VCRMM: Chapter 206
Xenos heard her whisper and couldn’t help laughing.
“Silly girl. Of course, I am real.”
He raised his hand and gently rubbed the top of Silin’s hair. As before, it was full of tenderness and love, as well as a bit of pity.
Silin felt the palm of his hand caressing her head and still couldn’t believe it. She grabbed his hand, stared blankly and whispered, “But this is your right hand…”
“And your legs…”
She looked down at the man’s long legs.
It had been so long… so long that she had forgotten that when her brother stood up, he was half a head taller than her.
“What is going on? How could I not be dreaming?” Silin looked up at Xenos. She couldn’t help suggesting, “Why don’t you hit me?”
If it hurt then she wasn’t dreaming, right?
Xenos didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Looking at her red eyes and the tip of her nose, he felt a bit sad.
He reached out and gently pinched the tip of her nose.
“As your brother, how can I be willing to hit you?”
After saying this, he opened his arms. He took Silin into his arms and gave her a solid hug.
“Silin, I’m not dead. I came back safe.” His voice was hoarse and his vision was a bit blurred. “I’m sorry to make you sad.”
Silin listened to the sound of his powerful heartbeat. The thumping sound hit her eardrums. The weak but real vitality in him told her—
All of this was true!
Joy hit her heart. Waves of unspeakable emotions surged up, causing the tears she had just stopped to fall again.
“Brother… is it really you? Did you come back alive?”
She cried and laughed, but was also full of doubts. “What’s going on? Where have you been all this time? How did you survive?”
“Your hands… and your legs…”
“They are all fine, they are all fine. Brother, this is real! Real!”
She seemed a bit incoherent and even a bit crazy. Xenos couldn’t help feeling guilt and distress. He took out the handkerchief and gently wiped away her tears.
“You calm down first. I’ll explain it to you slowly.”
Silin obediently took a deep breath, only to find that a few steps away from them, a silver-haired young man was standing there and smiling at her.
“Snow.”
“Imperial Sister, do you like this surprise?” The young man asked with a bit of smugness.
Silin was slightly stunned. She thought of her reluctance when she came back and her face turned red. She hurriedly grabbed the handkerchief in Xenos’ hand and wiped away her tears.
Her face was still full of joy and doubt. She asked, “Your Majesty, what is going on?”
“Let’s sit on the sofa and talk while we eat.” Xu Sili walked to the sofa and sat down. The coffee table was already full of refreshments. Of course, milk tea was indispensable.
Silin looked at Xenos with joy and vague unease in her eyes. She was obviously still worried that he would be an illusion.
Xenos saw her concern.
He didn’t say anything. He just gently grabbed her wrist and pulled her in the direction of the sofa.
As the two of them sat down, two more figures walked in from outside the bedroom.
“Imperial Brother, Imperial Sister!”
The boy’s voice was full of joy. Beside him was naturally Val Roland.
Joan wanted to be more stable but he hadn’t seen his brother and sister for a long time. He missed them very much, and his steps unknowingly moved a bit faster.
However, he couldn’t help pausing when he saw the silver-haired man sitting on the sofa.
Xenos looked at him and said with a smile, “Joan, do you remember me?”
Joan was only six years old when the beast wave happened four years ago. He might’ve forgotten Xenos.
“You are the oldest Imperial Brother!”
As a result, the young boy said in surprise, “Imperial Brother, you are still alive, just like Imperial Sister!”
Joan could no longer maintain his composure.
He happily ran over and hugged Xenos. “Great! Imperial Brother is still alive. It is really good. Wu…”
In the end, he actually started crying.
Xenos hugged him, gently rubbing the little boy’s head. He couldn’t help raising his eyes and glancing at Xu Sili, his eyes filled with gratitude.
It was Snow’s thoughtfulness that allowed him to return with integrity and dignity as he was now.
God knows, when he woke up from the repair cabin this morning and felt his legs and right arm again, he felt like he had a second life.
He buried this gratitude deep in his heart. It was just like Snow said. Brothers didn’t need to say this all the time.
