Chapter 112

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

The girl had played 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 while waiting in line— at least then he wouldn't have to queue, and if arranged properly, they might have gone straight through VIP access.

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

Whenever this happened, Lu Mingfei would shield Hui Liyi behind him, protecting the staff's safety.

"Sakura, Hui Liyi wants to go see the sea tomorrow."

After bathing, Hui Liyi took out her notebook and wrote, her eyes filled with anticipation.

"There's a heavy storm forecast for tomorrow—you can't go to the beach."

"Is that so? Then let's find another place to play."

Lu Mingfei grabbed a Mao Jin and dried Hui Liyi's damp hair, gently patting her head; she did not resist, like a little cat, and cats only let the most trusted people touch their heads.

Her smooth hair reminded Lu Mingfei of that chocolate advertisement slogan: "Silky smooth."

After turning off the lights, Lu Mingfei lay in bed, feeling his limbs unusually heavy and easily fatigued—he didn't know 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, what if she sees some of those dreams? My image would be ruined."

With these thoughts, Lu Mingfei drifted into sleep.

Tonight's dream held no strange grand adventures or romantic plots—just sitting in a newsstand, watching passersby come and go.

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

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

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

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

After a long pause, Lu Mingfei finally spoke:

"I'll give them to you."

"I don't want them." The man took a bamboo skewer from a grill, used metal tongs to clamp a one-yuan hot dog, and began eating.

"Is this era fun?" Lu Mingfei leaned back in his chair and asked 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 felt angry about my arrangements? Or wanted to learn from Weigong Shilang and Red A, and fight me over ideals?"

He pulled over an iron stool and sat on it.

"Not at all." Lu Mingfei thought his future self must've had a faulty neural connection; for him, 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 when they had time.

"I don't want to learn fencing with Weigong Shilang or my future self."

"Fair enough." Old Lu wasn't surprised—he knew what his past self was like. "I never had any grand ideals. If I must name one, it's running a newsstand."

"Can you stop messing with this era?" Lu Mingfei asked.

"It's not messing around," Old Lu replied seriously.

Students and passersby came and went constantly, but no one paid attention to the two men inside, identical as twins—after all, this was just a dream; everything had already happened.

"I ran this newsstand for two years in my hometown—right here, near Shilan Middle School." Old Lu looked around, a nostalgic expression on his face:

"Since everyone from Kassel vanished from this world and Wang Xiaopang got married, I've been the old man selling newspapers here."

"Honestly, it's unbearably boring. Why on earth did I ever want to inherit this newsstand when I was young?"

"Peaceful," Lu Mingfei said. He simply liked the quiet—no grand ambitions. In modern internet terms, he just wanted to lie flat, no more effort.

Old Lu nodded in understanding and continued:

"Then I went to enjoy luxury villas, champagne sports cars, and hosted champagne Youyongchi Sect parties like Kai Sa—though of course, I was the only male guest."

"At first it was kind of fun, but later it got boring too."

Lu Mingfei said nothing, just watched Old Lu finish one hot dog and pick up another.

"How's things going with Hui Liyi?" Old Lu asked.

"Not much progress." Of course that was a lie—Lu Mingfei felt their distance growing closer, but he was still cowardly; sometimes he'd pinch himself and remind himself: she trusts you so much—you can't let her see you're lusting 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.

This was what Lu Mingfei thought in his heart.

"Take your time, no rush," Old Lu said calmly, picking up Dragon Clan III from beside him and flipping open a page:

"With me around, you've got plenty of time. Of course, I hope you'll step up and marry Hui Liyi sooner."

"In the Created World line where I married Hui Liyi the fastest, it was April 29th—your aunt and uncle both attended the wedding."

"She looked absolutely beautiful in her wedding dress."

Doesn't she look beautiful in anything? Lu Mingfei thought to himself—Hui Liyi wasn't good at matching outfits, but he always thought she looked good no matter what she wore.

"Do you still think about Nuo Nuo?" Old Lu asked.

"Sometimes," Lu Mingfei answered honestly—after all, what's the point lying to yourself? "But not as often as before."

"That proves you still care for her," Old Lu nodded. "I care for her too. In other world lines, I've won over Senior Sister. Did you know? In some world lines, Nuo Nuo doesn't care how many wives I have."

"I don't tell this hidden route to just anyone."

"You're the lucky one."

"Stop!" Lu Mingfei cried out. "I'm a loyal person!"

"Pfft." Old Lu spat. "You're 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'll set yourself ablaze without a second thought." Old Lu pointed at that passage of text and described: "Haven't you read Dragon Raja?"

Lu Mingfei lowered his head and said nothing more, as if facing his own heart was also quite difficult.

"It's fine." Old Lu stepped forward and patted Lu Mingfei's shoulder, "It's all yours—every pretty girl, everything you want, you'll have it."

After a long while, Lu Mingfei raised his head and said: "Are you here to make up for my childhood?"

"More accurately, to make up for adulthood—after all, I'm over a million years old."

"Can you not open a harem? It's not fair to them." Lu Mingfei said: "I don't want to be the king of the world either."

