The fire was lit at night, but An Ming didn't feel any heat.
The blue flames danced in the air like thin snakes. It first burned to death the chickens that An Ming kept at home, then the new willows in front of the door, and finally the goldfish in the fish tank.
Those blue flames aren't afraid of water at all!
"What the hell is this!"
An Ming immediately stood up, threw away the burning clothes, and rushed to Xilika's room. On the night when Xilika would die, the blue flames were burning, and he subconsciously felt that something was wrong.
In his memory, when he woke up that day, he found his father, covered in wounds, holding him and running away to the wilderness. He had no idea what had happened at home.
Did something so strange happen that night?
An had placed various booby traps and traps in front of the door that day, but now all those things are useless. The enemy is a ghostly flame, how can you use booby traps to kill ghosts and flames?
"Sister Shirika!"
As soon as An Ming opened the door, he found Shirika standing in the middle of the room, with a circle of ghost lights around her.
"Don't come over here, An Ming!"
Shirika roared, and the sound shocked An Ming. He never thought that this gentle woman could make such a sound.
"get out!"
Shirika yelled out the window.
The next moment, several figures in black rose from the floor of the room. They were wearing black leather coats with golden badges on their collars. On the badge, three marigolds bloomed on a sword-forged throne.
Marigold Throne again?
Damn it, are all the strange murders in this country related to these guys? An Ming couldn't help but click his tongue.
"Ms. Shirika, I hope you can cooperate with us."
The leader said, his voice was neither male nor female, and sounded like a falsetto.
"Cooperate? Cooperate with you as a test subject?" Shirika sneered.
"You are a noble, you should know that we will definitely give you corresponding treatment and respect. All you need to do is sacrifice a little bit of your freedom." The leader said again.
"Oh, respect? In the eyes of you Westerners, respect means pointing a weapon at someone and saying I want to make a deal with him? Sorry, in the eyes of us Orientals, this is called robbery."
"If that foolish man hadn't hidden you, we wouldn't have resorted to such a desperate measure." The leader grinned, "You have to think clearly. The lives of this young man and that man can depend on your thoughts."
"What a joke! If I don't cooperate with you, they won't be in danger? I know your methods."
Shirika didn't look at the group of men again, but waved her hand gently, and the flames in the air instantly turned from blue to red, and then dissipated.
"Are you underestimating me?"
There was a mocking gleam in Shirika's eyes.
Seeing that the blue will-o'-the-wisp was useless, the leading man was shocked.
"Tsk, what's wrong with this woman? This is different from what we agreed!"
He took two steps back, as if he wanted to get away from this Oriental man who was out of their control. But Xilika ignored him, walked up to An Ming, and touched his hair.
"I'm sorry, An Ming. This is what you call fate. It seems that I have met fate again."
She smiled bitterly, but the gentleness in her eyes was gone. An Ming felt that this person seemed to have transformed from the gentle elder sister he knew into a brave warrior.
"Instead, I will tell you how to crack fate. For the Red Moon followers, fate is something to be trampled underfoot. We usually respect fate, but if it dares to bare its fangs at us," she raised her head again, her eyes full of scarlet light, as if those eyes were filled with killing and blood, "we will, kill it."
At some point, her eyes had turned bright red, and her originally grey hair had shone bright white in the firelight.
"Quick, whatever she is, we have more people, surround her. Use the steam pistols!"
The man in black drew out the pistol from his waist and charged it.
"careful!"
An Ming was about to warn Shirika, but she just smiled. She dodged the first pistol bullet, then the second, and the third. She was like dancing, and the dance was so beautiful that even the bullets didn't want to interrupt it.
"It's been hundreds of years, and you Westerners haven't changed. That kind of thing can't hurt me." Shirika walked forward, as elegant as a queen. "I'll tell you my name, but I guess you don't remember what Oriental surnames represent in your history. My name is Shirikapel Gray Moon, the last patriarch of the Gray Moon family, and the mayor of the City of Eastern End."
Shirika waved her hands, and white thorns rippled in her hands. Those thorns quickly expanded to the entire space, trapping the man in black.
They fired continuously, but the metal bullets disappeared in white smoke as soon as they hit the thorns.
"What the hell?"
"Damn it! Bullets won't work on her!"
