Chapter 381 Farewell Day (10,000 words, please give me a monthly ticket)

After announcing the time of action in front of everyone in the brigade, Qi Yuanli raised his eyes and scanned their faces. Finally, his gaze stayed on Xia Pingzhou for a second.

Xia Pingzhou noticed his gaze, raised his head, and looked at him expressionlessly. The captain's eyes were always so deep that it was hard to tell what he was thinking.

Qi Yuanli lowered his head and casually left a playing card in the wine glass on the bar. Then his figure turned into a flock of crow feathers, scattering with a rustling sound.

At this moment, apart from Bai Tanlang who was staying with the Nian Beast Lord, there were still ten other people from the brigade left in the underground bar below Lao Wu's antique shop.

As soon as the leader left, Xia Pingzhou sat on the sofa and patiently taught Ayase Origami how to play the most basic mobile games. This kimono-clad girl, who had never touched any electronic products since childhood, couldn't even figure out how to play the simplest game of Snake.

On the screen, the little green snake's head kept hitting the wall.

Every time the snake was about to hit the wall, Ayase Origami would subconsciously pull out a piece of paper from her sleeve to cover the screen and block the snake. Xia Pingzhou was stunned and thought to himself, aren't you trying to cover your ears and steal the bell?

Xia Pingzhong raised his eyes from time to time and glanced at the brigade's No. 6 "Crazy Gun" Andrew and the brigade's No. 11 "Slot Machine Boy" An Luns out of the corner of his eye.

These two members are both beneficiaries of the Box Garden Battle, but Xia Pingzhou has not yet seen their current strength.

In the Hakoniwa King Curry, Andrew obtained a high-powered bullet forged from dragon blood;

And An Luns got a treasure called "Gambler's Gloves", which can change his luck and allow him to freely control the points shaken out by the slot machine.

Xia Pingzhou was very curious about how strong An Luns would be in actual combat since he could freely control the slot machine.

So far, he has only seen once the effect of a slot machine spinning out the same pattern three times in a row. At that time, in the Box Garden Battle, An Luns used a slot machine that shook out three "bombs" to blow up the "Tower of Babylon" of the Royal Court Team into rubble, which shows his strength.

At this moment, someone suddenly broke the silence in the bar.

"Speaking of which, why does the leader always leave in such a hurry?" Tong Zizhu asked curiously as he sat down at the bar. "I've only seen him a few times since I joined the group. It's rare for him to have such a handsome face. You don't want people to see him, right?"

"The leader said I can explain the rest," the hacker asked without even looking up. "Do you have any comments?"

"I have some opinions. Shouldn't the leader improve his relationship with the members? He always leaves us behind and runs away." Tong Zizhu said lightly.

The hacker replied, "After all, the leader isn't like the cat lover looking for his mother. He's very busy, although I don't know what he's busy with."

"Try calling me mom again." Tong Zizhu said with a smile, already holding an illusory fox mask in his hand.

"Mom...what's wrong with calling me?"

The Bloodline said this jokingly, then suddenly put his glass down on the bar, leaned over, drunkenly hugged Tong Zizhu's shoulders, and put his face close to her neck. Then, like a vampire checking the quality of human blood, he sniffed her neck deeply.

Tong Zizhu trembled all over, his pores expanded, and his original arrogance disappeared instantly.

She could tell the Bloodborn was drunk, so she smacked her lips, "Come on, being called mom by a hundred-year-old woman is a whole new experience."

The Bloodline leaned his head on Tong Zizhu's shoulder, took a sip of wine, and then tilted his face to the side. "Newcomer, come and have a drink with me. I haven't really talked to you since we joined the group."

Yan Molin said sarcastically, "You two are joining the group and looking for people. You should talk about your experience. Add Bai Tanlang and a cat and you can have a mahjong table."

"What's wrong with you joining the group to find people? I think we are the best fighters among the group who are looking for people, don't you think, little sister?" The Bloody said nonchalantly, tilted his head with a curled mouth, and poured himself another glass of wine.

