CH 154

Come into the darkness after the pass.

Xiao Lan still feels a bit surreal.

He had expected to come to the raven at last and must have had one of the toughest hurdles to cross.

It turned out to be this harmonious and friendly fan meeting situation, and even the crows were kind enough to give him poverty value.

Mr. Crow is such a good man, Xiao Lan thought.

Until he saw Luo in the dark.

Luo doesn't look too good.

One of his arms was missing, and even a piece of his shoulder was missing, as if it had been torn apart by some terrible force.

Even the face, which bears several deep scratches, reveals a darkness beneath the skin.

Xiao Lan rushed over to her, " Luo! What's wrong with you?"

Luo moved his neck and gave a low chuckle, "Heh ...... Miss Crow surprised me a little."

Xiao Lan: "......"

Looking at this injury, the surprise of the crow teacher seems ...... a bit ferocious ah.

It would be more apt to say that it was a shock.

With that, a puff of black shadow pours out of the gaping hole in Luo's shoulder, then extends away, gradually taking the shape of an arm.

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Luo moved his new arm and after feeling free to move it, he reached over and brushed the wound on his face, adjusting his skin back to its original form.

Luo resumed his usual posture, "But ...... is okay, please don't worry."

Xiao Lan took a good look at Luo before finally sighing with relief.

Suddenly he thought of Qi Ning.

If there's going to be such a difficult "surprise" at the end, isn't Qi Ning, a seriously injured man, in for a surprise?

The two men hurriedly left the darkness and returned to their room.

Xiao Lan couldn't wait to use [Dark Crow Whispers] to contact Qi Ning.

Xiao Lan's heart was pounding when her phone didn't pick up for a while.

However, the system does not indicate that the prop is unusable, or at least that the holder of the prop is currently still alive.

Xiao Lan didn't dare hang up and just kept it active, staring at [Dark Crow Whispers].

[Dark Crow Whispers] It's getting to the point where he's staring off.

After a few long minutes, Qi Ning finally got through.

His voice sounded deflated and more breathless than usual: "Cough cough ...... cough ...... Xiao ...... Arashi? "

Xiao Lan asked, "How are you doing? Do you need any help?"

Qi Ning A weak voice came from over there, "Still alive ...... I used [Adrenaline X0044] at the last minute to get out of it without any problems. At the moment ...... cough ...... can't die, there is a little side effect, just wait for a while, no need to help me."

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He seemed to cough up a mouthful of blood, "Cough ...... crows ...... that's mean ......"

Perhaps Qi Ning had always been like this, carrying his own weight when he was injured and weak, and he didn't want to be seen in a bad light, even by someone he could count as a friend.

Xiao Lan once again checked with him that he did not need any help before hanging up the communication.

After contacting Qi Ning, Xiao Lan was deep in thought.

Is it possible that his side is the most interesting reader treatment for the crows and Luo and Qi Ning's side is the normal pass?

So that's where the real luck comes in.

How can it feel so unreal to be out of Africa and into Europe?

It's like ...... has been overdrawn on luck all his life ......

--

Back in the players' room again, the two took a good rest.

Into the night.

Xiao Lan sat alone at the head of the bed and took out the Pandora's Box she had obtained from B Sister Xiao from her storage space.

[Name: Pandora's Box (Unknown)

[Ability: unknown]

[Description: Unknown].

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A box that is supposed to be related to Xiao Chengyan, where everything is unknown and cannot be opened by anyone else.

There is no lock on the box, it appears to be just closed at random.

But whether Xiao Lan turns it upside down or flings it around, the lid does not budge, as if it were welded shut.

The cold touch coming from the fingertips felt a pang of unease inside.

What exactly will be there if you open it?

He tentatively lifted the box.

The Pandora's Box was opened with the slightest force, as if it were an ordinary unlocked box.

It is as if Xiao Chengyan had tampered with the box so that only Xiao Lan could open it.

And inside was the metal bookmark that he had given to his own father back in the day.

Xiao Lan picks up the bookmark.

The bookmark still looks the same as it did then, nothing has changed and it is not even a prop, no explanatory text can be seen.

Other than that, it was empty.

That's it?

Xiao Lan couldn't help but wonder.

Xiao Chengyan The box that was specially placed at the npc's place and no one could even open it, and it contains a bookmark that is not even a prop?

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He turned the bookmark over and over several times, still without any luck.

It can't be that Xiao Chengyan got bored and deliberately set himself up for a prank, can it?

"Hahahaha ......" Suddenly, Xiao Lan heard a laugh coming from not far away next to him.

He was clearly alone in his room, and there was no way that anyone could enter a player's room in the Advent World without the owner's permission.

What's going on here?

Xiao Lan turns his head to look, but sees a familiar and somewhat unfamiliar person.

It's Xiao Chengyan.

