harleyscars Page 144
Page 144
“Come here, little brother.” Her voice was as gentle as a lover’s murmur, yet it contained an undeniable power. “Let your older sister take a good look at you.”
Wang Anzhi felt the air around him thicken, and an invisible force pulled him through the still slightly undulating crimson curtain, leading him into that mysterious place.
At this moment, possessing the power of Constantine, he could have rejected it, but Wang Anzhi thought about it and did not do so.
He walked straight up to Yggdrasil, and at close range, he could feel the oppressive power of her inhuman beauty, as well as the old and decaying sandalwood scent emanating from her elaborate twelve-layered kimono.
Izanami patted her legs together in a casual and affectionate gesture, as if she were beckoning a young child, like a real older sister: "Sit."
Wang Anzhi stiffened slightly. He vaguely remembered that when he existed in the world under the name Mimir, Yggdrasil had also hugged him so affectionately.
The difference is that Yggdrasil always gives people a sense of authority, which makes people dare not offend him.
The Izanami before him, however, gave him an alluring and seductive air.
Of course, they share the same authority.
At the same time, Wang Anzhi could feel behind him that Erii's movements of combing her hair did not stop at all. The cypress comb continued to move rhythmically across the long, dark waterfall of hair, as if everything outside was irrelevant to her. She was just an exquisite yet empty silhouette in this desolate space.
After a moment of silence, Wang Anzhi finally obeyed, stiffly turning to sit on Yggdrasil's legs, which were pressed together.
Her body was ice-cold, and you could feel an inhuman chill even through her clothes.
Izanami let out a satisfied sigh, stretched out her pale, almost transparent arms, gently wrapped them around his waist, and rested her chin on his shoulder.
"My dear brother, do you still remember?"
"Remember what?" Wang Anzhi felt the cold softness in front of him.
Izanami's voice grew softer and softer, her tone more and more aggrieved, "Eight thousand years ago, you took me away from the World Tree that had been shattered through five solar ages, and helped me find my place in the ruins."
"What's wrong with this?" Wang Anzhi immediately understood that this was history he had not yet experienced, and he dared not answer carelessly.
However, he still miscalculated. Izanami's gaze grew even more pitiful. "Yes! There's nothing wrong with it..."
As Wang Anzhi listened to this unfamiliar "older sister"—or rather, "younger sister"—she deliberately dragged out the last syllable, he sensed something was wrong, yet he couldn't pinpoint where he had gone wrong.
Sure enough, Izanami murmured as if in a trance:
“You took away the clothes that covered me and imprisoned me here again. Put on the new clothes I gave you and walk out of this ancient road to the underworld again. From then on, you will be able to walk in the world under the name of the White Emperor.”
She gently stroked Wang Anzhi's face, her words as soft as ever, "Are you happy?"
Wang Anzhi broke out in a cold sweat. He understood the sorrow in Izanami's voice; it wasn't the ambiguous "stealing clothes" or "keeping a mistress in a golden house" that she had mentioned.
It's as if he's being talked about as the Cowherd and Emperor Wu of Han...
Rather, on a deeper level, it was taking away the White Emperor's most crucial power—the power over "history"—from her, and banishing her to the Yellow Springs Ancient Road, denying her the chance to reclaim that power.
Just by looking at this description, one can tell how dangerous it is. It is nothing like the ambiguous and thought-provoking description given by Izanami.
He recalled the mournful ballad of an ordinary, resentful woman that he had heard when he first met the White Emperor, and his anxiety intensified.
So he replied decisively, "Of course I'm not happy..."
Just as he was thinking of making excuses, before he could even offer any explanation, Izanami smiled and placed his stiff hand behind her back.
And so, the two embraced.
Wang Anzhi couldn't help but curse inwardly, "Damn it, the one who should truly take away the White Emperor's power is the future him, why should the present him have to bear this fear and trembling?"
But it's clear that he won't respond to him in the future; he'll only offer a contemptuous smile.
Just when Wang Anzhi thought the crisis was over, Izanami whispered a cold breath in his ear, decisively interrupting his attempt to explain.
