Chapter 191: Matou Sakura or Tohsaka Sakura

Looking at the inexplicable smile on Bai Bai Zeming's face, Tohsaka Rin felt somewhat puzzled.

Before she could prepare, Bai Bai Zeming whispered, "I will explain this later, but for now, I hope you can cooperate with me and let Sakura transfer her Master authority to me..."

"Transfer it to you?"

Tohsaka Rin frowned slightly, her fine eyebrows knitting together. "You want Rider?"

Bai Bai Zeming shook his head. "No, if I'm not mistaken, Rider is already dead."

Tohsaka Rin frowned tightly. "Then I understand even less!"

Bai Bai Zeming whispered, "The Servants who descend into the present world are merely avatars of Heroic Spirits; their true bodies remain on the Throne of Heroes. Moreover, my Ling Zhou has been modified by Lin Dage and possesses some Special Techniques."

"As long as Sakura transfers the authority to me, I can 'resurrect' Rider!"

What?!

Tohsaka Rin stared with eyes like sapphires, looking at Bai Bai Zeming in disbelief.

Bai Bai Zeming paid no attention to her reaction and continued on his own: "As for after the resurrection, I will return her to Sakura. After all, my mana reserves are limited, and it is difficult to supply two powerful Heroic Spirits..."

"... Why?"

Tohsaka Rin stared at him fiercely. "I don't believe you would be so kind."

Bai Bai Zeming glanced at her. "In fact, I am that kind!"

Tohsaka Rin still didn't believe it.

Bai Bai Zeming sighed. "Alright, I do have some calculations of my own, but this is also for Sakura's sake and for our current alliance. Whether it is giving Sakura, whose family is now 'broken and destroyed', someone to rely on, or adding a Heroic Spirit combat force to the alliance, it is a good thing for both of us, isn't it?"

"..."

Hearing Bai Bai Zeming's words, Tohsaka Rin fell silent.

Putting aside the latter part for now, the former part, 'giving Sakura someone to rely on', indeed struck a chord in her heart.

As early as when she found Sakura in the Matou mansion, she had discovered Sakura's subtle alienation and fear towards her.

This was also normal; the Matou family was, after all, the place where Sakura had lived for over ten years. Even if the days there were like hell, it was still a hellish home.

Yet they had destroyed the Matou family. Given Sakura's nature, she would surely feel she had lost her home.

At such a time, the Servant Rider was indeed more like a pillar of support than her own blood sister.

After hesitating for a moment, Tohsaka Rin let out a long sigh. "I will not cooperate with you, but I will not stop you either."

"That is enough."

A smile appeared on Bai Bai Zeming's face, and he immediately turned and walked in front of Matou Sakura.

"Sakura, Tohsaka should have already told you what happened here, right?"

"..."

Matou Sakura's eyes darkened, and she nodded gently.

Bai Bai Zeming sighed in his heart, then said, "I know it is a bit presumptuous to say this now, but... I still hope you can transfer the Master's authority to me..."

"Bai! What are you saying?!"

Emiya Shirou frowned. "Didn't Rider already die?"

Bai Bai Zeming glanced at him. "So we can't waste any more time!"

Hearing this, both Emiya Shirou and Matou Sakura were stunned.

The latter seemed to understand Bai Bai Zeming's meaning. After hesitating for a moment, she still gritted her teeth and transferred the authority to Bai Bai Zeming.

And at the very moment the authority was transferred, a hallucination appeared before Bai Bai Zeming's eyes.

In a daze, he seemed to see a sea of mud interwoven with black and red, and the graceful figure at the edge of the black mud...

"That is... the corrupted Holy Grail?"

Bai Bai Zeming was shocked in his heart, then reacted quickly. He immediately activated the power left by Lin Yu and summoned that figure out again.

In an instant, the tall and graceful figure reappeared. The beautiful face obscured by an eyepatch showed a trace of confusion, seeming quite surprised by the scene before her.

Bai Bai Zeming had no time to explain to her.

Because the moment Medusa appeared, his mana began to flow away rapidly like a bursting flood.

Without any hesitation, he immediately spoke. In the shocked gazes of Emiya Shirou and Matou Sakura, he returned Rider's authority to her true master, Matou Sakura.

"Bai, you..."

Emiya Shirou looked at Bai Bai Zeming with some hesitation.

Matou Sakura also had no expectation of this scene.

Feeling the mana flow in his body slow down, Bai Bai Zeming sighed in relief and shook his head. "I know you have many questions now, but this is not the time to explain."

"Anyway, let's change location to talk first!"

Emiya Shirou and the Tohsaka sisters exchanged a glance and nodded one after another.

Shortly after, everyone returned to the Emiya house.

Tohsaka Rin suddenly stated she had some things to talk about with Sakura alone, then asked Bai Bai Zeming and Emiya Shirou out of the room, even kicking out her own Heroic Spirit, Red Archer.

In the courtyard, everyone, including the three Heroic Spirits, looked at each other in silence.

At this moment, Bai Bai Zeming's Shu Han Group had already switched to the Zhao Yun form. After all, Zhao Yun possessed the most powerful master-protecting skill, making him more suitable as a constant bodyguard than Guan and Zhang.

Emiya Shirou hesitated for a moment, then couldn't help but ask:

"Bai, do you know what Tohsaka wants to talk to Sakura about?"

"Who knows? Perhaps she wants to persuade her to return to the Tohsaka family..."

Bai Bai Zeming answered casually while opening the chat group.

Although he acted as if he didn't care much, in reality, he was extremely curious about what was about to happen in the room, even planning to try that group function he had never used before.