But this Xiao Chengyan is nothing like the one he remembers.

Although he had the same features, this man's eyes looked arrogant and reckless, his body was much stronger and he wore a smile that Xiao Lan had never seen before.

And what is even stranger is that Xiao Chengyan is in an environment where

He was sitting on a rock next to a lava pool, all bruised and with his grey trench coat torn and tattered, looking like he had just been in a big fight.

This lava pool is now integrated into Xiao Lan's bedroom.

Half of it is a normal bedroom, generally a naturally occurring lava pool, as if it was originally part of his bedroom.

What's the situation?

"Hey, why are you being silly?" Xiao Chengyan spoke again.

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Xiao Lan regained his senses and thought about Xiao Chengyan's status as a master illusionist.

But for a moment he was at a loss for words in the face of this overly complex father: "......"

Xiao Chengyan, however, looked unconcerned: "You seem to have a lot of doubts, but this medium was originally created for you anyway. Why don't you take your time and ask, as a father I can patiently explain it to you."

Xiao Lan shakes the bookmark in her hand, "Medium, is this the bookmark you mean?"

Xiao Chengyan: "I've left some things you're familiar with in a lot of playgrounds, and if you're interested in me, you'll definitely reach out, and all of these things ultimately point to me here. Well, what do you want to know?"

Xiao Lan thought about it and picked a question to start with, "When you ...... disappeared, were you not going to return to reality."

Xiao Chengyan nodded, "Yes, I had a goal that I needed to give my all to, so I couldn't take care of the real world anymore, and I was planning to finish the rest of the company and the related debts and not go back."

Xiao Lan frowned, "I was planning to deal with the debt, but then why did you approach Cheng Wenyi ...... No, it should be why you knew about my skills and made sure I would definitely enter the game."

Xiao Chengyan smiled, "Looks like you've met that tart Cheng Wenyi, I guess he took it upon himself to find you, right?"

Xiao Lan nods.

Xiao Chengyan: "At that time I was no longer appearing in plain sight, just secretly taking care of the rest of the company's business. But one day I stole ...... I went home to take a look and actually found the mark of the Advent World on your body."

At the time it was just a quiet attempt to see the wife and children.

It is difficult to describe the moment when he found out that his son had also gone to hell.

"I sent someone to try and bring you here at the time, but guess what I found?"

"You can't hear anything to do with the Advent world."

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"Isn't it strange that a man who carries the mark of the Advent world is shielded like a normal person."

Xiao Lan then remembered that there was once a very strange person who sneaked up on him one night on his way from school, mouthed some gibberish and tried to get him into the car.

At the time, he thought he had met a psychopath or a pervert, so he just ran away.

But to be honest, that man with a tattoo of a green dragon on his left and a white tiger on his right, and a lewd smile, he doesn't look like a good guy anyhow ......

How could a teenager who was only fifteen but not stupid choose to go with him?

Xiao Chengyan continues, "Then I found something even stranger - for a whole month you didn't even enter the game, which was something incredible in the Advent world at that time, when no player could get that long of a break. "

"Then later, I found another mark on your body. It's amazing how that mark can actually suppress the one that originally descended into the world."

"So I sensed the power of this mark and found the Disobedient."

"Then from him, I learned about you and with the opportunity you brought we started working together."

"Although the Paradox says you won't enter the game again as long as he doesn't die or get seriously injured, you can't just put your eggs in one basket right, so I found Cheng Wenyi again."

Xiao Lan took a deep breath: "What about Mum? Have you ever thought about her?"

Xiao Chengyan snickered and asked, "Are you underestimating Wen Qi?"

Wen Qi, which is the name of Xiao Lan's mother.

Xiao Chengyan stares in an unknown direction: "She once found me after I chose to disappear."

Xiao Lan was shocked: "What?"

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He had never heard his mother talk about it.

Xiao Chengyan said, "She has never been a very shrewd person and is often a bit confused, but this time she is too smart ......"

" Wen Qi had started looking for me long after I disappeared, and perhaps the fact that someone was secretly handling the company's debts had made her suspicious."

"Then I had Cheng Wenyi stuff a debt under her name, but I wasn't going to let her also ...... cough I had someone arrange a new identity for her to leave the country, she just had to wait a few years abroad until you were an adult and then she was free."

"But she used the lead to get straight to me, and I don't even know when she had that."

"She even guessed vaguely through my behaviour that it had something to do with the Advent World, guessed my goals and even motives for creating the debt, but unfortunately, I couldn't tell her anything because of the restrictions of the Advent World."

"Afterwards, she asked me just one question -"

"Wouldn't our son be in danger if what you want to do fails?"

Xiao Chengyan turns to Xiao Lan and asks, "Isn't that clever?"

Xiao Lan was speechless for a moment. He remembered his mother as a gentle person, not exactly the career type, and such sensitivity was a far cry from what he remembered.

