Throne Steps

What is the meaning of survival?

It's hard for Li Chen to understand.

When he was young, his parents had been blurred in his memory, and the only thing left was the name "Li Chen".He wandered among street children, wandered from city to city, and shuttled through the most chaotic and darkest places.Sometimes I sleep under the bridge, sometimes I rummage through leftovers, and sometimes I order something else.

Small figures often appear in places where fish and dragons are mixed, such as bar streets, red light districts or old communities waiting to be demolished.The more chaos there is, the less anyone cares about what happens to other people.Li Chen often took things from drunks, sometimes drugged gangsters, and even an unlucky guy who never got up after a fight.

There are always strong and weak among homeless children.Li Chen is not the tallest, but because of his fierce reputation, others are afraid of him.Anyone who is new to this group and dares to covet Li Chen's harvest will be told a very legendary story by others - Li Chen was once coerced by two gangs of thieves to join the group, and in the end both It ends with him attacking the guards and escaping.

Most of these children have seen the rules of gangs such as thieves and beggars. Once they heard that Li Chen could escape twice, most of them dared not make a mistake in front of him.Not to mention being respectful, but there are very few people who come to snatch his food and berths under the bridge.

How did they know that this was just a story made up by Li Chen.

In the beginning, it was just a lie blurted out at the children's "show off meeting", but Li Chen immediately made it up following other people's questions.Although the plot is full of loopholes, but the child deceives the child, who can really tell the truth from the false?

Then, he met Xinrik.

He originally thought that it was God's opening of his eyes and fate's pity, but this cognition was quickly disillusioned, like an illusory soap bubble being punctured in one fell swoop.

"An encounter designed to ridicule my stupidity, my arrogance and my ill-fated fate."

In the first few years, it seemed that he really became the adopted son of Xinrik.Studying in class, changing behavior, and modifying habits, everything is carried out according to the procedure of teaching Mr. Pianpian, and occasionally there are even teachings by Xinlik who is really like a father.

This is a fairy tale.

Cinderella stood on the garbage and filth, eating the carcasses of crows, looking around in panic and ignorance all day long.The chains that fell from the sky suddenly grabbed her throat and led her to the magnificent palace.

Stretch your feet forward, and she wears crystal shoes; take a step, and she changes into fine clothes; talk to her, and she has a beautiful voice; greet her, and she smiles gracefully.

She is a narcissus leaning on the lakeside, her pure white figure swaying in the wind, and her heart is forever hidden with deadly poison.

Even the name "Lichen" can't get rid of it.Looking back, he thought that this probably meant that Xinrik hadn't taken him to heart from the very beginning.

When he was 12 years old, Xinlik brought Lichen to meet Su Lingran for the first time. At that time, Lichen thought that this was the person in the photo he saw secretly in the study.

This is the beginning of the nightmare.

Lichen's room began to broadcast live 24 hours a boy's actions, painting, eating, brushing teeth, playing games, everything in detail.

Li Chen began to understand what Xinlik wanted him to do.His room was the same as the boy's, his clothes were the same as the boy's, he looked like the boy's - almost exactly the same.

Resistance is definitely not a wise choice. Li Chen never really escaped from the gang of thieves, and more importantly, he saw the end of Su Lingran's resistance to Xinri Ke.

The photo in the study is Su Lingxuan, the former helmsman of the Su family, Xinrique's lover—although Lichen once thought it was Xinrique's unrequited love—has passed away for several years, leaving only one son, Su Can.Su Lingran is Su Lingxuan's twin brother. He was not interested in business and politics since he was a child, and only loved painting.Even after Su Lingxuan's death, Su Lingran only reluctantly agreed to the Su family's assistance to Su Can until he inherited the Su family.

But the inheritance of a big family is not so easy.

If it weren't for Xinrik's support, Su Can and Su Lingran's team would have been defeated by other competitors long ago.If Su Lingran and Su Can want to escape, the Su family will never let them go; if they don't escape, they can only rely on Xinli Ke.Li Chen could see clearly that this was Xinlik's last card.

The imitations are all under Xinrik's orders. The difference is that Su Lingran imitates Su Lingxuan because Xinlik misses—or is obsessed with—what he loves; Lichen imitates Su Can because Su Can has been with Su Lingran for too long— —He even wanted to paint.

Su Can and Su Lingran finally decided to leave the Su family completely, and they could only turn to Xinrik for help—this was the second card Xinlik got.

