False evidence

Chapter 507 Don't Go Looking for a Beating

My reckless leap into the gates of chaos wasn't entirely impulsive.

The middle coffin door was opened by the masked monk, who seemed very familiar with the layout of this secret passage. I felt that he might not truly possess the compassion of a monk, but he didn't seem to harbor any malicious intentions either. Mainly, I had no grudge against him, so he had no reason to harm me for no reason.

Moreover, when he urged me to come in, he said "to save people."

Both Cao Xinyun and Yan Fengwei are important to me, not to mention Li Meizhi, who disappeared first. I can't delay any longer. Since so many questions remain unanswered, I'll take a gamble.

After hovering in mid-air for a very short time, my feet touched solid ground. Before I could even see what was going on, a sense of doubt and an extremely strong, peculiar feeling arose within me.

The mystery is that, following the path of the secret passage, my jump should have landed me either downwards or on a platform. However, the instant my feet touched solid ground, I clearly felt that my position was significantly higher than before, even higher than the ground itself. It was as if I had jumped from the mountainside towards the valley floor, but unexpectedly landed on a moving platform. In an instant, I was lifted to the equivalent of the mountaintop!
"How could this be..." Lu Xin followed and jumped in through the Gate of Chaos, only whispering half a sentence before abruptly shutting up.

That's because he has already seen clearly where we are.

This seemed to be another secret passage, straight and flat, not extending very far, only about thirty or forty meters. There were flashes of light at the end, indicating that there were likely people there.

Lu Xin dared not disturb the other party easily, so he kept silent, but his expression was very strange.

I immediately realized that he must have felt the same strange sensation as me.

It's hot, so hot. The dark passageway felt like the edge of a furnace; as soon as I entered, I felt like I was being roasted alive. Strangely enough, this "roasting" didn't feel uncomfortable; on the contrary, it was quite comfortable and pleasant.

It felt comfortable, but the temperature rise was real; I was already sweating profusely after only half a minute inside.

I've never been to a sauna, but I feel that my current situation is similar to being in a sauna, as if I'm expelling impurities and toxins from my body through the secretion of sweat.

Xiao Hong exclaimed, "The Emperor's Path is indeed extraordinary; it feels completely different from the side paths on either side."

Lu Xin and I looked at her at the same time. She didn't lower her voice, and her voice sounded particularly abrupt in the quiet passage. She was inevitably suspected of tipping off the people at the end of the passage.

Xiao Hong quickly understood what we meant and laughed, "Don't worry, have you forgotten that I was originally in cahoots with these guys? As long as we don't make a ruckus here, they won't be able to hear us."

She patted my shoulder with her right hand, and I instinctively turned my head, only to find my left neck pressed against something cold and hard.

With a soft laugh, Xiao Hong waved a half-open fruit knife in front of me with her left hand: "The knife belongs to this woman. I just wanted to prove that if she wanted to harm you, you would be dead by now."

I was covered in sweat, but a chill ran through me.

Fang Ling herself would never carry a fruit knife around all the time; it was most likely brought by Tong Jiawen to deal with her so-called enemies.

I've been wary of Xiao Hong using her "ghostly tricks," but I overlooked one thing—she's currently possessing Fang Ling, and can cause real harm just as easily. Moreover, she's been clinging to my back the whole time.

Xiao Hong said, "Put me down."

Without hesitation, I untied the straps. With just those few simple movements, I was soaked in sweat, as if I had been pulled out of the water.

After putting Xiao Hong down, I immediately took off my trench coat. I felt a slight coolness, and a sense of comfort washed over me.

Lu Xin was also drenched in sweat. He wiped the sweat from his face and said with excitement, "Damn, that was really exhilarating! No wonder it's so comfortable to be a human."

Xiao Hong didn't seem to notice anything unusual, and even seemed puzzled by our situation. But she didn't ask anything. She just lowered her eyes as if thinking for a moment and said, "Since we're here to save people, let's stop dawdling and come with me."

She was decisive; she started walking forward as she spoke.

The passage was pitch black on both sides, so I didn't dare to act rashly. I just followed behind her, while secretly signaling to Lü Xin to be careful and ready to deal with any possible emergencies.