"Yes! Of course you won't be happy because you don't care about the title of White Emperor at all. Soon, you will discard this burdensome title that makes you look like a loser and choose to ruthlessly trample on the last gift I left you."
Izanami released him, looked at him as if she wanted to devour him, but ultimately restrained herself. She murmured:
"You think you have your own great achievements, so you don't care at all about your sister's true feelings..."
“No,” Wang Anzhi knew he couldn’t let this yandere “older sister” continue like this, so he decisively interrupted her next words, but the effect was not very ideal.
Her gaze remained fixed on the ancient bronze mirror in front of her, reflecting the two of them embracing, and behind her, Erii, like a machine programmed to do so, dipped a comb into an unknown, lustrous liquid in a jade bowl beside her, and then meticulously combed her long hair again and again.
Erii's eyes were vacant, and her movements were so precise that they were devoid of any human touch. She was completely like a shrine maiden who served the gods and had lost her own will.
Izanami looked at the priestess serving her behind her, and then at Wang Anzhi's seemingly easygoing demeanor in front of her, and suddenly said this.
"you like her?"
Chapter 227 Japan in a Chaotic Dance of Gods
Erii froze for a moment, as if she had also heard Izanami's words, and briefly awoke from her mental slumber.
Izanami chuckled twice, looked at the silent Wang Anzhi, and made a very decisive statement: "She likes you too."
One question, one affirmation—these symbolize the attitude of the White Emperor Izanami before us.
“That’s not true,” Wang Anzhi said after a moment of silence, not admitting it to Izanami, the yandere.
This unfounded explanation obviously failed to convince Izanami. However, after a faint smile, she no longer cared about this bloodline descendant who was countless generations removed from her.
Then, Izanami's voice rang in his ears, accompanied by a dreamlike murmur.
"younger brother."
“I’m here,” Wang Anzhi replied helplessly.
"My sister has been imprisoned in this small country for too long... so long that she has almost forgotten what the real sky looks like."
Would you... help your sister and give her true 'freedom'?
Her breath was icy cold, brushing against Wang Anzhi's earlobe, sending a chill down his spine.
He steeled himself and met Yggdrasil's deep silver eyes in the bronze mirror, saying in a deep voice, "I've forgotten where the key to the ancient path to the underworld that I set up in the past is."
Wang Anzhi mistakenly believed that Izanami had discovered his weakness at this moment, when he only possessed the "meager" power of Constantine, and wanted to use this to force him to break free from the cage of the past and release her.
“No,” Izanami’s eyes brightened for a moment, then dimmed again.
“My dear brother, there is no ancient road or Yellow Springs between us. You left me here after crossing the ancient road, so I also walked out of the ancient road and brought you here…”
Listening to Izanagi's dreamlike voice, Wang Anzhi couldn't help but feel even more troubled. He understood what she meant: the cage he had set up in the past could no longer contain her, or at least the restrictions wouldn't be too great.
Then there's the emperor with his "unbroken imperial line," Yukio Hatoyama with his poisonous spirit, and the Japanese mixed-race members of the Snake-Headed Eight Families who could be used as puppets at any time.
Wang Anzhi suddenly realized that this might be a hole he had deliberately left.
Meanwhile, Izanami continued her narration.
"...What truly stands between us is the prison left behind by that brat Nidhogg named Odin."
Izanami smiled, a smile so beautiful it was breathtaking, yet so dangerous it sent shivers down one's spine. She gently breathed into his ear, and this time Wang Anzhi could feel a warm breeze.
"He is our common enemy, preventing us from meeting."
Wang Anzhi agreed with this, saying that no matter what, one cannot tolerate another sleeping soundly beside one's bed, and Odin is someone who needs to be dealt with sooner or later.
Seeing this, Izanami smiled even more happily. She raised her free hand, her slender index finger, with its nails gleaming like pearls, and gently touched the ancient bronze mirror in front of her.
The once hazy mirror surface rippled like water after a pebble has been thrown in. The blurry image gradually became clear—
The first thing that catches the eye is the azure sea and the white sand beach, with exotic architecture in the background.
