118: Chapter 118 Red Silk

Jiang Hongyuan raised her hand.

She grabbed him by the throat and pinned him ruthlessly to the floor.

"Bang!"

The back of Jiang Xun's head slammed hard against the ground. A massive wave of pain exploded, and his vision momentarily went black.

Yet, his thoughts remained exceptionally clear.

He intended to provoke her.

He understood Jiang Hongyuan's character; whether it was the original body or a Clone, they were the same at their core.

Neither would permit their belongings to be touched by others.

Nor would they accept sharing with anyone else.

Even if that person was another version of themselves.

Jiang Hongyuan held back her strength.

Otherwise, with Jiang Xun's frail body, she could have choked him to death with just a little effort.

She pinned him like that, watching his face gradually flush red from lack of oxygen and his expression twist slightly from the pain.

"Do you know..." she suddenly spoke, her voice becoming very soft, "why my childhood name was Red Silk?"

Jiang Xun's throat was constricted, making him unable to speak.

But he knew the answer.

This was a taboo that Jiang Hongyuan was most reluctant to mention.

In the game, he had triggered that plotline; it was the darkest corner of her entire character arc.

But why mention this now?

Jiang Hongyuan's grip loosened slightly.

She seemed to fall into a deep memory, her gaze becoming vacant, and even the force pinning Jiang Xun's neck slackened.

"I told you," she murmured, "I didn't have a name when I was a child."

She suddenly paused.

"No, that's not right. I did have one. Just like my hundreds of brothers and sisters, we were all called Blood Seeds."

Jiang Xun's breathing became a bit smoother.

He didn't move or struggle, just quietly watched her.

Jiang Hongyuan's voice continued, like a sleep-talker or someone talking to themselves:

"My father didn't love my mother. But my mother loved my father very much. She spent all day being jealous and competing with hundreds of other women, doing her utmost to flatter him..."

Her eyes grew more and more hollow.

"In the end, she was treated as a prize by my father and rewarded to an ugly Demon General."

"The next day, she became mentally unstable."

"By the time I found her..."

Jiang Hongyuan released Jiang Xun's neck and moved her hand upward, gently covering his right cheek.

It stung with a burning pain, but her palm was ice-cold; when she touched him, Jiang Xun actually felt the pain subside significantly.

"She was hanging from a beam by a Red Silk ribbon."

Jiang Xun looked at her.

For a moment, he couldn't tell if it was Jiang Hongyuan speaking or if another of the Three Corpses had begun to take over the body.

Jiang Hongyuan's voice continued:

"I took her down. She only had one last breath left."

"She said to me..."

She stared into Jiang Xun's eyes, repeating her mother's final words word for word:

"Your own things should be tied tightly by your side."

"In the future, your man must also be bound with Red Silk."

"Don't let go."

"And don't loosen the grip."

Jiang Xun fell silent.

He hadn't previously thought deeply about the profound meaning of this plotline.

Now he finally understood why Jiang Hongling, or rather Jiang Hongyuan, had such a morbid possessiveness toward him.

That iron chain, that collar, those "you can only be mine" declarations.

It wasn't because she was born crazy.

It was because she had been taught this way since childhood.

Taught by a mother who used her life to give the lesson.

The silence lasted for a long time.

Jiang Xun spoke, his voice very soft, "So, are you going to start fighting for me?"

He looked into her eyes.

"Fighting with yourself?"

Jiang Hongyuan stared at him.

The daze in those red pupils gradually faded, replaced by a frenzied blood-light.

"No."

She spoke slowly.

"I can't resist her, and I can't defeat her, but what I can't have, she shouldn't think of having either."

A dagger suddenly appeared in her hand.

Pure black.

The edge shimmered with a ghostly cold light, its chill intimidating.

Jiang Xun stared at the dagger, his pupils shrinking slightly.

Jiang Hongyuan gripped the dagger and slowly raised it.

Jiang Xun lay on the floor, his collar open, the red marks on his neck still visible, and the slap mark on his right cheek still stinging.

Jiang Hongyuan sat astride him, one hand pinning him down and the other holding the dagger, looking down at him.

In those eyes, there was hatred, love, madness, and sadness.

"Dao Xun," she softly called his name.

"We will eventually reunite in Hell."

As long as she killed Jiang Xun, Jiang Hongling would surely be consumed by the surging Demonic Intent and eventually turn into a mindless monster.

And she would also be truly free.

Jiang Xun didn't speak.

He just looked at her.

Waiting for the blade to fall.

...Or not fall.

After a long while, Jiang Hongyuan thrust the knife down violently, but the tip stopped half an inch from Jiang Xun's chest.

Her hand froze.

Jiang Xun said, "Jiang Hongling doesn't want to kill me, so it's impossible for you to defy her will."

Jiang Hongling knew her own personality, so how could she not know the nature of her own Clone?

Daring to let the two of them stay in the same room, Jiang Xun didn't believe she hadn't taken any precautions.

Two hot tears splashed onto Jiang Xun's chest.

Jiang Hongyuan raised the dagger high once more and stabbed down forcefully.

After several consecutive attempts, the result was the same.

The muscles in her arm, her wrist, and even every finger refused to obey her.

She tried repeatedly, growing more desperate each time.

"Why?"

Jiang Hongyuan propped both hands on Jiang Xun's chest, tears rolling down incessantly. "This is clearly my hand, so why won't it obey?"

Jiang Xun raised his hand to wipe away the tears on her face.

This was the first time he had seen Jiang Hongyuan cry, and it made his heart ache involuntarily.

Whether in the game or in reality, Jiang Hongyuan was not the kind of character to let herself shed tears.

Perhaps it was an explosion of the Benevolent Corpse's emotions.

If Jiang Xun were dominated by a more powerful version of himself, he would probably be even more desperate than Jiang Hongyuan.

"Don't cry," Jiang Xun said. "It doesn't look like you at all."

Jiang Hongyuan didn't want to cry either, but the tears escaped her eyes on their own, and she couldn't control them.

Nothing belonged to her.

Not the body, not Jiang Xun.

Nothing belonged to her.

She brushed away Jiang Xun's hand as if in a huff; she didn't need pity. "Anyway, I'm just a Puppet. You don't need to feel sorry for me. When she returns, you can feel sorry for her instead."

Jiang Xun opened his hand, his tone indifferent. "How long until Jiang Hongling returns?"

"I don't know."

Jiang Hongyuan turned her head away, not wanting to talk about her.

Jiang Xun looked into her eyes. "What I mean is, how long after Jiang Hongling leaves this body will she return?"

After trying on the Wedding Robe, he had seen four chains faintly pulling at Jiang Hongling.

Jiang Hongyuan said coldly, "Why should I tell you?"

She wished for nothing more than to destroy Jiang Xun.

Jiang Xun said, "What if I could set you free?"

"To walk the world with an independent body and a free soul."

Jiang Hongyuan suddenly looked at Jiang Xun. That's right! The man she was pinning down was the most powerful Cultivator in ten thousand years.

Dao Seeking Demon Venerable.

He was so brilliantly talented; helping her escape Jiang Hongling's control would surely be as easy as turning over his hand.

She said in pleasant surprise:

"Really!?"