Then, this ridiculous plan began.If there is always the most innocent person in this matter, it is definitely Li Chen.

"No, start over."

The housekeeper said this to Li Chen, and Xinri Ke also said this to Su Lingran.Li Chen stared at the video, held a pen in his left hand, squinted his eyes anxiously, and spoke short and gloomy when he was angry.From the way of thinking to behavior, there are templates for all behaviors. Even in the middle of the night, there are people testing Li Chen's stress response.

As long as he is in front of people—even where there may be surveillance—he must become "Su Can".

Li Chen memorized Su Can's behavior rhythm silently, while forcing himself to keep his original habits.

"Su Can" is just an imitation, it can only be his second state.

For a long time, Li Chen almost felt that he had a split personality.He can only practice writing with his right hand continuously under the quilt or in the bathroom, and silently recite to himself his true habits, hobbies, and even "I am Li Chen" no less than a hundred times.

Even if he is asked to be "Su Can" all the time, he is still Li Chen!

He accepts transformation, but never accepts his fate.

Xinlik's plan is very simple. When Su Can turns 20, he will replace Li Chen in Su Can's position, and life and death will be completely up to him.Li Chen had already vaguely guessed something that might happen.

On the day when he was actually replaced in Su's house, Li Chen talked with Su Canmi, and the result was more or less expected, but still disappointed him.

"Sinrique, don't think I'm as timid as them!"

Li Chen is very clear, Xinlik absolutely understands his thoughts.To take a step back, even if Lichen had no intention of revenge, Xinlik would do it as soon as possible to avoid future troubles.

When Su Lingran introduced a house gardener to Li Chen, Li Chen understood that this was actually Xinlik's warning.

——Su Lingran and Su Can are also accomplices in eradicating him.

Li Chen is not reconciled, and he will never be reconciled.

So he weaves reality into a lie, mixes illusion with truth.Xinlike is to get rid of future troubles, and Li Chen wants to say it as the last card to threaten Su Lingran; Xinlike wants to curry favor with Su Lingran, but Lichen interprets it as a new game of playing hard to get; Xinrik fell in love with Su Lingran, and he just wanted to tell Su Lingran In fact, Xinlik fell in love with Su Can!

Cinric, you imprisoned the scavenger raven and floated it white to be a lark.How could it know that its dying song must be a curse!

Bah——!

Severe pain mixed with unwillingness, but Li Chen smiled.It does not belong to "Su Can", but belongs to the little ghost on the side of the dark street, who can walk towards the smoke and rot indifferently.

Cinderella, who was exposed, pierced through the soldier's cross in her chest, but her eyes were fixed on the king sitting on the royal rank.

"This is my curse!

"I will return!

"Kick you down the steps of the throne!

"--trample!"

Bah!Bah!

He opened his eyes sharply.

Darkness.To be precise, it was dark.

saved? ——No, it's impossible.

The heart is still beating violently, as if the pain caused by the bullet has not passed.Li Chen blinked, controlled himself to calm down and breathe slowly, and pulled away from the complicated emotions.

He didn't move immediately, but felt it carefully.There wasn't much discomfort at the heart where he was supposed to be shot, and it was okay to move his fingers and toes slightly, but his back felt very cautious, probably because he was lying in a cold place.

Li Chen put aside the complicated emotions that hadn't dissipated, rolled his eyes around, and finally turned his face to the light source slowly.

I'm afraid it's...colorblind!

Everything that catches the eye is black, white and gray, like a black and white movie from the old days.Li Chen turned his head, only then did he confirm that he was lying on the ground.Looking at the light source, I couldn't recognize what it was. I only knew that it was definitely not an electric light or a fire, but a stone-shaped thing was shining.I can't say how strong the light is, and it may be due to color blindness.

Not far from the light source, a figure sat on the ground with his back to Li Chen.This man is a little stooped, and his robe is loose, not the way Li Chen is familiar with.Some bottles and cans are arranged around, some stand upright, some are placed on strange-shaped shelves, there is more or less liquid, but the color cannot be distinguished.

In addition, there are books piled up all over the floor, not to mention the tall bookshelves standing by the wall.

The man suddenly turned slightly sideways, and Li Chen's eyes returned to him.He picked up a test tube-shaped vessel, poured it into a container similar to a spherical flask to mix, and then he shook the container slightly, but there was no change visible to the naked eye—of course, the color is unknown.

