Chapter 200: Opposition
According to this statement, the short needle and its group of long-lived beings created, no… awakened a false god?
However, Li Wen quickly dismissed this idea because her “The Primordial Codex of Ending” was personally bestowed by Perfect Amber. Since Perfect Amber held the primordial texts of the Twilight System, then that being calling itself “Perfect Amber,” regardless of whether it was an avatar of a witch or not, must have an inextricable connection with the Twilight Witch.
The short needle continued, “Based on unbearable fear and anxiety, we built temples and dwellings for that existence, intending to eliminate that formless terror and the impending tragedy. However, it was to no avail, and calamity eventually befell us… the land was torn apart, the grey fog spread, and the once prosperous kingdom was eventually reduced to ruins. We were powerless against it.”
“To this day, the grey fog still lingers over this land, continuously bringing disaster. Only the inner city, protected by Perfect Amber, was spared… of course, that was before I was exiled. After my exile, I used my temporal abilities to build this clock shop. This place does not belong to any time node connected to the present world. In other words, the power of the grey fog cannot affect it, and you will never be able to welcome death again.”
This was why the short needle had mentioned earlier that death here was the cheapest form of entertainment, as this place was outside of time.
Li Wen frowned slightly, “An eternal cage?”
“Amber City is the cage,” the short needle said in a low voice. “An eternal prison.”
“Alright, thank you for the information.” Li Wen lost interest in further investigation. Regardless of why the short needle and their companions plotted against Perfect Amber, or what kind of existence Perfect Amber was, these things were still too far removed from her. Since they were not related to the primordial texts, there was no need to probe too deeply. “Since I have delivered the Evening Bell’s message, how you deal with it is your affair. I shall take my leave.”
After speaking, Li Wen pushed open the door and left without waiting for the short needle’s reaction.
The short needle did not try to persuade her further, but merely watched her receding figure, saying nothing.
After a long while, Heli cautiously poked her small head out and asked with half fear and half curiosity, “Dad, is she dead? Will she die?”
“She bears the mark of the Evening Bell. Fate has guided her all along, which is why she was able to pass through the grey fog so smoothly and arrive here,” the short needle said in a deep voice. “But that power is not long-lasting. It is now nearing depletion and cannot guide her away again.”
“Then she’s doomed?” Heli looked happy for a moment, then her expression turned aggrieved. “If she had listened, she wouldn’t have died, just like these accidental intruders.”
As she spoke, she pointed at a pathetic guinea pig, which was so frightened that it immediately burrowed under the counter.
“That being said, I have a premonition… she will return again,” the short needle said.
*
The moment Li Wen stepped out, the clock shop behind her vanished, like an illusion. Only the cold, damp grey fog re-emerged, obscuring everything in front of her.
This unsettling restlessness… it was indeed quite intriguing.
Li Wen looked up and suddenly caught sight of something passing overhead. However, the fog was too thick for her to discern what it was.
The next moment, a familiar arc light flew from the same direction. Li Wen instinctively dodged it, gripping her dagger and preparing to counterattack, but then stopped herself at the opportune moment.
Spell-less Arc Light?
She certainly recognized her own move, and judging by the state of that arc light, it should indeed have come from her.
With a subtle curiosity, she decisively walked towards that direction. After only a few steps, Li Wen found a headless corpse lying in a corner.
The wound at the severed neck was smooth, with no other external injuries. It appeared to have been instantly severed by something extremely sharp. Furthermore, the corpse was wearing familiar cloak, and the dagger held in its hand was also not unfamiliar…
“This is my corpse?” Li Wen raised an eyebrow.
She stepped forward and confirmed that it was indeed her in-game body. Judging by the corpse’s temperature and the freshness of its blood, it seemed to have died not long ago… It was possible that at the exact moment Li Wen dodged that Spell-less Arc Light, her counterpart here had its head severed by corresponding means.
This didn’t feel like an illusion, but it shouldn’t be real either, because she herself was still a Player. If she died, the corpse would directly disappear, leaving at most dropped items.
“How interesting.”
Li Wen muttered and continued forward.
Along the way, she found not just one headless corpse, but many corpses with various causes of death. Without a doubt, those corpses were all her.
Some were brutally killed, reduced to a bloody pulp, as if crushed by a massive weight. Only the tattered cloak could identify them as herself; others were corpses whose internal organs had been completely eaten by moths with human heads. When Li Wen found them, those moths were still attempting to attack her, but she had annihilated them all with a single Fool’s Praise…
“Like some kind of possibility.”
Having just exchanged blows with a Transcendent of the Temporal Path, Li Wen quickly realized that these corpses with different manners of death were all the ways she might die in this grey fog. But why would they appear here…
Could it be that Heli, frustrated by Li Wen’s victory, had secretly snuck out to ambush her?
But thinking about it, it seemed unlikely. After all, the short needle had repeatedly spoken of how dangerous it was outside the grey fog, so it was unlikely they would send their own daughter to certain death.
As Li Wen was pondering, a strange sense of unease suddenly struck her. She looked back and saw that the previously seen corpses were disappearing one after another.
After another strange sensation, Li Wen herself emerged from the grey fog.
Yes, it was as if someone had placed a giant full-length mirror in front of Li Wen. An identical “Li Wen,” with no differences whatsoever, appeared before her.
The grey fog flowed slowly between the two of them, like an invisible curtain. Li Wen and “herself” met gaze to gaze, their breathing rates perfectly synchronized. Every fold in the Emerald Star Cloak was identical to hers, and even the way her right hand held the dagger was the same.
“Who are you?” Li Wen spoke first, her voice sounding particularly muffled in the dense fog.
“That question should be mine to ask,” the other Li Wen echoed, her tone and expression showing no difference. “What are you, to dare wear my likeness.”
Before the words were even finished, cold light flashed.
Two Raven Feather Daggers struck out simultaneously, colliding in the air and sparking dazzling sparks. Li Wen took half a step back, her heel crushing the ashes frozen on the ground, while the other followed like a shadow, her blade grazing Li Wen’s cheek and drawing tiny beads of blood.
