Chapter 112: First Meeting

Late at night, Lu Mingfei and Hui Liyi returned from the amusement park, carrying a large pile of souvenirs and snacks.

The girl had been playing from 9:00 a.m. until the park closed at 8:00 p.m., determined to experience every attraction; Lu Mingfei only missed Lu Mingze’s arrangements during the long queues—back then, he wouldn’t have had to wait at all, and if arranged properly, they might have even used a VIP entrance.

Hui Liyi, who could effortlessly shatter icebergs with a wave of her hand, was surprisingly timid, even startled by staff members inside the haunted house.

Whenever this happened, Lu Mingfei would shield her behind him, protecting the staff’s safety.

“Sakura, Hui Liyi wants to see the sea tomorrow.”

After her bath, Hui Liyi wrote on her notepad, her eyes filled with anticipation.

“There’s a heavy storm forecast for tomorrow—we can’t go to the beach.”

“Is that so? Then let’s find somewhere else to go.”

Lu Mingfei took a towel and dried her damp hair, gently stroking her head; she didn’t resist, like a cat that only lets the person it trusts most touch its head.

Her smooth hair reminded Lu Mingfei of that chocolate commercial slogan: “Silky smooth.”

After turning off the lights, Lu Mingfei lay on his bed, feeling unusually heavy and tired—no idea why.

Probably just exhausted from playing too much; a good night’s sleep should fix it. He wondered what kind of dream he’d have tonight.

“If only I could share those monster-fighting dreams with Hui Liyi—she’d think they’re fun.”

“No, if she sees some of those dreams, my image is ruined.”

With these thoughts, Lu Mingfei drifted into sleep.

Tonight’s dream held no strange adventures or romantic plots—just him sitting in a newsstand, watching passersby.

Students in uniforms walked by one after another; occasionally, one or two would pause to glance at the comics or Yi Lin magazines on display.

Summer heat buzzed with cicadas; outside, the sun blazed fiercely, but inside the newsstand, it was cool, an old-style electric fan spinning steadily, blowing air toward Lu Mingfei.

“How much for these Dragon Clan volumes?” A man with messy hair and a white T-shirt picked up a complete set and asked Lu Mingfei.

Lu Mingfei fell silent; the sound of students’ bicycle bells echoed nearby.

After a long pause, Lu Mingfei finally spoke:

“Take them.”

“I don’t want them,” the man muttered, grabbing a bamboo skewer from a nearby grill, using tongs to impale a one-yuan hot dog.

“Is this era fun?” Lu Mingfei leaned back in his chair, asking the man who looked exactly like him: “Are you another version of me?”

“Not fun. More accurately, I’m your future self—not another you,” Old Lu bit into the hot dog, grimaced as if burned, and mumbled:

“I’m not an Egyptian pharaoh—don’t call me ‘another you.’”

“Have you ever been angry at my arrangements? Or wanted to fight me like Emiya Shirou and Red A, over some grand ideal?”

He pulled over an iron stool and sat down.

“Not at all,” Lu Mingfei thought his future self must have a wiring issue—right now, if he had to become this guy, he’d already call a mental hospital back home so his aunt and uncle could still bring him meals.

“I don’t want to fence with Emiya Shirou or my future self.”

“That’s fair,” Old Lu said without surprise—he knew his younger self’s personality. “I never had any grand ideals. If I had to name one, it’d be running a newsstand.”

“Can you stop messing around in this era?” Lu Mingfei asked.

“It’s not messing around,” Old Lu replied seriously.

Students and passersby came and went, but no one paid attention to the two men who looked like twins—after all, this was just a dream, and everything had already happened.

“I ran this newsstand for two years in my hometown—right here, near Shilan Middle School,” Old Lu surveyed the surroundings, his expression nostalgic:

“Ever since everyone from Cassell vanished from this world and Little Fat Lu Mingze got married, I’ve been the old man selling newspapers here.”

“Honestly, it’s unbearably boring. Why did I ever want to inherit this newsstand when I was young?”

“Peaceful,” Lu Mingfei said simply—he just liked the quiet, had no big ambitions; in modern internet terms, he just wanted to lie flat and stop striving.