"Don't take me with you. I'm not good at fighting." Tong Zizhu sighed, gently pushed the blood descendant on his shoulder away, then picked up the wine glass and drank a glass of wine with her.

"Speaking of which, newcomer, have you found that Su Ying?" Xia Pingzhou suddenly asked.

Tong Zizhu was silent for a while, then gulped down a handful of wine, "I guess I found it."

Xia Pingzhou raised his eyebrows.

"How did you find it?" he asked.

"I asked the hacker kid to help me. After a while, I basically figured out who she was." Tong Zizhu said softly, "The funny thing is... she's actually my adopted daughter."

"Your adopter?"

"Yes, a man who lied about his name being 'Ke Wei'. His real surname was Su, so he was called 'Su Wei'," Tong Zizhu whispered. "Su Ying left me when I was still young, leaving me in the care of that man. She never disclosed her relationship with him."

She paused. "Every time I said I wanted to see Su Ying, the man kept silent. He also refused to talk about his relationship with Su Ying. I thought he was a bad guy, so I ran away from home. When I returned, I couldn't find him... It wasn't until now, with the help of the hacker kid, that I found out that he was Su Ying's father, my grandfather."

Xia Pingzhou was suddenly stunned.

Only now did he realize that after Su Ying adopted Tong Zizhu, she did not abandon him, but handed him over to Su Wei for care. However, Tong Zizhu chose to run away from home.

However, given Su Wei's personality, even if Tong Zizhu ran away from home, he should have secretly arranged her life, just like he secretly protected Su Zimai.

Fortunately, the Gu family will not be involved in this Nian Beast incident, and Su Wei has already retired completely. Otherwise, if Tong Zizhu saw Su Wei on the battlefield, he might start to doubt his life, Xia Pingzhou thought secretly as he took a sip of orange juice.

As he was thinking, the hacker in the distance looked at his phone and said:

"In case you don't understand the situation, let me explain. The captain has received news from Bai Tanlang that on August 24th, three days from now, the Nian Beast Lord will start a war with Lake Hunter in Haifan City. That's when we will officially begin our operation."

He paused. "Although the Lake Hunters are likely aware of our arrival, as they have many spies in the city, it's best for you to try not to alert them and keep a low profile during these three days."

As the hacker said this, he turned his head and looked at the slot machine guy standing with his back against the bar with disdain.

I saw that An Luns was chatting with Rukawa Chiba at this moment. They were talking about the relationship between gambling and psychology.

An Luns believes that a good psychologist also has the potential to become a good gambler. Similarly, a good gambler can also become a psychologist, so he lets Rukawa Chiba play poker with him, and he might be interested.

Rukawa Chiba said that he was different. When he sat at the gambling table, he could not help but dissect other people's brains.

"Did you hear me, slot machine boy?" the hacker asked.

After hearing the hacker's words, An Luns turned his head and met his eyes.

"Little brat, what are you looking at me for?" An Lunsi took a sip of red wine from his glass and asked with a smile, "Do I look like someone who would alert the enemy?"

"I don't know who blew up an entire gang's underground bar in Tokyo last time. It even made international news and exposed our tracks." Robert scratched the mechanical box's head.

An Lunsi spread his arms on the bar and smiled nonchalantly, "That's simply because the lottery drawn by the slot machine wasn't right. Besides, when have we ever made a move without making a clear decision?"

"I drew the wrong number. It would be better if your slot machine could just send you away directly." Yan Molin leaned against the other corner of the bar, speaking while sharpening a knife.

An Luns turned his head and looked at her.

He spread his hands and said with a serious expression, "Sister Ripper, could you please not be so hostile to me?"

Yan Molin said, "Really? Then I'll just chop you off next time. How do you want to cut it?"

"Boiled chicken." Tong Zizhu suddenly said.

"Good idea." Yan Molin agreed.

"Wow, why are even newcomers bullying me?" An Luns shrugged and drank the wine in one gulp.

Tong Zizhu rolled his eyes at them. "I mean, I want to have boiled chicken for lunch. It's a rare opportunity to go back to China, so of course I have to try some local delicacies... I was terribly disappointed with the food in Norway."

