Translator: Dj22031
Editor: Dj22031
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Li Yuebai could no longer speak, only desperately pounding his fists against the invisible barrier.
The barrier felt cold and hard, like ice frozen for a thousand years, or like the most solid bulletproof glass.
Through the barrier, he could see Ye Qing standing there quietly. In just a few days, his eyes had sunken, his complexion was poor, and he looked exhausted.
Li Yuebai panicked, losing control of his strength, and with a sharp crack, a cut appeared on his hand, blood flowing onto the transparent barrier.
The strong smell of vila blood filled the air.
Perhaps, that tiny crack in the barrier had actually had a slight effect.
Because Ye Qing suddenly turned his gaze in this direction.
He had noticed! Li Yuebai’s heart pounded wildly.
Ye Qing’s eyes were filled with confusion as he walked towards them.
The closer he got, the colder Li Yuebai felt.
It was clear that Ye Qing’s already pale skin had become even paler, as dry and brittle as snow covered in dust. Several horrifying cracks appeared on his once smooth skin, and the blue veins on his slender hands were clearly visible. There were also gruesome bite marks and wounds on his arms.
What had he gone through…?
“System,” Li Yuebai roared inwardly, “How can I break the barrier? How can I escape this illusion?”
“Oh dear, didn’t I already tell you? Just follow Gao Chengyu’s instructions and kill Ye Qing’s illusion, and that’s it.” The system yawned.
“Tell me another way.”
“There is another way.” The system was unusually straightforward: “That is— kill the spellcaster. Unfortunately, your marksmanship is too poor; the crow escaped.”
Gu Xisha’s close-range marksmanship was definitely not bad. Not long ago, Li Yuebai had used such marksmanship to instantly kill several of Wang Ju’s men. Just now, when he fired at the crow, he concentrated all his attention, making it a truly brilliant shot.
The crow escaped death because its magic was too powerful— to create such a perfect illusion, it was already a very powerful vampire; it couldn’t have been killed so easily with a single shot.
Conversely, if the crow were so easily killed, it wouldn’t have brazenly placed itself on the windowsill; it would have hidden in a safe place from the beginning, not giving Li Yuebai any chance to kill it.
Now, Li Yuebai had injured it and greatly depleted its magic, causing a small crack in the barrier— this was already a huge advantage.
“There must be a third way,” Li Yuebai raised his right hand to his mouth and licked his wound. “There must be.”
“I know what you’re thinking,” the system sneered. “You want Ye Qing to break the barrier for you from the outside? Wake up, that’s impossible. How could he break something he can’t see?”
“Really can’t?” Li Yuebai’s eyes sharpened.
Indeed, Ye Qing couldn’t break this barrier. Even if he was a vampire, even if he was the Joker, he wouldn’t know where the barrier was.
“Don’t underestimate the vampire’s barrier. It can only be destroyed from the inside; those outside can’t do anything about it.” The system’s tone was full of sarcasm. “To tell you the truth, Ye Qing coming here won’t help you in the slightest. He can only wait in vain outside.”
“…” Li Yuebai bit his injured right hand and paced back and forth.
“Dear host, you’ve wasted another hour,” the system kindly reminded him.
In the dark tower, even the crows were gone from the empty windowsills, leaving only Li Yuebai struggling to hold on. The cold-blooded system in his mind kept mocking him, tripping him up, and testing his psychological limits.
This scene was not only desolate but also filled with despair. Li Yuebai stopped, a smile playing on his lips.
Despair wasn’t so bad; at least he could see the person he wanted to see through the barrier— that was enough.
“System, sometimes you really are…” Li Yuebai shook his head with a smile, “…honest!”
The system was momentarily stunned.
“Dear host, I think that by human standards, describing me as cunning or cruel would be more appropriate.” The system was somewhat flustered: “Honest? Why do you say I’m honest?”
The system wasn’t human, but it had a certain self-awareness, knowing how its vile behavior had repeatedly hurt its dear host. Therefore, it could feel this cruel pleasure.
“In this world, you repeatedly avoided my questions, ignored my requests, played word games, deliberately created misunderstandings and confusion, and even killed the person I valued most.”
“Yes, yes, dear host, I admit it all.”
“But,” Li Yue smiled, “there’s one thing you’ve never done.”
“What?”
“Lying.”
“…” This time, the system was truly speechless, like the king in Andersen’s fairy tale, whose nakedness was exposed by his subjects, or like the Sphinx in Greek mythology, whose most important mystery was guessed.
“You don’t lie. Everything you say is the truth.” Li Yuebai said, enunciating each word clearly. “You just like to break down the truth, scramble it, and hide it in meaningless phrases, making me misunderstand.”
“…” The system let out a pitiful whimper.
“But as long as I don’t misunderstand, the truth will have nowhere to hide.” Li Yuebai reached out and tapped his temple. “I’m sorry, dear system, I’ve remembered every single word you’ve said.”
