He and It Chapter 125: Utopia (21)

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Chapter 125: Utopia (21)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

Sissel’s scalp went numb.

It had nothing to do with any psycho-emotional change, but was simply a natural physical reaction. It was as if an old man, who seemed to be human but not a ghost, through the hazy long fog, and the time of the inverted illusion, issued a raspy echo from the abyss.

“…Xingqiao?” He smiled subconsciously, “You’re back?” 

Without waiting for Gu Xingqiao’s reply, he already sat up from the ground, saying loudly, “I knew you would come back!” 

His eyes glittered suddenly, as if a child had finally found his long-lost toy from under the bed, although it was covered with dust, it was still worth scrubbing and caring for.

Sissel jumped up from the ground with joy, and faced the wandering fog with a great deal of excitement, all his previous frustrations and doubts having been swept away, and only pure surprise and happiness remained.

He actually opened his arms wide, not hesitating to show all the flaws of his body, not afraid of the particles of light that appeared and disappeared in the fog.

“Have you come to take revenge on me, are you trying to kill me?” He intoned, “Don’t struggle in your mind! You know that our relationship, like a lighthouse and a lost ship, will eventually approach each other’s position…” 

Before the words were finished, the sound of lamentation was still trembling in the air, two immortal white snakes already came out from the fog, lance across the chest, running beyond the thunder!

Sissel did not hide, after learning the identity of Gu Xingqiao, he seemed to have given birth to an infinite amount of courage.

Only to hear a loud bang, with the physical ability that has been strengthened by many times, as well as the research and development of sophisticated combat uniforms, the emperor used his arms and armpits to clamp down on the two particle spears that were making noise. Once he had succeeded, his left knee then exploded with venom, even compressing a sharp wind sound in the air.

No one could take a hit like that and still be standing in the same place, unless the opponent was a demon, or had hand-thick steel plates in front of him.

Gu Xingqiao wasn’t a demon, and he certainly didn’t have a defensive shell as thick as a city wall, but his reaction was faster than ever, faster than Sissel could have imagined.

The young man was like a swallow throwing itself into the forest, the moment the weapon fell into the enemy’s hands, he immediately released his grip on both palms, and with a contraction of both shoulders, he slammed into Sissel’s chest diagonally.

This may not be able to knock the Emperor down, or even break his balance, but his hands were not empty.

The long, pointed dagger’s blade opened up on both ends, and immediately Sissel’s forehead blossomed with veins – a quick and precise stab into his sternum, avoiding all vitals while maximizing the pain it caused.

Gu Xingqiao retreated, dodging back into the fog, leaving the Emperor to cover his bleeding wounds as if he were playing a tricky game.

“… You never used to use this kind of trick,” Sissel stopped smiling, his bright blue eyes were as black as a pool of thick ink, “Your degeneration and backbones are more serious than I thought.” 

“In the past, you would change the blood of your whole body every other month. Even I don’t know what’s in the new blood.” Gu Xingqiao’s indifferent voice escaped from the fog in all directions, “When you were the Crown Prince, the strength of your hematopoietic function was at least thirty times that of an ordinary person, and even if you suffered a fatal injury such as a damaged heart, you were able to recover immediately.” 

Sissel tried to get out of the virtual battlefield environment, however, his absolutely majestic commands didn’t move at all, as if he was stuck. The Emperor stared coldly at the fog, and in his expression, there was a kind of annoyance at being provoked.

“That is why I will not be careless,” Gu Xingqiao said, “I have polished the dagger myself, and hardened the poison. You like to see someone else’s sincerity, so I’ll show you mine. Are you not pleased?” 

Sissel was silent for a moment, and smiled.

“You’ve grown,” he said intimately, “how could I be unhappy…” 

“Why?” Gu Xingqiao asked as if he hadn’t heard his reply, “I’ve fought for you for so many years, I can definitely say that I’ve done a lot of hard work for you, if not a lot of credit. Even if it is pretend, why don’t you continue to pretend, focus on being a good friend, good boss?” 

His disembodied voice, finally stopping to Sissel’s left, “Tell me why, Sissel.” 

Sissel was stunned.

“There is no why.” The Emperor replied in a fuss, “Your problem is that you ask too many questions and think too much…!” 

