You're my wife, don't doubt it!

As for whether Shadow himself was lying or not, Xiao Yao didn't have time to think about it at this moment.

“In that case,” Xiao Yao continued, following the words of the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai, “you shouldn’t have killed her even more—otherwise, what would happen to your son?”

“Hmph, idiots,” the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai’s shadow said sinisterly, “How can I explain it to you? This is a reshaping, a rebirth.”

"When you came to the real world before, you assassinated her in that alleyway," Xiao Yao asked sternly, "was it also for the sake of reshaping and rebirth?"

The butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow opened his mouth to speak, but before he could utter a sound, Xiao Yao continued to persuade him: "You especially shouldn't hurt Shen Jie, because I've been in contact with her, and she's extremely loyal to you."

"What?" said the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow.

So Xiao Yao then exaggerated and embellished the story of Shen Jie, the woman in the blue dress, and her neutral goodwill towards her "fiancé."

He was pleased to see that the hook of the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow loosened slightly in his subconscious.

“Even after she saw your perverted little room, which was covered with voyeuristic photos,” Xiao Yao added slowly, “her first reaction wasn’t that you were a pervert, but that you loved her very much.”

"Is everything you're saying true?" asked the Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow.

"Of course it's true?"

“What a pity,” sighed the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai, “if she hadn’t suddenly recalled it for no reason…”

Before she could finish speaking, Yu Luying flipped her hand over, and a thin shard of ice shot out from between her fingers, deflecting the hook of Butcher Version Zhang Zhengkai's Shadow, which was already loose enough. Then, she kicked out with her leg, piercing the thin, long heel of the crystal shoe into his upper arm muscle.

"Drink!" Zhang Zhengkai's shadow, the butcher version, screamed. Xiao Yao had already leaped over, reached out his sword and cut several ropes binding Shen Jie in the blue dress, then swung his sword to cut the iron chains.

"Are all those things you just said true?" The butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai was lying face down on the ground with his back to the sky, and Yu Luying's knees, clad in a long skirt, were pressing against his neck, yet he was still concerned about that.

"Of course it's true?" Xiao Yao cut all the chains, bent down and scooped the unconscious Shen Jie into his arms. "At most, there's some literary embellishment, uh, a biased artistic interpretation?"

“I can’t breathe!” protested the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai’s shadow.

Xiao Yao struggled to support Shen Jie's body with one arm, while his other arm, holding a sword, pointed crookedly at the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow lying on the ground: "Tell me, how do you reunite Shen Jie's soul, which was split in two?"

"Do you really think she was only split in two?" The butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow laughed bitterly. "Do you really think the residents of this city outside are merely projections of consciousness?"

"How do you restore her?" Xiao Yao pressed the tip of his sword against the neck of the Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow. "How do you wake everyone up from this dream—wake them up unharmed?"

"Kill me, that will solve everything," said the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow. "Why ask such a question when you already know the answer?"

Xiao Yao was slightly taken aback.

"Do you dare kill me?" the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow mocked. "I bet five cents you don't."

"I advise you not to provoke me," Xiao Yao said coldly.

“I can provoke you, but you won’t dare,” Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai’s shadow said, his mouth seemingly harder than a dead duck: “I understand you, Xiao Yao, I understand your cowardice, I understand your kindness, you are cowardly because of your kindness.”

“You just said that I’m the same kind of person as you, you butcher,” Xiao Yao said coldly. “Do you want to listen to what you’re saying? Besides kindness, I also have justice, and the sword in my hand represents my justice.”

“But your justice won’t allow your sword to fall so easily, will it?” Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai’s shadow said, “That’s what I meant when I said you’re kind to the point of being cowardly.”

“Heh,” Xiao Yao said.

Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow: "You know very well that once your sword falls, when you return to reality from this dream, your good friend Zhang Zhengkai will become a big idiot, or he may die, or he may become a vegetable. Anyway, nothing good will happen."

Xiao Yao: "..."

"You're still blaming yourself for what happened to your teacher Yao, aren't you?" Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow continued, "Your teacher Song persecuted you to this extent, and you're still reflecting on your own death, aren't you?"

"Teacher Song's death has nothing to do with me," Xiao Yao solemnly declared.

“And now, influenced by Christianity, you’ve only amplified and strengthened this tendency,” the butcher-like Zhang Zhengkai’s shadow continued to ramble on, “You’re thinking only of salvation, not destruction. Am I wrong? That’s why you don’t dare, you don’t dare…”

“I understand,” Xiao Yao sighed and looked at Yu Luying: “I originally thought this guy had some trump card to use to threaten me, but after all this talk, he was just trying to beg for mercy.”

“We can’t kill him,” Yu Luying replied, “otherwise we might be trapped here forever.”

"Are you sure?"

"I cancel."

"?"

"I am not sure."

"Now, can I still trust you?" Xiao Yao asked Yu Luying.

“You’re right,” Yu Luying replied succinctly, “Why don’t you come up and put pressure on them, and I’ll leave? You can solve the problem yourselves.”

“Kai Zi,” Xiao Yao carefully placed Shen Jie in the corner, walked around the slaughtering table, squatted down, and looked directly into the eerily green pupils of the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai’s shadow: “At least you are right about one thing. I plan to give you another chance for redemption, a chance for self-redemption.”

After saying this, he clapped his hands.

Two people walked in from outside.

One was a handsome young boy covered in blood, and the other was a blonde girl with blue eyes—a slightly darker blonde, not the translucent gold of Barbie, but a gold with a brownish undertone.

The blonde girl wore a scarlet dress and ballet shoes, and a small flame burned in her right hand.