Old Lu nodded in understanding and continued:

“Then I went to enjoy villas, champagne, sports cars—hosting champagne pool parties on weekends like Caesar, though I was the only male guest.”

“At first it was interesting, but later it got just as boring.”

Lu Mingfei said nothing, just watched silently as the man finished one hot dog and grabbed another.

“How’s things going with Hui Liyi?” Old Lu asked.

“Not much progress,” Lu Mingfei lied—he felt their bond growing closer, but he was still a coward; sometimes he’d pinch himself and remind himself: she trusts you so much—you can’t let her see you’re just after her body.

At this point, Hui Liyi was still curious about everything around her; she probably just thought Lu Mingfei was amazing for taking her everywhere.

That’s what Lu Mingfei told himself.

“Take your time, no rush,” Old Lu said calmly, picking up Dragon Clan III, flipping to a page:

“As long as I’m here, you’ve got plenty of time—though I do hope you’ll step up and marry Hui Liyi sooner.”

“In the timeline I created, the earliest you married Hui Liyi was April 29th—your aunt and uncle both attended the wedding.”

“She looked absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress.”

She looks beautiful in anything, doesn’t she? Lu Mingfei thought to himself—Hui Liyi wasn’t good at matching outfits, but he always thought she looked good in everything.

“Do you still think about Nuo?” Old Lu asked.

“Sometimes,” Lu Mingfei answered honestly—he had no reason to lie to himself. “But not as often as before.”

“That proves she’s still in your heart,” Old Lu nodded. “She’s in mine too—I’ve won over Senior Sister in other timelines. Did you know? In some timelines, Nuo doesn’t care how many wives I have.”

“I won’t tell just anyone this hidden route.”

"You're just a lucky guy."

“Stop!” Lu Mingfei quickly interrupted. “I’m a loyal man!”

“Pfft,” Old Lu scoffed. “Loyal? If you were loyal, you wouldn’t have fallen for someone else.”

“Who treats you well, you love—that’s all there is to it.”

“I object!” Lu Mingfei stood up, agitated. “How dare you slander my reputation!”

“Whoever gives you a little love, you burn yourself for them,” Old Lu pointed to a passage in the book. “Didn’t you read Dragon Clan?”

Lu Mingfei lowered his head, silent—he found confronting his own heart just as hard.

“It’s fine,” Old Lu stepped forward and patted Lu Mingfei’s shoulder. “I’ll give you everything—all the beautiful girls you want.”

After a long silence, Lu Mingfei looked up: “Are you here to make up for your childhood?”

“More accurately, to make up for adulthood—I’m over a million years old.”

“Can you not open a harem? It’s unfair to them,” Lu Mingfei said. “I don’t want to be the king of the world.”

“I just want to quietly cultivate, kill Helzog, and let Hui Liyi live.”

Old Lu shook his head; countless memories surfaced in the dream—stories from the timelines he had created.

“I can’t let go of my full bestiary completion achievement.”

To him, those timelines were artificial, never meant to exist—but the people and feelings within them were both illusion and truth.

“I promised them—that was our vow.”

“To stay together forever.”

“And”

In an instant, summer turned to winter; the newsstand became a plane wreck; the passersby vanished, replaced by storms and snow.

Lu Mingfei recognized this place—it was the first dream he’d had after fusing the inheritance.

All the bloodline hybrids he knew and didn’t know lay scattered across the snow, heavy snowflakes falling endlessly; some stared open-eyed, as if still trying to see something, others closed their eyes, as if merely sleeping into dreams.

“Everyone died—except me.”

Old Lu stood behind Lu Mingfei, hands resting on his younger self’s shoulders.

“I can’t restart it—because I killed them.”

His eyes glowed with solemn, brilliant gold; his voice dropped low like a beast’s growl.

“This was the original ending.”

Lu Mingfei had never imagined his own voice could sound like this—he felt his hair stand on end, his skin prickling with goosebumps, panic spreading through his chest.

“This ending won’t happen,” Lu Mingfei mustered courage and slowly spoke, then repeated the first two words with emphasis:

“Won’t!”

