Underworld - Chapter 10
That faint light was no longer purple; it was a pair of evil eyes, indifferent eyes, sinister and terrifying eyes, ugly eyes, and eyes that made people feel ashamed and uneasy.
The owner of the eyes was an acquaintance:
—Ding Dada. A Ding
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Xu Fangfang screamed. She screamed, screamed in terror, trying to break free from Du Liu, trying to push him off her, but the scream only fueled Du Liu's passion. He frantically increased the force and speed of his attack, not even asking why she screamed, but bit her hard like a wolf, tearing off a chunk of flesh from her neck.
That was just a small piece of meat.
But after that bite, Xu Fangfang finally woke up.
The dream ends.
All the beautiful, romantic, bitter, and sweet dreams have ended. After waking, there is only a world utterly destroyed, a new nightmare. She has forgotten the existence of those eyes; she only remembers two words: "It's you...it's you...it's you..." she says.
Among the scattered clothes were two knives. Two identical knives.
One of them belonged to Chen Xing; but what about the other one?
He held a knife to my throat, and I couldn't move. I was useless. All I knew was fear. The first time was... the second time, and then, and then... He wasn't human!
It is Du Liu.
She deeply loved Du Liu, a man of upright character.
With a knife in hand and boundless courage, Du Liu...
※ ...
At first, she thought it was Ding Dada. Because rumors circulated that Ding Dada had threatened Huang Zilan with a knife, attempting to take advantage of her; then, everyone thought it was Chen Xing. Because Chen Xing was always dishonest and "knew too much." Moreover, he had pulled out a knife. And he was the first to discover the location where Wei Yiyi was in trouble, and he was the first to come down. (Everyone thought it was Chen Xing.)
But because of this, no one dared to stand up.
But now, she finally knows.
—It's not Ding Dada. It's not Chen Xing. It's Du Liu.
Du Liu, whom she deeply loved.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ His knife, his pretense, his madness.
(Why is reality so cruel after waking from the dream?) — Knives can be exactly the same, people can be indistinguishable. But what about the way sex is done? Can they all be exactly the same?
What about people's hobbies? Can they be the same? Can everything just happen by such coincidence?
So she said: It's you.
But why didn't Wei Yiyi dare to point it out? Could it be that she really couldn't tell? But why did Chen Xing disregard everyone's intentions despite knowing what they were thinking? Didn't he know it was Du Liu? But why did Ding Dada look at Du Liu with a bitter smile, without explaining? Did he also think it was Chen Xing? But why was Du Liu able to remain calm and composed? Didn't he know he was also being suspected? But why did everyone firmly believe that Du Liu wouldn't do such a thing?
So she said: Is it...you?
Du Liu sat on the ground shouting, "Don't do it! Don't do it!" But he was actually perfectly capable of standing up at that time. His injuries weren't that serious at all. Because of the ensuing earthquake, he ran faster than anyone else.
Chen Xing said: "Now, it's no longer a question of who is who or not." So, what is the "question" now? Chen Xing also said: "Faced with the survival of the group, I'd rather play the role of the devil." So, is he not actually a real devil? Ding Dada is a devil. But he's suppressing his demonic energy. Chen Xing is a devil, but he claims to be playing the role of the devil. Du Liu isn't a devil, but when only these three can be devils, if he isn't, then who is?
So she said: It's you!
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Three "it is you," three different meanings. Three layers of uncontrollable chill. The ultimate chill is despair—despair for the world! And what comes after despair?
It is resistance.
With all her might, she pushed Du Liu away. Then she ran.
Her running was actually crawling.
She wasn't climbing very fast. But Du Liu seemed to have lost his mind, only knowing to lunge left and right in place, completely bewildered. "Fang! Fang!" He stared wide-eyed, his gaze empty, like a frightened child, "Fang! Where are you!"
Don't leave me! Fang! (The rest of the text appears to be gibberish and unrelated to the previous sentences.)
She turned back to climb again, but Du Liu pinned her down.
