The Light of the Righteous Path 15

Did Lin Qi hate Du Chengying? The System had asked Lin Qi this question, and Lin Qi had also asked himself.

The answer was: he did not hate him.

In real life, Lin Qi had always been alone. He had no friends and did not socialize. These were all advantages that allowed him to become a Moderator, but he seemed to have forgotten one thing: never having had something and not wanting it were two different things.

As one of the extremely rare Synthetic Humans, Lin Qi actually wanted to make friends, but he just didn't have the conditions to do so. After entering the small worlds, he didn't view the 'characters' in the small worlds as being the same as him at all, so naturally, he wouldn't invest any feelings into them.

He had suppressed his need for emotional connection for so long that Lin Qi mistakenly thought he was a cold-hearted person.

Actually... he really yearned for a friend. If Du Chengying appeared beside him in reality, he didn't know if they could be lovers, but they would definitely be friends.

It was just that Du Chengying and he were ultimately not from the same world. It was easy to invest emotions, but when it came time to withdraw them, would it be just as simple?

Lin Qi couldn't, he really couldn't. For him and for Du Chengying, it was destined to end in tragedy.

While Lin Qi remained silent, agonizing over his thoughts, Du Chengying quietly observed him. Seeing Lin Qi's expression gradually become resolute, just as Lin Qi was about to speak, Du Chengying hastily reached out and covered his mouth again, whispering, "Forget it, I don't want to know the answer."

The courage Lin Qi had finally managed to muster was instantly punctured by this small action from Du Chengying.

It was late at night. Du Chengying sat upright and quietly by the table. Lin Qi lay on the bamboo couch, facing the inner wall, feeling muddled and finding it hard to fall asleep. All his thoughts filled his mind like a tangled mess.

Reason and detachment faded away. A strong sense of immersion and his identity as a Moderator tore at each other. Left or right, it seemed like every path was a dead end.

He and Du Chengying were just like they were now—seemingly in the same small room, but in reality, an insurmountable barrier still existed between them.

The System came back to hang out after its advertisement break. Seeing Lin Qi staring blankly ahead, looking as if his soul was about to leave his body, it sighed, lamenting that sweet and naive Moderators were truly rare these days; one look and it was obvious he hadn't experienced the harsh beatings of doing missions.

"What on earth are you conflicted about?" the System said helplessly. "I really told you the method right from the start. Just use love to reform him, and it's done. With a hundred percent Blackening Value, this is the only path. Don't even think about anything else, just wait for the mission to fail and log out of the world."

Lin Qi bit his lip. "That's not called using love to reform him, that's called deception."

The System sneered. "Do you think Du Chengying isn't deceiving you?"

Lin Qi: "I know he's deceiving me."

He wasn't an idiot, after all. Du Chengying definitely had things he was hiding from him, but Du Chengying had never truly hurt him. Moreover, whenever he thought about the fact that Du Chengying had become a demon and blackened because of him, his mood became complicated again. He originally could have become a god...

The System had never seen such a foolish Synthetic Human, actually taking the small world so seriously. "I told you to experience the small world with your heart, but I didn't tell you to become a person of the small world. Have you played the zombie game that's been very popular in the Alliance lately? When playing games, the more immersive the experience, the more thrilling it is. Chasing zombies and beating their brains out is the most satisfying. But once the game is turned off, don't you still go to work as usual and live life as usual? Do you think you would still worry about whether the zombie you smashed to a bloody pulp in the game is cold lying on the ground? Stop being naive, is there nothing useful in your genes?"

Lin Qi remained silent for a long time before saying slowly, "I've never played that game."

System: "..."

Lin Qi: "Is it fun?"

System: "...It's fun. I have an account, want to borrow it?"

Lin Qi: "Let's wait until we get out to talk about it."

System: "..." Did this guy figure things out or not?

Just treat it as a game with a perfect hundred percent immersion experience. After the game ends... Lin Qi turned his head, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Du Chengying, who was sitting alone by the table. "Senior Brother, stop sitting there. Come over and rest together."

The massive Water Qilin separated the two of them. Du Chengying remained completely motionless. "There's no need, I'm fine sitting."

Lin Qi sat up. Gently scratching the bamboo couch with one hand, he lowered his head to look at the patterns on the fur covering the couch and said softly, "Can you listen to me?"

