CH 28.2

The initial trepidation of talking to her family had gone, and Sophia’s tone was calm.

Sophia had grown a lot after the past incidents.

“And then I’ll probably move out and live the life I want. Miss Xin…” Sophia paused and changed her words awkwardly, “Brother Xin, let me tell you a secret. I don’t like any roses at all. It was Mr. Mo who said he liked roses the most, so I went along and said I liked roses too. My favorites are daisies.”

Sophia’s voice had become a little breathless, and Bai Lixin slowed down his pace. “Have you thought about what to do in the future?”

The girl shook her head, “Not yet. The first step is to be myself. I want to change myself so that I can stop catering to others, say what I don’t like and do what I want.”

Her cheeks flushed as she secretly peeked at the tall, handsome man beside her.

Bai Lixin was unbelievably gorgeous in women’s clothes, but in men’s clothes, he was a different kind of grace.

He was like a fiery flame when in women’s clothes, strong and lustrous. He looked cold yet so hot that others dared not approach.

In men’s clothes, he was as cool as the moon, and his body exuded a sense of majesty that was not arrogant.

When he first came over in men’s clothes, she thought he was Miss Xin’s twin brother, but she didn’t expect it to be Miss Xin herself.

Sophia, “Brother Xin, why did you come to the castle? Was it because of my father’s bounty that you came?”

Bai Lixin, “No, you will know why later. I would have come even without the bounty.”

Later?

All right! Brother Xin would not harm her anyway!

Sophia didn’t ask any more questions, but she was still a weak girl and got tired after running for a while.

They then slowed down and arrived in town the next day.

The first thing Sophia did was to return home, accompanied by Bai Lixin.

When the richest man saw Sophia, he immediately walked up in anger and raised his hand to strike Sophia in the face.

Bai Lixin’s eyes were quick, and quickly he grasped the man’s wrist.

Sophia’s father struggled a few times but was unable to free himself, so he gave up. But he still raised his head and scolded Sofia, “You bitch, how dare you come back?! Our family has lost all face!”

He took something out of the drawer and slammed it down in front of Sofia, “Look at what you did! You slept with that devil and got pregnant with his child! How can you be so lowly!”

Sophia took a close look at what he brought out; it was her diary.

Sophia’s eyes were red, but she forced herself not to shed a single tear.

Just when she was overwhelmed, a slender figure bent over and picked up the diary, interrupting the man before he could start his next round of abuse. “Enough. Family is supposed to be a haven for the children when they are hurting, but you have turned it into a cold vanity fair, beating, scolding, and labeling the members with a price tag. Aren’t you tired? “

The rich man glared at Bai Lixin. He took a deep breath and only softened his tone slightly when he looked at him, “I was indeed right; you are the true warrior. Will you join my family and serve us? That way, you can settle down and I can even protect your servant.”

He took a large bag of gold coins from the table, “Right, and here is the reward, every penny of it.”

Bai Lixin impatiently interrupted the rich man, “Just so you know, the only reason I’m standing here is because of Sophia. She cares about her family and had to come and report that she was safe to reassure you. Now that you know she’s safe, we’ll go ahead.”

He didn’t take the bag and gestured towards Sophia.

Sophia understood and turned to follow Bai Lixin. There wasn’t a hint of nostalgia under her sprinting feet.

The rich man was stunned at first, and then seemed to remember something.

The originally indifferent and angry face showed a happy expression, and he took two quick steps to catch up with them, smiling at Bai Lixin and Sophia.

Sophia stopped in her tracks, a little hesitant. Had her father found his conscience?

The next second completely shattered Sophia’s illusion.

The rich man, “I remember, I said I would give Sophia to whoever could save her. Sophia is my most well-behaved daughter, and was only bewitched by the devil earlier. But she has always been a good girl.”

“I thought no one would like her if she was tainted, but you know what you are doing. I wondered why you fought for Sophia just now, but it turns out that you are distressed.” The rich man laughed and looked at Bai Lixin with a calculating gaze, “You are the warrior who slays Bloods and Sophia is the most beautiful woman. You two are a perfect match.”

“My family is the richest in this city, and you are the most formidable warrior in this city. This is a strong combination, and with my help, you will definitely make a name for yourself.”

“So when do you plan to marry my daughter?”

The blood faded from Sophia’s face, and she looked at her father in disbelief.

She used to think that her father was just not good at expressing his emotions, but she now saw him for what he was.

He was rich and wealthy, but he was so poor that money was all he had left.

He was cold and selfish, greedy and snobbish.

“I won’t marry Brother Xin,” Sophia retorted for the first time to her father; “even though he is the best man in the world, I don’t love him and only think of him as a brother. Brother Xin also has a long time lover, and he only took me away to help me!”