The black-clad men shouted.
At this time, the leading man in black pulled out the potion from his waist and smashed it hard on the ground. The potion bottle shattered, and the liquid inside splashed out and quickly vaporized. The steaming white gas bit the thorns like a beast when it encountered them. The thorns quickly withered and turned into a pool of flying ash.
Shirika narrowed her eyes, with a hint of indifference in them.
"It's really disgusting stuff."
She threw the thorns wrapped around her hand with all her strength, and the thorns spiraled forward in the air, dodging the potion thrown by the man in black. Blood splattered in the room, and heads were cut off and rolled to the ground.
"Monster!"
The man in black was trembling and wanted to escape, but Shirika didn't give them the chance. Another bunch of thorns had been prepared to block the escape route. The man didn't have time to react, and the thorns cut off his head.
The battle lasted only thirty seconds, with competition and sword dancing, bullets and blood, and then it fell silent.
The room became quiet, and the blue fire that was originally burning disappeared completely. If you didn't look at the blood and corpses, it seemed as if nothing had happened here.
"Is it safe now?"
An Ming was still in shock. He had heard that there was a sophisticated assassination unit in the West. The unit was invincible and there was no target they could not kill. These men in black were probably their members. But these men were no match for Shirika.
Are all Orientals really martial gods? No wonder the Westerners lost the East-West War a few hundred years ago.
But none of this matters now, An Ming smiled with peace of mind. Shirika killed fate as she said.
But at this moment, An Ming felt a little bit of incongruity. If Xilika was so powerful, why did she die there that night?
Even without An Ming's "forewarning", she would not have died. But can the things in dreams be trusted? Shirika's power should be her secret, and I should not know it. Why would I dream about something I don't know?
"Very impressive, Miss Shirika."
Clap, clap. A burst of applause came from the window.
Shirika immediately became alert, and An Ming also turned his head when he heard the sound.
It was a girl with a black tulle covering her face and black lace on her hands and legs. She looked like a funeral dress, but she was full of sexiness, like a demon's agent.
"Who are you?"
Shirika asked, frowning.
"Me? I'm their leader. You can call me Miss Magician. The failure of this operation is blamed on me. It's really sad."
Although she said that, the girl in black kept smiling, and An Ming couldn't tell that she was sad at all.
"magician?"
"It's a code name. Members of our Protocol Bureau call each other this."
"That's really interesting information. Can I go now?"
"…You really don't intend to cooperate with us?"
the girl in black asked, but Shirika just stared at her and didn't give her a reply, as if to say "no way".
"That's a shame."
She waved her hand and a tall man jumped in from the window.
An Ming was stunned when he saw the man appear here.
Standing there was Wade, his adoptive father.
The adoptive father looked very strange. He was not surprised to see Shirika and An Ming standing among the corpses. He didn't even have any reaction. His eyes were confused like a puppet.
"What did you do to him?"
Shirika asked, a hint of anger in her voice.
"Nothing was done, just recycling. The old guys in our Protocol Bureau are very cautious. They are afraid that too strong a force will threaten them. Therefore, anyone who is promoted to the position of director or deputy director will be implanted with a suggestion in advance. To be honest, this is a kind of hypnosis achieved through hallucination. In the dream, he probably thought he was protecting you."
An Ming finally understood why his father had not shown up even though such a big thing had happened at home. It was because he had been protecting us in our dreams.
"I see."
As Silica spoke, she drew out a one-handed sword made of thorns.
Looking at Shirika's fighting posture, the girl in black asked playfully.
"Can you do it?"
"Why can't you do it?"
Shirika ran out, and Wade drew out the sword and pistol from his waist at the same time.
Fire burst out in the room. Wade shot at Shirika with his pistol and finished off with his long sword. Shirika used thorns to split the bullets and blocked his sword. With a click, the long sword broke. Seeing that the thorn sword was about to hit Wade's neck, Shirika gritted his teeth and took two steps back to distance himself from Wade.
"Haha, what's wrong? It's different from what we agreed on. Can't you do it?"
The girl in black threw a new sword to Wade, with a smile on her face, the only thing that was exposed was her mouth.
An Ming wanted to help, but then a sharp blade shot at him, and he couldn't dodge it in time, and his thigh was pierced and he fell to the ground. The sharp blade was stabbed by the girl in black.