"No!" she screamed in terror, a piercing scream, trying to struggle, trying to escape, but she was pressed tightly to the ground, forcing her face to one side. "No!" she let out her last scream, a heart-wrenching pain coming from behind. Du Liu on her back let out a beast-like croaking laugh. She fainted.
When Du Liu awoke from his unconsciousness, he was already asleep from exhaustion.
She moved with difficulty, pushing Du Liu away from behind, endless tears streaming down her face. She moved slowly, bit by bit, toward the gleaming blade.
The man she deeply loved had repeatedly inflicted emotional blows on her in the past, forcing her to finally fall in love with someone else who should have been her husband. She suddenly remembered a saying: (You will end up with the one you deeply loved.) (That's fate. If it weren't for that chance encounter, that chance remark, she wouldn't have felt that unacknowledged longing welling up from the depths of her heart, wouldn't have attended that terrifying social gathering, wouldn't have faced this unbearable reality, wouldn't have discovered this horrific truth.) Here, in this desperate situation, at her weakest moment, the man she deeply loved finally fulfilled his desire, taking her, taking everything from her—raping her spirit, her body, her soul, everything she could be raped. (This is fate. The world is already a black abyss. There is nothing left to covet. And now, the only place left is hell. The only thing left to do is die.) She wanted to kill him.
He killed himself.
Killed the dream.
Nightmare.
(Fate. All of this is fate. Perhaps, when she first made the vow to live and die together, she wished she could kill herself and all the people she loved. Perhaps, this is what true love and true affection should be?) --- The Magpie Bridge Fairy replied [36]: She finally grasped the knife.
They caught the knife.
Du Liu's knife.
Two Hearts Knife.
This was a short knife, less than a foot long. The blade was cold. The edge was icy. At first glance, it looked no different from Chen Xing's knife. But Chen Xing's knife was clearly homemade, forged in Chen Xing's usual style. On the blade, a polishing machine had created concentric patterns like ocean waves, while on the other side, there was a swirling pattern.
Where is Du Liu's knife?
On Du Liu's blade, there was only the word "heart." One side of the blade bore two hearts. The convex heart reflected light, the concave heart absorbed it. The other side bore four characters: —Heart to Heart. Xu Fangfang suddenly burst into uncontrollable tears. The tears dripped onto the cold, blood-stained ground. She suddenly felt her heart come alive again. But her heart was broken, her heart was dead; all that remained were tears. Endless tears. Her tear-blurred vision reflected a purple light.
Tears dripped onto the ground, wetting the glistening surface and reflecting the shimmering light within: gold ingots, amethysts, and luminous pearls.
Three objects, appearing on the path to the underworld, are as eternal and serene as amber sealed for a thousand years.
Purple light was also shimmering from the amethyst.
The changing images are also appearing in the purple light:
—On the road to the underworld, Ding Dada rushed forward again and again, only to fall again and again. Countless feet trampled on his back. Wei Yiyi nestled in Ding Dada's arms, kissed him, pushed him away, and slid down; Ding Dada slid down; Tong Rong, Huang Zilan, Du Liu, and she appeared; the four of them disappeared together; Wei Yiyi was walking when a hand suddenly appeared… The person's face was revealed… (No face. It was a faceless person!)
She dared not look. She couldn't bear to look. She couldn't look. She didn't want to look.
But she has to see it.
She opened her eyes.
An ugly face. A pair of heartless eyes.
—Right in front of me.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ “Do you want to die?” It was Ding Dada. His voice, however, was as harsh and unpleasant as iron scratching. “Do you want to kill Du Liu?”
—It really was Ding Dada! It was Ding Dada himself standing in front of her!
Scream.
Overwhelmed by fear, she screamed. She immediately raised her knife, aiming it at the ghostly figure who had appeared out of nowhere. But Ding Dada simply reached out and knocked the knife away from her hand.
“You’re wrong again.” Ding Da’s face drew closer, his voice a malicious laugh. “You’re always wrong.” The voice grew even more sinister. “You’re a self-righteous person. Always believing in your own subjective judgment. And what’s the result? What is the result?… Because of you, A-Ding was beaten to death; Du Liu was suspected because of you; Chen Xing was identified because of you. Then, A-Ding died. Chen Xing betrayed. The only survivor, Du Liu, will also be killed by you. But why do you believe in your own conjectures so much? Why do you always think you’re right? — Look again, who is that?”