Xiao Chengyan asked again, "Would you like to meet her? I haven't seen her for a long time ...... too."

As his words fell, Xiao Chengyan reached out and pointed to his head, then tapped his index finger into the void.

A sheet of light and shadow suddenly sprang from his fingertips, interweaving into the picture.

A woman appears in the picture.

Her features are the delicate softness that Xiao Lan remembers, with a gentle calmness that seems to emanate from her bones.

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Unfortunately, Xiao Lan looks more like Xiao Chengyan, except for her cold white skin and face shape, she has little resemblance to her mother, and she has not inherited her mother's gentle temperament.

But at the moment, the expression on Wen Qi's face was as stern as Xiao Lan had ever seen.

She stares straight at Xiao Chengyan, who is sitting opposite her, with no sign of softening or retreating.

Wen Qi: "What did you say?!"

Xiao Chengyan's tone is flat: "Leave him alone, he needs to sharpen up to grow and he doesn't have much time. "

Wen Qi clenched his fist: "How can we make him grow without teaching?"

Xiao Chengyan is uncompromising: "If he dies or falls apart because of this, he doesn't deserve to be my son."

Anger made Wen Qi's breath catch and she reached for the cup in front of her, splashing it viciously at Xiao Chengyan: "Get out! My son, I will not leave him alone."

Xiao Chengyan could have easily dodged it, but he didn't and was splashed all over his face.

The two men in the scene are caught in a brief silent confrontation.

Xiao Chengyan, who is off-screen, says, "Wen Qi is so beautiful, she's the only person in the world who looks this good even when she's angry."

Xiao Lan: "...... Are you a jitterbug?"

"Hahahahahahahahahaha ......" Xiao Chengyan laughed to herself.

Xiao Chengyan opens his mouth without wiping his face and says calmly, "He needs to learn how to survive by any means, even if it means cheating, betraying, stealing, or even stepping on other people's bodies. What he is about to face is not an environment that can be solved by any parental education."

Wen Qi stood up: "I will never allow my son to become a despicable person who will do anything to survive! He will live as a decent and good person!"

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Xiao Chengyan: "Even if such kindness would kill him?"

Wen Qi said firmly, "I will teach him that good people have a chance to live too, and that goodness does not mean weakness, nor stupidity, nor incompetence."

"Now, go about your business and I'll take care of my son here."

"No more appearances, don't let him know about your terrible plans, let him think his father is really missing."

"Let's see which one of us is right."

With that, Wen Qi turned around and left.

Xiao Chengyan just sat where he was, watching her back as she left, his eyes unblinking.

Suddenly, Wen Qi's footsteps were halted.

Without turning around, she asked softly, "How sure are you ...... that you will come back alive?"

Xiao Chengyan looked like he was talking about something that had nothing to do with him: "One or two percent, I think."

Wen Qi: "...... crazy."

Xiao Chengyan just smiles and doesn't say anything.

As Wen Qi's forward steps were about to go out the door, he spoke, "Take care, you're not well these days, and I'll keep that foreign identity for you."

Wen Qi's forward movement stops once more, but nothing is said.

As her figure had stepped out the door, an almost inaudible voice came from the doorway, "Take care ......"

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Inside, Xiao Chengyan smiles and replies with a muzzle: I will.

The image blurs up and fades out of sight.

Xiao Chengyan has some regrets: "It's a shame that it can only be shown so far now."

Xiao Lan whispered, "It was the greatest misfortune of her life to know you."

He remembered that his mother's health had not been good since then and she had been hospitalised once.

It was then that he attempted to cook and ended up burning his own hands, and then entered the Advent world for the first time.

Later on, his mother struggled with him in a difficult life and took great pains to teach him, and it was only through such exhaustion that his condition deteriorated faster and faster and he eventually died.

Without Xiao Chengyan and Xiao Lan herself, Wen Qi would probably have been happy and well off, even if she was terminally ill, and would have passed away with the loving care of her family.

Perhaps even she was part of her misfortune. Xiao Lan thought.

Xiao Chengyan's voice interrupted Xiao Lan's thoughts, "Silly son, you want to save her. But can you do it?"

"You can't cure her, you can't settle the debt, and you can't even do anything about me who created this situation."

"Isn't it disheartening?"

Xiao Lan turned his head to look at him, "Don't provoke me with your words, where the hell are you? What's the situation with your disappearance?"

Xiao Chengyan pointed to the tumbling lava around him with a smile of indifference: "I am already dead, and my body is dissolving in this lava pool, what you are talking to is just a bit of my consciousness left behind.

This time Xiao Lan was truly shocked.

Although Cheng Wenyi told the story of Xiao Chengyan's death, Xiao Lan always felt that he was holding back a big move in the dark.

The result is now ......

Xiao Chengyan, really dead?