Chapter 146: Su Lin

"Sigh, today's youth—those short videos they churn out, they've got no shame left." A slightly overweight middle-aged woman shook her head and laid down her tiles.

"Exactly—morals are declining." An elderly woman with silver hair pushed up her reading glasses and affirmed: "I just don't get these young people's stuff."

"My son watches that 'Le Du Da Hui Ren' every day. That little brat told me the other day he wanted to dye his hair gray when he grows up—I whipped him with my belt for it." The man sitting to Kleine's left said.

"And that online sensation, Non-Standard Tony Su—always giving people shampoo-blow-dry cuts, such great skills, why not just work steady at a barber shop?"

"You don't get it." A middle-aged man with a stubble beard passed by, holding tea. "He makes way more money from traffic than any barber ever could."

"As for vulgarity, it's still that Su Niuma who shouts in public places, 'I'm a cow-horse!'"

"Your Su family's got a lot of talent, huh? Hahaha."

"Go to hell!"

"Don't deny it—doesn't that high-quality male human Su Yulin also have the Su surname?"

"Not just the name—he even looks a lot like Brother Su's son."

"Nonsense. Brother Su's son's a boss now—he'd never go online to chase attention!"

"I win! Pure suit, seven pairs, top-grade." Kleine smiled, glanced at the shifting expressions of the uncles and aunts across from him, and changed the subject: "Hey, by the way, those short videos you were just talking about…"

—————————

In the living room, several middle-aged men with their families sipped tea, chatting from national affairs down to rice and oil, discussing today's social climate.

"Talking about today's social climate, I think it's terrible. Compared to my generation, what's gone wrong?" Luo Chenglin sighed, chatting easily with relatives he hadn't seen in years. "The youth are too restless, too indulgent—they always dream of instant success, drowning in movie and drama plots."

"Isn't that the truth!" The man with a crew cut, around thirty, nodded in agreement. "I've got a distant cousin who's a programmer in Rong City. I saw on his WeChat Moments that one night after work, he ran into a few young guys drunk on the street, claiming they were Ye Fan, Xiao Yan, the protagonist, and wanted to take him as a disciple."

"It's no good how today's youth are addicted to this stuff," Su Xiangrong also sighed.

Luo Chenglin nodded, glancing at his obedient daughter. "You should play fewer games, understand? Don't turn into one of them."

"I know," Luo Shengying pouted in reply.

At that moment, a familiar figure stepped through the door, and Luo Shengying froze slightly.

It was Su Lin of this era.

'It's really…'

'Early Golden Core Stage.'

The future Su Lin's spiritual force swept over this version of himself—thick spiritual energy, powerful physique, and a flawless white-golden Jin Dan, upon which sat a six-winged silhouette.

'What?!'

His first thought was: Had he truly been replaced? Had the Zhaohuang of the Nuye World left some hidden maneuver?

After careful inspection, he realized the Jin Dan carried a sense of sacred naturalness—but that was merely the manifestation of the Jin Dan's inherent qualities.

His physique and soul showed no mismatch; existence was confirmed pure, not a single particle of his soul bore any trace of alien presence.

Strange!

According to his search history, he definitely had a system—and last year he was still struggling for system points. Why was he already at Early Golden Core Stage this year!?

Power from point exchange? No—in a world still calm and quiet, where did he get so many points?

'Heh.'

The future Su Lin smiled happily.

'Interesting.'

'Is he still you?' Luo Shengying transmitted a mental message.

'I don't know what changed—but yes, it's me.'

When Su Lin returned, Kleine hadn't joined the mahjong game—he'd bought a 'horse' (a mahjong variant) and sat aside scrolling videos on his phone. Su Lin paid no mind, thinking he'd slip into the kitchen to help—and maybe sneak a couple more sausages.

Familiar…

The instant Su Lin entered, he locked eyes with the girl, then remembered—she was the cousin who'd added him on QQ.

"Hey, where are your friends?" Su Xiangrong asked.

"They said they'd go explore around. I had something to do, so I came back early," Su Lin replied.

Su Xiangrong, baffled by his son's low social grace, didn't know what to say—how could he let guests wander alone? But with others present, he couldn't reprimand him.

"This is Uncle Luo and Aunt Su, and this little girl is their daughter, Luo Shengying," Su Xiangrong introduced. "This is my son, Su Lin—you might've met him when you came back years ago."