"Right now I just want to quietly cultivate immortality, kill Herzog, and let Hui Liyi live."

Old Lu shook his head; countless memories surfaced in the dream—stories that had taken place in the world lines he had created.

"Can't bear to part with them—my full-codex walkthrough achievement."

For him, although those world lines were deliberately created by him and should never have existed, those people and those feelings were both illusory and real.

"I promised them. This is a pact."

"To be together, always."

"And besides—"

In the blink of an eye, midsummer turned to deep winter; the newsstand became the wreckage of an airplane; the passers-by coming and going were replaced by storm and heavy snow.

Lu Mingfei recognized this place—it was the first dream he had after fusing with the inheritance back then.

Half-bloods Lu Mingfei knew and didn't know were all lying on this snowy field, goose-feather snow falling without cease; some kept their eyes open, wanting to keep seeing something; some closed their eyes, as if they had merely fallen asleep and entered a dream.

"Everyone is dead, except me."

Old Lu stood behind Lu Mingfei, both hands resting on the shoulders of his past self.

"There's no way to restart, because the one who killed them—was me."

His eyes shimmered with a majestic, resplendent gold, his tone as low as a wild beast's.

"This is the original ending."

Lu Mingfei had never imagined his own voice could speak in such a tone; he felt that both the scene and the words made his hair stand on end, goosebumps rising all over his body, a flustered emotion spreading through his heart.

"This ending won't happen." Lu Mingfei summoned his courage and slowly spoke these words, then repeated and emphasized the first two:

"It won't!"

"Of course I know it won't."

The icy, snowy scene vanished in an instant, replaced by the scene atop Water Mirror Peak.

"You've got a chat group that crosses worlds, you've learned the cultivation immortality from novels, and you've got a bunch of group-friends who cultivate with you. Although one of them reminds me of the days Finger spent right beside me, your future must be bright." Old Lu paused, his breathing growing a little rapid:

"Really enviable, truly."

"You've also inherited my flesh and blood, my soul, all of my paths. As long as you cultivate well, you might end up far stronger than me."

"Even if I never showed up, you could handle everything here just fine."

Hearing this, Lu Mingfei turned to look at Old Lu, his eyes full of incomprehension and confusion: "The flesh and blood and soul you mentioned—what are they?"

"Looks like they didn't tell you."

"Isn't that the inheritance?!"

"What inheritance could let you cultivate this fast? Do you know? If you went with Xiao Yan to learn Dou Qi, you'd reach Dou Huang in a year; if you properly cultivate immortality, you'd become an immortal within fifty years—of course, I mean the ordinary immortals of certain worlds."

Old Lu pointed, and an arrogant Lu Mingfei appeared atop a mountain peak, holding a long spear; below was a sea of clouds, above hung five moons.

This Lu Mingfei thrust his spear; accompanied by the tearing of the void, the spear-gleam turned into a stream of light. A few seconds later, the moons hanging high in the sky shattered, becoming meteors that fell into the atmosphere, flames forming tails, drawing a streak of red across the heavens.

"All the world lines I created, and myself as well—I've given them all to you." Old Lu pulled Lu Mingfei over and said softly: "Live well for me. You must live brilliantly, live happily!"

"Of course, you're still young and don't understand the joy of opening a harem and ruling the world. No worries—in a few years you'll know how joyful it is."

"You're going to disappear?!" Lu Mingfei said in surprise.

"Probably still a few hundred years." Old Lu released Lu Mingfei and said:

"But don't worry. Once I've helped you sort everything out, I'll take the initiative to find some out-of-the-way corner and quietly lose myself in motion-sensing online games, waiting for you to refine and absorb me."

"No need to worry about me stealing your wives, or stealing your brother."

"After all, they're not my wives, and he's not my brother."

"But you are me. We are—"

"Lu Mingfei." he intoned, word by word.

The dam of memory was breached; many future memories surged into Lu Mingfei's mind like floodwaters released from a sluice, but these memories were not directly absorbed—instead they became book after book, transforming into a memory palace, readable whenever Lu Mingfei wished.

These were not everything—merely his sorrowful memories.

Lu Mingfei's original ending.

When Lu Mingfei woke up on the hotel bed, a torrential downpour was pouring outside the window. Even though the time had already reached 8:00 in the morning, the sky was still a dull gray, with only raindrops striking the thick glass window.

Hui Liyi was sleeping on the bed next door, wearing pajamas, a little bear plush toy clutched tightly in her arms.

Lu Mingfei glanced at the sleeping Hui Liyi, put on his shoes, picked up an umbrella, and prepared to go downstairs to the convenience store to buy breakfast—Hui Liyi would wake up in a little while.

Pulling open the hotel room door, Lu Mingfei gently closed it. Actually, there was no need to be so careful; he just thought letting her sleep a little longer, so that breakfast would be there when she woke up, would be happier than making her wait.

Walking into the elevator, Lu Mingfei pressed the button for the 1st floor and waited for the elevator doors to close.

The moment the elevator doors closed—

"Shit!"

He roared inside the elevator, his voice very loud.