“Of course I know it won’t.”

The icy, snowy scene vanished instantly, replaced by the scene atop Shuijing Peak.

“You’ve got a cross-world chat group, learned cultivation from novels, and a group of friends guiding you—though one guy reminds me of Fenger always hovering beside me—but your future is undoubtedly bright,” Old Lu paused, his breathing quickening:

“I’m truly envious. Truly.”

“You’ve inherited my flesh, my soul, all my paths—if you cultivate well, you might even surpass me.”

“Even if I never appeared, you’d still handle everything here just fine.”

Lu Mingfei turned to look at Old Lu, eyes filled with confusion: “What do you mean by flesh and soul?”

“Looks like they never told you.”

“Isn’t that just inheritance?!”

“What kind of inheritance lets you cultivate this fast? Do you know? If you’d followed Xiao Yan and learned Dou Qi, you’d be a Dou Huang in a year. Cultivate properly, you’ll become a Xian within fifty years—though I mean ordinary Xian in some worlds.”

Old Lu pointed; a defiant Lu Mingfei appeared atop a mountain peak, clouds below, five moons hanging overhead.

That Lu Mingfei thrust his spear; the void tore open, spearlight streaked like a meteor, and the five moons shattered within seconds, becoming falling stars that plunged into the atmosphere, their fiery trails streaking red across the sky.

“I gave you everything—all the timelines I created, and myself,” Old Lu pulled Lu Mingfei close and whispered: “Live well for me—live brilliantly, live joyfully!”

“Of course, you’re still young—you don’t understand the joy of a harem or ruling the world. Don’t worry, in a few years you’ll know how joyful it is.”

“You’re disappearing?!” Lu Mingfei exclaimed.

“About a few hundred years left,” Old Lu released Lu Mingfei and said:

“But don’t worry—I’ll find some quiet corner to vanish into a VR game once I’ve sorted everything for you, and wait for you to assimilate me.”

“Don’t fear I’ll steal your wife, or your brother.”

“After all, they aren’t my wife, and he isn’t my brother.”

“But you are me. We are.”

“Lu Mingfei.” He spoke each syllable slowly.

The dam of memory burst open; countless future memories flooded into Lu Mingfei’s mind like a deluge—but these memories weren’t absorbed directly. Instead, they became books, forming a palace of recollection, accessible whenever Lu Mingfei wished to read them.

These were not all of them—only his sorrowful memories.

Lu Mingfei’s original ending.

When Lu Mingfei awoke on the hotel bed, a torrential downpour raged outside. Though it was already 8:00 a.m., the sky remained gray, nothing but raindrops hammering against the thick glass windows.

Hui Liyi slept on the adjacent bed, dressed in pajamas, clutching a small teddy bear tightly to her chest.

Lu Mingfei glanced at the sleeping Hui Liyi, slipped on his shoes, picked up an umbrella, and prepared to go downstairs to buy breakfast at the convenience store—she’d wake up soon enough.

He opened the hotel room door and closed it gently. There was no real need to be so careful—only that he wanted her to sleep a little longer. Waking to find breakfast waiting would surely bring her more joy than waiting for it.

He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the first floor, waiting for the doors to close.

The moment the elevator doors shut—

“Shit!”

He roared inside the elevator, his voice loud.

His fists clenched, his jaw tightened, veins bulged on his forehead—until the doors opened, when he instantly returned to calm, his expression blank as he walked out.

He had long known of a future version of himself—a powerful, formidable figure who shaped countless worldlines, who not only passed on his legacy but also came to this era alongside him.

Lu Mingfei had long wanted to meet him, to tell him to stop meddling. If he truly intended to interfere, Lu Mingfei would just lie down and accept it.

After all, even if Su Lin didn’t join the other side, Lu Mingfei had no way to stop him. He’d become this powerful—who could possibly restrain him?

Asking himself honestly, beyond the two ideas—opening a harem and becoming king of the world—he desperately wished his future self would eliminate all hidden dangers for him.