"Hehe...hehe..." The blood girl held her stomach and giggled. This woman's sense of humor has always been weird.

"Miss Vampire, give me a glass of wine." At this time, Andrew pushed an empty glass from the bar to the vampire and said in a low voice.

"Andrew, have you been a little too haggard lately? Are you still thinking about Lan Duoduo?"

The blood descendant filled the glass with wine, pushed it back to Andrew, and turned to look at him.

"Really?" Andrew wiped his stubble, hunched over as he drank. He took a deep breath and pulled a blue earring from his denim jacket. A fierce glint flashed in his eyes. "I'm doing great now. I've never felt this good before. The thought of killing Zhou Jiuya right now makes me so happy I can't wait even a second."

After saying that, he raised his trembling hand and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, his Adam's apple moving up and down.

The Blood Descendant held his chin in his hand and asked casually, "Come to think of it, didn't you use the remaining dragon blood to forge a bullet? I think it was called 'Dragon Ash'. Do you still have that bullet?"

Part of the ancient dragon blood they obtained from the royal treasury of the Whale Box Garden was absorbed by the blood descendant as an auxiliary material to strengthen herself, helping her to quickly break through the threshold of the disaster level, while the other part was made into a special bullet by Andrew.

"Of course it's still there. That bullet was left for that bastard." Andrew said hoarsely, raised the back of his hand, and wiped the corner of his mouth with a gloomy expression.

"That's good." The Bloodline said softly, "Sister Lan Duoduo must be very happy to see that someone cares about her so much. I really don't know who will care about me if I die."

As she spoke, she raised the wine glass with a curled lip, and looked up at the ceiling with her red eyes.

"As expected of a long-lived, romantically obsessed old woman, she's suddenly getting sentimental," the hacker deadpanned. "She must be thinking about her 1001 again. Translated, it means: 'Ah, if I die, will my 1001 brother come looking for me? Will he hold my corpse and cry bitterly?' Haha, women are just mean."

The blood descendant seemed too lazy to deny it, and just put one hand on his shoulder and took a sip of red wine.

Xia Pingzhou suddenly turned his head and glanced at the Bloodline. "What are you going to do after you meet 1001?"

The Blood Descendant thought for a moment, then held his chin and said, "Go with him... or, take him away."

"What if he doesn't take you with him, and doesn't follow you?" Xia Pingzhou continued to ask.

"Well... then I'll stick with him even if I turn into ash." The blood descendant raised his lips. "He gave me this life, and living to this age is enough. I finally met him, how could I let him get away from me again?"

"What if he really gets away?"

"I haven't thought about that... But if he really gets away, I probably won't have the energy to look for him." The Bloodline said, glancing playfully at Ayase Origami, then at Xia Pingzhou. "Then I might as well just accept my fate and come back to compete with the young lady for our considerate little cat. I don't have much else to do anyway."

Hearing this, the girl in kimono suddenly raised her head, glanced at her indifferently, and met her eyes.

"What? You don't dare to compete with me fairly?" The vampire looked at her with amusement.

"Kitten, it's mine alone." Ayase Origami said almost word by word.

"Only at this moment do you bring out your childish temper. You're worthy of being our 14-year-old kimono-clad young lady. I, a hundred-year-old old man, wouldn't bother to fight with you for a little brat." The Blood Descendant cupped his cheeks with both hands and said with a smile, "Don't worry, I'm just kidding... If 1001 runs away again, I'll look for him again. That's fine too. At least there's still hope."

Xia Pingzhou took a sip of orange juice and said to the restricted 1001 in his mind, "Theresa has said so much, and you don't want to react at all, just pretend to be dead?"

Restricted 1001 was silent for a long time, then suddenly said, "What reaction do you want from me?"

"She's been thinking about you for over a hundred years, obsessed with you, and you're just indifferent to all this?" Xia Pingzhou thought to himself, "But she's not a good person either."

"I just saved her life," said Restricted 1001, "and gave her a name. I don't think I did anything out of line."

