Chapter 22: Using My Power

Don’t reveal your needs, don’t show your pain.

Even now, what was Aoki still afraid of?

Was he really that unreliable?

Seeing Aoki so stubborn, Lin Qiyou felt a surge of frustration.

Likes to hide things, huh? Fine, then everyone will just keep hiding.

Lin Qiyou looked at Aoki with a pleading expression and whispered, “I’ve always promised to help you—with my power, my spirit vein. Just open your mouth a little, rely on me a bit, isn’t that possible?”

“Hm?”

Aoki blinked, pretending to be clueless.

“Fine then, I’m leaving! From today onwards, I won’t bother with you anymore.”

Lin Qiyou put her hands on her hips, tilted her head, her tone unmistakably threatening.

“Hmm.”

Aoki nodded.

Indeed, it seemed like he didn’t need Lin Qiyou to care about him anymore.

Thinking about it, it really was a bit hellish.

“Alright!”

Lin Qiyou swung her sleeves as if Aoki had truly angered her and left.

It wasn’t to show Aoki a cold attitude; rather, she planned to heal her spirit vein first, then go straight to Father to negotiate terms. At that time, Aoki would have to crawl and surrender.

By then, Aoki would have to say what he should say—and what he shouldn’t say.

“Take care!”

Suddenly, Aoki called out from behind, his unexpected farewell making Lin Qiyou puzzled. But when she turned around, the door was already shut.

Lin Qiyou found it strange.

Inside the room, Aoki sent the physician away a little later and sat alone until dawn.

Not long after, another visitor arrived. The head of the Lin family came here to bid what seemed like a final farewell, but Aoki understood the head was really just here to check on him.

After confirming Aoki’s willingness to face death, the head expressed satisfaction that there was no need to worry about his younger siblings.

Once these words were spoken, Aoki was left alone.

He sat quietly in the room, thinking about trivial matters or just zoning out.

Outside the door, an unexpected visitor arrived.

When Aoki opened the door, a small white fox with golden ears and red eyes stared up at him.

“Is that you?”

Thinking of this fox, Aoki was quite surprised.

How did it get here?

As he pondered, the fox placed its front paws on Aoki’s leg, seemingly wanting to be held.

Aoki closed the door, lifted the fox into his arms, and sat down at the stone table in the courtyard, closing his eyes to feel the gentle sunlight.

The fox was restless in his arms, gently nibbling at him with its mouth—his hands, neck, shoulders—even climbing onto Aoki’s head.

Aoki found it somewhat baffling. It didn’t feel like play; it was more like the fox was using its mouth to measure him.

“What, are you planning to eat me?”

He grabbed the loose skin on the back of the fox’s neck, and the fox immediately calmed down, returning to his embrace and sniffing around.

Aoki exited the simulation and returned to reality. He wanted to see if he could ambush Cuihua, who would surely take care of him at some point, but unfortunately, he didn’t catch her this time either.

Back in the simulation world, he closed his eyes and rested for a while.

When he opened them again, the fox was gone, and dusk had fallen.

He took one last look at the small courtyard, then went to the gate to wait. Just then, two people approached, saying they were sent by the family head. Aoki nodded and followed behind them.

Not just his master, but some big figures within the sect had also reached an agreement with the Lin family head to prepare a special place for spirit vein transplantation.

Aoki couldn’t quite remember how many times he had stepped into this secret chamber.

The room was small, with a bed in the center, surrounded by many tools that looked like torture devices. The physician who had visited him before pointed at the bed.

Aoki nodded, lay down on the bed, and his clothes were removed.

On one side of the chamber’s wall was a door sealed by spiritual power. Lin Qiyou lay in the chamber on the other side of the wall.

Once, during a transplantation, he had exited the simulation too late and even heard Lin Qiyou scream while her consciousness was chaotic.

“Physician, what will happen to my body after this?”

Aoki asked the physician who was carving the spiritual power runes onto him. This preparation would take several hours.

“Even if they want to dispose of you casually, I’ll fight them. Don’t worry.”

The physician gave Aoki a look of kindness.

“Thank you, physician.”

Aoki sighed, stared at the nearby candlestick for a moment, and closed his eyes.

The last time.

He was actually a little scared.

Afraid of death, afraid of never seeing this world again, and… reluctant to part with someone.

Although everything was false, he wasn’t a tree or grass.

Having spent eleven years in this world, naturally some feelings had grown.

But it should end here—one year earlier than the system’s task?

Would that count as finishing the goal early?

Would the reward be richer?

Yes, at the very least, there would be a reward.

He had come into the simulation just for that—to regain his strength.

No need to think about useless things anymore.

Just wait, like a lamb about to be slaughtered.

…

……

“Ahhhh!!!”

Lin Qiyou felt an unprecedented agony, concentrated in the center of her heart. It was as if someone had brutally plunged their hand into her chest and ripped open her heart, followed by a chilling sensation as if a bucket of icy water had been poured inside.

She was drowning, but even in her muddled consciousness, she sensed a strange “clarity” in this moment.

Even stranger, numerous scenes flashed through Lin Qiyou’s mind like a revolving lantern.

She saw Aoki, and herself.

When they were children by the lake, she made Aoki catch turtles just so her father could make things difficult for him.

Losing to Aoki in sparring, she stubbornly started to cheat.

Unable to sleep at night, she kicked the wall with her feet, wanting Aoki to talk to her.

Young female disciples competed to play with Aoki, and she wore an angry expression on the side.

At that time, she vowed to protect Aoki’s confidence; the secret joy when receiving the silver bell as a birthday gift; the despair upon learning Aoki had a Dao partner; the awakening after realizing Aoki was coerced by the family; the awkwardness when she and Aoki tested each other like foxes…

Was she dying?

Why were these scenes flashing like a slideshow?

Lin Qiyou thought curiously, but what was even stranger—

These scenes were all from Aoki’s perspective, and all showed her own face.

These images even made Lin Qiyou momentarily forget the icy pain consuming her body.

“He’s out of breath…”

What?

Who?

As soon as the words were spoken, Lin Qiyou’s consciousness was hit hard.

She couldn’t think, only felt one thing.

Pain!

“Ahhhh!!!”

She even heard her own scream, the pain pulling her out of reality. She could feel her bound limbs struggling, and the intense pain in her throat as she screamed.

“Jingle, jingle, jingle—”

The silver bell rang.

For a long, long time.

Finally, it ended.

When she opened her eyes again, Lin Qiyou realized she was back in her bedroom.

“Miss Lin, congratulations, congratulations! Your spirit vein has been completely healed!”

Two physicians stood by the bedside, congratulating her.

“Huh?”

Lin Qiyou was helped to sit up and felt the vast ocean of spiritual power coursing through her body, tears of joy streaming down her face.

Finally… I can give you freedom, help you break your shackles, Aoki.

With my, power…