He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Chapter 122 Rain

Wilting was certain he had never seen this woman before, but he could still easily see her particular affinity for gray—

—Or rather, their special relationship with each other.

At least when she spread her wings and stood protectively in front of that gray shadow, the emotion the girl caught on her face was first horror—the uncontrollable fear of facing the dark muzzle of her own gun did not lie. But after a moment of confusion, she seemed to have made up her mind about something, holding onto some strange and firm determination, standing in front of the fox and providing him with protection with her own body.

"What exactly do you want—?" Through the wings, Veltin took a deep breath. The omnipresent grayness painted this place with unrestrained gravitas. That obscure gaze was fixed on him from every angle—with an attitude and mindset completely unknown—

-abnormal.

Veltin gritted his teeth.

—It's like a cruel game, or a test full of malice.

To place before him a completely innocent woman, utterly unrelated to mystery—this woman, like moss growing in the cracks of the nest, an ordinary person he could see everywhere, and also someone Veldin needed to protect during his operations—

But there are some differences.

The girl didn't understand why she felt palpitations.

Even though she was holding a gun, a life-or-death crisis that could strike at any moment, life seemed to be as light as a feather in that woman's eyes. She held the little boy in her arms tightly, her legs limp on the ground, and her fierce expression clearly showed that she was forcing herself to be calm, which did not give people any sense of intimidation.

A small silhouette is trying to protect another, even smaller shadow—a scene that shouldn't even exist in a nest, making one feel infinitely alien.

Verjiang's daze deepened once again; the figure in Zhunzhong's mind was blurry, only a gray mass wrapped in brown wings.

"What is her relationship with Grey? —" This thought of inquiry was abruptly extinguished by Virtue, who felt uneasy—uneasy because of the empathy she felt for her enemy.

Grey is a manipulative madman; nothing he presents can be trusted.

Are you forcing me to understand your past?

Veltin narrowed his eyes slightly, switched his grip on the pistol to two-handed, and spoke in an icy tone, "Like any villain in a script, every demon has a dark, empathetic, perhaps tragically destined past—you want me to empathize with your experiences and accept your worship—?"

She laughed mockingly, making no attempt to hide her disdain and contempt. "Weaving emotions, forging feelings, even orchestrating this whole game for me—I don't know why you went to such lengths, but if you wanted to shake my heart in this way—"

"Then prove it to me." Unexpectedly, she heard a real, not illusory, echo in her mind, "Can what you believe in shatter my fulcrum?"

"————" Virtue's grip on the handle tightened, his index finger trembled slightly as he put it on the trigger, and a deathly silence descended upon him.

Even knowing that it's all fake?

The voice lingered in the girl's ears.

—But you're still hesitating—this doesn't sound like an executive's decision—no, perhaps we should call you a minister?

Minister Wei, is the justice you uphold such a pedantic and outdated concept?

"Even though you've already shot another innocent person?" he asked, puzzled, "you're unwilling to go any further—to carry out your justice just a little bit more resolutely—you might be just a tiny bit away from killing my soul—"

"She is not like Nie."

"I don't know if Ne is alive or dead, or if the others are, my comrades who fell into your hands—if they are still alive, then their shadows will not be an obstacle for me—if they are already dead, then this bullet should pierce your heart even more."

"It seems I've made quite a deep impression on you."

He coughed twice, his voice tinged with embarrassment. "However, I've changed my mind—now that I've given you a weapon that decides life and death, then as my own home turf, I should also have some privileges. Let me think about it—"

"Got it."

A light clapping sound echoed from the void, accompanied by a burst of laughter. "I'm now setting a settlement time for this game:"

I'll give you five more minutes to decide: shatter my fulcrum, kill my soul, and leave. It's simple. I said I wouldn't resist—all you need to do is pull the trigger, and once, twice, those shadows blocking my way will be wiped out.

"However, if you still hesitate before time runs out—then I'll have to give you a proper punishment." Gray's laughter always carried a strange glint of pleasure, and when he mentioned the punishment, his tone suddenly rose, becoming sinister—

"You'll stay here forever."

—The sound vanished into nothingness.

