Chapter 14 Chapter Fourteen

Nie Yinniang was stunned, and stared blankly at Huo Xiaoyu on the jade steps. Who would have thought that this mechanism maker who manipulated everything in the dark moonlight, this proud and lonely man like a prince who lived alone in an ancient temple deep in the mountains, was actually a deaf and blind cripple? However, his clothes, his long hair, and even his palace are all so neat and meticulous.For five years, he lived alone in this deserted palace like this, with no relatives or friends, and only a group of dolls he made to accompany him.Not only can others not see him, even he sees only darkness in his own eyes, but he still drags his mutilated body, so meticulously embellishing his appearance and demeanor.

Could it be that this is just out of his respect for himself? Nie Yinniang stared at him for a long time, and for the first time felt compassion and respect for the enemy in front of her. Huo Xiaoyu seemed to calm down, tapped the skin drum lightly and said, "You guessed right. Not only am I deaf, dumb, and blind, but I have completely lost consciousness from the chest down." With a teasing smile: "My whole body is barely supported by seven supports. If I leave these supports, I will collapse completely and turn into a puddle of mud on the ground." Nie Yinniang raised her head, looked at his tall figure, and finally understood why he sat so upright.

After a long time, she sighed softly: "Is it the master who turned you into this?" Huo Xiaoyu said calmly: "Yes, that day, he broke my spine, smoked my eyes and throat, and poured mercury into my ears. Since then, I have never seen him again. .But I know that one day he will come back to me." His fingers tapped on the leather drum slowly, calmly, as if those horrific tortures did not happen to him. Huo Xiaoyu raised his head and smiled slightly. The moonlight was shining on his chin, revealing a shocking paleness: "That day, when I woke up from the severe pain, there was only endless blood red in front of my eyes, and the pain pierced to the bone marrow. I'm crazy. I stretched out my hand to grope forward, but found that the blood of Datan was mixed with dust, and it was already half dry. A few mice gathered in the sticky dust. They seemed to be frightened by my outstretched hand, and stepped on me. body, and fled in all directions..." There was a hint of mockery in his smile: "I'm a clean freak, and these dirty beasts made me vomit, almost vomiting my heart out. I don't know what happened again After a while, I struggled to stand up, but felt my spine collapsed inch by inch..."

The voice of the leather drum was jerky and hoarse, like an iron door that had not been opened for a long time: "Can you imagine how terrifying this feeling is?" Nie Yinniang was shocked, and the chill slowly rose from the depths of her bones. Huo Xiaoyu still smiled and said: "After being in a coma for a long time, I woke up again and gradually understood my situation. I calmed down and endured the severe pain to mobilize the organs of my body one by one. I want to know, he still left me What happened..." He lightly brushed away the hair on his cheeks, a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, this smile looked a little strange under the gloomy light and shadow around him, like an infatuated teenager, recalling his memory in the moonlit night. A gift given to him by his lover many years ago.

The cruelest gift in the world. "He also left me these hands, only these hands." Under the haze of long hair, Huo Xiaoyu's smile was more touching than the moonlight: "This means that he doesn't want me to die yet." He paused, and said heavily: "So, I can't die." "I decided to survive, dragging this mutilated body, living in this abandoned palace. I can't hear, I can't see, I can't walk. I am accompanied by mice, puppets, bleak wind, bitter rain... Whenever the rainy day At that time, every bone of mine would be in severe pain as if it was split, and every inch of skin would emit a rotten breath, but I know that my heart is not dead, just because I believe that he will definitely come back to find me..."

His words were as calm as water, but Nie Yinniang couldn't help feeling an inexplicable chill, and couldn't help but ask, "Why did the master treat you like this? What did you do wrong?" Huo Xiaoyu's smile gradually faded, and he sneered: "You are the ones who are wrong, and I have taken the blame for you." Nie Yinniang frowned and said, "You mean, the master blamed you for being a traitor? Then why is it you and not someone else?" Huo Xiaoyu stroked the skin drum lightly, shook his head and said, "That's just because you don't even have the right to be angered." He suddenly raised his head, parted like running water, showing half a pale and thin face.

His appearance is extremely handsome, but his eyes are dull, and there is a smile on his bloodless lips. This smile is fleeting, but it is so pure and breathtaking, as if what he recalled was not cruelty. torture, but the pride of a lifetime. Nie Yinniang looked at him, speechless for a while.Unexpectedly, the man in front of him was so stubborn and persistent, even willingly endured the torture imposed on him by his master, as a special gift from his master. Is he too stupid, or too infatuated? Or, is this just a false dream he wove for himself?Without this dream, who could wait for five full years in such a lifeless hall with a half-dead body?