"Don't make amends for yourself."

"Besides... I had lost my memory at that time and was just like a child of a few years old." The restricted voice of 1001 came from his mind, still lukewarm.

"Oh, based on what you said, wouldn't you be a centenarian now?" Xia Pingzhou asked in his heart, "Your grandpa and grandma are quite a good match."

Restricted 1001 said calmly, "You can call me that if you want, but once our personalities merge, all your sarcasm towards me will come back upon you."

Suddenly, a cold voice from the sofa interrupted their conversation, interrupting Xia Pingzhou's thoughts.

"Kitten, what are you daydreaming about?" asked Ayase Origami.

Xia Pingzhou asked without turning his head, "How come you always catch me when I'm distracted?"

"Because it's easy to guess." said Ayase Origami.

"oh."

"Take a picture." Ayase Origami whispered, and suddenly reached out and pulled Xia Pingzhou's sleeve.

"Photograph?"

Xia Pingzhou turned his head to look at him, and the girl's empty and gorgeous eyes stared at him motionlessly.

The two met eyes and stared at each other.

"Well, I didn't take any pictures last time I was in Lijing." Ayase Origami said, "I wanted to take some."

"All right."

Ayase Origami took out her mobile phone from the sleeve of her kimono, opened the camera, and switched to the front camera mode.

Xia Pingzhou could see that she had become more and more proficient in using her mobile phone these days. In the past, he even had to teach her how to open the camera mode.

Ayase Origami raised her eyes and silently looked at the pale face reflected on the phone screen.

Xia Pingzhou suddenly leaned in close to the camera, his face almost touching hers. Both faces on the phone were expressionless. At this moment, he glanced at the kimono-clad girl's other hand, which was resting somewhere. Then, he gently lifted her hand, spread open her fingers, and asked her to extend her index and middle fingers.

"What are you doing?" Ayase Origami looked at his hand, then looked at him.

"Photo gesture," Xia Pingzhou said, "You look so dumb, like a robot. I always make a 'yeah' gesture when I take a photo. I'm an expert at taking photos."

Ayase Origami frowned slightly, then quickly relaxed. She glanced at her scissor hand gesture and slowly raised it above her head. Xia Pingzhou then gave the camera a "yeah" sign.

With a "click", the cell phone's flashlight lit up, illuminating the faces of the two people on the sofa, and then the photo froze on the screen.

"let me see."

Xia Pingzhou took Ayase Origami's phone and looked down at the photos taken.

The girl in kimono in the photo made a scissors gesture to the camera with an expressionless face, and there was a bit of confusion on her fair face; Xia Pingzhou also made a "yeah" gesture, also with an expressionless face.

The expressions on their faces almost make you wonder if this photo was generated by AI. Handsome man and beautiful woman, yet they look completely fake.

"puff--!"

Before Xia Pingzhou could even start complaining, the hacker sitting at the bar not far away suddenly spit out the coconut juice he had just drunk into his phone, spilling it all over the table.

Ayase Origami and Xia Ping Hiru turned their heads almost at the same time and stared at him expressionlessly.

The hacker quickly took out a tissue from the "database" and wiped the coconut juice on the table.

"Why are you looking at me?" He coughed twice.

"Stop spying on us, okay?" Xia Pingzhou asked, "Little brat, don't you have a life of your own?"

"I don't want to laugh either, but the photo of you two is really funny, okay? AI is more emotional than you. Do you want me to help you edit the photo so that you two pseudo-people look a little more human..." Before the hacker could finish his words, Ayase Origami sealed his mouth with a piece of snow-white paper.

He snorted coldly and became too lazy to struggle over time.

Xia Pingzhou looked down at Ayase Origami's phone, flipping through the album and suddenly seeing a photo. It was when Ayase Origami was still in Lijing, and asked the dolphin trainer to take a photo of her and a dolphin.

But there is no Xia Pingzhu in the photo.

He had already left, leaving the kimono-clad girl standing blankly in the camera. She turned her head and looked around, absentmindedly searching for his departing figure. A dolphin suddenly jumped from the bottom of the water, and the photo was frozen in that moment.

