I was dejected, my heart as cold as ash, unbearably aggrieved. I wandered aimlessly down the long street, and somehow found myself at Longmen Inn. I might as well go in and talk to Giày Thêu.
There were two monsters at Longmen Inn: Giày Thêu and Cóc Tinh. Room One of the Heaven tier was never open to guests. Right now, I was sitting in that room, talking to Giày Thêu, who was hiding in a dark corner.
Back when I was a player, I once came to Đăng Lung and nearly got eaten by Giày Thêu. Who would’ve thought that one day she and I would be having such an intimate heart-to-heart? As we talked, I learned that she… had once been a player too! Her name was Quý Sơ Đồng. She was twenty-six, from Hàng Thành, and had entered this instance with her boyfriend. Unfortunately, she’d become an NPC just like me. For someone else to recognize her was the only way she could escape and be set free.
The woman had been full of confidence. After all, her boyfriend of eight years was right there. Even if she turned to ash and was buried under rocks and dirt, he’d dig her out!
But…
A woman who looked exactly like her appeared. According to Quý Sơ Đồng, that woman was the original Giày Thêu. The rest, as you can see…
That woman took her place and left the game with her boyfriend. Quý Sơ Đồng was abandoned forever, transformed into a monster in the sewers. On the day the players escaped, she stood alone in the darkness, watching the backs of the lovestruck couple disappear at the end of the road.
It was a brilliant sunset. The sun sank inch by inch, like a blood-red tomb, burying her and dragging her down into the earth.
“She became Quý Sơ Đồng, and I became Giày Thêu.”
Quý Sơ Đồng murmured as she told me her story. When she finished, I felt sorry for her.
Just as I was feeling sorry for her, she suddenly said, “Sigh, you’ve got it even worse than I did! At least I’m a monster. I heard the players want to sacrifice you? You’re going to be offered to the evil god. Boo-hoo, I’d better save my tears for myself.”
But I couldn’t accept this! I didn’t want to end up like that. No matter what, I had to seize one last chance.
I had to think of a way…
So I went to see Tạ Đường again.
At dusk, at Phong Ba Pavilion, Tạ Đường and the fake Lý Khả Ái were feeding koi. In the pond, red, white, and golden koi jostled to snap up the food. The silver-haired young man had star-bright eyes, three parts handsomeness, three parts nobility, and four parts dazzling arrogance. The young woman in white looked like a figure carved from jade, her graceful form drifting like an ethereal cloud.
The players in this horror game were all on edge, but those two were completely at ease. How was I supposed to lead Tạ Đường away?
But then… She split her fish food with him. In the sunset, their fingertips brushed for a fleeting moment.
Comments:
[Their fingers barely touched and Đường Đường’s face is already red!]
[God Tạ secretly loves Bảo Muội, and Bảo Muội secretly likes God Tạ too. Mutual pining is the best!]
[(Laughing like a nosy old aunt.jpg)]
[Is he about to confess?]
[He’s about to confess, right!]
[Wow! I’ve finally lived to see this moment!]
Wait! What’s going on? Who’s confessing? They’re not really going to do anything, are they?
Tạ Đường hates clingy people. If the fake does anything out of line with him, I’ll be misunderstood for sure!
The wind rose, rippling the spring pond. The spring breeze swept the young woman’s smile away, turning it into sparkling fragments in the young man’s eyes.
Suddenly, she threw her arms around him!
Aaaah, she hugged him!!!
Oh my god, I nearly died. My feelings were too complicated to describe. I felt like I’d died a little.
[The girl I love is making the first move to confess?]
[Oh my god, oh my god, the thrilling moment is here!]
[Wow, God Tạ’s ears are bright red, like they’re on fire!]
[That kid’s secretly thrilled, isn’t he?]
[No, he’s embarrassed! I’ve never seen anyone as bashful as Đường Đường!]
[Pure love! I’m going crazy!!]
[After all that secret pining, God Tạ has finally seen the clouds part and the full moon shine! Congratulations, congratulations!!!]
My feelings were a mess. My heart raced, and I was in a panic. Could Tạ Đường really like me?
But he didn’t even recognize the real me!
