The gray mist surged silently, like a heavy curtain on a mime stage.
Gu Qiancheng lay on the cold, sticky ground.
Every breath pulled at the shattering pain deep in his chest.
Blood kept seeping from the corners of his mouth, dripping onto the gray haze, quickly swallowed and assimilated, leaving only deeper dark marks.
His vision flickered with black spots, his ears rang, and his consciousness wavered like a dying candle in the wind, under the erosion of endless darkness and cold.
Mirror Lake stood beside him, looking down from above.
In those eyes churning with pitch black, the trace of complex emotion from before had completely vanished, leaving only a kind of near-nihilistic calm, and beneath that calm, an even more piercing chill.
He slowly raised his hand, reaching toward his lower back, with a ritualistic slowness and deliberation.
He pulled out a short blade.
The blade was barely a foot long, its color dark, neither metal nor wood, as if carved from some creature’s bone.
Its surface was covered in naturally formed, twisted patterns.
The edge didn’t seem particularly sharp—rather, it was somewhat dull—but just looking at it, one could feel an ominous, soul-cutting chill spreading through the air.
Holding the bone dagger, Mirror Lake walked step by step to Gu Qiancheng’s side.
Gu Qiancheng’s fingers twitched slightly, as if trying to support his body, but under his severe injuries, it only made him sink deeper into the gray mist.
Mirror Lake lifted his foot, and that shiny leather shoe stepped mercilessly onto Gu Qiancheng’s back, precisely near the spine that had just been heavily struck by his fist.
“Ugh—!”
Gu Qiancheng let out a muffled grunt.
The little strength he had mustered instantly dispersed.
He was pressed back into the cold gray mist, his cheek against the ground, clearly feeling the mist trying to burrow into his mouth, nose, and ears like a living thing.
Mirror Lake bent down and crouched, his face inches from Gu Qiancheng’s.
He could see the taut lines of Gu Qiancheng’s profile from pain, and the faint but stubborn light in his eyes, like dying embers that refused to go out even in the face of death.
“Junior,” Mirror Lake spoke, his voice low and calm, yet piercing through the gray mist with clarity, “Actually, we are the same.”
He paused.
The tip of the bone dagger lightly pressed against the fabric over Gu Qiancheng’s heart area.
The cold sensation, even through several layers of clothing, clearly transmitted to Gu Qiancheng’s skin.
“Both of us… are people unwilling to be bound.”
Mirror Lake’s tone revealed a rare, almost imperceptible emotion of his own—a twisted self-awareness buried deep beneath endless compliance.
Gu Qiancheng coughed out a mouthful of blood and sputum, not responding, only striving to maintain consciousness, mobilizing the nearly depleted and sluggish divine oracle force within him, like painfully gathering the last drops of water in the cracks of a dry riverbed.
“So,” Mirror Lake’s tone returned to that all-controlling coldness, but his hand began to exert slight pressure.
The incredibly sharp tip of the bone dagger easily pierced the outer layer of Gu Qiancheng’s specially made vest, which had some defensive capability, emitting a faint tearing sound.
“Before I break my chains…”
The dagger tip continued to advance, tearing through the tough fabric of the uniform jacket, then the lining.
The cold sensation finally touched the skin of Gu Qiancheng’s back without any barrier.
It wasn’t the cold of metal, but a deeper, more sinister chill that seemed to freeze the soul, instantly seeping inward through the skin.
“…Become the mist that obscures that person’s sight.”
Mirror Lake’s voice dropped lower, heavier, like a devil’s whisper lingering in Gu Qiancheng’s ear.
“Your death… is worth it.”
The moment the words fell, the dagger tip pressing against the skin suddenly increased force!
But at that critical moment….
“Mirror Lake…” Gu Qiancheng suddenly spoke, his voice hoarse, his breath weak, yet carrying a strange, almost mocking calmness, interrupting the fatal move that was about to be completed.
Mirror Lake’s hand force involuntarily paused slightly.
Gu Qiancheng turned his face, struggling to curl the corner of his mouth into a tiny, bloodstained arc, continuing in that breathless but still audible mocking tone:
“When you turned into a gecko…”
He gasped for breath, every word seeming to be squeezed out of his chest with all his strength.
“…Weren’t you… really ugly?”
The word “gecko” struck like two poisonous ice picks, stabbing deep into Mirror Lake’s seemingly calm heart!
The expression on Mirror Lake’s face instantly froze.
That face belonging to Zhao Zhenwu, stern and slightly weathered, like an exquisite but fragile mask, suddenly developed fine, almost invisible cracks.
The pitch black churning deep in his eyes suddenly boiled and became violent!
