Chapter 101 Yin Peach Blossom (31) "Will you wish to die to me...?"
Xie Tan finally understood what "unpredictable" and "impermanent" meant.
When praying to God, the mirror is empty, devoid of consciousness.
When God was no longer needed, God was finally born.
To merge the people with the mirror, they created a god, but the consciousness that was born had no origin; it came from the mirror itself.
The impetus for their birth was actually that they were hopeless and completely alienated from the existence of the Smoke Mirror.
Every step was unexpected by the black goat.
This is... a smoke mirror.
A deity symbolizing night and fate.
And it was precisely Xiao Liu who, by a twist of fate, became His "nurturer".
But is that all? Was Xiao Liu the last one chosen? Were there other reasons?
Fate. The word the wizard Qi Shiheng gave him was "determined course," and he also arrived in this past through a series of coincidences... Could there be some connection between these events?
Not long after the voice in the mirror faded, and as his thought also faded, Xie Tan suddenly froze.
He felt like he was locked in.
It's like driving through a deserted area, observing wild beasts from afar, and in the instant the beasts look over, you simultaneously discover that your car has broken down.
In his hallucination, he traversed the gathering place of the black goats. This secret chamber was the largest space, with a huge mirror covering an entire wall and feathers at the four corners. Standing before them, looking at it was like standing on a rooftop gazing at the night sky, being looked down upon and enveloped by endless darkness.
But Xie Tan felt it was much larger than that, and perhaps even extended to other places.
For the first time, he had the thought that there was nowhere to escape.
The mirror was still pitch black, but he knew that the god in the mirror was staring at him.
Black smoke emerged seductively from the mirror, like a pair of sinister hands reaching out to Xie Tan, coldly caressing him.
Xie Tan, on the contrary, breathed a subtle sigh of relief—this didn't seem like Lu Jinzhao at all.
The next second, a wisp of black smoke hooked around his waist and gently pulled him forward. A voice filled with a thousand emotions whispered in his ear, asking with a smile, "Who are you thinking about?"
The subtle barrier between Xie Tan and Xiao Liu dissolved, and Xiao Liu immediately turned around, her eyes widening slightly. But she tried to remain calm and asked, "You don't intend to kill me?"
The voice of God rang out again from the mirror closest to Xiao Liu. This time, the mocker had less of that playful and amused tone, and was closer to God's ruthless nature: "Will you wish to die?"
Xie Tan trembled slightly.
The black mist that had been binding him had not receded, and the voice was still ringing in his ears. In that instant, he wondered, was it being asked of Xiao Liu, or was it being spoken to him?
The black mist, like His hand, reached into his heart, casually tapping and questioning his deepest desires.
He had a strange intuition that this might be the closest he had ever come to real death... utter death.
His desire to die is no secret; no one who meets him can utter the nonsense that he loves life.
But Xie Tan also knew that this could not be his current wish.
He still had unfinished business, those were his own words, he had grudges to settle and debts to repay, like a curse he had placed on himself.
Therefore, now is not the time to be free.
Xiao Liu was right in front of him.
Even though he knew that he had arrived here by accident, she was right in front of him, how could he do nothing?
So Xie Tan remained silent before the god who was good at tempting people, and did not say a word.
Xiao Liu, of course, did not agree. She raised her hand and said enthusiastically, "No, my wish has not changed. Will you let me go?"
She cleverly changed her wording.
However, in the face of the ever-changing smoke mirror, there's no way to play any tricks; it's more like a fawning attempt to please.
The god in the smoky mirror chuckled, seemingly a little regretful, but the last syllable was drawn out, carrying a hint of coquetry, even more authentic than Xiao Liu's. Finally, he vanished into nothingness.
Xiao Liu grasped Xie Tan's hand again. This time, she looked up and saw him. She gave a small smile, as if to comfort him.
Xie Tan held her hand and led her away from there.
When he arrived, every road was filled with illusions, and it was "bustling and lively." Now it has returned to being deserted and even deathly quiet.
But it was still all blood and corpses.
Beyond the hallucination, something real has happened.
This time, it was truly a journey without a single living person, not even ghosts or monsters; the monsters became part of the blood and corpses.
Having followed the illusion many times, he knew that the exits Xiao Liu found were all wrong and would never be right, because the entrances and exits here changed at any time. One reason was to hide the existence of this place so that outsiders could not find it, and the other was not to guard against them, as they did not need to be so vigilant. It was to prevent the ghosts and monsters kept by the family from escaping.
When members of the tribe go out, the lit oil lamps guide their way, and the hair knots serve as their passes.
No one lit an oil lamp for them to leave this place, so they had to find it themselves.
The entire family is naturally ruled by the patriarch, whose location is beneath the secret chamber of the Smoke Mirror.
Xie Tan only passed through this place in the illusion, but did not go in.
They couldn't get in either; they were too busy hiding. They heard that the place where the patriarch lived was even more difficult to access than the Smoke Mirror. It wasn't as simple as just opening the door to enter the patriarch's room; there were multiple doors and numerous ghosts acting as obstacles. The time they tried to enter was the time they died the fastest.
But he made a point of memorizing the way there.
But now, when they reached the first door, all their worries were in vain. All the doors were ineffective, and the ghosts and monsters vanished into thin air, allowing them to pass through unimpeded.
They walked through the dark corridors to the depths, where they found a palace-like space with a pool built against the wall on the same side as the smoke mirror.
“…Patriarch!” Xiao Liu exclaimed. She had seen him once from afar and recognized him.
The current head of the family drowned in the pond, lying face down at the bottom, indicating that he had just died. His expensive robe embroidered with incantations floated in the water, a few bubbles came out of his mouth and nose, his eyes were empty, and his pupils were dilated.
It's no different from an ordinary person drowning.
