Split Zone No.13

“It’s not an easy task.” Li Qing glanced at Nie Zun. “I did something to his hearing earlier, so he’s not able to hear our conversation now. But since his MF is high, this can only last for a while. I’ll make it quick.”

I nodded quickly. “Okay.”

“Firstly, you have to convince Nie Zun to return to that demon cave. The cave will have reactivated after you had exited it, and there’ll be many monsters that have an incomplete consciousness in there. It would be dangerous. Also, before entering the cave, I can help you shut down Huai Du’s attached consciousness once. I can only do this one time, so this means it has to be the day before you enter the cave. Huai Du wouldn’t be aware of what had happened if he isn’t able to activate the consciousness in him.

“But that’s only for a day.

“So this means you’ll only have a day to enter the cave, find the tablet and change his blood. If you fail to do so, Huai Du will sense that something is wrong and he’d activate the consciousness in Nie Zun immediately on the second day. He’ll then stop Nie Zun when he sees what’s happening.

“You’ll only have one day and it’s not easy to activate that tablet either. A large amount of MF is needed to do that, so you’d have to look for someone with a very high MF. From what I know, there’s no one around you now who has MF high enough to activate the tablet at one go.”

“Not even you?” I asked urgently.

Li Qing sighed. “I might be able to, but I can’t enter the cave. He’ll notice once I enter it.”

“Then what should I do?”

“There’re two ways to do this. But you might not like either of it.”

“What are they?”

“The first method is to look for your soul splitter, that is, Gaoqin Jiuye. Soul splitters and their heirs have the same split symbols, and if your symbols are able to resonate with each other, the combined force might be able to activate the tablet in one try. But for this to work, both of you have to be of the same mind. That is, he’d have to want to save Nie Zun as much as you do. I know that you’ve gotten closer with Gaoqin Jiuye recently, but this is something that’s almost impossible to achieve.”

No, it’s not almost impossible, it’s definitely impossible.

Gaoqin Jiuye isn’t friendly with Nie Zun, so there’s no way he would want to save Nie Zun as much as I do. Furthermore, I’m not about to go looking for him when he’s with Du Yue and Li Wen now. That will only make Nie Zun’s situation worse.

“What’s the other method?”

Li Qing hesitated at this.

I looked at Nie Zun before nudging her. “Quick, we’re running out of time.”

Li Qing answered, “The other method is to awaken the power inside of you. You might not know this yourself, but do you know the real purpose of having two bodies of consciousness? It means that you have two different power sources. The first is the one that you present to others, the one from the consciousness you’re always using, while the other is hidden, that is, the power from your other personality. When you merge that hidden power with the power you already have, you’ll be able to activate the tablet.”

My heart slowly sank.

Li Qing sighed. “I’m not going to lie, but the reason that many others are trying to approach you is because of this hidden power of yours. I don’t have the time to explain everything to you right now. The only thing I can tell you is that you don’t have the ability to fully combine the two powers together at this point, because there are many conditions for that to happen.

“The first is that you have to accept her from the bottom of your heart. The second is that you have to intricately and excellently manipulate your MF. The third is that your consciousness has to have the ability to withstand the pain of being combined with another. You aren’t able to achieve any of the above right now.”

She’s right. Li Qing knew me well. I wasn’t able to achieve any of the above right now. I had to accept her first.

But there’s no way I could do that, ever.

Wouldn’t this mean there’s no way to accomplish this then?

Li Qing looked at me. “Though it’s not possible to combine your consciousness with that of your second personality, we can do it temporarily. This method doesn’t require you to accept her from the bottom of your heart, since it’s only temporary, but there’re high risks for this, and the price is high. Looking at the situation now, it seems to be the only feasible method. Do you want to hear it?”

I nodded. “Go ahead.”

Li Qing sighed again. “We’d have to break the barriers to your consciousness for that to happen. Meaning, we’d have to change something about your consciousness. Your consciousness will be at its weakest at the very moment that it’s being changed, and we’ll get her out at that point. In this way, she’ll be able to combine with you temporarily.”

I frowned in confusion. “I don’t understand.”

Li Qing looked a little awkward at this point, making me suspicious.

