Chapter 482: Is It Possible?

A lengthy period of darkness.

Chen Xiaolian felt as though he was dreaming.

He dreamt that he was sitting on the roof of a high-rise building. He sat there on the edge of the roof with his legs dangling in the air. Down below him, endless number of cars drove to and fro. Due to the distance between him and the cars, the sounds of the vehicles failed to reach him.

The night breeze blew his hair.

He felt that something should be happening within this dream.

Subsequently, a hand appeared from his side to hand him a bottle of wine.

Chen Xiaolian turned his head to see a pair of eyes that shone like the moon and a face sporting a bright smile.

“Just keep going forward, I will… … always be by your side.”

I will… … always be by your side.

I will… … always be…  by your side.

Chen Xiaolian accepted the bottle of wine and watched as the face slowly disappeared.

He lowered his head to look at the bottle of wine in his hand and took a swig from it. As he did so, tears trickled down from the edges of his eyes.

Lies… … lies!

All lies!

“Hey, why did you have to say that? Why did you have to lie to me… … is it just to comfort me?”

Within this dream, Chen Xiaolian cast his gaze into the distance absent-mindedly.

…

The Tidal Fighter flew steadily over the cloud layer.

The atmosphere within the cabin was quiet to the point of being suppressive.

It was so quiet that they would be able to hear a needle falling on the floor.

No one spoke. Not a single word.

Roddy’s body was wrapped with bandages and he sat in the driver’s seat. He stared intently at the dashboard as his hands gripped the controller.

Lun Tai was standing beside him, scars from the earlier battle still marring his face. One of his arms was bandaged and there was a sling over one of his shoulders to support his arm. He focused his eyes on the clouds beyond the windshield.

Xia Xiaolei was seated inside the cabin. His head was lowered and he was clutching his head as he looked at the toe area of his feet.

Soo Soo curled herself up in a corner, her face against the corner as tears silently spilled out from her eyes.

Qimu Xi anxiously observed them all. However, she was unable to find any words to say. All she could do was to clench her fingers tightly until her knuckles became white.

Chen Xiaolian was lying inside a treatment module.

This module came together with the Tidal Fighter. Chen Xiaolian was submerged inside the module’s treatment solution – a light green liquid. A breathing apparatus was inserted into Chen Xiaolian’s mouth and he was able to breathe properly. His eyes were closed and his body continued to drift within the solution as his body slowly healed up.

Finally, he opened his eyes.

After opening his eyes, Chen Xiaolian, who was still inside the treatment solution struggled for a moment. His vision was blurry as the light green solution interfered with his sight.

After a brief struggle, the treatment module detected his actions and the cover automatically raised itself up. Chen Xiaolian sat up, pulled out the tube inserted into his mouth and coughed out a few times.

He looked around.

Roddy, Lun Tai, Soo Soo, Xia Xiaolei, Qimu Xi…

No one else.

Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath and looked around again.

He counted once more: Roddy, Lun Tai, Soo Soo, Xia Xiaolei, Qimu Xi…

No more.

Including myself, that makes six.

Mm, six.

Not seven.

“Guild, Guild Leader is up.”

Qimu Xi was the first to see Chen Xiaolian getting up and she quickly got up. The others inside the Tidal Fighter turned around. Roddy quickly got up from the driver’s seat and rushed toward Chen Xiaolian, bumping into Lun Tai as he did so.

Chen Xiaolian looked rather muddled and he knitted his brows slightly. His eyes appeared unfocused.

“Xiaolian!”

“Xiaolian!” Roddy called out twice and reached his hand out to wave it before Chen Xiaolian a few times.

Chen Xiaolian then raised his head to look at Roddy.

“All you all right? How are you?” Lun Tai, who was standing behind Roddy, asked in a low voice.

“… … …” Chen Xiaolian looked at Lun Tai. Next, he got out from the treatment module.

His whole body was soaked but he ignored it. He simply pulled a towel from a shelf to wipe his face before turning to face the others. “Is the instance dungeon over?”

“… … it is over,” Lun Tai said in a hushed tone. “We…”

“Are we on the way back home?” Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath. “Deputy Guild Leader, give me a report on the situation.”

