Chapter 4: Collapse Rail: Xianzhou General Won't Dream of Yandere Chapter 4 Xuan Ge: Gently Open Your Eyes

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Protagonist:

Xuan Ge

In the Zheng Dian of Shen Wei Jiang Jun Fu, the air was taut as a bowstring drawn to its limit.

Ling Sha stood in front of Xuan Ge, arms spread wide, her plain sleeves swaying slightly with her movement.

She looked up at the general preparing to set out, her brown eyes showing not the slightest retreat, only unquestionable resolve.

"General." Her voice was clear, each word deliberate.

"Though you are an Envoy, you absolutely cannot go to the Sui Xing Dai alone. At least bring the Imperial Guards and elite pilots."

Xuan Ge stopped, looking down at her, a flicker of amusement in his golden eyes.

He tilted his head, the unruly lock of hair on his forehead sliding to one side:

"Take them to do what? Deliver food to Xing Xiao?"

His tone was light, even teasing, as if discussing what to eat for dinner rather than facing an Extinction Monarch.

Ling Sha was not swayed by him, her brow slightly furrowed: "General! The military structure of Shen Wu Xian Zhou exists because of you alone, its fighting strength gathered to its peak because of you.

You know this better than anyone. If you venture alone and something happens... this Xian Zhou's millions of residents, hundreds of thousands of soldiers, their future, their lives..."

She could not finish her words.

Xuan Ge reached out, his fingertip lightly touching her forehead, a casual gesture that effectively cut off all her worried statements behind it.

"Alright, alright." He withdrew his hand, and in his usual frivolous smile, a rare trace of helplessness mixed in, his tone softening somewhat.

"I'm afraid of you. Then... I'll take you, will that do?" His golden eyes turned, and he suddenly hooked the corners of his mouth.

"Eh? I..." Ling Sha blinked, instinctively wanting to object.

She was a physician of the Ding Ding Si, though also serving as Chief Strategist, but essentially she had no strength to truss a chicken.

Taking her to such a level of confrontation was plainly asking for trouble, becoming a burden, wasn't it?

Her thoughts were still turning, but her body had already left the ground.

Xuan Ge gave her no time to react at all.

He stepped forward, his arm naturally encircling her waist, steadily drawing her to his side.

Next, majestic energy erupted behind Xuan Ge with a boom!

Not a destructive impact, but a majestic, solemn descent carrying endless awe.

Blue and gold light intertwined, gathering and rising in the Void, swiftly forming a giant phantom standing between heaven and earth—a Divine Lord, Chi Gui.

Its form did bear some resemblance to the solemn outline of Emperor Bow Si Ming, its entire body covered in armor flowing with deep blue luster.

Upon it were engraved complex and sacred golden lines, as if the starry sky were inscribed upon its body.

However, unlike Si Ming's solemn dignity, Chi Gui's face wore a ferocious Fang Ghost Mask, adding ample killing intent and battle spirit to this sanctity.

In the Divine Lord phantom's hand, it held a long spear.

The spear's name, Yan Jiao.

This was a long spear personally forged by Ying Xing and Old Man Huai Yan; the Divine Lord was merely condensed, not an entity.

It was a poem of slaughter written together by entity and energy.

The middle section of the spear shaft, about one-third of its length, was an unknown material emitting a cold, dark silver metallic luster.

Its surface was etched with flowing golden Lei Ming Wen Lu, in the fine details as if tiny electric snakes were silently wandering.

The spearhead and spear tail, however, were not entities.

They were two sections of energy torrents, condensed like liquid crystal, constantly slowly rotating and flowing in a ghostly purple.

The spear tip was formed by countless layers of crystal-clear energy spikes, like ten-thousand-year ice spires yet sharp enough to pierce stars, spiraling and converging, cold light ebbing and flowing; merely gazing at it made one's soul ache.

The Chi Gui Divine Lord phantom slightly bowed, protecting Xuan Ge and Ling Sha within an energy field like the palm of a hand.

The next moment, blue-gold radiance exploded!

Xuan Ge embraced Ling Sha just like that, under the Divine Lord's power, transforming into a brilliant meteor tearing through the Xing Hai.

Ignoring physical distance, they galloped toward the He Xin of the Sui Xing Dai.

Ling Sha only had time to feel the steady force of the arm around her waist, and the wind of stars, displaced by divine power, whistling past her ears.

