Seeing the gate of light at the end of the corridor, Yaxiu didn't relax; instead, he grew even more tense.
The closed-door melee in the Dormant Cicada Hall on the first day, the split brawl in the Cicada Hall on the second day—heaven only knew if today's Cicada Pupa Hall would cook up even more ridiculous stunts.
For example, the hall turning into a narrow corridor wide enough for only one person sideways, forcing them to squeeze past each other body against body; for example, the hall plunging into pitch-black darkness with a few trial phantoms tossed in, forcing them into a crisscrossing melee within; or for example, the hall turning into a confinement room they couldn't leave unless they mated...
Yet nothing happened. When Yaxiu and Youlan entered the hall, they saw the Watcher and Weise already waiting for them inside. Then, a gate of light appeared on either side of the hall. The trial did not force them to linger here; anyone in a rush to use the bathroom could leave early.
Danger existed, of course. After all, from this moment on, Yaxiu and Youlan, and the Watcher and Weise, were no longer teammates, returning instead to the ranks of competing enemies. Furthermore, being in such close proximity, teammates who entrusted their backs to each other a second ago might ruthlessly strike to kill the next.
Yet not only did Yaxiu and Youlan refrain from making a move, even the Watcher and Weise seemed to have lost any appetite for battle. They exchanged a silent glance, as if each could see the other's weariness.
Without any unnecessary verbal exchange, the Watcher stepped forward toward Yaxiu, and Youlan took the initiative to leave Yaxiu and walk toward Weise.
The jumbled team pairings were finally about to return to normal.
It was just that as the Watcher and Youlan brushed past one another, Youlan subconsciously glanced at the man beside her. The latter, however, looked straight ahead, his right hand resting on his sword hilt the entire time, his peripheral vision not lingering on her fox mask for even a split second.
Then, the Watcher saw the corners of Yaxiu's mouth curl into a genuine smile as he spread his arms wide toward him. This sight once again reminded him of his nightmare, causing him to hesitate for half a second and fail to dodge Yaxiu's embrace.
"Welcome back, little brother!"
The Watcher's grip on his sword hilt tightened slightly.
"I thought you'd already been murdered by Silver Lantern, or had found an opening to backstab her," Yaxiu said. "It's wonderful that both of you are fine."
The Watcher didn't bother engaging with his bizarre thought process for the moment, calmly asking, "Why is Silver Lantern being fine a good thing too?"
"Because Silver Lantern must be killed by me," Yaxiu said earnestly. "It can only be me."
Just when did this guy develop such a pointless, idiotic sense of duty and mission? As the Watcher reconstructed his psychological profile of Yaxiu, he heard Yaxiu continue:
"You're someone who was born only a few days ago. Trial phantoms are one thing, but a real life must be taken by me.
"How could I let you shoulder a debt of life on my behalf?" Yaxiu said. "Blood Moon, Gospel, Senluo... Quite a few people have died directly or indirectly because of me. While I don't torment myself with guilt over it, how should I put it? My hands aren't clean anymore anyway. After dying, I'll probably have to wander Hell with Igola, Harvey, and the others for ten thousand years. Ten thousand years, man, ten thousand years...
"But you're a completely clean and innocent person." Yaxiu patted the Watcher's shoulder. "Even if you might not care about such pointless squeamishness...
"I still care very much."
Yaxiu flashed a thumbs-up at himself and said, half-joking, half-serious, "As an older brother, of course I have to protect my younger brother as much as possible."
Hearing these words, even the Watcher, whose heart was usually as unruffled as still water, could not help feeling a slight ripple within. There was a touch of ridicule, a touch of mockery, a touch of pity, and a touch of disgust, but... the few wisps of gloom that had been hovering in his heart somehow vanished without a trace.
On the other side, Youlan returned to Weise's side, but Weise seemed not to notice her at all. The eyes behind her fox mask remained fixed intently on Yaxiu's figure.
Seeing this, Youlan felt an inexplicable urge and reached out to gently stroke Weise's head. Weise instantly stepped back two paces, glaring at her with wary eyes.