Zooming in, inside a heavily guarded military base, a middle-aged white man with a sharp and capable demeanor, dressed in the uniform of a senior U.S. military officer, is standing in front of a huge sand table, discussing something with his subordinates.
The general's stars on his epaulets were clearly visible in the mirror, and on the beach behind him, the figure of a beautiful woman stood faintly, her gaze full of affection.
“Okinawa,” Izanami’s voice was like an ode, “beneath the blue sea, lies the thread of the ‘past’.”
Her fingertip touched the figure of the American general. "Commander of U.S. Forces Japan, Shadow of Urd. She anchors the shackles of my past with her steel scepter."
The mirror-like ripples reappear, the scenery changes, and the snow-covered conical mountain stands between heaven and earth, sacred and aloof.
At the foot of the mountain, in a modern and elegant courtyard, an elderly man dressed in a traditional kimono, with his hair neatly combed and a serious expression, is kneeling in the tea room, slowly and methodically preparing tea.
His demeanor exuded a calm composure that commanded everything, coupled with the arrogance of an ancient noble family. Beside him, the figure of a woman could be faintly seen, holding a parchment scroll in her hands, her eyes sparkling with intelligence.
“Mount Fuji,” the White Emperor whispered with a hint of coldness, “is frozen in ice and snow, the spool of ‘now’ frozen in time.”
Looking at her current aura, Wang Anzhi vaguely sensed that Yggdrasil's soul was still slumbering in this body.
Her fingertips moved toward the elderly woman in the kimono, “President of the Tokyo Agricultural Cooperative, the Shadow of Verdandi. She weaves my present-day cage with the veins of wealth and land.”
Finally, the scene in the mirror freezes on the night view of a bustling city, with countless lights twinkling like stars, the most dazzling of which is the giant red and white iron tower.
On the observation deck at the top of the tower, a middle-aged man dressed in a well-tailored suit and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, looking out over the city that never sleeps, with an enigmatic smile on his lips.
“Tokyo Tower,” Izanami’s voice was filled with undisguised disgust and mockery, “above the neon lights, hangs the scissors of the ‘future’.”
Her fingertips landed heavily on the man in the suit. "The Ambassador to Japan, the shadow of Skuld. With her diplomacy and cunning, she is always ready to cut off any possibility of my future."
She withdrew her finger, and the image in the bronze mirror slowly faded away, returning to its original mottled and blurry appearance.
She tightened her grip on Wang Anzhi's arm slightly, pressed her face close to his neck, and her voice became low and seductive, yet also carried a hint of barely perceptible weariness and resentment:
"Do you understand now, my dear brother? Urd, Verdandi, Skuld."
The shadows of the three Fates, who once guarded our gatehouse, now manipulate the bodies of mortals, acting as my jailers.
They… or rather, the rules and power they represented, together constituted this prison called 'Japan' that imprisoned me.
"The prison you gave me is old and worn, but at least you gave me this land as a plaything. However, Odin..."
Disgust was evident in Izanami's eyes. "He set up this prison sixty years ago, and while I was asleep, he sealed the prison gates and summoned the jailers who used to guard us to stop me from breaking down the prison gates."
When she looked at Wang Anzhi again, there was no longer any resentment or sorrow in her eyes, only dewy eyes that seemed ready to burst forth.
"And only you, my dear brother, can save me."
Chapter 228 Sister, may you rest in peace for now.
"Of course, my sister, we depend on each other."
Wang Anzhi remained silent for only a moment, then glanced at the deep silver eyes reflected in the bronze mirror and nodded slightly.
Upon hearing this, Izanami's lips curved into a smile that seemed to be both sad and happy. However, before the smile could fully bloom, Wang Anzhi continued:
"Well then, now it's time for me to leave this place and fight for your freedom, sister..."
Wang Anzhi couldn't continue speaking. He could feel the cold arms surrounding his arms suddenly tighten. The touch, which had been almost warm, conveyed the owner's surging emotions and then turned cold again, just like the state of Izanami in mythology at this moment.
She was a decaying corpse; despite her outward appearance, it could not conceal the deathly aura emanating from within.