Chapter 69
Chapter Sixty-Nine
Zhou Xiuqi stopped ahead, and I snapped out of my reverie and stopped with him, waiting for him to speak. I hadn't even noticed where Zhou Xiuqi had led me the whole way. Zhou Xiuqi said, "Wait here."
Without asking any questions, I watched him leave my sight and, making sure he wouldn't turn back, immediately followed him. My intuition told me that the place he went to wasn't safe. Zhou Xiuqi was very perceptive, and I couldn't get too close to him; he would notice.
Every few steps, Zhou Xiuqi had to stop to avoid the corpses on the ground. He stopped in front of a body being embraced by two people, one large and one small. From a distance, he couldn't tell the gender of the corpse, and he covered his nose with his hand. The smell here was pungent; just a little bit made his stomach churn with nausea.
Zhou Xiuqi stared for a long time, so long that I thought he had only come to see them. He raised his hand and tore off a large piece of his hem, then covered them with it. He continued walking forward, and I waited until he was quite far away before following him. The white hem of his robe, covering them, was instantly stained deep red.
The fabric trembled slightly, and I took a step back in surprise.
Not daring to look any longer, not daring to think whether they could be saved, he could only quicken his pace. Seeing Zhou Xiuqi standing ahead, he drew his sword, the Evil-Repelling Blade, and clashed with a silver whip, the whip whistling through the air.
When Que Xie clashed with him, sparks flew everywhere.
The owner of the silver whip stood aside and watched, showing no intention of intervening. He only occasionally moved his fingers, without even releasing the blood mist from last time.
After a few moves, Zhou Xiuqi suddenly bent down, and the silver whip stopped in front of him, slamming down with a triumphant sound.
Zhou Xiuqi gritted his teeth and looked up.
Shang Mang walked up to him and said, "I'm so tired of you always looking for me."
At the last second, I intervened and once again narrowly rescued Zhou Xiuqi from his clutches. This time, the teleportation location was correct.
Zhou Xiuqi lay there, blood seeping from his lips. I wiped it clean with my fingertips.
[Host, you've reached 5% progress in winning over the male lead. Please keep up the good work.]
Zhou Xiuqi slightly raised his eyes, his eyes filled with resentment.
I held back my words and pressed him for an answer: "Why didn't you ask someone to help you? Why did you have to go and beat him up by yourself?"
Zhou Xiuqi looked dazed for a moment, then said, "This is a responsibility I should bear."
The word "responsibility" is the one I've heard him say the most since I was a child. Ling Daozi also always said that Zhou Xiuqi carries a lot of responsibility.
“Zhou Xiuqi, let me take some of the blame for you.” I looked intently into his eyes, and he shifted slightly. “You…take my place?” It seemed he had never heard anyone offer to take responsibility for him before.
Zhou Xiuqi looked at her and suddenly blurted out, "I've seen many people like you."
I realized the meaning behind his words and reached out to grab his hand: "What did you say? You've seen many people like me?"
In other words, she wasn't the only time traveler left in this world.
Zhou Xiuqi's forehead began to throb with pain. Meng Yuan couldn't hear him; cold sweat beaded on his forehead. "Memory...I..."
[Currently erasing the male lead's memories, Zhou Xiu repairs his peripheral memories—]
[Delete...Delete...Delete...]
Zhou Xiuqi pressed his temples, trying his best to suppress the numbness in his nerves, his mind going completely blank.
He heard the sound, but then felt it disappear.
It's like an illusion.
I waited for his reply. Zhou Xiuqi straightened up, as if nothing had happened: "I was hallucinating. It must be the work of a demon."
The cold sweat on his forehead dripped onto my palm. I abruptly pulled my hand away, and only one thought occupied my mind.
He was taken into custody.
The various mental blocks in my brain were finally cleared up, and some things that felt illogical and uncomfortable suddenly became normal. Zhou Xiuqi was like an emotionless, automaton. He could heal quickly from injuries and control his emotions.
wrong.
