In the dim underground palace of his own meditation world, Li Jia nervously watched as a dark door slowly opened in front of him. The book spirit in the form of Serinda stood behind him in a dress, just like last time.
"Can we lead to Serinda's meditation world from here?" Li Jia asked.
"Yes. With the help of one me, to save another me. Isn't it a bit strange?" Shu Ling asked with a smile.
"Uh..." Li Jia looked back at Shu Ling and saw that she was healthy and at home. Thinking of the real Serinda's uncertain life and death, she sighed and said, "But you are not her."
"Are you saying I'm not as good as her?" Shu Ling lifted her hair and her slender fingers stroked across her face.
"No, no!" Li Jia waved her hands and said, "You look as perfect as her, but, but you are different inside."
"If, it was 'me' who appeared in front of you, would you fall in love with me?" Shu Ling put her hand on the collarbone. Although it was a simple action, combined with her slim figure, it still made Li Jia's face slightly hot.
"This kind of joke is very... very boring. I'm going to save her." Li Jia said, turning her head away.
Shu Ling chuckled, moved closer to Li Jia, and whispered in his ear: "Look, you can't even say the word no. Your thoughts are just like written on a blank piece of paper."
"I'm leaving!" Li Jia took a quick step forward and was about to step into the door.
"Wait a minute, this is for you." A black stone appeared in the hand of Shu Ling. Li Jia took it and saw that it was a stone taken from the tunnel in his meditation world. "What is this?"
"If you are in her world and the situation is critical but you don't have enough power, just crush it. I use a secret method to connect it to your subconscious mind, which can mobilize the power of this world. But don't use it unless it's absolutely necessary. Remember!"
"What will happen if I use it?"
"He will become weak, unconscious, and perhaps seriously ill."
"Is that all? Thank you!" Li Jia stared at Shu Ling for a few seconds, put the stone in his pocket, nodded to Shu Ling, and stepped into the door.
"Humans are indeed animals that can be deceived by appearances. Their hearts will be disturbed with just the slightest provocation..." The scholar sighed and disappeared from the spot.
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"Are you serious?" Nina curled up in Xiao Chen's palm and looked at him pitifully.
"Why would I lie to you?" Xiao Chen used his other hand to make a pair of scissors and gestured in front of Nina, "If I wanted to do something bad to you, could you resist? Huh?" He opened and closed his fingers as if he wanted to cut her in half.
Nina shook her head palely, looking at the two fingers thicker than beams dangling above her head in fear, ready to squash her like a bug at any time. Xiao Chen teased her for a while, and then withdrew his fingers after thinking he had taught this reckless woman a lesson.
"You, can you put me down first?" Nina asked in a low voice with her head down.
"No." Xiao Chen said seriously, "You are too young, and my eyesight is not good. What if I tie both of your legs to your buttocks? Just stay here obediently."
“But…” Nina wanted to argue, but suddenly she felt weak, and her body, which had just stood up with great difficulty, fell down again.
"Do you feel very tired and weak? Your consciousness has not yet recovered, and your thinking ability is limited. If you think too much, you will not be able to bear it."
The previous conversation seemed to have consumed too much of Nina's energy, and now she no longer had the energy to say anything more.
"Let's continue. Let go of your consciousness and don't resist my power." Xiao Chen said, concentrating again and starting to repair Nina's body.
With Nina's cooperation, Xiao Chen felt a lot more relaxed. Her body no longer rejected Xiao Chen's mental power. However, during this repair while Nina remained awake, Xiao Chen found that some fragmentary images began to be fed back into his consciousness.
This is Nina's memory. Although most of it is incomprehensible and disorganized, Xiao Chen still saw a lot of interesting things in it.
Finally, the thumb man's body was completely repaired. At this time, Xiao Chen stretched out his hand and wiped the ground. A stone platform appeared on the grass and Nina was placed on it. For Xiao Chen, this was a platform that was just big enough to stand on, but for Nina, it was just a small square.
"I'm sorry, everything in this world is shaped according to my will. They are a little too big for you." Xiao Chen gestured on the stone platform a few times, and a Chinese-style "miniature" octagonal pavilion appeared on the stone platform. At first, the pavilion was just a frame built with a few beams and pillars, but as Xiao Chen stared at it intently, the eaves, brackets, wooden walls and window panes began to appear one by one, and then a stream flowed around the pavilion, forming a small pool on one side of the pavilion, and trees of different heights rose up around the pavilion. Finally, a stone bridge crossed the stream like a rainbow, and then a stone road extended all the way to Nina's feet.
