Chapter 825: Ren: Impostor!

She lifted her hand, her fingers hovering in mid‑air, wanting to reach out but not daring, the tips of her fingers trembling slightly.

"You—what's wrong with you? It's me, I'm Bai Hang—don't you recognize me?"

Her voice wasn't loud, but on the quiet street every word entered Ren's ears crystal‑clear.

Ren, of course, heard it.

He heard Bai Hang's voice.

Bai Hang was calling his name.

Bai Hang was frightened, because he had slashed himself, so Bai Hang was scared.

Bai Hang's eye sockets glittered, as if she would burst into tears the next second.

Heh.......

Ren laughed.

The laugh squeezed out from deep within his throat, as if something inside his throat had been torn open.

Then the laugh grew louder, shifting from low to high‑pitched, from restrained to ferocious, from a single mouth's sound to a completely uncontrolled, manic cackle.

He raised one hand to cover his face; the white bandage‑wrapped fingers spread, revealing his crimson eye between the gaps.

That eye shone terrifyingly between his fingers, the pupil shrunk to a needle‑point, and a blood‑colored dim light churned in the iris.

"Hahaha… hahahaha… Bai Hang… Bai Hang…!"

His voice was torn into fragments by the laugh, each word hoarse and broken, carrying an old pain that rose from nowhere, "You are Bai Hang—?!!!"

He pulled his hand away from his face.

His face was splattered with his own blood, from forehead to jaw, the chaotic streaks standing out on his cold, pale skin.

He stepped forward, his sword still hanging at his side, the tip dragging across the ground with a harsh screech.

The corner of his mouth curved into an arc, sharper and more cruel than any bloodstain on his face.

"But... Bai Hang is already dead! Impostor!"

The words barely left his mouth when his whole body was catapulted from the spot, the sword blade snapping upward; the arc of the blade tore the air, and the gust from the tip split a nearby unattended baked‑goods stall in half.

The wooden board shattered, charcoal sparks flew, and the baked pastry spun several times in the air before landing.

Sai Fei Er, seeing this, instantly flashed to the side.

The blade swept past her, cleaving the storefront next to where she had just stood straight down the middle.

Wood chips sprayed, the door panel crashed down, and the shop's shelves toppled in a heap.

Sai Fei Er dodged while quickly assessing the situation in her mind.

The opponent's attack speed remained within controllable range, and the footwork rhythm was still predictable.

She now had two choices:

First, to drop the disguise outright, reveal her identity, and tell him "I'm not Bai Hang; I'm Sai Fei Er sent by the Heimu team," but that would blow up all her subsequent plans.

Second, to keep the act going.

She chose the second.

Because the first was too boring.

Moreover, her Deceitful Divine Authority was already in effect, but this time the effect was so intense that Ren leapt straight from the "skeptical" stage to "I believe you, but I choose to slash you".

The plan needed a slight adjustment.

"Ying Xing!"

Her voice trembled with sobs.

She twisted aside to dodge another horizontal slash; the blade grazed the tips of her hair, snapping a few white strands that drifted down.

Her eye sockets were full of tears, those two drops not forced out but simply because the wind during the dodge had dried her eyes, and she took the chance to yawn.

But it looked exactly like she was crying from fright.

"What are you doing! I'm Bai Hang! Don't you remember me! It's me! Look at me properly!"

Every word was laced with sobbing, her azure eyes glittered with tears, her nose tip reddened, lips quivered, her whole face screaming "I was really scared by you".

Ren stared at her.

He watched her teal‑blue eyes sparkling with tears, her trembling lips, and her tear‑wet cheeks.

That's how Bai Hang looks when she cries.

When Bai Hang was pointed at by his sword, she probably had the same expression.

Then he laughed even louder.

The laugh was so wild it made the surrounding rooftiles tremble faintly.

Ren covered his face with one hand, his shoulders heaving violently, the laugh leaking through his fingers, mixing with the fresh blood on his face, indistinguishable whether it was laughter or crying.

"Good—good—!"

He flung his hand from his face, his crimson eyes swirling with a near‑mad dark light; his hoarse, broken voice was crystal‑clear, each word sounding like he was reading a pre‑signed death sentence to himself, "You imitate me too well—too well! So well I almost believed you—!"

He raised his sword again, the tip aimed at the white‑haired, Fox Ears girl's chest; the curve of his mouth split further among the bloodstains, "Fine. Whoever you are—Masked Fool or Radiant Memory Hall—you're absolutely not allowed to use that face!!!!"

"Now I'll cut you! One more cut—and you'll know the price of impersonating her—!"

He lunged forward a step.

The ragged sword snapped upward, its blade tracing a scarlet arc in the air.

Second step.

Third step.

"Ying Xing… I don't blame you… I really don't blame you, those things are over… don't do this… please…"

Bai Hang's voice shattered on the last few words, she stepped back two paces, her back slamming into a streetlamp.

She curled behind the lamp post, only half a head and a pair of trembling fox ears showing, her pitiful gaze fixed on Ren.

Blade laughed even louder.

It wasn't because she was pitiful.

It was because she acted so convincingly.

"Don't blame me?"

He repeated those three words as if he had just heard the world's funniest joke, his laughter echoing over Changletian, "Of course you don't blame me—Bai Hang—how could she possibly blame me—"

The Ragged Sword slashed down again.

This time the sword aura was wider and heavier than before, cleaving the lamp post where Sai Fei Er was hiding together with the half wall beside it.

Stone fragments sprayed everywhere, and the metal wreckage of the lamp post flew several meters away, crashing onto the ground with a clang.

Sai Fei Er was no longer there.

At the exact moment the sword aura fell, she slipped backward, her feet barely touching the bluestone pavement, and she had already retreated to the opposite side of the street.

She cast one last glance at Blade, the man standing in the shattered street's center, his left shoulder still bleeding, his right hand gripping the Ragged Sword, and a crimson gaze burning with something darker than madness.

It was clear he had no intention of stopping.

The wind whistled—whoosh.

Sai Fei Er turned and took off running.

Her fox tail stretched straight behind her, the white fur at the tip blown backward by the wind from the high‑speed sprint.

She ran while mentally sorting the whole chain of events, the plan indeed worked, Blade was indeed drawn out, the only problem was that the result was a bit too perfect.

From behind came the whoosh of the Ragged Sword slashing down again, and Blade's hoarse voice, laced with laughter.

"What are you running for—Bai Hang—! Weren't you going to reminisce—! Come on—!"

And Sai Fei Er, while running, shouted in Bai Hang's voice, "Ying Xing, wake up, Ying Xing," her tone perfectly calibrated—seven parts fear, two parts grievance, one part "I'll definitely report Jing Liu when I turn around."

The passerby hadn't time to react before two after‑images, one ahead and one behind, swept past them.

The black‑robed swordsman dragged an extremely long, dazzling trail of sparks across the stone road, while the white‑haired Fox Ears girl kept exactly a step and a half ahead of the sparks, each step landing just before the sword blade could catch up.

From the tea house entrance of Changletian to the stone archway beside Ruomu Hall, then toward the Star Chariot Wharf.