Book Synopsis
Book Tags
Donation Rankings
Comment
0 Comments
You May Also Like
墨書 Inktalez
Xiao Guolin seemed puzzled as he looked at me. After a moment, he said, "I haven't deliberately hidden anything. I don't know more about this place than you do. I'm just guessing. I only realized that the Cave Wall was covered in vents while chasing something earlier."
"Something?" My face paled further, and an uncontrollable fear surfaced in my heart and on my face. The casual mention of "something" by Xiao Guolin only confirmed his danger and untrustworthiness.
Xiao Guolin's expression began to twist, and I couldn't decipher what it meant. The expression on his severely corroded facial skin appeared terrifying to me.
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then sighed as he exhaled. I could sense that he regretted letting that slip.
"Old Xiao, how can I trust you? You've hidden too much from me, even who you are!"
My words caused Xiao Guolin to suddenly open his eyes wide. There was a look of relief in them.
"You... have discovered it."
Xiao Guolin murmured to himself, raising his unbound left arm with great difficulty and stretching out his fingers, staring blankly at his open palm.
This simple action made sweat bead on his forehead instantly. In truth, the injury to his left arm had already made any slight movement of his hand unbearable; even moving a finger would cause him intense pain.
I didn’t answer his question but instead said, "Do you know? Xiao Ting has long discovered this secret. But she insisted on coming to rescue you herself. However, she should be rescuing her father, Xiao Guolin. I believe you don’t want to disappoint her. I can see that no matter who you are, you have genuine feelings for her. You don’t want to let her down, do you? Don’t you want to help her?"
As soon as I finished speaking, I regretted it. What I regretted was my closing statement.
I had prepared for this conversation for quite some time. From the moment I realized this Xiao Guolin was not the same as the other Xiao Guolin, I had been getting ready. I didn’t expect that at such a critical moment, I would make a grammatical error.
Upon reflection, I believed that my lack of psychological resilience was the main reason. Facing someone like Xiao Guolin, who possessed extraordinary abilities and was inhuman, had already made me timid before the battle began. The immense psychological pressure he exerted turned what should have been a definitive statement into a question.
What I had originally intended to say was: You must want to help her.
"When did you find out? Or did you already know about this? Did Xiao Ting tell you? She must have noticed my changes. Yes, someone who has been with her for decades would notice even the slightest shift." Xiao Guolin stared intently at his left hand while asking and answering himself.
"No, at least Xiao Ting didn't make it clear." There was no need for me to lie about this. "I realized you weren't Xiao Guolin when I saw you grab the injured person; Xiao Guolin is not Left-Handed."
"Do you know who was most shocked by this?" Xiao Guolin shifted his gaze from his palm back to me. "It was me!"
The two words were pronounced particularly low, as if they were not coming from his throat but rather from deep within his chest or abdomen.
“Giggling,” Xiao Guolin's voice emitted a strange laugh, but to me, it sounded more like a bitter smile. “The last time I came out of the Underground Passage alive, I was in the same hospital as Old Cao. Back then, I hadn’t realized I was different; I still thought I was Xiao Guolin.
However, as time passed, many abnormal phenomena began to manifest. Becoming left-handed was just one of them. More seriously, my brain had completely reversed the concepts of left and right. I would involuntarily consider my dominant hand to be my right hand, and my understanding of left and right was opposite to everyone else's.
When I discovered this, I was shocked, but realizing the reasons behind it and its potential dangers made me feel utterly miserable and horrified. Soon after, nightmares began to plague me—an ominous shadow kept calling me in my dreams, urging me to return here and bring along…”
At this point, Xiao Guolin paused, staring directly at me.
“That piece of iron!” I almost blurted out those three words, but then I thought again. If that piece of iron had already been taken down by Song Guilong, no matter who the shadow in his dreams was, it wouldn’t compel him to undertake such a futile task.
However, when another thought crossed my mind, cold sweat broke out all over me. My heart turned icy, as if the blood in my veins had chilled in that instant.
“The Antimatter Bomb! Right? You wanted me to bring it down not to destroy this place but to fulfill your mission!”
Suddenly, my mind began to clear. Some previous clues connected at that moment. The first thing that came to mind was something Jack had told me about—the Antimatter Bomb explosion test they conducted in the Nevada Desert.
That time, their experiment failed but inadvertently revealed the true purpose of the Yadan Landform Group.
Due to an unexpected incident during that test and because they lacked an object capable of containing super-strong energy—namely that piece of iron—not only was the Yadan Landform Group model completely destroyed, but even the Large Hadron Collider deep underground suffered damage.
Were they trying to lure me into bringing the Antimatter Bomb down here for energy? It seemed highly likely.
Shock, fear, and the humiliation of being deceived twisted my facial expression uncontrollably. Yet facing me, Xiao Guolin appeared unaffected, still looking at me with a calmness that bordered on cruelty. He softly uttered a single word: “No.”
Xiao Guolin gently shook his head. “It’s you. They want you.”
I couldn’t believe those words. I couldn’t imagine what use I would be to them. Did they lack manpower? Fatty would be more qualified; he was better suited for physical labor than I was.
“I suppressed and resisted the commands given to me by the figure in my dreams. The process was painful; it felt like a rebellion against my very soul. During that time, I was on the brink of collapse; my mind was crumbling.” Xiao Guolin ignored my expression and continued narrating his story as if talking to himself.
“I got through it. I didn’t break down; at that moment, I regained confidence that I was indeed Xiao Guolin. But I couldn’t escape from the dream figure; I continued receiving messages from him. I’ve left those messages for you; I hope they will help you—at least help you find me. Because I can only rely on those messages to search for the core area here: the Eternal Gate.”
“Are you sure the figure providing you with information in your dreams isn’t Song Guilong?”
"Yes. Without a doubt. I am certain now."
"Then who is he?"
Xiao Guolin shook his head firmly, remaining silent.
"Where is the real Xiao Guolin?"
Xiao Guolin looked down at his left hand and said, "I am."
My twisted expression darkened. It seemed I wouldn't be able to get the information I wanted from him; he was tougher than I had imagined.
"Are you planning to shoot me?" Xiao Guolin raised his head, his tone playful.
(To Be Continued)
Comment 0 Comment Count