The tentacles around the shadowy figure began to writhe restlessly, but it still insisted, "That monster is the imposter, I am the real one."
Yin Xiu completely ignored his sophistry, and instead drew his knife with a sinister look, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Perhaps I've been too well-behaved in this small town for too long, which has led to you monsters taking advantage of my kindness. Now you all even know how to alter my memories."
"You guys really dare to do that..."
Accompanied by Yin Xiu's low, displeased voice, the cold glint of the blade flashed in the darkness, "Guess what has become of all the monsters that have angered me so far?"
The shadowy figure took a step back. The more wary it was of Yin Xiu, the more certain Yin Xiu became of his idea that the one in front of him was the real imposter.
Killing it will clarify what's going on with my confused memories.
Yin Xiu slowly raised his knife. The moment he slashed at the shadowy figure, the entire space suddenly shifted and flickered, returning to complete darkness, and the shadowy figure in front of him vanished.
The black chess pieces on the table turned to ash and vanished into thin air, and the words "Please move forward" reappeared on the table.
"Why are you running?" Ye Tianxuan teased with a smile, resting his chin on his hand. "Isn't that the little darling you really want?"
The dark figure glared at Ye Tianxuan with a grim expression; this person was quite adept at being sarcastic and unpredictable.
"It's just one moment of clarity, what does it matter? There's still one move left, I don't believe he can regain his senses again." The shadowy figure raised his chin, indicating to Ye Tianxuan to continue playing chess.
With only one square left to reach the finish line, Yin Xiu had no more options to take a detour. Whether he could reach the finish line depended on this last square. Li Mo and Ya Ya were currently in other squares, and whether he could pass through this square alone was entirely up to him.
Ye Tianxuan took a step forward while holding Yin Xiu's chess piece. The opponent no longer needed to worry about giving Ye Tianxuan extra moves. Since he could get past Yin Xiu, he could go directly to the finish line. So he simply placed several obstructing pieces in one go.
The scene where Yin Xiu was located changed several times at the speed of light, as if a lot of things had been incorporated in an instant.
He couldn't care less about the changes around him for the time being. He had just confirmed that a monster that could imitate Li Mo had appeared. In order to prevent being affected again next time, he took out the paper and pen he always carried with him to record the rules, wanting to write them down.
But then I thought, paper balls are easy to lose, so I'd better write them down somewhere I can always see them.
After thinking it over, he wrote a few words on his left forearm with a pen.
"Li Mo, a black ball of fluff, eyes, tentacles, slime, a man in a suit, a monster, a boyfriend."
It doesn't matter if others can't understand it, as long as he can understand it himself.
After finishing taking notes, Yin Xiu looked up and surveyed his surroundings.
The surroundings changed into many familiar scenes, but everything in front of me was shrouded in a layer of fog, making it difficult to see clearly.
Yin Xiu recognized those blurry outlines, at least the scenes he had been to, which stretched out from both sides of a long road in front of him, as if it were a long road that summarized his life.
He looked around but saw no one. The environment was dark and empty, and he could not hear any other voices. It seemed that he could not leave this place even if he did not walk the long road in front of him.
Yin Xiu tightened his grip on the knife at his waist, making full preparations, before stepping onto the long path.
The first place he passed through was a place he didn't quite remember; it looked like a street covered in snow, the sky was dark, and a biting wind swept through the dusty alleyways.
Two tiny figures huddled together in a small space made of cardboard boxes in a corner of a narrow alley.
In the cold wind, two still-growing bodies were wrapped in thin, worn-out clothes. They huddled together for warmth, in their own little haven.
Until a staggering man, reeking of alcohol, walked through the alley and kicked a cardboard box, yelling, "Where did this doghouse come from!"
The tiny, fragile paper house collapsed in an instant, and two panicked little faces emerged from it.
"What are you doing?!" The boy, his face full of anger, glared at the person in front of him and silently grabbed the broken mop handle that was lying in the garbage heap in the alley.
