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墨書 Inktalez
"What happened?" I looked at Ren Pingsheng's expression and sensed that something serious was amiss. This was a person who could joke even in the face of calamity, yet now he seemed so heavy-hearted.
Standing beside Ren Pingsheng, I could clearly feel the rapid shifts in his emotions.
At first, there was surprise, which quickly turned into shock. After the shock, his heart became chaotic, and then suddenly morphed into a deep sadness, almost despair.
"What are you..."
Before I could finish my sentence, Ren Pingsheng swiftly embraced me and covered my mouth. In an instant, his long scythe silently transformed back into a curved blade and was sheathed at his waist.
He pulled me to a corner of the stone chamber and activated a rather inconspicuous mechanism. The wall suddenly opened a crack, and he led me inside before pressing the mechanism again to close the door.
It turned out to be a bedroom, fully furnished. There were no candles lit, but three enormous luminous pearls illuminated the room as bright as day. I had only seen such things in martial arts stories; I never expected them to be real—how astonishing!
However, there was no time for me to marvel at such wonders. Once inside, Ren Pingsheng pulled me tightly into his embrace, pressing his face close to my ear.
"What are you doing?! You pervert!" I wanted to shout angrily, but to my surprise, no sound came out. I tried to move my fingers, but they were completely still.
I felt a wave of frustration wash over me. How many times had I been affected by this drug from Ren Pingsheng? If he kept dragging me around like this, showing up every now and then with this kind of behavior, I would surely end up brain-dead.
But when Ren Pingsheng finally spoke, all my thoughts of cursing him vanished. I was so astonished that I forgot about being angry.
Ren Pingsheng wasn't speaking in a normal way; every word he uttered became extraordinarily clear, as if they transformed into tiny ants marching in a line, one by one crawling into my ears.
Was this him using internal energy to turn his voice into something only I could hear? Could this be what they call "whispering secrets"?
Listening to this was quite exhausting. What on earth did Ren Pingsheng intend to do?
"A Ying," he said, "I will seal your energy points and erase your presence to ensure you remain undetected. No matter what you see or hear later, you must control your emotions and avoid any fluctuations to prevent giving us away."
Ren Pingsheng lifted his head, gazing at me from a very close distance. It was only then that I noticed how long and slightly curled his eyelashes were, which seemed so out of place with his bloody aura.
He reached out, gently caressing my face with his extraordinarily beautiful fingers.
"Too short, Ah Ying. What a pity, too short..."
What was he referring to? Too short—what did that mean?
But I had no time to ponder, as Ren Pingsheng suddenly lowered his head and kissed my lips.
I was taken aback, but the drug had left me paralyzed; I couldn't even muster a surprised expression. My heart raced with anxiety. Was he really scaring me just to take advantage of me at this moment?
But that didn’t seem like him. Ren Pingsheng had captured me for several months; if he wanted to take advantage of me, he could have done so long ago without choosing such a gruesome and unpoetic location. What on earth was going on?!
Ren Pingsheng kissed me passionately, as if he wanted to remember something forever, until my face turned red.
The kiss was fervent but didn’t last long. He released me and continued whispering in my ear, "Don't be foolish. When that person arrives, no matter what kind of history you have with him, don’t believe that he will treat you sincerely."
What do you want?! The Ren Pingsheng before me suddenly reminded me of my autumn. When he spoke, the logic in his words jumped around quickly, making one want to hit him. But after spending time with him, I realized this was a manifestation of his high intelligence quotient; he always picked the most important points within a limited time, and those unspoken things would soon reveal themselves as events unfolded.
Ren Pingsheng held me tightly; I felt a moment of hesitation from him, but he ultimately made up his mind.
"Ah Ying, we’ve been together for several months now. I understand what you’re thinking. If Xuanwu dies, you won’t live alone either; I know that’s true. I originally wanted to keep you by my side to ensure you wouldn’t harm yourself, but now I can’t do that. If I’m not watching over you and can’t find Xuanwu..."
What was wrong with him? Why was he bringing up Nie Qiuyuan? Could it be that the recent killings had triggered some internal injury? Was his time running out? Hey, why didn’t I feel happy about this at all? Ren Pingsheng, I don’t want you to die anymore! So please take care of yourself; you don’t look like someone who’s dying—don’t give up on treatment!
"Ah Ying, listen carefully. When we fell off the cliff together, I saw very clearly that Xuanwu did not die. But he was injured far worse than I was because what happened with the Ghost Fire Five Poisons Curse is real. After reaching the bottom of the cliff, we each sought our own paths for survival. It wasn’t until just before I met you that I barely regained my ability to move. So if Xuanwu hasn’t shown up yet, it’s possible he still can’t move freely."
Every word from Ren Pingsheng struck my heart like a heavy hammer.
