Just before the medicine bottle hit Xiang Zimu's head, a force pulled her behind her.
"Bang!"
The medicine bottle hit Chen Yang's chin, leaving a bleeding purple bruise, and his teeth were numb for a few moments.
Xiang Zimu looked at Chen Yang's tall back, his vision blurred: "Brother Yang, do you remember..."
"No." Chen Yang swallowed a mouthful of saliva mixed with blood.
Xiang Zimu's breathing stagnated, and she chuckled: "Past lives and present lives, karma and reincarnation, I dreamed that you pulled me over like you did just now."
Chen looked up at Chao Jian who was standing three or five steps away, and caught his distortion, jealousy, murderous intent, and confusion without blinking.
After a moment or two, Chen Yang picked up the medicine bottle on the ground, rubbed the sunken area, and walked towards Chao Jian. His steps were naturally firm, without any hesitation. That was his instinct.
Xiang Zimu's eyes were slightly startled under her hair. This scene reminded her of the illusion in the attic of the small town, and they overlapped... a fragment in the illusion overlapped with this scene.
Shortly after that illusion, Chen Yang asked her if she had seen his brother before entering the mission, and she said no.
She lied, she had seen Chao Jian, more than just seen him!
Xiang Zimu stared at Chao Jian with hatred and fear. The cold wind chilled her pale eyebrows and eyes, but the words she said were like boiling oil poured on Chao Jian: "What qualifications do you have to hate him?"
Chao Jian's skin was torn apart in an instant.
"If you hadn't dragged him down, he wouldn't have died, and you wouldn't have gone crazy. So all the suffering you endured later were caused by your own actions. Why do you hate him? Don't you feel ashamed when you wake up in your dreams at midnight?" Xiang Zimu was sarcastic, and every word was heart-wrenching.
A creepy tremor came from between Chao Jian's teeth.
Chen Yang stopped in front of Chao Jian. Xiang Dong had actually mentioned this to him. Xiang Dong said, "Chen Yang, Chao Jian hates you. In addition to hatred, he also resents you."
At that time, Chen Yang didn't believe Xiangdong's words. He thought it was normal for partners to have resentment, and hatred was a bit unreasonable.
Later, Chen Yang felt that emotion from the look in Chao Jian's eyes, and he learned some of the truth. He felt that it was because he had forgotten Chao Jian that Chao Jian hated him.
When Captain Jin Xiao revealed that it was related to Chao Jian's treatment, Chen Yang changed his mind.
When Chao Jian fell ill, eleven personalities were tearing at each other in his heart, and one of them must have hated Chen Yang to the extreme.
This is why Chao Jian hates him.
In Chao Jian's eyes, Chen Yang's trance was anger.
Chao Jian grabbed Chen Yang's shoulders: "I don't hate you... Yes, I hate you!" His expression became sinister and crazy, "I've waited for you for too long, you said you would come back soon, but you didn't come back, I couldn't wait for you, I hate you, Chen Yang, I hate you!"
The next second, Chao Jian nervously hugged Chen Yang tightly. His face was pale, his eyes were bloodshot, and a low choked voice came out of his throat: "No, I didn't, brother, I don't hate you, I didn't, I don't hate you, don't be angry..."
A passerby looked over curiously, and Chen Yang's expression darkened. He took Chao Jian, who was about to break down, into the alley.
Chen Yang smelled the strong smell of blood in Chao Jian's breath, and his eyelids twitched: "Open your mouth!"
Chao Jian's tense cheeks kept twitching.
Chen Yang pinched Chao Jian's jaw and forced him to open his teeth. He found that his tongue had been bitten at some point and his mouth was full of blood.
"Fuck." Chen Yang was angry and anxious. He cursed coldly and frantically took out a bottle of mineral water from his backpack and opened it. "Rinse your mouth first and clean the wound on your tongue."
Chao Jian squatted down along the blue-gray wall, his head lowered, his hands grasping Chen Yang's trouser legs, his fingertips turning white.
Chen Yang's eyes were moist and hot. He slowly bent his knees and said in a hoarse voice, "What are you doing? Don't you care about your brother's threshold?"
Chao Jian's chest suddenly stopped rising and falling. He took the mineral water with trembling hands, drank a few sips and spat out the blood.
Chen Yang quickly unscrewed the medicine bottle, poured out two pills and gave them to Chao Jian: "Take it."
Chao Jian did not react, his pupils were already a little dilated.
Without thinking, Chen Yang put the two pills in his mouth and fed them to Chao Jian mouth-to-mouth without moving his lips away.
"Swallow it." Chen Yang nuzzled Chao Jian's nose, put a hand on his Adam's apple and touched it, "Be obedient."
Chao Jian's throat moved up and down and he swallowed the two pills.
Chen Yang breathed a sigh of relief, sat down on the ground, and felt a little exhausted.
Xiang Zimu at the alley entrance stroked his left wrist: "That time in the small town, before I entered the illusion, I discovered that Chao Jian was hostile to me. Even if I said a few more words to you, his aura would change. He recognized me."
Xiang Zimu said calmly: "He has passed the level."
Chen Yang lifted Chao Jian's hair and wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.
"He didn't even mention the fact that you and your old comrade were reunited. In the last life, you, me, and Brother Sun were partners. I've dreamt of at least seven scenes of the three of us doing missions together. We're partners who have been through thick and thin together!" Xiang Zimu walked into the alley step by step, pointing at Chao Jian who wanted to kill her. "Everything has changed since he showed up!"
Chen Yang pried away Chao Jian's violently shaking fingers to prevent him from hurting himself.
"Xiang Zimu, stop talking." Chen Yang looked back.
