Chapter 246
Our Discord Server: https://discord.gg/PazjBDkTmW
Chapter 246: Deadlock
Chao Lu only heard the story told by the old woman.
She only saw a fragmented part of it, without witnessing the ending.
As long as the old woman pleased, she could freely fabricate the ending she liked, and nobody knew whether it was true or false, except for herself.
Since the truth only existed in the words of others, it could be true or false.
Both Chao Lu and Bai Wei realized the falsity of this ending.
Chao Lu directly asked the old woman who she really was, if she was Liu Xiaowan, then why did she appear in this form? Shouldn’t she have appeared in a younger appearance? She couldn’t possibly have died on the night of her wedding at the age of 23.
But Chao Lu didn’t investigate this ending. She was a clever lady and could guess that beneath this story, there might be another story, another answer. But she didn’t want to pursue the true ending.
Because the true ending is often more cruel.
Bai Wei was different. He came before the old woman, intending to face the truth.
If he couldn’t know the complete truth about his hidden past, any false answer he got wouldn’t teach him anything.
Memories were hidden in the stone tablets, she wanted to hide them, but it was destined that she couldn’t keep them secret.
“So, what is the real ending of the story?” Bai Wei asked straightforwardly.
The old woman asked, “Wasn’t the story I told good enough?”
Bai Wei said, “I just want to know what the real result is.”
“What good would it do if you knew?”
“It’s better to know nothing than to do nothing.” Bai Wei spoke with a measured tone.
…Because he is me too.
The old woman no longer insisted, but said, “Come with me.”
She took the initiative to get up and left the courtyard, leading Bai Wei through the thin mist, once again arriving at the front of the General’s Mansion where the wedding was held.
“The wedding is real.”
“The bridal attire is real.”
“The bloodstained clothing is real.”
With her back to Bai Wei, the old woman stood in front of the General’s Mansion, her calm tone gradually losing its warmth.
“Guess, what is fake?”
“Is it that I didn’t come?” Bai Wei asked.
“No…” the old woman laughed, but there was no trace of mirth in her voice. “It’s more cruel than not coming at all.”
“You came late!”
…
Amidst the thunder, heavy rain poured down. The entire General’s Mansion was decorated with lights, pouring rain, and red lanterns. This should have been a joyous day for the wedding, bustling with people coming and going. But at this moment, its doors were wide open, unusually quiet.
Quiet and dead silent.
A horse galloped through the rain curtain, water splashing beneath its hooves. A young man rushed off the horse, looking at the enormous General’s Mansion.
Deathly stillness, blood-red flashes.
Crouching Tiger, three hours late, stepped over the threshold, entering the General’s Mansion. In his eyes, reflected a sea of blood, bodies scattered on the ground.
Visitors, whether guests or men and women, regardless of whether they were merchants, servants, or guards, all lay dead on the ground.
The pouring rain cannot wash away the bloodstains,
Some of the corpses rise up after death, their eyes bloodshot, charging towards the youth.
Crouching Tiger swings his sword and kills the walking dead.
It feels like going back seven years.
Seven years ago, the town was burning, the walking dead were everywhere, he walked through the sea of fire.
Seven years later, in the pouring rain, the General’s Mansion is illuminated by red lanterns, he walks through the rain curtain.
What he does now is the same as back then, wielding his sword to slay demons, as if he has been trapped in the same nightmare for seven years, without release, without progress.
In the distance, he hears singing.
The torrential rain cannot cover up that clear voice, there is no instrumental accompaniment, only solo singing.
The blood on Crouching Tiger’s Sword is washed away by the rain, he sheathes his sword and walks step by step towards the source of the singing.
In the joyful central hall, there is no one else to be seen, only blood covers the floor, walls, and chairs, the woman in the middle stands on the ground, her wedding gown now a blood-drenched garment, with her blood and the blood of others.
She sings the ancient poem “Zijin”:
Green, green are the silk collars, my heart is still longing,
Even if I don’t go, won’t you respond?
