Chapter 26: Pole Vaulting onto the Line

He assumed the others in the group had also learned about his emotional experiences, but the rest, aside from Wang Luffy, weren't faring any better than him.

Ye Fan closed out Dou Po Cang Qiong, revealing a wry smile—he never expected Xiao Yan was such a romantic.

Actually, sending these stories privately wouldn't help; someday, when the others in the group visited other worlds, they'd naturally come across the relevant information.

Even if Su Lin didn't post them in the group, Ye Fan would still have to search online for others' stories once he went to Su Lin's world.

Baidu? Who doesn't know how to use it?

So he didn't ask Su Lin to send them privately; instead, he openly showed them all to everyone.

Aside from some minor details, the main experiences are still largely the same.

He gave a contemptuous glance at the big black dog beside him.

And he, now an Emperor, had still been tricked by this thing—forced into amnesia, marriage, and fatherhood—all just for the sake of the Innate Holy Body and Dao Body.

Ye Fan couldn't help but exclaim, "Damn!"

You've been obsessed with your Innate Holy Body and Dao Body for how many years now?

The Black Emperor felt a chill run down his spine, sensing Ye Fan's gaze.

"Woof! What are you plotting, kid?!"

When you go to the Earth in Su Lin's world, head straight to Yulin and buy two jin of dog meat—spent your whole life being blacked by a black dog.

"Nothing," Ye Fan said, smiling as his white teeth flashed.

Han Li: "By the way, how is Luffy's brother doing? @Master Meng Qi."

Han Li, having finished reading The Legend of the Condor Heroes, noticed movement in the group and decided to join the chat.

Luffy: "Oh! Su Lin previously returned with me to that time and saved Ace and Uncle Whitebeard!"

Ye Fan: "Next time, can I visit the other worlds?"

Aside from the similar Earth, to say he didn't want to explore other worlds was a lie—he was tired of constantly scheming and fighting with these aristocratic sects, holy lands, and alien imperial princes.

Especially after reading the novel detailing his own future experiences.

Ye Fan felt both joy and pressure.

Some things he couldn't understand had become clearer through this novel, and emotional knots had formed in his heart.

These weren't problems he should be worrying about at his current time, yet he couldn't help but dwell on them.

The Black Emperor eyed Ye Fan suspiciously—this guy had been acting strangely these past two days.

Could he have gone mad from cultivation?

Does the broken Holy Body path have side effects?

Luffy: "Welcome! I'll call you next time we throw a banquet."

Han Li pondered—if the group strictly forbade members from harming or plundering each other, then visiting other worlds now might be safe enough.

Of course, he should first learn about the others' related experiences in the group.

Han Li: "Then I humbly accept your invitation."

Luffy asked: "What does 'Liman' mean by that?"

"It means he's willing to come."

"So complicated."

After all, it was hard for Luffy to grasp such phrases.

Xiao Yan: "Excellent, excellent."

Xiao Yan planned to visit other worlds after the three-year pact with Yunhai Sect.

If possible, he could awaken his teacher first before going.

Knowing his future self, he felt immense gratitude toward his past teacher, the White Zunzhe.

His teacher was utterly trustworthy—he was willing to share this opportunity to visit other worlds with his teacher.

Weigong Shilang: "Excuse me, everyone—I'm sorry to interrupt, but may I ask: are these events truly things that will happen in the future?"

The pole-vaulting protagonist—no, Weigong Shilang—after being shot by a man in a blue spandex suit last night, had woken up dazedly in the school building, returning home with a red gem pendant.

Then the man in spandex broke into his home and attacked him again.

Luckily, he summoned Saber, a golden-haired female knight, who repelled the spear-wielding soldier.

Coincidentally, his classmate Tohsaka Rin arrived at his door at that moment.

When he woke up, he found himself in a burning wasteland.

Probably a massive fire had broken out.

The streets he knew well had turned to ruins, like battlefield ruins seen in movies.

……In all this, Weigong Shilang found it utterly unbelievable that he alone remained unharmed.

He had dreamed this same dream countless times already.

This was the fire scene from ten years ago.

If both parents and home vanished, a child would have nothing left.

So everything except his body had disappeared.

To put it simply, Weigong Shilang thought in very simple terms.

Namely, as the price for keeping his body alive.

His soul had already died.

Weigong Shilang had a familiar dream.

A familiar morning—he was awakened by his junior, Sakura.

He trained his body, then rinsed off carelessly.

After breakfast, as usual, he packed his bag and headed to school.

He went to help the student council with repairs, and studied after the lunch break.

In the evening, that guy Shinji asked him to help clean the archery club.

The main reason he agreed to that guy was largely because he had once been a member of the archery club himself.

After trying out a stance of drawing the bow once, Weigong Shilang shook his head and packed up the cleaning tools.

Time to head home.

After leaving the archery club, Weigong Shilang walked through the schoolyard; a gust of wind blew past, and his cheeks went stiff from the cold.

"Ha——."

A white mist lingered in the sigh he exhaled.

Winter in Fuyuki isn't all that cold, even at night—only today was especially cold.

In air so cold that even his fingertips felt like they might freeze, Weigong Shilang hunched his body and endured it, wanting to get home a little faster.

Ding——

It seemed he had heard some kind of sound.

It must have been his imagination.

He looked up at the sky; dark clouds covered it, and with no moon tonight the campus seemed even darker.

Zzzt——

Not his imagination?

Weigong Shilang had indeed heard some kind of sound.

On the other side of the campus.

Driven by curiosity, he moved toward the source of the sound.

Clang——

The sound grew clearer and clearer.

Like the sound of some kind of metal weapons clashing.

'Someone is hacking at each other with weapons?'

'I'm overthinking this.'

At first Weigong Shilang thought it was his imagination—after all, how could you hear something like this at school late at night?

Until he saw a scene that nearly froze his consciousness.

A man in red and a man in blue.

Dressed unlike modern people, in bizarre armor, just as he had imagined, they really were hacking at each other.

Incomprehensible—their movements were beyond what the eye could follow.

Their actions felt so utterly unreal that Weigong Shilang simply stood there dumbfounded, staring blankly.

The clashing of metal rang out continuously, accompanied by sparks flying, forcibly making Weigong Shilang understand that those two were trying to kill each other.

In that instant, Weigong Shilang understood.

That was not a speed or strength any human should possess.

As a novice magus, he shouldn't get involved with something like this.

At the edge of that battlefield thick with killing intent,

Weigong Shilang broke free from his fear, wanting to set his legs in motion and carefully escape the place.

'Could the serial killer they mentioned on TV be them?'

Just as his consciousness finally shook his body into moving and he took a step—

"Who's there!"

A sharp shout rang out from the man in blue.

He couldn't even let his gaze meet theirs; in that instant, Weigong Shilang's desire to survive drove him to break into a run.