Chapter 324 - 188: Battle of Personalities

Chapter 324: Chapter 188: Battle of Personalities

With nothing better to do, Zheng Xiu went over the sequence of events again—from meeting the Monk to everything that followed—and gradually pieced it all together.

Fan Yao, once one of the Ten Greats of the Incompleteness Tower, had accidentally obtained the painting, been ambushed, and was "eaten" by the Cannibal Painting. But for some unknown reason, Fan Yao remained inside the painting. Meanwhile, the amnesiac Playful Monk emerged from it, wandering aimlessly until he reached General Town in Yizhou State.

Master Dengdeng took Huahua in as his disciple, and the Cannibal Painting fell into Master Dengdeng’s hands.

And Chu Susu, another of the Incompleteness Tower’s Ten Greats, had come to General Town, perhaps to find the missing Fan Yao.

’So, does that mean Fan Yao... is the original personality?’

Zheng Xiu, who was tending his stall, suddenly shuddered. Having figured everything out, a ridiculous thought surfaced in his mind.

The "Monk" who walked out of the Cannibal Painting was without "Fan Yao." The secondary personality had become the primary one, turning into the "Playful Monk"!

In that case, was Fan Yao’s goal to get out of the Cannibal Painting?

Was he also seeking to "return to normal"?

If Fan Yao was allowed to leave, would the Playful Monk disappear?

The more Zheng Xiu thought about it, the more terrified he became.

After all, he didn’t know Fan Yao.

The one who had bonded with him, the one who had painstakingly carried him up Celestial Yin Mountain, was the Monk, not Fan Yao.

They were not the same person.

Thinking of this, Zheng Xiu felt conflicted.

He never imagined he’d one day be caught up in someone else’s "battle of personalities."

’Damn it. For some reason, the Monk still hasn’t recovered his memory. If Fan Yao finds him, there’s no telling what will happen.’

’I wonder if Fan Yao knows his "Heart Demon" has become the main body.’ When Zheng Xiu tried to put himself in Fan Yao’s shoes... if he were in Fan Yao’s situation...

’If it were me, I’d kill the Monk without a second thought.’

No one would want their body to be occupied by a "secondary personality."

This was too damn complicated.

Zheng Xiu ruffled his hair. After nightfall, the streets grew empty, and he had no choice but to pack up his stall.

Having earned some money, Zheng Xiu rented an extra room at the inn. He would no longer have to endure Xie Luohe’s teasing about being the "Houji Young Master."

Craftsmen began arriving in Li City one after another from all over Yanzhou.

Bai Xiaosheng was bustling about, spending a fortune to purchase tools for excavating the mountain.

An operation of this scale had to be done in secret to avoid alerting the Government Office. Coincidentally, secrecy was Bai Xiaosheng’s specialty; no one else could have pulled it off.

Time flowed on. Just as the craftsmen were about to be fully assembled, Zheng Xiu and Xie Luohe finally received Xie Yunliu.

"Little sis! WAAAH!"

When Bai Xiaosheng brought Xie Yunliu, he had extravagantly booked the entire inn lobby to avoid unwanted attention, hanging a sign outside that read "Closed for a Private Celebration."

Xie Yunliu burst through the door, his head utterly bald.

The moment he saw Xie Luohe, he charged toward her with snot and tears streaming down his face. He completely ignored Zheng Xiu, ready to pour out how much he had missed his sister.

"Brother~"

Xie Luohe smiled sweetly, a rare expression for her.

But when Xie Yunliu saw Xie Luohe’s hands, which were wrapped up like rice dumplings, he froze. He then flew into a rage, tore off his shirt to reveal his muscular chest, and roared, "Which bastard tied my sister up like this! What a venomous heart!"

Xie Yunliu’s first thought was, ’Who has a death wish, trying these special games on my sister’s hands?’

’Bondage and whatnot.’

Xie Luohe smiled faintly and pointed at the handsome young master who was trying to sneak away.

"You bastard Scholar, surrender your life!"

Shirtless, Xie Yunliu spat into his palms twice and lunged at Zheng Xiu with a ferocious expression.

Zheng Xiu had already predicted Xie Yunliu’s reaction. He whipped out the Luohe Brush, bit his finger, and began to paint on the empty air.

Ropes materialized, coming alive like large, blood-colored snakes. With a SWOOSH, they wrapped around Xie Yunliu from all directions.

Aside from his own little sister, Xie Yunliu had never seen another Miracle Master use such bizarre Miracle Techniques. His eyes went wide, and he was struck dumb. In the blink of an eye, he was trussed up like a tortoise by the "ropes" Zheng Xiu had drawn and left dangling from a ceiling beam.

"Monsters. They’re all monsters." Bai Xiaosheng’s eye twitched as he watched the Scholar reveal his fangs, feeling himself grow more numb by the day.

It was a good thing he had booked the entire inn to arrange for the craftsmen, even sending the Shopkeeper and waiters away. Otherwise, this scene would have surely shocked the world and revived tales of demons and fiends in the city.

"You goddamn bastard! So you really are into this kind of stuff!"

Hanging from the beam, Xie Yunliu glared at the Scholar, his eyes practically splitting at the corners, and cursed loudly.

"Well now! Isn’t this a lively scene."

Just then, a couple pushed the door open and entered. The man had a thick beard, looking rugged and bold. The woman wore a long, silken dress, her face flushed as she stayed close by the burly man’s side, the very picture of gentleness.

When the couple came in, they saw Xie Yunliu tied up in a strange shape and hanging from the rafters, and they froze. The man, not having witnessed Zheng Xiu’s Casting, paused for a moment before shrugging it off.

The burly man then turned to Zheng Xiu and rushed over to give him a bear hug. "Younger Brother Gongsun, it’s been a while!"

The man was Chu Chengfeng, whom he hadn’t seen in a long time.

As for the woman...

Zheng Xiu, whose bones were creaking in Chu Chengfeng’s embrace, endured the pain and took a moment to recognize the woman. Wasn’t she the daughter of Chu Chengfeng’s enemy, the one he always complained about... Wen Shishan?

’It’s only been a few months. How did that tomboy become so demure and dependent?’

’Don’t tell me Chu Chengfeng... persuaded her in bed?’

Zheng Xiu wondered.

After the commotion died down, Zheng Xiu let down the still cursing and grumbling Xie Yunliu.

The ropes dissolved into a bloody light and vanished, leaving both Chu Chengfeng and Wen Shishan stunned.

Xie Luohe knew her brother’s temperament, so she stopped playing around. In front of Xie Yunliu, she shattered the wrappings on her hands, revealing a pair of fair, smooth hands without a single trace of injury.

Downstairs in the inn, the group sat down, and the drinks began to flow.

After several rounds of drinks, the reunited "bandits" began telling each other what had happened since they last parted.