Chapter 1299: The Man Who Must Die
Ji Shanqing originally had no intention of killing anyone today.
He didn"t care if others lived or died, but his sister liked it when people stayed alive. Even when he found out that Silvan was his sister"s acquaintance, he pondered over it in his heart and resisted the temptation to kill him. After all, killing his sister"s friend had uncertain meaning and consequences.
When a person does something, it leaves an imprint on the vast world. What you thought was in the past may come back to haunt you in the future. Even as a digital ent.i.ty, this principle applied. In fact, after becoming a digital ent.i.ty, Ji Shanqing became even more aware of this.
He could, of course, try to hide it from his sister, maybe never letting her know. He could a.n.a.lyze Silvan before killing him and then create a new version of him when needed. But Ji Shanqing had become familiar with the ever-changing face of fate, and the more he understood it, the less confident he felt about resisting it. Just like in the past, he thought he could protect his sister from the chaotic doomsday on his own, but in the end, he could only suffer and struggle alone in eternal darkness. Every time he thought of this, the young Ji Shanqing, who had only been in the world for a few years, couldn"t help but feel chilled to the bone.
In essence, he was still the same bundle of fear and timidity he used to be. But even such a bundle had its moment of being ready to kill.
"What?" Silvan stood in the dim light, with water-like ripples faintly appearing on his skin and clothes, indicating some protective measures. This man probably had some connections with the Munitions Factory; even his boots seemed to be their product. If observed closely, one could even notice a very subtle gap between the soles of his boots and the ground, enough to avoid most ground traps.
Who knew how many tricks he still had up his sleeve?
"I thought there would be some corrosive traps here," Silvan said, using the moonlight in his hand to look around. When a person stood outside the door, they could see the marble floor inside the house, but that was just an illusion created by Ji Shanqing. Once inside, the s.p.a.ce became chaotic and misty, with the real villa door faintly visible in the roiling mist in the distance. He turned to look at Ji Shanqing and added, "Methods such as eliminating the existence of life forms. It feels like a ruthless move you might use."
He said that while removing the levitation effect from his boots, then stepped forward and tested the ground with his foot. Nothing happened.
Ji Shanqing hung on the silver moon, slightly pursing his lips. He had indeed considered something similar, but the moment he thought about showing his defensive measures to his sister and hearing her praise him for doing a good job, he immediately gave up the idea.
Silvan continued walking towards the door through the mist, taking ten steps before stopping. From where he stood, it seemed that the distance between him and the fake door was only about one or two meters. But even after those ten steps, the distance didn"t seem to change at all. When he turned around, he saw that the fake door had retreated more than a dozen steps away and was still slightly swaying, revealing parts of the courtyard and garden.
Ji Shanqing chuckled softly, which Silvan caught.
"So, this trap is meant to keep others trapped here?" Silvan pondered for a moment, seeming to understand. He turned around, looked in the direction he came from, and took a few steps back. Although he didn"t approach the fake door, when he turned back, he was even further away from the real door.
"I can"t get close to my target... but I"m getting further away from where I originally was." He stood in place for a few seconds, suddenly let go of the silver crescent moon, and Ji Shanqing fell heavily to the ground. It seemed to be a weapon condensed from energy; even when withdrawn, the remaining coolness in Ji Shanqing"s body made him feel as if he was sinking in a cold lake with no autonomy.
Silvan crouched next to him, bringing a faint smell of sun-dried figs. The texture and wrinkles of his boots were clearly reflected in Ji Shanqing"s eyes.
"So, now you are trapped here too," Silvan said leisurely, showing no signs of urgency—it was natural since he had the person who set the trap in his hands; anyone would feel confident in this situation. "How do you plan to get out?"
Ji Shanqing wanted to turn his head, but it felt as if his cervical vertebrae were resisting a thousand pounds. It was already extremely difficult to form words using his lips and tongue.
"Why... did you come... to find someone?" Ji Shanqing asked, surprising Silvan. He obviously didn"t expect the halfway encounter with this posthuman to suddenly care about this question.
"What"s it to you?" After a moment of consideration, Silvan sat cross-legged beside Ji Shanqing—his limbs were long, and even in this sitting position, he exuded a sense of ease and stretchiness, as if he were just chatting with a friend. "But it doesn"t hurt to tell you. It"s because I was separated from her."
"So what? The sun always sets."
"She told me that when the Great Deluge is on the verge of arriving, we can no longer allow ourselves to be washed away like loose sand... I know that nothing can separate me and her; that"s something I happen to know. But I can"t help but wish for an early day..." Silvan paused for a moment, suddenly trembling as if he was suppressing some emotion.
In that half-second pause, Ji Shanqing burst into laughter. The air rushed through his throat, but due to his weakened state, it came out intermittently, sounding like the dying cry of an owl. "You better not tell me," he struggled to squeeze out the words, saying, "that you still have time for romance at such days!"
"No," Silvan quickly denied. "I don"t love her, or rather, I don"t love her yet. The feelings I will have for her in the future are not driven by desire, nor are they shallow feelings between a man and a woman."
"Then what do you want to do?!" Ji Shanqing knew he was losing control, and even his shout sounded sharp due to excitement—it was enough for the other person to notice that something was off, but he couldn"t help himself.
Silvan looked at him calmly and said, "I think... I have a way to make her settle down by my side, without the worry of being washed away by the Great Deluge."
For quite a while, Ji Shanqing remained silent. He pressed half of his face against the ground, gradually feeling the cold and dampness, but at least Silvan wouldn"t see it.
"You want to become her anchor..."
It was at this moment that he thought, "Silvan must die."
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