Mini World Game Console

「Dozens of minutes ago.」

"Sir, why don't you seem to like Leopold?"

In the central tent of the temporary camp, You Jiu, holding a cup of Pu-erh tea, turned his head to look at Chen Liao and said, "He's not RMB, so why should I have to like him?"

Currently, only two Huanghe Cultivators were on duty with You Jiu; the others had gone to rest. You Jiu had said that overseeing the temporary camp was not about slacking off. While others spent the night searching outside, he had to spend the night sitting here, drinking tea, eating seeds, and reading.

Chen Liao chose his words carefully. "I'm not sure how to put it... but most people seem to like Leopold, including Ursa and Sakura Kyoko. In this situation, your attitude seems out of place, sir."

"That just shows that brains don't necessarily grow in sync with strength," You Jiu commented, tossing a wino peanut into his mouth and chewing as he spoke. "Neither that bear nor that little girl are very bright."

Do you really have the credentials to say that…? Chen Liao tried to maintain at least an outward appearance of respect and asked, "Sir, do you think there's something wrong with Leopold?"

"A spell," You Jiu said. "Bright's kind of natural charm might very well be the effect of a spell. I'm different from you lot; I have resistance to this kind of bewildering spell."

As he spoke, You Jiu suddenly raised his voice and chanted, "Supreme Polar Star, ever-changing. Exorcise evil and bind charm, safeguard life and protect the body. Wisdom is clear, mind and spirit at peace. Souls eternal, spirits never falter!"

Chen Liao and the other Huanghe Cultivator felt a jolt in their spirits, as if a layer of fog had been dispelled, or like taking a gulp of ice-cold cola, leaving them completely refreshed.

"Now, can you look at Bright a bit more objectively?" You Jiu asked.

Chen Liao closed his eyes and bowed his head, thinking for a long while before slowly saying, "Hmm… now that I recall, Leopold did seem rather artificial in certain aspects…"

"Sir, why didn't you warn us from the beginning…?"

You Jiu shook his head. "No need. It's not like he's breaking the law. His spell works subtly, amplifying his personal charm to win your favor. It's no different from women wearing makeup or men trying to look cool."

"I don't like Bright simply because I prefer people who are natural and genuine."

Chen Liao then understood as well. Although Bright had won considerable favor from them, this favor was built on the premise that Bright was a good person.

If Bright were to do something wrong, they wouldn't be led by the nose by this favor, much less betray their national interests because of it.

But it was terrifying enough—just moments ago, because You Jiu disliked Bright, Chen Liao had actually considered trying to persuade You Jiu to get on good terms with this Second Federal Watcher.

I not only have a favorable opinion of him, but I also hope the whole world feels the same...

Chen Liao shivered, took a sip of tea, and after a moment, something occurred to him. He asked, "Sir, didn't you say that besides you, there was one other person who hadn't 'fallen'?"

"Hmm? Yes," You Jiu nodded.

"Is it Dai Ze?" Chen Liao asked.

You Jiu smiled. "Why would you think so?"

Chen Liao said, "After Leopold left the camp, Dai Ze seemed to say something bad about Bright, which almost made Sakura Kyoko want to beat him up. So, it seems Dai Ze doesn't like Bright, right?"

You Jiu suddenly bared his teeth and laughed heartily. He looked at Chen Liao with the gaze of an adult looking at a child, laughing so hard that Chen Liao's face darkened. You're laughing at me before I even started laughing at you?

After a while, You Jiu popped a few more peanuts into his mouth before stopping his laughter. "Why are you so childish? Do you see the world in black and white?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is the opposite of liking, disliking?" You Jiu said. "I don't particularly like Bright, but I don't dislike him either. I just see him as a clown."

Do you really have the right to say that?

"Although Dai Ze openly dislikes Bright, in reality, he values Bright highly in every meeting, even posing questions to help Bright continue speaking."

You Jiu smiled. "Liking is an emotion, but it can be expressed in many ways. Does a little boy directly express his liking for a little girl? No, he pulls her pigtails, tugs at her little vest, steps on her little shoes..."

