Chapter 148 Temptation Between Withering and Rebirth
"Administrator, every piece of data in the sixth level of hell has been scanned..." Mr. Zhen reported to the mechanical eye with his eyes downcast, "We can only find scattered fragments of the prisoners' consciousness."
"It's still just fragments of someone who's lost consciousness, so it's safe to say... the person is dead at Luo Jingchen's hands."
"Luo Jingchen forcibly invoked his authority and repeatedly used lethal methods on her, leaving her as a single, bound consciousness..."
The engineer and the warden sat solemnly in front of the floating screen.
"The prisoner's body still has vital signs," the supervisor's voice came through the walkie-talkie, "but... only basic vital signs remain."
The uniformed supervisor stared at the dim, graying humanoid spirit within the capsule, "We can't reconnect to the spirit..."
We're afraid we really won't be able to explain ourselves to our employers.
"Turn off the alarm system monitoring her body," the warden said, glancing at the engineer staring in astonishment at the floating screen. "Just in case, to prevent news of the convict's condition from reaching the Huo family..."
"Also, contact the operations department and have Qu Huan, who is in charge of on-site searches, go into the prison to find the whereabouts of Xin Que's consciousness."
The engineer's mind was in complete chaos. "Warden, if we can't find it..."
The warden's expression hardened. "There are no ifs!"
...
Luo Huayi burst through the side gate and fell heavily onto the ornately arranged brick floor of the back garden.
The flames behind him raged for only a moment before disappearing.
Supporting herself on her bruised arms, Luo Huayi sat up and, after taking in her surroundings, froze in place.
This is indeed the Luo family's back garden.
But the scenery... is completely different from what it used to be.
Flower walls, lawns, plants, streetlights, and dense brambles everywhere.
The once lush and vibrant flowers and plants in the back garden are now covered by thorns, creating a strange and ravaged scene.
"Xin Que?" He slowly stood up and stumbled into the depths of the garden.
All was silent.
The person was gone, the wind had vanished, and the surroundings were so quiet that even the chirping of insects was absent, as if this place existed independently outside the world.
The closer you get to the depths of the garden, the denser the thorns become.
"Click".
Luo Huayi stepped onto a piece of what looked like a menacing, sharp thorn. A sound of dry leaves being crushed came from beneath her feet. As the thorn cut Luo Huayi, it shattered into dust.
These thorns are all inanimate objects.
Luo Huayi was relieved and pulled aside the thorny bushes blocking her way, clearing a path for herself.
Thorns completely covered and surrounded the depths of the garden, allowing only a glimpse of the innermost parts through the gaps.
What's inside?
Luo Huayi ignored the thorns that had torn her clothes, and the new, bleeding wounds that had appeared on her arms and hands.
A numbing, stinging pain came from the side of my face.
A tiny drop of blood seeped from the wound, then, propelled by the momentum of the man's sudden sprint, it drifted backward, leaving a short, sharp bloodstain on his cheek.
When Luo Huayi landed in that familiar embrace deep within the thorns, he could no longer hold back. He raised his hand and wrapped it around the woman's back, tightly holding the woman with her blurred face in his arms despite his own battered and bruised body. "I finally..."
It was impossible to tell whether it was a cloudy or sunny day, or whether it was day or night.
The flowers and plants covered by thorns seemed to have come to life out of thin air, slowly spreading and growing, moving deeper into the garden, blocking the view of the ruins.
To block out this corner forgotten by the world.
"...How are you?" Luo Huayi carefully led the person to lie down on the grass without thorns, and asked the person in her arms in a low voice.
She seemed to look up in response to his gaze.
However, Luo Huayi could not see the woman's face clearly, even though it was so close to his.
Like a dream, everything here was shrouded in a misty, watery light, including her.
But the voice clamoring in his heart kept reminding him that it wasn't so bad if he couldn't see clearly.
It's not a bad thing to be confused once.
He vaguely saw the woman's lips opening and closing, as if she was saying something to him, but he couldn't hear anything clearly.
Luo Huayi had no choice but to put her ear close to her lips and try her best to understand her voice.
"I'm sorry..." Luo Huayi lowered her voice, carefully touching her cheek with her fingertips, "I shouldn't have taken the medicine that xxx left by the door... I shouldn't have separated from you..."
A warm palm was placed on the man's hand, which was covered in wounds, as if to comfort him.
Luo Huayi felt a lump in her throat.
“I know,” Luo Huayi gently stroked her cheek with his fingertips, trying to suppress his nasal tone, and spoke to himself, “I know you’ve always been strong… but…”
Scalding tears mixed with blood fell onto the grass.
Not far away, hidden among the thorny bushes, lay a bird shot down by a crossbow. Its small eyes were already stiff, and it was unclear where it was looking.
"I'm scared."
"I'm scared..." Strands of hair obscured the tears streaming down the man's face. He choked back sobs as he hugged the person in his arms, whose pupils had long since lost focus. "I'm afraid of waking up from this dream..."
I have to face the fact that I'm losing you.
Unable to continue wearing the mask of self-deception any longer, the man pressed his hand against her blood-stained shoulder and wailed.
Dreams always end at the worst possible time.
"I'm sorry," Luo Huayi apologized hastily, then gently picked her up and helped her up. "I'll take you back right away..."
"Let's leave here immediately."
He could no longer tell whether this was a dream or an illusion; he only knew that he needed to get her away from this strange place as soon as possible.
It's good to be back to reality.
Go back to the Luo family first, then go find that master right away...
She can wake up again.
He will definitely wake up.
She tripped over something, felt a dull pain in her leg, and lost her balance, falling onto the road.
He subconsciously turned the direction around so that she could be on top, to avoid injury.
"Don't cry..."
A voice seemed to come from inside her arms.
Ignoring the pain, Luo Huayi immediately looked at the person in her arms, who was practically a madwoman talking to herself, "No, I..."
I felt the warmth of his palm against my cheek once again.
"I'm badly injured," the auditory hallucination said.
Luo Huayi immediately picked her up and ran outside, "Soon...soon we'll be home..."
"Neither doctors nor gurus are of any use," the auditory hallucination added.
Luo Huayi's vision blurred with tears again. "It works, or it doesn't, it's definitely because we didn't find the right person..."
"Luo Huayi," the hallucination seemed somewhat helpless, "stop."
Luo Huayi gritted her teeth and refused to listen, "No way."
"There's something here that can heal me," the auditory hallucination explained.
Luo Huayi finally slowed down and looked around. "Where?"
"There."
The auditory hallucination guided the man into the withered thicket of thorns, saying, "It's right there."
"Just take it out..."
The woman's body, riddled with bloody holes, was carefully placed on the path cleared of thorns, while in the distance, the man's back could be seen as he resolutely rushed into the thicket of thorns.
“Take it out…”
“That is…the deposed king’s…relics.”
The man kept clearing away the obstructing thorns until the dull, broken gun was brought back to light.
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