Chapter 399: Chapter 334 Are all you Blood Moonians sick or what?!

On a languid afternoon, the sunlight was diced into squares by the windows of the treehouse, wrapping around little Si as if dipped in the fragrance of coffee and ink, spreading across the carpet.

Igula sat beside her, cradling a copy of the “Ten Rules of the Swindler” in her hands, with a cup of steaming coffee in front of her, she asked, “Comfortable?”

“Comfortable,” little Si rolled back and forth on the carpet: “Half of me is sunbathed, the other half isn’t, half warm, half cool.” Irina, come lie down too, stop reading.”

“No thanks, I like–”

Before Igula could finish her refusal, she was dragged to the floor by little Si. The treehouse transformed with the roof opening wide; stars shifted, turning afternoon to deep night in an instant, with a Star Cluster twinkling brilliantly and the Galaxy shimmering softly, as the myriad of Star Radiance greeted them.

“I think you’ll definitely like the starry sky,” little Si said, lying next to Igula.

“Yes, I am only moved by two things–starry skies and moral Law. The former represents nature’s greatness, the latter human nature’s radiance; only these two things can make me feel my insignificance.”

“But…” Igula lifted her hand toward the starry sky, her fingers gently unfurling, and a pressing Blood Moon appeared between them. It instantly scattered countless stars, like a watchful giant eye that dominated the land above: “This is the starry sky I’m familiar with.”

“But it no longer exists.” Little Si reached out and crushed the Blood Moon: “Neither in dreams nor in reality do you have to live under the light of this Blood Moon.”

“Let’s go,” little Si took Igula’s hand and ran off, “Let’s go on an adventure!”

The towering Ancient Forest with its numerous traps, the Mysterious Underground Palace filled with mechanisms, the eerie City where residents vanished overnight, the mountain villages worshipping mysterious religions… Whether these were pre-crafted dream bubbles or treasures from little Si’s mind, the two girls braved through these dangerous places together. Little Si charged headlong into near-death adventures, while Igula was responsible for gathering intelligence and solving puzzles, sometimes shrieking as they were chased by rolling stones, and other times beholding majestic vistas of towering Wonders.

Eventually, tired from play, they lay down on the grass under the shade of trees, smelling the scent of fresh grass on each other, and lazily felt like just falling asleep in the dream.

“Hey, let’s continue to play together tomorrow!” little Si said excitedly: “Tomorrow we’ll challenge the Mysterious Underwater City, but we better add some Sea Demon lineage to ourselves, or it’ll be hard to deal with breathing underwater…”

“Will it still be just the two of us?” Igula asked.

“Yeah, just us two is fine,” little Si stated matter-of-factly: “I don’t want to meet more people. When there are more people, conflicts arise, three or more and cliques form, and with more voices, comes noise.”

“The three nouns I hate most are humans, society, and interaction. What I wish for most in life is to be just two people, not lonely, able to resolve conflicts promptly and not needing to talk regularly; we can understand each other just by eye contact. What about you?”

Igula was slightly startled and, looking at the dappled sunlight through the tree shade, she nodded gently: “Same for me. I hate meeting strangers the most, hate interacting with others the most, hate being in a society rife with tangled interests the most.”

“Right, right!” little Si excitedly propped herself up beside Igula, “It’s settled then, tomorrow we’ll keep adventuring, just the two of us!”

However, Igula did not respond, as the sunlight quietly retreated and clouds took over the sky.

“Without considering interpersonal relationships, without pondering schemes and strategies, just squandering my intelligence and wits, adventuring with the person I trust the most, entering uninhabited Mystical places, witnessing long-lost external Wonders… This is indeed the dream life I long for the most.”

The wind started to pick up, the blades of grass bent slightly, and the leaves made a weeping sound.

Little Si: “But?”

“But, the reason a dream is a dream is because it’s unattainable,” Igula sat up: “A dream that can be easily realized is meaningless.”

Little Si also sat up: “But aren’t we dreaming right now?”

Crack! A thunderclap tore across the sky, followed by a light drizzle and then a roaring deluge. No longer a shelter, the tree shade left Igula’s hair soaked and little Si’s face blurred.