Five years of darkness, five years of loneliness, five years of pain... Nie Yinniang sighed lightly, and said in a deep voice, "You don't hate him?" Huo Xiaoyu sneered and said, "Hate him? What right do you have to hate him?" He shook his head: "Xie Xiao'e, you were cut to pieces by a quack doctor back then. It was the master who picked you up from the garbage and used all kinds of magic tricks to kill you." , bring you back to life." Xie Xiaoe was still standing on the edge of the hanging wooden table, her clothes were stained red by dripping blood.she.She seemed to have been immersed in this bloody atmosphere for a long time, and she only woke up when she heard someone calling her name.

A look of madness appeared on her face, and she replied sharply: "Yes, I don't hate him. The only person I hate is Nie Yinniang." Huo Xiaoyu ignored her, turned to Liu Yi and said, "Twenty years ago, your hometown suffered from a famine that never happened in a hundred years. Your parents sacrificed themselves to survive and exchanged you for another pair of hungry people. It was the master who saved you." , and handed you over to your first teacher. Ten years later, after you passed the test and became a legend, the master will personally pass on your superior martial arts to you."

There was a faint smile on Liu Yi's face, and he didn't answer, but a glint of pain flashed in the depths of his eyes, as if Huo Xiaoyu's words also stirred up some unbearable memories in him. Huo Xiaoyu paused for a moment, and then said: "Mr. Ren was originally sold into a brothel by his uncle and sister-in-law, but you, Nie Yinniang, were rescued from bandits by him... Which legend does the master have no grace to recreate?" "That's right." Nie Yinniang sneered: "But in the past ten years, I have risked life and death for him and killed countless masters. Regardless of whether the kindness has been repaid or not, I don't want to live this kind of life anymore. Besides, now He is the one who wants to kill us!"

