Chapter 23 Part 1

After Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang abruptly vanished from the bedroom, Leo and Perila guarded the door, laying out bedrolls on the floor and playing cards out of sheer boredom.

When Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang opened the door and came out, Perila was in the middle of drawing circles on Leo’s face. “You’re back… Huh?”

Xia Xifeng burst through the door, scooped Perila up, and began sobbing loudly.

Perila protested, embarrassed and annoyed, “Don’t hold me like a child!” He hated tall people the most!

Qin Lang walked towards Leo.

Leo crossed his arms protectively over his chest, alert. “You’re not going to pick me up too, are you?”

Qin Lang said, “I gained some combat insights. Want to spar?”

Leo thought for a moment, then stretched out his arms. “How about you give me a hug instead? Look, the moment Feng came back, he scooped up Perila and started bawling his eyes out. But you just want to fight me. I feel like I’m being discriminated against. I’m not comfortable with this.”

A black line formed on Qin Lang’s forehead.

Xia Xifeng let go of Perila, who was pushing his face away, scooped up Leo, and continued wailing.

Leo was amused by Xia Xifeng’s crying face. “What are you crying about? You’re crying like Perila and I not only died, but died horribly tragic deaths.”

Xia Xifeng cried even louder.

Perila straightened his clothes. “Lang, did Leo and I really die that tragically?”

Qin Lang said, “You won’t die.”

Perila smiled slightly and stopped asking. “Feng won’t be done crying for a while. Want to spar?”

Qin Lang said, “Alright.”

He had just informed Amuruo that he and Xia Xifeng had returned safely from their mission.

Amuruo replied with a simple “Good,” and instructed Qin Lang to look after Xia Xifeng, warning him not to reveal things about the future too bluntly out of excessive excitement.

As for how to find excuses, the prophecy book Suer had prepared for Xia Xifeng was the template.

Qin Lang recalled the System’s warning. Would Xia Xifeng, that naive simpleton who couldn’t keep secrets, really be able to be a good Prophet?

He figured he should look into bypassing class restrictions to learn the Silence Spell, so he could manually force Xia Xifeng to shut up.

After Qin Lang returned from sparring with Perila and learned what had happened during the day he was gone, Xia Xifeng was already in the kitchen, letting Leo freely order dishes. He was preparing a grand feast for Leo and Perila.

Perila was actually a bit afraid to eat this feast.

Looking at the sumptuous spread, he felt its lavishness was directly proportional to the horribleness of his and Leo’s deaths.

Perila didn’t know about Prophets, but in any world where beings possessed powers beyond the ordinary, seers weren’t unheard of.

The difference between a seer and a Prophet was that a Prophet’s prophecies were a “world’s fate without themselves in it.” As long as they gave a prophecy, the future could definitely be changed.

Prophets all pretended to be ordinary seers who could do divination. Suer’s prophecy book for Xia Xifeng was a textbook on the Prophet’s acting skills.

The Halfling clan elders also had some minor divination abilities. As Hope’s Sun’s most beloved God’s Favored, Perila sometimes had “premonitions” or glimpses of the future.

Suer had misled those around him into thinking he was merely a “powerful diviner.” Perila believed that Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang were also God’s Favored of a similar type.

Thus, regarding Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang’s “seclusion,” he had already guessed some things.

Actually, Perila wasn’t wrong; he just didn’t know about the Prophet’s unique nature.

After eating a grand feast that seemed to foreshadow his own tragic future, Perila found the food tasteless.

Leo had also guessed. He ate with great relish, even considering using his not-yet-occurred tragic future to mooch a few more meals from Xia Xifeng.

Xia Xifeng, pounding his chest, assured him it was no problem. Unable to stand Leo’s shamelessness any longer, Perila wrapped Leo in vines and tossed him out the window.

“Don’t pay him any mind,” Perila said. “You have too much to do; you don’t have time to spend in the kitchen.”

Xia Xifeng was about to say that cooking a meal wouldn’t take too much time.

Qin Lang: 【Don’t act overly enthusiastic. It will scare them.】

Xia Xifeng: 【I can’t help it.】

Qin Lang: 【If you can’t help it, go read a book.】

Xia Xifeng’s mouth twitched. Just thinking about all those books he still had to read instantly dampened his mood.

“Alright,” Xia Xifeng said. “I’ll call you when I’m testing new dishes.”

Perila nodded.

Although he didn’t want to trouble Xia Xifeng, new dishes were still to be eaten.

After calming down a bit, Xia Xifeng listed out all the things he needed to do, and his head immediately swelled.

Looking at the lengthy to-do list, it seemed he really didn’t have time to be overly sentimental.

The System’s rewards had already been distributed.

Besides the usual rewards like gold, experience, and materials, the System also awarded a “Sun Fragment.”

【”Sun Fragment”: A fragment of Hope’s Sun’s Godhood. Currently unknown use, but definitely can’t be eaten.】

Xia Xifeng guessed that the quest chain for the falling Suns would all reward “Sun Fragments.”

He was very curious: after completing all the quests, could these “Sun Fragments” piece together a Sun?

But Hope’s Sun in their world was still alive and well; surely they couldn’t assemble a second one.

He was truly looking forward to what came next.