The rich man, “You shut up! What right do you have to refute whether you marry or not?”

Sophia, “Of course I have the right, it’s my marriage! I won’t be at your mercy anymore. From now on, I’m just Sophia! Goodbye!”

With these words, Sophia darted out of the courtyard.

The rich man was looking for someone to chase after her when Bai Lixin stopped him in his tracks and slammed his fist so hard that it broke the stone pillar in the corridor in two.

The rich man’s face turned pale.

Bai Lixin withdrew his wrist indifferently, “Sir, trapping the shark will only allow the shark to go on a killing spree. Sophia is no longer of value to you. Don’t risk the safety of your entire family just because your authority has been provoked.”

The threat was full of meaning.

Come find Sophia, and I’ll kill you, believe it or not.

The rich man looked at the glowing Bai Lixin and then at the stone pillar that had broken in two. The slender, tall man in front of him had suddenly become very large, and he was just an ant under his feet.

The other man’s powerful aura almost overwhelmed him, and the rich man knew that the other party could easily crush him if he wanted to.

His eyes darted up and down in their sockets, and he could even hear his heart beating wildly.

Finally, the rich man gulped and spat out one word from his nearly incapacitated mouth, “Okay.”

Bai Lixin turned and left.

The setting sun cast itself on Bai Lixin’s body, and his slender shadow stretched to fall to the ground. Against the fiery red clouds, his poise was outstanding, unlike that of a mortal.

It was not until Bai Lixin was far away that the butler came up and asked cautiously, “Master, that man is the one on the judge’s wanted notice, should we tell the judge?”

The rich man frowned and shook his head, “No, absolutely not! He must not be provoked, he is a monster!”

Not long after Bai Lixin walked out, he found Sophia on a corner.

Sophia had obviously been crying; her eyes were red and a little wet.

“Come, I’ll take you somewhere,” he said as he handed Sophia the diary back.

—

Sophia had adapted to living alone six months later.

Her body was getting stronger and stronger. During the day, she would go out into the mountains to practise her archery, hitting all her shots without fail.

In the evening, she would practice her boxing skills under Bai Lixin’s tutelage, and over time, she was able to handle even five or six big men with ease.

During these six months, she had also studied mechanical manufacturing and made a number of auxiliary weapons with strong attacking power.

She would occasionally go to the market to set up her stall. She usually wore a veil and a hood, but when it came to troublemakers, she wasn’t cowardly and would just beat them up straight away.

Although she had not learned Bai Lixin’s basic operation of beating monsters, she had at least learned the essence.

That is to be fast, vicious, and accurate.

She lived in the house Bai Lixin and the rest had prepared, and went from being confused and unfamiliar at first, to growing accustomed to it within six months.

At first, she feared that her family would cause trouble, but miraculously, her father treated her as if she had never existed and never sought her out at all.

Although she was known as the most beautiful woman in the city, not many had seen her real face. For six months, she had enjoyed a time of pleasure she hadn’t enjoyed in eighteen years.

Sophia prepared a basket of fresh mushrooms she had picked in the mountains and bounded over to the big house.

It was the house where Bai Lixin and those kind people usually gathered. They looked comfortable, but they always had some unspoken regret in their eyes.

Sophia went to the door of the house and was about to knock when she heard a faint sigh coming from inside.

“Has the third chance also gone cold?”

Sophia’s hand froze. That was the very old uncle called Song Lei.

“Will there be a fourth batch of players coming in?”

Players? 

“Bai Lixin, back then in the castle, you said you had a count and that the timestamp was not Sophia’s death. We believed you and returned. But it’s now been six months and we haven’t left. You’re not lying to us, are you?”

“Did you get sympathy for Sophia and save her, which changed the node? It shouldn’t have changed; we shouldn’t have changed history. Even if this is just Sophia’s energy world, as you say, Sophia died on time the first two times, and death is where she belongs.”

“It’s over, it’s all over. We don’t have a chance to get out of here and there won’t be a fourth group of players coming in. Even if they come, us old things won’t last that long!”

The smile on Sophia’s face slowly faded as she stared blankly at the door frame, something flickering in her lost eyes.

“Shh, there seems to be someone outside!” Hurried footsteps came over and the door to the house was pulled open from the inside, “Who’s out there?!”

The questioning came to an abrupt halt as the man who opened the door looked at the beautiful young girl in the doorway awkwardly, “So-Sophia, what are you doing here?”

The faces of the players in the room, who had just been in a state of disagreement, changed, and they looked towards the door.

Sophia pulled out a smile, “I’ve come to bring you mushrooms, can I come in?”

She stepped into the room and placed the mushrooms in the corner near the door and walked straight up to Bai Lixin who was being guarded by the tall man.