I knew it! I knew he wouldn’t die! I had been hoping for every word from Ren Pingsheng, yet he just wouldn’t say it. Why is he finally willing to speak to me now? I guessed it would be like this; the answer was exactly what I had thought all along, and I had always believed it!
However, the situation today seemed quite dire. A voice deep within me whispered, “What if something has happened to Ren Pingsheng, and he can no longer take me with him? What if he’s just making up words to give me hope, deceiving me?”
It seemed as if Ren Pingsheng could see through my thoughts as he continued to speak in my ear, “If I were to deceive you with these words, it would bring me no benefit. I do nothing that offers no advantage. Therefore, what I say is true; if it were false, I would pay for it with my life.”
As he spoke, I felt an overwhelming sense of oppression enveloping me, pouring in from my limbs and bones, making me feel incredibly uncomfortable. Ren Pingsheng swayed a few times, seemingly struggling to suppress a mouthful of blood that threatened to surge forth.
“I have sealed your acupoints,” he said. “Remember, as long as the green hills remain, one need not worry about firewood. The medicine in your body will dissolve in two hours. Ah Ying, you are free.”
With that, Ren Pingsheng picked me up and tucked me into a crevice beneath the bed in the stone chamber.
What on earth is happening? My heart raced with anxiety, yet I felt utterly helpless; my body was immobile, leaving me at the mercy of others. After hiding me under the bed, Ren Pingsheng used a partition to shield me from view. The only stroke of luck was that there was a carved design on the bedboard above me; through the hollowed-out area, I could vaguely see what was happening outside.
Once he had concealed me well, Ren Pingsheng stood upright and adjusted his breathing. I sensed a hint of tension in him, but more than that, it seemed like disappointment.
In less than three minutes, an unexpectedly hoarse voice came from outside. It softly uttered a sound of surprise before calling through the stone door, “Pingsheng, is that you?”
Ren Pingsheng’s body trembled; it seemed he had lost his last glimmer of hope. His expression became even calmer as he stood there without moving or responding.
The voice outside continued, “Pingsheng, do you think that without poison I wouldn’t recognize you? Silly child! With just a single knife down there, you’ve killed four hundred fifty people so skillfully; even I can count that. Pingsheng, we are father and son; how could a father not understand his own son?”
Hearing the word "father" struck my heart like a hammer. So the person outside was Rong Fu, the leader of Mirror Gate? Did Ren Pingsheng do all this because he realized who had come?
Was he trying to… protect me?
After experiencing this massacre today, I finally understood something: why Ren Pingsheng had once joyfully told me, “I am free! Truly free!” Perhaps his first taste of freedom was escaping from this underground place. But after getting out, he fell into the hands of Mirror Gate and gradually realized that he was still not in control of his own fate; he had merely escaped from one dark prison only to be shackled by another invisible chain.
So when everyone believed Ren Pingsheng had died atop Baiyun Peak and his name was crossed out with red ink by Mirror Gate, only then could he truly live freely. For someone who cherished freedom above all else like him, nothing could be more precious than this. So now that he had just gained his freedom, would he have to hand it over again? What must he be feeling at this moment?
Actually, there was time just now. If it were only him alone, with his intelligence and martial skills, he would definitely have had a chance to avoid Rong Fu and escape successfully. But if he brought me along, that would be impossible. So, he chose to sacrifice me in exchange for his own freedom.
Ren Pingsheng, are you foolish? Why did you have to do this? You won't earn my gratitude by doing this! No... I won't be grateful!
I suddenly felt like crying, but my tear ducts were paralyzed, and I couldn't shed a single tear.
The voice outside continued, "Although you have been gone for so long, your father has always believed that you are still alive. But my dear, your father is very troubled and very sad..."
Even though I had deduced that Rong Fu was the Fu Zhifeng we knew, the voice outside didn't sound anything like him. Nevertheless, I trusted my judgment; he was indeed Fu Zhifeng.
Rong Fu said, "Pingsheng, why aren't you speaking? If you don't come out, your father will come in."
With a determined bite of his teeth, Ren Pingsheng pulled his sleeve and turned the Motive mechanism. The stone door creaked open slowly. As the door opened, my vision blurred for a moment, and then I heard Ren Pingsheng let out a muffled groan.
When I focused my eyes again, I was shocked to find that another person had appeared in the stone chamber. The person was dressed in gray clothes and wore a headscarf and mask, pressing very closely against Ren Pingsheng.
In that person's hand was a sharp dagger, its blade deeply embedded in Ren Pingsheng's left shoulder. Blood gushed from the wound, instantly staining Ren Pingsheng's newly changed Long Robe red.
"Pingsheng, your father is very sad... and also very angry! Why won't you come back?!"
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