“Why is it raining?” little Si pulled out a large umbrella from nowhere, covering both herself and Igula: “Irina, do you like the sound of the rain?”

“I don’t like the rain, but it’s always raining here, and I’m always getting drenched,” Igula said: “That’s why dreaming is meaningless, you can be with me now, but when you leave, I’ll still have to face the rain.”

“I’ll stay with you until the end.”

“The end and forever are essentially the same word, both meaning ‘a future so distant I will break my promise.'”

“But our future isn’t that far off,” little Si blinked: “When the Weaving Festival ends, that day will be our ending.”

“The final journey, you don’t have to walk alone. We have bought the same tickets to the end, and we will ride together to the final station.”

Igula looked at her calmly, “Do you really want to accompany me?”

“Yes.”

“No regrets?”

“No regrets.”

“Phew.” Igula sighed, “Alright then.”

The rain stopped, and the wind died down. Just when Xiao Xi believed Igula was finally opening up her heart, suddenly, the ground shook violently as the earth collapsed to form an arena, with seats for the audience rising all around. Spotlight focused only on the sandy ground at the very bottom, in the very center.

“Do you know where we are?”

Xiao Xi looked up and saw Igula, no longer dressed as a literary girl, but now wearing tight-fitting combat attire, wrapping bandages around her arms.

“This is the deathmatch arena of Shattered Lake Prison,” Igula said calmly, “I’ve broken the ulnas of countless scoundrels here, plundered the wealth of numerous bad people, and to speak unreservedly, I’ve survived on the nutrients from the dead.”

“But, Irina, you’ve already left–”

“I haven’t left.” Igula shook her head, “I’ve just moved from one Shattered Lake to another. As long as I do not change, anywhere is a prison that confines me.”

“But you can change now,” Xiao Xi urged, “I’ll be with you to change! Don’t you want to escape from your past hateful life, from that despicable self?”

“Yes, I want to.” Igula lowered her eyelids, “My soul is urging me to accept you, my Heart Barrier has been completely destroyed by you, your speech, your worldview, your appearance, everything about you is my ideal type. Although I don’t know who you are, or how you’ve read my preferences, even if you are a trap, you have completely entered my heart.”

“Then why–”

“So.” Igula adopted a fighting stance: “You have to die.”

Xiao Xi was stunned, utterly failing to understand the Swindler’s train of thought.

“Although I’m dying to invade Blood Moon with an army of the Gospel, there are still many essences worth preserving in Blood Moon’s education,” Igula said coldly, “‘All relationships that worry you will contaminate you’, ‘All relationships that make you feel wronged will hurt you’, ‘All relationships that change you will control you’… Personal freedom is the basis of everything, especially for a Spirit Mage.”

“If I stop being myself, then what difference is there between me and the dead?”

“I never kill unless my bottom line is crossed,” Igula stated earnestly, “And my bottom line is–anyone who can enter my heart, anyone who can break through my Heart Barrier, must die!”

“I’ve already given you a chance, but you refused to leave.”

“Wait, wait…” Xiao Xi backed away, waving her hands, “Your view of love is flawed, there exists selfless love in this world, love where people change for others–”

“Sorry, it’s your view that’s flawed,” Igula said, “The first rule of the Swindler: Believe that everyone in this world is selfish.”

When she saw Igula charging at her, Xiao Xi was baffled.

There’s nothing in the data about Igula having this kind of trap–finding it hard to like others, but once she does, she must kill them to preserve her purity–how do you find a balance point in this?

Are all you Blood Moonians a bit sick in the head!

“And also,” when Igula lunged into her embrace, she heard the Swindler say a very strange phrase, “I’ve actually always wanted to take revenge.”

Take revenge for what?

Thud!

With one full-force strike, the Swindler punched and Xiao Xi’s figure burst like a bubble!

“Phew.”

Igula let out a long breath, lying exhausted on the sandy ground, raising her fist high with a flush of excitement on her cheeks.

“Damn, I really feel like giving him a punch in reality too.”