Chapter 508
, 489, Amidst Pain
Chapter 508, Chapter 489: In Pain
Jiang Jianxin didn't know how he got out of Xie Yan's office.
The corridor was long, and the incandescent lights overhead hummed, stretching her shadow into a thin, trembling line that clung to the cold marble floor.
She stepped into the elevator, her pale, dazed face reflected in the mirrored stainless steel. The next second, the corner of her mouth suddenly split open towards her ear, revealing a row of fine, shark-like teeth.
Jiang Jianxin abruptly closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, all she saw in the mirror was her own terrified reflection.
"Om..."
As the elevator descended, the feeling of weightlessness tugged at her already crumbling rationality.
Once she was out on the street, the intense sense of disorientation truly overwhelmed her.
The sun was shining brightly outside. A girl in a floral dress was eating ice cream and chatting with her friends, her eyes sparkling with life. A mother was humming a song as she pushed a stroller. A man carrying a briefcase was talking on the phone as he hurried past, stirring up a gentle breeze.
This is the world she has lived in for over twenty years, full of everyday life.
But on this vibrant canvas, another scene stubbornly emerges.
Those who were laughing, their "shadows" no longer lay obediently at their feet, but stood up in a twisted manner, transforming into indescribable outlines.
The shadow of the girl in the floral dress was a lumpy, ever-growing, oozing, viscous mass; the shadow of the stroller was a few thin, bony limbs with bent joints; the shadow of the man on the phone was the tallest, like a dark tree covered with withered human faces.
The passersby were still human, chatting and laughing. Their shadows, however, had become monsters, and as she walked among them, she was simultaneously watched by two pairs of eyes—
A pair of bewildered kindred spirits.
A pair of inhuman eyes, a mixture of greed, curiosity, and indifference, cast from the shadows.
The fundamental principle of "ignorance is no excuse," the invisible wall that separated her from madness, collapsed with a bang in Xie Yan's revelation.
From then on, she lost her normal status and was forced to bear twice the reality at the same time.
On the distant city skyline, in the direction where the setting sun sinks, that ladder where yellow and black meet stands silently.
Its outline was clear, piercing through the clouds and disappearing into the unreachable sky. This was the only anchor point between the two worlds, the only unchanging coordinate in the chaos, proving that what she saw was not a figment of her imagination, proving that this dual, tearing scene was real.
But this evidence brought not comfort, but a deeper chill.
who am I?
Which side am I on?
Questions tightened in my heart.
Sometimes, a pedestrian whose shadow twists into a multi-legged lump of flesh walks towards him, and the instinct for killing instantly seizes Jiang Jianxin, his fingertips almost digging into the hilt of his sword.
The Tangguang Sword emitted a deep hum in its sheath, yearning to be drawn and vanquish demons.
But just as she was about to draw her sword, the pedestrian—the middle-aged man in a sanitation worker's uniform with a face full of wrinkles and frost—would raise his bewildered and tired eyes and give a strange glance to the young girl who suddenly tensed up in front of the air.
His human eyes reflected her near-madness as she drew her sword against an ordinary person.
His movements froze in mid-air. A murderous intent choked him.
She slashed at the monster; in another world, she slashed at a living, unsuspecting person.
Jiang Jianxin staggered back two steps, cold sweat instantly soaking her clothes. The world spun, human whispers and monster howls mingled together, the visual tearing sensation turning into a tangible headache, as if two hands were grabbing her head and pulling it violently in opposite directions.
【How are you?】
Fragmented information entered her chaotic mind. It was the answer, the truth.
But the once smooth and clear sound has now become extremely weak, intermittent, and mixed with a lot of blank space and harsh noise.
Unable to hold on any longer, Jiang Jianxin clutched his head, which felt like it was about to explode, and slowly squatted down, curling up in the roadside green belt.
To passersby, he must look like a mental patient suffering from a sudden and serious illness.
But Jiang Jianxin was in pain and dazed, and couldn't care less about anything else.
I thought you had completely disappeared.
She responded with difficulty in her mind.
What followed was a long silence. Only the chaotic background noise of two worlds filled everything.
Just when she thought the disconnected connection had truly been severed, the fragmented pieces of information were pieced together once more, with even greater difficulty than before:
[Your signal is... intermittent... I might have to... disconnect for a bit...]
Before she could ask, the truth seemed to have exhausted its strength and provided the explanation in advance:
I'm talking to you... using a method of interdimensional teleportation... which... will fail within the same world...
Same world?
Jiang Jianxin caught this word in his chaotic thoughts.
Are you in a world where gods have descended?
She asked, trying to grasp a thread of logic.
I am in the outer realms... but the world of divine descent... is connected to the outer realms... it has long been... thoroughly corrupted...
The answer, the truth, came slowly, as if through a thick layer of water.
Then, it mentioned Xie Yan, and the story that had just shattered Jiang Jianxin's world:
I know... you know Xie Yan's story... I don't know... what your opinion of me in this story will be...?
The answer, Truth, paused for a moment:
The truth is... I did heed... the words of the God of Miracles... and it was from that day... that I conceived the idea of reflecting the human world...
Human thought... is the same as... and different from the answer... During the time I've spent with you... I've also gained... different insights.
The answer, the truth, delivered its final message. It was gently calm, like a feather, drifting atop a raging storm:
It's a pleasure to meet you, Jiang Jianxin.
[Hoping to meet again abroad.]
The subtitles disappeared, and the fragile connection that had been barely maintained was completely severed.
When his old friend suddenly lost all contact with him, Jiang Jianxin curled up by the roadside, his eyes tightly closed, his body trembling uncontrollably.