Split Zone No.13

When the three of us arrived next door, we discovered Jiao S and Gaoqin Jiuye silently facing each other. Dressed in a school uniform, Jiao S looked like a stiff SD doll1. Gaoqin Jiuye stood on the other side of the room, similarly cold and still.

I walked in, and seeing them standing there, upright and motionless, like mannequins, I didn’t quite know how to start the conversation. So, I turned to Jiao S and asked, “Where’s Guan Nie?”

At the mention of Guan Nie, Gaoqin Jiuye’s eyes trembled, and he turned to look at me. His long, narrow eyes carried a strange expression.

I didn’t want to look him in the eyes, so I continued to watch Jiao S.

Jiao S turned her neck a bit. “He went off to who knows where, and disappeared before you guys returned; he never reports his plans to me. But Li Shen, what were you thinking, going into the border forest, just the three of you on your own? Even I’ve only passed by, and never traveled too deep inside.”

Gaoqin Jiuye sneered. “So you know then, that our Southern District doesn’t welcome you.”

Jiao S seemed unfazed by his hostility though. Lightly, she replied, “You killed one of the kids from my district, but you’re still using such pointed language?”

Her words seemed to have had an affect, as Gaoqin Jiuye’s expression changed slightly and he didn’t make a retort.

After she finished speaking, Jiao S’ eyes shifted to Jie Pa. “Everyone’s here now. Can you explain what you’ve deduced now?”

Jie Pa pushed up his glasses and began calmly. “It’s like this. If I may be so daring, I believe that someone is plotting a scheme to kill others, without paying with their own life. What we know so far of the Split Zone is that as long as people protect their split symbol, no matter the harm that comes to them, they will not die. But if your physical body in the real world dies, then you will also end up dying here. My current suspicion is that someone is refining a poison that can directly bypass our consciousness and attack our physical bodies. With that, we lose our ability to heal in the Split Zone, and thusly, we’ll die.”

I didn’t quite understand. “You mean to say that those who fused with the demon leeches will lose their ability to heal? But Song Lu has already healed, hasn’t she?”

Jie Pa shook his head. “The poison may not come from the leeches, or perhaps there are many types of poison and the leeches were just used for one such experiment. As you saw, the girl with the mole and the bald boy were both unable to heal after they were attacked; they directly died. From that, we can deduce that they had another kind of poison in their bodies.”

I frowned. “You mean that they were used for a different experiment?”

Jie Pa nodded. “Yes. Ms Laurel was able to heal after Ms Ah Shen’s arrow struck her, so she was likely subject to a different type of poison. By the way, Ms Ah Shen, during your exchange with Ms Laurel, did you notice anything strange?”

I tried my best to recall the memory that I didn’t want to remember. After a moment, I suddenly thought of something. “When Laurel was strangling me, her strength was no joke. Nie Zun couldn’t pull her off of me either. And it wasn’t just pure physical strength; when she attacked me, it felt like something was pressing down on my mind as well.”

Nie Zun spoke up. “Indeed, she was very strange at the time. My strength didn’t seem to affect her at all, and when I grabbed her arms, I also felt a pressure on my mind.”

Jiao S suddenly spoke coldly, “Whatever experiments there may be, the only thing we know is that these poisonous creatures don’t originally exist in the Split Zone. There’s probably only one person who could create the things you’re talking about.”

With an unfriendly expression, she looked at Gaoqin Jiuye. “If I’m not recalling incorrectly, The Southern District’s soul snatcher, Rong Jin, has the very ability to bring animal and insect souls to the Split Zone. Gaoqin Jiuye, with all this evidence pointing to you guys, are you sure you don’t want to let Si Luo show himself?”

At Jiao S’ mention of Si Luo, Gaoqin Jiuye’s expression turned chilly. “It’s just speculation, but you’re already insisting that Rong Jin is to blame? Is this how you two district commanders operate?”

I responded just as coldly, “At the least, we can be certain that the Southern District can’t be cleared of all blame regarding the events these past days.”

Gaoqin Jiuye glared at me, and without cowering down, I returned his stare.

Just then, several knocks came on the door. The knocks came successively and quickly, signalling the urgency of the person waiting outside. After about five or six knocks, the person outside simply pushed open the door and walked inside.

“Aiyayaya, Jiao S, I only went out for half a day, and when I returned to find my pets, none of them are here. What’s going on...?” Like a young woman complaining about their lover’s later arrival to a date, Guan Nie fiddled with his long hair as he bounced in through the door.

