Split Zone No.13

I jerked awake, sitting up on the bed!

“Damn it!” I felt beads of sweat on my forehead, and as I looked around me, I knew I already awoke from my dream.

Nie Zun fell asleep standing, leaning against the bunk bed. He seemed to be looking down and resting his eyes. Seeing me awake, he lifted his head and looked at me with those starry eyes.

“What’s wrong?” He asked softly, noticing the perspiration on my forehead.

I sighed. “Nothing, I just had a dream. This is the second time. It seems as if I’d be able to see pieces of that lost memory every time I dream. It was just like my last dream, and this dream was a continuation of that previous one. I woke up at a crucial moment, and I wasn’t able to get a clear sense of the situation.”

He smiled gently. “This is destiny. Since you’re supposed to recall it, those memories will come to you. You just have to wait patiently for it.”

I twitched my lips. “You really have no desires, leaving it all to fate.”

He shook his head, eyes shining. “No, those who leave it to fate value life. As for me, it doesn’t matter if I live or die...”

He gave a charming laugh, waving a gloved hand in front of his own face.

What he said made my heart ache.

This is why you have an indifferent, heedless and cold demeanor, because you gave up on yourself...

You need to be protected far more than I do...

These thoughts sprouted out of nowhere.

“But these dreams might actually help you solve some of the problems you faced when you were alive. It might even help you accept her.”

Nie Zun seemed as if he was looking at a lover. His gentle gaze was directed at me, but at the same time, it did not seem like he was looking at me.

I felt a weird, tangled emotion.

A thought flashed past. Could it be because of my second personality that he was so patient with me all this time? He... did he do this all for her...

“Ah...” I called out as I felt a sudden chill in my palms.

“What’s wrong?” Nie Zun looked alert.

I lifted my hands, looking at my palms. There was nothing different about them, they looked the same, and they didn’t look affected by any sort of poison.

But right now, my palms felt like they were riddled with holes, as if there was a cold wind blowing through these holes. A bone-chilling cold spread swiftly from my palms to my heart. As if rapidly submerged in water, I shivered as the chill spread through my body.

“What’s happening to you?” Nie Zun asked again, a concerned hand on my shoulder.

I felt my lips starting to tremble, and I realized it was getting hard to speak.

“Your lips are turning purple.” Nie Zun looked anxious as he noticed my lips.

The chill continued emanating from my palms, and I spoke with quivering lips, “Quick, get Jie Pa here.”

Nie Zun called Jie Pa on his mobile phone immediately. Without his hand on my shoulder, I felt colder. I collapsed onto the bed, clutching at the sheets, not able to bear the chill.

Usually, we would not be able to feel any temperature fluctuations in the Split Zone, unless it was caused by MF. So if someone was having a fever, it was simply a symptom caused by damage to their MF.

I tried to quickly interpret this situation.

Was it caused by something poisonous in the experimental grounds? Was I infected by it? No, it can’t be, I believe in Jie Pa’s deduction and he’d have known if there was something wrong with the experimental grounds.

Was it caused by my dream? That shouldn’t be the case either. I activated the MF around my split symbol.

This isn’t right, my MF is normal. So the problem doesn’t lie with me.

An ambush? Not possible, Nie Zun was always by my side, how could I have gotten hurt.

The chill hindered me from focusing on my thoughts, and I could no longer think of any other possible reasons for this.

“He needs a few hours at the very least. Are you okay? He asked if this could be caused by poison, and he wants you to activate your MF around your split symbol, see if there’s anything wrong.” Nie Zun held my hand, trying to keep my emotions stable.

“No... no problem. Tell... tell him, I... I’ve thought of all... possible situations, this... should... should be something... out of the... ordinary... get him here... quick.”

“You’re feeling really cold?” Nie Zun frowned, and I was distracted by his dreamy eyes.

But I was about to become an icicle, and I could not expand any more of my energy to ogle at the pretty boy. I was so cold my teeth were chattering.

I felt a sudden pressure on my wrist, and Nie Zun lifted me up in an embrace!