Xenos lowered his head again, his lips curled up in a smile.
“Little Joan has grown up.”
Joan raised his head from the man’s arms. He cried with tears in his eyes. Then when he heard the words of his oldest brother, he quickly reached out and wiped away his tears.
“Yes, I have grown up.”
He continued, “I’m almost two stars now. I will become even more powerful! Brother and Sister, I will protect you in the future and won’t let you be hurt again!”
Xenos saw the little guy’s serious expression and felt warmth flowing to his heart.
He nodded and agreed.
After such a baptism, Xenos seemed to have returned to the restrained and gentle oldest prince from before. Still, it was obvious that he was different from before.
It was just like a piece of jade with all the impurities washed away. He became more transparent and radiant.
Val looked at the four of them with a gentle smile on her face.
After waking up again, she found out that a lot had happened in the past few years. She was lucky to be able to return to Roland and reunite with her family.
It was a pity…
Thinking of the late emperor who sacrificed his life to protect the empire, Val’s gentle smile couldn’t help becoming sadder.
Imperial Brother, have you seen it?
Roland, whom you swore to protect, is getting better and better in the hands of the children…
Xenos knew Aunt Val. After a pleasant chat, the two of them soon became familiar with each other.
After all, they had the same hair color, eye color, and the same pursuit. They all hoped that Roland could defeat the natural disaster of alien beasts and become strong again. It was natural that they would feel close to each other.
Soon, under Xenos’ narration, everyone knew what happened to him after the underground cave collapsed.
Silin felt embarrassed. Her heart was full of gratitude and respect for the ancient beast called ‘Fengqing.’
At this time, Xenos looked at Xu Sili again.
He said with a serious expression, “Your Majesty, the beast wave that happened four years ago is definitely related to the Bewatt Empire. They also laid out a bigger conspiracy on Escher Star!”
Xu Sili was stunned, while Silin said sadly, “Imperial Brother, the beast wave has already happened.”
Xenos couldn’t help being stunned. “What?”
“Bewatt set up special devices on Escher Star. Once they activated, the interstellar beasts rioted again and formed a beast wave.”
Silin explained it to him. “But don’t worry, we will definitely be able to defeat the beast wave this time!”
Xenos’ expression was a bit empty. “It was because of me…”
If Bewatt Star hadn’t captured him, they wouldn’t have left Escher Star early, let alone activated the devices early. So…
Xu Sili saw his expression and knew that it was going to be bad.
He was afraid that Xenos would think too much, so he didn’t discuss this matter with Xenos. But… it was impossible to hide it.
“In fact, I had expected it a long time ago.”
He said, “I made a lot of preparations in order to deal with the beast wave. I even went to an alien planet in person to bring back five mentors.”
“Five mentors?”
A bit of blood finally returned to Xenos’ face. He wasn’t afraid of fighting, let alone fighting against the interstellar beasts. However, he had to admit that he couldn’t face the destruction of his family again.
He looked at Xu Sili. “What do you mean…”
“These five mentors wandered around alien planets before the natural disaster a hundred years ago. They have been thinking about Roland for many years.”
Xu Sili continued, “After they returned, they brought back countless knowledge that had been lost for many years. For example, magic circle learning, elemental potions, elemental cuisine. Most importantly…”
“Their strength has all recovered to four stars.”
“Imperial Brother, you must’ve felt it as well, right? The bottleneck that restricted you from breaking through has disappeared and your cultivation speed has become faster.”
Xu Sili talked eloquently.
“This restriction was because all of Roland was sealed. Now I have unlocked two layers of the seal and all elementalists can grow to four stars.”
“Moreover, the probability of the birth of elementalists has increased significantly. Meditation and the body tempering methods have been popularized. In the near future, there will definitely be an explosive growth in elementalists.”
He looked at Xenos and said confidently and solemnly, “We are much stronger now than we were four years ago. We don’t need to be afraid of a new beast wave at all.”
“In addition, there are the braves.”
Xu Sili smiled slightly. “With them here, believe me. Sooner or later, the interstellar beasts on Escher Star will be wiped out!”