When he walked in, he looked up. He was a bit taken aback by the full room, and then his pampered smile returned. But then, when his eyes landed on Gaoqin Jiuye, he paused again. The hair he’d been fiddling with finally dropped from his hands. Guan Nie stood gracefully, and the strands of hair floated down to meet the rest of his hair behind him. Guan Nie’s long phoenix eyes narrowed slightly, and his red lips curved into a subtle smile.

At the same time, Gaoqin Jiuye also narrowed his eyes. The two of them looked at each other for awhile, as if no one else was present. The flow of air in the room even seemed to slow. Or maybe I was just imagining it. Subconsciously, I ended up holding my breath, my eyes flitting back and forth between the two strange men.

Their attractive force was truly something. One had the cold yet radiant appearance of a reaper whom you couldn’t keep your eyes off of. The other had a head of flowing white hair, dressed in a snow-white robe, with beautiful, sparkling eyes, looking like an immortal figure.

The room was silent.

And then, as if admitting defeat, Gaoqin Jiuye lifted his hand and casually ruffled his hair, avoiding Guan Nie’s gaze. “Long time, Guan Nie.”

Guan Nie tilted his head, and his white hair streamed down from his right shoulder, like a flowing waterfall. His eyes narrowed more, the outline of his face beautiful and touching. His lips, tender and lovely as a flower, gently opened. “Yes, it’s been a long time, Gaoqin Jiuye.”

I shamefully swallowed my saliva, unable to take my eyes off of Guan Nie’s bewitching face. I sighed inwardly, the rotten pervert was seriously beautiful!

Guan Nie’s head remained slightly tilted. His figure, hidden beneath his white robes, was fair and graceful. Although those weren’t words meant for describing a man... But he was seriously way too beautiful!

Jiao S’ eyes suddenly turned, a somewhat sinister feel to them. “Guan Nie, you’d better not bother me about not letting you know in advance. I didn’t know they were going to bring him back.”

A light, as a burning flame, suddenly appeared in Guan Nie’s eyes. He looked like a lecher who’d laid eyes upon a a beautiful woman, or perhaps a starving ghost who saw a platter of sumptuous food. A slightly glistening tongue slipped out from his mouth and licked his lips. With an enchanting smile, he replied, “Don’t worry. It’s my pleasure to be able to see the person whom I spend all day and night wishing to tear their muscles and peel off their skin...”

His raging eyes locked onto Gaoqin Jiuye’s face, as if they had the power to entangle together with Gaoqin Jiuye’s person.

My appreciation of of Guan Nie’s expression suddenly changed directions. His words really made my heart thump.

Tearing muscles and peeling skin...

This touching and ethereal voice uttering such words actually didn’t sound frightening, but more like an unrivaled beauty fluttering her eyes that could charm a person in an instant, as she told you, “Give your life to me.” Instead of being scrared, you want to nod your head, “Yes, yes, take it!”

However, as I am a woman, through and through, I was unaffected by his spell. Instead, I started to ponder the relationship between these two.

Was this a love and hate relationship? I started to imagine their story in my head.

When I thought of how Gaoqin Jiuye always seemed to become unhinged at the mention of Si Luo, I brazenly supposed: Had Guan Nie yearned for the legendary beauty of Si Luo, and so in the dark of night, snuck into the Southern District to force himself onto Si Luo, causing Gaoqin Jiuye to erupt with anger and wage a grand battle against Guan Nie?

Or perhaps the fair and graceful pretty boy heard that Si Luo was the most beautiful man in the Split Zone, and out of jealousy and resentment, he traveled to the Southern District to murder Si Luo. But then he was righteously beat up by the protector, Gaoqin Jiuye.

Or maybe Guan Nie was attracted by the cold Gaoqin Jiuye, and persisted in chasing after him to eat him up.

My thoughts wantonly flew around inside my head, every possible link they might have popping into my mind...

Suddenly a chuckle broke my thoughts.

A bit indignant, I looked over at the guy with black gloves, covering his mouth like a naughty child. With a smile and a teasing expression, Nie Zun, who didn’t lose out to the others in looks, with his gloomy radiance, told me, “Li Shen, wipe the drool off your face.”

I felt my face instantly turn red. But that must have just been in my head, for my face never got red.

I quickly wiped my mouth.

Wipe, wipe. But I quickly realized that there was nothing there.

“Pfft...” Even Jie Pa, who’d been quiet the entire time, couldn’t help scoffing. Jiao S also glanced over at me. And then I finally realized that I’d bitten Nie Zun’s bait! I glared at him, but quickly my eyes returned to Gaoqin Jiuye and Guan Nie, not wanting to miss a single second of their show.

They continued to stare at each other, completely ignoring everyone else.