"Ridiculous!" Huo Xiaoyu slammed her fingers, and the leather drum let out a long and sharp sound: "Your life was originally given by him. Even if he wants you to die, he is just taking back what he gave you!" Liu Yi looked at him and said indifferently: "Your life is always your own, so you are so willing to let him take it back?" Huo Xiaoyu sneered: "I only live for him. If he wants to kill me, I am willing, but I want to help him complete this game before I die." He sighed, and continued to beat the drum, the sound But it is much lower: "Let this game start, develop, and end according to his wishes, he will be very happy. I have not seen him smile happily for many years." His fingers stopped tapping and waved lightly into the air.From the sleeves of the black robe, a few hoarse sounds could be heard through the air. The round table suspended in the air, together with the twelve wooden chairs around it, is slowly descending. "It's an episode I added to the game. I know, he'll see it." The table and chairs were lowered, and the half-bright moonlight poured on the wooden table. Only then could Nie Yinniang see clearly that the twelve dolls sitting around the wooden table were really a group of ten-year-old children. They sat at the table, and a fan-shaped painting was placed in front of several of them. It was the tattoo they lost in the earth cave in shock! Nie Yinniang's astonished eyes swept over the group of children one by one, and suddenly stopped on a girl's face. The girl had black hair and shawls, and her jewel-like eyes revealed a maturity that did not match her age. She sat quietly at the table, staring at the bulge covered by the black cloth on the round table, as if thinking about something. Her delicate face is so familiar, and she is holding a bunch of blood shadow needles in her slender hands. Her technique of holding the needles is still a bit unfamiliar, but she has revealed a little confidence and calmness, as if she has a premonition that in the years to come, her Will be associated with these cold silver needles. Nie Yinniang seemed to be shocked by an electric shock, as if she had returned to the time ten years ago in an instant. Through the gap of time, she stared at herself many years ago from a strange angle. This feeling was like the window of an attic that had been covered in dust for a long time, suddenly pierced by a ray of sunlight, the decayed floor was blown by the morning breeze, and her heart was uncontrollably turbulent. The doll was made exactly as she had been when she was thirteen years old.The dolls beside her also maintained their respective postures. Nie Yinniang's eyes slowly moved away, and she gradually recognized the shadows of Wang Xianke, Xie Xiaoe, and Liu Yi from those children. Ten years ago, they were sent to this ancient temple deep in the mountains by different people to start their legendary careers, but they never met each other.But today, ten years later, their dolls are sitting around a round table, staring intently at the black cloth in the center of the wooden table.They sat quietly at the table, as if they had been sitting here for many years. They have already held their own weapons in their hands, but their faces still retain a childlike innocence. Nie Yinniang can't help but have a strange thought in her heart: at that time, she should still remember her name. . If she hadn't repeatedly reminded herself that what she saw was just a doll, she really wanted to rush over, shake that girl's shoulder, and ask her name. Her clenched fists couldn't help shaking. Liu Yi also stared at the boy who belonged to him in the crowd.He is so exquisite and lifelike that even Liu Yi seems to be in a trance—could it be that their souls have been left here ten years ago, and the self who walked out of this ancient temple, grew up slowly, killed slowly, and forgotten slowly? , but it is just a body marked with a legendary number? Who is the puppet in the hands of others? Bang bang, at this moment, Huo Xiaoyu's leather drum made two strange noises. A girl with a falling ponytail stood up slowly from her seat as if summoned by the sound of a drum.There are yellow flowers on her smooth forehead. Although she is very young, she is already beautiful and extraordinary. Her slender eyebrows are slightly raised upwards, revealing an innate charm, and her agile eyes However, it is full of jewel-like blue color. Nie Yinniang couldn't help but took a deep breath: "Mr. Ren?" Of course "Ren Shi" couldn't hear her words, but leaned forward mechanically, and suddenly stretched out a slender hand, tearing off the black cloth on the table. The smell of blood rushed to his face. Under the black cloth was a bloody corpse.There was a big hole in the chest of the corpse, and a piece of skin on the left chest had been peeled off. Blood slid down her body, staining the wooden table scarlet. However, her face was so clean and gentle, without a trace of blood or pain.Her long, pitch-black hair was laid out randomly on the table, like a black demon lotus blooming in the dark night, but her face, which was originally unparalleled in color, looked very beautiful because of the paleness from blood loss.It seemed to be a crystal flower that had lost its color, sad and fragile, but exuding a kind of desolate beauty. This is the Ren family who was killed by the red thread in the Fox Immortal Temple just now. The puppet bent down, almost touching Ren's face.It still has a smile on its face, as if it is really a child with no plans, looking at its future curiously. Children are always curious about their own future. They always ask the fortune teller about their future in the temple, asking for a lottery, unwrapping the lottery.However, in their hearts, this is just a game. No matter how tragic and sad the future they predict is, the child will still laugh heartlessly, as if it was just a joke. After all, the future is too long a word for them. The same is true for the puppet girl, she turned her head slightly to one side, and carefully looked at the corpse of "myself", but there was still a smile on her face. Boom, the drums sounded again. The puppet girl suddenly pulled out a gleaming sharp knife from under the table, and stabbed it into her shoulder.There was a muffled pop, and the dagger went straight to the hilt. There was no trace of pain on the girl's face, and no blood spurted from the wound. Nie Yinniang was about to cry out, when she saw the girl gently turn the dagger, the dagger lifted the skin on her shoulders high, and then moved around, as if trying to peel off the fake skin on her body. The joints in her whole body are several times more flexible than that of a real person, and she can effortlessly turn her head behind her back, or turn her elbows back to manipulate the dagger pierced into her back.In less than a moment, the layer of skin on her body was completely separated from her body, hanging on her body like a broken white robe. With her skin removed, she completely lost the beauty she had just now. Her body cavity is full of dense gears, transmission belts, and balls, which are constantly rotating with her movements, which looks extremely weird. Then, she pulled out the dagger and gently inserted it into Ren's body. Nie Yinniang suddenly understood that she wanted to do the same and completely peel off Ren's skin! The drums were rumbling, as if urging the puppet to move.The puppet girl flicked her wrist lightly, following the beat of the drum, she carefully peeled off the skin of the corpse. Nie Yinniang felt a surge of anger in her heart, she took two steps forward, trying to stop the puppet, but was stopped by Liu Yi.She raised her head and said loudly to Huo Xiaoyu: "Are you crazy?" Huo Xiaoyu let out a deep and vague sneer, tapped the skin drum lightly and said, "Do you still remember the ending of "The Legend of the Ren Family"? Originally, the wizard predicted the death of the Ren family, but because Zheng Sheng insisted on bringing She went west, but she still followed her. When she passed by Mawei Slope, she was spotted by a hyena. Ren took the shape of a fox and ran towards the south, but was finally killed by hounds. When Zheng Sheng arrived, her clothes and fur were like Cicada sloughs are generally entrusted to the local area, and have long since passed away." He paused, and a gloomy smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "So, I want to peel off her fox skin like a cicada. This is the ending of Tang Qiqi, and it is also the ending that the master wants." The sound of the leather drum was still shaking, the puppet girl had already peeled off Ren's skin completely, carefully held it in her hand, and saluted Huo Xiaoyu, as if the envoy was showing a priceless painting to the king. Nie Yinniang took a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the anger in her heart, and said word by word: "What a realistic ending! But the most wonderful thing is not the cicada slough, but the biting hyena that the master kept!" The corner of Huo Xiaoyu's mouth twitched, but then he sneered again: "Nie Yinniang, do you know your ending?" Nie Yinniang didn't answer. Huo Xiaoyu stroked the leather drum lightly, and said: "I have seen your tattoos, and I have prepared the most appropriate ending for you." His slender fingers suddenly flicked heavily on the drum edge. Boom... A strange and long voice sounded. Suddenly, a dazzling cold light exploded at the feet, and with a soft swish sound, a huge steel wheel burst out from between the two of them!