GOR

With a flash of light, the Tidal Fighter appeared in the middle of the sky and continued flying forward.

While they were still inside the instance dungeon, Roddy had kept the cloaking function of the fighter active. Thus, their sudden appearance did not result in a commotion.

“A smooth success!” laughed Roddy as he switched the controls to lock onto their resort base. Next, the Tidal Fighter turned and flew forward at full speed.

Since the exit teleportation countdown began, Chen Xiaolian had been keeping his eyes on Qiao Qiao, never straying away at all. It was not until the scenery outside the window had been refreshed and Qiao Qiao was still seated right there did Chen Xiaolian breathe a lengthy sigh of relief.

“What is it? Are you afraid I might fly away?” Qiao Qiao crossed her legs as she raised her brows toward Chen Xiaolian. “For a man to be so worried about losing something.”

By now, she had forgotten how badly she herself was crying back in the instance dungeon.

“Mm, I am worried you will fly away.” In a rare occurrence, Chen Xiaolian did not retort. Instead, he continued to stare at Qiao Qiao with unblinking eyes.

“What are you doing?” In the beginning, Qiao Qiao had smiled back at Chen Xiaolian. However, as time passed and Chen Xiaolian’s gaze remained affixed upon her, Qiao Qiao finally could not restrain herself from whispering out, “Hey, there are other people here!”

“I am looking at my girlfriend. Who cares about others?” Chen Xiaolian gave a disdainful snort. “Does anyone have any objections? Just step forward!”

“Nope, none at all! You are the Guild Leader. What you say goes!” chuckled Roddy, who did not even turn around. “Just look however long you want. In fact, forget looking, we will not object even if you want to do something else!”

“Damn Roddy!” Qiao Qiao raised her white leg high up and slammed it down upon Roddy’s seat. “What do you mean by ‘something else’? Be clear about it!”

“Heaven be my witness! How would I know what you usually do with Xiaolian?!” cried Roddy, a mournful expression on his face. “Don’t kick so haphazardly! You are going to knock me out! Careful! We might crash!”

“Humph! This old lady is not afraid of your threats!” Qiao Qiao rubbed her fists as she stood up. “Roddy, you’ve grown, haven’t you? Come, let me give you a test!”

However, the moment Qiao Qiao got up, Chen Xiaolian reached out with both hands to embrace her.

His warm chest made contact with her slender back. In fact, she could feel his pounding heartbeat travelling through their clothes to arrive upon her back.

The Big Miss Qiao, who was waving her fists while raising a ruckus just moments ago, suddenly froze.

“Xiaolian… you…”

“Don’t leave me again in the future.” Chen Xiaolian buried his face into Qiao Qiao’s long hair, greedily breathing in the fragrance coming off her back. “Do you hear me?”

“I hear you! I hear you! Hurry up and let me go!” Qiao Qiao gnashed her teeth, her voice as soft as a mosquito. She secretly stretched out her hand to give Chen Xiaolian’s waist a painful pinch. However, Chen Xiaolian kept hugging her tightly for about half a minute before slowly releasing his embrace.

Qiao Qiao’s face had turned red, as red as an apple.

“Sister Yun…” After disengaging his embrace, Chen Xiaolian turned to look at Zhao Yun, who was seated in the back row. The moment their gazes met, he received his answer. “You have recovered.”

“Mm.” Zhao Yun nodded her head gently and she turned her head to look at the seat beside her. That was where they had placed the tied-up Liu Bei.

At that moment, the seat was empty.

“Your memories of the instance dungeon, you still have it?”

“Yes,” answered Zhao Yun softly, her eyes continued to stare at the seat. It was a distant gaze, one that seemingly pierced through the boundary of time to arrive in that distant past.

Chen Xiaolian sighed to himself.

“Sorry, Lun Tai, Bei Tai.” Zhao Yun raised her head and looked toward the two brothers. After taking the Healing Beast Blood, Bei Tai had regained consciousness. However, he was still in a weakened state.

Looking at Bei Tai’s state, Chen Xiaolian knitted his brows slightly.

Although his Air Incarceration skill was a good supporting skill, its shortcoming was obvious. When encountering an opponent whose strength far surpassed his level of strength, his Air Incarceration skill would be broken and he himself will receive a backlash.

