Die, Replay, Repeat

Chapter 213: Lies

Hei Jiji's delicate, fair face looked a bit gloomy.

She gave a small smile. "Since I'm going to die anyway, I guess this will be the only time in my life I tell the truth. I don't want to die with a mouth full of lies. You've probably guessed my ability by now. Yes, my ability is 'Lying.' I can gather the power of lies by constantly deceiving others. The more people I deceive, the stronger my ability will be. Then, I can use this power to turn lies into reality. Of course, the more outrageous the reality, the more power it consumes, and the more Spiritual Energy it takes."

Listening to Hei Jiji's explanation, Fang Xiu wasn't surprised at all. He had already figured it out from the way she acted.

What he hadn't expected was that her ability evolved through continuous deception. He always thought that her lying was just a personality flaw, like Zhao Hao's lecherous nature.

It turned out she never told the truth to accumulate the power of lies.

"I grow stronger through lies, but I also lose myself in them. I've deceived so many people that sometimes I even deceive myself, to the point where I've forgotten who I really am. 'Hei Jiji' is just one of the many names I've used. I'm not even sure if this appearance is my true one."

As she spoke, a deeper sadness settled on Hei Jiji's face, her lips forming a bitter smile.

"You're probably confused, right? How can lying make me forget my name and appearance? Because I've deceived so many people and been exposed many times, I've made a lot of enemies. I've had to change my identity over and over. I had to deceive myself completely, forget my past names and looks, to avoid being hunted down.

"Psychics' abilities are strange and varied; many can see through disguises. Even lie detectors can expose my lies. I have to thoroughly deceive myself, turning lies into reality, to avoid detection.

"I've also encountered a Specter that can erase a person's personality. To survive, I had no choice but to create one fake personality after another to sacrifice. That Specter erased my personality multiple times. Although I survived in the end, like Theseus's ship, I can't be sure if the personality left is my original one. The real me might have died long ago, and what remains is just an empty shell made of countless lies."

Hei Jiji gave a grim smile as she spoke. Paired with her fake but beautiful face, it looked incredibly sorrowful, even making Fang Xiu feel a pang of sadness.

Fang Xiu calmly asked, "So you might be a man?"

Hei Jiji's bitter smile stopped abruptly, and she was stunned. Her lips twitched uncontrollably, and the emotions she had painstakingly built up dissipated in an instant.

"A woman! I've always been a woman! Even though I deceive myself and lie about many things, I've never lied about my gender! That's my bottom line!" Hei Jiji shouted angrily. If she weren't buried in the dirt, she would have desperately tried to prove it to Fang Xiu.

"What kind of look is that? I'm a woman! And a very pretty one!" she insisted.

Fang Xiu gave a noncommittal hum.

To Hei Jiji, it seemed like he still didn't believe her. She grew more frantic, wanting to explain further. But by this time, the grave soil had covered her neck completely and was starting to spread over her chin.

A flicker of panic crossed her eyes, and she hurriedly said, "Fang Xiu! Find my name for me! Even though we're both going to die, I still hope that in our final moments, someone can remember my name, even if it's just for a moment. If you somehow survive, write my name on a piece of paper and burn it to..."

Before she could finish, her words were cut off. The soil had covered her mouth, then her nose, eyes, and finally her head. Moments later, Hei Jiji was completely buried, becoming a mound in the earth, and a gravestone stood in front of it.

Fang Xiu looked calmly at the gravestone. It read: "Tomb of Xiao Chuxia."

Chuxia means 'early summer.'

So, Hei Jiji's real name was Xiao Chuxia.

After just a glance, he shifted his focus back to observing the graveyard. The soil had already reached his chest. He looked around for a long time but still couldn't find any way to break free.

This was pure power suppression; without enough strength, he could only be buried alive.

Realizing this, Fang Xiu stopped resisting.

He put away the Genesis Mask and let himself be buried. Without the Specter's power to counter it, the soil quickly piled up, and in just a moment, the place Fang Xiu was buried in turned into a grave.

Like the others, a gravestone appeared in front of it.

However, buried alive, Fang Xiu couldn't see his own name on the gravestone.

As he was buried, the first sensation Fang Xiu felt was suffocation, followed by a sense of nothingness.

His whole body was swallowed by the void, and the connection between his mind and body began to sever. Gradually, he lost awareness of his physical existence, and his consciousness started to blur.

The third stop, the Old Mansion…

Fang Xiu walked out of the Old Mansion with a calm expression, seeing Yang Ming and the others waiting outside.

"Come in, all of you," he said.

Everyone nodded without hesitation and followed Fang Xiu into the Old Mansion. Soon, they saw an ancient well inside the mansion, and a slowly rotating white hole had appeared at its location.

"Let's go, we're leaving this place," Fang Xiu said as he headed toward the white hole.

He knew they weren't ready to face the fourth stop. The Specter's grave soil was too powerful for them to handle at their current strength, so he planned to return after breaking through to the third tier.

"Xiu, why the sudden change of plans? Weren't we heading to the next stop? Why are we going through the white hole now?" Xiao Chuxia asked curiously.

Without looking back, Fang Xiu replied, "Because the next stop will kill us all."

His calm words struck the group like a bolt from the blue. They never doubted Fang Xiu's words; if he said the next stop would kill them all, it would.

"Shit, I didn't expect the Graveyard to be so dangerous! Everyone would die? Good thing you saw this coming, Xiu, or we'd all be screwed," Yang Ming said, visibly shaken as if he'd just faced death.

The others had similar expressions of relief and fear. Xiao Chuxia, on the other hand, still looked curious and somewhat uneasy.

"Xiu, what kind of Specter is at the next stop that's so strong?"

Before Fang Xiu could answer, Yang Ming interrupted impatiently. "Big Black, why do you ask so many questions? Just follow Xiu. Let's get out of here. The thought of us all dying in this place makes me not want to stay a second longer."

One by one, they jumped into the white hole, trusting Fang Xiu completely, regardless of what might lie beyond. Xiao Chuxia puffed out her cheeks in frustration, stomped her foot, and finally followed them through the hole."