The dignified head of the Black Goat family, just like that, died? Or did he drown in his own house, in the pool inside his own house?
This is where the current head of the Black Goat family hides during normal times—the family's sacred water.
But the water is still crystal clear, and the bottom of the pool is covered with many golden talismans. The hair of the Black Goat Tribe members is intertwined and spread into a net on the bottom of the pool, absorbing those blessings.
At this time, it must truly be "holy water," protecting the people.
But when the Smoke Mirror became a god, it could no longer protect the patriarch's body, which ended up on top of it.
Unlike in comics, it's not like a reflective mirror that changes texture and color with the angle, like water formed from smoke.
Xie Tan stood by the pond, lowering his eyes to watch the occasional ripples on the water's surface.
The water is different at different stages.
If we were to use Chekhov's gun, what kind of water should we use as a depressant?
Xiao Liu held the oil lamp and circled it over the waves, and a new light appeared. The one that stirred the ripples was a strand of her hair underwater.
Following the light, they witnessed more deaths of their clansmen. Being killed by ghosts was considered the most dignified way to die. Some were killed by bricks and stones shaken down by the smoke mirror's riot, others were accidentally killed by their companions while resisting ghosts, and still others died because something went wrong and caused the talisman array to explode. The most outrageous case was that Xie Tan actually saw someone choke to death while eating. The deaths were bizarre and varied... all seemingly due to unfortunate accidents at that moment.
It was all an accident, can it still be called an accident?
Xiao Liu suddenly stopped and looked to her side; the hem of her skirt had been grabbed.
Xie Tan looked down and saw a member of his tribe whose legs had been bitten off by a ghost, and who was bleeding to death.
They heard the last murmurs of their tribesman, filled with fear and hatred, uttering incoherent nonsense.
"Smoke Mirror... God... That god has descended... Isn't that... That wizard is a jinx, a jinx!"
Xie Tan stared at him coldly, remaining silent. Xiao Liu asked, "What did the wizard say?"
"She brought a word... a verdict that surprised everyone..."
Xiao Liu was a little scared, so Xie Tan held her shoulder and led her behind him. She peeked out and asked, "Whose judgment is it?"
"It's not for... for anyone... it's for 'the end of the world'... the end of the world... hahahahaha! This is basically... for the world..."
The last two words of the "judgment" were left unsaid before the clansman breathed his last.
Doomsday. Xiao Liu was stunned. This word had just appeared not long ago... and it came from her mouth. She suddenly felt uneasy.
But Xie Tan only gently stroked her head, still looking indifferent, and didn't take the words of his clansmen to heart. He led her to continue walking the rest of the way.
Pushing open the stone door at the brightest spot, they finally emerged from the Black Goat.
It turns out that this is in a mountain, where a group of goats have built a dark den.
He's quite familiar with this mountain.
Four Seasons Mountain.
No wonder there's a small shrine with memorial tablets for the Black Goat tribe at the foot of the mountain.
After walking along the mountain road for a while, you will reach the Reincarnation Highway. It is still dark outside, but you can't see the moon or stars.
His phone had no internet, and time was disrupted at the moment of time travel. He could only read comics on the app and use offline saves, and he had no idea what day or time it was.
"Ah, there's so much to see..." Xiao Liu found everything fascinating. She could never tire of just the pitch-black night sky, her little head bobbing back and forth, her mouth slightly open. Not to mention the lush green mountains, the drifting clouds, and the birds...
A flock of migratory birds flew by rapidly, rounded a corner of the mountainside, and instantly broke apart into chaos, almost knocking Xiao Liu, who was looking closely, off the cliff.
Xie Tan caught her steadily and watched the birds fly away.
Xiao Liu stretched out his limbs on his arm, mimicking the fluttering of birds, and asked with some concern, "What's wrong with them?"
She looked down again: "It's so high, should we go down?"
"My legs are going to break," Xie Tan thought to himself. "It's impossible to walk like that."
The long slope at Di Da was already his limit.
Ah, updated version, observation two is his limit at the top of the small mountain.
Observation 2: That's a small hill, a small hill. Can it compare to Four Seasons Mountain?
Moreover, the state of those birds... was like a warning before a major disaster.
Xie Tan looked towards a higher point on the mountain.
By this time, the Black Goat and the Xia family were already entangled.
"No, we're going up the mountain."
So, under the cover of night, the Summer Garden, which was not yet a sprawling complex of buildings like in the future, welcomed a little guest.
Her small body was hidden beneath a black robe, her white dress splattered with blood. She raised her head, her beautiful face devoid of a smile.
She held up the Black Goat family's oil lamp, the dim light unable to illuminate her eyes, which blended into the night like lifeless, eerie dolls.
She said, "Good evening."
The young butler, who rushed over upon hearing the noise, was startled and shuddered. When he saw the oil lamp, he quickly dismissed the security guards and arranged for the nanny to change the distinguished guest's clothes and tidy his appearance, while he went to inform the master.
Xiao Liu nodded arrogantly and followed, but felt relaxed. He winked at Xie Tan beside him, as if to say, "You've learned it well, haven't you?"
Learning from Xiao Qi is indeed super useful! She feels that she is now unfathomable, like a hermit master living in seclusion in the mountains.
Xie Tan smiled, taking it as her acknowledgment of his role; the popular character development plan hadn't been implemented in vain.
They passed through the hall; the old clock showed it was just past midnight.
After she finished tidying up the guest room, the butler knocked on the door again and said respectfully, "We are in a very difficult situation right now, so please forgive us for not being able to entertain you properly. The master would like to invite Miss Su to have lunch together."
Xie Tan's eyes flickered.
Lunch?
He suddenly realized that the clock showed noon, not midnight.
He looked out the window at the vast darkness of the night.
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