Bai Lixin still had his usual gentle smile, a warm smile that had always been her spiritual pillar.

The Goodwill above Sophia’s head will now be at 999. Bai Lixin glanced at the basket by the door and smiled, “Today’s mushrooms are also perfect.”

The girl tugged at the corners of her mouth as Bai Lixin had done, “Thank you, but you actually knew that already, didn’t you?”

Bai Lixin nodded, “Well, yes.”

A soft chuckle escaped out of Sophia’s mouth, “Sure enough, you’re so smart, how could you not have found out? When did you find out?”

The players looked at each other, wondering what riddles the two of them were playing.

Bai Lixin, “When you took me to the secret room in the basement. You entered the place when you were in both pain and terror, and when one is under extreme emotional strain, they wouldn’t have room to observe anything else. Yet you were able to remember the intricate routes and switch presses to the secret room.”

“In addition, you didn’t show much fear when you entered the operating theater that once terrified you.”

“I guessed then that you probably had your memories.”

The players drew back a breath as they looked at each other at a loss for words, both seeing the astonishment in each other’s eyes.

What did Bai Lixin mean by this statement?

Did it mean that Sophia knew everything from the very beginning?!

Sophia, “I didn’t expect it to be that early.”

She took a deep breath, “It was probably because your sudden intrusion disrupted the previously established cycle. While I was in labor, I suddenly remembered many things; I was deceived, brutally murdered, my soul imprisoned by Mr. Mo, etc.”

“So I started using you to save myself. I saw what you were capable of and started asking you for help in different ways. I wanted to save those girls, so I went to steal those organs that night after knowing that Mr. Mo was recovering from his injuries. It was just that I happened to run into him.”

“The next day, I was undeterred and brought you into the basement in order for you to see those girls’ bodies and to try to get you to save them.”

Sophia looked at Bai Lixin guiltily, “I’m not a good girl. I’ve been imprisoned in this infinite loop for too long and have experienced death countless times. I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

Bai Lixin was not offended, “If I could notice that you have recovered your memories, I could certainly notice that you were using me.”

Sophia, “Then you still…”

Bai Lixin, “I said I would help you. Even without your request, I would have gone to save those girls.”

Sophia lowered her eyes, her long lashes covering the mist in them, “I was going to let you all go when I came back to the human world, but I was too excited. It was my first time breaking through the cycle, my first time being free.”

“I didn’t want to leave at all, and I dragged my feet for half a year.”

There was no hint of complaint in Bai Lixin’s voice as he stepped forward and patted Sophia’s golden hair, as if he were calming some frightened beast, “And what about now?”

Sophia, “Enough is enough. These last six months have been the happiest I’ve ever been since I can remember.”

Tears pooled in her eyes but did not fall, “Thank you, it’s all thanks to you.”

“All my long-cherished wishes and obsessive resentment have dissipated. This little world will disappear after my soul leaves, and you will all return to your original world.”

“Brother Xin, before I send you away, I want to give myself to you.”

Dijia, who was beside him, narrowed his eyes.

Sure enough, after disguising herself for six months, she has now revealed her true colors! Her target was really Bai Lixin!

As soon as the words left her mouth, a white light suddenly emanated from Sophia’s body.

The human figure faded away in this gentle light, then the light changed and expanded. When it disappeared, a golden scythe suspended in mid-air appeared where Sophia had just been.

The scythe was two meters long, and the blade was curved in a nice arc. Its silver blade shone with a cold light, and the handle and back of the hilt were a pale gold that was as dazzling as Sophia’s hair.

[Ding! Congratulations to player Bai Lixin, who has obtained the Scythe of Light. Holding this scythe allows you to decapitate all lower Bloods without the need for a name, and weakens the copy boss, Mr. Mo, by 50%. This prop can be placed in the system backpack.]

Sophia’s voice echoed in the air, “Brother, promise me. Use this scythe to kill Mr. Mo and those greedy Bloods. Find that basement, return my body parts and those of the other girls, and let them rest in peace once and for all.”

Sophia’s voice became more distant and her voice became lower and lower. “Brother, I have had a very happy time, and I thank you all. To show my gratitude, I will return you to the state you were in when you first arrived.”

Some of the players’ eyes had become a little moist.

The earth began to tremble and the players looked out through the windows, “Look, the ground outside is sinking!”

Sophia, “Don’t worry, it’s because I’m about to leave, I’ll send you off now.”

By the time she said “leave”, Sophia’s voice was already like a tiny mosquito.

With her words, a white light began to shine around the players.

—

The surface world.

[Ding! Surviving players X28, 56 players remaining.]

The player who was still spouting off about Bai Lixin’s death:”?!”

What the hell?! How many players are still alive?

How come there are 6 more players than the number they started with?

This rubbish game is getting more and more bugs.