"Director Hu, when did you notice?"
Chen Feng didn't answer her question directly, but his response confirmed her suspicion, leaving Hu Tao's heart feeling incomparably heavy.
Hu Tao wished so desperately that Chen Feng would deny her words, even if it was just a lie to deceive her, so she could still comfort herself with the thought that he was doing it because he cared for her. Yet now, Chen Feng's cold gaze filled Hu Tao with a strong sense of suffocation.
After a long time, Hu Tao barely managed to calm herself down and lowered her hands, but her eyes met Chen Feng's again, still shimmering with tears.
This time, Chen Feng did not avoid her gaze, and his cold expression sent sharp pangs of pain through Hu Tao's heart.
Hu Tao took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing her inner turmoil before slowly speaking.
"Qi Shu was a meticulous and incredibly patient person, as shown by his past experiences and his three months of preparation."
"He indeed harbored a deep hatred for the Liyue Qixing, but that alone would not be enough to drive him to offer his soul to the Death God. Even if he were truly driven to a dead end, his most likely course of action would be to endure in silence once more, waiting for an opportunity to make a comeback."
"I didn't know Director Hu had such profound insights into human nature," Chen Feng said softly, his gaze remaining completely unchanged.
"But these are just Director Hu's subjective speculations, which shouldn't serve as conclusive evidence."
Hearing Chen Feng's words, Hu Tao spoke again.
"The main reason is that the Death Note Qi Shu had was not left behind; it vanished along with him."
"Your explanation to us is that 'the Death Note was taken away by the Death God,' but that explanation makes no sense."
"Traveling between worlds is not such an easy feat. Otherwise, Teyvat would not have been almost devoid of news regarding visitors from other worlds for so many years."
"Even if the Death God you spoke of truly possessed such power to travel between two different worlds, how could He have left so hastily after paying such a great price to come to Teyvat?"
Having said this, Hu Tao paused slightly before continuing.
"Chen Feng... You are actually that so-called Death God, aren't you?"
"The Death Note should have returned to your hands by now."
After hearing Hu Tao's reasoning, Chen Feng showed her a look of approval.
"As expected of Director Hu, a truly bold deduction."
After speaking, Chen Feng raised his hand and plunged it toward his own chest, then pulled out a black notebook radiating an ominous aura from his body. It was precisely the same Death Note Qi Shu had taken out before.
Seeing this scene, Hu Tao closed her eyes in pain. Her internal deductions were being verified step by step, yet this fact was what she was least willing to face.
"Your reasoning is slightly off. I am not the Death God, but the Death God was indeed the true owner of the Death Note."
Chen Feng spoke calmly.
"Therefore, I killed Him and became the new owner of the Death Note."
Hearing Chen Feng's explanation, Hu Tao was shocked, and bitterness filled her mouth.
A being who was called a god in another world seemed to pose no threat in Chen Feng's words. This made Hu Tao's heart grow even heavier, for it meant the difficulty of stopping Chen Feng had greatly increased.
"As the true owner of the Death Note, even if the Death Note was in Qi Shu's hands, you could easily retrieve it or even directly activate the Death Note's ability, right?"
Hu Tao spoke again, voicing her deduction.
"The Death Note can control a person's actions before death. So Qi Shu's name must have been written on it by you long ago, right?"
Chen Feng did not answer Hu Tao's question, but directly flipped through the Death Note instead. Before long, the Death Note stopped on a certain page, on which the first two characters were strikingly Qi Shu's name, while the rest of the content, occupying an entire page, was the grand "performance" of that time.
It turns out everything was fake...
Hu Tao covered her chest with one hand and could not help but take two steps back. Although she had already guessed it, when the truth was revealed before her eyes, she still felt a heart-piercing pain in her chest.
It turns out that at that time, Chen Feng had already taken the initiative to kill so many innocent people. His hands had long been stained with blood, and the ridiculous thing was that everyone took Chen Feng for their savior and was infinitely grateful to him.
How Hu Tao wished this guess were wrong, that those innocent people were all killed by Qi Shu, and Chen Feng was indeed everyone's savior.
