PFRG: Chapter 45

“Aren’t you going back together?”

Cao Ji shook his head after hearing such a question.

He turned around. Behind him was the castle, which was suddenly brightly lit.

The descendants of the heroes stood at the edge of the gate. The falling light stretched out their shadows, but it was soon swallowed up by the darkness outside.

“Thank you so much for everything you have done for Aleran, Mr Chi. Unfortunately, we can’t go back.” Finally, Cao Ji withdrew his gaze and opened his mouth to speak in a low voice. “You said one thing incorrectly when you were upstairs just now. The demons haven’t been completely eliminated yet.”

“It shouldn’t be.” Chi Ting was about to think about whether there was anything missing when he realized something. He saw Cao Ji’s calm gaze and the words blurted out paused slightly. “What are you talking about…?”

Cao Ji’s gaze passed over the descendants of the heroes around him. He showed a very helpless smile. “Yes, even after being cleansed, it still can’t change the reality that we have been polluted. The demon’s blood left in the body is destined to make us monsters like them sooner or later. It is very regrettable that even though we want to go back and rebuild Aleran with everyone, we really can’t go back.”

He looked beyond Chi Ting to the ancient city at the foot of the mountain. His expression was a bit distant for a moment. “But even without us, I believe that they can restore Aleran to its former prosperity.”

OF course, Chi Ting knew that the ‘they’ in this sentence should refer to the heroes who remained in the contract station and hadn’t been claimed yet.

Even without them, this ancient city could still be rebuilt.

However, even though he was clear about this in his heart, he still looked up and glanced at the raging fire that had been ignited in the city at some point. For a while, Chi Ting felt a bit complicated. “If I had known that you would still ask for death in the end, I don’t think there was any need to choose such a troublesome road.”

At this moment, Yue Ren next to him also looked over.

Cao Ji obviously hadn’t expected to hear such a complaint at this time. He was slightly startled before slowly shaking his head. “It is different. If our flesh and blood were sacrificed, our destiny would be to become shackles that imprison those demons for eternity, trapped under the city with them. Now, our souls would be completely free if we voluntarily sacrifice ourselves in the sea of fire. Your appearance has indeed saved us. Now, let’s put an official end to the curse of those demons.’

Speaking of which, Cao Ji retreated to the gate of the ancient castle with the other descendants of the heroes.

They all bowed again in Chi Ting’s direction. “Thank you, Mr Chi. We won’t see each other again in the future.”

Chi Ting stood still and didn’t move.

The light of the fire fell into his eyes. The sight of these people bending down respectfully was engraved even deeper. It wasn’t until the gate of the castle closed again that calm was restored in the dark night.

Would there be no future after this?

Cao Ji’s words let him know that he had indeed helped free these NPCs, but he still wasn’t completely comforted.

Chi Ting turned his head and glanced at the man next to him. “I will ask you a question.”

Yue Ren also spoke. “You answer my question first.”

“Say it.”

Yue Ren wondered, “What do you mean that if you knew they would beg for death, you wouldn’t have chosen such a troublesome path? Didn’t you choose the second choice for me?”

Chi Ting was dumbfounded. “…Is that what you want to ask?”

Yue Ren nodded. “Answer carefully.”

“……”

Chi Ting thought about it for a while. Then he gave an honest answer from the perspective of a human being. “There is no doubt about this. I will choose the second choice. The main reason is naturally because of you.”

Yue Ren’s mood obviously became happy in an instant. He smiled. “Okay, you can ask.”

Chi Ting glanced at the castle that was already on fire. “Based on your experience in the Love Apartment, once all, the players are teleported away…”

“The instance will be restarted directly.”

Without waiting for him to finish speaking, Yue Ren guessed Chi Ting’s thoughts and gave a direct answer. “Once the restart is completed, it doesn’t matter whether it is the dead demons or the descendants of the heroes. They will all return to their original appearance. Cao Ji and the others will once again be contracted slaves and will be screened by the new batch of arriving players at the contract station. Everything here will be restored to its original state. All our past appearances will be deleted from their memories, and no one will remember us. Nothing here will change at all.”

The expected answer made Chi Ting take another look at Yue Ren.

The man used extremely understated words, but he could imagine the long loneliness waiting behind this answer.

There was a pause before Chi Ting asked, “So in the Love Apartment, you went through the restarts again and again? Or did you watch the restart of the world?”

Yue Ren was visibly stunned for a moment, and the smile on his face gradually faded. “How do you know”

“I guessed it after leaving the instance. Then thinking about it carefully, I should’ve realized it when inside the instance. At that time, you said an unfamiliar name to Li Hou. It should be part of a group of players who came to the apartment before.”