Xiao Chen looked at this tiny garden and was very satisfied with his methods. In the long-term struggle with his violent mental power, his mental control was far superior to that of ordinary mages, and his unstable spellcasting problem was also gradually improved in the process. And this time, he seemed to have made progress again. The pavilions and waterside pavilions were completed in one go, and all the details were lifelike. Here he was almost omnipotent, making him feel like the creator.
"This... is this your power?" Nina approached the pavilion. It was dark brown in color, with eight pillars. The walls between the pillars were full of openable window panes. She touched the pillars and the intricate window panes with her hands, but did not dare to go in.
"It's just a place to rest. I can already feel the moisture accumulating above. It's going to rain in your world." As soon as Xiao Chen finished speaking, a drizzle began to fall from the sky. To Xiao Chen, it was a fine rain, but to Nina, it was raindrops as big as soybeans. She looked up at the sky. The blue sky just now was covered by a group of dark clouds, so she quickly pushed the door and entered the pavilion.
The pavilion was quite large, and there was plenty of room for ten thumb-men like her. There was a round table in the middle of the pavilion, with several round stools around it. Nina had never seen such furniture before. She looked up and saw a piece of wood hanging on the lintel with four magic words on it that she could not recognize.
"It says 'Exquisite Waterside Pavilion'." Xiao Chen squatted down so that he could see the little man in the pavilion. He read out the pavilion's name in Chinese. "This is a pavilion near my hometown. I went there a few times when I was a child. Thinking back now, the scene at that time has faded a little, but I still remember this pavilion very clearly. It should be about 80% accurate."
"Your hometown must be very far away. There is no house like this even in the Empire."
"I saw a little bit of your memory. You seem to have a deep impression of the northern empire." Xiao Chen said.
Nina looked at him in astonishment. No one would feel at ease if their memory was read by someone else.
"Don't worry, it's just some scattered images that let me know that you were an imperial when you were a child." Xiao Chen said, "But don't be nervous, some of my companions are also from the north, and I believe the count is also aware of this."
"Yes. My father was originally a knight from the Empire." Nina admitted, holding onto the stone table. "I only know that he surrendered to the Earl a long time ago. As for why he left the Empire, he never told me. But it's not uncommon for knights and nobles to pledge allegiance to each other. But after he came here, he became very cautious, perhaps to consolidate his position. I, a little girl from the North, became Miss Serinda's maid."
"You don't seem to like your mistress very much?" Xiao Chen asked.
"Where? No. Absolutely not!" Nina denied it firmly with a nervous look.
"At least you haven't asked about Serinda's situation until now."
"Oh." Nina was stunned. "Sorry, I... I still have a headache. But I am loyal to Miss Serinda."
"I saw you two often go out together, and I thought you were getting along like sisters." Xiao Chen said, "You look more like a knight who is loyal to his duty than a friend you can talk to."
"A maid is a maid. I never expected anything. I just did what she said. After the lady married a great man, I will marry a knight. We are two people spinning on two threads. We will cross each other occasionally and separate again... This is my fate."
"But this fate almost ended here. Don't you feel scared?" Xiao Chen looked up at the sky and the rain was getting heavier.
"If the God of Nature weaves my destiny like this, then I have nothing to say."
"It's really your fate that is in the hands of others."
"You are a noble mage, possessing..." She looked at the surrounding scenery that seemed like reality with fear, "possessing unparalleled power. Please don't force me to do anything. I am not even a noble, and it is not worth your inquiry."
Xiao Chen shrugged and said, "I don't need to do this. I have never had any intention towards Serinda or you. It's you who are constantly testing my bottom line. I saved you, but that doesn't mean I forgive you. The matter of spying on a mage's inheritance will not be written off."
Nina lowered her head, not daring to look into Xiao Chen's huge eyes.
"Well, at least from your memory fragments, I saw one thing that made me happy. Serinda has Li Jia in her heart, that's enough. At least Li Jia didn't look like an idiot." Xiao Chen paused here and said in a colder voice, "But if you don't want the situation to get worse, you'd better learn to put away your claws and don't play such sneaky tricks. We have an old saying where we are, 'Those who play with fire will be killed.'"