But this was ultimately just a beautiful fantasy. In fact, Chen Feng had already stood on her opposite side long ago.
Thinking of this, Hu Tao continued to speak with a slight sob.
"Your ability lied as well, didn't it?"
"Actually, you only needed to erase Qi Shu's name written in the book to stop him from continuing to kill. There was no need to rely on the so-called power of 'Manifestation of Words' at all."
"Everything Qi Shu did was within the script you wrote. The reason you made us believe you had such powerful abilities was to keep the Adepti from interfering with your subsequent actions, wasn't it?"
"You drained all the Adeptal Energy from the Adepti, making it extremely difficult for them to recover in a short time. This way, even if they sensed something was wrong, they wouldn't be able to stop your plan."
Chen Feng nodded.
"Correct, I indeed do not possess such immense power, which is why I chose to travel to other worlds to obtain new abilities."
"It just so happened that my act of slaying a God provoked the other Death Gods in that world. They ambushed me with the combined efforts of twelve Death Gods on my return journey."
"If they hadn't lacked an effective means to target the soul, I'm afraid I wouldn't have come back."
"However, I also lost my memories because of this, and the Death Note and a portion of my own power were also lost."
"It wasn't until I felt my own power again that I finally remembered everything and devised this plan."
"I set Qi Shu free, knowing I could simply pin everything on him afterward. He was the perfect candidate to conceal my identity."
"But he was far more foolish than I expected. He truly believed Rex Lapis had passed away, and that no being in Liyue could punish him. He went out of his way to show off his cleverness in front of everyone."
"At that moment, I was still far short of the required sacrifices, so I had to act personally. Of course, I also made him make one final contribution to my cause before he died. Sure enough, after that, neither the Liyue Qixing nor the Adepti ever suspected me. I just never imagined Director Hu Tao would see through me."
"Even though we've spent so much time together, I knew I couldn't hide it from you for long, Director. But I'm still very surprised that you found the flaw so quickly."
Chen Feng spoke again in admiration, yet this praise fell horribly on Hu Tao's ears.
Although she had just learned that Rex Lapis was still alive, Hu Tao showed little reaction. In truth, she had already harbored similar suspicions. Compared to that, what Chen Feng said about the sacrifices concerned her far more.
Hu Tao forced herself to calm down again, trying her best not to let her mind wander.
"Qi Shu's right eye could see other people's names, couldn't it? And after he died, that power returned to you."
"I noticed it when I went to your room before. At that time, you hadn't yet managed to conceal the change in your right eye."
After hearing Hu Tao's words, Chen Feng fell silent for a moment, then raised his hand and placed it over his right eye. Immediately after, he removed the transparent film attached to it that could change the pupil's color, revealing a right eye that was completely different from before.
Just as Chen Feng finished doing this, his true appearance was fully revealed to Hu Tao. His right eye was pure white, while his left eye was a deep black, and his entire being exuded a bewitching aura.
"This eye is called the 'Eye of Good and Evil'. It can see a person's name and the sin value resulting from the offset of the good and evil deeds they have currently committed."
"The other eye is the 'Eye of Life and Death'. Director, you already know its ability: it can see the Deathly Aura on people or objects."
Chen Feng explained.
"I didn't expect Director Hu to be so observant. Our eyes only met for a few seconds before, yet you still noticed the change in my right eye..."
"But it doesn't matter now. All the preparations are complete. Next, it's time to offer all the sacrifices."
After speaking, Chen Feng flipped through the Death Note again, quickly reaching the page where Qi Shu had written his own name, then continued flipping.
Every page he turned after that was filled with names. Chen Feng flipped through over a hundred pages, and each one was still completely filled. This scene made Hu Tao feel a sense of suffocation.
Each of those names represented a living life!
How many people's names were here? At least ten thousand by now!
And this time, they weren't just the names of the most vicious criminals. Seeing this, Hu Tao felt waves of suffocation.
Hu Tao could no longer hold back. No matter what, she had to stop Chen Feng.
Hu Tao kicked the Staff of Homa lying beside her back into her hand, and the next second, the staff was placed at Chen Feng's neck. However, the hand Hu Tao used to hold the Staff of Homa kept trembling, and she looked at Chen Feng with a face full of sorrow.