Why strive when you can win by doing nothing? If you were Chu Zihang or Caesar, you might say, “No, I’ll earn my future myself.”

But who is he? He’s Lu Mingfei! Why work hard when I can win by doing nothing?

As for the harem and world domination—just refuse at the end. He didn’t believe his future self could tie him to a harem against his will.

Unconsciously, things had grown too big. To prevent the world from descending into chaos, Lu Mingfei planned to find an opportunity to talk to him before he succeeded.

But why did it turn out like this?

He unilaterally opened a harem for him. He unilaterally conquered the world for him. He unilaterally took everything for himself.

Contradictory: you hope he sorts everything out, yet resent him when he does things you don’t like.

In the end, Lu Mingfei simply couldn’t accept that his future self lived so stifled—so stifled that he could find solace only by altering the fate of his past self.

And that intense self-destructive impulse.

Suppressed memories surged like waves. Though viewed in third person, Lu Mingfei felt suffocated.

The convenience store door opened, and Lu Mingfei realized he’d forgotten his umbrella. The clerk stared at him strangely—he was holding the umbrella right in his hand.

He picked up a shopping basket and walked toward the ready-meal section, selecting several bento boxes from the fridge, then grabbing several packs of instant noodles from a nearby shelf.

“Check out.”

On his way back, Lu Mingfei opened his umbrella, though he didn’t know what good it would do.

He recalled the conversation before waking from his dream.

“Everything has a cost. Old Tang is resurrected—are you happy?”

“Happy.”

“Xia Mi and that big dumb dragon can be resurrected too—would you be happy?”

“Happy.”

“Everyone in the world, including you, will have a better future—are you happy?”

“Happy, but—”

“Then keep being happy. I never wanted to endure this anymore.” Old Lu smiled brightly: “This is liberation for me. Living through you is fine.”

“You can’t rely on those online friends forever. They can save you for a moment, but not for a lifetime.”

“You’ve surfed the internet in Su Lin’s world—you should know what those netizens and readers call you—”

“A never-growing loser.” Old Lu laughed. “A coward!”

“I don’t care what they say,” Lu Mingfei replied. “It won’t make me eat less rice.”

Lu Mingfei had always been naturally resilient—but he didn’t want to see those flower tickets anymore. They were too hot to handle.

“So you’ll keep running?” Old Lu shook his head, tone dismissive: “If you want to run, I can give you a chance—but that answer is wrong.”

“One day, you’ll realize: ruling the world is the only correct answer. Mediocrity isn’t.”

When Lu Mingfei came to his senses, he stood before the door to his and Hui Liyi’s room. He closed his umbrella and pulled out a key card from his pocket.

As he opened the door, Hui Liyi rushed to him, holding a notebook.

‘Sakura, where shall we go today?’

But seeing Lu Mingfei’s disheveled and desolate expression, she crossed out that line and wrote a new one in marker on the white page.

‘Is Sakura unhappy? Then let’s not go out today. Go take a hot shower—it’ll make you feel better.’

Lu Mingfei read the words, then looked at Hui Liyi, about to speak—when he noticed gloves on her wrists.

He grabbed her hand, removed the gloves in her panicked gaze, and beneath the jade-white skin, faint black veins emerged.

Lu Mingfei recalled the line Hui Liyi wrote in the book—‘To see the outside world, you must pay a great price.’

‘When did this happen? Last night or today?’

‘I can still hold on. I want to stay with Sakura a little longer. It’s fine.’ She wrote hastily, her handwriting messy with panic.

This girl feared missing the only chance of her life. She knew she had sneaked out, and that her brother would send people to find her.

She believed she would never have another such opportunity. Afraid she’d never see Sakura again, she gritted her teeth and endured—even as her bloodline grew unstable.

Because Hui Liyi knew: she could not escape her fate. She could not leave Yuan Shi Heavy Industries.

Yet she kept running away, again and again, fighting back.

‘Don’t worry—I’ll find a way,’ Lu Mingfei smiled. He couldn’t help but want to appear invincible before this girl: ‘With me here, you need fear nothing.’

In the chat group:

Lu Mingfei: ‘@Su Lin, save me!’