bookbashuk Chapter 1298 At the mercy of others
Chapter 1298 At the mercy of others
Upon hearing the words "saving the world," Ying instinctively thought of the "poison filter canister" incident, scoffed, and said sarcastically:
“Ms. Alice, do you still think I’m the same reckless fool I used to be? I’m no longer that naive and clueless traveler who just embarked on my journey.”
Looking at Ying's cold and aloof demeanor, Alice felt a strange sadness welling up inside her.
“You weren’t this selfish before. But now, all you care about is your own little family, and you don’t even care about the safety of the world.”
"Selfish?" Ying seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world. She took a step forward, looked directly into Alice's eyes, and bluntly stated her point.
"Did you reunite me with my brother? No, what is the purpose of my journey? To find my brother."
"Now, I've achieved my goal, it's over! Saving the world is your job, not mine!"
Alice was momentarily speechless after being confronted by Ying, and in her desperation, she uttered a surprising statement:
"Do you really think this is your home? Your relationship with Shao Yun is nothing more than a transaction where each of you gets what they want!"
"He needs a companion, and you need a place to stay. I don't feel any love from you at all! You're just using him to escape reality!"
Ying now thinks Alice has no brains at all; her husband is fighting against the Extreme Evil Knight!
Then, she didn't hold back and launched a direct personal attack, asking, "What? You and Keli's father are like this too?"
"You!" Alice's face instantly turned ashen. She exhaled a cold breath and corrected him sternly:
"Don't drag Klee into this! Klee is innocent, you shouldn't insult her like that!"
"Innocent?" Ying sneered. "Now you know how to call someone innocent? When you were talking about me and Shao Yun, did you ever consider my feelings?"
"My husband is currently fighting a bastard called Extreme Evil Rider, his life hangs in the balance, and now you're messing with me! Are you crazy?"
Alice took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.
"This is not the time to argue about these things! The world is really going to end, disaster is coming soon, we don't have time for sentimentality and blaming each other! You must stand up!"
Ying slightly raised her chin, her imposing manner undiminished, and directly retorted with a question.
"Since the world is so dangerous, why don't you go and save it? Aren't you part of some witch guild? Guarding the borders of Teyvat."
"Is it because you can't? I have no obligation to help you!"
Faced with Ying's pointed question, Alice neither argued nor tried to hide it, but frankly admitted:
“That’s right, I really can’t. I can’t change the rules of Teyvat…”
“But you are different. You are the Fourth Adventor, from a world outside Teyvat. You are not bound by the rules of fate in Teyvat, and you are destined to become the hero who saves the world.”
She took a step forward, her tone deliberately earnest, and continued to persuade:
"Don't sacrifice your noble destiny and kind soul for petty gains. That's how your brother 'fell'!"
“You should be standing in a higher place, taking on a greater mission, instead of hiding in the pasture and escaping reality like this.”
Upon hearing this clumsy attempt at persuasion, Ying scoffed, "I'm a hero? Ms. Alice, are you getting senile?"
"A strange god separated my brother! I want to see my brother. I asked the wind god, and the wind god told me to ask the rock god. The rock god would rather eat stones than tell me!"
"When I need help, it's my husband who stands in front of me, not you!"
"Now that you've saved my daughter, I thank you; but you once tried to kill my husband, and the fact that I've refrained from killing you is already a testament to my kindness!"
These so-called "fairy tales" repeatedly put her in danger, almost causing her to miss her reunion with her brother and almost causing her to lose her husband!
Alice didn't answer, but continued to coax, "Yes, I'm sorry, but you are a hero, that's an indisputable fact!"
"Your journey shouldn't end here. Finding your brother is just a stop on your journey, not the end. Saving Teyvat is your true destiny."
Ying chuckled, her face full of defiance. She tilted her head slightly and asked coldly, "I want to ask you something. What if I don't agree? Will you force me? Or will you kidnap me like Wendy did?"
Alice didn't answer her question, but simply avoided her gaze, her tone resolute, gambling solely on Ying's conscience:
“You will agree. I know you. Even if you seem indifferent now, your kindness will never leave someone to die.”
"Think of those mothers and children; do you want to see the scene of desperate mothers holding their children as they face death when Teyvat is destroyed?"
Ying remained silent and did not answer.
She wasn't persuaded by Alice; rather, she was completely speechless. In a conversation where there was no common ground, saying another word would be a waste of breath.
"..."
Seeing Ying's silence, Alice assumed she had been persuaded and was beginning to realize her mistake, so she continued methodically:
"It's not too late for you to turn back now. As long as you're willing to take on the mission of a hero, you can still become a hero who saves the world!"
