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墨書 Inktalez
My hair stood on end, and my heart raced wildly in my chest. A flurry of chaotic thoughts flashed through my mind, almost overwhelming me. This was completely unexpected. Could it be that the shadow that nearly choked the life out of me a few times was actually me? No, that couldn't be... But he was right in front of me, in my palm, visible and tangible. Suddenly, a terrifying thought crossed my mind: could it be that there are truly two of me in this world, both the shadow Qian Yi and Xia Zi Qian Yi? Damn, could he be an illegitimate child of my father?
In that brief moment of distraction, I felt a sharp pain in my left side. Looking down, I saw that Xia Zi Qian Yi had actually stabbed me with my own staff. Fortunately, his aim was poor due to his blindness; he only managed to slice through the skin, causing a bit of blood to flow without hitting anything vital.
However, while I was checking my wound, he had already rolled away. The people around him saw him covered in blood and blind, wielding a Mitsubishi Sword, and they instinctively stepped back in fear, making way for him. At that moment, my junior brother and A Li heard the commotion and rushed out from the car just as they collided with Xia Zi Qian Yi. It struck me then that not only did he look exactly like me, but even his clothes were high-quality replicas.
A sense of foreboding surged within me; things were clearly more complicated than I had imagined. The situation had evidently spiraled beyond the Dead Loop into something more intricate—if I couldn't prove that I was the real Qian Yi, would I be forever replaced by him? And what about me? Who was I, and where would I go? Just thinking about it was terrifying.
Moreover, the most crucial and confusing aspect of all this was whether everything happening was a dream or an illusion. If it were the former, whose dream was it? Only by identifying the dreamer and "killing" him could I break free from this dream and return to reality. But if it were the latter, things could get troublesome; in an illusion, what people see—including other people—can be both real and fake. Some things might be conjured from thin air while others are based on real prototypes but altered either actively or passively. The former might be manageable, but if I inadvertently harmed one of the latter in real life, it would undoubtedly lead to irreversible damage.
Though I didn't yet understand what caused this phenomenon, whether it was a dream or an illusion, many had been trapped here for a lifetime without escape. In the end, they either drove themselves mad or turned on each other; the outcome was always tragic.
I had intended to remain still until I figured out which situation we were facing. Peace among us seemed paramount—after all, we shared the same world and dreams. However, someone couldn't contain themselves any longer.
Xia Zi Qian Yi collapsed between my junior brother and A Li, immediately eliciting a scream from A Li. I vaguely heard his weak voice: "He... he's going to kill me! And Old Qiao! Quick! Save Old Qiao!"
Wow, this guy is playing the victim card with all his might! If we're going to put on a show, we might as well go all out; otherwise, it would seem disrespectful to our opponent and unfair to the audience watching us. Before A Li and my junior brother could look over at me again, I quickly tore open my shirt at the wound and smeared some blood on my face.
However, the situation remained highly unfavorable for me. From A Li's gaze—more suspicious than surprised—and her body language leaning slightly toward Xia Zi Qian Yi, it was clear she sympathized with the weaker party. She seemed more inclined to believe the blind man resting his head on her shoulder than me, who appeared perfectly fine.
It seemed that in this life-and-death moment, women were indeed unreliable; I had to rely on my brothers instead. With renewed confidence, I walked over to my junior brother and patted him on the shoulder: "Don't listen to him; I'm the real Qian Yi."
He shrugged off my hand and shot me a sideways glance. "Don't try to get close, I’m not falling for that! Unless… you tell me the password to the bank card in the safe, then I might believe you’re my dear Brother."
I immediately understood what my junior brother meant. This was something only the two of us knew. When we were under the Qinling Tree Well, I thought I was going to die and was ready to reveal my secret stash that I had saved for over a decade. However, the situation at that time was complicated, and ultimately, I didn’t get to tell him. Ever since then, he had been fixated on it.
Now that he brought it up again, on one hand, he wanted to test my identity; on the other hand, there was a hint of opportunism in his tone. However, I couldn’t tell if he had intentionally set a trap or if he simply had a bad memory and got the location of the bank card wrong. Given how special this situation was, I had to be cautious. Since Qian Yi could impersonate someone, who could guarantee that this junior brother in front of me was real? I decided to test him first: "Jin Wan, do you want the coffin board?"