"Why didn't you call me last time?" Xia Pingzhou asked.

"You left without waiting for me last time." Ayase Origami said softly.

Xia Pingzhou looked at the photos on the phone and looked away. "Next time we go to the aquarium, I'll take another photo with you." After saying that, he returned the phone to Ayase Origami.

Ayase Origami nodded and looked down at the photo they had just taken.

"Compared to me, you are even worse." The voice of Restricted 1001 suddenly came from my mind.

Xia Pingzhou asked in his heart, "What do you mean?"

"As for making people miss you," Restricted 1001 said calmly, "knowing you'll defect from the brigade, all your actions will only cause harm."

"How can you be sure she won't leave with me?" Xia Pingzhou asked, "If she leaves with me, then what I do will make sense. I'm just trying to win people over. This is a purposeful act."

"I didn't mean it, I'm not as bad as you."

"It's a bit funny for someone who has destroyed the world once to say this." Xia Pingzhou replied in his heart.

At this moment, Rukawa Chiba suddenly walked over from the bar, sat down next to Xia Pingzhou, and said with a smile, "It's really lively. I remember when our group of members got together, it was pretty crazy too."

"Doctor." Xia Pingzhou turned his head to look at him, "Speaking of which, I have a question for you."

"What's the problem?" Rukawa Chiba met his gaze.

Xia Pingzhou thought for a moment and asked, "Can you restore someone who is under the control of a psychic ability back to normal?"

"In theory, it should be possible." Rukawa Chiba said, "I am confident... there are few people in this world who can match my psychic abilities."

Xia Pingzhou nodded and thought to himself that this was great. When they attacked the Salvation Society, maybe there would be a chance for Rukawa Chiba to remove the mental control over those children. This way, fewer people would die. Of course, it was just a chance.

He knew that he couldn't travel through time like Restricted 1001, so the people he lost would not come back. Once dead, they were dead, and there was no chance of redemption, so he had to be cautious enough and plan comprehensively enough.

At this moment, Ayase Origami raised her eyes from the mobile phone screen, and suddenly turned her head to look at Yanma Rin who was sitting on the sofa.

"What's wrong?" Yan Molin asked.

"Jack, take a picture." Ayase Origami said.

"Why take pictures?" Yan Molin asked.

"Maybe they're afraid you'll turn into Yan Duoduo, so they're keeping some photos as a souvenir." The hacker said calmly.

In an instant, an arc of light flashed through the air, and Yan Molin's demon sword fell, immediately slicing the table in front of the hacker in half. At the same time, Andrew, who was at the bar in the distance, summoned Tianqu, turned around with a dark face, and pointed the muzzle of the sniper rifle at the hacker's head.

"Okay, I shouldn't joke about this," the hacker said, raising his hands in surrender. "But you guys can't be that mean, right?"

Andrew's face darkened as he put away his sniper rifle. He said coldly, like a wild western bull, "This won't happen again, kid."

"Take a picture." Ayase Origami looked at Yanma Rin and said again.

Yan Molin looked at her expressionlessly and hesitated for a moment, "Okay then, I'll take a photo with you."

"Why didn't you call me when you took the photo?"

An Lunsi came over and stood behind the sofa, drinking while checking Ayase Origami's phone. The gambler in the suit, as always, loved to join in the fun.

"Go away." The girl in kimono said lightly.

"That's a bit hurtful, Miss." An Luns smiled and touched his chest.

The Blood Descendant came over and sat in the middle of the sofa, hugged Ayase Origami and Xia Ping Zhou, and looked at the phone screen, "What about me?"

Ayase Origami held up her phone, and Xia Pingzhou raised his hand to help her adjust the angle. She pressed the camera button in a daze, and with a "click", the photo appeared on the screen.

In the photo, Enma Rin stood behind the sofa, shoulders folded, glancing distastefully at An Lance. An Lance, with a sly, foxy smile, turned and stared at Enma Rin. The hacker also scrambled over at the last moment, lying on the sofa and making a face. Rukawa Chiba sat at the very edge of the sofa, smiling silently.