Chi Ting noticed the gradually colder atmosphere around Yue Ren. He had no intention of avoiding it. Instead, he stared directly into Yue Ren’s eyes and asked sincerely, “Experiencing such a restart repeatedly with memories should be a very bad experience, right? Since you had the key to passing the instance, why not choose to leave as soon as possible?”

“It is really bad, but I think I’ve already answered your question about why I didn’t leave, Mr Chi.”

Yue Ren’s deep eyes gradually filled up with Chi Ting’s figure. Under the gaze of the other person, who seemed to want to see through him, he restrained his coldness and once again showed a shallow smile. “I really didn’t lie about this. I am indeed a picky eater. The NPCs in the instance can’t leave directly through your portal. If I have to use the medium of a shadow, I hope that the means of transportation I take can at least have the smell that I like.”

As he spoke, he leaned a bit closer and sniffed at Chi Ting’s neck meaningfully. “I like your smell very much.”

At close range, Chi Ting could feel the hot breath on his skin.

He took a slight step back and widened the distance. He glanced at Yue Ren’s demeanor that didn’t seem to be fake, and paused. Finally, he sighed deeply and helplessly. “It seems that my second question has also been solved. If I want to take them away directly, it won’t work. I can only think about it and use the help of some other media.”

Yue Ren caught the meaning of Chi Ting’s words and was a bit curious. “Can you take them out of here?”

Chi Ting nodded before shaking his head. “It is probably out of the question to take them out alive, but I can give it a try after they die. However, it is just a try. I don’t know much about the situation of this world. I can’t guarantee the final result.”

This answer made Yue Ren examine Chi Ting again from top to bottom.

He wanted to ask something else, but he heard a rush of footsteps coming from the mountain road.

He looked back. What he saw were several figures who had left and returned.

During the battle against the demon army, Ji Xingque was at the forefront and was extremely exhausted after the battle.

Originally, he had already walked down the mountain with the support of Huang Xinjue and the others. Then he spotted the fire burning in the castle in the distance. He was worried that something had happened, so he hurried back again.

At this time, he returned to the open space in front of the castle and saw Chi Ting sitting on a boulder, facing directly in the direction of the castle and staring at the blazing fire in front of him.

Ji Xingque’s physical strength had already dropped to the extreme, and his brain had almost stopped functioning. There was only a blank look on his face when he saw this scene. “Captain, what is this?”

“Cao Ji and the others have been contaminated with the blood of the demons. They took the initiative to stay here to settle the matter.” Chi Ting’s answer was concise. Once he finished speaking, he waved his hands. “You guys go out first and get to know each other. I’ll stay here and see if I can help them collect their corpses.”

“Collecting their corpses?” Huang Xinjue and the other players didn’t know what was going on. Ji Xingque immediately reacted and said in astonishment, “Captain, are you trying to… but they are NPCs!”

Chi Ting nodded. “I know that this instance will be restarted soon. I’m not sure if it will be useful, but I’ll give it a try anyway. Just in case, right?”

The state after experiencing a fierce battle was really not suitable for too much consumption. If it was anyone else from his previous team, they would probably be difficult to persuade.

However, the one here now was Ji Xingque, who always acted casually and accepted the decision of his captain very calmly. “Then you must pay attention to the time. Remember to come out before the countdown of the portal ends. As for me, I won’t accompany you now. Captain, I’m really too tired. I have to go out first and let the system restore my strength.”

Chi Ting waved his hand indifferently without the slightest nostalgia. “Go ahead.”

“……”

Ji Xingque glanced at the man standing beside Chi Ting. He didn’t understand why only this NPC stayed here without entering the fire, but he still didn’t say anything. He only told Huang Xinjue and the others to leave.”

It wasn’t until they walked away that Yue Ren asked curiosity, “Collect the corpses?”

Chi Ting replied, “Yes. To be precise, it should be considered a ceremony to help the soul find peace.”

It was obvious from Yue Ren’s expression that he was very curious, but Chi Ting didn’t answer anything. He stood on the stone with his head propped on his chin. His eyes were a bit tired, and he quietly waited for the fire in front of him to end.

It wasn’t just Ji Xingque. Chi Ting was also very tired.

The flames lit up the entire sky and continued to burn like this for a long time.

It wasn’t until the last ten minutes of the portal’s existence that Chi Ting woke up from his long daze and dragged his tired body to stand up.

It was almost time.

If it continued to burn, then there might really be no bones left.

Yue Ren saw that Chi Ting finally made a move. Out of curiosity, he thoughtfully stepped aside to free up a position.

Chi Ting stood in front of the crumbling door of the castle. His calm eyes swept over it, and he slowly stretched out his hand.

The slender red thread cut across the palm of his hand like a sharp blade. The blood seeping from the cut wound quickly blended into the filament, dyeing the already strong color even more magnificently.

