I am already dead, White. What lies before you is nothing but a breathing corpse. At the latest, I will close my eyes forever tomorrow."
Stephen: "I know you're still moving forward, so eat me, absorb my power, at least make my existence a little more valuable... Ugh!"
Stephen suddenly turned pale, gripped his arm tightly, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
Xie Xubai shifted his gaze and saw the boy's smooth skin suddenly ripple like waves, and his bones made a teeth-grinding cracking sound as they bulged outwards sharply, like needles.
The signs of alienation are so similar, as if the tragedy of yesteryear is about to repeat itself.
Stephen's screams grew even more piercing: "Hurry up, White! Please, I don't want to see myself turn into a monster! You've already helped me once, please help me one last time!"
Ink wash space.
Unlike the tense situation outside, everything inside was perfectly calm, even excessively calm.
The cloaked figure looked at Xie Xubai, who remained completely calm, narrowed his eyes slightly, and teased him as if he didn't want to miss out on a good show: "Your old friend has begged you so pitifully, and you're completely unmoved. How heartless."
Despite being provoked like this, Xie Xubai still didn't say anything.
It's normal to have trouble adjusting your mindset when suddenly reminded of so many painful and difficult past events.
But if this person could remain so calm and collected upon seeing his old friend about to transform into a monster, that would be rather strange.
The cloaked figure smirked: "Or are you just bluffing?"
With a thought, Stephen immediately cried out in pain as mottled bloodstains appeared on his raised skin, and jagged bone spurs, stained with blood and flesh, protruded.
However, in the blink of an eye, golden light wrapped around the bone spur like a bandage. It had the ability to purify pollution, and the bone spur almost melted away upon contact with the light. The protruding skin quickly flattened and returned to its original state as the light band wrapped around it.
The cloaked man immediately looked at Stephen's other hand, but Xie Xubai's actions were faster than his thoughts.
Before any signs of bodily transformation could reappear, a golden light swiftly swept through the boy, covering him from head to toe like a mummy, leaving only his nostrils exposed for breathing.
"Heh—" The cloaked man had to admit that he had underestimated Xie Xubai. "Is this the strength of a demigod? I've really learned something new."
He scoffed, "But do you really intend to keep him around like this forever? I'd love to see you carry around a few more burdens, but this kid will definitely be very unwilling and will only think you're torturing him. What if something happens to you later and you can't take care of him, causing him to mutate on the spot and kill those humans? That scene would be... tsk tsk tsk, just thinking about it makes me happy."
Xie Xubai was not provoked at all, and his expression remained calm: "Instead of worrying about me, you should think about how you are going to explain things to the system later."
He retorted, "The system instructed you to put the Black Crown on me, and not only did you fail to do so, I also stole it. It commanded you to make the players lose the trial, but now the players are all gathered at the Black Tower's gates, and reaching the top is only a matter of time. It ordered you to kill me, but look under your chair! In such a short time, I've already eaten one of your black pieces, and a second one is about to be eaten—"
Xie Xubai placed his hands on the chessboard and leaned forward.
The two closed the distance between them inch by inch, like gradually breaking down the enemy's defenses during a confrontation, leaving no room for the standoff to continue.
The cloaked figure had a cold expression and crossed his arms.
This psychological tactic of suddenly closing the distance to exert pressure was something they had used on Xie Xubai from the beginning, so how could they possibly take it seriously?
Upon hearing the word "system," the person's lips curled into a sneer, revealing an unspeakable mockery, their main characteristic being fearlessness.
However, at that very moment, Xie Xubai seemed to have realized something and said knowingly.
"As expected, you are me."
In an instant, the whole world seemed to fall silent.
Nobody would suddenly yell "I want to run for president of the United States" while eating ice cream.
Just as the cloaked man could never have imagined that Xie Xubai, who was just trying to put pressure on him, would suddenly come to this shocking conclusion.
Caught off guard.
Their eyes met, and the close scrutiny made their instantaneous reactions impossible to hide. Their hearts pounded in their chests, and their breaths rose and fell.
Suddenly, she burst into laughter, as if she had heard a particularly absurd joke, laughing so hard that tears welled up in her eyes: "Hey, there's a limit to your narcissism, isn't there? You're slandering me, but what proof do you have? Huh? Do I need to swear to the rules to prove my identity?"
Xie Xubai calmly nodded: "Okay, swear now that your appearance has nothing to do with me."
Cloaked Man: "..."
Xie Xubai: "Why don't you say?"
The cloaked figure remained motionless.
One second, two seconds.
The silence dragged on for an extremely long time, so long that it seemed as if you could hear someone's heart pounding like a drum.
Seeing his reaction, Xie Xubai was finally able to confirm part of his suspicions.
But as he prepared to probe further, the cloaked man suddenly realized: "You're bluffing me."
He suddenly looked down and, sure enough, saw a ray of golden light quietly approaching from behind.
This is the thing that just made his/her will falter!
"You fucking tricked me!!!"
The cloaked figure ripped the golden light off fiercely and crushed it with his palm. If it weren't for the restrictions of the rules, he probably would have already slammed his fist on the table and started fighting Xie Xubai.
The system sent it to deal with Xie Xubai, and its appearance is obviously related to Xie Xubai!
However, under the combined pressure of being in close confrontation with Xie Xubai and the influence of his mental manipulation, the cloaked man failed to notice Xie Xubai's linguistic trap at first. Instead, he thought of a deeper reason, realizing that he had exposed something, and instantly froze and showed his fear.
They didn't reveal anything or answer anything, but for Xie Xubai, even a second or two of hesitation was enough for him to discover many problems.
The cloaked man had never been so angry, staring at Xie Xubai with a sinister look that seemed to want to tear him apart.
Xie Xubai said, "How can this be considered a trick? After all, you were the one who couldn't suppress your murderous intent and hostility towards me first."
"From the moment I met you, I wondered why you were so hostile towards me when we were complete strangers. Later, you perfectly replicated the scene of my parents' murder, and I just assumed that the system could also trace the past."
"Until just now, Stephen said he would help him one more time."
Xie Xubai: "The time I devoured Stephen's divine power, Yan Shuo protected me and set up cognitive interference throughout the process. Even the system couldn't detect this at the time, so how did you find out? At that time, I confirmed again and again that Stephen's soul had dissipated. It couldn't have been him who came back to life to tell you."
"Or perhaps, when I devoured the eleven apostles, Yan Shuo wasn't around, and no one set up cognitive interference for me, allowing the system and you to suddenly discover that I had the ability to devour, thus successfully deducing that I was the one who caused Stephen to suddenly lose his divine power back then."
Xie Xubai bent his well-defined fingers and tapped the table lightly and rhythmically, the crisp tapping sounding like a heavy hammer hitting his heart.
"It doesn't matter anymore." He smiled brightly, his eyes crinkling. "After all, who knew that I would just test you a little and you would accidentally give yourself away?"
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