Split Zone No.13

Volume 2

127 Guan Nie’s Injury

I looked up at Nie Zun’s sad and lonely eyes, shaking my head. My heart throbbed with pain, and a chill was invading my consciousness, but I kept thinking, No, Nie Zun, don’t turn into a monster again because of me...

The agony in Gaoqin Jiuye’s eyes slowly turned into anger, and he pulled me away from Nie Zun!

As I met his cold gaze, I saw a determined hatred in him. The corner of his lips was stained with blood, and his eyes were filled with a chilly menace. “Li Shen, didn’t you only have eyes for him? That man who looks exactly like me, Gao Qi. Your heart, your eyes, your soul, wouldn’t they all stay with him forever?

“You refused to leave even when he did those horrid things to you, and now you’re changing for Nie Zun?

“Just because you killed him?”

Gaoqin Jiuye fired these questions at me, befuddling me.

What... What did it mean by doing horrid things to me?

“You, how do you know all this...” I answered without realizing.

I saw Gaoqin Jiuye pursing his lips for the first time, and at this moment, the dark sky began to crumble. It felt like the apocalypse!

Nie Zun flitted to my side, grabbing my other hand!

Gaoqin Jiuye shot him a cold look! Following which, he seemed to be sucked into the black hole of Nie Zun’s eyes!

Gaoqin Jiuye looked like he was in anguish, and he tightened the grip on the hand that was grabbing me!

I kept my eyes on him. “Tell me, didn’t you say you didn’t know who Gao Qi was? Why did you bring me to the Split Zone? If you didn’t know him, how do you know what happened between us?”

Gaoqin Jiuye laughed out loud, to the point that he started to tear. “Li Shen, even if I didn’t bring you here, didn’t you still stab him?”

I was quite floored, but I smirked at him. “What has that got to do with you no matter how many times I stab him? Do you soul splitters all have doppelgangers in our world? A body double? Are you in a drama? Or, did this mean that you witnessed me stabbing him, but being in another world, there was nothing you can do?!”

I did not know why I said this. It was cruel, ruthless and it made no sense. I felt like there was something in me which was previously in a deep sleep, but it was beginning to gain awareness, and it was about to be revived.

Such revival was not a saving grace, it was not a rebirth. It was destruction.

“That’s right, I couldn’t stop him, and I couldn’t stop you!” Gaoqin Jiuye had a poignant smile. Though the word ‘poignant’ did not seem to suit him, it described him well at this moment.

He still looked pompous with that chiseled jaw, but his wounds coupled with that look of sorrow in his eyes made the picture heart-breaking. I subconsciously looked down at his bright yellow sneakers, which were now stained with blood. An indescribable emotion welled up in me.

I felt someone pulling on my arm painfully, and looking up, I saw Gaoqin Jiuye’s despondent gaze. “Didn’t you only love him?”

Before I could react, I felt something pulling on my other arm. It felt hesitant, as if it was afraid of hurting me. I looked up in that direction, and met Nie Zun’s quiet, lonely eyes. Those quiet eyes looked like they were trying to tell me so many things. Starlight shone in his eyes, and he held my arm in a tight grip.

“Tell me, didn’t you only love him?!” Gaoqin Jiuye pulled me back, forcing me to look right at him!

“Gaoqin Jiuye, what are you doing? Si Luo is still waiting for us!”

I heard Rong Jin’s helpless cries for Gaoqin Jiuye from behind. He dared not come any closer because of the realm of the eye. It was a realm of darkness, and as a shadow, he would only be swallowed into it!

As if suddenly woken from a dream, panic, surprise, pain and anxiety flashed past Gaoqin Jiuye’s eyes. It looked as if he was surprised that he would actually forget about Si Luo while talking to me. He looked like he was in a deep anguish, except I did not know what it is.

He then became enraged. He shouted, “Shen Qi!”

I was impaled by the jet black Shen Qi in an instant, and I could feel it trying to invade my consciousness!

“Ah!” I cried out in pain as I felt my soul being torn apart!

“Shen’er!” It was the first time I heard Nie Zun call out like this. It sounded like that voice within the illusion.

Crash!