"Su Lin…" Luo Chenglin recognized the name—his daughter had recently burst into tears, begging him to look up this name.

He exchanged a glance with his wife, about to ask something—when his daughter moved first.

Luo Shengying waved, greeting Su Lin.

Luo Chenglin and his wife froze. For some reason, they began unconsciously ignoring the moment, shifting their focus elsewhere.

"Uncle Luo, Aunt Su, cousin—Happy New Year."

Su Lin waved back and headed for the kitchen, only to be chased out moments later, bewildered—what do you mean he was sneaking food again? He'd only done it once last year; now he couldn't even taste a bit ahead of time?

"Son," Su Xiangrong waved him over. "Can you get me some more of those fruits?"

"Uncle Luo really likes them. Give him two cases."

"I've got some in my car."

There were still several crates in his storage pouch—kept precisely for situations like this.

Su Lin glanced at Luo Shengying and the children in the living room, counted heads, and prepared to head to the vault for red envelopes.

Su Lin stepped outside and found Kleine covering his mouth, laughing silently. Uh… aren't you the Faceless One?

Sensing the gaze, Kleine's expression returned to cold indifference. He nodded to Su Lin.

Su Lin nodded back and walked toward the door, thanking the Great Fool for sparing the middle-aged mahjong players.

'Follow him. I'll use the Starry Cloak to warp your presence.'

One of the few high-end items in his system inventory—let alone a mere Golden Core, even a Zhaowang couldn't detect the trace.

Luo Shengying's figure vanished from the living room, while the adults nearby felt nothing, still chatting merrily.

"So it was stored inside the Storage Bag."

The future Su Lin watched his other self look around, then enter the van and pull out several boxes of apples from the Storage Bag—it was perfectly normal for a Golden Core Stage cultivator to have a Storage Bag.

Then, a small gray-white card appeared in his hand; the logo spun, space tore open, and a door appeared.

"What the fuck! A subspace vault?!"

It was 100% himself, absolutely not anything else! It was still himself with the system! But why?! It had been less than a month!

Choosing the cultivation path and reaching the Golden Core Stage is one thing—but why do you still have extra points to exchange for a subspace vault?

Why didn't you spend your points on items or exchange them for Chrono Sand for cultivation? How do you still have spare points to exchange for a subspace vault?!

Having a vault means… having a collection!

"Damn."

Is there any justice? Is there any Wang Fa?!

The future Su Lin instantly shifted from a sense of satisfaction to a sour feeling.

What did his past self's high-intensity, public-facing antics amount to compared to this guy?! Recalling how he himself had suffered at this time—keyboard warriors, wage arrears, 996, relatives mocking his videos, parents failing to understand—he felt his taste buds flooded with lemon.

What exactly happened on May 17? Since that day, the later travel records no longer matched up.

Luo Shengying led the future Su Lin into the subspace vault, where various display cabinets, large and small, were neatly arranged.

At the very back, a massive curtain seemed to conceal a steel construct.

On the ground not far away, banknotes were piled together like fallen leaves.

Su Lin placed the small subspace vault card on the counter, picked out a few red leaves from the pile of green leaves on the ground, stuffed them into an envelope, and the future Su Lin seized the chance to swap his own subspace vault card with it—he intended to investigate this vault, and once his past self closed the vault door without a card, he'd be trapped inside.

This device only requires soul matching and the correct account password to operate.

Su Lin stuffed several envelopes until they bulged, thought for a moment, pulled out several sets of Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Tests from the historical projection, smiled happily, and walked out with the subspace vault bank card.

"That smile… definitely you." Luo Shengying, seeing the micro-expression, instantly identified it as genuine.

"You got this space so early…?"

"I got mine much later—he got his at least twenty years ahead."

Hidden beneath the Starry Cloak, the future Su Lin watched his own movements outside the door, synchronizing the logo's rotation to shut the vault door.

His figure materialized.

Only then did the future Su Lin carefully observe his surroundings.

Compared to his peak period, the collection here was pitifully small—so pitiful it was beyond pitiful.

"I'm so jealous." Honesty was his strength. "I'm so jealous, I'm so jealous, I'm so jealous…"

The future Su Lin muttered to himself as he scanned the contents of the display cabinets.

"A weapon powered by spiritual force—appears to be master craftsmanship, with specific effect circuits inside. Rare."

"Looks like the Devil Fruits from this era's Japanese manga… Where did you get this? What even is it?"

