Chapter 980: The Last Voice

After a long silence, Hongxiu spoke again:

"...This isn't a token of love, just a sacrificial vessel I picked up."

"A sacrificial vessel?"

"There's a tongue inside that keeps muttering things I don't understand, and the content is very long... In any case, it has nothing to do with me."

"Nothing to do with you?" Chen Ling followed up. "Where did you pick it up? Since it has nothing to do with you, why not throw it away? Sacrificial vessels of unknown origin are not good things."

"I..."

Chen Ling knew that to get Hongxiu to slowly emerge from her current "Knight" persona, he had to use some strong medicine... The stronger the sense of dissonance, the more she would doubt her heart. Now that no one in the Wuji Domain could steal these doubts, it was the best time to help Hongxiu break free from control.

After leaving the Aurora Domain, Chen Ling had heard from his Second Senior Sister that the relationship between Hongxiu and Tan Xin was unusual, which was one of the breakthrough points he had prepared.

Hongxiu clutched the pendant in her palm, a flash of confusion in her eyes.

"Miss Hongxiu, I've done some research during this time. The clothes you're wearing now seem to be the uniform of an Aurora Domain law enforcer... Think carefully, have you ever been to the Aurora Domain?"

"No." Hongxiu shook her head immediately. "I've never been to the Aurora Domain."

"That's strange..."

"Perhaps it's just a similar style; that doesn't prove anything."

Chen Ling looked at her deeply. For some reason, the moment Hongxiu met his gaze, she subconsciously looked away... as if she were escaping.

"Miss Hongxiu, you've actually realized something is wrong for a long time, haven't you?" Chen Ling said slowly.

"I can understand how you feel... confusion, fear, everything you once firmly believed in being shaken by various details, starting to doubt who you are, doubting whether you even exist... You're afraid to think deeply because even you don't know where the final answer points... I'm all too familiar with this feeling."

"...I don't understand what you're talking about." Hongxiu took a deep breath. "The Wuji Domain is where I grew up since I was a child. I've put in so much effort just to protect this place... This is my mission."

A flash of sympathy crossed Chen Ling's eyes.

He understood Hongxiu's feelings all too well... It was just like how he had bet his life to reverse the era and reunite with his family, so even when Shen Nan raised doubts, Chen Ling would instinctively deny them. In the eyes of the current Hongxiu, protecting Wuji was her life's pursuit. She had already paid too much for all of this; how could she easily deny it?

But now, Chen Ling had to overturn everything for Hongxiu... After all, they really didn't have time.

"No, this is not your mission. What you carry is more important than you currently think!" Chen Ling said decisively.

"It was the Silver King who stole your true life!"

Click—

As the last sentence was spoken, the car emitted a low hum.

The vehicle stalled directly at the intersection in front of the church, sitting alone in place. The interior of the car was dead silent, with only the faint ticking of raindrops on the windows.

Chen Ling's last sentence had completely torn away his disguise and pushed everything toward an irreversible direction... If Hongxiu chose to believe him, that would naturally be best; but if Hongxiu still chose to be the "Knight," as long as she repeated this sentence, Chen Ling would immediately fall into an irredeemable situation.

Chen Ling was gambling. He was gambling that after he exposed his identity, Hongxiu would ultimately stand on his side.

Hongxiu sat silently in the passenger seat.

After a long while, she looked at the church standing in the overcast rain, her voice somewhat hoarse:

"We're here... get out of the car."

With that, without waiting for Chen Ling to recover, Hongxiu slammed the car door shut and walked into the rain without looking back.

Hongxiu didn't give any reaction, nor did she give Chen Ling an answer. She walked away as if she hadn't heard the last sentence... Fortunately, Hongxiu's reaction didn't seem like she was going to expose Chen Ling.

Chen Ling looked at her back and let out a long sigh.

He knew that Hongxiu needed to be alone for a while... just like he had been not long ago. Regardless, this self-exposure test hadn't led to the worst outcome.

Chen Ling didn't linger either. He parked the car directly at the church entrance and walked inside.

……

In the dimness, Hongxiu slowly locked the door.

Hongxiu stood in place for a long time before taking off her clothes piece by piece, lying on the bed as if she had lost all her strength... Her eyes stared at the dark, oppressive ceiling, wondering what she was thinking.

She took off the metal pendant from her neck, rotated it from the middle, and opened it bit by bit...

Finally, a section of a scarlet tongue was exposed to the air.

At the same time,

The tongue began to tremble and speak, and an emotionless voice echoed in the room.

"...Experiment record number 35821."

"We sampled the hair of the Aurora Lord, extracted nuclear samples, and transplanted them into the enucleated oocytes of another volunteer with the same blood type. Considering previous failure experiences, this time we thoroughly de-electrified the experimental environment..."

"After 3 hours and 16 minutes of observation, cell death was confirmed. Experiment 35821 is declared a failure."

"...Experiment record number 35822."

"Conducted magnetic field simulation experiments on the Aurora Lord's hair, recorded all data of the Aurora Lord's own magnetic field, and performed artificial reproduction..."

"Reproduction failed. Reason: The Aurora Lord's magnetic field fluctuation frequency is too fast."

"...Experiment number 35823..."

The emotionless voice broadcasted continuously, like a pure recorder. With a fixed speed and a fixed tone, the voice circled in the room, making one feel sleepy involuntarily.

Hongxiu's lips pursed slightly.

During this time, she listened to the voice from this tongue every day... She didn't know why she did this, as she couldn't understand what was being said at all. As Hongxiu herself said, these things had nothing to do with her.

Over thirty thousand experiment records, various incomprehensible technical terms, and endless failures...

But Hongxiu listened anyway.

Every day, this voice accompanied her to sleep. Perhaps because the experiments were too hypnotic, she slept very soundly every night... Hongxiu even wondered if this could be a sacrificial vessel specifically designed for hypnosis.

One experiment record after another was broadcast, and Hongxiu's eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Although she was full of worries today, under the hypnosis of the broadcast, she soon fell into a dream.

"...Experiment record number 35902..."

"...Experiment record number 35949..."

"...Experiment record number 35997..."

“……”

Hongxiu breathed evenly, already in a dream. When the thirty-six thousandth experiment record ended, the tongue did not make a sound again, but fell into a quiet state...

As if the experiment had ended there.

I don't know how much time passed,

A voice sounded from the tongue again.

It was the same voice, but this time, it was no longer emotionless, but had a touch of tenderness... as if a man had specifically recorded this last voice for this sacrificial vessel, looking into Hongxiu's eyes.

"...Hongxiu, I love you."