Chapter 219 Guilt
Arguing? If it hadn’t been for almost being killed earlier, Li Wen would have believed it.
“Are you Short Needle?”
She sized up the man in the brass mask who had suddenly appeared. The mask covered his entire face seamlessly. An elongated bronze pointer was embedded in the right eye position, currently rotating slowly clockwise. He wore faded linen robes, and his sleeves revealed a pale arm covered in strange tattoos. He exuded the scent of old, decaying book pages and ink.
“That’s a name from a long time ago. You can also call me ‘Watchmaker’ if you wish.” His voice was incredibly alluring, making it difficult to even discern his gender.
Li Wen ignored that, speaking directly, “Someone commissioned me to find you. They also said: This is a request from Evening Bell.”
The other party didn’t respond. Instead, he walked slowly towards Heli, who was struggling in agony. The hem of his robes swept across the ground without making a sound. Li Wen noticed that his steps were terrifyingly precise, each distance measured the same, as if calibrated by some invisible ruler.
“Dad…” Heli’s voice had already contorted into a non-human shriek. She extended her arm, which was being burned by flames. Whether it was oil or molten flesh, liquid dripped with her movements, leaving indestructible flames on the ground. “Save me…”
Short Needle bent down and picked up the brass pocket watch. The pointer trembled slightly in his palm. The bronze pointer in his right eye suddenly accelerated its rotation, emitting the sound of fine gears meshing.
Li Wen cautiously took half a step back, ready to deal with any potential danger.
“You’ve arrived earlier than expected.” Short Needle’s voice remained elusive. He gently stroked the surface of the pocket watch, and the shattered glass miraculously rejoined as if time were flowing backward. “That fellow Evening Bell is still as impatient as ever.”
Short Needle gently placed the repaired pocket watch into Heli’s palm. The girl’s struggles immediately calmed down. The golden flames, suppressed by some invisible force, gradually retracted into the depths of her eye sockets, leaving only faint sparks flickering in her pupils. She curled up in a corner of the counter, clutching the pocket watch and trembling like a small, injured beast.
“You shouldn’t have hurt her,” Short Needle suddenly said, his voice devoid of emotion. “Heli was just too lonely.”
Li Wen said coldly, “Using death to relieve loneliness?”
“Death?” Short Needle shook his head, the brass mask reflecting the dim light of the shop. “Here, death is the cheapest form of amusement.”
Li Wen didn’t know what that meant, and of course, she didn’t care.
“Since I’ve delivered the message, I should be able to leave now, right?” She turned and glanced at Heli, who was startled by her calm and emotionless gaze.
“Please, be my guest,” Short Needle said. “Provided you can leave here by yourself.”
“What, you’re not going to let me leave?” Li Wen thought Short Needle intended to stop her and immediately gripped her dagger, preparing for a fight.
She definitely wouldn’t win if a real fight broke out, but if she showed weakness now, she would be at his mercy.
“No, you haven’t understood what I meant,” Short Needle said unhurriedly. “The dangers outside may exceed your imagination. Are you sure you want to leave here alone?”
Li Wen thought about it and felt that staying here was even more dangerous. Of course, she didn’t say that directly.
“Since I was able to come here, why can’t I go back the way I came?” she retorted.
Upon hearing this, Short Needle simply shook his head in silence.
“A long time ago, a tragic disaster occurred here. That was all our fault, and the reason we were imprisoned here. And now, the aftermath of that disaster still echoes in the grey fog outside. It is an irresistible and exceptionally strange power, something even we are helpless against.”
Even Long-lived beings are helpless?
Li Wen raised an eyebrow. Then she was even more eager to witness it.
Seeing her silent, Short Needle thought he had successfully persuaded Li Wen. So he walked slowly to the counter, sat down, and released the large guinea pig.
The guinea pig, which had been frightened by the fight between Li Wen and Heli, now closed its eyes and enjoyed itself as Short Needle held it and stroked its fur, showing no sign of the anxiety it had displayed earlier when facing Heli.
“What exactly happened in the outer district?” Li Wen was quite curious about this.
Short Needle didn’t intend to hide anything. However, before answering, he asked Li Wen a question: “Do you know why I, and Long-lived beings like me, were exiled here?”
The reason? Hadn’t he said it before? Evening Bell had also mentioned that Short Needle was forever banished for refusing to acknowledge the end of twilight. As for the deeper reasons…
Li Wen recalled the information provided by the Strategy Team, and her pupils involuntarily contracted.
“I heard…” Li Wen said with a serious and cautious tone, “that you fell into madness while pursuing Perfect Amber and were subsequently exiled forever, forbidden from returning to Amber City.”
Pursuing Perfect Amber, or rather, pursuing one of the avatars of that Witch, what did that mean?
“There is such a saying,” Short Needle responded with little emotion, as if such blasphemous and absurd things were mere ordinary occurrences in his eyes. He caressed the guinea pig’s soft fur, his voice from beneath the brass mask calm to the point of being indifferent. “You came from the inner city, have you seen it?”
“Seen what?”
Short Needle answered calmly, “That existence who calls herself ‘Perfect Amber.’”
Li Wen raised an eyebrow, not answering readily.
What was meant by ‘calls herself’? Did that existence indeed not originate from the Witch’s true avatar? That made sense. After all, the true Twilight Witch had long since perished…
“It seems you have had that experience.” Short Needle seemed to have discerned Li Wen’s thoughts from her micro-expressions. “It’s quite incredible, isn’t it? Even though the position on the Pillar has been vacant for a long time, its avatar still exists in this world…”
“Is this also a manifestation of Twilight’s authority?” Li Wen couldn’t help but ask.
Short Needle remained silent for a while before replying in an extremely low, hesitant voice, “No, that was our doing. Our guilt.”
“‘Perfect Amber’ was not born that way. We, who refused to acknowledge the end of twilight, gathered here and tried several times to awaken our Master. It was a futile effort; the figure on the Pillar was long gone. We couldn’t even remember our Master’s appearance… Until, after another attempt, an unnamed existence responded to our hopes. It called itself… ‘Perfect Amber.’”
The clock shop fell into deathly silence. Heli clutched her pocket watch with a resentful expression. The guinea pig covered its ears with its short front paws, looking comically ridiculous. Li Wen, after her shock, pondered for a moment and found it to be quite reasonable.
