I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 333: Chapter 192: In a Single Thought

"Got it, Fatty Jiang!"

The two of them exchanged a glance and burst out laughing.

Fatty Jiang turned and gave Zheng Xiu a jaunty wave. "The mountains stand tall and the rivers run long! Little Brother Gongsun, Patriarch Xie... We shall meet again!"

"We shall meet again."

Zheng Xiu smiled and clasped his hands in farewell to the nonchalantly departing Fatty Jiang, and just like that, they parted ways.

No one noticed that when Fatty Jiang spoke those four words, "We shall meet again," Xie Luohe, who was kneeling on the ground with her head bowed, trembled slightly.

Outside, the remaining bandits who had fought tooth and nail against the Divine Martial Army learned that the treasure vault was empty. One by one, their faces turned ashen, utterly crestfallen.

Inside Nie Gong’s Treasure Vault, only Zheng Xiu and Xie Luohe remained.

"Since it’s empty, let’s go back."

Zheng Xiu extended a hand to Xie Luohe.

Xie Luohe didn’t move. Her breathing was faint.

"Xie Luohe?"

Only then did Zheng Xiu notice something was strange about Xie Luohe.

He could understand her feelings.

But Xie Luohe seemed to have been kneeling for... too long.

Xie Luohe had always given Zheng Xiu the impression of being "strong." This impression was practically etched into his very bones, inseparable from the name "Xie Luohe." Zheng Xiu thought that while she would be sad and disappointed, it shouldn’t take her long to recover.

Xie Luohe moved.

She gripped her Longbow. Her Quiver was empty; she was out of Arrows.

"Xie Luohe?"

The atmosphere suddenly froze.

Something was not right.

Xie Luohe suddenly let out a soft breath. She stood up and gave Zheng Xiu a bewitching smile. "There’s no going back."

Zheng Xiu jerked back a step.

Xie Luohe slowly drew her Longbow taut.

SNAP!

The bowstring broke!

But Xie Luohe maintained the motion of drawing a bow, as if an "invisible" bowstring were held between her fingers. She drew this string into a full moon.

"There’s no going back. For anyone. There’s no going back."

In an instant, strange, black markings covered Xie Luohe’s face. Inside the treasure vault, the moment she drew her Longbow "taut," all the dust on the floor was blown away, leaving the area around her spotlessly clean.

Xie Luohe wore a captivating smile, but a tangible killing intent radiated from her body. Startled, Zheng Xiu retreated several steps. Xie Luohe, intentionally or not, now stood at the entrance, blocking his escape route.

Behind Xie Luohe, a black fog crept in silently, its vast shadow obscuring the light of the Everlasting Lamps.

HUMMM.

On the stringless Longbow, a black "Arrow" bizarrely appeared.

The Arrow was not solid, seeming to be coalesced from black flame.

As the black arrow gradually solidified, a terrifying gale blew through the treasure vault, turning the empty chests to dust.

Xie Luohe’s long hair was blown back, revealing the right eye she had always deliberately hidden.

She smiled as she looked at Zheng Xiu, a black light flashing intermittently in her right eye.

Deep within that familiar pupil, the two words "Ding Wei" would flash for a moment, then it would reflect Zheng Xiu’s stunned figure the next.

Zheng Xiu reached for the brush at his waist, but the snapped brush could no longer draw anything. It could only be used as an iron rod.

But now that Xie Luohe had inexplicably developed the intent to kill, what use was an iron rod to Zheng Xiu?

He clutched the half-piece of the Luohe Brush, his palm slick with cold sweat. The killing intent pouring from Xie Luohe was like a thousand sharp knives, scraping against his skin with a searing pain.

Inside the vault, Xie Luohe drew her bow and aimed at Zheng Xiu. The black Arrow made little sound, but it emanated something that made Zheng Xiu’s scalp tingle.

The tip of the black Arrow shimmered with a strange, magnificent luster. Illusory red flowers flickered and vanished at its point.

It wasn’t some esoteric concept like "killing intent" or "power," but a much purer feeling. At that moment, the Arrow nocked in Xie Luohe’s hand—its ominous black color, its bewitching flowers—reminded Zheng Xiu of... "Darkness"!

It was "Filthy Qi" from the Darkness!

Zheng Xiu silently hung the half-piece of the Luohe Brush back on his belt.

"Right now, are you Feng Bei, or Xie Luohe?"

"Take a guess?" Xie Luohe smiled faintly, her posture unchanged. "Or... who do you want me to be right now?"

Under Xie Luohe’s teasing gaze, Zheng Xiu actually gave it some serious thought for a moment before nodding. "If I have to choose, then I choose you, Xie Luohe."