He clenched his fists, clenched his jaw, veins popping on his forehead—until the elevator doors opened, when he immediately returned to normal, his expression flat as he walked out.

He had long known there was a future version of himself—that incredibly awesome, incredibly formidable big shot who had created many world lines, who had not only given him the inheritance but also come to this era together.

Lu Mingfei had long wanted to meet him face to face, to tell him to stop messing around. If he really was going to mess around, Lu Mingfei could only lie flat.

After all, even if Su Lin didn't join the other's side, Lu Mingfei had no way to deal with him at all. Anyone that badass—who could stop him?

Asking himself honestly, apart from wanting him to build a harem and become king of the world, he was dying for his future self to wipe out all those lurking dangers for him.

If you can freeload a win, why work hard? If it were Chu Zihang or Caesar instead, they might say, "No, I want to win my future on my own."

But who is he? He's Lu Mingfei! If I can freeload a win, why would I go to all the trouble of working hard?

As for the harem and king of the world stuff, just refuse in the end — he didn't believe his future self could actually tie him into a harem.

Before he knew it, things seemed to have blown up. To keep the world from being thrown into total chaos, Lu Mingfei found a chance to have a chat with him before he succeeded.

But why was this the result?

Taking it upon himself to build a harem for Lu Mingfei, taking it upon himself to help him conquer the world, taking it upon himself to give himself everything

So contradictory — hoping he'd handle everything well, but resenting him whenever the outcome didn't match his wishes

In the end, Lu Mingfei just couldn't quite accept that his future self had lived so miserably — so miserably that only by changing his past self's fate could he find any comfort.

And that intense self-destructive tendency

Suppressed memories came crashing in like waves. Even though it was a third-person perspective, Lu Mingfei felt like he could barely breathe.

The convenience store door opened, and Lu Mingfei only then realized he'd forgotten to put up his umbrella. The clerk stared at him with a strange look — the umbrella was clearly right there in his hand.

He picked up a shopping basket and headed to the ready-meal section, picked a few bento boxes from the freezer, then grabbed a few cups of instant noodles from the shelf nearby.

"Checkout."

Lu Mingfei opened his umbrella on the way back, though he wasn't sure what good it was anymore.

In his mind, he replayed the conversation from just before the dream ended.

"Everything has a price. Old Tang's been resurrected. Are you happy?"

"Happy."

"Xia Mi and that big dumb dragon can be resurrected too. You happy?"

"Happy."

"Everyone in the world, including you, gets a better future. You happy?"

"Happy, but—"

"Then keep being happy. I never wanted to keep grinding anyway." Old Lu laughed brightly. "For me, this is a kind of release. Living through you is pretty good too."

"You can't keep relying on those group friends forever. They can save you for a moment, but not for a lifetime."

"You've surfed the net on Su Lin's world. You should know what those netizens, those readers, all call you—"

"A loser kid who never grew up." Old Lu said it with a laugh. "A coward!"

"I don't care what they say." Lu Mingfei replied, "It's not like it makes me eat one less bowl of rice."

When it came to handling pressure, Lu Mingfei had always been pretty talented, but he didn't want to see those flower tickets anymore — too hot to handle

"So you're going to keep running?" Old Lu shook his head, his tone carrying a denial. "If you want to run, I can give you a chance too, but that answer is wrong."

"One day, you'll understand — ruling the world is the only right answer. Being ordinary isn't."

By the time Lu Mingfei came back to himself, he was already at the door to his and Hui Liyi's room. He put away his umbrella and pulled a keycard from his pocket.

The instant the door opened, Hui Liyi ran up to Lu Mingfei, a notebook in her hand.

"Sakura, where are we going to play today?"

But seeing Lu Mingfei's disheveled and lost look, she crossed out the previous line and, marker in hand, wrote a new sentence on the white notebook.

"Sakura not happy? Then we won't go out today. Sakura go take a bath — a hot bath will make you happy."

Lu Mingfei glanced at the words on the notebook, then looked at Hui Liyi. Just as he was about to say something, he noticed she was wearing a glove on her wrist.

He grabbed Hui Liyi's hand and, under her panicked gaze, pulled off the glove. Beneath Bai Yu's skin, black veins faintly appeared.

Lu Mingfei recalled the line from the book — "If you want to see the outside world, you have to pay a great price."

"When did this happen — last night or today?"

"I can still hold on. I want to spend more days with Sakura. It's okay." She wrote hurriedly, her handwriting messy from panic.

This girl was terrified of missing the once-in-a-lifetime experience. She knew she'd snuck out to play, and she knew her brother would send people to look for her.

She believed she'd never get a chance like this again in her life, afraid she wouldn't get to see Sakura anymore. So even as her bloodline began to destabilize, she kept gritting her teeth and holding on.

Because Hui Liyi knew she couldn't escape her fate, couldn't leave Genji Weight.

But she would still run away from home again and again, fighting on

"Don't worry, I'll figure something out." Lu Mingfei forced a smile. He couldn't help wanting to seem all-powerful in front of this girl. "I'm here. You don't need to be afraid of anything."

Inside the chat group

Lu Mingfei: "@Su Lin, save me!"