N-M Chapter 992 The Cold-Blooded Flaw
Chapter 992 The Cold-Blooded Flaw
These words were like an ice dagger, piercing precisely into the heart of everyone present.
The real Mr. Xun shuddered violently, the color draining from his face in an instant, turning him even paler than the monster on the rock wall. His lips trembled as if he wanted to say something, but only a muffled breath escaped his throat.
"You mean—" Mo Yuan spoke, his voice low and steady, but his knuckles gripping the narrow knife were white, "He didn't escape back then?"
"He escaped," the monster replied, a strange sense of satisfaction in its voice. "But only half of him escaped. His other half was left deep within the Blackwater Canyon, absorbed by that tower. Then, the tower used his memories, his fears, his despair to mold something new and stuff it back into that empty shell, letting it continue living in his place. That thing doesn't remember how it was created, doesn't remember what it is, and doesn't even know it's no longer the same person. It simply returned to the arena with that altered memory, continuing to live, continuing to cultivate, continuing to be its array master."
His gaze fell on the real Mr. Xun, and a hint of pity appeared in his fluorescent blue eyes: "And the part left in the tower—that is, me—was digested by the tower for twenty-six years, becoming what I am now. But I remember everything. I remember who we are, where we came from, what we went through. And him? He remembers nothing. He doesn't even know what those fragments he dreams about every night are—those are my memories. No, they are our memories. After being torn in two by the tower, each of us retained half of our memories."
"You're lying." Mr. Xun finally spoke, his voice hoarse as if something was blocking his throat, each word seemingly squeezed out from between his teeth, "You're just an illusion created by that tower, reading my memories and appearance to deceive us—"
A-Jiu's gaze darted back and forth between him and the monster on the rock wall, her fingers gripping the dagger trembling slightly. She wanted to say something, but found herself completely at a loss for words. What if the monster was telling the truth—no, it couldn't be true. But what if it were? What if the Mr. Xun they respected and trusted was actually just a monster stuffed into a human body by the Bone Tower—
Lin Qiye remained silent. He stood on the edge of the rock platform, leaning against a half-buried giant beast rib, calmly observing everything. He wasn't as shocked as Ajiu, nor as tense as Mo Yuan, nor nearly collapsed like Mr. Xun. He simply watched, listened, and analyzed quietly.
His first judgment was that whatever was nailed to the rock wall, it was definitely driven by intense malice. Every word it uttered was a precise attack on Mr. Xun's psychological defenses—not a random attack, but a targeted, premeditated one, each strike aimed at the most vulnerable spot. It knew Mr. Xun's past, his fears, and his weaknesses. This level of understanding was certainly not something that could be achieved simply by reading memories.
His second assessment was that regardless of whether the monster was telling the truth, the team was already caught in a crisis of trust it had created. A-Jiu was clearly wavering; her hand holding the dagger trembled, and she unconsciously distanced herself from Mr. Xun. Mo Yuan, though outwardly calm, never took his hand off the hilt of his sword, his gaze constantly shifting between Mr. Xun and the monster—this shift itself signified that he maintained equal vigilance towards both. As for Mr. Xun himself, a huge crack had been torn in his mental defenses; whatever the monster said next would only lead to his continued collapse amidst self-doubt.
This is a classic psychological tactic.
In this dangerous area shrouded in the harmonics of the Bone Tower, a team internally divided has a near-zero chance of survival.
"That's enough," Lin Qiye suddenly said.
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried an undeniable calmness, like ice water poured onto a pot of oil about to boil. All eyes on the rock platform turned to him—A-Jiu's panic, Mo Yuan's scrutiny, Mr. Xun's bewilderment, and the fleeting surprise in the monster's fluorescent blue eyes on the rock wall.
"You said you were the part of Mr. Xun's consciousness that was absorbed by the Bone Tower." Lin Qiye looked at the monster on the rock wall, his tone as calm as if discussing the weather. "Then why are you nailed here?"
The monster's smile faltered slightly.
"You said the Bone Tower absorbed you for twenty-six years, turning you into what you are now," Lin Qiye continued. "Then why did the Bone Tower nail you here? You're nailed to these four bone spikes—these spikes grew from deep within the rock wall, their material perfectly matching the bone structure of the Bone Tower's outer wall, and they even have fluorescent blue harmonic patterns on them. This means you weren't discarded waste by the Bone Tower, but rather deliberately placed here. The Bone Tower nailed you to the only path leading to its core area—"
He narrowed his eyes slightly, his gaze sharp as a blade as it fell on the monster's distorted face: "You are the Watcher. Or the bait. Or both."
The monster's smile froze completely.
"And one more thing," Lin Qiye said calmly, "You said you were the part of Mr. Xun's consciousness that was absorbed, retaining his complete memories. Then let me ask you a simple question—what was the mission number of the exploration mission Mr. Xun participated in back then?"
The monster was silent for a moment, its mouth flashing with a faint blue light: "Number... It's been too long, I can't remember."
"You say you remember everything," Lin Qiye's voice finally took on a cold tinge, "but you can't even remember a mission number?"
"That's different—numbers and such things aren't important anyway—"
"No." Lin Qiye interrupted him, his voice soft but extremely firm. "The exploration mission number from the Oversight Bureau is one of the fundamental pieces of information that a formation master must remember. The source energy fluctuation data for each mission is stored in the formation master's mental imprint using the mission number as an index. This is a basic skill for formation masters. It's impossible to forget the number of the first high-risk exploration mission you participated in. Unless—"
He paused, his gaze fixed on the monster's fluorescent blue eyes: "You don't have that memory at all. You read fragments of Mr. Xun's memory, piecing together his identity and experiences, but the memories you read are incomplete. You can see his deepest emotional imprints, but you don't see the less emotional information from his daily work. Because the Bone Tower absorbs emotions and consciousness, not a database. That's why you've revealed flaws on such a basic issue."
The rocky platform was deathly silent.
The monster's fluorescent blue eyes were fixed on Lin Qiye, and the curve of its lips slowly faded, replaced by an even more chilling calm devoid of any expression. It opened its mouth as if to say something, but ultimately only emitted a low, almost inaudible gurgling sound.
Then, it laughed.