Although the originally tragic fate of Leo and Perila had hit Xia Xifeng hard emotionally, seeing how Qin Lang could still easily solo the Evil God at max level—while he himself, despite lacking combat skills, could still run around soaking the Evil God’s ultimate attacks with maxed-out defense and buff Qin Lang—his fear after arriving in this world lessened considerably.

The power of their player accounts was exaggerated in the game; everyone treated Gods like ATMs, only being forced to team up with NPCs during Outer God events. But when the game became reality, Xia Xifeng had been uncertain.

Knowing that their combat effectiveness in reality was roughly the same, or even slightly stronger, than what their player characters had shown in the game, Xia Xifeng figured he probably wouldn’t have nightmares anymore tonight.

Xia Xifeng stroked his chin thoughtfully. He’d try sneaking into Qin Lang’s bed again tonight to see if he still wouldn’t kick Qin Lang awake.

Qin Lang felt a sudden chill.

Without hesitation, his gaze fell on Xia Xifeng.

Xia Xifeng kept a straight face. “What are you looking at me for?”

Qin Lang averted his gaze. Sure enough, Xia Xifeng was up to no good. He needed to be on guard.

After half a day of processing their emotions, Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang returned to their usual demeanor.

Perila breathed a sigh of relief. He really couldn’t stand Xia Xifeng’s overly mushy behavior.

Leo felt regretful. He thought he could mooch a few more grand feasts.

That night, Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang secretly brought the little Dwarf girl, Lana, to Green Sand City.

This was Lana’s own request.

Xia Xifeng had pitied Lana for encountering such a cruel disaster, her mind deeply traumatized.

Since the Shadow Fiends were already under the City Lord’s control, and Leo and Perila, now alert, could definitely protect Lana, having Lana recuperate in the Knight’s Domain might have been better for her mind and body.

But Lana wished to go to Green Sand City.

The clever Lana had already guessed that her father, too, had been “revived” by the Shadow Fiends.

Hatred did not make Lana further collapse. This little Dwarf girl, after confiding everything and resting for a day, quickly rallied.

Lana said, “I thought the City Lord might need me. If I stand before my father, the monster disguised as him will surely show a flaw. I want to avenge my father.”

Through the communicator, Amuruo’s phantom appeared very serious.

He said, “Lana, you are still a child. I will take revenge for you. You needn’t worry.”

Lana shook her head. “I want to avenge my father and my uncles and aunts with my own hands. When our family migrated, they left a proverb: ‘In the face of disaster, there are no children.’ When the ancestors migrated, they were children too. I feel the strange monsters I encountered are surely the prelude to a calamity.”

The Lana who just two days ago had been too distraught to speak was now as mature as an adult.

Amuruo agreed to Lana’s request.

He thought to himself wryly, it was a good thing Suer was in seclusion.

Suer had an irrepressibly kind heart for all well-behaved, kind-hearted younglings of any race that he couldn’t help doting on.

Suer believed that children in times of disaster should be carefree. His dream was to shield all children from all disasters.

This unrealistic dream was probably the reason the Heavenly Father had chosen Suer as the Prophet.

Was Xia Xifeng that kind of person too?

Amuruo smiled.

Well, well, Suer had already been noticed by Fate. The biggest headache from now on wouldn’t be his, but Qin Lang’s.

He had high hopes for Qin Lang. Qin Lang would certainly, like himself, grow rapidly while endlessly worrying over his beloved.

Once, Amuruo too had deeply loved this world. But Suer loved this world so much that there was a time Amuruo almost became rebellious, turning misanthropic.

“Suer, according to Perila and Leo, when the Little Prophet returned, he hugged them and cried very bitterly.” Amuruo entered the room where Suer was in seclusion.

Suer’s seclusion involved shrinking into a miniature Black Dragon and curling up asleep in his crystal nest.

Others couldn’t enter, but wherever Suer was, Amuruo could go. He and Suer were one entity; even while Suer meditated, he wouldn’t be disturbed by Amuruo.

Amuruo toyed with the tip of Suer’s tail. “It seems this time you were caught by Fate, and Fate took a lot from us. You need to wake up soon, or else I’ll start acting recklessly.”

Saving the world meant saving “the world,” not any specific individual or group of beings.

To save the world, sometimes more drastic methods were more effective, but Suer forbade it. He loved all kind-hearted beings in the world.

“But if you can’t wake up in time, to protect the children under our wings… I have a simple mind and will have to resort to brute force. It doesn’t matter if innocents are killed; as long as I kill enough, the scum hiding in the dark gutters will be forced to show themselves. Even though you’ll be angry, I was pushed to it. You’ll forgive me.”

Amuruo grinned wickedly.

The tip of Suer’s tail twitched slightly, as if sensing Amuruo’s threat.

Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang had already arrived. Amuruo left Suer’s room.

He wiped the expression off his face that didn’t quite fit a City Lord’s dignity and resumed his usual authoritative demeanor before strangers.

Lana lifted her skirt and curtsied to Amuruo in greeting.

Her hands trembled slightly, but her gaze was resolute.

Amuruo pointed to a nearby chair for Lana to sit. “Sit for a moment. I need to contact someone. He’s putting on airs, deliberately making me wait a while before agreeing to communicate directly.”

Amuruo had someone bring Lana black tea with extra milk and sugar to soothe her nerves.

Just as he was about to ask Xia Xifeng and Qin Lang what they wanted to drink, he noticed Xia Xifeng had a book open on his lap. “What’s this?”