Youlan spread her hands and smiled. "What, not welcoming my return to the team? Or would you prefer to swap teammates again?"
Weise seemed disinclined to answer, or perhaps she tacitly accepted the claim, turning around and walking toward the exit gate. Just then, Yaxiu called out loudly, "Silver Lantern!"
"The next Cicada Metamorphosis Hall will be the conclusion of our story," he said.
The Cicada Pupa Hall had two passageways, so the subsequent Cicada Metamorphosis Hall clearly had only one. Even if there were no mechanisms in that hall, they would have to determine a victor and decide life and death; only the winner could continue the trial, while the loser could only remain underground for eternity.
Weise turned her head to look at him, and from behind the fox mask, her voice actually carried a faint trace of vulnerability: "Is that so?"
"I had a long talk with the Mirror Master last night," Yaxiu said. "I know your ideals, and I understand your circumstances. Silver Lantern, you truly are an incredible person. Your willpower and execution, your talent and fortune, even that nearly unrealistic dream of yours—among everyone I know, no one can compare to you."
Weise glanced at Youlan, then looked back at Yaxiu. Taking an instinctive step forward, her brisk tone betrayed a hint of surprise and elation: "Is that so?"
"That's why."
Yaxiu tightened his grip on his sword hilt, saying firmly, "I must put an end to you here. I cannot let you successfully pass the Divine Fire Trial and return to the surface!
"Even setting aside the entanglements between us, setting aside our present competition, and even setting aside the catastrophes you've caused, I cannot stand by and watch you succeed!
"This has nothing to do with good or evil. I don't need righteousness to whitewash my actions. My resolve exists solely because you stand opposite me." He said, "The next time we meet, I will completely shatter your dream!"
Weise breathed out a sigh. She felt as though her body had grown much lighter, almost buoyant. She opened her eyes, her voice regaining its calm: "Is that so?"
With that, she didn't look at Yaxiu again, walking into the gate of light with Youlan and vanishing from the hall.
Yaxiu and the Watcher departed as well. This time, no chaotic teammate-swapping mechanism occurred, and they arrived normally at the lounge. Yet precisely because teammates hadn't swapped, the lounge reverted to a single-room layout, no longer providing separate private bedrooms.
Naturally, the Watcher had no demands regarding living conditions, but when Yaxiu slung an arm around his shoulder, he became acutely aware that private bedrooms were truly a blessing of civilization—at the very least, they could physically bar all communication.
"Watcher, I have a friend..."
Seeing the Watcher's gaze turn progressively cold and disdainful, Yaxiu had no choice but to change his tune: "Fine, there's no one else here anyway—it's me. When I entered the Void Realm last night, although the Sword Princess seemed to want to act like nothing happened, I feel like if I still don't respond to her feelings, I'd really be too much of a scumbag..."
The Watcher raised an eyebrow, continuing to listen to Yaxiu recount the stormy seas of the previous night.
"After the Witch held my hand, I couldn't understand what they were saying, and neither of them made any further move." Yaxiu crossed his arms, his expression intensely conflicted. "I mean... is it possible, could it be, perhaps, that there's the tiniest chance the Witch likes me too?"
Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
Although he badly wanted to say so, the Watcher realized his mindset wasn't quite right; this was no time to tease Yaxiu and fuel the man's desire to talk further.
Still, seeing Yaxiu agonizing so much over his love life, the corners of his mouth couldn't help curling upward. "You've clearly already reached a conclusion in your heart," he said calmly. "Why ask for my answer?"
"Don't brush me off with that! I'm scared right now!" Yaxiu scratched his head. "What if they start fighting later? What if, after cooling off for a day, they realize they don't actually like me all that much? And even though I like the Sword Princess right now, I have an inexplicable fondness for the Witch too and don't want to hurt her. Plus, they're both teammates who fight shoulder-to-shoulder with me. If they, because of this—"
Listening to Yaxiu's endless babbling, the Watcher suddenly felt that not having private bedrooms wasn't so bad after all.
Chapter 587