Under Xiaoya’s guidance, Aoki arrived at the alliance frontline camp located on the eastern side of the Halfling tribe.
The camp wasn’t large, but it was heavily guarded, and the air was thick with the tension and exhaustion of post-battle rest.
The soldiers’ faces showed fatigue, but there was also a faint exhilaration from repelling the demons.
According to the information Xiaoya had gathered, Aoki went straight to a relatively quiet tent at the edge of the camp, marked with the Beastman Alliance insignia.
He took a deep breath and lifted the tent flap.
Inside the tent, Nongli stood with her back to the entrance, in front of a crude table, seemingly studying a map.
She was still dressed in that black dress, her tall figure upright, and her nine fox tails hung quietly behind her. But the red eyes that once always looked at him with admiration, dependence, and even obsession, now appeared calm, even carrying a touch of deliberately maintained distance.
So after that world, she broke through to nine tails, but just like not changing the world line, nothing else had changed.
“You’ve come.” She didn’t even turn around, her voice flat and unreadable.
Clearly, by the standards of the two worlds, countless years should have separated this meeting.
Aoki felt a slight heaviness in his heart. This kind of alienation was within his expectations, yet it still brought a barely noticeable sting.
“Nongli.” He spoke, trying to keep his voice steady, “I…”
“Mr. Aoki.” Nongli interrupted him, finally turning around, her red eyes staring straight at him, gaze so sharp it seemed to pierce his soul. “Or should I say, Master? In this world, how should I address you?”
There was a faint mockery in her tone, leaving Aoki momentarily speechless.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Nongli walked up to him, looking down from above. Even though Aoki had recovered his adult form, he still seemed somewhat frail before her towering figure. “You’re thinking of Meteor Lake? Thinking about how you ‘sacrificed’ yourself to help me break through to eight tails?”
Aoki remained silent, not denying it.
“Heh.” Nongli let out a cold laugh, devoid of any warmth. “You schemed against me, used my feelings, and left me living with the guilt of having killed you for so long… Aoki, do you think a simple ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘It was necessary’ is enough to erase everything?”
Her questioning was like a cold blade, slicing open the guilt Aoki tried to bury. He opened his mouth, but in the end only spoke in a low voice, “I have no intention of making excuses. Back then… that really was the only way I could think of to ‘pull’ you back into this world and give you enough strength as quickly as possible.”
From the fox that killed him twice, to now being in debt to her.
“The fastest method?” Nongli’s eyes grew even colder. “So that gives you the right to toy with someone else’s feelings and life? Master, you taught me alchemy, taught me cultivation, but you never taught me that to achieve one’s goals, one could stoop to such means.”
She turned away, no longer looking at him, her voice tinged with exhaustion. “You should leave. In this world, I will do everything I can to protect you, to repay the strength and favor you ‘bestowed’ upon me. But that does not mean I have forgiven you. The bond of master and disciple between us… perhaps, by Meteor Lake, it had already come to an end.”
Aoki looked at her determined back, knowing that any words at this moment would be hollow. He silently turned and left the tent. The sunlight outside was a little too bright, and he squinted his eyes. Nongli’s distance was a cost accounted for in the plan, but experiencing it firsthand was still heavy.
*****
Following the directions of the soldiers, Aoki found the place where Lin Qiyou was recovering from her injuries.
The scent of medicine was stronger in this tent. Lin Qiyou was half-leaning on the bed, her complexion still pale, but her eyes had regained their usual cold clarity. Only when she saw Aoki enter did excitement ignite in that icy gaze.
“You’re here.” For her, it truly felt like a lifetime ago.
“How are your injuries?” Aoki walked to the bedside, pulled over a wooden stool, and sat down.
“I’m fine.” Lin Qiyou replied succinctly, her gaze sweeping over his face as if confirming something. “Nongli… you went to see her?”
Aoki nodded.
The tent fell into a brief silence.
After a long while, Lin Qiyou slowly spoke, her voice low. “I’ve forgotten many things. That’s the price I paid for tearing at this world’s laws. When it comes to Nongli, I only know bits and pieces.
I only remember that for a long time, I treated her with hatred… Maybe that’s why I came to this world as well.
So the incident at Meteor Lake, that was your doing, wasn’t it?” As she asked, her fingers unconsciously gripped the thin blanket tighter.
Aoki met her gaze and admitted calmly, “Yes.”
At this, Lin Qiyou’s expression grew a bit complicated. “If the Spirit Vein Transplant had also been part of your plan, that would’ve been good…”
Lin Qiyou sighed. She had nothing more to say about that.
*****
With Lin Qiyou’s help, Aoki soon met with Saintess Yuelan.
Yuelan was still dressed in a pure white saintess robe, her appearance holy and her eyes gentle, though there was a trace of lingering worry between her brows that wouldn’t fade. She received Aoki in a simple, makeshift quiet chamber.
“Aoki? You’re here?” Yuelan’s voice was as gentle as a spring breeze.
Even with the world line altered, Aoki and Yuelan’s story was still one of imprisonment and escape.
Aoki didn’t show the aggression Yuelan had expected, instead sitting directly across from her. “Yueqi is inside your body, isn’t she? What’s the deal with her being a demon?”
At his words, the gentleness on Yuelan’s face instantly froze, replaced by profound sadness and… an overwhelming shock. She was silent for a moment before slowly lifting her head to look at Aoki, her blue eyes seemingly filled with endless stories.
“You… you sensed it after all?” Her voice trembled slightly, but it carried more a sense of resigned resolve.
She nodded, her tone heavy and sure:
“Yes.”
“My sister… she wasn’t possessed by a demon, nor was she simply killed.” Yuelan’s voice grew low, full of deep pain. “She was… ‘replaced.’ Replaced by a cold will from beyond this world… or rather, by another ‘her.’
After I discovered this, I struck at her…”
Aoki’s heart gave a fierce jolt!
Yuelan’s words were like a thunderclap, confirming his deepest suspicions!
Yueqi, that “cleaner” obsessed with eradicating “visitors from another world,” really wasn’t the original Hero Yueqi! She had been “replaced”! She was a being controlled by some will from “the world” itself!
All the clues seemed to point to a truth even larger and more terrifying.
He looked at Yuelan’s sorrowful yet determined face, knowing that from this seemingly fragile saintess, he might uncover even more secrets about the very nature of this world.
The fog seemed to clear a little, but what was revealed was an even deeper, more dangerous abyss.