Emotionally, there wouldn't be much change, but just now, Zhou Xiuqi tore off his own clothes and covered the corpse. This doesn't fit Zhou Xiuqi's behavior; it doesn't make sense.
The words that had just slipped out were suddenly replaced by a change in attitude.
Sure enough, something was controlling him. I boldly conceived a plausible idea in my mind: I have a system that binds me, so could he also have a system, only he's unaware of it?
Zhou Xiuqi saw me suddenly start to stare blankly and reached out to flick my forehead.
I came to my senses: "Senior brother, have you ever thought that none of that was an illusion, that it was all real?"
Zhou Xiuqi frowned, his tone questioning, "What are you talking about?"
I was trying to figure out how to explain it in a way that would help him understand: "Zhou Xiuqi, you are actually just a two-dimensional character. Everything here has been pre-written."
Seeing my anxious and agitated appearance, Zhou Xiuqi frowned and said, "Paper doll, what do you mean by 'written'? What are you talking about?"
Zhou Xiuqi didn't understand what I meant at all, but I didn't give up. This might be my breakthrough to going home, figuring out what kind of place this world really is, and then seriously trying to understand and change it.
I suddenly smiled and said, "It's okay if you don't understand now. I'll prove it to you once you're healed."
Zhou Xiuqi's gaze fell on the corner of her mouth. It wasn't an illusion; something about Meng Yuan was different.
Zhou Xiuqi was seriously injured this time and needed to rest for several days. I was worried about who would take care of him. I had no way to prove my point, but then Xiao Zheyu arrived.
The first thing Xiao Zheyu said when he saw Zhou Xiuqi was, "How come he's not dead?"
Zhou Xiuqi didn't say anything, but simply accepted the meaning of her words.
I watched from the sidelines as Xiao Zheyu spoke mercilessly: "Who do you think you are, some kind of great deity? Does everyone need your help? Are you so eager to throw your own life away?"
stunned.
I didn't dare say a word. Xiao Zheyu was angry, and the conflict between them had long been brewing. Zhou Xiuqi was always going to rescue people, one day this one, the next day that one. Whenever someone was injured, Zhou Xiuqi would lift his robe and rush to their aid.
He who stands up for justice is loved by all.
The difference between Xiao Zheyu and him is that she is selfish enough not to care about people who have no use to her. In Xiao Zheyu's eyes, there is no need to save people who are irrelevant to her or who have no value to her. They argued and cursed, but Zhou Xiuqi didn't listen and remained true to himself.
Their ultimate fates, one dead and one alive, stemmed from this.
Xiao Zheyu admired his unwavering sense of justice, but also disliked his indiscriminate pursuit of justice.
Xiao Zheyu took out a medicine bottle, lifted Zhou Xiuqi's chin, and poured the medicine down his throat. Zhou Xiuqi didn't resist. Instead, he followed her fingertips and slightly raised his chin.
Xiao Zheyu watched him finish drinking the medicine, then threw the bottle aside and stared at him coldly.
Zhou Xiuqi lowered his eyelids obediently, pursed his lips, and said, "If I don't fight with all my might, I have no chance against the Ghost Embryo."
He fears failure, but he never denies that he is incapable.
Xiao Zheyu didn't speak, seemingly too angry to utter a word. I stood there like a third wheel; it was understandable that they were speechless. I quietly slipped away.
As I walked onto the street, a few withered petals drifted past me. It was dark and gloomy, and I couldn't see the future.
Even taking a single breath feels like my lungs are rotting.
I don't know where he is.
I could only search aimlessly, not knowing how Zhou Xiuqi had found him so precisely last time. Recalling the place from last time, I searched based on my memory.
I finally found the place. I searched in front of mountains of corpses, and the scene before my eyes refreshed me one after another. I felt that my tolerance had increased.
Are you looking for me?
Someone was speaking. I looked around for the source of the voice. The mountain of corpses was a rather low-level, perverse pleasure. I felt uneasy. So this is what it means to be a ruthless, born killer?
The person lying at the highest point behind me slowly sat up.