Poom~

He uncorked the bottle, sniffed it, and his expression twisted. "A potion with chaotic energy arranged in order—purpose unknown."

"Should be drinkable, right?"

There was a sweet fragrance.

The future Su Lin glanced curiously, capped the bottle, took two steps, and paused beside a curved black spear.

"Cause and effect… guaranteed hit…"

"A replica of Gungnir…"

The future Su Lin looked up at the ceiling, then down at the plaque before the spear, where golden characters inscribed its name—as if afraid no one would know.

"Something's off. This timeline doesn't make sense at all."

"Su Lin." Luo Shengying stood before a glass display case and called out.

"What is it?"

"This." She pointed to a pocket watch inside the case, her voice unsteady.

"Zuo Kete's Linear Pocket Watch…" The future Su Lin saw the watch's hands turning; a sudden unease surged within him—as if the sky were about to collapse, his mouth slightly open, wide enough to drop in a rice ball.

An unused pocket watch should be motionless!

"Could it be?!"

"No… clockwise rotation… he's already used it?"

It was a relief it wasn't a tangled ball of timelines—the future Su Lin exhaled inwardly.

He'd feared encountering a nesting doll—another future self already inside his past self's body…

So the plan to return to the past as a prophet was viable? He'd abandoned it back then—now it made sense.

As he thought this, he lifted his finger slightly—the massive curtain rose.

"It doesn't make sense!!!!!" The future Su Lin's eyes bulged. "Why is there a Gundam here?!"

His gaze swept up and down—the cold steel construct left him unsettled.

"No matter your age, you always loved collecting these giant models." Luo Shengying walked over and tapped the right foot of the Unicorn Gundam. "I never asked too much about your affairs, afraid I'd fall behind that woman… but this is a tech-side artifact…"

"Not entirely a tech artifact." The future Su Lin sensed it, his spiritual awareness sweeping the space. "There it is."

A small booklet flew into the future Su Lin's hand. His eyebrow lifted, his lips curled upward. "As expected, it's here—I knew him well enough."

"What's this?" Luo Shengying turned her gaze to the earth-brown booklet, curious.

The future Su Lin didn't answer. He opened the first page.

【Who writes a diary, seriously?】

【Good thing I'm not serious.】

"…"

【March 1st — damn it all, of all things to study, you had to pick civil engineering.】

【March? — a thunderous roar splits the sky, and I make my grand entrance. Showing off is my specialty.】

……

【March 19th — I was wrong, I'm sorry, I can't show off anymore…】

【March 0th — I must be the protagonist, right? Today I…】

【April 7th — I have a bit of an impression of this round of lottery numbers, because they're consecutive. I just can't remember the last digits, so I'll just buy every possible last digit — double it! Here comes my seed money~】

【April 8th — Sorry, it really was just a dream. I'm such an idiot… my living expenses are gone, and I don't dare tell my family…】

……

【April 7th — The school actually refunded 700 yuan of dormitory safety deposit. No more instant noodles for me. Wait, which year was that pickled-cabbage-in-jar incident? I need to look it up… I】

【April 8th — I'm the protagonist. Where's my harem? Where are my quests…】

【April 9th — No ideas… the world is so peaceful…】

The future Su Lin flipped lazily through the diary, searching for clues, paying no heed at all to Luo Shengying's look that said "what an idiot."

"It's fine, being silly is kind of cute too…" she said, as if trying to convince someone else, or perhaps herself.

【Month 17th — I swear, in this life I will absolutely never team up with that idiot again! He nearly strangled me to death, trapped me in the past so I couldn't get back, and I fell from dozens of meters up into the sea and drank my fill of seawater! (Today I turned into light and got kicked by a sleazy uncle) But I took off.】

The future Su Lin's brows knit tight — from this point on, everything in the diary had changed.

【Month 18th — Starting cultivation today. It's freezing up in the sky, freezing my feet…】

【Month 19th — Gathering, very happy】

【July…】

"Why is the middle missing?" Luo Shengying leaned over and asked.

"Probably busy cultivating."

"Hey." That gentle hand landed on his head, and a faint orchid-scented breath brushed his ear. "What did you write in that old diary of yours?"

The future Su Lin forced a smile. "Let's keep reading."

【July 13th — Today I went out and followed the lottery center… I photocopied the evidence ten thousand times and sent them flying on swords…】 (felt great)

"As expected of me." The future Su Lin nodded. "Did what I'd always wanted to do."

End of chapter