Chapter 578: The Aladdin Spirit Merchant |
What?
He wants me... to get out of my own body?
And the nerve to sound so righteous about it?
Jiang Ye was speechless.
If he wasn't mistaken, this inner voice, suspected to be part of the "Ideological Reform," was supposed to make him doubt himself before it could drive his consciousness out.
The earlier voices had at least put in the effort to tempt him.
But this one just told him to get lost?
This...
This was basically no different from a scammer saying, "Please just trick yourself into handing over your money, will you?"
"So you can't even be bothered to scam me, and you want me to scam myself?"
"But here's the problem—I don't think I've mastered the art of self-scamming yet. Could you teach me first?"
"Scam? You think I'm scamming you?" The voice of Zhou Qiming inside him sounded incredulous, then quickly shifted to boiling anger as he emphasized, "I'm telling the truth!"
"The revived you is no longer you!"
"And I am the real Zhou Qiming! I am the protagonist of this Ideological Reform!"
"Only by choosing me can you pass this trial!"
To be honest, the tone of this voice, while aggressive, was also extremely earnest, sworn, and didn't sound like a lie at all.
It was as if the Zhou Qiming in this voice genuinely believed—he was the real Zhou Qiming.
Everyone else who had experienced revival had been tainted, no longer pure, and not the real him...
These emotions were strong and real.
For a moment, they even shook Jiang Ye.
A strange thought emerged in his mind—
That Zhou Qiming, experiencing the Ideological Reform in this infinite grave mound zone, had somehow fallen into his consciousness.
And only by replacing him could Zhou Qiming complete his Ideological Reform.
On the other hand, Jiang Ye, who had crawled out of the grave mound and undergone revival, was not the real Jiang Ye but merely a replicated puppet...
He should return his body to Zhou Qiming to help him complete his "Ideological Reform"...
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Jiang Ye nearly lost his mental foothold!
He suddenly realized that the voices in his mind could not only talk to him.
More terrifyingly, they could invade his mind and influence his thoughts!
The audible voices might not be that scary.
But the inaudible, intangible temptations were the deadliest!
Jiang Ye, who had been somewhat relaxed, instantly became alert again.
He took a deep breath and tried to close his eyes.
But found that his eyes wouldn't close.
Not only that, but he couldn't switch his perspective either.
He could only look at the overwhelming grave mounds around him and listen to the voice inside him, which, with an even firmer tone than his, insisted that it was the real Zhou Qiming and the real Jiang Ye...
If he couldn't close his eyes, then so be it.
Jiang Ye took another deep breath.
As he slowly exhaled, he didn't argue with Zhou Qiming.
Because he could foresee that he couldn't convince this resolute Zhou Qiming.
But...
"Heh." Jiang Ye chuckled softly.
He didn't compete with Zhou Qiming over who was more determined.
He just smiled and said, "Fine."
"You're the real Zhou Qiming, and the revived one is a fake."
This admission directly conceded to Zhou Qiming's claim.
However, before the voice of Zhou Qiming inside him could feel triumphant, Jiang Ye sneered, "But so what?"
"Don't you understand the principle of the victor being king and the loser being the bandit?"
"It doesn't matter who I am. Since I survived, I'm the one living."
"I am Jiang Ye, and I live; I am not Jiang Ye, and I still live!"
"I am me. I can use any label, but no label can represent me!"
What did it matter if he was Zhou Qiming or Jiang Ye?
Did this body originally belong to him? Or did he take it? What difference did it make?
Since it belonged to him now, it was his!
Jiang Ye took a deep breath and continued to smile firmly:
"The me of the past, the me of the future... can be me, or not me..."
"But the me of the present is definitely me!"
"I can betray the past, I can betray the future..."
"But the present, I must hold in my hands!"
"So what if you're the real Zhou Qiming?"
"If you've got the guts, kick me out yourself. Don't just rely on empty words to make me leave voluntarily :)"
After this deftly parried response, the voice belonging to Zhou Qiming indeed fell silent.
Instead, Jiang Ye felt another wave of coolness rising from the soles of his feet, spreading through his limbs and bones.