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ Purple light reappears. Still, there is a faceless face.
Faces reappeared, gradually becoming clearer, yet they kept changing. First it was A Ding, then Chen Xing, then Du Liu, followed by Zhang Dawei, Yan Kaixin, and Li Jun. The faces changed again, faster and more frequently. They were countless unfamiliar faces… “It can’t be all of them. There can’t be that many people. But the truth is: there are no people.”
"No one raped her. It was her own hallucination. — She was afraid! Her fear reached its limit, and thus, a real hallucination arose. The hallucination was so strong that it even manifested as information, imposed on everyone's mind. Whoever has a guilty conscience will be misled by the hallucination. The most pitiful one is Chen Xing, whose desires were the strongest. Then there is Du Liu, who is hesitant. And then there are every man, every man who has ever had desire or interest in her body! But Chen Xing doesn't know, Du Liu doesn't know, Zhang Dawei, Yan Kaixin, Li Jun, and A Ding don't know either!"
---Magpie Bridge Fairy
Reply [37]: Just like you now, because of fear, because of your blind self-confidence, because of your paranoia, because of your subconscious, you have turned love into hate. You are afraid. You are afraid of losing Du Liu. You hate. You hate the many harms Du Liu has brought you.
You are selfish. You cannot tolerate others. Your latent nature, in your despair, has revealed your true self. You want to die. You want to take Du Liu with you. So you need to find a reason. The reason you can best accept.
"And the only reason you can give is this: see Du Liu as the embodiment of evil, and you are the righteous one! By killing Du Liu, you can coexist with your so-called 'love,' satisfying your latent romantic feelings and your inability to overcome evil. Moreover, you will never feel guilty. And this is exactly what people do all the time: self-deception. Those who wish to deceive others must first deceive themselves; that is the highest level of deception. It is also the inner demon."
"It's an inner demon that everyone has."
"The first step towards schizophrenia: the inner demons!"
"The only one who knows all this is death. Except me, except—" The voice suddenly stopped.
Much later, a mournful cry, seemingly from outer space, rang out: "The...master...of...the...tomb...ammonia※" With a "clang," the knife in Xu Fangfang's hand fell to the ground.
※ ...
When I woke up from the dream, the person I loved was already dead.
Xu Fangfang is dead.
※ ...
Du Liu wept.
Tears fell to the ground as he witnessed a series of shifting scenes: Zhu Qian stabbed Tong Rong with her sword, killing her. A Ding lunged forward, twisting Tong Rong's arms. A Ding, falling into the ravine, was frozen solid. In the darkness, Zhu Qian severed Tong Rong's head and tossed it away. Tong Rong was dismembered. The leader and others were breaking the ice. Zhu Qian, Wu Xiaohui, and others were breaking the ice and devouring the corpse. A Ding was resurrected.
The devil has returned.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ 凛然 (lǐnrán, meaning awe-inspiring).
Startled, Du Liu suddenly thought of a terrifying legend.
Legend has it that everyone possesses a demonic nature. The inner demon resides deep within. Each person is composed of different, fragmented personalities, containing both good and evil intentions. Human nature is inherently evil, and good intentions are insufficient to suppress the demonic. Therefore, when the inner demon is triggered, a person can suddenly undergo a dramatic change, becoming a completely different person from their usual self.
At this moment, the person is controlled by their inner demons.
A person controlled by their inner demons will transcend their true nature.
Beyond everything.
Only evil.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ If Adin is resurrected, will he be unable to suppress his demonic nature?
If he returns, will it be like the return of Satan, bringing only endless disasters and suffering?
Has he returned?
※ ...
The blade is cold. The edge is chilling.
He swung his knife.
※ ※ ※ ※ ※ ※ The blade strikes silently.
After that silent slash, blood suddenly splattered out.
With a single cut, he cleaved a whole heart in two.
Xu Fangfang's heart.