Conan: The Man Behind the Romance

Chapter 412 Yingsheng’s split personality: Qingzi’s personality!
Nothing has changed in reality.

On another level, Kiyoko's mind let go of all the burdens, and her subconscious mind no longer hid out of instinct, but completely opened up her "self" to Hotaru.

The deepest desires, pains and joys shone in her heart like stars under the sky.

And that sky is the life of fireflies.

His own existence had collapsed, and his vague spirit enveloped all the stars, gradually merging with Qingzi's "self", and they could no longer be distinguished from each other.

Kiyoko's memories, feelings, pain and joy, all the fleeting glimpses of the past are no longer exclusive to her, but are integrated into this indescribable whole.

The same is true for all fireflies.

Their existence is no longer just that of an individual, but a completely open acceptance and tolerance.

To use the words from "EVA", the mental barrier between the two of them was completely dissolved.

If it stops here, once this new self stabilizes, it will naturally no longer be either Yingsheng or Qingzi.

Or she can be called Mizuki Kiyoko.

Or cedar fireflies.

In short, no longer alone.

This definitely fits with what Yingsheng said before, that they became more complete beings and would never be separated again.

but.

In this way, for the individual "Xedon Kiyoko", it is ultimately the extinction of the "self".

From the very beginning, Yingsheng didn't want this to happen.

He just hopes that Qingzi will still be Qingzi.

This cannot be achieved with [illusion] alone. If Yingsheng wants to maintain his self in the spiritual connection with Qingzi and help her maintain her self at the same time, the connection will only be broken...

No.

It was impossible to achieve from the beginning.

Fortunately, at noon yesterday, the love of Yingsheng finally reached 200 points, reaching a new milestone:

【Non-attachment】

There is no need to elaborate on the meaning. Looking back on his past actions, Yingsheng felt that this judgment was 80% accurate but also a little biased, as he was obviously very obsessed with Xiaolan.

Gain new skills:
【Other transformation】

The description of this skill is quite mysterious. Without mentioning it, Yingsheng only has some general guesses about its usage. In fact, this is the first time he has used it.

As for Tomoko Suzuki...

Yingsheng only guessed that she was affected by [Hehua Zizai], but he couldn't be sure whether it was actually the case.

Maybe she just had an aristocratic problem.

Anyway, the whole world knows that rich Japanese ladies like to find gigolos, and Liuying is the No. 1 among them.

Back to the present.

When Yingsheng was in spiritual connection with Qingzi, he used [Other-Transformation] on himself. In this process, the "self" transcended the obsession with the individual and was in the dark...

It was the same state as when I was in the mental hospital.

The manas consciousness, which transcends the six consciousnesses, participates in the process of spiritual integration, which is exactly what the sutra says:

Take advantage of others' pleasure and have fun.

Regardless of the subtleties and mysteries involved, in short, with that bit of manas as the core, Yingsheng successfully brought together Qingzi's memory, personality, consciousness, etc.

Jingle Bell--

The wind chimes rang on the flower stand.

In the gentle breeze, Qingzi slowly opened her eyes.

The light white skirt spread out on the swing, and the slender white bare feet swayed gently under the skirt.

Above is the velvet night sky, and below it is the bright moon shining brightly, overwhelming the neon lights of the city, but it cannot suppress the prosperity brought by the breeze and the hustle and bustle of the city.

There was some confusion in Qingzi's eyes, until she heard a familiar chuckle in front of her, and then the confusion disappeared.

"How does it feel, are you still you?"

Under the light shadows cast by the wisteria flower spikes, Yingsheng, wearing black silk pajamas, lay on a bench covered with white felt, with tenderness in her eyes.

"I don't quite understand what happened before. Was this all just a dream?" Qingzi asked.

"I also hope that this is just a dream, but in the real world, you are already dead. This is in my heart." Yingsheng paused, "No, it's in our hearts. The two of us are now equal personalities."

Qingzi tilted her head, "Now I recall everything that happened before. The person I saw in the lounge was obviously Yaoguang. Why did I think she was you?"

"Because in some ways, I am very similar to you."

An old-fashioned rattan chair suddenly appeared next to Yingsheng's chair. Qingliu Qiansu was wearing a light blue cloth button pajamas, holding a blue and white porcelain teacup in her hand, blowing gently.

Kiyoko looked at her, "Aoyagi-san means that you also became one of Hotaru's personalities after your death before, and then you regained your body?"

"That's about it. You will have your body back later." said Aoyagi Chisou.

Although she is just a ghost differentiated from the memory of Hotaru, Kiyoko has a complete personality.

But at this point, her situation is indeed similar to Qingzi's, or even much better.

At least she is a real human being now.

"Um……"

Qingzi thought about it for a long time, but still couldn't understand it. She looked at Yingsheng with a strange expression.