Lun Tai was taken aback. He did not expect Chen Xiaolian to ask that from him. After a moment’s hesitation, Lun Tai considered the question and said, “The instance dungeon ended with us successfully completing the quest. The Demon King succeeded with his resurrection and all combats were forced to an end. We were then pulled out from the instance dungeon and teleported to a place several kilometres away from Tel Aviv. There were no other teams or participants in the vicinity… … so I decided to immediately bring out the Tidal Fighter and return everyone home. Right now, we are…”

“Enough!” Roddy furiously interrupted Lun Tai. Next, he stepped forward to grab Chen Xiaolian’s shoulder. “You… … just what is wrong with you? After what happened, you are asking about this? Qiao Qiao, Qiao Qiao is dead! She is dead!”

As he spoke, the redness within Roddy’s eyes could be seen.

Chen Xiaolian cast a cold and indifferent look at Roddy. His eyes were like sharp needles and he slowly pushed Roddy back. After that, he pried away the hand Roddy used to grab his shoulder and pushed it away.

“I know.” Chen Xiaolian’s tone was very cold. “I personally saw her disappear.”

Roddy was stunned. He was seemingly unable to recognize Chen Xiaolian. He stared intently at Chen Xiaolian for a few seconds before shouting, “What is wrong with you? Chen Xiaolian! How can you remain so calm? So calm! Qiao Qiao! That is Qiao Qiao! She is dead! Qiao Qiao is dead!”

As he shouted, tears rolled down Roddy’s cheeks.

As he spoke, Roddy moved to grab Chen Xiaolian, but was stopped by Lun Tai, who held him. Lun Tai held Roddy and cast a puzzled look at Chen Xiaolian. He frowned and whispered to Roddy’s ear, “Don’t get so excited… Guild Leader, he seems… … something doesn’t seem right.”

Doesn’t seem right?

Roddy watched as Chen Xiaolian walked coolly into a room. After he closed the door, the sound of water flowing could be heard coming from inside.

A few minutes later, a fully bathed Chen Xiaolian – he had washed off the treatment solution sticking to his body – with a new change of clothes on him walked out. He looked at the others within the cabin.

Soo Soo stood hesitantly in the doorway and Chen Xiaolian extended his hand toward her.

She quickly jumped forward, rushing into Chen Xiaolian’s arms.

“Sister! Sister is no more! No more! No more!” Soo Soo voiced out her feelings of agony.

Chen Xiaolian knitted his brows and he gently stroked Soo Soo’s head. His fingers were steady.

“Guild Leader, are you all right?” Xia Xiaolei was unable to help himself and asked with a whisper. “You… … if you want to cry, you can cry… … it is fine… actually, all of us had cried just now. You, you… … there is no need to hold it in right now, if you want to cry…”

As he spoke, Xia Xiaolei’s voice took on a choking tone.

With some difficulty, Chen Xiaolian looked at the others, a look of indifference on his face. He frowned and hugged Soo Soo. At the same time, he reached out to tap a finger on his forehead.

“I… … feel terrible. However… … for some unknown reason, right now, I don’t feel any desire to cry.” Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath. “It is strange… … Qiao Qiao is dead, she disappeared right before my eyes… … but why, right now, this place is… … empty. No feelings at all… …  a little… … not even a little.”

After saying that, he took a deep breath and his expression grew weirder.

“You… … what did you say?” Roddy suddenly grew furious. He forcefully extricated himself from Lun Tai’s hold and rushed to stand before Chen Xiaolian. Grabbing Chen Xiaolian by his neck, he shouted, “That is Qiao Qiao! Qiao Qiao! That is your woman! She died! You say you don’t feel anything? Not even a little? Chen Xiaolian! You bastard! Bastard!”

Chen Xiaolian simply allowed Roddy to grab his neck and shake him. He appeared dazed.

Yes… that is my woman.

But… why is it? My heart doesn’t feel sad.

Do I love her?

An answer quickly rose up within Chen Xiaolian’s heart: Of course!

So… … now that she is dead, am I sad?

Chen Xiaolian’s mind was blank.

His heart was empty, devoid of any emotion.

There is really nothing.

Not even a little bit.

So… empty…

Where is the sadness, the pain, the tears?

Why can’t I cry?

I… … have lost such an important person. So important, so precious…

I… … why am I not said?

Why?

Lun Tai stepped forward to grab Roddy back once again. This time, he held both of Roddy’s shoulders tightly. “Roddy! Roddy! Calm down! Guild Leader… … something is not right with him!”

Roddy panted furiously and looked at Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian reached out his hand and examined his own palm with a frown.

He… … something is really wrong with him?