"Hey, you dare to glare at me? Where did this stray dog come from? It's pretty fierce!" The man, reeking of alcohol, showed no fear of the two children in front of him, one big and one small. He stepped forward and grabbed the younger sister who was cowering to the side. "This little sister is not bad. She looks like she could fetch a good price."
"Get lost!" The little boy gritted his teeth and slapped the man's hand, his expression murderous.
The man yelled angrily, glaring fiercely at the boy. He rolled up his sleeves, grabbed the boy by the collar, and raised his huge fist. "You little brat! How dare you hit me!"
He punched the little boy to the ground, but the eyes opposite him were fixed on him.
He didn't radiate anger or fear, but rather a chilling killing intent, as if his worldview consisted only of life and death, with no thought of surrender or escape. This was not the kind of expression one would expect to see on a child's face.
"Guess how many people I've chased away from harming my sister so far?" The boy gripped the stick tightly, his voice still deep and hoarse from puberty. "And how many are lying in the hospital?"
The man, who seemed to be drunk, completely ignored his hostility and didn't take him seriously at all.
The size difference between an adult and a teenager is significant, so even if the other party is very fierce, they certainly can't kill him.
Yin Xiu stood on the long road watching the sounds of fighting. The drunken man was desperately pounding his fists on the boy, who was struggling and resisting with a fierce look in his eyes.
The little girl beside him was crying uncontrollably. She turned her head and met Yin Xiu's gaze. She stumbled towards him, crying, "Save my brother! Save me!"
Yin Xiu stood there expressionless, staring at her tear-streaked face, and said calmly without any emotion, "My sister is not the kind of person who would cry and ask others for help. If she were next to me, she would pick up that clay pot in the corner and smash it hard on the man's head, and then ask me with a proud look, 'Brother, am I amazing!'"
"Those who only know how to cry will not survive."
The crying little girl was stunned and stared blankly as Yin Xiu turned and walked away.
The street, along with the people on it, disappeared into the fog.
Further on, Yin Xiu arrived at an orphanage.
He stopped in front of the gate and saw a young boy and girl standing in the corner of the yard being scolded through the courtyard wall overgrown with withered flowers and grass.
"Why do you two always act so extremely? It's just that I stole your things, why did you have to pull out their teeth? My orphanage has never taken in crazy kids like you."
"Your brother is so immature, and the little sister he's raising is all abnormal! You!" The man suddenly pointed at Yin Xiu and yelled, "You actually used pliers to pull out her front tooth! Is this something a child would do?!"
The little girl next to him quickly grabbed the boy's hand, looking completely innocent. "Brother didn't do it on purpose! He just accidentally pinched the other person's tooth with the pliers. If the person hadn't struggled, the tooth wouldn't have fallen out. It was his own fault for moving around like that!"
"You still dare to talk back! You think I didn't see it?! You were the first person to pull out the pliers and hand them over!" The man angrily pointed at the little girl. "If the older ones don't learn good habits, the younger ones will follow suit!"
Both children pouted and remained silent.
A woman's head popped out of the window next to them, and she said with a smile, "Director, don't scold them. They didn't have a good life before, which is why they couldn't afford to eat. After they've been in the orphanage for a while, they'll understand that this will be their home."
As he spoke, the obese man in heavy clothing suddenly dropped his disdainful attitude and nodded with a friendly expression, "You're right, I really didn't consider their previous environmental issues."
The man turned around and met Yin Xiu's gaze. His face crinkled into a smile, full of enthusiasm. "Oh, where did this kid come from? Why are you standing at the door? Would you like to come in?"
Yin Xiu stared at the man's disgusting smile, pursed his lips unhappily, and then forced an awkward smile as he said to the man, "Dean, it's been a long time. Come out and greet me."
He smiled, then gritted his teeth and gripped the knife, his smile both kind and dangerous.