He was dressed in white, his clothes stained with blood. He casually picked up the corner of his garment and said, "You're here to kill me too?"
I stood below and looked at him, but I couldn't see him clearly.
Only a faint smile could be made, revealing his teeth, which looked somewhat sinister.
I said, "No."
He bowed, as if looking at my face: "I've seen you before."
I paused suddenly and said, "Yes, I saved you."
Shang Mang silently curled his lips: "Saved me? You must be mistaken. You saved that gloomy-faced man in white. You always arrive just in time."
He doesn't remember me saving him.
I felt a bit aggrieved. After all, he had saved me, and yet he had completely forgotten about it. I clenched my knuckles and said, "Can you please not kill Zhou Xiuqi?"
Shang Mang touched the fabric, tracing the lines lightly with his hand: "Why should I?" He propped himself up on his knees, looking down at her: "If he wants to kill me, then I must kill him."
I swallowed silently. A faint mist of blood swirled around him, a few strands trickling down and nearly touching my cheek. I had to say something to distract him; I didn't want to die here right now.
"My name is Meng Yuan. What's your name?" I asked. The blood mist hung in the air, its flow momentarily paused. I don't know if it was my imagination, but Shang Mang's vision blurred, though I was too far away to see clearly.
Shang Mang crossed his arms: "If you want to kill, just draw your sword. Why so many questions?"
Still not believing it, I asked, "What's your name?"
Shang Mang paused and turned his head to the side.
I yelled, "If you're going to kill me, at least let me know who killed me, right?"
Shang Mang slightly raised his chin: "Shang, Shang, Mang."
I chuckled. It seemed like he wasn't very familiar with his own name, and he spoke it haltingly.
I nodded vigorously: "I'll remember. You should also remember my name. My name is Meng Yuan."
Shang Mang felt his mind was in turmoil, utterly annoyed. He raised his hand and lashed out with his silver whip, which wrapped around her neck. I hadn't expected him to suddenly attack. Shang Mang raised his eyelids slightly, but surprisingly didn't block it. Idiot, fool.
I felt the air receding from me, and breathing became difficult, but I couldn't give up speaking: "Why did you kill him?"
He held the other side with his hand and suddenly pulled hard, lifting me into the air, making my neck hurt even more.
As I looked closer, I noticed he had unusually fox-like eyes, upturned, which made him look like a calculating little fox when he smiled, but fierce when he wasn't.
Compared to the boy whose memory saved him, he is almost unchanged now, because the ghost fetus never grows up.
He remained forever in the state of being sixteen or seventeen, trapping and locking him in.
Shang Mang hated being stared at, and her gaze was undisguised on him, as if she could see right through him: "Keep staring at me, don't you want your eyes anymore?" He tugged threateningly on the handle.
I slightly raised my chin: "If you want my life, then take it." I was gambling, gambling that he was a good person. It was a stupid move; I almost laughed at myself.
I exposed my most vulnerable part, my neck, and looked at him: "I saved you."
Breathing is becoming less and less frequent.
My head is getting dizzier and dizzier.
Suddenly, Shang Mang released his grip, and I tumbled down the mountain of corpses. Touching them sent chills down my spine. But inside, I wanted to laugh; I'd won my gamble. Actions that didn't align with the Ghost Embryo's principles had, at this moment, succeeded.
Shang Mang stared blankly as he watched his hand loosen.
I started laughing from below, even though I couldn't breathe properly, I still had to laugh, laughing so hard that I coughed uncontrollably.
Shang Mang's face turned cold, looking at him like he was an idiot: "What are you laughing at?"
Seeing his furious state, I decided to take drastic measures: "Because you didn't kill me, you didn't kill me."
"I'm glad they didn't kill me."
How embarrassing, but it's part of my plan.
If everyone has a system, if I can awaken someone, if I change the world.
Perhaps there is a slight possibility of getting out, to rebel against the system, to rebel. I never imagined that I would spend my whole life rebelling, rebelling against heart disease in reality, and coming here to rebel against the entire system.
My vitality was born from resistance.
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