The man suddenly said something, as if talking to himself, with a hoarse and low voice.Li Chen couldn't understand, but relied on his usual imitation skills to distinguish the rhythm and rhythm in it.

After about two sentences, the man's fingertips began to slide over the container.The speed of swiping is very fast, and there are probably only two sentences accompanying the unstopped language.Li Chen stared at his movements, and was about to subconsciously try to analyze the rules, but suddenly his eyes widened.

Li Chen can't confirm whether this is an illusion.

He felt that the place where the man's fingertips swiped seemed to leave a trace of light.At first, I just felt there was a flash, but it became more obvious when I focused on it, as if it was a light tail dragged down by a meteor, leaving traces for a short time where my fingertips passed.

This is not a film, nor is it a delayed exposure photo.Li Chen was surprised, and suddenly felt that if the delay time of light could be longer, he might be able to remember what figure this person drew.

At this time, Li Chen still didn't know the true meaning of the light path.

After finishing all this, the man divided the liquid in the container into several small bottles, then took a few sips of the rest, and finally stood up with the bottles and walked towards Li Chen.

Li Chen had already squinted his eyes when he was undressing, leaving only a slit to peek, and when he stood up he closed his eyes completely.If it wasn't for the fear of being noticed, Li Chen would have turned his head back to the direction he had just woken up.

After a while, Li Chen was half lifted up by the back of his neck, and the mouth of the bottle touched his lips and forced his mouth open, and the next moment, the liquid poured in.

The liquid has no taste, let alone taste. Li Chen really doesn't know how to pretend to be "watered while sleeping" to be more natural.But in fact, there is no need for much performance, because this sip is too fast, even if he tries his best to cooperate with the drink, he will choke hard after a few sips.

At any rate, the filling was over, but it was impossible to pretend to be asleep again, so Li Chen took advantage of the situation and sat up.The man seemed to see him wake up, stood up holding the empty bottle, and looked down at Li Chen.

As soon as Li Chen sat up, he took advantage of the situation and quickly scanned his whole body within the range of his eyes. Only then did he realize that it was not an illusion that the opponent's hands were big, but that he was too small.

This scene is about a child of two or three years old.With small hands and feet, you can still see the plump and lovely appearance of children. The skin is smooth everywhere you can see, but the skin color is difficult to distinguish.When Li Chen glanced around, he felt something weird on his right wrist, but when he looked closely silently, he found several old and new cuts, large and small.

Cut your wrists... Sure enough, such a curious thing happened.

From the moment he woke up, Li Chen felt a sense of disobedience, the environment, the person in front of him, the light path, and the current appearance of his body, Li Chen resolutely accepted his fate.

——This is...the so-called time travel!

This small body is in a tight state, only a small metal shackle is placed on the left ankle, and the thin metal chain is connected to nowhere.If a normal person is imprisoned like this, there is a possibility of cutting his wrists.But this body is just a child after all, and Li Chen really thinks the reason that "children commit suicide by cutting their wrists" is too inconceivable.

As for the person who locked him up, he didn't think twice except this guy in front of him.

To be honest, this hunchbacked guy is actually not tall, but Li Chen is still very short now, so he had to look up to him.He had his back to the light, and covered half of his face with a hood—it’s hard to understand how he looks like this indoors—no matter how hard Li Chen tried, he couldn’t confirm his appearance, but he could only judge from his voice that he was not young. guy.

The man looked at Li Chen, first let out a sinister and weird laugh, and then spoke.Li Chen still couldn't understand, but intuitively discerned that there was no cadence in it just now. I am afraid that those sentences just now had no deep meaning, and now these are the common language here.

It doesn't matter if you don't understand, anyway, it's normal for two or three-year-old children to be at a loss.Li Chen blinked, in the eyes of ordinary people, she was really cute.But in the current situation, it can only be playing the piano against the cow.

The other party finally finished his "speech", because it was too long and the direction was not clear, so it was difficult for Li Chen to figure out what to do from it.Fortunately, after the guy finished speaking, he just kicked Li Chen twice, and his kicks were not too strong, so he turned and walked away.

Li Chen suddenly recalled the first time he met Xinlik.He glanced at the chain on his feet, then at the back, and suddenly raised the corners of his mouth.

What kind of fate is this time...