In the background, Andrew and Robert were drinking at the bar. The latter's mechanical head was very eye-catching even in the corner of the photo. Tong Zizhu didn't have time to walk into the camera. He just made a "yeah" gesture and stretched out his right hand into the camera.

After the photos were taken, everyone dispersed and returned to the bar to drink.

Only Xia Ping Zhu and Ayase Origami were still sitting on the sofa, with their heads put together, quietly looking at the photo.

Suddenly, a piece of paper flew up like snow, blocking him and Ayase Origami.

Xia Pingzhou raised his eyebrows and looked up at the paper.

Just as he raised his head, he suddenly felt a cool touch on his cheek. Although there was a lot of noise all around him, the whole world seemed to be silent for a moment.

Xia Pingzhou was slightly stunned.

When he came to his senses, he realized that the girl in kimono gently touched his cheek with her lips.

"Don't go." She said in a very soft voice.

Xia Pingzhou was stunned.

He suddenly understood that this girl in kimono actually knew everything.

He had hinted to her countless times that he was leaving, and no matter how naive or slow-witted she was, there was no way she couldn't understand the hidden meaning in his words. Yeah...how could she not know?

When the piece of paper that covered the two people's faces fell away, Xia Pingzhou lowered his head silently, his eyes covered by his drooping hair.

August 21st, Haifan Mountain.

That night, for some unknown reason, thousands of demons appeared in the forest.

The mindless demons are hiding in the deep mountains of Haifan Mountain. Only a few demon tribes with minds are worthy of living in the forest near Lingxin Lake.

Therefore, most of the demons that showed up at this moment were high-level demons, and the majority of them were from the twelve zodiac tribes.

In the center of the forest, the Nian Beast Lord exhaled a breath of fire, igniting the pile of wood. A bonfire suddenly erupted. Then, like falling dominoes, the lantern demons lit up one after another, swaying and emitting warm light, illuminating the entire forest.

In a short while, the whole forest was brightly lit, and from afar it looked like a sea of ​​stars.

The chicken demons stood on the branches, singing in unison. At this time, the monkey demons in the forest emerged, climbing on the branches and using their slender arms to pass jugs of fine wine and bright fruits through the forest.

The green snake demon clan is responsible for catching the wine and fruits thrown down by the monkey at the bottom and distributing them to the demons in the forest.

The rainbow horse demons came galloping from afar, raising a colorful rainbow light in the air, rising into the dark night sky like fireworks, and stars scattered down, covering the head of each demon like rain.

This was the annual bonfire feast at Haifan Mountain. The little Nian Beast was quietly crouching on a branch, looking out of place among the other demons.

It quietly watched the thousands of demons busying around, not knowing what they were busy about.

"Boring, I want to see a river of blood." The little Nian beast yawned.

It tilted its head and suddenly remembered that the last time it attended a bonfire party was ten years ago.

At that time, it was still ignorant. In order to prove itself, it rushed to the wood before the king, blew with all its strength for a long time, but could not blow out fire. It was laughed at by other demons in the forest.

Finally, the Nian King grabbed it and took it aside. The little Nian was lying on the ground, looking at the flames above his head with grievance, thinking that if he had known earlier that he could use the flames on his head to light the bonfire, he would not be embarrassed.

When the little Nian Beast came to its senses, it raised its head from the branch and looked at the Nian Beast Lord who was walking towards them. The old giant lion slowly walked towards them, raised its head, and stared at the little Nian Beast on the branch.

"Dad, we're going to go to war with the Lake Hunters in a few days. Is it really okay for us to be so relaxed?"

The little Nian Beast looked at it and asked in confusion. However, the Nian Beast King did not answer.

The Rat Demon happened to fly past this remote maple tree and walk towards the burning bonfire, and heard what they said.

"The bonfire party only happens once a year, and so many demons are looking forward to it." The Rat Demon waved his hand and said, "Ah... if we cancel the party, how sad would that be for them?"