The stronger the opponent was, the more damage that person could inflict upon the Air Incarceration skill. That in turn would increase the backlash that Bei Tai would receive.

I should upgrade Bei Tai’s skill as soon as possible.

Lun Tai looked at Zhao Yun and nodded his head. He had seemingly accepted her apology in a civil manner. However, his expression remained somewhat contorted.

“Enough, Lun Tai. What is done is done.” Chen Xiaolian approached Lun Tai. “She had had her memories taken away from her after all. We cannot use our perspective when asking her to do things. If it was you, if you had been killed and refreshed into an ordinary human, could you bring yourself to kill Bei Tai? Even if you know he is just an NPC in an instance dungeon?”

Lun Tai pondered it for a moment before releasing a lengthy sigh. He nodded his head. “You are right.”

Zhao Yun turned to give Chen Xiaolian a glance. There was a hint of gratitude in her eyes.

“Sister Yun, you… … what do you want to do after this?” Chen Xiaolian looked back at Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun considered it for a moment. “Truth be told, whether I get revived or not doesn’t seem that different to me. However, since I have returned to the land of the living, I will… … go find my old friends. It has been so long since. I don’t even know what they are doing right now. Right, what about Toto?”

“We are taking care of him. However, you know as well that he had died once. So, there is no way for him to return to his home. We left him in the care of a friend.” Chen Xiaolian smiled. “You should come with us to our resort first.”

“All right.” Zhao Yun nodded.

After flying for a short time, the Tidal Fighter landed in the resort.

This time’s instance dungeon was fairly uneventful. With the exception of their capturing Liu Bei operation, there were practically no other battles. Chen Xiaolian arranged a room for Zhao Yun and got Roddy to make a call.

It was easy to get things done when you have money and connections. Although Toto’s ID card and pass were not fully done yet, Roddy’s father had already arranged a private primary school for Toto. He had already sent Toto in to begin his classes and will be dealing with the procedures later on.

There was quite a distance between Yinxing Lake and the city [1]. If Toto were to continue living in the resort, it would be inconvenient for him to go to school. After considering it for a moment, Roddy simply chose to have his father take care of Toto.

When Roddy’s father heard of it, he beamed joyfully. Although Toto was still quite young, he was very sensible. Roddy’s father had gotten Roddy when he was over forty years old. It was something of a late thing for him. Almost all his friends who were about the same age as him already had grandsons and granddaughters, leading to him becoming somewhat anxious. For a little child to suddenly appear before him to care for, it was as though he was being given the joy of having a grandchild in advance.

Due to where he was during the exit teleportation phase, Nightmare was also in the Tidal Fighter. After getting off the fighter, Chen Xiaolian sent him away. Unlike other guilds, Starfall Guild was an organization with a loose structure. Nightmare’s position in the guild was that of a peripheral member. Additionally, Chen Xiaolian had already administered a slow-acting poison into Nightmare’s body. He was not worried that Nightmare might do something reckless after releasing him.

Although they did not gain any points or props from this instance dungeon, Qiao Qiao had returned. There was a very joyous and passionate atmosphere within the guild. After the celebratory feast, all of them returned to their respective rooms to get some sleep. Qiao Qiao, on the other hand, pulled Chen Xiaolian with her into the room and they spent the whole night wrapped around each other.

The next day, Chen Xiaolian’s mobile phone rang during the late morning hours, waking him up from his deep slumber.

Beside him, Qiao Qiao had one clear white calf placed upon Chen Xiaolian’s thigh. She asked in a sleepy and impatient voice, “Who is it? To be calling so early in the morning…”

Chen Xiaolian furrowed his brows. Closing his eyes, he groped around for his mobile phone under the pillows for a bit before finding it. Peeking at the phone with a partially opened eye, he saw that it was an unknown number.

“Hello?” Chen Xiaolian accepted the call, speaking up with a displeased tone.

“Chen Xiaolian, where are you? I am Qiao Yifeng.”

The voice coming from the other end of the call remained the same as before, thick with prominence. However, there were traces of anxiousness in the voice as well.

After half a second, Chen Xiaolian’s mind sparked into action and he sat up on the bed. “In Jinling (Nanjing).”

“I need to meet up with you. Come to the eastern suburbs area right now, Ziyang Mountain Villa. Come alone. When you reach the place, call this number,” right after saying that, Qiao Yifeng ended the call.