Du Chengying's eyelashes fluttered, and he turned his face to look at Lin Qi.

The night was silent, and the room was very dark. Milky-white moonlight slipped in through the cracks in the window in faint wisps, illuminating only a silhouette that was hazy and indistinct in the darkness, deeply tender and dreamlike.

Du Chengying restrained the urge to walk over, quietly gazing at Lin Qi in the dark night. His gaze was straightforward and burning hot, as if trying to melt the icy Lin Qi. Lin Qi raised his eyes, accurately catching Du Chengying's gaze in the darkness. His refusal to dodge or evade was an immense encouragement to Du Chengying.

Du Chengying stood up, and the Water Qilin, which had been lying prone with its eyes closed, also stood up and voluntarily moved out of the way.

Lin Qi became increasingly certain of his guess. When Du Chengying stood by the side of the bamboo couch, he said, "Wuxia, you go out. I have something to say to your master."

The Water Qilin froze completely, its tail pulling straight into a frightened line. Seeing Lin Qi's calm gaze, Du Chengying knew in his heart that he wasn't probing, but was already certain. He stopped hiding it and said flatly, "Go out and stand guard."

Only then did the Water Qilin breathe a sigh of relief, bounding out in a few quick steps.

"Sit." Lin Qi shifted inward, leaving a bit of space on the already narrow bamboo couch. After Du Chengying sat down, the two of them were pressed closely against each other. He didn't speak, quietly waiting for Lin Qi's interrogation.

Lin Qi curled up his legs and hugged them to his chest. This was a posture that could give him courage. He said softly, "Du Chengying, I want to know a few things. Can you not lie to me?"

"Of course," Du Chengying said softly. They sat very close, tightly pressed together, and the air they breathed held each other's scent. Du Chengying lowered his head, unable to resist bringing the tip of his nose close to Lin Qi's shadow. He knew that acting like this would make him appear desperate and unseemly, like a despicable lecher stealing a kiss under the moonlight, but even a tautly drawn string would inevitably have moments when it wanted to relax, if only for a little while.

Lin Qi took a deep breath. This was the last bit of sincerity he would invest in this 'game'. He couldn't keep immersing himself so endlessly. He decided to leave this choice for Du Chengying to make.

"On the Cultivation Ladder, did you come specifically to find me?"

"Yes."

"The Water Qilin had actually acknowledged you as its master long ago, right?"

"Yes."

"That Demonic Cultivator who attacked me... is he related to you?"

Du Chengying's voice halted.

He had answered the first two questions very quickly, but when it came to this question, there was a long and agonizing silence. Lin Qi's heart pounded, and even his ears seemed to vibrate along with it.

"You suspect..." Du Chengying finally spoke, his voice gentle, "that I intentionally let him attack you?"

Lin Qi didn't deny it, only saying, "I hope you can answer me honestly, Senior Brother."

There was another long silence, so long that Lin Qi felt the breath at the tip of his nose becoming thin and obstructed. Then, he realized it wasn't his imagination. His consciousness was being pressured out of his brain, and dizziness struck. Lin Qi fainted, the last thing flashing through his eyes being Du Chengying's cold features.

Du Chengying caught the slumping Lin Qi. Faint bursts of pain transmitted from the pulling of his wounds. Racking his brains trying to win even a tiny bit of this person's affection, yielding and humbling himself into the dust—it was useless. None of it was of any use. His senior brother's heart was a hard stone, and dripping water would not pierce it.

With a slight exertion of force, he picked up the person in his arms. Du Chengying turned and walked out, kicking the door open. Outside the door, the Water Qilin stood up and looked back at him cautiously.

Du Chengying raised his hand slightly, and the power sealed away within its single horn was released. Pitch-black flames began to burn from the horn, surging like ocean waves across its strong back. A moment later, the fully mature Water Qilin, completely pitch-black with a golden horn suspended above its head, bared its fangs and brandished its claws, forcefully stomping its foot on the ground. The aura of death spread outwards in its wake.

With the return of its power, the Water Qilin's memories also completely returned. Its master had taken it and plunged into the blood-red Hell Sea. The karmic fire of the Hell Sea flowed backward into the human world, burning the world into pitch darkness. Climbing back up from the cycle of reincarnation, everything was still rushing wildly toward a destiny of dead ends and darkness.