This was our code among Errand Runners; A Li had used it back at Emerald Villa. It meant: "There are two bank cards; which one do you want?"
My junior brother froze for a moment. "You’re the one who wants the coffin board! Two cards? You actually have two? I want them both!"
Hearing this, I nearly spat blood. Even in this virtual world, he still acted like this—truly a dog that couldn’t change its nature!
Suddenly, it struck me—dogs can’t change their nature; it’s instinct! As the saying goes, "The mountains may change but human nature remains." A person's true nature is hard to change and even harder to imitate; thus, a fake can never become real, and something real can never become fake. This junior brother in front of me must be genuine.
Xia Zi Qian Yi panicked upon hearing this, fearing I would seize the opportunity. He quickly said, "Don’t waste time; let’s get to it!" The implication was clear: "Stop talking nonsense and kill him!" As soon as he finished speaking, he clutched his chest and coughed up blood, looking extremely weak with a pale face—oh dear, truly pitiful.
To my surprise, Xia Zi not only could act but also understood our jargon; he was quite impressive. Habitually locking eyes with my junior brother, I suddenly realized that my own suspicion hadn’t been cleared yet. My junior brother definitely wouldn’t respond to me. Just as I thought this, he raised an eyebrow at me and in a flash pushed Xia Zi Qian Yi toward A Li while drawing out Ze Zhang and swinging it toward me. "At your command, Brother!"
I was taken aback for a moment but quickly understood what my junior brother was up to while cursing his ancestors in my mind. Without any weapons on hand and with his strike coming at me fiercely and swiftly, I instinctively retreated several steps. Yet I still found myself within the range of Ze Zhang’s attack. Moreover, I had witnessed its power before; the Lotus Head Silk within its staff was endless. Even if I retreated ten paces away, it wouldn’t help.
As I saw the Eight-Clawed Lotus Head flying toward me with no way left to escape and knowing that dodging wouldn’t work indefinitely—I could evade once or twice but not a third time—in desperation, I grabbed something above my head for protection. To my misfortune, it turned out to be a stinky shoe from a big guy behind me. With a swift motion, it was sliced in half by the Lotus Head Silk. In an instant, an overwhelming stench surged into my nostrils like a smoke bomb exploding; being closest to my junior brother made me the first target of this assault—tears streamed down my face as the smell jolted me awake.
"Damn it! Attack with poison!" My junior brother pinched his nose and executed a spinning kick while sending that half shoe flying like a biochemical bomb straight into Xia Zi Qian Yi's forehead.
I couldn't help but shout, "Well done! Let's have another one!" I kicked the half shoe that had fallen on the ground to my junior, who responded with a swift spinning kick, scoring again.
Xia Zi Qian Yi had taken two hits from us; whether he was a donkey or a horse was obvious, yet he still wanted to make one last struggle. "Wait, I'm your Senior Brother, Qian Yi! A Li, you have to believe me!"
A Li stepped back a bit, distancing herself from Xia Zi Qian Yi. With her arms crossed, she casually replied, "I was going to believe you. If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being too eager to eliminate your rivals, which only exposed your true intentions."
Xia Zi Qian Yi exclaimed in desperation, "He was trying to harm me! I only acted out of self-defense; what's wrong with that?"
"No, no, no, that's not the issue here," my junior said while fiddling with Ze Zhang. "Do you know what 'a ball hitting a watermelon' means when put together? Forget it; I'll just tell you directly. In the Old School lingo, it means 'kill him.' But in our New School... well, I'm almost embarrassed to say..." At that moment, my junior playfully bumped his shoulder against mine, sending chills down my spine.
"What does it really mean?" asked an older gentleman nearby who had been munching on sunflower seeds.
My junior and I exchanged glances and couldn't help but blush... Just then, a sudden scream from A Li broke the moment. We looked up and were astonished to find that everyone else in the carriage had vanished, leaving only my junior and me behind.
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