chapter 94
Chapter 94
Lu Li walked up to the two, waiting expectantly for them to speak.
“Why are you wearing a mask?”
Mirella reached out to touch the mask on Fenny’s face.
“Don’t look,” Fenny quickly stopped her movement. “My face would spoil the mood.”
Flames ignited in the hall.
Fenny spread his demon wings, shielding them from the falling shards of glass amid the roar.
He used an illusion.
Except for that human under the King’s protection, no one should be able to see his true form and wings.
Mirella removed her blindfold.
Her gaze focused on the black wings before her. She caught a feather that fell as Fenny flapped his wings.
Then she leaned forward and tucked this feather into the mask.
“Fake feathers aren’t as pretty as real ones. Next time, don’t wear a mask.”
Fenny’s ears turned red.
He suddenly forgot the lines and actions he’d prepared, hurriedly pulled out a long string of sparkling sequins from his pocket, and shoved them into Mirella’s hand. “This is for you.”
Then he turned away coolly and said, “I’m an NPC.”
Lu Li looked at Fenny. “Wow, you’re such a dork.”
Fenny’s figure vanished into the flames. Mirella couldn’t help but laugh, clutching the string of sequins. “He ran off again.”
–
Some Nobles sat at the dining table, wolfing down food. At first, they ate with knife and fork, but later, unable to resist their hunger, they grabbed their plates and gnawed directly.
There was no meat on the plates.
They swallowed shards of broken porcelain, their tongues, throats, and stomachs cut open.
It was as if they couldn’t see the flames already consuming the Gilded Hall around them.
The blood that dripped from the corners of the Nobles’ mouths pooled on the table.
The blood reflected a Full Moon.
Then the blood began to burn.
Blazing flames burst from the bodies of the Nobles. Even as they screamed from the pain, they refused to let go of their bloodied plates.
Other Nobles danced gracefully in the ballroom. The Noble Ladies’ splendid dresses trailed along the ground; diamonds cracked one after another, gemstones turned into black water one by one.
“What’s going on! Why is my dress dirty! Damn it! Dress Veil? Where’s my Dress Veil?”
“Oh my, your face has changed! Where did that beautiful woman from just now go? How can you be so plain?” The Noble Gentleman let go of the Lady’s hand in disgust and said loudly, “So ugly.”
The Noble Lady’s face split open in anger, flames spewing from her nose. “What did you say?!”
She clawed at the Noble Gentleman’s hair, without any pretense. “And what about you? Your face is so ugly it’s revolting!”
The Noble Gentleman opened his mouth, spitting curses. Flames shot from his lips.
Pairs of Noble couples, who once made the ballroom romantic, tore each other’s faces apart, burning to screaming ashes in the fire.
“Bang, bang, bang!”
Impatient roaring echoed from the Kitchen.
“Sean!” The Head Chef flipped through a book. “This knife is dull, it can’t cut meat. Sean! Bring me a new knife!”
The Head Chef’s knife pounded the empty chopping board, then in the next second, chopped into his own hand, blood splattering all over him.
Flames surged into the Kitchen.
Empty shelves crashed into each other, making a deafening humming sound.
The Head Chef’s ferocious expression gradually grew dazed.
The second before he turned to ash, he muttered to himself:
“Sean?”
“Who is Sean?”
–
A cold wind swept through, and the hall collapsed.
Lu Li and Bosi found themselves once again in the Forest.
That earlier wind had also swept away the fallen leaves on the ground.
Everything was clean here.
There was not yet Sean’s grave.
Lu Li walked into the Forest, searching non-stop.
Bosi asked, “What are you looking for?”
Lu Li raised his hand, gesturing at the sky. “There’s a tree this big, and it can talk-a Tree Demon. It destroyed everything. It’s the source of all evil.”
“But I can’t find it.”
Bosi looked toward the Forest. “Maybe it’s in there, just one of those trees.”
Lu Li looked at each tree, feeling like every one of them was a suspect.
How do you kill a tree permanently?
Lu Li tilted his head. “Bosi, I want to borrow some Underworld Fire.”
“Can your Underworld Fire burn a tree to death?”
The blue flame danced at Bosi’s fingertips. “It can burn anything but you.”
“If you can’t tell which one, how will you burn it?”
Lu Li said, “Then I’ll burn them all.”
When consciousness is born.
When desire is born.