And so time began to tick by, and the deathly silence lasted for a longer time than expected.

Until Virtue, holding a gun and standing like a statue in the darkness, sighed deeply, a silver-haired girl took a step forward, moving from the shadowy alley to the door of the convenience store—the faint light shining through the glass window finally illuminated her silhouette, but also made the two shadows already in the light appear even closer.

Dodo's body was already half-pressed against the wall. She had never experienced or been trained in confronting a gunman, so she could only curl up further back—a courage of unknown origin flickered in her trembling eyes. The stupid bird tried to chirp at the approaching Virtin.

—It's still an image, though a bit more dynamic than the previous Nirvana.

Wilting is now calm. She has seen through the nature of the obstructionists, but that doesn't mean she can shoot them at will. In the clash of ideas, the slippage of one side's bottom line may have an irreversible symbolic meaning. When she shoots an innocent person and cannot convince herself of her own sense of justice, then this invisible battle will come to an end.

So, Virtue tried another method.

"Do you really understand—the guy you're protecting right now?"

Through a mysterious medium, she communicated with this ethereal shadow, "I don't know your relationship, nor what you've been through together—but I want to tell you that he has an irreversible impact on this nest and on this world—if his actions are allowed to continue, countless people will die because of him, and everything will be overturned in the irreversible tide—"

"If you are afraid of that future, then give up your meaningless protection—he never needs your protection, he is cunning, evil, cruel, and merciless, he is using you—" Veltin's words were interrupted halfway through.

"No."

Unexpectedly, in her daze, she heard a real echo from the shadow: "He needs my protection—"

That woman, who was clearly just a wisp of consciousness that had drifted in from who-knows-where and shouldn't have the ability to answer questions, gave a resolute reply: "The fox is weak, stupid, and cowardly—a troublesome fellow. He's clearly terrified inside, but he pretends to be indifferent—I know all of this, so I want to protect him, at least in a small corner, to leave him with a little bit of familiar color, something he can rely on—"

She quickly became dejected again, "But recently, he started to change—the fox is doing something amazing. I had a vague idea, but he wouldn't tell me and I was afraid to ask."

A wandering consciousness, like thoughts in a dream, is unable to comprehend more complex logic, so Dudu remained there, her dark red eyes filled with surging grievances and confusion.

"I'm just scared, scared that I won't be able to stay by his side—"

On the other side, the arm holding the gun had already dropped to a 45-degree angle.

—It failed.

His mind was melting in some kind of boiling emotion, and Virtin could no longer control his rapidly trembling pupils. His facial expression froze between blankness and confusion.

"That's enough, Sister Dodo."

Finally, the gray ball couldn't hold back any longer and stood up, skillfully freeing itself from under those heavy wings. It gently scratched the tip of Dodo's feathers and said, "Thank you for your trouble. Get some sleep."

The next instant, the shadow of the silly bird vanished before the two of them.

The enigmatic smile that should have remained on Gray's face was now obscured by something more important.

Ai looked at Virtue and waved his hand helplessly.

"Now, no one will stand in your way."

He gave a half-smile, "We can move on to the next stage."

Seeing that Virtin was still in a daze, the fox began with his opening remarks.

"Every villain has a tragic past, hmm, that's a classic trope—unfortunately, it doesn't apply to me. Along my journey here, the traces I've left behind are perhaps mostly joyful, though there are also heavy parts—but at least the places I've traversed have left them with a path of light."

Ai wanted to take a few more steps forward, but then saw Virtin retreat sharply at the same time. He pouted in dissatisfaction and could only clap his hands lightly. The next moment, a dense array of shadows appeared in front of him.

"Originally, these were the fulcrums you needed to break down before you could conquer my mind—but that stupid bird was placed too early, almost breaking my defenses right away—it's true that you can't play your trump card first, it's a failed game, so let's just skip it and give you a brief introduction."

He clicked on them one by one, starting with a golden-red figure: "She, Stupid Bird Number Two: A stupid creature who crawled out from underground. She kept saying she wanted to climb up, but before she could even see the real sky, she was maliciously buried in the abyss."

