"Why bring this up out of the blue?" Xi Fu clearly didn't want to recall the incident.
"I was in the room next to you back then. She was a Polish woman with beautiful curly hair," Nie Qingkong said. "Father said the same thing to me. I was terrified. The woman kept screaming and wailing."
"After Father left me in the room, he departed," Nie Qingkong recalled. "I didn't want to kill her. I was scared. I sat in the corner clutching the knife, watching the woman go mad."
"Later, I helped you kill her," Xi Fu said, looking at Nie Qingkong. "After I killed that Swedish man, I helped you kill that Polish woman."
"When you came in, you took my knife, walked towards her, and stabbed her several times. Afterwards, you gave the knife back to me, took my hand, and led me out of the room," Nie Qingkong recalled.
"I told you to close your eyes, but you didn't listen," Xi Fu raised her hand and idly ran her fingers through her thick hair. "So, does this have anything to do with your unusual behavior today?"
"We were both very young then. We both knew that we would die without Father," Nie Qingkong said, looking at Xi Fu. "It's different now. We've grown up, Xi Fu..."
"You want to betray Father?" Xi Fu's brow furrowed. "Why? Did someone say something to you? Was it Xia Qingyu? How dare she?"
"It's not me, it's you," Nie Qingkong said seriously, looking at Xi Fu. "I won't leave Father. I am the Young Master, and my life is inextricably linked to the organization, and I can't possibly detach myself from Father. But you're different, Xi Fu. You have a choice. After this return trip, I'll find an opportunity for you to leave the organization and live your own life."
"Tarik, do you know what you're saying?" Xi Fu looked at Nie Qingkong in disbelief.
"I know. I know exactly what I'm saying," Nie Qingkong said, looking at Xi Fu. "I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry for all these years."
Nie Qingkong finally voiced his long-held guilt.
He had been the one to actively approach Xi Fu, who was also ostracized in the orphanage. Perhaps he hadn't wanted to be too lonely, or perhaps he had seen his own reflection in Xi Fu. They were both outcasts, both abandoned.
In that terrifying and grim orphanage, he and Xi Fu drew closer, leaning on each other, drawing warmth from each other to avoid perishing in such an environment.
When Xiang Xueyuan came to adopt children, he witnessed Xi Fu stealing the entire process and knew that Xi Fu had hidden the stolen item on him.
Xi Fu was too easy to read. Nie Qingkong knew Xi Fu didn't want to be adopted and separated from him.
So, why couldn't they simply be adopted together?
Thus, Nie Qingkong deliberately put on a show in front of Xiang Xueyuan. He resolutely chose to protect Xi Fu in front of everyone, to trust Xi Fu, and to firmly express his stance.
He was playing a game, and as it turned out, he had won.
Xiang Xueyuan adopted them both. They moved into a luxurious mansion, with soft blankets, hot food, no beatings, and the chance to go to school.
Nie Qingkong was very happy, thinking he had done a good deed.
Until Xiang Xueyuan ordered them to kill someone.
Nie Qingkong hesitated. And when Xi Fu actually stabbed that woman repeatedly in front of him, Nie Qingkong was completely stunned.
It was also the first time he had truly questioned himself: had he really done a good deed?
Time passed, and the two individuals with no choice were raised and meticulously trained in a high-class prison exclusively for them, completing one mission after another, gradually becoming beings they barely recognized when they looked in the mirror.
If he hadn't met Xia Qingyu, Nie Qingkong might have continued to feign this existence, to continue down this path.
To not look, to not think, to simply be a machine that constantly completed missions.
But after meeting Xia Qingyu, everything that had seemed so natural became subtle and awkward.
A feeling he had never experienced before spread wildly in his heart, entangling him fiercely.
"Xi Fu, I will find a way to send you away," Nie Qingkong said to Xi Fu, mouthing the words. "Then, you can do whatever you want, have absolute freedom. Your world will no longer have me, no longer have missions. You can be yourself."
"What?" Xi Fu didn't understand what Nie Qingkong was saying, only that the words sounded familiar. Instinctively, she refused to think about it, convinced that Nie Qingkong had gone mad, brainwashed by that bitch Xia Qingyu.
As Xi Fu was about to say something else, she heard Xiang Xueyuan turn over behind them, and both immediately fell silent.
Neither of them spoke another word until much later into the night when they finally fell asleep.
Shortly after dawn the next day, Xiang Xueyuan woke up.
Sitting up, Xiang Xueyuan looked in Nie Qingkong's direction, pondered for a moment, took a deep breath, and murmured to himself, "Today, it's time to give him the final test."
Not long after, Xi Fu and Nie Qingkong also woke up. They were a bit surprised to see Xiang Xueyuan, who had already tidied himself up and removed his disguise, but they tacitly kept quiet and didn't ask any questions. They also shed their disguises and began preparing breakfast.
After breakfast, they proceeded with the rest of their schedule.
After traveling for less than two hours, they arrived at a waterfall.
The waterfall was not high, and the water flow was rather swift. Below the waterfall was a pool of clear blue water. Because it was so clear, it was difficult to gauge its depth.
And there were some people in front of the waterfall. They were the ones who hadn't rested at the fork in the road and had chosen to press on.
However, their numbers seemed to have decreased. There were only about ten of them.
The leader, upon seeing Xiang Xueyuan and his companions, walked directly towards them.
"Father, should we deal with them?" Nie Qingkong immediately asked in a low voice. Xi Fu also assumed a ready stance to counterattack.
"No need," Xiang Xueyuan's tone was casual. "They are all people I intentionally planted here."
Hearing this, Nie Qingkong was somewhat surprised.
Xiang Xueyuan had asked him to arrange their arrival, and he hadn't known Xiang Xueyuan had other plans.
"Master, we still cannot contact Gaia," the man said in a low voice as he approached Xiang Xueyuan. "That mad doctor's tests indicate that there are indeed magnetic field fluctuations of energy in this area."
"Oh?" Xiang Xueyuan's eyes lit up, and he immediately became interested.
This trip wouldn't be in vain. The stone containing immense energy from before was indeed not the only one!
With that thought, Xiang Xueyuan quickened his pace. "Lead the way!"
"Yes."