Ji Yijun pushed open the door of the hotel and saw Cole sitting at the table, drinking slowly from a wooden cup. As if he had known he would come, he raised his glass to greet him, "Is the confinement over?"
The mercenaries gave him the same feeling as before, lazy and careless, living for the moment. The fierce battle a few days ago was no longer a trace of them, and the danger of death seemed like a story of the past to him.
After one battle after another, will I end up like this one day? Ji Yijun clenched his fists unconsciously.
Ji Yijun walked over slowly, stared at Cole for a while, took out something wrapped in a handkerchief from his pocket, threw it in front of Cole, and said in a muffled voice: "Is this really him?"
Cole did not open the handkerchief, but smiled slightly with a hint of pride in his smile.
"Of course. Otherwise Zhang Hong wouldn't have given it to you as a favor." he said.
"Zhang Hong? He's just a coward. Even if this ear is real, he didn't kill the man. I don't need to owe him a favor." Ji Yijun stood beside Cole and looked down at him.
Cole nodded without comment, and it was unclear which part of Ji Yijun's words he agreed with.
"Really. It was really Orville." Cole couldn't stand Ji Yijun's gaze and had to emphasize it again, "I chased him in the underground palace for half an hour, shot him with several arrows, cut his tendons in his hands and feet, cut him dozens of times, and finally cut his throat. He died in pain, your father can rest in peace."
These tortures sounded natural when spoken by Cole, but they made Ji Yijun even more uncomfortable. He narrowed his eyes at Cole and asked, "You have no grudge against him, why did you do that?"
"Because... I'm happy. This is what happens when a horse thief falls into the hands of a mercenary. The same is true in reverse, it all depends on whose knife is faster." Cole smiled even more. "Aren't you happy? If he falls into your hands, will you just kill him?"
"I..." Ji Yijun was stuck. Would he kill the murderer who murdered his father so easily? Would he not take any extra revenge? He had to admit that in his mind, the murderer had been tortured by him thousands of times with countless cruel punishments. What Cole did was just the mildest and softest of the methods he imagined. What if it was him instead of Cole who was chasing Orville? Ji Yijun asked himself repeatedly, and the answer kept hesitating among several options, and finally fell to not knowing.
"Besides, don't these horse thieves have enough lives? No matter how I torture them, those resentful souls will cheer in heaven. Even the God of Nature will agree with my approach." Cole took a sip of wine and shook the glass slowly, saying, "Revenge is sweet, but pure sweetness is too bland. It only becomes a good glass of wine when it is combined with intense torture."
"You... are a lunatic."
"You'll join us one day." Cole winked at him.
"How can you be sure that the horse thief you killed was Orville? You haven't even seen him." Ji Yijun asked with a stern face.
Cole picked up the quiver leaning against the table leg from his feet, rummaged through it, and pulled out an arrow. He threw the arrow on the table and said, "This is an arrow used by Orville. It is the evidence!"
Ji Yijun picked up the arrow, flipped it over and looked at it for a while, then said, "It's a very ordinary arrow. There are more than one horse thieves who use arrows. What does this mean?"
Cole pulled out another arrow from his quiver and placed it on the table. He stretched out his hand and made a gesture of invitation for Ji Yijun to compare.
Ji Yijun: "What is the shape of the arrow feathers?"
He saw that Orville's arrow feathers had a shallow arc, close to an oval, while Cole's arrow feathers were relatively straight, giving people a sharp feeling.
"That's right!" Cole nodded. "Do you still remember what that magic-breaking arrow looked like?"
Of course I remember, Ji Yijun clearly remembers every detail of that time, his father was lying on the bed, his face covered with a white cloth, and next to him was the bloody magic-breaking arrow. Its feathers were also oval.
"Different feathers have different feel. Although the difference is small, good archers will trim their arrows to ensure maximum accuracy." Cole gently brushed the outer edge of the arrow's feathers with his hand. "Plus, the method of trimming the feathers is different. In my opinion, it is no different from signing your name on the arrow."
With a "bang", Ji Yijun's fist hit the table. He unknowingly used his fighting spirit. This punch not only made a hole in the thick wooden table, but also smashed the two arrows on the table into four pieces.
"An arrow is just an arrow," Cole said.
Ji Yijun put away his fist, turned around and walked out the door.
Cole looked at his back and said, "The vengeance is settled. The dead are dead, no matter who killed them. We mercenaries are born to do this for others."
Ji Yijun looked back at him and said, "This matter is not over yet. Orville is just a hand, and Cadiz is just an arm. I believe there is another head waiting for me to chop off!"
"Maybe," Cole whispered.
"Next time, don't bother me." Ji Yijun slammed the door and walked out.
Cole glanced at the broken arrow and ear on the table, took a sip of wine, and chuckled, "What a grumpy customer. Such a customer won't get a discount."
