But what was surging in those eyes, was it the tenderness of an elder brother, or some terrifying existence awakened from the ancient Buddha?
"Xiao Di, have you remembered?" The other person chuckled, an unnatural arc forming at the corner of his mouth. "Actually, we... have never been apart in all these years."
Bai Di suddenly remembered the secret decree his grandfather had given him before his death. On the blood-stained silk was only eight words:
【Buddha is Buddha, and man is man】
He stared at Lou Xun, watching his elder brother's expression change several times.
Until it freezes on an expression.
Then Bai Di saw Lou Xun insert his fingers deeply into his temple with lightning speed, and his knuckles turned white due to the force.
His pupils contracted violently, and the golden vertical pupils and human round pupils switched alternately, as if two sets of memories were fighting inside his head.
"I see..."
His voice suddenly became unusually old, with the echo of an ancient temple bell.
"That Buddha statue... contains more than just me..."
Bai Di felt dizzy.
He saw fine Sanskrit characters appearing on his elder brother's neck, and those scriptures were moving under the skin like living things.
Although his memory had not yet fully recovered, his body reacted before his consciousness - his hands automatically supported Lou Xun's trembling shoulders.
Subconsciously, he felt that the Sanskrit was familiar, and it was more familiar than ever, it was Blore's.
"Don't look at me like that."
Lou Xun suddenly pinched his chin with such force that it almost broke his bones.
"Thirty-seven reincarnations, each time you will be at this point..."
His voice stopped abruptly, his Adam's apple rolled a few times, and the bulging veins gradually subsided.
When Lou Xun looked up again, tears welled up in his eyes.
He pressed Bai Di into his arms. The hug smelled of gunpowder and rust. His heartbeat under the combat uniform was too fast for a human.
"This time is different."
Bai Di heard suppressed sobs coming from above his head.
"You have royal blood..."
His voice trailed off. "That old fox...hid the key in..."
The strong wind howled among the dark spires, like the wailing of countless dead souls.
Lou Xun's body was completely covered with black scales, and sharp bone spurs pierced through his military uniform, emitting a cold luster in the moonlight.
He hugged Bai Di tightly, and the moving scales spread as if they had life, wrapping the two of them in a semi-enclosed space.
"Xiao Di..." Lou Xun's voice became hoarse and multiple, as if several voices were coming out of his throat at the same time. "After returning to the empire... my memories began to awaken uncontrollably..."
His fingers tightened unconsciously, and his scales scraped against Bai Di's uniform, making a sound like metallic friction.
Bai Di could feel the unstable energy surging in his brother's body, like a volcano that could erupt at any time.
"Every time I wake up... I have a few more memories that don't belong to the present..."
Lou Xun closed his eyes in pain.
"Sometimes I am your brother... sometimes I am a being among the ancient Buddhas... sometimes I even see myself destroying the empire with my own hands..."
A violent tremor swept through Lou Xun's body, and his forehead suddenly cracked into several small cracks, revealing a golden light underneath. Bai Di subconsciously reached out to touch it, but was burned and retracted his fingers.
"I don't dare to see you..." Lou Xun's voice suddenly became unusually old, "Because I can't tell which memories are real... I'm afraid I will hurt you..."
His scales began to wriggle irregularly, sometimes tightening and sometimes relaxing, as if struggling with some force within his body.
Bai Di noticed that his brother's left eye had completely turned pure gold, while his right eye still retained its human appearance.
"That day at the funeral hall..."
Lou Xun suddenly started coughing violently, and a few drops of golden liquid splashed onto the ground, corroding small pits.
"I was about to execute the purge plan... but the moment I saw you... my memory changed again..."
Bai Di felt a chill. He thought of the bronze chain wrapped around Lou Xun's waist that day, and now he understood that it was not only a bondage, but also a form of self-punishment.
"Brother..."
Bai Di tentatively placed his hand on Lou Xun's chest. The scales there were surprisingly soft.
"Do you remember teaching me target shooting? That day you..."
"I hit the ten rings with my left hand."
Lou Xun suddenly took over, his voice suddenly became clear,
"Because I just had mechanical reconstruction surgery on my right shoulder..."
His eyes briefly regained clarity.
"These memories...are they real?"
Outside the spire, the storm grew more and more violent.
It was surprisingly quiet inside the cocoon formed by black scales, with only the intertwined breathing sounds of the two people.
Bai Di felt that Lou Xun's heartbeat gradually stabilized, and the restless scales also calmed down.
"No matter how many memories you have..." Bai Di looked directly into his brother's eyes, "The one holding me now is my big brother."
Lou Xun's pupils suddenly contracted, and a drop of golden tear ran across the scales.
He opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a sudden pang of pain.
All the black scales suddenly stood up, his body arched in pain, and an inhuman roar came from his throat.
"Go!"
Lou Xun shouted with his last human voice,
"It's about to fully awaken!"
"He is uncontrollable."
But Bai Di hugged him even tighter and whispered something into his brother's ear.
This sentence froze all the rioting black scales in an instant, and Lou Xun's expression was frozen between shock and realization.
The spire began to crumble, but the cocoon of black scales glowed with a warm golden light.
In this light, two figures can be vaguely seen hugging each other tightly, and the shadows under their feet are slowly merging into a complete form.
"Brother..."
"Don't move." Lou Xun's canine teeth brushed against his earlobe, but his voice was so gentle that it was heartbreaking.
Bai Di was stunned.
A scene suddenly appeared in front of his eyes.
What surprised him was that among all these fragments of memory, the iceberg always stood on the horizon, silently witnessing the cycle of civilization.
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