You Jiu's words couldn't help but make Chen Liao reminisce about his own challenging younger days, more than a decade ago, when he too was a little troublemaker who would throw caterpillars onto the desks of girls he liked...

"Wait!" Chen Liao suddenly realized. "Does that mean Dai Ze towards Leopold—"

"Bah." You Jiu glanced at him. "What are young people thinking these days... I'm just making an analogy!"

"But it's pretty much the same. After all, Dai Ze is not a burly man like Ursa, and Bright completely outclasses him in both looks and strength. He is the top warrior of Iron Sun, so naturally, he can't swallow his pride to flatter Bright... He can only seek attention by speaking ill of him to get Bright's attention."

Chen Liao thought about it and affirmed You Jiu's statement—aside from initially provoking You Jiu, Dai Ze was quiet most of the time, never daring to offend anyone. He only showed his temper when discussing matters related to Bright.

Chen Liao asked doubtfully, "Then the person you spoke of, who hasn't fallen like you, is..."

"Kadell," You Jiu answered. "That lone wolf."

"Him?" Chen Liao paused, then nodded thoughtfully. "Indeed..."

Human emotions are complex; liking and disliking can transform into one another. But You Jiu and Kadell neither disliked nor liked Bright. They were... very objective towards Bright.

Especially Kadell. He hardly responded to any of Bright's greetings and just silently watched everything.

You Jiu sipped his tea leisurely and said slowly, "However, unlike me, Kadell seems to have his eyes on Bright."

"Has his eyes on him?"

"Yesterday, Bright and Kadell left one after the other, and returned one after the other," You Jiu chuckled. "I'm just guessing, but... this lone wolf staying out all day doesn't seem like someone who can't find his prey."

"But it's quite normal for a lone wolf to have his eyes on Bright. As a Watcher, Bright possesses the most information about the Demon King and is also the most likely to find the Demon King. Keeping an eye on him increases the chances of finding the Demon King."

This explanation made a lot of sense to Chen Liao, who immediately stood up. "Then should we also track Bright?"

You Jiu shook his head. "There's no need... Besides, we don't have a professional stalker like Kadell. It's better to just openly collaborate with Bright."

He suddenly scoffed disdainfully. "Speaking of which, for the Wizard Council to send someone like Kadell over, it's somewhat... too shameless."

"Shameless?" Chen Liao was slightly taken aback.

"Have you ever played online games?" You Jiu laughed. "For professional trackers and snipers like Kadell, the most suitable task is..."

"Stealing kills."

At that moment, a strange booming sound seemed to resonate from afar. A Huanghe Cultivator ran in and said, "Sir, to the north—"

"Got it." You Jiu stood up and patted his rear, muttering, "Sitting for so long, even my butt has stiffened. Maybe I really won't be able to poop, no wonder..."

「A few hours earlier.」

Bright tossed away his blood-soiled tissue and hurried away.

The blood-stained tissue fell on the withered yellow grass. A few minutes later, Kadell, passing by, stepped on it twice.

「More than twenty hours earlier.」

Muttering under his breath while skimming stones, Bright waited until the snow stopped before returning to the temporary camp.

Moments later, Kadell, who had been hiding in the bushes, also followed Bright back to the camp. Only upon entering his tent did he notice the snowflakes on his shoulder—proof of having been in the wilderness for a long time. He casually brushed them off and sat down silently.

「One second earlier.」

Lying in the forest 300 meters away from the center of the battlefield, Kadell accurately observed through his tactical scope the purple light on the Demon King converging. Through the curse 'Seeing is Hearing,' he listened in from an ultra-long distance to their conversation, knowing that the Demon King had perfectly devoured Bright's abilities.

Now, Bright was dead, and the Demon King was in his weakest state—the perfect opportunity for a harvest.

The Joint Investigation Team, although sharing the common goal of targeting the Demon King, consisted of members from different factions. Due to his awakened spell, Kadell was inherently highly resistant to mind-influencing spells and had no fondness for Bright.

Furthermore, Bright was a Federal Watcher. To Kadell, he was an expert from an enemy faction, so Kadell naturally wouldn't save him.