From his right side, Gu Xingqiao appeared in a flash, slashing his left arm and ribs, Sissel dodged just in time to save his earlobe.

Poisoned blood splattered everywhere, and the Emperor cried out in offense, but Gu Xingqiao then retreated into the dense, forest-like mist without a trace.

“Answer my question, why?” Gu Xingqiao asked, “I came here today, to find you and ask you a clear, honest question.” 

Sissel breathed deeply, and he began to move with great strides. He forcefully lifted the gray mist that looked like a curtain or a tent, and searched for Gu Xingqiao with a violent expression, while laughing under his breath, “The fact that you’re still obsessed with this shows that you still care about me, Xingqiao! Can’t you understand that you care about me, and that we’re doomed to be entangled for the rest of our lives…” 

Gu Xingqiao faintly said, “people, who were bitten by a dog, of course, will not look for the reason, because the dog is a dog, you can not figure out what is in its little head. But I suppose, you’re still human, aren’t you, Sissel?” 

Staring at the man in the fog with his wild gestures and chilling smile, Gu Xingqiao’s mind was actually at peace as never before, as if the separation of the soul from the body had taken all his emotions with it.

His behavior was not as humiliating as he thought it would be, there was no trembling, no questioning, and even his anger, which was enough to cause his behavior to go out of control, only appeared for a short moment at the beginning of his attack on Sissel.

Maybe that’s how confrontation works, the more furious one side gets, the more calm and collected the other side becomes.

“You shouldn’t talk to me like that,” Sissel whispered, his facial muscles twitching slightly, as if he was about to bare his inhuman fangs, “Do you understand, Gu Xingqiao? You shouldn’t talk to me like that.” 

Gu Xingqiao was standing right behind him, and for the third time, he gently squeezed Sissel’s tense shoulders while stabbing him in the back with a swift, brutal thrust.

“Ughhh!” The Emperor roared in pain, kicked his legs back or dodged forward, but it was already too late, the blood that was forced to heat up maniacally found another breaking point, and spurted towards the wound there.

“Answer my question,” Gu Xingqiao said, “why did you betray me, Sissel.” 

“I have no need to answer you, and you are in no position to demand an answer from me!” Sissel snarled, then, calming his breathing as best he could, he put an ugly grin on his face, “Are you interrogating me, Xingqiao? Is this how you’re going to get back at me because I locked you up for a while?” 

His breath shuddered, and he tried again to exhale his command, to make this damned fog lift, to get the guards to come here and save the day… But all was lost, the king’s message, reached no one’s ears.

The toxin was eating away at his body, and though Gu Xingqiao had shown no mercy, the poison he’d put into his body might have killed ten adults of ordinary constitution, but it wouldn’t have taken Sissel’s life for a moment.

“Answer my question.” Gu Xingqiao was like a cold and unfeeling repeater, “Why did you betray me, why did you falsify the facts and say that I betrayed the homeworld of Wine God? Answer me, Sissel.” 

Sissel laughed in anger, “What are you asking of me, Xingqiao? Well, all I can say to you is that you don’t have the power to order me around. I made you what you are, and without me, do you really think you would have gotten an audience with my father and become the second youngest general in the history of the empire?” 

He said with conviction, “You are sick, and who has bewitched you to defy me? I’ve put so much effort into you, have you ever thought about how much it would hurt my heart if you did this?” 

Gu Xingqiao’s reply was another clean cut.

This time, the blade of the dagger completely shattered the tendons of Sissel’s right arm.

“Unfortunately, wrong answer.” 

His voice was cold, colder than the winter winds, colder than the atmosphere of a glacial planet. In the midst of severe pain, fury and incredible horror, Sissel suddenly realized something.

–It seemed like he had heard this way of speaking somewhere before.

Not Gu Xingqiao’s voice, but the inorganic coldness of the youth’s words was a real déjà vu for him…

He couldn’t think any further, Gu Xingqiao had already lost his patience, the pummeling in the mist became more and more brutal and thorough, the poison consumed Sissel’s sanity and blurred his perception of pain, he just stumbled for a moment, and the Achilles tendons of his legs snapped in the light of the blood at the same time.