Chen Xiaolian slowly lowered his mobile phone. Turning around, he saw that Qiao Qiao, who was beside him, was also fully awake. Her eyes were wide open as she stared at him. “Is it… my dad?”

“… mm.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head.

“Why is he suddenly looking for you? Is it because he knows I am back?” After saying that, Qiao Qiao jumped. “Right, did he know I died? You… … probably did not tell him about that, did you?”

“…” Chen Xiaolian responded with a wry smile, uncertain how to answer Qiao Qiao’s question.

“Did you or did you not!” Qiao Qiao grew somewhat impatient.

“I didn’t tell him…” Chen Xiaolian turned around and got up from the bed before putting his clothes. “I am going to meet him.”

“Ah! Wait for me!” Qiao Qiao looked at Chen Xiaolian with widened eyes. “You are going alone? You are not going to bring me along?”

“Mm… … your dad wants me to go alone.” Chen Xiaolian turned around, but did not have the courage to look into Qiao Qiao’s eyes.

“Alone? I am his daughter, but he wants you to go alone to meet him?” Qiao Qiao knitted her brows. “Chen Xiaolian, what is going on here?”

“This is a very complicated matter… … you might not be able to instantly accept it.” Chen Xiaolian sighed. “Qiao Qiao, listen to me. Wait for my return. I will explain it to you after that, all right? Your dad… … he sounded very anxious just now.”

“Xiaolian.” Qiao Qiao jumped off the bed and stood straight up, a serious expression on her face. “That is my father. No matter what has happened, I have the right to know the truth and the right to meet him. Even if he knew about my death, now that I have returned, I must go meet him and tell him about this.”

“… … fine.” Chen Xiaolian gritted his teeth and pulled Qiao Qiao into his embrace. “Listen to me properly and do not get agitated. Qiao Yifeng… … is no longer your dad.”

“What do you mean?” Qiao Qiao was confused. Raising her head, she looked at Chen Xiaolian, who simply embraced her tighter.

“You are an Irregularity. After you were killed in action, in order to erase the traces of your existence in this world, the system altered the timeline. In Qiao Yifeng’s memories, there is no daughter named Qiao Qiao, no you.”

“You… … what are you talking about? Xiaolian?” Qiao Qiao forced out a laugh. “All of you still remember me. You, Roddy, Lun Tai… … everyone remembers me!”

“It is only the ordinary humans.” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “Awakened ones and Irregularities will not have their memories modified by the system. The ordinary humans however… … they no longer remember your existence.”

Qiao Qiao’s body grew limp and she nearly fell to the floor. However, Chen Xiaolian hastily hugged her tightly.

“It… it is fine.” Qiao Qiao took several deep breaths. “We can let him remember, just like how his comrade-in-arms in Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild did. There are so many pictures of me since my younger days. As long as we show him the pictures he took with me, he will understand.”

“No, it is not the same…” Chen Xiaolian sighed. “After a dead Awakened is refreshed by the system, he remains in existence. It is just his memories that have been modified. However, after an Irregularity dies, all traces of the Irregularity’s existence within this world will be modified. In the pictures we took together… … the pictures of you have disappeared.”

“You mean to say… … I have no evidence to prove to him that I am his daughter?” Qiao Qiao extricated herself from Chen Xiaolian’s embrace and staggered a few steps backward before falling on her butt upon the sofa. There was a flustered expression on her face.

“… … yes.” Chen Xiaolian nodded his head, a pained expression on his face.

Qiao Qiao’s eyes grew lost and she stared blankly at Chen Xiaolian. Who knows what she was looking at?

“I… … I will go meet him first.” Chen Xiaolian called Roddy through their guild channel and asked him to care for Qiao Qiao. Next, he stepped forward, placed his hands on Qiao Qiao’s face and said, “After Zero City’s destruction, your father suddenly disappeared as well. This is the first time he has contacted me since then. I need to quickly find him and ask him what is going on now. Wait right here for me, all right?”

After having said that, Chen Xiaolian walked toward the door.

“Wait!”

Chen Xiaolian turned around and saw Qiao Qiao labouring to stand up. Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths. When she finally snapped her eyes open, she had regained her composure.

“I will go with you. Even if he no longer remembers me, I must still… … meet him again.”

1 Yinxing Lake is where their resort base is located at. ↩

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