From the very beginning, Kadell had only one goal: to acquire the Demon King's abilities.

He tracked Bright, waiting for the outcome of the battle between Bright and the Demon King, so he could then steal the kill.

If the Demon King was stronger, he would wait for the Demon King to kill or repel Bright before sniping the Demon King.

If Bright was stronger, he would snipe the Demon King before Bright could kill him.

This was the profit-maximizing plan he had set from the start. However, as the battle between Bright and the Demon King commenced, Kadell slightly modified his plan.

First, to perfectly plunder the final fruits of victory, unless the victor fled immediately after winning, Kadell would patiently wait for the victor to completely absorb the loser's power before making his move.

Second, if possible, he hoped to assassinate the man named Ren Suo as well.

Kadell, who had been silently observing the battlefield from a distance, saw it very clearly—

Ren Suo was someone who could foresee the future.

Otherwise, it was impossible to explain how, with skills far inferior to Bright's, he had managed to defeat Bright through countless incredible maneuvers.

Of course, perhaps this ability wasn't called foreseeing the future, but 'Fishing for the Heavens,' 'Weave Fate,' or 'Interfere with the Future'—regardless, Ren Suo was a very, very formidable enemy.

Being able to affect fate or time, Kadell couldn't overestimate Ren Suo enough.

Moreover, Ren Suo was also proficient in supernatural powers such as fire, Cold Ice, whirlwind, and space, which made Kadell secretly alarmed. These two men, both seemed like Demon Kings.

Initially, seeing Ren Suo die while blocking a shot for the Demon King had relieved Kadell. But soon after, he saw Ren Suo emerge again, realizing that the one fighting earlier had been Ren Suo's Cloning. This further solidified Kadell's determination to kill him.

Someone with such formidable true form strength, who can even send Clones into battle...

This kind of person, if not offended, so be it; once offended, must be eradicated completely!

And as it happened, what Kadell intended to do was to kill the person Ren Suo cherished most!

That could only mean... according to an old saying from the Mysterious Country, 'may you die on the same year, same month, and same day!'

Kadell's awakened spell was an ability called 'Concentration.' When he focused intensely on something for a long time, his Spiritual Energy became significantly more destructive towards that thing. Combined with Spiritual Energy Bullets, the destructive power was extremely astonishing!

And after advancing to a Fourth Level Wizard, 'Concentration' could even affect the accuracy of Spiritual Energy projectiles, ensuring a 100% hit on the focused enemy!

So, this bullet... will pierce your hearts together.

Amen.

Using 'Destructive Shadow' to strengthen 'Gauze Clothing,' transforming it into the new spell 'Absolute Blade Armor.'

A terrifying surge of force erupted from Qiao Muyi's body, instantly blasting Ren Suo, who was holding onto her, more than ten meters away. Even the 'Gauze Clothing' that had automatically activated on his body directly dispersed!

Ren Suo rolled over a dozen times on the ground. His face was scratched with bloody streaks by the sharp stones, his clothes were in disarray, and one earcup of the headphones around his neck was completely shattered, its artificial leather-wrapped wiring unit fully exposed to the air.

When he managed to stop and barely stand up, his vision was still blurry, his head was still dizzy, and his body ached all over. He had no idea what had just happened.

Equally unable to comprehend what had just occurred was Kadell, 300 meters away. His specially-made heavy sniper rifle had completely shattered, his skullcap had been blown off, and half of his head had entirely turned into a bloody pulp.

"Amen…" A final smile hung on his face. His remaining left eye completely lost its light, and his head fell to the ground, sticking to the chewing gum he had just spat out.

At that moment, Ren Suo coughed twice and shook his head. His vision and rationality gradually returned.

They had just… been attacked!

"Young Master…" He gasped for air, his throat making a sound like a broken bellows, as he hoarsely called out the title exclusive to him.

"I'm here."

Qiao Muyi's calm voice came from ahead. Seeing her still sitting there, Ren Suo hastily wobbled over and said urgently, "Someone attacked us… We need to leave… Activate the Spiritual Energy Coordinates now and let Cheng Ling take us back—"

"The person who attacked us should be dead. I've returned the attack in full," Qiao Muyi said softly. "There's no need to be afraid."