On the gradually soaked red thread, the blood condensed into beads little by little.

Eventually, they slowly fell from the sky.

They landed silently.

As some dust was splashed, a tiny bit of white light burst out from the dripping blood beads.

From Yue Ren’s perspective, one could feel layers of wind spreading around Chi Ting.

Under the fluttering hem of his clothes, a holy light spread silently in all directions like a layer of gauze. It quickly shrouded everything it touched as if afraid of disturbing the surrounding environment.

As the white light covered his body, Yue Ren felt an overly gentle aura that he had never experienced before.

He was in a trance for a moment as he looked at the magnificent fire with emotion.

The castle had long been covered with such a thin light.

The surrounding bright light started to gradually shrink. It was as if the light of thousands of tiny fireflies gathered silently. Then they converged bit by bit into their final form.

In the silence, phantoms formed one after another and slowly came to the gate of the castle in the light of the fire.

Their new bowing movements were just like when they said goodbye before, full of gratitude and piety.

Chi Ting’s tone was gentle. “Are you willing to follow me?”

Cao Ji, who had turned into an illusory shadow, slowly lowered his eyes. Next to him were the equally translucent descendants of the heroes.

“I am willing.”

Their voices full of relief were heard in unison.

The moment these words came out, a dazzling light spread from the shadows and covered all the surrounding scenes.

Once calm finally returned, they ceased to exist like it was an illusion. Only a row of white bone beads that had fallen to the ground were left behind.

Chi Ting smiled with satisfaction and opened his palm.

All the bone beads were strung together with red thread as if summoned. The re-woven beads fell quietly into his hands again.

Chi Ting gently stroked the freshly made beads and beckoned in a good mood. “Okay, we can go back.”

If there was really someone who wanted to save the world, the person in front of him was undoubtedly the only mortal who could save the world.

Such a scene fell into Yue Ren’s eyes, and such a thought came to his mind.

At this time, Chi Ting was clearly covered in the dazzling firelight. However, it could be seen that his face had visibly turned a sickly white color. After turning around, his body swayed slightly due to some loss of strength. He was directly supported by Yue Ren.

Yue Ren glanced down at the string of beads on the other person’s wrist before slowly looking up.

Now he finally knew where the beads came from. For a moment, he felt it was more and more interesting. “It turns out that your ability isn’t the summoning type.”

Chi Ting gave him a strange look. “When did I say that I was a summoner?”

“Yes, you didn’t say that.” Yue Ren retracted his gaze and smiled slightly. “But your death-based ability seems quite interesting. It seems that as long as they are dead, you can use them as your own combat power?”

“No, the phantoms you saw aren’t actually them. They are just shells left behind. No one has the right to manipulate the souls of others. Since they are dead, they should be allowed to return to their final peace.” Chi Ting walked while giving a frank introduction. “In addition, my ‘ceremony to help the soul find peace’ can only save voluntary people. They either sincerely want to follow me or they surrender to me from the bottom of their hearts.”

Having said this, he glanced at Yue Ren and smiled jokingly. “Someone like you should be completely out of my control.”

“Oh?” Yue Ren’s eyes curved, and he slowly smiled. “Don’t be so sure. You have to try it to find out.”

Chi Ting shrugged in a noncommittal manner.

In the middle of the fountain square, all the players except for two had left.

The liberated descendants of the heroes were busy coming and going.

They walked in the night and passed from time to time, unaware of the existence of the portal.

It was just as Yue Ren said. For these NPCs, this door of hope that sent players away had never belonged to them.

Chi Ting paused before slowly walking into the portal.

Unlike the previous time, Yue Ren also stepped in and walked beside him this time.

Chi Ting’s gaze slowly swept over the ancient city before finally landing on the beads on his wrist.

He had finally decided to give it a try, but he wasn’t sure if this approach could completely free the NPCs who suffered so much in this instance.

But no matter what, since Yue Ren could leave the instance through his own means, it should be regarded as using formal channels to take people away, right?

The moment Chi Ting and Yue Ren entered the portal, the countdown to the instance closure also started.

The final countdown ended.

The two figures disappeared from the center of the square.

The surrounding NPCs passed by in a hurry without attracting any attention.

[The countdown is over. The ‘Lost Treasure’ instance has been closed. I look forward to you coming again.]

[Congratulations to the players Chi Ting and Yue Ren for clearing the ‘Lost Treasure’ instance!]

[The instance reward is being calculated. Please wait…]

…….

[All players have left, and the ‘Lost Treasure’ instance is being restarted.]

[Didi—! 15 data errors were detected. A new database is being generated.]

[Too much data is missing, and the restart failed.]

[Insufficient backup date. The attempted repair failed.]

[There is an unknown glitch. The ‘Lost Treasure’ instance passage is temporarily closed.]

…….

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