The dusk deepened, making the atmosphere in the small courtyard of the blacksmith shop more and more solemn.
The last few rays of sunlight slanted over the wall into the yard, casting the shadows of the few people in a stalemate on the wall. Some of them stood tall, while others stood in humble positions.
Ines and Robert didn't know the phrase "the dog is cooked after the rabbit dies". But they also knew that Robert, who had revealed all the information, had lost the initiative and his fate depended on Xiao Chen's words.
Xiao Chen put away his mental pressure, and Ines found that he could finally speak. He looked at Robert's timid appearance, sighed and said: "Sir Xiao Chen, please tell me how to let Robert go."
Xiao Chen held up two fingers, "I have two requests. First, you need to find an opportunity to get the Baron's family together, and then notify me in time. Second, I need you to stabilize all sales networks. No matter what happens to the Baron's family, all distributors must be in order!"
"You want to?" Ines bent down even lower.
"Of course, we need to arrest the Baron and control his family. No one can murder our people and not receive the due punishment." Xiao Chen said.
"You will cause fear and dissatisfaction among all the nobles around you by doing this. Even if there are conflicts between the nobles and the Magic Tower, everyone will negotiate to resolve the problem. After all, the Tower of China where you are is a new force, and you don't want the surrounding forces to cut off ties with you!" Ines said.
Xiao Chen's expression was not clear in the dim light. There was a bright line of color on his side face facing the sunset, which made him look sharp. Ines saw the corners of his mouth curled up. This smile did not give people any soft feeling. Instead, it made the contours of his face look sharper. "No one will waste their own interests on defending the Baron. On the contrary, I believe there are many people who are happy to see the Baron lose power. Not only will these people not have any opinions about me, but they will also cooperate more closely with me. This is a foregone conclusion. You can't convince me."
"I can't do it. I can't betray the Baron like this." Ines' voice was not loud, but her tone was firm.
"Even if it means you and your son's death?"
Ines knelt down. "You won't do that. I know you are a kind-hearted person with a noble soul. You won't treat a powerless person like this..."
"I am usually like this, but I don't treat my enemies like this. Especially when someone threatens me with this!" Xiao Chen interrupted him rudely, "An ancestor once said that we should treat our enemies as cruelly and ruthlessly as the harsh winter."
Xiao Chen looked back at Robert and pointed his finger at him. Snowflakes began to condense from the air. These snowflakes did not dissipate when they fell on Robert, but accumulated quickly. Soon, white frost appeared on his body.
Robert's face was filled with fear. He struggled to avoid the ice and snow, but the severe cold made his body slower and slower. He took only two steps before his feet were completely frozen and he could not escape. Thicker and thicker ice extended upward from his feet. He waved his arms in vain, and before long he became an ice sculpture in a weird posture.
During the entire process of Robert being frozen to death, Ines was unable to move his body at all. All he could do was watch in despair as his son turned into ice.
It was not until a long time later that Ines finally felt the pressure around him ease. He used his hands and feet to crawl towards Robert, crying shrilly as he crawled. When he was about to touch Robert, his feet softened and he fell on Robert. The iceman was knocked down by him and fell on the stone floor with a dull sound of breaking. The ice cracked and Robert broke into pieces.
Ines picked up two blood-red ice cubes, which seemed to be Robert's heart, wrapped in ice and broken into two pieces.
"This is not real, this is a dream, this is a dream." However, the severe pain in his heart, the hard stone under his knees, the biting cold in his hands, and the cold expressions of the people around him made him believe that everything was real.
Ines put down the pieces in his hand, turned around and stared at Xiao Chen fiercely. His face almost turned into a beast, and he roared: "You! You butcher! I will never cooperate with you! Die, die! I want you to die with me."
A force that came from nowhere burst out from Ines' heart and turned into energy in his body. He suddenly stood up from the ground and pounced on Xiao Chen like an old lion.
Xiao Chen did not dodge and let him rush towards him. However, when he pounced on Xiao Chen, Xiao Chen turned into smoke and turned into darkness along with everything around him.
"This is..." Ines suddenly realized that he was still kneeling, and the darkness was because he had closed his eyes. He was very tired, and his whole body was soaked with sweat. He opened his eyes with great effort, and found that everything seemed to have returned to the time before Xiao Chen said "as cruel and ruthless as the severe winter". His son Robert was still standing there, but he also closed his eyes. Tears welled up in Ines' eyes.
“It’s really an illusion…” But this illusion is too real and too scary.
"What's the difference between this environment and reality? As long as I want, the nightmare can continue, and I can let you experience it countless times. You won't know which death is real, but all the pain is definitely real."
Ines remained silent.
At this time, Robert on the opposite side also opened his eyes. He murmured, "Why is it here again? Wasn't I taking a nap at home? Why did I come to this nightmare again? After more than ten years, I still can't escape the torture of this dream."
He looked at Ines with disgust: "Father, please let me go. Yes! More than ten years ago, I threw you to that damn Xiao Chen, and then reported to the Baron, and then you were executed by the Chinese. But the Baron was saved, and our family became prosperous. Isn't this what you wanted? The Tower of China was destroyed ten years ago. Can you just disappear and stop torturing me in my dreams?"
Xiao Chen looked at Robert meaningfully, and said to Ines: "His illusion is different from yours. It is a test of his character. It is a dream that lasted for many years. But it seems that except for the dream in which he gave up on you, he is doing pretty well in other aspects. Since he gave up on you, I can't hold you hostage and force him to do things."
"What are you talking about? Why is this dream different?" Robert looked at Xiao Chen puzzled.
"Welcome back to reality. How does it feel to have been dreaming for more than ten years?"
"What a joke! This dream is wrong. This is a nightmare. Those things can't be fake. My wife, my children, and the big house." Robert was about to collapse. He looked even worse than his father when he came out of the dream. "How can it all be fake? Have I lived in vain? Have I lived in vain?"
"This is horrible." Ines suddenly realized that what Robert had experienced was even more horrible than what he had experienced. If this happened twice, he would definitely go crazy.
"So, please think carefully, are you ready to continue, or consider doing what I say. I don't want to kill you. But this kind of merciful cruelty may be more terrifying." Xiao Chen said.