Ren Suo was slightly startled, but since Qiao Muyi said so, it must be true.

He sighed with relief and chuckled as he walked. "As expected of the Demon King; the Demon King seeks revenge from morning till night."

"Are you saying I'm petty?" Qiao Muyi seemed a bit upset as she pouted and said, "Only women and petty men are difficult to raise, and I embody both. It seems I'm very difficult to raise."

"Are you hard to support? I'm not very good at making money." Ren Suo coughed twice, stumbled, and nearly tripped over a stone on the ground.

"It depends. If I don't like it, even living in a large villa wouldn't make me happy. But if I like it, even living on a private island with dozens of servants would make me happy."

Still not fully clear-headed, Ren Suo eventually fell. He supported himself with his hands, coughed twice, and asked, "Does that mean you need a lot of money to be supported?"

"Like I said, it depends. There are exceptions," Qiao Muyi said with a smile, still sitting a short distance away on the ground.

Ren Suo's legs trembled. He abandoned the idea of standing up and instead crawled on all fours towards her. He shook his head again and asked, "What if I were to support you?"

"Then, as long as there's a roof over my head and I can eat my fill each day, that's enough," Qiao Muyi said softly.

"Then… how big a place do you need to live in, and how good does the food need to be?" Ren Suo took a deep breath, feeling his body completely recover, and continued the conversation.

"I don't need a large place; sharing a bed with you is enough. And the food doesn't have to be fancy either; I'll eat whatever you eat."

"Then I'll support you."

"Hmm, thank you, but it's no longer necessary."

Having crawled up to Qiao Muyi, Ren Suo was slightly taken aback. He raised his head to look at her.

Under the moonlight, amidst the flying snow, Qiao Muyi slightly tilted her head. Her lips curved, her eyes were crescent-shaped, her rosy lips and moist eyes captivating. Her face was full of a tenderness that could melt steel, as though she had just put on makeup.

Her gentle, furrowed brows, a tender blade, that slays the hearts of young men worldwide.

But Ren Suo did not rush to embrace her and kiss her wildly. Instead, he stared blankly at Qiao Muyi's chest, like a wind-up doll whose mechanism had run down.

Then, he swallowed and, with a trembling right hand, slowly reached out…

He touched nothing.

There, there was a large hole.

The pale moonlight ruthlessly passed through Qiao Muyi's chest, and the cold wind howled in this bloody, terrifying hole.

A glowing green light appeared in Ren Suo's hand. Qiao Muyi smiled and said, "It's useless."

Ren Suo bit his lip, his voice trembling, "Strong Heart Technique… Zhao Zili…"

"Even if Zhao Zili came, it would be useless." Qiao Muyi naturally knew of this Priest from the Mysterious Country. She shook her head and said, "Ribs, spine, heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys—all gone… No matter how capable Zhao Zili is, he can't create organs for me."

"Don't waste your connections with those Mystics."

With her heart gone, could the Strong Heart Technique still be useful? On what part of her body could it even be used?

Ren Suo looked at the wound, completely at a loss.

His gaze began to drift, looking at the ground, the moon, the snow, the forest—anywhere but at Qiao Muyi. He held his head with both hands, biting his lip until it bled, and said tremblingly, "Is there any other way… Is there any other way…"

"Xiao Suo."

Qiao Muyi held Ren Suo's face with both hands, gently saying, "Look at me."

Ren Suo foolishly stared at her smiling face. He dared not move his hands or even touch her. His mouth hung slightly open, unable to utter a single word, as crystal tears slid down his mud-stained face, tracing clean streaks.

He choked out, "Go… go home…"

"No, I don't want to go back," Qiao Muyi gently wiped away his tears with her thumb. "I don't have much time. Don't struggle."

"Don't blame yourself; I was too weak. This is the pinnacle attack of a Fourth Stage Expert. If I were at the Fifth Tier, maybe I could have… Unfortunately, like you, I'm a very lazy person."