Any tree here might one day become the progenitor Tree Demon of desire.
Then burn them all.
–
The Hunter had a dream.
In the dream, he became the King.
But when he woke up, he found himself trapped in a loop.
His adopted son, Sean.
The timid boy who had never once dared to rebel against him-had actually raised a gun. And pointed the muzzle at himself.
That was the first time.
All he did was take a single Pearl from Sean. Sean, shockingly bold, pulled the trigger and shattered both of his legs.
Sean, that madman!
He simply abandoned him in the cabin, leaving him to fend for himself. Infection set into his leg wounds, and he burned with fever and delirium for a week before he died.
In searing pain, he suddenly opened his eyes, realizing he had been reborn.
Back to the night when the Pearl was still untouched.
Perhaps he had been too harsh-that was why Sean had rebelled. So this time, he tried gentle persuasion, coaxing Sean, hoping he would willingly hand over the Pearl.
He wanted money! He wanted jewelry! He wanted endless wealth!
So they entered the Rich District.
He never expected that Sean also possessed a piece of Red Coral. Excitement made him lose all reason, and he reached out to snatch the Red Coral.
That was the second time.
All he did was steal the Red Coral. Sean shot him dead.
He fell to the ground, reaching for Sean’s pant leg, only to see Sean, without the slightest hesitation, chamber a Bullet, release the safety, and fire.
Bang!
When had it started?
When had this child-who had never even touched a gun-become so adept at handling one?
He asked this question aloud.
Sean replied, “Someone taught me, but I don’t remember when he taught me.”
Who? Who was it?
He never heard the answer. Intense pain consumed him, and he died again.
When he next opened his eyes, he had been reborn yet again.
He was afraid.
He resolved to send this terrifying adopted son back to the Poor Village.
At last, he found Sean’s weakness-a sinner who had fallen in love with someone of the same sex! Sean would be locked in Prison and sentenced to death.
He followed Sean, still uneasy, back to the Poor Village-only to discover Sean had a connection with the Sea Demon, and even dreamed of marriage!
His desperate longing to stand above the Nobles made his eyes burn blood-red.
He picked up a knife, wanting to flay the skin from Sean’s body.
Bang!
The final shot.
In the blazing Moonlight, the Hunter saw the Sean from the Poor Village, the Sean from the Rich District, and the present Sean standing together.
Behind Sean stood a young man, so strikingly handsome that the sight made his soul tremble.
The youth fired a shot at him. Then he turned to Sean and asked, “Have you learned it?”
He heard Sean reply, “I have.”
Another gunshot rang out.
Countless bloody holes bloomed across the Hunter’s body. He collapsed, writhing on the ground like a dying fish.
Blood poured from his ears.
Endless images cycled before his eyes.
No matter what he chose, in the end he would always be killed, and time would always rewind.
He began to lose all sense of day and night; his consciousness blurred. He only knew that what he clutched in his hand should have been supreme power.
Once, he had dreamt-
In that dream, he was wealthy, a Noble, even became the King.
Why had it come to this?
Where was the money? The power?
“Sean! Where has Sean gone?!”
The Hunter, covered in blood, sat in the poor hut, cursing loudly in the endless loop. “That damned brat, where did he escape to?”
The gunshot wounds in his body never stopped bleeding. In his hand, he always clutched a blank King’s autobiography.
In the searing Moonlight, he and the blank King’s autobiography turned to ashes together.
–
Lu Li and Bosi walked once more to the shore of the Poor Village.
From a distance, he saw several cards drifting in on the sea.
This time, the cards were adorned with beautiful, gentle illustrations, with very few words-simple descriptions of these happy, simple moments.
[“I met the Sea Demon’s clansmen. Everyone is very friendly. They accept me as a human, and said that they welcome all outsiders-everyone is just a different race sharing the same world. By the way, we’re not the only same-sex couple here.”]
[“The clansmen said a Sea Demon went missing twenty years ago, and no one has ever found him. We’ve decided to move far away from the crowds, and live in a remoter part of the sea.”]
[“To a place humans will never find.”]
[“Did you go to the city, Lu Li?”]
Lu Li took out the blank card Sean had given him on the wedding day, wrote a message, sealed it in waterproof film, and set it afloat on the sea.
—
In this city, everyone has received the ending that was meant for them.
Wishing you happiness.
*
Love is the most useful thing in this world.
Love is the beginning of happiness.