It was no longer pure darkness, but a mix of fury at having his reverse scale touched, and a hint of… an inferiority he never dared to face.
“Gu—Qian—Cheng!”
Mirror Lake squeezed these three words out from between his teeth, his voice suddenly becoming sharp and distorted, filled with undisguised killing intent and hatred.
The composed demeanor he had maintained, as if everything was under control, vanished without a trace.
The bone dagger pressed against Gu Qiancheng’s back was suddenly lifted, and then, without hesitation, with a venting viciousness, it stabbed fiercely into the thickest part of Gu Qiancheng’s left arm muscle!
Pchi!
A dull sound, but the blunt bone dagger showed astonishing penetrating power, easily tearing through the combat uniform and muscle, deeply embedding itself!
First was extreme cold and numbness, as if the entire arm instantly lost sensation, dragged into an absolute icy hell.
Then, a strange blocking sensation….
Gu Qiancheng clearly felt that the blood flow, nerve conduction, and even energy circulation near the wound on his left arm were all suddenly cut off by an invisible guillotine, creating a moment of terrifying emptiness!
Then came the tsunami of pain that could make a person faint!
The pain wasn’t just from the physical piercing; it came from the soul layer, as if burned and torn by the strange force on the bone dagger!
Gu Qiancheng’s whole body shuddered violently.
A suppressed, painful grunt escaped between his gritted teeth.
Cold sweat the size of beans instantly covered his forehead, mixing with blood and dirt.
Mirror Lake held the hilt, not immediately pulling out.
He stared at the bone dagger almost completely embedded in Gu Qiancheng’s arm, watching the dark red blood slowly seep and drip along the blade’s patterns, listening to the pchi pchi sound of blood and air being squeezed as the blade twisted between muscle and bone gaps.
His gaze was terrifyingly dark, like the heaviest storm clouds before a downpour.
“Do you have any idea…”
Mirror Lake said word by word, each word ground out from between his teeth, carrying venomous hatred, “how much… I hate that mouth of yours?”
Gu Qiancheng’s face was as pale as paper, his body trembling slightly from the intense pain, but he bit his lower lip tightly, even drawing blood, refusing to let out any sound of weakness.
Only his eyes, still through the blur of sweat and blood, stared stubbornly, with unconquered mockery, at Mirror Lake’s twisted face so close.
Gu Qiancheng’s silence seemed to further provoke Mirror Lake.
His hand holding the hilt began to turn and twist more forcefully and slowly!
The bone dagger created greater wounds and agony between muscle and bone, and the sinister cold and blocking sensation spread and deepened with each turn.
“You might think…”
Mirror Lake said in an icy voice while applying torture, “that even if you die, it won’t have much effect… relying on Lin Mo and the others’ skills, they should be able to walk out of the death realm alive, right?”
He suddenly twisted the bone dagger another half turn, satisfied to see Gu Qiancheng’s body involuntarily tense and tremble again.
“But indeed,” Mirror Lake’s tone carried a cruel playfulness, “whether you live or die really doesn’t affect… Chu Qingqian and Lin Mo heading toward their doomed ending.”
The moment the name Chu Qingqian was uttered, Gu Qiancheng’s violently heaving chest suddenly stopped!
Though he tried to control it, the momentary disruption in his breathing and the subtle contraction of his pupils did not escape Mirror Lake’s sharp perception.
The cruel smile at the corner of Mirror Lake’s mouth widened, like a hunter watching the last struggle of prey caught in a trap.
“Hahaha, you don’t know anything at all, junior!”
He spoke slowly, with a victor’s tone, “That person… the power he possesses is something you and I cannot understand, let alone imagine… It’s far beyond the scope of human resistance.”
“Regardless of who you are or what background you have, even if Qin Xiangnan himself came here…”
Mirror Lake’s voice was filled with absolute certainty, even with a hint of contempt for that name, “…he would be completely powerless, unable to change any predetermined trajectory.”
He leaned slightly, bringing his mouth close to Gu Qiancheng’s ear, as if sharing a shocking secret or pronouncing a final verdict: “His goal was never the Second Composite Brigade, nor the small Beihai Swordbearer Division…”
Mirror Lake paused, ensuring every word was clearly imprinted in Gu Qiancheng’s consciousness. “…but—Chu Qingqian!”
“Or rather, now we should call her… Chu You?”
Gu Qiancheng’s heart felt as if it were gripped by an icy hand, stopped beating, then wildly pounded again.
“And Lin Mo…”
Mirror Lake continued his cruel announcement, and at the same time, suddenly yanked the bone dagger out of Gu Qiancheng’s arm!