【Member 'Bai Bai Zeming' has started a live stream. Go watch now!】

【Su Su Haoming: Oh?】

【He He Jingfeng: Finally, a new member has tried this feature!】

In an instant, the idle members flooded into the live stream room.

【Su Su Haoming: Where is this? The Emiya residence?】

【Lin Lie: Ho ho ho, finally seeing the Awol King in person!】

【He He Jingfeng: Compared to the Awol King, isn't Zhao Yun beside her the main point?】

【Li Li Shimin: Not bad, quite the bearing of Uncle Yun in his youth!】

With the barrage from the members constantly flooding the screen, Bai Bai Zeming felt too embarrassed to adjust the camera.

After pondering for a moment, he typed in the live stream, informing everyone of what had happened here in the most concise manner.

【Su Su Haoming: I see!】

【Su Su Haoming: Then what are we waiting for? Hurry and switch over to take a look!】

As the lens zoomed in, the image passed through the mansion's walls and arrived inside the room.

There, Tohsaka Rin, dressed in a red skirt, knelt beside a low table, looking at Matou Sakura opposite her with a sincere yet anxious expression.

Matou Sakura bit her pink lower lip, her eyes shimmering with glistening ripples, and said softly, seeming somewhat lost:

"You... want me to go back?"

"If you are willing!"

"..."

Sakura lowered her eyelids, her hand holding the cup trembling slightly.

Tohsaka Rin sighed in her heart, then her expression hardened. She leaned forward slightly, placing her warm palm over Sakura's slightly trembling hand back, and repeated it in a serious tone.

"Are you willing to come back, Little Sakura?"

"..."

Little Sakura shook her head and said with a somewhat desolate tone.

"It's not too late yet!"

Tohsaka Rin leaned close to her younger sister and lowered her voice: "The Matou family no longer exists. Everything, including those past memories you don't want to recall, has been buried in the ruins!"

"..."

Matou Sakura's delicate body shivered. She looked up as if in disbelief, gazing at Tohsaka Rin opposite her, and said with a trembling voice:

"You... you know everything?"

"I only know the general idea."

Tohsaka Rin sat down again, her face full of guilt: "Classmate Bai told me that you lived very poorly in the Matou family. That bastard Shinji, jealous of your magical talent, often bullied you."

"The elders of the Matou family also turned a blind eye to this..."

Tohsaka Rin was still speaking with self-blame and guilt, not noticing that Sakura opposite her had relaxed her body, seemingly confirming something from her words, and sighing with relief in her heart.

"If I had known you lived poorly in the Matou family, how could I have left you there?"

Tohsaka Rin became more and more excited as she spoke: "Eleven years ago, Father, for the ridiculous reason of 'not wasting your magical talent', took it upon himself to adopt you into the Matou family."

"This kind of behavior of 'unilaterally thinking for others', I couldn't understand back then, nor could I judge it."

"But now, I understand that Father's approach was wrong!"

"Sakura, I don't want to be wrong anymore, so I absolutely will not repeat Father's mistakes!"

Speaking to this point, Tohsaka Rin took a deep breath and said with a serious expression words that made all the members in the live stream feel quite surprised:

"I want you to choose for yourself: stay in the Matou family and become the sole heir of the Matou family, or return to the Tohsaka family and come back to my side..."

"No matter which one you choose, I will fully support you and accomplish what Father failed to do back then."

"So, choose the answer your heart desires most, even if it really is the former, it doesn't matter!"

Sincere words echoed in the room.

The members actively commented in the live stream.

【Su Su Haoming: Ho, that's an unexpected answer!】

【Lin Lie: I thought she would forcefully demand Little Sakura return to the Tohsaka family...】

【He He Jingfeng: I thought so too...】

【Bai Bai Zeming: If it really is like this, what's the difference from Tokiomi back then?】

【Lin Yu: @Bai Bai Zeming, so, did you remind her of this?】

Bai Bai Zeming smiled and replied: "It has to be Lin Dage!"

Seeing this sentence, Lin Yu, who had already arrived outside the world, shook his head, seemingly not optimistic about Bai Bai Zeming's approach.

Clearly, Bai Bai Zeming's suggestion drew upon Chen Duo's experience from next door, but unfortunately, Matou Sakura is not Chen Duo.

Chen Duo was a child of extremely high talent, with exceptional comprehension, learning everything quickly; even if her values were somewhat abnormal, she could still clearly see what she truly wanted in her heart.

But Matou Sakura is different; she is just an ordinary girl, gentle, kind, inferior, and timid...

Compared to Chen Duo, she has no opinions of her own and easily goes with the flow; even if Tohsaka Rin gives her a choice, she will find it hard to see her own heart and muster the courage to choose.

"So, let me help you!"

Lin Yu smiled slightly and, Separated by Worlds, triggered the power he had left on Matou Sakura.

Returning to the live stream image, Matou tightly bit her lower lip, and a slight ripple appeared in her gaze.

"... Can it really start over?"

"Can we really start over?"

"Of course!"

【121】 Tohsaka Rin's expression was firm and serious, her warm palm gripping Little Sakura's hand tightly, transmitting her sincerity and body heat.

Matou Sakura gazed at the warm hand covering her own, which rested beside the teacup, her face slightly bowed and filled with struggle and hesitation.

Just then, a faint, almost imperceptible silver light flashed across her shoulder.

Matou Sakura, whose heart was in turmoil, suddenly froze, feeling a surge of courage rise from the depths of her soul.

Fear, inferiority, hesitation, and all manner of negative emotions were swept away in an instant, leaving her spirit clear and bright...

(End of this chapter)