“Yes, Imperial Brother!” Silin also agreed. “The braves are really a group of extremely magical beings!”
“Do you know? They are able to come back from the dead! They aren’t afraid of death and they are very willing to help us through this.”
“In fact, they helped us delay the beast wave by almost seven days. We still have one month to prepare for the beast wave.”
The reason why the beast wave four years ago caused such huge losses was because they were caught off guard and the front line completely collapsed. As a result, the rear couldn’t organize an effective line of defense at all.
Now the situation was very different.
“Imperial Brother, Roland has changed a lot in the past four years. I will slowly tell you later.”
Silin’s face was filled with a spirit that had never been seen since she returned.
The hot vitality that glowed from the inside out showed how important Xenos’ safe return was to her.
Xenos looked at her, and the fear in his heart was strangely relieved. At this time, Xu Sili also said, “Yes, so you really don’t have to blame yourself for this.”
“Roland is going to be fine!”
Under their reassurance, Xenos finally calmed down. He nodded and said, “I understand. I will fight with you to the end.”
Xu Sili sighed with relief before continuing, “Tomorrow, I will hold a grand return ceremony for you and Imperial Sister to let everyone know that you are still alive.”
“You are all true heroes. You deserve such a celebration!”
“At the same time, I will announce the news of the beast wave at the ceremony and let everyone participate in the war.”
Xenos and Silin didn’t think he needed to bother so much, but they nodded in agreement after hearing his later words.
Since this was the arrangement of His Majesty the Emperor, they just needed to actively cooperate.
At this time, Xu Sili’s communicator rang.
He looked down and couldn’t help smiling slightly. After he replied, he raised his eyes to look at Xenos and said, “Imperial Brother, Brother Feng is here.”
Xu Sili couldn’t call his older brother by name, so he adopted a compromise.
“Is it Fengqing?” Xenos blinked. “Where is he?”
“I told him to wait in the garden of the palace.”
Xu Sili looked at him. “Are you going to surprise him?”
***
The afternoon sun wasn’t particularly warm. It was spring, the garden was lush, and the branches were covered with all types of exotic flowers.
Xu Fengqing looked at the flowers and was slightly distracted.
Almost a month had passed in reality, but the short yet profound days spent in the dense forest often came to mind.
He didn’t know how that person was doing now?
“You broke your promise.”
At this moment, a familiar and warm voice sounded from behind him.
Xu Fengqing was slightly stunned. He turned his head and saw a silver-haired man standing at the end of the path.
The man just stood there. Sunlight poured in through the gaps in the leaves and fell on him. His whole body was bright and there were no traces of awkwardness or a dark color.
“Ah Xe…”
Xu Fengqing subconsciously called out. Then after blurting it out, he quickly changed his words. “Xenos.”
“Call me Ah Xe.”
Xenos walked toward him step by step. At first, he walked very slowly.
He lost his legs for so long that he had forgotten how to walk. He needed a bit more time to regain his senses.
Looking at the dark-haired man on the other side of the road, he eventually lost his patience and walked faster and faster from the halfway point.
There were only two or three steps left before he could walk safely in front of the man.
However…
Xenos suddenly stumbled on something. He was unsteady and his body fell forward uncontrollably. Eventually… a pair of strong arms held him.
He subconsciously raised his head. Then he met the man’s dark and deep eyes.
“Fengqing.”
Xenos called out to him with a smile.
Xu Fengqing looked at him with lowered eyes.
After walking only a short distance, the man gasped slightly. Beads of sweat oozed on his forehead.
However, on such a pale and sickly handsome face, there was a beautiful smile that made him unable to look away.
Xu Fengqing couldn’t help looking at him twice.
During the days of surviving in the wilderness, he rarely saw Xenos smile, let alone a bright smile like now.
After helping him stand firmly, Xu Fengqing couldn’t hold it back any longer. He took out a handkerchief from his backpack and carefully wiped some eye-catching beads of sweat from the man’s forehead.