“Ugh—!”
Blood gushed out as the blade left, and Gu Qiancheng let out another suppressed groan of pain.
But Mirror Lake didn’t care.
He let the bone dagger dripping with Gu Qiancheng’s blood move again, its tip with a wet, sticky feel, firmly pressing against Gu Qiancheng’s back once more.
This time, the tip touched the skin directly, the cold breath of death piercing straight to the heart.
“That person said that Lin Mo’s death…”
Mirror Lake’s voice was like ice, “Would make Chu You even more perfect.”
“So…”
He tightened his grip on the hilt, his knuckles whitening from the force.
His eyes held only pure, execution-order cold killing intent.
“You don’t need to mourn, and you don’t need to feel lonely…”
Mirror Lake’s voice was like the final death knell, echoing in the gray mist, “On the road to death, you still have the two of them… as company.”
The dagger tip began to apply pressure.
The skin was pierced, bringing a sharp pain.
Gu Qiancheng could feel that sinister bone dagger slowly breaking through his last physical defense, approaching his still stubbornly beating heart, approaching the dwelling place of his soul.
Mirror Lake’s gaze was completely frozen at this moment.
“Gu Qiancheng…”
He suddenly exerted force with his wrist, the bone dagger with the determination to tear everything, stabbing fiercely forward….
“Go die—!!!”
Death had never been so clear, so close.
Time seemed infinitely stretched.
Gu Qiancheng could hear his heart wildly pounding in his chest, could feel the increasingly intense piercing pain at his back and the tearing sensation on his soul level, could see the killing intent that froze everything in Mirror Lake’s eyes.
Was it going to end?
Like this… die here without knowing why?
In this strange gray mist space?
Die… at the hands of this Mirror Lake, who had become someone else’s pawn?
Chu You… Lin Mo…
Those images of fighting side by side, those faces either bright or silent, flashed through his gradually blurring consciousness like lightning.
And her…
That timid, silent girl… “Officer Gu, come back safely!”
On his wrist, it seemed the warmth of her touch still lingered.
Not resigned…
Never…
Just as the tip of the bone dagger was about to completely pierce his heart, and the sinister force was about to annihilate his last spark of life, a sudden change occurred!
It wasn’t some hidden power erupting from within Gu Qiancheng.
Instead, the gray mist space of the death realm rift itself, controlled by Mirror Lake, shuddered violently without warning!
Not a physical vibration.
More like a disruption at a higher rule level, a sense of forced intervention into a predetermined script!
Mirror Lake’s fatal thrust, because of this sudden jamming and interference from the space’s foundation, deviated by an extremely tiny, almost imperceptible margin and delay!
Just that negligible deviation and delay!
“Cough…!”
Gu Qiancheng vomited a large mouthful of blood, but in this life-or-death moment, the last wisp of divine oracle force suppressed to the limit and existing only in the deepest part of his will erupted like a drowning man grabbing at the last straw, burning his life force!
Not an attack, not a defense, but—deflection!
He twisted the position of his heart by a few inches at the microscopic level!
At the same time, using his last strength, he sharply turned his body to the left!
Pchi—!
The dull sound of a blade entering flesh was still teeth-grinding.
The bone dagger pierced deep into the left side of Gu Qiancheng’s back, only a hair’s breadth away from his heart!
The sinister, cold force instantly surged in, frantically destroying all life along the way, bringing pain ten times stronger than the arm wound and a tearing sensation on the soul level.
But in the end… it didn’t hit the heart!
“Ughaaaah—!”
Gu Qiancheng let out a beast-like roar.
The intense pain nearly made him faint instantly, but he held on with his steel-like will!
Blood gushed from the through-and-through wound on his back and chest.
His life force weakened at a terrifying speed, his flame of life flickering and about to go out, but… he was still alive!
For the first time, shock and disbelief appeared on Mirror Lake’s face.
He abruptly looked up toward the depths of the gray mist, his pitch-black eyes churning with suspicion, anger, and a trace of barely noticeable… fear?
“Who?!” he shouted sharply, his voice echoing in the still-trembling gray mist, “Who dares to interfere with the playwright’s stage?!”
The gray mist rolled, as if stirred by an invisible giant hand.
The next moment….
A pitch-black figure violently tore through the thick gray mist, forcefully breaking into this spatial rift!
“I won’t allow you…”
“…To harm him!”
The six wings eternally burning with black flames spread wantonly.
The distortion and pollution sealed within his body erupted completely.
Gu Qiancheng struggled to lift his head, looking at the figure in the distance that seemed to come from hell.
“Classmate Xia, good evening…”