“Dear… dear host, remembering so much… is useless…” the system flattered. “Many of the things I’ve said are actually just meaningless words…”
“Meaningful.” Li Yuebai deliberately lowered his voice, adopting a coaxing tone. “Very, very meaningful.”
“…”
“For example, just now, you told me an important fact.” Li Yuebai reached into his pocket and pulled out a jet-black crow feather. “Right after I injured the crow, you told me— only the caster can escape the illusion created by the spellcaster.”
This sentence was said by the system to crush him and completely block his hope of escape.
“Then, dear system, the barrier is right in front of me.” Li Yuebai pointed to the cracked part of the barrier: “Guess if this crow feather can pass through the barrier? It’s part of the spellcaster…”
“Even if it does, what does that prove… Dear host, what exactly, what exactly are you trying to say…” The system began to stammer.
“I don’t want to say anything, I just want to say hello to my Ye Qing.”
“…”
Li Yuebai didn’t have time to tease the system anymore. He closed his eyes tightly, waved his hand, and the black crow feather, like a sharp arrow, a dart, pierced towards the barrier.
A flash of white light, and the hard barrier, upon touching the crow feather, transformed into a soft pool of water, even rippling— the crow feather easily pierced through the barrier, passing into another world.
On the other side of the barrier, Ye Qing merely blinked slightly, and saw a black crow feather appear out of thin air.
He instinctively reached out, letting it dangle gently into his palm.
It was a crow feather; though he didn’t know its significance, he could smell a familiar scent on it.
Just moments ago, that familiar scent had appeared.
“Li Yuebai?” Ye Qing clenched the feather, silently gazing at where it had drifted from.
The moment he saw the feather float into Ye Qing’s hand, Li Yuebai almost burst into tears.
He couldn’t remember how long it had been since he’d seen Ye Qing, and he never imagined their meeting would be in such a peculiar way.
There was still crow blood on the windowsill, dark red and viscous, with a dozen or so feathers scattered nearby— not many.
“System, tell me, what if I held the feathers in my hand?” Li Yuebai collected the feathers one by one, examining them carefully. “Would the barrier allow me to pass through as well?”
“Hahahaha! My dear host, you’re being rather delusional!” The system, which had just been terrified, immediately began to mock him smugly upon hearing this. “Indeed, the feathers are part of the spellcaster; they can penetrate the barrier, but to shield you from it is impossible. At most, it can carry a flimsy piece of paper! You? Not even in ten thousand years!”
“A piece of paper?” Li Yuebai smiled. “That’s enough.”
He picked up the parchment on the ground and quickly cut a small piece off.
At the moment of cutting, it seemed as if the parchment was crying out in despair.
The parchment was heavier than ordinary paper; if it were kept intact, it might be too heavy to pass through, so it had to be cut.
Li Yuebai rushed to the windowsill with the small piece of paper, took a crow feather, dipped it in crow blood, and wrote a few words on it as quickly as possible.
He didn’t stop to think about what to write, only wanting to be brief and concise.
“To Xiao Ye, I brought you a bottle of water, outside the door on the first floor.”
“Dear host, what did you write…?” The system was too preoccupied with confusion to react with anger.
What was the difference between this message and a small note stuck to the refrigerator in a typical rental apartment?
They were facing life-or-death situations, having experienced so much bloodshed, and this was their only chance to exchange important information, yet Li Yuebai had only written: “I brought you a bottle of water?”
Was he a cheerleader at the basketball court? Would you like a towel too? Respected host?
The parchment, stained with the blood of the caster’s crow and adorned with crow feathers, easily passed through the barrier.
Ye Qing took the parchment that appeared out of thin air, glanced at it, and without a second’s hesitation, turned and went down the stairs.
He knew Li Yuebai’s handwriting all too well; no matter how strange the request, he would comply.
The world Ye Qing was in was the real world. Unlike the barrier Li Yuebai was in, the gate to the Seven Star Tower in the real world wasn’t firmly closed; it remained open.
Outside the gate, amidst a pile of broken rocks overgrown with weeds, a bottle of drinking water lay hidden deep within, unnoticed by anyone.
The brand was the common Nongfu Spring, the cap had been opened once, and surprisingly, it bore a seal bearing Li Yuebai’s signature.
The drinking water inside was clear and transparent, appearing no different from normal drinking water.
Ye Qing returned to the barrier with the bottle, casting a puzzled glance at the spot where the crow feather and parchment had drifted out.
He vaguely sensed that place was a passage, and Li Yuebai was on the other side.
He had sent him the letter, not as a plea for help, not to ask him to break the barrier, but simply as a bottle of water.
“What did this mean?”
“It’s just for you to drink. Don’t overthink it, silly child.”
Li Yuebai, behind the barrier, was secretly anxious.
He had indeed been too uncaring towards his disciple.
If he had always taken the approach of serving him tea and water and showing concern, Ye Qing wouldn’t be thinking so much now.
In fact, he really didn’t mean anything by it.
He simply felt sorry for him because he had been thirsty for so long.
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