The scene before her eyes switched from the dome of the General's Mansion to a bizarre, chaotic star region where countless broken star bodies slowly rotated.

At the center of the Sui Xing Dai, a relatively open death zone.

Xing Xiao had long been waiting here. Her pure white figure stood silently before the backdrop of broken Star Debris, merging with the surrounding desolation and destruction, as if she herself were part of this landscape.

When that familiar blue-gold radiance, carrying the aura of the Hunt and thunder, sliced through the darkness and rapidly approached her position...

She knew he had come.

The radiance receded, Xuan Ge bringing Ling Sha, lightly "landing" on an invisible Void plane, faint golden ripples spreading in circles beneath their feet, supporting them.

The Chi Gui Divine Lord phantom behind him gradually faded, only the unique ghostly purple lightning of the Yan Jiao spear flickering faintly beside him.

Xing Xiao's gaze first fell on Xuan Ge, then, slightly turning, she looked at Ling Sha by his side.

A girl with black hair, brown pupils, pointed ear tips, clearly bearing the traits of the Holding Bright Clan.

The starlight ring in her eyes seemed to swirl once, a trace of almost imperceptible confusion flashing past, but she did not speak to ask, nor make any extra reaction.

Merely an irrelevant "bystander," not worth investing more attention.

Xuan Ge stood still, his gaze sweeping over Xing Xiao's signature pure white "Dress," the corner of his mouth habitually pulling into an arc of teasing.

"Wow~" he spoke, his voice clearly transmitted through energy vibration in the vacuum.

"I say, when will you change the style of this... uh, fabric-saving work uniform? It looks rather monotonous."

Xing Xiao: ".........."

She didn't seem to quite understand Xuan Ge's out-of-the-blue "evaluation."

Her attire has been this way ever since she became the Monarch of Destruction, representing the Destruction of Harmony; why would it need changing?

This General of Divine Might, his thinking is always so unconventional and unfathomable.

"What do you mean?" she countered coolly, the gaze behind her star ring calm and waveless.

"Forget it, pretend I didn't say anything." Xuan Ge waved his hand, seemingly also finding the topic boring, his gaze sweeping over her solitary surroundings.

"Anyway, you don't even have anyone to chat with beside you, so I doubt anyone cares what you wear."

He changed the subject, cutting to the chase; the teasing in his golden eyes faded, turning sharp.

"Speak plainly. You came all this way, ramming your ship into mine to deliver a message and call me over. What is it?"

Xing Xiao did not answer immediately.

She raised a hand, and from her fingertips rippled a circle of extremely fine, pink energy waves carrying the unique frequency of "Harmony."

This ripple was not an attack, but a highly directional resonant transmission, targeting Xuan Ge alone, ensuring the following words would not be received by a third pair of ears.

Specifically, it would not be received by that Vidyadhara woman beside Xuan Ge, avoiding unnecessary interference.

The energy resonance delivered her thoughts into Xuan Ge's perception, clear and without error:

【One whose eyes are blinded by revenge.】

【Destruction is not your enemy.】

Xuan Ge's brows twitched imperceptibly.

"Huh?"

He suddenly took a step forward.

This step wasn't large, yet it was extremely precise, instantly closing the distance between the two to less than two inches.

One could almost feel the slight repulsion at the very edges of their respective energy fields.

He lowered his head slightly, looking at Xing Xiao, who was slightly shorter than him.

Then, he did something that made the watching Ling Sha almost cover her face.....

Xuan Ge very naturally tiptoed, attempting to look down from a slightly higher angle.

His gaze burning, he tried to penetrate that star ring which constantly emitted a soft light, to see clearly the eyes hidden behind it.

Xing Xiao: "........?"

She seemed completely unexpected of Xuan Ge having this kind of reaction.

In her long history of Destruction, never had anyone, during a confrontation, suddenly gotten this close, and tried to size her up in this nearly "physical observation" manner.

She subconsciously tilted her head back slightly; the star ring's light shone steadily, "meeting the gaze" of Xuan Ge's golden eyes, which were right before her, filled with pure curiosity and inquiry.

An extremely strange silence spread between the two.

It wasn't a tense standoff, more like a...... bewildered deadlock.

Ling Sha behind Xuan Ge silently turned half her face away, complaining helplessly in her heart:

'General! My Lord General! Is now really the time to study what the other person's eyes look like?!'

Xuan Ge seemed to not feel anything was wrong at all.