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The setting sun cast the last bit of dim light into the window of Ye Zi's dormitory. In that ray of light, she once again looked at the white "tattoo" on her wrist.
It was a pattern of a spear, and behind the spear was a disc made of mysterious patterns. Ye Zi's mind moved, and a faint light emerged from this "tattoo", flickering like a wave.
The white light flashed faster and faster, and when it was about to reach its limit, Ye Zi stopped thinking. Because she had tried it many times, as long as she continued to concentrate, this "tattoo" would turn into a spear - the extremely mysterious shadow gun, and appear in his hand.
That day, after she and Ji Yijun escaped from the underground palace, the Anti-Shadow Gun turned into a white rainbow and gathered on her wrist. She could feel that the gun truly recognized her and regarded her as its only master.
"It's a pity that you can't speak, otherwise you can definitely tell me who that Valkyrie is." Ye Zi said softly.
"Xiao Ye, are you playing that again?" Cao Lu pushed the door open.
"This is not a joke, I'm communicating with it." Ye Zi said, "How was the training today?"
"What else can we do? Everyone feels so bored without you. We really miss you." Cao Lu threw her coat on the bed, jumped behind Ye Zi and hugged her.
"Stop it." Ye Zi struggled a few times but couldn't get away from her, so he had to let her hold him. "Alas, maybe I'm really not suitable for the Guard Team. It's better for everyone if I leave now."
"That's because Wang Jiyuan is blind and can't see your ability. He will regret it one day." Cao Lu put his chin on Ye Zi's shoulder and looked at the white "tattoo" with her. "But, are you really not going to let those who are engaged in magic and science study this thing? In case of any danger..."
Ye Zi shook his head and said, "I can feel it. It is alive. It has its own emotions and thoughts. I know it likes me very much and depends on me. It will not harm me."
"If you didn't know, you would have thought you were talking about your boyfriend who you depend on for life."
"Depending on each other? Haha. Maybe it's true."
"Wow, so cheesy. It feels like a fetish."
"You are the fetishist." Ye Zi stretched out his hand to tickle Cao Lu's armpit, and the latter immediately fought back. The two of them rolled onto the bed with laughter, and the original dull atmosphere in the room was unconsciously diluted a lot.
———————————
It was late at night. Except for the few warning fires on the playground and the mainland, and the scattered torches on the road, the entire campus was immersed in darkness. Some rooms were still lit, the dim ones were candles, and the bright ones were lighting arrays. The diesel generator had not been turned on for several days to save fuel. Now the night scene on campus was similar to that of a medieval castle.
However, Ji Yijun was lying on the rooftop, isolated from all these lights. All that shone into his eyes were the stars in the sky.
He had forgotten how long he had been lying here, he only remembered that the sky changed from red and yellow to blue.
Will the old man become a star? This childish thought brought his own ridicule, but it could not be extinguished like a wildfire on the hilltop.
He is definitely not the brightest one, but there must be his light in the night sky.
Where are you
The man who killed you is already dead, if you can see, just wink at me.
There was a creaking sound of a door being pushed open, followed by footsteps. Ji Yijun sat up and looked in the direction of the person with some annoyance, wondering who had interrupted his conversation with Xingxing.
"It's you?" the visitor and Ji Yijun said at the same time.
Wrapped in a thin light-colored windbreaker, with her hair tied up simply, Wu Qi's face was very beautiful under the starlight. She obviously didn't expect to meet Ji Yijun in this place. She looked at him and then her eyes moved to the side. She walked to the fence by herself, leaning on the fence with her arms, looking down, as if looking at the bonfire downstairs.
Ji Yijun stood up, still feeling a little irritated, and spoke bluntly: "You come here at this time, you don't want to jump off the building again, do you?"
Wu Qi didn't answer, and didn't even move.
Ji Yijun frowned and asked again: "Why don't you speak?"
"Someone once said that people who have died once generally don't want to die again." Wu Qi said softly.
"And you?"
"I think that person is talking nonsense. If you don't know why you are alive, wanting to die will become a habit."
"Hey, I don't understand you people with literary youth disease." Ji Yijun leaned on the fence beside her, "You are not allowed to die, because I saved you, and the effort I spent can't be in vain."
"You are so overbearing, but don't worry, wanting to die and preparing to die today are two different things." Wu Qi smiled, and Ji Yijun couldn't understand the meaning of her smile. "Since that day, I have been looking for the reason to live."
"You mean, it's not because you're afraid of death, but because you want to find a goal?"
Wu Qi glanced at Ji Yijun with some surprise, "I didn't expect you to be so thoughtful."
"Hmm, did you find anything?"
She sighed and grabbed the railing with both hands, leaning back and looking up at the starry sky above, "I only realized that this is such a fucked up world."
Ji Yijun laughed, perhaps because he thought the other person's tone was a little funny and cute, but he quickly nodded and agreed, "You spoke my mind! This is such a fucked up world."