Roddy quickly calmed down.

He looked at the others and saw that they were all casting peculiar gazes at Chen Xiaolian.

A few seconds later, Chen Xiaolian raised his head to look at them. He lowered his head to look at Soo Soo and took a deep breath. “I… … feel a little dizzy. I need to get some sleep. My mind is a mess. Lun Tai, you are in command. I… … I need… …”

As he spoke, his body swayed before suddenly falling into a seated position. Thankfully, Soo Soo was quick to react. She quickly hugged Chen Xiaolian to stop him from falling further. However, she then realized that his head had tilted over to the side and he had lost consciousness.

“What is wrong with him?”

“Hurry! Support him up!”

“Hurry!”

A few of them carried Chen Xiaolian and placed him on a bed within a restroom. After tucking him in, they all looked at him with baffled expressions.

Lun Tai retrieved the medical kit and checked Chen Xiaolian’s body.

“His… … his wounds are all right. The healing substance had already healed up his wounds. It is just his body that is still very weak.”

“It is probably… … the side effect of combusting his attributes,” said Roddy, who knew the most about Chen Xiaolian. “That move he used in the end will leave him in a very weak state for quite some time. He will need time to slowly recover. This is normal.”

“I… … something about Guild Leader doesn’t feel right to me,” whispered Qimu Xi. “Sister Qiao Qiao sacrificed herself, but he…”

“Shut up!” Soo Soo abruptly screamed at Qimu Xi. “Shut up! Xiaolian oppa is very sad! He must be feeling very sad! He must be doing his best to suppress his feelings of grief! How can you all say that about him! Sister is no more, the one to feel most heartbroken is surely Xiaolian oppa!”

Qimu Xi took a step back and whispered, “No, that is not what I mean. I mean, maybe Guild Leader is feeling too much grief. So, he is now in an erratic state. We…”

“Enough.” Lun Tai pressed down on Qimu Xi’s shoulder and said in a hushed tone, “There is no misunderstanding here. I understand what Qimu Xi is trying to say.”

After saying that, he turned to face the others. “I don’t know much about this. However, I have heard before that when someone is facing too much grief, in some rare instances, they would react in a different way compared to the norm. They would suffer from acute stress reaction and react differently compared to normal people. They would appear calm, but are in fact experiencing extreme sadness. They are just not showing it, choosing to keep it inside instead… … maybe, Xiaolian is now suffering from that.”

Pausing, Lun Tai then continued with a whisper, “Let him rest first. When he gets up, don’t tug on his emotions anymore. Right now, there is no way to know how he is feeling. We will continue this after we reach our base.”

…

Jerusalem airport.

Nicole was wearing a big pair of sunglasses, which covered half her face as she sat in the waiting hall.

Beneath the glasses were faint traces of injuries that had yet to fully heal. Bruises and tear could be seen on the edges of her mouth.

After looking at the time, Nicole furrowed her brows.

That fellow… … did not come.

Could he have died? Killed by Mene?

He died just like that?

Nicole felt somewhat anxious.

It was then that the sound of wheels moving through the floor came from behind her.

Nicole turned around to see that a wheelchair had, unknown to her, made it behind her.

That fellow was seated on the wheelchair. On the familiar face was the smile that was simply begging for a beating. However, his head was wrapped in bandages. One of his hands rested in a slung before him.

“Anxiously waiting for me?” Tian Lie smiled. “Or were you hoping I had died?”

Nicole breathed a sigh of relief. Then, she revealed a sneer. “If you had died, maybe I would feel happier.”

“Women… … you never speak your mind.” Tian Lie deliberately sighed before shaking his head. “All right. After this time’s experience, we have already established a friendship through combat. Let us not bicker around anymore.”

As he spoke, he tried moving his neck, but the pain caused him to grimace.

“Were you really that badly wounded by Mene?” Nicole shook her head.

“Humph.” Tian Lie pulled a face and said, “You should go see Mene. He is ten times worse than me.”

“In other words, neither of you could kill each other?” Nicole asked curiously. “Is Mene that strong?”

The smile on Tian Lie’s face faded and a look of seriousness replaced it. “He… is very strong. As expected of the leader of the knights. However… … I should have been stronger. It is just…”

“Sure, sure, stop bragging.” Nicole shook her head. “You have been beaten to the point where you have to sit on a wheelchair and you still want to act in such a conceited manner.”

Tian Lie smiled nonchalantly.