"Master," the mature Water Qilin's voice was deep and resonant, compassionate like Sanskrit chants, as it lowered its head in submission.

Du Chengying looked down at Lin Qi sleeping peacefully in his arms, his expression sorrowful. He had already exhausted everything to cover himself up. The arm imprisoning Lin Qi's shoulder tightened slightly. The wounds on his body split open, and the scent of blood wafted to his nose. "Wuxia. He named you Wuxia."

The Water Qilin remained silent.

"Wuxia..." Du Chengying threw his head back and let out a laugh, a hint of frenzy hidden within it, stars twinkling in his eyes. "He would rather believe an animal than trust me even a single bit."

The Water Qilin said in a low voice, "Master, let's return to the Demon Realm."

"Return to the Demon Realm?" Du Chengying lowered his eyes, his expression completely cold and detached. "I have never been there, so how can you speak of 'returning'?"

As vast as the world was, he had no place to settle down.

The Demonic Cultivators wanted to uphold him as their master, using his hands to dominate the world. The cultivators wanted him to save the world and eradicate the Demon Realm. He seemingly only had these two choices; it was never up to him to decide. So instead... instead... The qi and blood in his chest surged wildly, and something seemed on the verge of breaking out of its cocoon from his chest.

The Water Qilin looked uneasily at Du Chengying's faintly reddening eyes. This was the sign of entering demonic deviation...

When his reddening eyes looked at the quiet and fair face of the person in his arms, he finally managed to suppress it. Du Chengying let out a bitter laugh, whispering in an incredibly gentle voice, "Senior Brother, you can use everything you have to hurt me, but I... will not hurt you in the slightest."

Lin Qi's consciousness drifted in deep slumber for a long time. It was as if he had returned to the petri dish—moist and warm, with a strange sense of safety. The water current gently enveloped him, lightly pushing him forward like a mother's hand, and that bit of light in the darkness welcomed him.

Lin Qi slowly opened his eyes. The remarkably prominent softness beneath him and the decorations above his head made him instantly realize where he had returned to.

This was his cave dwelling.

Lin Qi suddenly sat up. Unlike the previous dead silence, there was the sound of the wind in his ears, the rustling of leaves beating against each other, and the chirping of birds. These chaotic sounds formed the tranquility of this world.

Lin Qi sat in a daze for a while, his mind completely blank. After a long moment, he got off the bed and ran out like the wind.

The sunlight shone through the tall trees onto the mortal realm, warm and peaceful.

Lin Qi looked around blankly, as if he had suddenly arrived in another world. "Where is Du Chengying...?"

The System said coldly, "Gone."

Gone?

Lin Qi was stunned, his lips slightly parted. A buzzing sound seemed to flash through his mind. His legs went weak, and he slumped directly onto the ground. With his heart in a tangled mess, he asked, "That Demonic Cultivator... wasn't sent by him?"

The System still gave the same response, "What do you think?"

Lin Qi thoroughly panicked. He thought of Du Chengying's cold expression before he lost consciousness and said, at a loss, "What should I do?"

System: "What do you mean, what should you do?"

Lin Qi felt a little like crying. "Did I... make him run away in anger?"

The System said calmly, "It's fine, he will come back."

Lin Qi didn't think so. The last time he interrogated Du Chengying about whether that was Baoshu Zhenren, Du Chengying didn't run, and his attitude was completely different from this time. He had a strong feeling that this time, he had truly hurt Du Chengying.

The System said ruthlessly, "So what? With a hundred percent Favorability, you can do whatever you want to him. Even if you hurt him, so what? He will still come back."

The tone the System used when talking about Du Chengying was exactly the same as the tone it used when talking about the zombies in the game.

"I would think about it," Lin Qi blinked, tears falling from his eyelashes as he whispered. "I would wonder if he's cold lying on the ground..."

He was using his last bit of sincerity to gamble. If that Demonic Cultivator wasn't sent by Du Chengying, if Du Chengying hadn't truly schemed against him, he was willing to attend this destined tragedy.

The System fell silent for a moment, then unfolded with a swish in front of Lin Qi, saying calmly, "Then do you want to read the materials?"

Lin Qi: "..."

System: "Sigh, I told you to study earlier but you refused. Hurry up and study now. It's still early, there's still time."