“Say it.”

Scratching her head, Li Qing said, “In your current condition, there’re two ways to weaken your consciousness. The first is to kill someone that you really care about – that will weaken your consciousness immediately, but it’s obvious we can’t do that now. The other method is... when you lose your virginity.”

What what what...

My expression looked like I just swallowed a basket full of eggs.

Li Qing looked somewhat embarrassed at this. “Though there isn’t much proof for this, but to a girl, that’s when we’re at our weakest. If you’re able to summon her at that point, you’ll be able to temporarily merge with her. This means that... you’ll have to convince Nie Zun in that demon cave...”

I shook my head vigorously.

Li Qing grabbed my hand. “Ah Shen, this is the easiest method right now. If you do that, Nie Zun will also be at his weakest, and it’s easier for him to be absorbed by that tablet. We might be seeing success at first if we use other methods, but if Nie Zun is strongly against it, the tablet won’t be able to absorb him either. All our efforts will be wasted if that happens.”

My lips twitched. “But I find this difficult. Even before he lost his memories, it’s difficult to get him to... what more when he has forgotten everything now? He’s a lot more unpredictable, so how do I get him to...”

Li Qing shook her head. “It’s easier because he doesn’t remember. Can’t you feel it these few days when you were with him? He doesn’t act like those who’ve lost their memories in the real world. His amnesia is the loss of his ability to tell right from wrong. He decides with his heart now, just like a child. He does everything he wants to, giving no heed to whether it’s right or wrong.

“Nie Zun is also a normal male, so if you encourage him to have certain thoughts about you, he’ll act on them without much consideration. There isn’t anything like morals or restrictions in his head right now. You’ll just have to seduce him.”

Good heavens... I’ll have to sacrifice myself to save somebody else.

Li Qing looked at me weirdly. “Actually Li Shen, you... You love him, right?”

My heart exploded.

Did I love Nie Zun?

I remained silent.

Li Qing spoke softly. “I don’t know this, the only one who does is you. What I can tell you is that if you don’t get Nie Zun’s blood back, he might never remember you again.”

“What did you say?” I looked at her in a daze.

Li Qing sighed. “Do you think those memories will be contained forever in that blood? There’s a time limit to it. You’ll notice a tiny hourglass on the bottom of that tablet when you’re there. When all the sand is in the bottom-half, it means all the memories in the blood have been lost. There’d be no difference in getting the blood back when that happens, since the memories are all gone. Because of this, the MF contained within it will be affected as well, and the MF might be totally gone as well.

“It’s because of this that I was looking for you so urgently.”

I cut her off hastily. “I’ll head for the demon cave with Nie Zun right now.”

Nothing else mattered after hearing that he might never remember me. That’s the only thing resonating in my mind right now.

This is something I cannot accept. It’s something that I can never accept.

“You might not be able to convince him to head for the demon cave, and Huai Du will learn of whatever happens today when he activates his consciousness in Nie Zun the very next time.”

“What should I do then?”

Li Qing said, “I’ll leave now. I’ll get Feng, Huo and Lei to fight the two of you. Nie Zun’s memories will contain the part where you guys saw me after being lured here, and then I’d have disappeared. I’ll mention a location that’s close to the demon cave, and I’ll leave you guys to battle the three of them. If Nie Zun gets hurt in battle, Huai Du’s consciousness will be automatically activated in him. After seeing me, Huai Du will definitely get Nie Zun to go in the direction of the demon cave. When you guys arrive there, I’ll get Feng, Huo and Lei to force the two of you into the cave. At the same time, I’ll get Huo to shut down Huai Du’s consciousness in Nie Zun for an entire day. It’ll be up to you then. Here’s a watch. Take it and use it to keep time. Make sure you do everything in 60 hours.”

Just as Li Qing finished, Nie Zun asked, “Why aren’t you guys talking?”

Li Qing raised a hand, and I could sense that she was concentrating her MF on her wrist. She stabbed me in the abdomen as she said, “Ah Shen, since you’re not going to reveal where she is, I’ll just have to go over to that demon river to look for her myself.”

So that river where we met Bian Ying was called the ‘demon river’.