The four figures turned, and Xiao froze slightly. Were these not his friends? Fanan, Fushe, Yingda, Minu...
The ones he yearned for stood before him, yet they sought to drag him into the abyss of karma. No! This was not them!
They would never let him fall into darkness. The images of each of them dying before him, three dead and one missing... these were crushing blows to him.
"I won't believe you. I know each of them intimately. How could they possibly let me fall into darkness? Put away your petty tricks, they won't work on me."
The Xiao standing opposite him chuckled softly. "Not work? Truly not work? Then why? Your heart trembled just now, why? Could it be...
Are you scared? Or perhaps, impatient?
Hahahaha... how foolish. Don't you know yet? Being able to enter this space means you've already been corrupted by me!
Now your body is likely like a beast, running wild. The great Demon Subduing Yaksha, reduced to something like a stray dog. How laughable!"
Xiao remained silent, only tightening his grip on the spear. He stomped his right foot down, his expression tinged with anger, and shouted loudly:
"Shut up! It's not your place to talk about me!"
Angry? So you're upset now? Your state of mind isn't quite right, is it? You must remember, here, you cannot defeat me! I stand forever on the unbeaten ground!
Look at yourself now, haggard, pale, lifeless. Think for yourself, has karma plagued you, or have you harmed yourself?
The spear pierced the masked Xiao, but the next second, he was as good as new. Just as he had said, in this place, he was forever invincible, and there was no way to defeat him. The only thing... was to find himself, his true heart.
But could Xiao really do it?
Outside, a night had passed. Lu Ze poked Xiao's face with a branch. There was still no reaction. He was breathing, yet he seemed dead. Had he become a vegetable?
"Lu Ze, breakfast! Stop playing over there. Is it nice to play with people like this?"
Nahida called out softly. Lu Ze turned with a smile and walked directly to Nahida's side, looking expectantly at the breakfast she had prepared.
However, when the breakfast was placed before him, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. It wasn't any peculiar dish, but a very ordinary sandwich.
Still, having something to eat was good. Being picky wasn't right, and wasting food was even worse. We should cast aside such behavior.
"What are you still staring at? Eat. After you finish, we'll deal with this person's matters. See if we should send him back to Liyue Harbor, or..."
Before he could finish speaking, a green spear flashed, aiming to stab Lu Ze's head.
"Careful!"
Lu Ze reacted swiftly, immediately turning and using a grappling technique, but it was easily dodged.
"Who is it?"
He felt a sense of confusion. In this wilderness, with only the three of them, how could there be an attacker?
Could it be...
He glanced at Xiao's tent but didn't see the figure. He had vanished at some unknown time.
Before he could react, the green spear struck again, this time targeting his waist. If he were hit, his kidney function would likely be compromised.
He quickly grabbed the shaft of the green spear with his right hand and pulled hard. Finally, he saw the attacker's face.
Xiao, with blood-red eyes and wearing a mask, occasionally made grinding sounds, as if his teeth were about to shatter.
"Xiao? What's wrong? You wouldn't have..."
Upon careful sensing, the karma on his body had reached its peak at some point, even exceeding it significantly. This caused him to exude an aura of karma.
Had Xiao finally fallen prey? Dominated by karma, becoming a mere battle-crazed combatant who attacked indiscriminately, daring to kill anyone who stood in his way.
"You didn't listen to the elder's words, and now you're suffering. I told you not to leave before I finished speaking, and now look? You've fallen victim!"
Lu Ze dodged the attacks while occasionally counter-attacking. Finger after finger pressed vital acupoints. After a while, Xiao became limp, unable to exert any strength.
Even so, karma still drove him to act, albeit at a much slower pace. It didn't hinder his movements.
However, the consequence was damage to Xiao's meridians, possibly rendering him unable to recover for life. But karma didn't care about such things; its nature was to sow destruction.
"This isn't working either? It seems I have no choice but to resort to force. I'm sorry, Xiao! I hope you can forgive me afterward."
A purple brick appeared in his hand at some point. This was the transformed Divine Punishment Spear of the Seven Thunders, incredibly sturdy. With one strike of this brick, whether ghost or god, you'd obediently go to sleep!
Thus, the frenzied Xiao was ambushed. The purple brick directly hit his forehead. His already slow movements were hit with a critical blow.
He collapsed to the ground, unable to get up for a long time.
After an unknown period, Lu Ze looked at Xiao in the tent, then at the brick in his hand. Should he give him another brick? Let him sleep longer? After all, who knew who he would be when he woke up?
Before he could act, Xiao slowly got up from the tent, holding the side of his face with his right hand, shaking his head. Why did he feel so dizzy?
It felt like something had grown on his head. When Xiao touched it, the moment he made contact, he almost cried out in pain. A lump had somehow appeared on his skull.
It felt like he had suffered a heavy blow, but he couldn't pinpoint it. It felt like an egg hitting a rock; it was impossible for it to succeed.
"Where is this? Why am I here? And who are you?"
Looking at Lu Ze before him, Xiao was confused and couldn't recall anything. His small head had likely been dazed by the blow, and it was Lu Ze's fault for hitting too hard.
If he had hit lighter, it wouldn't have come to this. At the time, he didn't know the situation, so he just swung the brick. He couldn't be blamed, right?
"This is still the Chasm. As for why you are here? When we arrived at the cave, you were already lying on the ground. No one knew what had happened, so we brought you back."
Xiao froze slightly. With the reminder from the other person, he recalled most of his memories.