He whispered to himself: It is just that… … I have yet to regain my full power.

“You entered the magic array area. What happened? I received the system prompt stating that we won. How did things go? Tell me about it.” Tian Lie stretched his body that was on the wheelchair.

As he was stretching however, Tian Lie froze.

It was due to what Nicole said.

“We won, but… … someone from Meteor Rock Guild died. Qiao Qiao was killed.”

“… … …”

Tian Lie narrowed his eyes and he looked at Nicole. “You said… … Qiao Qiao died?”

“Yes, she died.”

Tian Lie frowned. “Tell me about it in detail.”

A few minutes later, Nicole finished telling Tian Lie what happened at the end and the concern etched on Tian Lie’s brows grew.

“Angel Wings, Angel Wings… … it is the Angel Wings!” He then snickered before sneering. “To think that those psychos from Jerusalem could have gotten their hands on this kind of sacred relic! Humph…”

“I also felt puzzled by this. From what I know, this thing should not be in Mene’s hand! It should be someone else.” Nicole deliberately turned to look at Tian Lie. “If my source is right, the Angel Wings should be in the hands of Thorned Flower Guild.”

Tian Lie was silent. He knitted his brows and pondered.

Nicole shook her head. Seeing Tian Lie turn quiet, she stopped asking any further. After a while, she suddenly spoke out, “Right, there is one more thing…”

“What?”

“Mm… … I do not know if I was mistaken, but I keep getting this strange feeling.” Nicole thought about it. “When… … Qiao Qiao was about to die, I felt a trace of magic fluctuation.”

“Magic fluctuation?” Tian Lie revealed a curious expression.

“Yes, magic fluctuations.” Nicole thought about it and continued, “Back then, I was not too far away from Chen Xiaolian. I could clearly sense a trace of magic fluctuation then. Additionally, this magic fluctuation was directed at Chen Xiaolian’s body.”

“Wait. You mean to say… … when Qiao Qiao died, someone cast a spell on Chen Xiaolian?”

“Mm.”

“What spell is it?”

“I don’t know.” Nicole shook her head, a wry smile on her face. “Back then, no one else noticed it. I was the only one who did… … it would be more accurate to say that those fellows from Meteor Rock Guild are not too familiar with magic. Thus, they were unable to sense it, but I did. However, as to what kind of magic was used, I do not know… … at any rate, iy did not seem like a malicious one. I did not see anything bad happen to Chen Xiaolian.”

“So, who was the one who cast the magic spell?” Tian Lie asked.

Nicole’s eyes took on a peculiar expression. “I do not know… … back then, inside the underground palace, there were only three people from the Magic Division. Natasha possesses frost powers. However, I am certain it was not her. Back then, she was already wounded and unconscious. Additionally, she was in a very weak state.

“The other two… … one of them is the flame throwing, light attribute girl, Soo Soo.

“The last one is… … Qiao Qiao herself.”

“A magic spell with good intentions… … what is it?”

“I believe it is not of the physical type. After Chen Xiaolian was targeted by it, there was no change to his body. I think I must be of the spiritual or mental type… … however, that is all I can deduce. I am not a magus after all.” Nicole shook her head. “I had just fought against magi before. I underwent defence training against magic-type opponents, so I am more sensitive to magical fluctuations. But in the end, I am not a magus myself.”

Tian Lie nodded his head. “And?”

“And then the instance dungeon ended. Everyone within the underground palace was forced out. I was teleported into Jerusalem. Then, I followed what we agreed upon and came to the airport to wait for you. If you had not come, I would have assumed that you had died and leave by myself.”

Tian Lie nodded again and cast a glance at Nicole. “Right, when you were with them, did you end up exposing your identity to them?”

Hearing that question, Nicole frowned and revealed a wry smile.

Exposed?

Probably… not…

…

“Fool… that is not how you use a Floater.”

Roddy’s eyes snapped open.

He found that he had somehow fallen asleep in the driver’s seat. It appeared that he was too tired after the fight.

In his dream, he saw that strange woman again.

The… … the woman who controlled the Floater.

Ah, right! Floater!

Beads of cold sweat suddenly oozed out from Roddy’s forehead.

By controlling the Floater in the final battle, she successfully pulled the angel form Arte away… however…

After the instance dungeon ended, the Floater… … she took it away.

Roddy’s heart gave a pound and a thought came into his mind.

She… … she is… … she… is…

This… … is it possible?

…