Chen Yang did not doubt Xiang Zimu's partner because Bai Tang and Xiang Dong both dreamed of him, but he did not dream of them, he only dreamed of Xiang Zimu.
This is enough to prove that his relationship with Xiang Zimu is closer than Bai Tang Xiangdong. But he still can't put her into his own world.
Once the memory is taken away, the emotion disappears with it.
Just like the uncle and nephew Jin Xiaochang and Chao Jian, they all passed the level and recovered their memories, but they were not bound by family ties.
"Stop talking." Chen Yang repeated.
Xiang Zimu stopped and looked at Chen Yang with a sad and helpless look: "Brother Yang, your original intention of doing the mission was to make friends, but he wanted you to break off contact with us. Brother Sun and I were very worried that he would harm you one day, and he really did."
Chen Yang kept stroking Chao Jian's shaking hands. Before he could say anything to comfort him, he heard Xiang Zimu say, "When you died, you were eaten until only a small part of your body was left..."
"Xiao Mu!" Chen Yang subconsciously called out a strange yet familiar name.
Xiang Zimu looked at him in a daze.
Chen Yang held the convulsing Chao Jian in his arms and looked at her with red eyes: "Stop talking!"
Xiang Zimu clasped her left wrist tightly, and her fingertips felt a little cold. After she finished her mission in the small town, she never entered the illusion related to her past life again, until she went to the countryside for free medical treatment.
She started to dream in the countryside. She dreamed of Chen Yang, and all the dreams were related to Chen Yang. The first time was an accident, the second time was a coincidence, and the third and fourth time was some kind of signal.
Xiang Zimu knew that the memories of his previous life came out because of Chen Yang, and he was about to enter the final level.
At that time, Xiang Zimu thought that the previous life was the previous life, and this life was this life, these were two lives.
No matter what they were like in their previous life, they only cooperated on one mission in this life, and they never saw each other again after coming back. They became unfamiliar and strangers.
Forget it, Xiang Zimu told herself, she would go up the mountain as soon as possible, kneel in front of the Buddha and pray for her comrade-in-arms from her previous life, praying that he would pass the last level safely, that would be enough.
Until two days ago, Xiang Zimu dreamed of Chen Yang's death.
Xiang Zimu sat at home until dawn. She washed her face and took a taxi to Sanlianqiao.
She suspected that Chen Yang knew nothing about the cause of her death in her previous life, and she was worried.
So here she comes.
The result turned out to be just as she suspected. Chao Jian did not tell Chen Yang about his death.
How long did Chao Jian want to wait? He was afraid of the pain so he just covered the rotten flesh and didn't dig it out, not caring whether Chen Yang would be hurt by the rotten flesh.
That is the cause in the previous life and the result in this life, and there is no escape from it.
Chen Yang must know everything and face it, and he must also pull Chao Jian together.
If no one pushes Chen Yang forward, then she will be the bad guy.
Anyway, to Chao Jian, she is the bad guy.
Not only her, he hated everyone around Chen Yang. This abnormal and morbid feeling of his had pierced Chen Yang's heart at some point.
Chao Jian turned himself into a cage and trapped Chen Yang.
A cold smile appeared on Xiang Zimu's lips, and the words from her mouth turned into a sharp blade, stabbing into Chao Jian's rotten flesh and digging fiercely.
"It's me," Xiang Zimu took another step and walked towards Chen Yang, "I found your head..."
A stream of bright red sprayed onto Chen Yang's coat, and a few drops fell on his face.
Chao Jian vomited blood.
Chen Yang wanted to say something but lost the ability to speak. He just stroked Chao Jian's face and hair randomly.
Chao Jian went to Germany for treatment for such a long time and was tortured beyond recognition. He finally managed to control his condition and came back, but now he is getting sick again.
Chen Yang didn't want this to happen, so he half-knelt and held Chao Jian in his arms, giving him the hug and support he could give.
Chao Jian's breathing was heavy and labored. Self-blame and pain sawed at his nerve endings. He twitched and dry-heaved several times.
Chen Yang was at a loss.
"Brother Yang, we were both newcomers when we first met, and then we became partners by chance." Xiang Zimu walked to Chen Yang's side, pointing at Chao Jian who buried his head in his chest, "He got in halfway."
"So the team of three became a team of four, and later, the team of four would occasionally become a team of two. You taught him one-on-one, and led him forward step by step. Eventually, you stopped because of him and started a new life. In this life, he and you swapped identities, and the former student became your teacher. But when he taught you, he was nowhere near as good as you once were to him, not even half as good. Of course, he was a lunatic, and the teaching methods of lunatics are different from those of normal people. I won't miss this." Xiang Zimu sighed, "I just want you to know that you don't owe him anything, and you don't need to feel guilty."
"I know everything." Chen Yang lifted Chao Jian, who was still retching, onto his back. He had to take him to the hospital.
"You still don't know." Xiang Zimu said, "I checked, those who pass the level are illegal residents. Illegal residents are not bound by the rules and do not need to complete tasks. If illegal residents want to enter the task world, they need to bind someone else's ID number. Once the ID number is bound, everything is shared."
All? Chen Yang paused.
"Brother Yang, he will share his biggest obsession and deepest psychological shadow with you. He will kill you. Only when he faces it and lets go, you won't be dragged into the mission illusion when you die. Even if you enter it in the end, it won't be too difficult to get out. Do you understand?" Xiang Zimu's black eyes were full of sadness, sadness for fate.
Chen Yang unconsciously recalled the only illusion he had entered so far.
There was no one else in the illusion except Chao Jian, who was mad and wanted to strangle him to death and smashed his left leg to pieces. Chen Yang thought about it again in combination with Xiang Zimu's words, and he pursed the corners of his mouth that were bleeding.