"It sounds so surreal. How can you do such a thing?"

Yingsheng laughed, "Now the whole world knows that magic is real, so why can't Xuantian, who I have been telling everyone about, really exist?"

"Eh? So it was Xuantian who gave you the power?"

"That should be the case." Yingsheng said, "I'm sorry, this is all I can do now. As for your body, I'm still going to use your clone. What do you think?"

"That would be great, but how is Hotaru going to explain it to everyone else?" Kiyoko asked.

"Noah's Ark will create a brain in a vat, and I know you very well," Yingsheng said.

"Well... speaking of understanding, I found something really outrageous." Qingzi said in a resentful tone, "When our consciousnesses merged before, Ying saw my entire life, but I saw almost nothing."

"Is there such a thing? It shouldn't be possible." Yingsheng thought for a while, "I can't cheat in that kind of consciousness fusion. I guess it's probably because your self is too weak, and you may have a mistake in self-cognition, so you instinctively exclude the 'non-self' part."

"…It sounds complicated, but I think this is normal, right? Hotaru, won't you suffer from cognitive dissonance?"

"I'm a psychopath, so having an extra personality is nothing." Yingsheng said with a smile, "Besides, I didn't have much hope before, but I was desperate, so I just gave it a try. And I was surprised that you can actually accept the dissolution of your self."

Qingzi sighed softly, "No matter how I look at it, I think you have deceived me. Although my impression is not very clear, the feeling of 'completeness' before was still very good."

Yingsheng: “…”

Qing Liu Qian Su: "..."

Both of them looked away for a moment, not knowing how to respond to these words that sounded quite hentai to them.

There is a phrase called "long-standing spiritual connection", which is quite normal in this world, but in Ying's previous life, no one dared to use it indiscriminately.

because……

It involves the deepest privacy, an intimacy that goes beyond physical contact.

"Cough cough."

Yingsheng cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, this is it. Until you come back to life, I have to inconvenience you to stay here."

He pointed and the moonlight gathered in the air to form a large screen, revealing the outside world. It was the living room of an ordinary house, with news from Tokyo on TV. "This is our external perspective. I'm sorry, everyone still calls our bodies Shuiyueyingsheng. Everything here is created by the mind. Your personality is equal to mine. Theoretically, you can do anything here."

"Is it all I have to do if I just think about it?"

Qingzi closed her eyes with interest, opened them after a moment, looked around, and shook her head in disappointment.

"I tried to imagine some flowers on the balcony, but it was impossible."

"It's just that you are not yet experienced. What kind of flower do you want?" Yingsheng asked.

"No, let me practice slowly by myself. Now..." Qingzi suddenly thought of something and her expression became depressed again. "Hina, you obviously know how to disguise yourself. It was just that you lacked the materials in the past. There was no need for me to learn it."

Yingsheng shook his head. "My skills are at best elementary, far inferior to Vermouth's. I let you practice because I hope you can reach that level."

"Oh, sorry."

"In theory, I should be able to share my knowledge with you, but in order to avoid affecting your personality stability, I can only trouble you to learn on your own." Yingsheng thought for a while, "It seems that there is a master of disguise on the island where I am. Let's go and ask her to be our teacher later."

"Please, Hotaru, but can you do it a little later? I actually feel like sleeping now." Kiyoko yawned softly.

"I'm fine now, but you want to sleep. Hmm..." Yingsheng frowned slightly, but soon relaxed again. "Does this mean that your personality is intact and has not been disturbed by my spirit? This is good news."

"........."

Kiyoko sighed, "As far as my subjective feelings are concerned, I was feeling unwell, went to bed early, was woken up by you in the middle of the night, rushed all the way to Tokyo, suffered all kinds of physical torture, and then suddenly ended up here after a very magical experience."

"I can say that I couldn't hold on any longer and just wanted to have a good sleep. I didn't have any other thoughts."

"And Hotaru you seem to be fine. You really are a monster. You are obviously the one suffering the most."

"Well, I'm used to it." Yingsheng turned off the screen in the sky. "Then good night. When you wake up, just shout for me outside. I will hear you."

"Okay, good night."

Qingzi jumped off the swing lightly, stretched her slender body under the moonlight, tears welled up in the corners of her eyes, and she went into the house yawning with her hands covering her mouth.

Qingliu Qiansu put down the teacup, and with a "clang" sound, the world turned into an endless ocean. The two of them were lying and sitting on the steel of the submarine floating on the water.

"Master, your body will die, but your consciousness will not die. With the connection between us and the other, you can definitely be revived in my body."

"Guess why I asked you to tell those people about the Luotian Dajiao?" Yingsheng asked.