"Chen Feng, enough, stop."
"Don't force me anymore!"
"It's still not too late. As long as you stop and forget the past, we can start over!"
Hu Tao raised her hand to wipe away the tears from the corner of her eye. Seeing this scene, Chen Feng's eyes fluctuated imperceptibly for a moment, but they regained their calmness before Hu Tao could notice.
"We promised back then to make Wangsheng Funeral Parlor big and strong together!"
"Don't you love money?"
"I'll give all my money to you, and all the money Wangsheng Funeral Parlor earns in the future will be given to you, too. Can we go back to living our quiet days like before?"
At this moment, Hu Tao's eyes were full of the light of hope. She hoped to see some wavering in Chen Feng's eyes, but the result made her heart turn completely cold.
"We can't go back, Director Hu."
Chen Feng shook his head.
"We can go back! As long as we want to, we can definitely return to the past!"
"If there's any difficulty, I can help you, Ningguang and the others can help you, and the Adepti can too!"
"As long as you're willing to let go of the past, it's not too late!"
"Do you really have no lingering affection for the time we spent together?"
Hu Tao made one last attempt, yet Chen Feng remained completely unmoved.
"Director Hu, although I feel some gratitude toward you, and we got along well enough during the days I lost my memory, that is all it was."
"This alone is not enough to make me change my mind."
Chen Feng looked at Hu Tao coldly and spoke slowly, each word tearing through her heart like a sharp knife.
"Everything was done just to ensure the plan would proceed more smoothly. If I caused you to misunderstand, Director Hu, then I apologize."
After Chen Feng finished speaking, Hu Tao was suddenly struck by an unimaginable blow. Her face turned deathly pale, and the light vanished from her eyes.
So it had all been her one-sided affection...
The Staff of Homa in Hu Tao's hand fell heavily to the ground. At this moment, she seemed to have lost all her strength, her body barely able to stand.
And at this very moment, Chen Feng immediately turned his back, not wanting Hu Tao to see the flicker of hesitation in his eyes.
"Is it really... impossible to go back?"
After a long silence, Hu Tao asked in a voice barely audible, and Chen Feng simply nodded.
"Chen Feng, are you really unwilling to stop?"
"I know you're not the type of person who would recklessly take another's life. Why force yourself to do something you hate?"
Hearing this, Chen Feng was momentarily stunned, but he quickly recovered.
"Hating it... so what?"
"This is something I must do. This is my mission."
"Compared to that, everything else is irrelevant."
"Director Hu, that includes you."
After Chen Feng's words fell, Hu Tao's heart completely died.
"From the beginning, we were two parallel lines that were never meant to cross. It was only some mistake that brought us together briefly."
"Now is the time to correct that mistake."
Hu Tao tightened her grip on the Staff of Homa, and the Vision on her body also emitted a startling light.
At this moment, Hu Tao was enveloped in blazing flames, her body erupting with an astonishing aura. Two streams of hot tears rolled down her cheeks, but the next second they were evaporated by the fire, as if she had never shed a tear.
"Chen Feng, you're right."
"It's time to correct the mistake."
"Even if I have to risk everything I have, I will stop you."
Sensing Hu Tao's resolve, Chen Feng nodded.
"This is the Director Hu I know."
"Come, try and stop me."
"This is the mission I must complete, so I will not hold back."
Chen Feng took a deep breath, and an astonishing Spiritual Pressure erupted from his body.
At the same time, Chen Feng's eyes burst with a piercing light, and the demonic aura on his body became even more pronounced.
"By the way, after recovering my memories, it seems I haven't properly introduced myself yet, have I?"
Chen Feng spoke calmly, and right after he finished saying this, a pale green phantom a thousand times his size appeared between heaven and earth.
The phantom, which had suddenly appeared in the eyes of all the people of Liyue, looked exactly like Chen Feng, and it also spoke at the same time as him.
"Now, let me formally introduce myself."
" 'Chen Feng' is the name I gave myself. Before that, they all called me..."
"Number Nine!"