This time, the coolness flowed very slowly, as if it were some nourishing tonic, warming his body...
No, Jiang Ye strongly suspected that what was truly being nourished was not his physical body, but his soul!
It was his consciousness, through this repeated tempering, becoming more resolute and clearer!
This resolution and clarity seemed to be reflected in his burning eyes as well.
A flicker of coolness passed through his hot eyes.
Only for a moment, quickly replaced again by heat.
But in that instant, he seemed to catch something flashing by in this boundless space of grave mounds.
Like...
Like a space rift.
Or like a pitch-black eye that silently opened for a moment.
Or even like the strange cracks on Li Ku's body...
But they soon disappeared.
Everything around remained an endless sea of grave mounds.
The voice inside Jiang Ye's heart didn't sound again for a long time.
He didn't know if it had vanished or was temporarily hiding.
After waiting for a long time without hearing any more doubts or challenges, Jiang Ye slowly stood up.
The iron hammer in his hand, he looked around.
After waiting a little longer, he noticed that one of the grave mounds beside him suddenly, inexplicably, emptied.
It was like a magic trick—the grave mound was leveled to the ground.
And on that flat ground lay a slightly vibrating bone ash box.
This bone ash box...
Had returned to his side!
Earlier, he had flattened two adjacent grave mounds.
Now, only this one, with the bone ash box, stood alone beside him.
Jiang Ye didn't dare relax his guard. He stared at the slightly vibrating bone ash box for a moment and vaguely heard a "crack, crack" sound from inside, like bones being reorganized.
The sound lasted less than a minute, followed by a heavy grating noise.
The bone ash box was pushed open from the inside, just like a coffin!
Inside, instead of the strange grave mound soil, was a cloud of black smoke rising!
This black smoke quickly condensed into a pitch-black humanoid figure.
This figure had no facial features—no eyes, to be precise.
But the moment it appeared, Jiang Ye inexplicably felt a scrutinizing gaze!
The black smoke... was staring at him!
Jiang Ye's whole body stiffened, every nerve in his mind instantly stretched to the breaking point!
What the hell... was this thing?!
Was it the true form of the strange grave mound soil?
Or had he accidentally revived some unknown big boss?
This thing... felt like... he couldn't beat it, could he?
Jiang Ye clutched the iron hammer tightly, thinking about the possibility of smashing the black smoke's head with it...
He didn't really need to think too hard—it seemed highly unlikely.
Just as he thought he might have to use his ultimate lifesaving measure, [Clone Swapping]...
A deep, resonant voice suddenly came from within the black smoke:
"It was you who revived me..."
Was... it?
Jiang Ye thought to himself that he had inadvertently "revived" this thing, right?
So, this terrifying existence, which gave him an overwhelming sense of pressure, might not attack him?
Perhaps it would even grant him three wishes, like Aladdin's lamp?
Could he cheat and wish for ten wishes with his first one?
Just as he thought this, the black smoke's voice spoke again: "No."
Those two simple words were hard to read in terms of emotion.
But Jiang Ye was startled!
No? No what??
He hadn't said anything out loud just now!
He had only thought to himself about whether he could ask for ten wishes...
So... holy crap?!
This thing... no, wait! This distinguished, handsome, and elegant mysterious senior could actually read minds?!
"It's not mind reading."
The mysterious senior was surprisingly nice, giving him an explanation...
But it only denied "mind reading" without further elaboration.
Jiang Ye's mind trembled with fear, and he dared not let his thoughts wander anymore.
But this black smoke guy seemed genuinely kind.
He actually followed up on Jiang Ye's random thoughts and made a promise:
"I can help you fulfill one wish, within the scope of my abilities."
Just that one sentence, equally flat and emotionless.
Yet it sent another shock through Jiang Ye's mind!
Wow, it really could grant wishes!
He just didn't know the exact scope of this mysterious senior's "abilities"...
And he could only make one wish. How should he go about it?
Wish to regain his memories? Or to fix the Guiwen?
Or wish to leave this hellhole? Or directly unravel its secrets?
Or... wish for something related to saving the original body?
He had just been carefully avoiding random thoughts.