"So Master wanted to resurrect me using that method. I'm sorry, I really shouldn't have committed suicide like that." Qing Liu Qian Su said.

"The mind moves very fast. I will explain everything to you before I die." Yingsheng smiled, "But Hongzi's notebook describes a high level of red magic, where the body disappears but the consciousness remains. I have been trying it."

"Is there any result?"

"Not at all. Maybe it's because I don't have wizard blood after all. The blood of Hongzi in my body was also very thin at that time." Yingsheng sighed, "And I wasn't close to death at that time, and Noah's Ark came out. I don't know whether it is good or bad."

"...Master, have you ever thought about what would happen if both of your attempts failed?"

"Haha, then I am unlucky. Please send Xiaolan and the others to Kyoto. I will go there by sea."

As Yingsheng finished his words, he had already disappeared on the sea.

Qing Liu Qiansu used her fingertips to draw a smiley face from the starlight.

"It's so troublesome to be a human being."

After saying that, she opened her eyes.

Feeling weak and dizzy, my vision gradually focused and what came into view was Qingzi lying quietly on the sofa.

The soft light shines on her face, peaceful and tranquil, like a flower carved from ice and snow breathing gently.

Although her body was already cold.

Qing Liu Qiansu sat there for a long while, and the aftereffects of carrying the will of the firefly subsided slightly.

She subconsciously compared her previous feelings with the time when she was connected with Xuantian in the past, and finally found out with great dismay that her master's current strength was more than an order of magnitude lower than Xuantian's.

But Master and Xuantian have different life forms, so it’s not possible to make such a simple comparison.

Qingliu Qiansu rubbed his temples, got up and went out.

Haibara Ai and Junerick were waiting at the end of the corridor, and when they saw her come out, they immediately cast expectant glances at her.

"She's dead. The attempt was successful, right?" Qing Liu Qian Su asked, "Is Miss Lan back?"

Huihara Ai shook her head blankly, "Not coming back, that... dying... how can that be considered a success?"

"Because..." Qing Liu Qian Su squatted down and leaned close to Xiao Ai's ear, "Xuan Tian bless you."

"Eh?"

Xiao Ai looked confused, wondering if this big sister Yaoguang might have some mental problems.

"Anyway, you'll know later. Go to bed now." Qing Liu Qian Su ruffled her hair. "I'm really sorry for letting a kid like you stay up so late."

"…I'm not a real child. What should I do with Miss Kiyoko's body?" asked Ai.

She has lived in the organization since she was a child and is accustomed to life and death. She also had a psychological expectation of Qingzi's final outcome and accepted the current situation very quickly.

"Have her cremated as soon as possible. Her genes are seriously damaged. If you delay it any longer, her skin will no longer be pretty."

Aoyagi Chiso called Xiaolan and learned that they had just left the crematorium, so she asked her to help cut in line.

"Aren't you going to wait for Ying to come back and see her for the last time?" Xiaolan's tone was quite complicated.

"No need, I'll be there right away. By the way, please ask Miss Sonoko to prepare a four-door sports car. I'll drive you to Kyoto later." said Aoyagi Chiso.

"..."

Xiaolan didn't know what to say. She felt that Aoyagi Chiso took human life too lightly.

As for Yingsheng...

Could it be that he really doesn't care that much about Qingzi?
Aoyagi Chiso naturally didn't know what Xiaolan was thinking. After waiting for two seconds and seeing that she didn't respond, she hung up the phone, went back to the lounge, carried Kiyoko's body and left the institute.

Speechless all the way.

At six o'clock in the morning, Qingzi's icy body slowly melted in the flames, and in the end nothing was left.

“And ashes.”

the staff reminded.

Aoyagi Chisou handed him a few sheets of Fukuzawa Yukichi and said, "Please pour them into Tokyo Bay. Thank you very much."

After saying that, she turned and left.

The staff member looked up at the others in a daze.

As a supporting player who confirmed the target's death, Toru Amuro didn't even look at the incinerator and left with his hands in his pockets.

Sonoko was a little indignant, but said nothing and just looked at Xiaolan.

Xiaolan stared at the flames in the incinerator for a long time, then took a deep breath, pointed her gun at the staff, and said coldly: "Her ashes must be scattered into Tokyo Bay. If you dare to cheat, the consequences will be serious."

The staff member trembled and nodded hurriedly.

Xiaolan put away her gun and left.

Yuanzi was stunned for two seconds, then stuffed two tips into the staff's pockets and said, "It's better to go out to sea." Then he quickly caught up with Xiaolan.

The staff member took the money and didn't know whether to be happy or cry. He vaguely heard a sound coming from the wind.

"That's good."

"Qingzi was originally the most stunning color in the world, and now it is just fading away for a short time."

“Dust to dust.”

“Ashes to ashes.”

(End of this chapter)