I gave Lü Xin a meaningful look, but I noticed that he looked at me with surprise and obvious wariness.

I was taken aback: "What's wrong with you?"

Lu Xin rolled his eyes and said, "I'm fine, but you seem to be different."

I frowned, but before I could say anything, I heard Xiao Hong say, "I changed his appearance."

I was startled again and raised my hand to touch my face.

Lu Xin whispered, "You can't see it yourself, but to me, you've completely become a different person. You've become—Zhu Yunwen."

My eyelids twitched suddenly. He said, "I also saw the information at Zhao Qi's place. You look exactly like Zhu Yunwen in the photo right now."

I started to realize what was happening and asked Xiaohong, "Is this an illusion?"

Xiao Hong stopped and stepped aside, nodding slightly: "Although the Void Realm exists between illusion and reality, it doesn't allow you to do whatever you want. If you make the slightest mistake, you could easily become trapped here and never be able to leave. I'll transform you into that person's appearance, so even if you're discovered, your life won't be in danger."

My heart raced uncontrollably: "Who is that person?"

“Emperor Jianwen,” Xiao Hong said expressionlessly, enunciating each word clearly, “Zhu Yunwen.”

Although I had a vague idea of ​​the answer beforehand, it was still hard to believe when she said it.

The final whereabouts of Emperor Jianwen in history is indeed an eternal mystery. But even if he did not die in that struggle for political power, how could a person from the Ming Dynasty be alive today?

Could Li Meizhi's landlord, Zhu Yunwen, be the reincarnation of Emperor Jianwen?
Considering the situation involving Li Meizhi and Liang Kaiyuan, this is the only way I can think of it.

"Let's talk as we go," Xiao Hong gestured to me with her chin, indicating that I should go first. Lu Xin said sarcastically, "Why aren't you going first? Is there some kind of trap ahead?"

Xiao Hong laughed. She now possessed Fang Ling's body and had Fang Ling's face, but her laughter carried a hint of wicked charm: "Have you ever seen an emperor walk behind palace maids and eunuchs?"

Lu Xin wasn't oblivious to the ambiguity in her words, but he was too lazy to argue with her. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Are you perhaps a palace maid serving Emperor Jianwen?"

Xiao Hong's smile faded, and she shook her head slightly: "No, it was because of him that I died."

Lu Xin wanted to ask again, but Xiao Hong looked at me and raised her voice slightly: "Are you still going to save them or not?"

I didn't say anything, just kept one hand in my bag and walked forward silently.

Xiao Hong followed behind and said, "I cast an illusion on you just to make things easier. You must remember, when you have no choice but to reveal yourself, don't care what others say, just do what you want to do, and once you've achieved your goal, leave immediately."

"Whom are we going to save?" Lu Xin asked as he walked beside her.

His question puzzled me. Why were we here? Whom are we saving? Do we even need to ask?
Xiao Hong seemed a little surprised: "You didn't come for that woman?"

Lu Xin countered, "Which woman?"

Listening to their questions, I felt something had gone wrong. It's true we initially came to find Li Meizhi, but now, with Liang Yuan, Erpang, Zhao Qi, Yan Fengwei, and Cao Xinyun, too many people are missing. Our goal is, of course, to find them, but the woman Xiao Hong was talking about didn't seem like Li Meizhi at all.

"Oh, it seems I was mistaken," Xiao Hong said calmly. "Since you're not here for He Bing, you're even less likely to be here for that meddlesome mute. In that case, we don't need to go." As she spoke, she stopped in her tracks.

I stopped too, without turning around, and said in a commanding tone, "It's not your place to say no now. Go, you must go!"

Xiao Hong reacted quickly: "You're willing to put your sister in danger for someone unrelated? Oh, I almost forgot, you don't understand what the ethereal realm is. Let me just talk about the practical benefits. The most special thing about this place is that everyone here, whether ghost or real, exists in the form of a real person. Heh, I need to emphasize another point, that is, the so-called real people are people written down by someone. They do exist, but they are people from twenty-one years ago."

Lu Xin clicked his tongue and said, "How come it's getting more and more confusing?"

I turned to look at Xiaohong and asked, "Can I fight them?"