He stared at that star ring for a few seconds, then suddenly extended his right hand, making a "pinch" gesture with his index finger and thumb.

Very naturally, with a touch of probing, he reached toward the star ring around Xing Xiao's eye sockets.

He wanted to take it off and have a look.

Xing Xiao still did not move.

She sensed no killing intent, no hostility, not even any gathering of power from this hand.

Only a pure, almost childish "curiosity."

Thus, she allowed that hand to approach.

Xuan Ge's fingertips touched the star ring.

Ice-cold, with a peculiar texture neither metal nor jade; the energy was stable and restrained. He pinched it, tentatively lifting upward——

Xing Xiao's head followed, tilting upward slightly.

He turned it to the left——

Xing Xiao's head obediently followed, turning slightly to the left.

The star ring seemed an inseparable part of her body, or rather, some kind of highly bound external organ, fundamentally impossible to simply peel away like this.

"Tch." Xuan Ge let go, emitting a slightly disappointed syllable.

He finally gave up this sudden "research," retreating two steps, returning to the safe distance beside Ling Sha.

The curiosity on Xuan Ge's face was also withdrawn, reverting to his usual lazy yet sharp bearing.

"Fine, if I can't look then I can't look."

He shrugged, as if the actions just now were merely a small interlude, then his gaze locked onto Xing Xiao again, a trace of coldness entering his tone.

"Then, back to the main topic. Xing Xiao, what did those words you just transmitted mean? Do you think I really wouldn't dare make a move on you?"

Xing Xiao fell silent, not answering him.

She merely stood there quietly, her pure white robes fluttering slightly in the void of the universe.

Then, the corners of her lips, extremely slowly, curved upward into a tiny yet distinct arc.

It was a smile devoid of any warmth.

She elegantly clasped her hands together, placing them before her flat abdomen, her posture still dignified as if attending a silent ceremony.

The entire bearing conveyed a meaning without sound, yet incomparably clear:

You, do not dare.

Xuan Ge watched her with that determined look of hers, and the light in the depths of his golden eyes dimmed.

He was indeed constrained.

The harmonious causality entwining Xing Xiao was like a layer of invisible, yet unbreakable armor, making him hesitate to act rashly.

If it were "Fen Feng" or "Gui Ji", he would have stabbed them with a spear long ago; why would he be wasting words here?

"Fine." Xuan Ge nodded, seemingly accepting this stalemate.

"Since you refuse to withdraw your troops, then we'll just keep dragging this out.

Any battlefront you've set your sights on, any world you want to lay your hands on......

I'll show up there on time, every time, and block you back. We have all the time in the world; we'll grind it out slowly."

His tone was flat, yet carried an undeniable resolve.

This wasn't a threat, but a statement of fact.

After listening, Xing Xiao let out an extremely faint breath from her throat, barely audible, like a light laugh, yet also like a sigh.

"Heh......"

She didn't say anything else, nor did she have any intention of continuing the conversation.

The pure white figure turned away, no longer looking at Xuan Ge and Ling Sha, flying toward the distant legion fleet where countless Destruction creations lay dormant.

The figure soon merged into that thick, darkness representing the end, and vanished.

Xuan Ge stood in place, watching her leave, but his brows slowly furrowed.

Blinded by revenge?

Destruction is not the enemy?

These words...... what do they mean, exactly?

Xing Xiao specially arranged to meet him, just to say these two baffling, seemingly provocative sentences?

"General, you're back with us; the person's already gone."

Ling Sha's voice rang out beside him, carrying a trace of hard-to-detect teasing, pulling him back from his deep thought.

Xuan Ge let out a breath, his brows relaxing, as if pressing those doubts temporarily back into the bottom of his heart.

He turned his head to glance at Ling Sha, that familiar smile reappearing on his face.

"Mm, she's gone." His tone was relaxed, as if that confrontation just now, with its hidden undercurrents, was just an ordinary meeting.

"Let's go home. Staying in this Sui Xing Dai too long makes even breathing feel unsmooth."

Speaking, he once again extended his arm, encircling Ling Sha's waist.

Blue-gold light flared once more, the phantom of the Chi Gui Divine Lord emerging behind him.

Flowing light wrapped around the two, turning direction, speeding toward those warm and steady lights of the Shen Wu Xian Zhou.

Leaving far behind that cold darkness strewn with shattered stars and Destruction.

Only, Xing Xiao's low murmur, like a seed quietly planted, remained in a corner of Xuan Ge's consciousness.