The Emperor collapsed in a pool of blood, he rolled over with difficulty, and finally saw the figure of Gu Xingqiao breaking through the fog, walking towards him without any hesitation.

It is strange, thought Sissel, in a trance, and not without curiosity, that his appearance has changed so much since he left me. He seemed more athletic and lithe, more deadly and indifferent. Who influenced him, or was he transformed into this form by the transformation of his mind alone? 

“This is how you deal with enemy generals,” Sissel murmured, “and now it is finally my turn, the turn of your sworn emperor?” 

Gu Xingqiao crouched beside him, one foot on his arm, the sharp dagger, just below Sissel’s eyeballs, even if he blinked, the needle-like tip of the blade would poke his lower eyelids.

This was also a trick used for interrogation, not to mention resistance, as long as the person underneath made the slightest movement, the person with the knife squatting unsteadily, would directly poke out the prisoner’s eyeballs.

“Indeed yes, people are such strange creatures.” Gu Xingqiao scrutinized him, his face was indifferent, his eyes were like observing a piece of wood, “You have seen me deal with my enemies in this way more than once, and I have seen you deal with your enemies in the method of mental siphoning more than once. And yet, your words still insist on portraying me as an ungrateful traitor, with no mention of your own treachery.” 

He said softly, “It is an unrealistic hope to expect others to understand.” 

Sissel’s eyes, then, were as motionless as if they were frozen.

“Who said this to you?” He looked at Gu Xingqiao dead in the eye, “Who put this idea into your head? Who is that man?” 

“Answer my question,” Gu Xingqiao snapped, ignoring Sissel’s sudden fit of insanity, and drove a knife into his shoulder, “Give me that answer, right now, immediately.” 

Sissel laughed, his lips and teeth already overflowing with blood, he smiled and asked, “And if I don’t?” 

“You know, I love the culture of the Era of Origin. In that ancient civilization, there is a ritual of vengeance called the Blood Eagle.” Gu Xingqiao said with a grimace, “I will break your ribs one by one, then rip your lungs out of your open chest cavity, and hang wing shapes from your ribs. ¹ You will not die at once, Sissel, your spirit is strong, and your body is a thousand times stronger than that of the ancients, and I know that you will be able to hold out, and hold out until the moment of salvation.” 

He asked quietly, “Are you willing to try?” 

Sissel stared at him, his lips frozen in stone.

Gu Xingqiao stabbed down, breaking the first rib just below the collarbone.

Sissel began to tremble.

The second knife, the third knife, bone cracks crisp and ear-piercing, poking out two deep bloody holes.

Sissel began to inhale silently, heavily.

A fourth, a fifth, even a sixth, a seventh… The Emperor of the Empire finally hissed, “… Fake! It’s a fake!” 

Gu Xingqiao’s hands were stained with blood, the fog had not yet completely faded, and grayish-white free fog beads wandered viscously across the surface, looking down from above like a vast spiderweb of light.

“What fake?” Gu Xingqiao asked.

“The rumors of your betrayal of the Wine God Planet were false at first, they were just part of the plan…” Sissel was forced to reveal the truth.

Gu Xingqiao’s pupils twitched.

“What plan?” 

“I want the obedience of the Wine God Planet, and the obedience of the legions that have historically been stationed there.” Sissel hissed, “In their midst, I didn’t need a go-between who could dilute my authority… That would be you!” 

“Why didn’t you confess to me then?” Gu Xingqiao pressed, “At that time, not only would I not have opposed you, on the contrary, I would have gone along with your plan.” 

Sissel grinned, his blonde hair tinted bright red, and his pupils no longer blue.

“Why should I be honest with you?” He asked, “You are my property, Gu Xingqiao! I don’t need to consult with my pens and furniture when I dispose of them, do I?” 

Gu Xingqiao didn’t say anything for half a day.

“… You’re crazy.” He said.

“Am I crazy? Am I crazy?” Sissel huffed and puffed and sneered, “The plan was a fake at first, but, seeing you get discouraged by it, and showing your eagerness to leave me, I knew that you hadn’t realized who you were… and I decided to make the plan real. So I decided to make this plan a reality, to make you a traitor to the Empire and the Wine God Planet, to make you realize that the only way for you is to follow me, other than that, you don’t have a choice!”