"..." Xie Luohe’s eyes flickered, but her expression remained calm. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Why?"

"No particular reason." Zheng Xiu spread his hands and smiled. "I saved her back then in Baili Village. If Feng Bei turned around and tried to kill me, I’d be heartbroken. But you’re different. We don’t owe each other anything. If you kill me, it’s because my skills were inferior. No one’s to blame."

"You’re not afraid of death?"

Xie Luohe asked.

"If you’ve truly ’died’ before, you’d understand that death itself isn’t frightening." Zheng Xiu was unintentionally reminded of his experiences of dying over and over in the Ghostly Realm. Now, facing Xie Luohe’s terrifying arrow, he felt a wave of wistfulness. "I just remembered a saying."

Xie Luohe nodded. "Speak."

"A person has three ’births’ in their lifetime: first, when they are born into the world; second, when they come of age; and third, when they are recorded in the annals of history. A person also has three ’deaths’: first, when their heart stops beating; second, when they are publicly condemned and shamed—what’s commonly known as a social death; and the third is when they are completely forgotten by the world."

Zheng Xiu counted on his fingers in front of her. "See? Compared to the other two deaths, the first one is nothing, really. Even the pain is exceptionally light. It’s over in the blink of an eye."

Xie Luohe’s expression was blank. "Are you... finished?"

Zheng Xiu pointed to his own chest. "I know your arrows never miss. So today, I really want to see if your arrows, Xie Luohe’s arrows, are truly as divine as they say, if you’ve really never missed."

"Kill me." Zheng Xiu met Xie Luohe’s gaze calmly, stating the one fact she had never dared to voice. "As long as you kill me, you won’t become ’Feng Bei,’ right?"

Hearing this, Xie Luohe’s hands began to tremble violently, and a struggle appeared in her eyes.

’Just as I thought.’

Zheng Xiu knew he was right.

It was only when Xie Luohe formed an arrow from "Filthy Qi," aimed it at him, and truly showed the intent to kill that Zheng Xiu, recalling all her strange words and actions and the anxiety she’d inadvertently revealed, finally understood.

Xie Luohe knew that she would one day become "Feng Bei." She wasn’t a fool; she already knew this world was "false." She knew that one day, she would have to accept this fact, and then everything she was would be replaced by Feng Bei.

She couldn’t accept it. She was unwilling. That was why she yearned to "return to being a normal person." Only if "Mystic Feng Bei" disappeared could she truly live on as "Xie Luohe."

This was a battle of wills.

A will is born, a will is extinguished. In a single moment of will, it would be decided whether she was Xie Luohe, or Feng Bei.

Xie Luohe’s gaze was ice-cold, holding the fury of a battlefield within.

The shimmering red flowers on the Arrow grew more intense.

Her hands suddenly stopped shaking.

Xie Luohe abruptly released the illusory bowstring.

A streak of light, woven from black and red, shot past Zheng Xiu.

BOOM!

The black streak of light pierced through the mountain wall, shooting straight toward the heavens.

Although the dark light only grazed past him, the aftershock from the arrow completely shredded Zheng Xiu’s upper garment, revealing his well-defined chest.

Zheng Xiu glanced back to see a massive hole leading straight to the sky. The tunnel bored by the arrow was a full two zhang wide, its surface as smooth as a mirror. It looked less like a hole made by an arrow and more like something had been carved out.

Brilliant sunlight streamed in from outside.

But Zheng Xiu felt a chill run through him, and he broke out in a cold sweat. The power of that arrow was no less than that of Feng Bei at her full strength.

If Xie Luohe hadn’t moved her aim, it wouldn’t have just pierced his chest—there probably wouldn’t have even been any ashes left of him.

Xie Luohe crushed the bow in her hand and let out a hoarse roar from her throat, like a cornered beast with nowhere left to run.

"Ah..."

"Ahhhhhh..."

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh..."

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Xie Luohe clutched her head in despair, letting out a hysterical wail as tears streamed down her face.

For the first time, Xie Luohe showed her weakness, her helplessness, in front of Zheng Xiu. At this moment, she seemed like a completely different person.

An inexplicable pang struck Zheng Xiu’s heart. He stepped forward and pulled Xie Luohe into his arms.

Xie Luohe gripped Zheng Xiu tightly, her nails digging several bloody scratches into his chest.

"Save me... save me..."

"I’m not Feng Bei, I’m... Xie Luohe. I am, I am, I am Xie Luohe."

"Save me... Gongsun Mo."

"I’m begging you..."

Xie Luohe was so choked with sobs she could barely speak.

"Gongsun Mo..."

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