As Nie Zun felt my consciousness starting to crumble, the realm of the eye started collapsing! The sky collapsed, and there was only infinite darkness.

There was no escape.

As I started losing grip on my awareness, I could see Nie Zun grabbing me by a hand, and that ring on his pinky finger in the other hand produced a streak of bright light. That light felt like a devil out to devour, and it was aimed right at Gaoqin Jiuye’s heart!

A feeling of uneasiness swept over me!

“No!”

I screamed this in my heart, but why did I hear a similar cry coming from somewhere far away?

A white figure rushed into this space. The figure had a head of long hair that swept the ground, and a look of worry and fear was etched in those upturned eyes!

It was Guan Nie!

He rushed in front of Gaoqin Jiuye to shield him!

Stab!

He was stabbed through the chest with a blood-red streak! The light from Nie Zun’s pinky ring skewered Guan Nie right through his heart!

Gaoqin Jiuye’s eyes opened wide as Guan Nie collapsed onto the ground gracefully! He lifted his fingers as he collapsed, and moving his lips, he applied an illusion!

Great waves appeared on the jet black ground! The force of these waves was tremendous! Nie Zun and I were swept into the waves, and we were sucked into the waters.

Although this was an illusion, I shivered as I was being immersed in the water. The only warmth came from Nie Zun’s hand, holding me tightly.

“Ugh...” I choked on the rolling waves and started to feel faint.

It felt like I kept sinking with Nie Zun, and the water pressure made it feel like I was already a few hundred meters under the sea. I tried to open my eyes, but there was nothing but a flashing light, and there was nothing I could hold on to.

Nie Zun’s hand suddenly let go, and I tried to move, searching around for him.

This water is really icy.

But it’s good that it can wash all the blood off me.

In my daze, I felt as if I have landed on the sea floor, as the waves seemed calmer now.

But that bone-chilling cold and pressure seemed to remain.

I wanted to look for Nie Zun and I tried hard to open my eyes, just a little.

Why did I feel so tired.

“Shen’er...”

I heard a voice from the bottom of the sea. Whose is this?

It sounds like the voice of a siren singing a beautiful song...

It did not belong to Nie Zun.

Whatever was restraining me seemed to let go now, and I paddled with my hands, trying to swim towards that call.

“Shen’er...”

“Shen’er!”

I heard Nie Zun’s voice out of nowhere. It was like a splash of cold water, waking me from my dream.

The instant I woke up, I became aware of the immense water pressure from all sides.

I saw Nie Zun’s hair floating in the water like dark seaweed. His eyes shone with a dazzling light, and he was swimming towards me. I wanted to reach out to him for an embrace.

His icy lips touched mine, as if he was giving me CPR.

Can souls actually suffocate?

A breath of cold air entered my body, and I desperately held on to this lifeline.

It was getting difficult to open my eyes in the water, but as I opened them, I met his starry eyes.

Brilliant fireworks went off in his eyes.

Crash!

The waves disappeared, and the darkness receded from my brain. It felt like we were about to go back to where we were.

We were back in front of the Western District Marketplace, and the black hole was gone. Guan Nie’s last minute illusion and the black hole seemed to have canceled out each other’s effects.

In front of the Marketplace, countless individuals were groaning on the ground. Jie Pa was standing behind the many bright screens which shielded the building and him.

I was met with a scene where the ground seemed to be littered with bodies. Though I knew they weren’t dead, I could see the misery on their faces.

Such destruction was brought about by Gaoqin Jiuye, by Nie Zun, and by me.

As I wanted to question Gaoqin Jiuye on this scene, I saw him carry the bloody Guan Nie, looking at Nie Zun and I with crazed eyes.

Nie Zun looked unusually pale. Did he damage his MF when he forcefully escaped the illusion with me?

Guan Nie was a picture of tragic beauty, like a beautiful lady who was injured, he remained elegant through the pain. Though he cannot be compared with Si Luo, he was still graceful.

His beautiful upturned eyes contained a kind of turbulent sorrow, and his lips were stained with blood. Looking at Nie Zun, he said, “My... pet... You... for her... you broke through my illusion... Do you know the damage...”

As if he thought of something else, those dewy eyes looked towards Gaoqin Jiuye.