It wasn’t until he met Xenos’ slightly stunned eyes that he realized they were no longer escaping. Xenos… his body was already healed.
Xu Fengqing paused and wiped it for him casually. Then he took away his hand and stuffed the handkerchief into the other person’s thin and pale palm.
“You weren’t such a reckless person before,” Xu Fengqing said in a low voice.
Xenos pinched the handkerchief in his hand. The smile on his face subsided a bit, but his joy could still be seen.
“I’m just happy,” he said. “Don’t change the subject. Fengqing, you broke your promise.”
“You promised to wait for me outside the room.”
Xu Fengqing frowned slightly. He would indeed go online every day and wait outside the room. However, he was busy with the opening of the experience stores in the past few days and hadn’t gone online in a while. He didn’t expect to miss it.
He nodded. “It is my fault.”
Unexpectedly, he admitted his mistake so directly. Xenos paused and hesitated for a moment. “Then can you stay a bit longer?”
He looked at Xu Fengqing. “There is another beast wave outside. It is too dangerous. Why don’t you leave after the beast wave subsides?”
Xu Fengqing didn’t refuse. “That is what I planned.”
Originally, he was just going to send Xenos back. Then after meeting Snow Roland, he would delete his account to avoid doing anything that would affect the progress of the game.
However, he had no way to do that after confirming that Snow was Xiao Li.
He had experienced the despair of being powerless. Now he felt suffocated when he recalled the memory of Ah Xe trying to commit suicide in front of him and he couldn’t do anything.
The feeling of suffocation was something he had never experienced before. He didn’t want to experience it a second time.
He needed great strength. He needed to keep himself from dying.
Xiao Li only had one life in this world, just like Ah Xe. Their lives were so fragile that his heart was full of a sense of crisis.
Therefore, he wouldn’t hand over the account of the dark dragon. In addition, he would find ways to increase his strength.
Looking at the man’s determined expression, Xenos couldn’t guess what the other person was thinking but he still felt happy.
He looked at the man. Then he stepped forward and hugged Xu Fengqing with open arms.
Xu Fengqing’s body stiffened slightly but he didn’t push the other person away.
“Fengqing, thank you.”
Xenos closed his eyes and pressed his forehead to Xu Fengqing’s shoulder. “Thank you for bringing me back from the depths of the endless abyss. Thank you for letting me see the light again.”
“You hugged me before. Now I can finally give you a hug…”
His voice was so soft, as if it would be scattered in the wind at any time. But Xu Fengqing clearly heard every word in his ears.
“Ah Xe…”
He just raised the hand hanging by his side, but the man hugging him had already let go and stepped back.
There was a shallow smile on his face and his purple eyes shone beautifully in the sun. Xenos asked, “Fengqing, can we be friends now?”
Xu Fengqing’s raised hand was lowered again.
“I said, that wasn’t my reason.”
The light in the man’s eyes dimmed slightly. He was still smiling, but he couldn’t hide his sense of loss. “So… it still isn’t possible now?”
Xu Fengqing looked at him helplessly.
“Of course,” he said. “If you insist.”
Xenos blinked with a bit of surprise. He looked at Xu Fengqing and said very seriously, “Yes, I insist.”
Xu Fengqing looked back at him.
He refused at first because he didn’t want to interfere too much with the game process. But now… he didn’t have a choice any longer.
“Then as you wish.”
Xenos seemed to have settled a matter in his mind. His whole body was much lighter.
He looked at Xu Fengqing quietly for a while before coughing lightly. “Then I’ll go and prepare for tomorrow’s celebration.”
“Okay.”
Xu Fengqing watched the man turn and leave until his figure was about to disappear at the end of the path. Then he suddenly remembered something and took out a roll of long silver hair from his backpack.
It was from Xenos’ previous haircut.
By the time he looked up again, Xenos’ figure had completely disappeared. He hesitated for a moment before putting the hair back into his bag.
Let’s talk about it next time…
Soon, Xu Fengqing also disappeared.
He went offline.
Hundreds of Starry Sky Age game experience stores across the country officially opened for business the next day.
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Proofreader: Purichan