—I cannot tolerate such a thing happening again, so I will bring about a revolution. I want those rotten vines that are growing wildly below, those barriers that are blocking the way above—countless obstacles that are already too bloated—to be burned to ashes by my rage.

Next came a group of fluffy children, like dolls.

"They were abandoned in the remote suburbs of Incho, and the malice these children suffered led me to devise a cleansing and selection process. More than 30,000 people died because of my standards."

—I have never wavered, nor have I ever felt guilty—My thoughts and actions are all correct; good and evil only have meaning because of my definition.

Next, there is a girl sleeping peacefully on her mother's body.

"This child, whose father was deceived into becoming a disciple of a secret religion—once they became their holy seat—showed a thirst for flesh and soul. The father, who had once shown love, personally transformed his wife and daughter into dead spirits, filling those souls wandering the world in confusion and pain into cold, tin shells, letting them roam this dark earth with their obsessive love and delusions."

—Those who also loathe and even hate all of this have chosen to follow the apprentices of the Light and Fire, becoming even angrier, more restrained, and more turbulent in their understanding of the Light—your former colleagues are now walking the path of righteousness and justice.

And more—

Throughout this process, Ai smiled as she stared into those amber eyes, which were now slightly constricted by some emotion.

Finally, the fox, having stopped its pronouncement, smiled contentedly. "You have your own 'justice' to uphold, and so do I, and mine is even heavier than yours."

You are confused by justice, and you hesitate because of your bottom line.

"I am very happy about this," he said, with genuine joy and blessing, "because in this land, kindness is a thousand times scarcer than authority and power. I long for real rain to fall from the sky beyond the dome, and for new seedlings to sprout from the black soil."

Compassion and madness are not contradictory—in such a world, what is needed to burn away the rotten spirit is madness, and what grows out is compassion.

—You have that qualification————

"Wei." Ai looked at the girl in front of her, staring intently into her beautiful amber eyes. "You and I are the same kind of people, the only two of our kind under this dome."

—They are all madmen who can laugh and declare, "Today I will save the world, because no one else can!" Only we—one or two lonely shadows, are out of place in this decadent nest, disappointed by the scenery above this ruin—only us.

—Our arrogance is the same, a flamboyant and raucous display of seeing the world as a stage—those unruly stray dogs and rats, they are the real rebels, a bunch of worthless bastards—they are the ones who deserve to be slaughtered.

—And our rebellion is the cornerstone for incubating what is right.

Finally, unable to contain the joy welling up from the depths of the vessel, Ai covered his face and laughed loudly: "I laugh wildly at this—laughing at how neither you nor I are extraordinary beings!"

He approached the silver-haired girl step by step, while she retreated step by step, until this narrow world shrank under her master's command, and an air wall blocked her retreat.

She had nowhere to hide.

Forcibly taking the cold gun from the girl's hand, Ai laughed and pointed it at his chest, pressing it against his wildly beating, burning heart: "Didn't you want to kill me?" he whispered, his originally petite figure gradually dissolving and then slowly rising—flesh and blood remodeled from the mechanical wings on his back until it transformed into an infinitely familiar figure. The black-haired, gray-eyed boy blinked, the joy in his eyes like a surging tide, like a torrential downpour.

And so, a torrential downpour began to fall upon this world. The endless rain blurred two equally murky eyes, lifting all the soaring will upwards to a height beyond the reach of any sight.

It resembles a throne of the cross atop a tower.

"My boss, my dearest Mr. Wei—"

A pair of well-defined hands silently climbed up the girl's collarbone. Eileen gently grasped the vibrant, delicate neck of the flower, then tightened her grip little by little. "Shoot me now, and I will die."

—And if I die—

His breath was sweet and cloying, like snake venom.

"Spend the rest of your life remembering me, my dear Vivi."

The suffocatingly fine rain brought another kind of deathly silence.

Until a pair of pale, limp hands, devoid of all color, slowly drooped down from mid-air.

The slippery rainwater, like viscous blood, seeped down the girl's transparent, thin skin.

"Bang-"

It was the sound of a gun hitting the ground.