"Can't we postpone it? Let's wait until you finish hunting in the lake." The little Nian Beast asked curiously.

Although it said so, it felt that after this battle, either the Nian Beast Lord would die, or the Zodiac Team would be missing at least half of its members.

There is no doubt that Lake Hunter is the first camp below the Salvation Society. No one in the open organization in human society can challenge them, let alone this group of demons who were driven to the mountains.

"Hey, what do you know as a kid? Go away..."

After saying this, the Rat Demon shook his head and sighed, then he slipped away to the place where the banquet was taking place with a fruit in his arms, leaving the Nian Beast and his son alone.

The little Nian Beast glanced speechlessly at the back of the Rat Demon, then lowered his head to look at the Lord.

"Come down and talk." The Nian Beast Lord said in a powerful and low voice.

"Oh, I'll come down then."

The little Nian beast spoke lightly, stood up, twirled and fell from the branch, carrying a fallen leaf with it and stepping on the ground.

The Nian Beast Lord walked forward in silence, with the little Nian Beast following at his side. Behind him was a clamor. All the demons in the forest were partying in the dimly lit area, but he and the Nian Beast Lord were gradually moving away from the noisy world.

After a moment, the Nian Beast King finally asked the question that the little Nian Beast had been expecting for a long time.

"Ten years ago, you met the current leader of the Lake Hunting, 'Lin Xingshi', on that ship, right?" asked the Nian Beast Lord.

The little Nian Beast was silent for a moment, looked at the Great Lord's expression, and nodded, "Yes, she helped me on the boat."

The Nian Beast Lord pondered for a moment, "Is that so... Then do you know what happened back then?"

"You thought I was dead, so you rushed to Haifan City and caused a big commotion. Many people from the Zodiac Team and the Lake Hunting Clan died." The little Nian Beast thought for a while and then said.

"I mistakenly thought you had been killed by the exorcists," the Nian Beast Lord said in a deep voice. "I was too impulsive... I thought the kid from the lake hunt was someone they had arranged to eliminate you on that stowaway boat."

"It doesn't matter. You will fight anyway whether I am here or not. You are so proud... Dad, how could you allow yourself to live in this forest for the rest of your life? Others don't understand you, but don't I understand you too?" asked the little Nian beast.

It tells the truth.

Although the restricted supernatural power corrected history and made "the little Nian beast's running away from home" the fuse of the great war eleven years ago, even if the little Nian beast had not appeared, the human-demon war would most likely have happened.

Just like the war that was about to begin ten years later, the Nian Beast King was no longer satisfied with living in the mountains. In order to take back his living environment from humans, he chose to go to war with the Lake Hunters.

The Nian Beast Lord shook his head and said, "Tell me, what exactly happened between you and Lin Xingshi back then..."

"What happened..."

The little Nian Beast muttered to itself, raised its head, looked at the night sky, and recalled its last memory with Lin Xingshi ten years ago.

Eleven years ago on August 24, the little Nian Beast revealed his identity on Lin Xingshi's birthday.

She knew he was actually the offspring of the Nian Beast Lord, and that his name wasn't Little Nian at all; he was Little Nian Beast. But Lin Xingshi didn't dislike him at all. It felt like something had changed between them, and yet, it felt like nothing had changed.

Just like that, two months later, it started snowing in Lijing.

The city was blanketed in white. Every time I opened the window, I could see the snowflakes falling. The eaves and branches of the trees were covered in a layer of snow, and the streets were ankle-deep in snow. Every time the little Nian beast and the lion chased and played in the snow, someone would fall.

Lin Xingshi and Little Nian Beast had been living in this apartment building for half a year without realizing it.

At this time, Lin Xingshi's hair had grown to her waist, and the cluster of fiery red hair behind her head became more and more obvious, making it easy for her to attract attention when walking on the street.

The little Nian Beast followed the instructions in the book and helped her braid her fiery red hair into a single braid. Lin Xingshi loved it and asked him to help her with her hair every day.

At the end of November, one day, because all the food in the refrigerator was eaten up, the Little Nian Beast and Lin Xingshi went out as usual and went to the nearby supermarket to find food, under the pretext of "purchasing stocks".