Now, the prospect of a wish stirred up his thoughts, involuntarily listing various wishes in his mind while contemplating how to maximize benefits...
However, the black smoke quickly cut in with another sentence, interrupting his reverie:
"I didn't say you get to choose the wish."
"I'll help you fulfill a wish, so naturally, I'll choose it."
As it spoke, Jiang Ye vaguely noticed that a ball of light suddenly condensed within the black smoke figure.
It looked like a tiny humanoid form being nurtured inside the black smoke!
Until the little figure seemed more and more solidified, a "whoosh" sound was heard...
The tiny figure shot out from within the black smoke and landed precisely on Jiang Ye's head.
Jiang Ye's body went rigid. Experimentally, he reached his hand up toward his head.
Seeing that the black smoke didn't object, his left hand slowly touched the figure on his head.
It was thin, feeling like... a leaf? Or paper cutting?
Just as he was about to bring the paper-cut figure in front of his eyes, he suddenly felt a slight sting at the fingertip touching it.
When he finally brought the paper cut completely before his eyes, he found that it had stained with blood from his fingertip!
What the hell? It was sucking his blood?!
For some reason, the realization of "being drained of blood" sent a primal fear through Jiang Ye!
It felt like this thing could drain all his blood in an instant, turning him into a desiccated corpse!
But reality didn't match his instinctive assumption.
This paper-cut figure stained with his blood didn't keep draining him.
Instead, it spontaneously ignited with that bit of blood!
Soon, it became a ball of fire in Jiang Ye's hand!
Then, the flame shot straight toward the center of his forehead!
In that instant, the heat in his eyes seemed to ignite!
Jiang Ye clearly felt that both eyes of this Ji Zixuan clone might have actually caught fire!
Before he could think further, a notification sound echoed in his mind:
[Ding!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained the status of Juror for the 「Face Court」!]
[The court is about to convene. Please prepare!]
What the hell?
Face Court? Juror?
Wait!
Earlier, Zhou Qiming had said the original body was trapped in the [Court of Disorder]...
What was the relationship between this 「Face Court」 and the [Court of Disorder]?
Jiang Ye heard the pronunciation "Face" but didn't see the exact characters.
His first instinct was...
Face? Face?
Facebook? F***book?
F***book's court??
Probably not.
It was just "Face," without "book."
Just face...
Face...
Jiang Ye thought of his clone ability's effect of judging clones through "face."
This made him suspect whether this "Face Court" had something to do with clones.
Once again, he couldn't control his random thoughts.
He realized he hadn't been teleported to whatever Face Court.
Instead, the feeling of being watched grew stronger!
Amid this intense sense of being locked onto, the black smoke spoke again with that flat voice.
This time, it called his name: "Jiang Ye..."
"Do you think that without clone sensing, one isn't a clone?"
What?
What did that mean?
Not long ago, he had killed Zhou Qiming and Ji Zixuan...
All because he had no clone sensing.
So Jiang Ye didn't trust them.
Now, what did this black smoke mean by saying that?
Jiang Ye instinctively felt this was another part of the temptation!
Just like the voices in his heart!
This black smoke was also tempting him, making him doubt himself!
Just as he thought this, the black smoke said another sentence:
"Can you still sense the 'Guan Ce clone'?"
"Can you still sense the 'original body'?"
These two questions, especially the latter, struck Jiang Ye like a thunderbolt!
Before he could think further, the black smoke added:
"You know that clones can 'lose contact'..."
"So, could there be a kind of inch-by-inch disconnection where even if your clone or original body stands before you, you still can't sense them?"
This single sentence was like the most terrifying temptation!
Jiang Ye had to admit deep down...
Clone sensing was not the standard for judging a clone!
It was entirely possible that a clone could stand before him, and he couldn't sense it!
Because of that so-called clone disconnection!
Then, had the Zhou Qiming and Ji Zixuan he killed, along with the countless red-eyed puppets wearing his face... all been clones?
Then, if he encountered another identical version of himself later, should he choose doubt or trust?
Jiang Ye suddenly felt that this mind-reading black smoke was the true final boss of the so-called "Ideological Reform"!