At Phong Ba Pavilion, the wind rose and waves surged. I didn’t approve of this marriage! I jumped out like a clown. Even if I looked like one, I still had to jump out.
Comments:
[Her again?]
[So clingy!]
[Can you just get lost!]
The romantic mood was ruined, and the confession that had almost happened was interrupted. Tạ Đường and the fake Lý Khả Ái were both stunned. A flicker of displeasure passed through the young man’s beautiful eyes. The young woman’s clear eyes glinted with defiance; on closer inspection, they also brimmed with malicious excitement, as if she were ready to dance for joy.
“Đường Đường, look how vicious she is! She must like you too much—she’s so jealous of me she wants to tear me to pieces! I’m scared…” She clung to his arm.
I sneered. “Is Lý Khả Ái really that kind of person? All snide remarks and fake weakness, hiding behind a man to stir things up… That’s the sort of person you’re pretending to be…”
Before I could finish, a blade flashed and plunged into my abdomen!
Tạ Đường’s sword plunged viciously into my abdomen.
I stared in disbelief and shook my head faintly. “Tạ Đường… you…”
A wave of agony hit me. Blood seeped from the wound, soaking my clothes and dripping to the ground, turning into despair.
The cold young man shouted, “You are not allowed to insult her!”
The fake stood beside him, looking at me like a dead dog. He swung his sword at me again, but I dodged. He struck again, and I dodged once more. But I was no longer the same me, with my formidable magic. In the end, the madman’s killing blow was impossible to avoid.
Just as I was about to be wounded again, it was as if the gods had come to my aid!
A surge of power flooded my body. Invisible strings tugged at my limbs, making me deftly fight Tạ Đường. It turned out the puppeteer couldn’t stand watching any longer. With his help, I escaped danger.
I left the lakeside alone and struggled to make my way back to Đào Hoa Residence. On the way, my heart ached, but I wasn’t despairing.
There were twenty players in this group, including me. Tạ Đường’s team had twelve, which left seven others! If one of those seven recognized me…
“Miss, you’re the one throwing the embroidered ball tonight, right?” A familiar voice came from behind me.
I turned around. In the sunset, a short-haired girl frowned slightly. “You’re hurt?”
She wore gold-rimmed glasses and had delicate features and elegant manners. Only her cold expression made her seem a little unapproachable.
Thư Du Nhiên! It was my friend, Thư Du Nhiên!
I stared at her. “Thư Du Nhiên.”
She eyed me warily. “How do you know my name?”
I didn’t answer. I just looked at her and smiled through my tears. “I’m so glad I found you.”
In the instance “Honglian Immortal Venerable,” Thư Du Nhiên and I once fought side by side. The immortal sect in that instance treated human life as worthless; it was rotten to the core. The Immortal Venerable, revered by thousands, secretly used children to make medicine! When he learned what we were planning, he sent people to threaten and tempt us: fall in line and live; refuse to see reason, and die.
The night the persuader left, the moon shone brightly, hanging alone in the dark sky. Black clouds rolled by, threatening to swallow it. Thư Du Nhiên and I lay in a roofless house, gazing up at the moon.
“If we agreed to the Immortal Venerable’s demands, life would surely be much easier, wouldn’t it?”
Thư Du Nhiên carefully wiped a pear with her handkerchief, then abruptly changed the subject. “But I still like the moon better.”
She said, “The moon is so beautiful, so pure.”
So I asked, “Then you choose the moon?”
I was just as resolute. “I choose the moon too.”
The moon was the purity we held fast to in our hearts, the clean ground we stood on in the face of temptation, the faith we refused to abandon in the face of threats!
So, Thư Du Nhiên, do you still remember? You’ll recognize me, surely—you’ll recognize me!
I looked at her, tears glistening in my eyes, and prompted her: “I’ll always choose the moon. What about you?”
The wariness in her eyes turned to surprise, then suspicion, then contemplation. As I watched her expression shift again and again, a glimmer of hope sparked in my heart.
I pressed a brocade pouch into her hand. “Take this. You’ll only see what’s inside once you trust me completely. And one more thing: don’t trust Lý Khả Ái or Tạ Đường!”