But she stopped moving after knocking An Ming down. An Ming then realized that the girl in black was warning him that she would kill him if he came any closer. An Ming deeply understood that he could not help at all in this battle, just like in the past.
The room was filled with flashes of swords and sabers. The sword that the girl in black threw to Wade was very strong and would not break even if it hit thorns.
The two fought back and forth for several rounds. Shirika had no scars or fatigue on her body, but Wade was already breathing heavily and his body was covered with scratches.
Even so, the girl in black still had a look of confidence in her victory.
"kill him."
Suddenly, the girl in black gave an order out of the blue.
An Ming and Xi Lika didn't understand what it meant. Only Wade acted at lightning speed.
A cold light flashed in the room, and he raised the sword in his hand, and the tip of the sword stabbed straight at An Ming.
Shirika was stunned for a moment. She didn't expect the black-clothed girl's target was An Ming. She quickly mobilized her muscles and rushed over at a speed beyond her limit. Now Wade had his back to Shirika. She only needed to gently swing the thorn sword in her hand, and Wade would definitely die.
In this way, both An Ming and himself can be saved.
But the sword only swung a few centimeters away from Wade's neck, and the next moment the sword retreated and was taken back.
She couldn't move.
She bit her lip lightly, turned unwillingly and rushed towards An Ming, reaching out to pull him away from the weapon.
But what Shirika didn't expect was that the black sword suddenly turned and stabbed straight at her.
The girl in black had predicted Sirica's actions from the beginning. She didn't care whether Sirica killed Wade or Wade killed Sirica. For Sirica, it was a choice between the two, but for the girl in black, either one was fine.
She watched with pleasure the performance of the interweaving of Oriental and Western people. Love and hate were just a moment away.
She was very happy. As a member of the Protocol Bureau, she never cared about the purpose and plan. That's why she leaked the brainwashing suggestion without caring. To her, it didn't matter at all.
Wade stabbed Shirika in the chest, and blood flowed out along the blood groove of the black sword.
"You really shouldn't underestimate fate. If I were an orthodox Red Moon disciple, could I change this fate?"
While spitting out blood, Shirika looked at Wade, his face was very cold at this moment, like a killing machine.
She stretched out her fingers and touched the rock-like cheek.
At this moment, Wade woke up, looked at the black sword in his hand, and then looked at Shirika who was pierced by the black sword.
"...Shirika?"
He called out Sirica's name with surprise and confusion.
"Honey, I'm here."
Shirika gave a bitter smile.
"I, you are..."
He couldn't believe that he had killed Shirika.
"It's okay, it's okay. This is just my fate. I didn't succeed in killing fate, that's all."
When Shirika mentioned the word destiny, An Ming bit his lips bitterly.
He was about to succeed, but everything on the scene became an obstacle for her. If she hadn't gotten married and hadn't become a family with them, would she not have to die today?
This assumption made no sense. Shirika was already dying.
"You did a great job, Chief Wade. Do you want me to give you an Imperial Medal?"
The girl in black applauded him.
Wade's eyes widened, he roared, pulled out his pistol, and shot at the girl in black. But at this moment she was no longer there.
"That's a pity indeed."
Only her voice remained in the room.
An Ming knelt down in front of Shirika, whose face was pale.
"I'm sorry, it's all my fault..."
"It's not your fault. Even if you didn't show up here, they would have made you show up. This is what they planned from the beginning."
Shirika reached out and touched An Ming's hair and cheek, looking at his red eyes from crying.
"Anming, I'm sorry, mom can't protect you anymore. Remember to eat well in the future and wear more clothes when it's cold..."
She began to nag, her voice becoming quieter and quieter.
An Ming held her hand.
"I know, I know," An Ming wiped away his tears, "...Mom."
Hearing the word "Mom", Shirika opened her eyes wide and then a smile appeared on her face again.
"I am really happy," she said.
That morning, Shirika tried hard to open her eyes and sat in the house with An Ming and Wade to watch the sunrise.
The whole family watched the sunrise for the last time.
In the sunlight, An Ming turned his head slightly to look at Xilika, only to see her slowly close her eyes with a gentle smile on her face, and fall asleep forever.