My head hit his shoulder, and I felt the warmth of his chest. My lips lifted in a bitter smile. Nie Zun always felt chilly, but this time, I was colder than him, and it was the first time I felt warm in his embrace.

“Huu...” I let out a breath of cold air. It felt as though my skin was already frozen. I looked at my hands and they looked completely fine, as if the chill was spreading outwards from my heart.

“Nie... Zun, are you trying to take advantage of me...” With trembling lips, I chided him to counter the chill.

He spoke calmly in my ear, “Do you have anything to take advantage of?”

...

Can’t you say something nice?!

I rolled my eyes. Every inch of my skin felt icy, and I was quite afraid that my eyeball would remain frozen right under my eyelid.

“Ssss....” I muttered, “Nie, Nie Zun... it’s too... too cold...”

I felt his arms tighten, holding me closer to him.

“Do you want me to follow what they do in the dramas, provide you warmth by stripping?” Although I could not see his eyes, I could hear the mischievous tone in his voice.

“You, you... you are... you are... not much warmer...” I was so cold that I did not want to move any part of my body, and I rolled my eyes inwardly.

I heard his laughter by my ear, but I scrunched up further in the chill.

“Just what’s happening?” Nie Zun was hugging me so tightly that I almost could not breathe.

This chill invaded me, but I remained conscious, and my five senses seemed to have been enhanced. I did not feel faint at all, but it felt as if the insides of my body had been bored through by an icicle.

“D... Don’t know.” I continued shivering in his arms.

“Ah—!”

I screamed as I felt a violent, icy stab in my brain!

Nie Zun held me tighter, cradling my head!

“Ah—!” This stabbing feeling was not like how a mortal wound would feel, it was directed at the nerves!

It felt like being forcefully possessed by a ferocious and resentful spirit that was horrific and full of malice. My soul felt like it was being torn apart, and my pupils started to dilate!

Sensing something was wrong, Nie Zun let go of me. He looked at me anxiously, grabbing me tightly by the shoulders. I tried hard to keep my eyes wide open, but I was not able to stop that cold, dark chill that was eating at my brain.

“Nie, Nie Zun, Nie Zun... get... get Piercer off me... get it off!”

I screamed those last three words with all my might!

Nie Zun swiftly took Piercer from my waist and threw it to the side! Though I was unsure of the reason, I just felt that Piercer had something to do with this chill!

However, there was no reprieve. All the nerves in my brain were fired up, and I bit my lip tightly in pain. My hands were turning white from gripping the sheets, and my fingers were sinking into the mattress.

The only warmth I felt was on my shoulders, where Nie Zun’s hands were.

Looking like he could no longer bear to see me in such pain, Nie Zun lifted one of my legs.

My lips felt frozen, and I could not ask what he planned to do.

He quickly undid the red silk tied around my left ankle, until the glowing symbol of a scorpion was revealed. He grabbed my ankle and pressed down on my split symbol.

Stunned, I felt vibrations emanating from the split symbol.

He’s using MF to attack my split symbol!

But why?!

Split symbols are where MF is concentrated at. Apart from a splitting key, there is almost no other way to damage a split symbol! Any attack directed at a split symbol will be reflected rapidly, and it will cause greater damage to the attacker!

“You... what are you doing?!” It felt like I had to use all my energy just to ask this.

Nie Zun looked at me with dark and unfathomable eyes. “Using my MF to help stabilize the raging flow of yours.”

Although my MF is going all over the place and in chaos right now, it was caused by the chill invading me, not because of my split symbol. If this goes on, my consciousness might just crumble!

But, how could he use his MF to forcefully control mine?! Even if his MF was much higher than mine, this was too dangerous a method! If my consciousness crumbled, he’d definitely be affected!

“No, you... you let go of me...” I looked at Nie Zun who was holding on to my ankle tightly. Just looking into his eyes, I knew he was suppressing pain.

He did not listen to me, and I felt the force from his MF continuously on my split symbol.

Blood seeped out from the corner of his lips.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I tried my best to speak, “You, you, quick... let go... I...”