Green, green are the silk collars, my heart is still longing,
Even if I don’t go, won’t you come?
Yearning, reaching, at the palace gate, if we don’t meet for a day, it feels like three months!
Even if I don’t go, will you break off all communication?
Even if I don’t go, can’t you come to see me?
Coming and going, longing gazes, on the high city walls, not seeing you for a day feels like enduring three long months.
Her voice is melodious, singing the poem over and over again, until her voice becomes hoarse and her blood-soaked gown turns cold.
“Xiaowan… ” the youth couldn’t help but interrupt.
“Woodenhead, you’re finally here.” Upon hearing the call, the woman shows a joyful smile. “I’ve been waiting for you for so long.”
She raises her hand and twirls in place like a graceful butterfly. “Look, this is the wedding gown I made myself. I finally put it on. Isn’t it beautiful?”
She remains oblivious to the expression and gaze of the youth, indulging in her words. “I can finally marry you. You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting.”
Crouching Tiger’s fingers are icy cold, the rain does not make him feel cold, but at this moment, he is almost trembling from the cold.
“You slaughtered everyone in the General’s Mansion.”
Not a questioning sentence.
“Yeah, they were such a nuisance, so annoying, so I casually killed them.” The youth looks at the girl, so familiar yet so unfamiliar. Three years is a short time, yet it feels long.
He asks, “How did you manage to do it?”
“Well, I only noticed it recently… The reason was this General, he kept forcing me to marry him, but no matter how I wrote letters, I couldn’t get in touch with you. One day, I was really unhappy and couldn’t think clearly, so I thought it would be better to die and end it all.”
“At least, when I die, I’ll be pure. And maybe one day in the future, we can even be buried together.”
“Then, I swallowed the hairpin… Waited overnight, but I didn’t die.”
“I spat out the hairpin and realized that the pearl on it was gone, and then gradually, I discovered that something in me seemed to have changed.”
Crouching Tiger asked, “Pearl?”
Xiaowan nodded and said, “Uncle Liu left a letter back then, the letter had a pearl in it, said to be a wedding gift for me. I turned it into a hairpin, but I didn’t expect it wasn’t a pearl.”
She muttered to herself, “I gradually realized that I became strange, my appetite increased, and there was an indescribable strength. After that, I was forced to come here, but I couldn’t bear it. I just wanted to stab him, but I ended up killing him. Then many guards came, and I fought back. And then, accidentally, I killed everyone…”
She said strangely, “I never expected that killing someone could be so easy, and when I was killing, I didn’t feel uncomfortable at all, but rather exhilarated.”
The young man clenched his teeth, veins bulging on the hand holding the knife.
The bride in her wedding dress smiled lightly, “Are you sad or worried? Woody… Don’t worry, I’m fine now.”
Crouching Tiger covered his face with his left hand, hiding the pained look in his eyes.
“Xiaowan… you’ve taken a demonic pill… you killed over five hundred people… you’ve become completely…”
“A demon?” Liu Er asked.
“…”
“So that’s it, I suspected it, so that’s it,” Liu Er said to herself.
She suddenly laughed, like silver bells, spinning happily, “Great.”
“What are you saying?” he thought he misheard.
“I said, it’s great.” The bride in blood-stained clothes smiled enchantingly, “I have already become a demon. Can you still hide from me, Woody?”
She raised her hands and walked into the pouring rain, the cold rain washing over her wedding dress.
“Now, you must make a choice.”
“Either let go of everything and leave with me.”
“Or fulfill your duty and kill me here.”
“Choose one, no matter which one you choose, I will accept it.”
“Instead of waiting endlessly without any results, I would rather embrace all of you here, even if it costs me my life.”
Liu Xiaowan tenderly gazed at him, no longer saying a word.
Crouching Tiger slumped, almost unable to stand. For the first time in so many years, he heard his own rationality crying out in despair.
Free ebook promotion for Samsara Games: Very Easy! Vols 1-15 (Chapters 1-610): 2024/06/20 – 2024/06/24 (https://amzn.to/3Ogkfsw);