Xiao Hong laughed again: "You can kill them all if you want, but in reality, they will only lose a small part of their memory; they won't actually die. But conversely, if you come here as a living person and they hurt you, you will be truly injured. If they kill you, you might not even be able to become a ghost, let alone go back."

She turned to Lü Xin and winked: "You're the same. You should understand what I mean. Although you're not human, you don't belong to this world. If you suffer a fatal injury, there will only be one consequence: your soul will be scattered."

Lu Xin pursed his lips, but when he looked at me, his eyes shone with a burning light: "I think I've heard some good news!"

Seeing that his face was slightly distorted with excitement, I quickly thought of something and said to him in a deep voice, "Being able to 'live again' is indeed a thrilling thing to think about, but I advise you to be careful and not to be overconfident."

"I really like you, because you know what I'm thinking." Lu Xin laughed unrestrainedly.

I nodded: "You think I was lying to you before. You think that the 'rebirth' I mentioned was just using this special situation, and that once you leave here, you would become a consciousness subordinate to mine again, right? Don't deny it! I know you want freedom, even if you can't really be reborn, or even become an independent ghost, but you enjoy the feeling of freedom."

What you're thinking right now is—here, everyone, regardless of their nature, is 'equal,' everyone is 'human'! Our cautiousness along the way is disgusting, and this dragging on is driving me crazy. You just want to achieve your goal without a second thought, and then let yourself go, right? Even knowing it's an illusion, a killing indistinguishable from reality, will release your pent-up emotions.

"You're absolutely right!" Lu Xin's eyes showed a hint of sadness, but the fire of excitement still burned within him.

“You’ve overlooked a major problem,” I had to remind him. “Apart from the two unlucky guys who were killed by that Young Master Zhou, the other forty-seven guys may not be ordinary people as you see them.”

I gestured towards Xiao Hong with my lip: "She's a fire ghost, and apparently a ghost that's hundreds of years old. Let's assume for now that she's here because she's connected to Emperor Jianwen, Zhu Yunwen. Guess what the rest of those guys think, whatever their current status, might be connected to Zhu Yunwen? If so, then you should think about what kind of people could be so 'close' to the emperor? Palace maids? Eunuchs? Princes and ministers? Oh, and maybe a few imperial guards too—that shouldn't be a fake, right?"

In fact, Lu Xin's expression changed drastically when he was only halfway through his sentence.

Having known him for so long, I understand him quite well. He's a libertine, a libertine to the core. He chases after profit, but he values ​​freedom even more.

Almost all of his skills were learned from women. A variety of half-baked skills, each acquired from women of different backgrounds.

After gradually learning about his life, I discovered something unusual—he was a con artist who made a living by deceiving women, but this guy seemed to have a bit of 'chivalry' for women.

When I'm bored, I sometimes ask him what happens to the women he's deceived. I found that Tong Jiawen was a real exception.

Tong Jiawen truly loved him, but he didn't reciprocate her feelings. However, when he abandoned her in the end, he not only didn't sell her into prostitution, but also provided her with enough resources for a simple life. Unfortunately, Tong Jiawen was too strong-willed, and coupled with terrible luck, she later ended up with Jiang Baohan, which was the main reason for her ultimately tragic end.

Lu Xin was a conman by trade, a con artist, but perhaps due to the tragic experience he had in his youth, his personality became somewhat exaggerated in some aspects.

It's like he practiced kung fu so hard that his hands looked as delicate as a woman's, but the power he could unleash was enough to split rocks and shatter stone tablets.

He is very confident, and the root of his confidence lies in the hard work he has put into improving his personal strength.

When I first entered the secret passage, the way he slapped the wall was already quite shocking.

He was impressive, but he forgot that this "world" was not the world in the ordinary sense, and the "enemy" he was about to face was not an ordinary person.

Lü Xin is a smart man; he understood my meaning without me having to explain further.

He looked at Xiao Hong: "What the hell are those? Are they all related to Emperor Jianwen? Court officials? Servants? And..."

"Imperial Guard!" Xiao Hong stared at his loosely clenched fist, her eyes revealing undisguised contempt. "Don't you dare ask for a beating."

(End of this chapter)