As soon as the girl saw Shen Jie's body lying in the corner, she ran over and threw herself on top of her.

The butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow had his neck pressed down by Yu Luying's knee, and the slaughtering platform severely obstructed his view, so it took him quite a while to barely make out the person's appearance: "What, it's you again?"

"Sister Yu, please let him go for now," Zhang Zhengkai pleaded. "I mean, let him go temporarily."

Yu Luying glanced at Xiao Yao, who nodded slightly.

So Yu Luying stood up.

"Where are you going?" Xiao Yao called out to her from behind.

"You can sort out your own problems," Yu Luying said, pushing the door open and leaving without looking back. "I'm not getting involved."

"Hey..." Xiao Yao watched helplessly as Yu Luying slipped away, and in this situation, it was inconvenient for him to chase after her.

“Xiao Yao, your so-called redemption,” Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai’s shadow slowly stood up, rubbing his neck with his right hand, only remembering when the cold iron hook touched his skin, and quickly switched to his left hand: “Is it this shadow of mine?”

"You said he's Shadow? He's your Shadow?" Xiao Yao chuckled.

"What else?" Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow revealed that particularly evil smile again: "This weak and powerless shadow came to provoke me not long ago, but he couldn't beat me in a fight—I wanted to kill him, but I was afraid something might happen... Actually, I mostly went too far and threw him into the river, hoping he would roll away as far as possible. I didn't expect him to dare to come back. Ah, so he's just a fox borrowing the tiger's power, a dog relying on its master's influence."

Xiao Yao: "..."

Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow: "Seeing you call this thing my 'salvation' is truly laughable."

"Shut up, you're spouting nonsense!" Zhang Zhengkai's face turned red with anger, making the bloodstains on his face even more vivid.

"Did he tell you that I'm the shadow, and he's the real one?" Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow looked surprised. "You don't really believe that I'm his shadow, do you?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Xiao Yao replied.

“People are all the same,” the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai’s shadow sighed. “They were criticizing me before, saying that I reshaped my lover according to my own wishes, and that this is not love. But now? Who is the light and who is the shadow, isn’t it up to you to decide? Isn’t it up to you to choose the version you like more according to your own wishes and say that he is the real one?”

"Do what you're supposed to do." Xiao Yao had no more interest in listening to Zhang Zhengkai's ramblings, so he turned around and instructed Zhang Zhengkai.

"What should be done? Isn't it up to the person in power right now? It just so happens to be you today!" Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow shouted hysterically.

Chapter 396 Awakening from a Dream

2023-12-01

"Do what you're supposed to do." Xiao Yao had no more interest in listening to Zhang Zhengkai's ramblings, so he turned around and instructed Zhang Zhengkai.

"What should be done? Isn't it up to the person in power right now? It just so happens to be you today!" Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow shouted hysterically.

"Ah, right, right, right." Xiao Yao turned slightly to the side.

While keeping a wary eye on the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow, Zhang Zhengkai reached out and opened the tattered satchel he was carrying, pulling out a gourd... no, a thing that looked like a mass incense burner.

Xiao Yao recognized this thing very well, because Yu Bo would shake it on the altar every Sunday at Mass.

Its exterior is inlaid with sterling silver patterns, and the delicate carvings depict a story from the Bible. At the base of the incense burner, three archangels in relief quietly surround it, as if guarding some sacred ritual.

"Did you smuggle it from Yu Bo?" Xiao Yao asked, glancing at the incense burner.

"Huh?" Zhang Zhengkai twitched his nostrils in confusion. "The priest lent it to me."

Just as Xiao Yao was about to ask another question, Zhang Zhengkai, seemingly very skilled, took out another dark, honeycomb briquette, lit it with a lighter, and threw it into the incense burner.

Upon seeing this, the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow instinctively stirred with urge to act.

Xiao Yao thrust his sword forward again, pressing it against the throat of the butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai's shadow.

The smoke rising from the incense burner filled the filthy room, and Xiao Yao smelled that familiar scent—a strong and rich frankincense.

Sunlight streamed through the glass window, illuminating the incense burner and making it gleam as if angelic light danced within it.

"Sunlight?" Xiao Yao looked outside in great surprise: "This is really unbelievable."

“Xiao Yao and the others have the power, but they don’t know how to purify you,” Zhang Zhengkai said. “I know how to face you, but I can’t beat you—now that we’re all here, let’s see what you can do?”

“You bastard who ruined my plans, no,” Butcher version of Zhang Zhengkai’s shadow gritted his teeth, “you bastard who ruined our plans, ruined your own plans, you even ruined your own plans, you high and mighty traitor who shakes the incense burner but is actually a coward and filthy traitor… You are not me!”

“I also wish I wasn’t you, or rather, you weren’t me,” Zhang Zhengkai said with a hint of pity. “Because you’ve really embarrassed me so much—but even if I’m unwilling to admit it, even you, like this, are indeed me, an inseparable part of me, the dark side I must face, the burden I must bear…”

The incense burner swayed gently, emanating a mysterious and solemn aura. The entire slaughterhouse was filled with white smoke, drastically reducing visibility, as if the slaughterhouse was being sanctified into a church.

Xiao Yao heard the girl coughing from the smell of frankincense. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the figure in a knitted sweater and short skirt walk up to him and stop.

"How are you feeling?" Xiao Yao asked Shen Jie, his eyes still fixed on the butcher. "Are you alright?"

“I…cough cough cough…I,” Shen Jie told Xiao Yao, “I’m still not used to it.”

"Shen Jie," Zhang Zhengkai said, shaking the incense burner, "I'm sorry."