The two of them walked one in front and one behind as usual, in a dark place far away from the surveillance cameras. Lin Xingshi raised his head to glance at the back of the little Nian beast, then turned his head to look at the street. The children were building a snowman and sticking a carrot on its nose.

Hearing their laughter, Lin Xingshi suddenly became dazed. She was thinking, how nice it would be if she could walk openly on the street with Xiaonian without having to hide. How nice it would be if she could go to school with him without having to hide outside the classroom and eavesdrop.

Just thinking about it made her very happy, and the corners of her mouth couldn't help but curl up slightly.

At this moment, Lin Xingshi's expression suddenly changed. She looked away from the snowman on the street and slowed down her pace. Little Nian Beast turned around and asked her, "What's wrong, Xiaoxing?"

Lin Xingshi remained silent, just shook his head and gestured to the little Nian beast, asking it to go first.

The little Nian beast paused for a moment. Then, at the corner of the alley ahead, it stopped and poked its head out from the wall. Like a wild animal hunting in the forest, it shielded its own aura and secretly observed Lin Xingshi.

"Don't follow me anymore." Lin Xingshi stopped and suddenly turned his head to say to the person behind him.

A moment later, a man with a crew cut and wearing sunglasses and a floral shirt came over. It was the man who had been teased by the Little Nian Beast and Lin Xingshi on the street that day. At that time, the Little Nian Beast used the power of space to pull out a tuft of his hair.

"Lin Xingshi, we have been looking for you for a long time." The man with a crew cut stared at her back and said in a deep voice.

"Stop talking nonsense and tell my dad I'm definitely not going back," Lin Xingshi said coldly. "I advise you to leave me alone. You're no match for me. I can knock you out and leave right away... I'll leave this city immediately and go to a place where you can't find me anymore."

"Do you know...what happened at home during the time you were away?"

"I don't care, get out of here." Lin Xingshi spoke almost word by word, his long fiery red braid fluttering in the wind and snow.

The man continued, "Year..."

"I won't say it a second time. I don't want to hear it." A crimson flame ignited in Lin Xingshi's pupils. A faint lion shadow rippled in the air, covering her head.

However, at this moment, the crew-haired man almost shouted, "Half a year ago, the Son of Nian disappeared!"

Lin Xingshi was suddenly stunned. "Son of the Nian Beast?" Hearing this name, she immediately raised her eyebrows, turned around curiously, and looked at the man with a crew cut.

"That's right... Little Lion, right here in Haifan City, the Son of Nian has disappeared." The man said hoarsely, "So the Nian Beast Lord is furious! He rushed to Haifan City and demanded our release! We can't hand him over, saying the Son of Nian has already left Haifan City..."

Lin Xingshi listened blankly, "And... then what?"

"Nian Beast Lord didn't believe us. He didn't believe what we said, so he started a war in Haifan City, and many people died in that war."

The man's Adam's apple moved up and down as he said hesitantly, "Little Lion, your parents... your parents..."

"What happened to them?"

"In order to resist the Nian Beast Lord, they sacrificed themselves in that war..." The crew-haired man paused, lowered his head, and didn't dare to look directly into Lin Xingshi's eyes. He finally squeezed out the last three words hoarsely from his throat:

“Sacrificed.”

Lin Xingshi froze in place, her fiery red braid, blown by the wind, slowly drooping down behind her head. After a moment, she slowly raised her head, staring into the man's eyes, her lips moving slightly. "Sacrifice... does that mean death?"

The crew-haired man remained silent, his face twitching slightly, and he didn't continue. After a moment, he gritted his teeth and nodded vigorously.

Not far away, the little Nian Beast leaned against the wall and listened blankly to the conversation between the two. He seemed to realize something and slowly sat down.

He didn't know why, but he suddenly felt very cold. So he squatted down and hugged his knees tightly.

After a long time, he raised his eyes and stared blankly at the snowflakes in the alley brushing against his nose, swirling and falling.

(End of this chapter)