"As long as you can prove your determination and show Teyvat that you are willing to give everything to save the world, I will lend you a hand and use all my resources to help you fight the disaster."
"Furthermore, Shao Yun's matter will not implicate you. He has already gone down a path of madness and you cannot be dragged down with him!"
Upon hearing the words "prove yourself," Ying felt a vague unease. She frowned and asked warily, "Prove? What do you mean by 'prove'?"
Alice didn't answer directly, but instead gave Ying a deep look and a meaningful glance, prompting, "What do you think?"
"If you want to prove your determination to save the world, and if you want to break free from Shao Yun's 'relationship' with you, what could be more effective than proving your stance to everyone in the most thorough way?"
Ying wasn't some naive and innocent girl. Alice's eyes and tone instantly made her understand the other party's sinister intentions.
A chill ran from the soles of her feet straight to the top of her head. Alice wasn’t asking her to prove herself; she was clearly asking her to kill her husband!
Let her kill Shao Yun with her own hands, and use Shao Yun's life to "prove" her determination to save the world!
The moment Ying realized Alice's sinister intentions, her anger and coldness erupted completely.
Without the slightest hesitation, she pulled out the Hao Ke revolver that Shao Yun had once given her.
That was the first weapon Shao Yun had given her, and now she pointed the gun at Alice's head.
The cold metallic gleam of the gun muzzle was particularly dazzling in the sunlight, and Ying's eyes no longer held their usual gentleness, only a frenzied killing intent.
"I thought you were just talking nonsense because you were drunk, but now it seems you're completely insane!"
"Don't force me to kill a mother! I don't want to see Claire lying at your gravestone in the future, mourning for you, such a stubborn person."
Alice looked at the weapon in Ying's hand and saw the undisguised killing intent in her eyes.
Why did this noble and kind girl turn out like this?
She was on the verge of a breakdown, and shouted in a shrill voice, "Look at yourself now! Your mind has been corrupted by Shao Yun!"
"You weren't like this before! What has become of your mental state? You've turned into a madman who solves problems with violence!"
In her view, Ying's current appearance is entirely the result of Shao Yun's "instigation".
Upon hearing these distorted and fabricated words, Ying's murderous intent intensified.
Without uttering any unnecessary words, she simply pressed the muzzle of the gun down slightly, aimed it at Alice's feet, and pulled the trigger sharply.
"boom!"
A crisp gunshot rang out in the yard, the bullet grazing Alice's shoe and disappearing into the dirt, kicking up a small cloud of dust.
"This is the final warning!"
After Ying finished speaking, she pointed the gun at Alice's head again, her finger tightly on the trigger. If Alice dared to say another word of nonsense, she would show no mercy.
Alice looked at the bullet holes at her feet, a strange sense of sorrow welling up inside her, and said:
"Look at yourself now. Do you even remember who you used to be? Where did that kind and gentle girl who would lend a helping hand to strangers go?"
"Think about it carefully, Shao Yun is a devil! He has been deceiving you and making you like this! You can't let him fool you anymore!"
Seeing that Alice was still slandering Shao Yun and trying to sow discord between her and Shao Yun, Ying suddenly turned the gun around and pointed it at her own head.
"Get out! Get out of my house right now! Or I'll die right here in front of you!"
"Then you'll have to explain to my husband yourself why he came home to find my corpse!"
Alice was instantly terrified when she saw Ying's action! She knew better than anyone how much Shao Yun cared about Ying.
If Ying really committed suicide in front of him, without waiting for the Abyss to bring disaster, Shao Yun's "humanoid calamity" would definitely make Teyvat "de-life-izing" first.
She quickly raised her hands to indicate that she meant no harm, and said urgently:
"Don't be impulsive! Ying! Calm down! For your child! Think about your newborn baby! If you die, the child will have no mother!"
This was the only reason she could think of at that moment that could calm Ying down.
Upon hearing the word "child," Ying hesitated for a moment, but her inner turmoil was quickly replaced by a ferocious expression.
Her face contorted in anger as she shouted, "I'm doing this for my child!"
"I will never let you, you bastard who broke up someone else's family and even tried to instigate me to kill my husband, ruin my home! Ruin my child's future!"
"Get out of here right now! If you dare utter another word, I'll risk my life to drag you down with me!"
Seeing Ying's desperate state, Alice knew that it was useless to try to persuade her, but she still couldn't give up. She wanted Ying to understand her so-called "difficult situation" and to make her understand the necessity of "sacrifice" sometimes.
"Hey, this sounds cruel, and I don't expect you to understand. You won't now, but you will later when you have to make a choice."
"When you open your eyes one day and find that you can't move your legs, you'll know that you can't run away anymore."