The nightmare altered all of a sudden, but in a way Jinshen didn't expect. Blue, root-like apparitions started to sprout from Jinshen's body, pushing away the hands on his body as it shattered the statues completely, making them all disappear.
The roots shifted and turned, forming an exact copy of Jinshen, but its sclera was blue and its iris was a deep, deep black, just like its skin and robe.
It had a large grin on its face as it put a hand forward to Jinshen who was laying on the 'ground' of the void.
"Hello. Jinshen." It spoke, its voice layered and similar to Jinshen's own deep one. "I'm your Qi's mind. Your Qi's will of sorts."
Jinshen looked at it silently, taking the hand it offered and stood up, tilting his head in confusion and wariness.
"That's.. Impossible. Qi is just my life force."
The Qi Mind chuckled. As it did, the void around them unraveled and reformed. A sky of vibrant, shifting blue opened above and below. The "ground" beneath their feet was a shimmering surface of liquid light, rippling with every step.
"That's the basic definition. Qi is not limited to the human body, it's present in all things, from the smallest particle to the largest celestial body. And right now, I'm your past and present suffering. All combined into one, singular will."
It paused before pointing at Jinshen's forehead.
"I'm your will, your true self."
Jinshen looked at the Qi mind. It was like staring into a mirror but it seemed strangely... Distorted. It wasn't him, but him at the same time.
"Then why show up now?"
The Qi mind nodded, its grin softening into a small smirk as it started to float, getting dangerously close to Jinshen.
"Because you've been slacking off. I'm not just your will. I'm every intrusive thought, every murder, every ounce of hate, condensed into one delicious package"
It paused, getting even closer, its voice now a small, mock-innocent whisper.
"I'm the one that wants you to give into those memories and just watch everything burn down to the ground while you enjoy your life with Xie as you're slave."
Its smirk widened unnervingly as well as in an mocking way
"Aint that cool?"
Before Jinshen could answer, a pale hand burst from the mirrored floor.
Another Jinshen.
But this one crawled out slowly—graceful, like mist. His robe was pure white. His skin, pale as moonlight. His eyes soft, distant but pained. Like it had gone through hell and back.
"Don't listen to it Jinshen. There are many paths you can take."
The other clone gritted its teeth at the sight of the other clone but it remained quiet, crossing its arms over its chest.
"You see," The white robed one continued. "We're the representation of good and evil, at least within your body and Qi."
Jinshen looked at the one robed in white, his eyes were wide and confused. He simply didn't understand what was going on.
"Good and evil? That sounds like something the elders used to say… right before they killed someone."
The one in white spoke, a small smile on its face, despite everything Jinshen had gone through, this side.... Was truly innocent and pained.
"Yet you listened."
They floated closer, lifting their feet off the ground, the one in white on his right hand side and the one in black on his left.
"He's not wrong, you know. You've always been a hypocrite. Talk about doing the right thing, then punch a man's teeth in because he looked at you funny."
Said the one in black, its voice mocking and taunting, like trying to make Jinshen's patience run out.
Jinshen looked at it with a small scowl, gritting his teeth before snapping back.
"I only ever wanted to survive!!"
The white robed Jinshen's pained smile grew once more while the white robed Jinshen? He was laughing like a maniac, his laughter reverberating through the void and coming back.
"Survive?! Yeah right! You're just like the others, you want glory, fame, women, power!! Not survival! You're waaayy past that stage buddy."
The one in white put a comforting hand on Jinshen's back, his voice comforting yet tired.
"You have too much weight on you're shoulder Jinshen. Friends, the sect, Nanomachine's update and absence. Knowing the Darkwing Sect is still in the slave business... It hurts, but you're carrying rocks up a mountain."
It bowed down, touching the ground as it rippled, but it seemed to bring Jinshen enjoyment that and his body relaxed.
"You'll eventually trip-"
The one in black blew a raspberry, interrupting the one it white as he formed two black daggers with a white cloth wrapped around in his hand.
"And when ya do. I'll be sure to use those rocks to make daggers to stab everyone holding you back!"
Jinshen looked at his reflection on the "ground", he was, a boy once more, he grabbed his head and fell to his knee's letting out a bloodcurdling yell as the memories of all the suffering he had to go through came back once more.
The whip, the branding iron, the people who bought him for their own sadistic and cruel pleasure all of their faces coming back as his eyes teared up and he ran, knowing he was trapped until he woke up but he ran nonetheless.
But in the distance, he saw something form out of the "ground". Reality itself shifting and warping as it climbed out of the "ground".
It wasn't a clone, no— It was Jinshen, but better. Taller, more handsome, more... Perfect.
"Whose... Whose that?"
The one in white appeared out of no where and looked at it solemnly before putting a hand on Jinshen's shoulder while the one in black circled him, like a predator preparing to lunge on its prey, a sadistic smirk on its face.
"You." They said in unison, one hopeful, one hungry. But both carrying a warning. "Its your peak. Its a possibility, not a concept."
The distant one's head twitched towards Jinshen before it started approaching, its movements twitchy and forced, like it was constrained by invisible chains.
The one in white looked between Jinshen and approaching 'thing' before sighing deeply
"What it really is. Is that if you just use everything for your strength."
The Perfect Jinshen stood in front of the real Jinshen, looking down at him with a stoic and calm expression as he gently pushed Jinshen into a pit, Jinshen feeling weightless as he heard a low and emotionless voice.
"I'm waiting. Remember, if you walk towards a future like mine, It'll start running towards you."