Staring at Situ An’s face, Gao Yun paused and said lightly, “I don’t want to fight you either, but you always stand in my way. Gao Ming will be here soon. There’s still time for you to run.”
“You… should be the one to run.” Situ An seemed to remember something. He didn’t attack Gao Yun. Instead, he looked around.
Things went out of script. Gao Yun remembered that during the previous seventeen rewinds, Situ An would say, ‘It’s Gao Ming who should run’.
Why did it change? Did Situ An discover something?
Ever since he left the tunnel, no one could detect Gao Yun’s power. This was Gao Yun’s own rules.
Licking the blood on his lips, Situ An’s eyes lingered on the recent corpse that was strung up beside the pillar. The black faith under his skin surged. His consciousness blurred. His fingers closed around the chains. Situ An’s expression was strange. It seemed like he was trying his best not to smile.
Gao Yun frowned as he reached into his pocket. He detected that Situ An was sensing something.
“Pierced through the soul and wounded all over, I’ve been tormented so much in the torture room.” Situ An touched the remaining chains on him. “However, I’ve never given up. Even if there’s just a sliver of possibility, I will do my best to survive.”
“Ramble on. Gao Ming will be here soon. I share with you some bad news. He has already left the God of the Past’s apartments and reached this place.” Gao Yun’s expression returned to normal. He was numb to everything. There was no extra emotion in his eyes.
The black faith under his skin had accumulated to a frightening degree. Cracks appeared on his skin. The presence he exuded this time was scarier than before. It was as if he was faking it the previous times.
“I don’t know your trump card, and I don’t know what I’ll face. However, I have a suspicion about everything, including myself.” Situ An’s voice trembled from either the pain or the excitement. “My memory is normal, and my body hasn’t changed. Your power is very special, but you’ve overlooked one thing.”
Gao Yun didn’t react.
“You have me forget many things, but your power can only target one individual. You can’t make both the chains that represent Gao Ming, and I forget everything.” Situ An had no idea what Gao Yun’s real power was, but this astute man noticed the details, “My body is pierced by eighteen chains. Each of them is carved with the names of the people who I’ve tortured to death. I have to suffer their torment day and night. However… Look at how many chains are left on me.”
Gao Yun’s power only worked on one target. Situ An lost his memory, but with each rewind, he used the power of the God of the Future to impact the binds on himself and weaken the chains. This madman probably noticed the problem during the second rewind, but he chose to remain silent. With each rewind and memory loss, he confirmed his plan. Situ An had absolute faith in himself. He trusted himself at every moment. That was why he came up with this plan.
“Even though I have a divine contract with the God of the Future, it never plans to let me go. Without your help, it wouldn’t have exhausted its power to blast off the chains every time. This cunning God even plans to use that to control me!” Situ An didn’t waste time. The remaining chains on him were filled with cracks. Only one chain was rather intact. “Gao Yun, thank you for helping me regain freedom!”
“You’re welcome. Even if you know the answer, I’ll still do the same.” Gao Yun said calmly, “I am corroding the figurine of the God of the Future. Your every rewind will help me deplete its power. That’s why I’ve let you be.”
Situ An was doing this for freedom, and Gao Yun’s aim was to control the vessel of the God of the Future. They were nemesis, but they shared a unique bond. When the conspiracy was pointless, they would force the other to do something beneficial to them. So what if they had been seen through?
“Equivalent exchange is built on mutual sacrifice. I don’t believe you can use your power without any sacrifice. Now, the scale is tipping.” Then, Situ An’s arms and back were torn apart. Eyes opened in his wounds. This was his first time manipulating the power given to him by the God of the Future at full force. “Without your help, I can’t possibly escape. To show my appreciation, I will bury you and Gao Ming here.” The flesh in the parking lot grew rapidly. The headless figurine raised its arms to mimic Situ An’s pose.
The weakened chains crumbled. Only one chain that cut through his scapula was unharmed. However, as Situ An cackled wildly, endless black threads crawled out of his body to curl around this last chain.
Gao Yun’s eyes dimmed. He walked towards Situ An. Once he sacrificed his body, he could use rewind again.
“No wonder you’re not scared. Death is the price you have to pay.” Situ An and the headless figurine closed their palms together. The other corpses moved with them. They closed their eyes and chanted a sutra. The palpable scent of death formed a giant hand to hold Gao Yun. Situ An didn’t kill Gao Yun. He only detained him. After doing that, Situ An focused on destroying the last chain as he tried to locate Gao Yun’s actual body.
“You and Gao Ming call me evil. You sacrifice the living every time you use your power. How are you any different from me?”
Situ An’s eyes darted about. Thus far, he had no idea what Gao Yun’s actual body was or if he was even still a human.
“People become more talkative as they get older.” Gao Yun’s voice didn’t change. As he was about to continue, he suddenly whipped his head around.
On one of the walls, someone had dug out a hole. One could barely see Fan Li who was holding back Xia Yang, who wanted to crawl into the underground parking lot.