"Fortunately, although I didn't use the Demon King's ability to harm others, I at least used it to protect you."

Ren Suo tugged at the corners of his mouth, a grimace that was neither a smile nor a cry, and mumbled indistinctly, "If… if I had just… just taken you away immediately…"

"Then that Fourth Stage Expert would have acted immediately; the result would have been the same." Qiao Muyi gently stroked Ren Suo's head and said softly, "Don't blame yourself. You've done very well, extremely well, so well that I can't find any fault."

Ren Suo raised his hand, grasping Qiao Muyi's hand that was touching his face, feeling its coldness. A tremor, like that of a drowning man, ran through his throat. His facial muscles twisted, looking as pitiful as a fish about to die of dehydration. "What should I do… What should I do…"

Qiao Muyi kept wiping his tears, smiling gently. "Don't cry now; you look like a pear blossom bathed in rain… but I don't mind if the last thing I see is your crying face."

She smiled and, mimicking Ren Suo's tone, said, "Seeing you cry so miserably, I do feel a tiny bit happy."

Ren Suo closed his eyes, his mouth agape, letting out several gasping breaths as if about to retch. His throat gurgled, and he stuttered, "It's… it's because I'm too… too weak…"

"It's not your fault! Don't blame yourself!" Qiao Muyi's tone became intense as she said earnestly, "This world isn't ruled by violence, and you didn't save me with violence either. It was your gentleness, your kindness, your intelligence that allowed me to break free from the Demon King's destiny."

"We are just… just…"

Qiao Muyi's voice gradually faded. Ren Suo wiped his tears. He saw no smile left on Qiao Muyi's face; two lines of clear tears, like a dazzling river of stars, slid over her porcelain-like skin, her eyes swirling with reluctance.

"...Bound by fate, but not destined to be together."

Ren Suo reached out and wiped away her tears. His lips parted slightly as if he wanted to speak, but he finally forced a smile. "Even your crying face is beautiful."

"Thank you." Qiao Muyi blinked, took a deep breath, and smiled, her voice trembling. "I finally… have trained you well… I wonder which girl will benefit from this after me."

"I… I swear…"

"Listen, Xiao Suo." Qiao Muyi cut him off. She sniffed, blinked her eyes to squeeze out the tears, took a deep breath, then raised her head to look at him and asked, "Do people have a next life after they die?"

Without waiting for Ren Suo's answer, she continued, "I believe there is. I believe people retain memories from their three past lives.

"In my next life, I want to be your neighbor, your Childhood Sweetheart from an early age, then go to elementary school, middle school, high school, and college together. After graduation, our parents would hurry us to get married in a traditional ceremony, where I would wear the Phoenix Crown and Xia Pei and marry you under a red veil.

"In the life after next, I want to be born into a wealthy family abroad, live a happy childhood, and meet you while traveling in Flourishing Sakura Tokyo, at the Sensoji Temple. After five years of dating, you finally win over my parents, and we have a Shinto wedding at Meiji Shrine, where I wear White Innocence and marry you.

"And in the life after that, I want to be born in an ordinary family in the north, rely on hard work and effort, earn a scholarship to study abroad with outstanding grades, then be rescued by you, my hero, in New York, and we promptly have a Western-style wedding. I'll wear a wedding dress and marry you.

"In my next three lives, I want to live in different cities, eat different foods, do different jobs, live different lives, have different weddings… and in all three lives, fall in love with the same person."

Something suddenly occurred to Qiao Muyi. She reached into her nearly vanished chest pocket and pulled out a piece of charred paper, seemingly a corner of some sheet.

She sobbed, looking up at Ren Suo. "Kiss me once more."

Hot lips touched and rubbed against cold vermilion lips. Moist tears slid over their tongues, adding a bitter saltiness to their final communion.

The blood between their lips became a bridge of power, a testament to their bond.

After an unknown amount of time, Ren Suo heard a one-sided voice from the 'Listening Headphones':

"Qiao Muyi's Bond Level has increased! Qiao Muyi, Level 4 Bond, Bond Ability 'Demon King's Descent'…"