Chapter 288 Chapter 288 "Xiao Qi, what will happen if you die...

288

When Li Xiaoqi opened his eyes, a white space appeared before his eyes.

This white space was empty, with nothing in it. Not even her shadow could be reflected on the white floor.

"Congratulations to anchor Li Xiaoqi for completing all the tasks issued by the system. All the rewards from these tasks will now be converted into the energy needed for the time-space shuttle. Not only will you be able to return to your own world, but you will also receive a special gift from the system."

"The live broadcast of the other world has ended. Thank you all for your long-term companionship. I wish you all your dreams come true and a happy life."

The system's voice echoed in the space.

Li Xiaoqi looked at the live broadcast interface on the side, and saw words of farewell on the barrage.

She arched her brows and thanked the screen. "Thank you all for your continued companionship. Your encouragement often makes me feel like I'm not alone in this adventure. I'm truly grateful."

Li Xiaoqi waved goodbye with a bright smile until the live broadcast screen went black and everything was over.

She slowly put down her hand, feeling a little lost.

"Please choose the world you want to return to."

A familiar AI voice came from the sky above. She raised her head and saw that the space extended infinitely upwards, a pure and flawless white.

The world I want to return to...

Li Xiaoqi chewed over these words in her mind. Just as she was confused, two black holes appeared in front of her.

On the left and right, a strange golden glow swirled around.

Suddenly, the hole turned into an oval mirror, the same height as her, and the mirror reflected her current appearance.

Li Xiaoqi was wearing a simple white halter dress, her feet were bare, and her long black hair was draped softly over her back.

The next second, a line of words appeared above the mirror.

On the left is [Teyvat], on the right is [birthplace]

"After making your choice, you can travel through time and space by stepping through the mirror."

As if sensing Li Xiaoqi's doubts, the system gave a prompt.

The place where you were born must be your home.

Li Xiaoqi's eyes lit up and he immediately walked to the cave entrance on the right.

Just as she raised her foot, Li Xiaoqi glanced sideways at the entrance to Teyvat, and then slowly put her foot down.

In a brief moment, her mind recalled everything about her life in Teyvat, her century-long relationship with her master Barbatos, her friendship with the traveler Ying, the care that Geo Emperor had given Liyue when she was ill, and how he had accidentally entered Ying's Pure Land and become her friend with unprecedented audacity...

Li Xiaoqi's lips curled up into a smile, his eyes showed helplessness, and he sighed silently.

More importantly, she thought of her parents with gray hair.

Her parents loved her very much and wanted to give her the best things in the world as she grew up.

Li Xiaoqi couldn't abandon his parents and stay in another world.

Whenever she thought about her parents being lonely and helpless when they get old, her eyes couldn't help but tear up.

Li Xiaoqi pursed his lips, looked at the black hole in front of him that could travel through time and space, and made up his mind.

She reached out and touched the mirror, and soon the mirror generated suction and ripples appeared on the surface.

In an instant, Li Xiaoqi was sucked into the mirror.

Bizarre colors flew before her eyes. She covered her dizzy head and shouted, "System, you haven't given me my special gift yet!"

Li Xiaoqi's voice echoed in the time and space channel.

A faint chuckle could be heard in the void, and it was a voice as clever as that of a child.

Is that the system...

Could it be like in the novels, that when one is strong enough, one can transform into a human form?

Li Xiaoqi was slightly stunned, and a look of surprise appeared on his face.

Soon, she saw a light in front of her, and an invisible force pushed her into the white light.

Li Xiaoqi's eyes flashed and she came to her senses in the white light. She blinked and gradually saw the scene in front of her clearly.

Her mother squatted in front of the tombstone, placing tributes in front of it, and sniffed with tears in her eyes.

Her father was lighting incense with a lighter and inserting it into the incense burner.

A fragrant smell wafted over, Li Xiaoqi took a breath and felt a lot more energetic.

"Is this a tribute to Grandma?"

Li Xiaoqi murmured, took a step forward and called out "Mom and Dad".

But her parents didn't hear her and just minded their own business.

"Xiao Qi, if you're missing anything down there, just tell Dad in your dream and I'll burn it for you the next day."

My father was speaking with full energy, but his voice choked up at the end.

"Qiqi, the bad guy has been arrested and imprisoned. He will be executed soon. Don't worry... don't worry..."

My mother sat in front of the tombstone, touched the name on it and cried out loud.

Li Xiaoqi stared blankly at his own name on the tombstone, then looked at his parents with tearful eyes. There were a lot more white hair on their heads than what he had seen during the Chinese New Year.

Her body trembled, and she stepped forward to touch their shoulders in disbelief.

The moment the hand completely passed through their bodies, Li Xiaoqi remembered the illusion he had seen before.

She fell to the ground, blood oozing from her chest.

There was fried chicken and beer on the table, and the game interface was displayed on the computer screen.

"Isn't this an illusion?"

"Dad! Mom!"

Li Xiaoqi kept calling for his parents, from anxious to collapsed, and then to lost.

Mom and Dad sat in front of her tombstone, wiping away their tears, and talking about the time when she was a child and playfully scribbled all over the white wall.

Dad smiled, but his tearful eyes were filled with sadness and nostalgia.

Mom lowered her head and shed tears. She took a deep breath, wiped away her tears, and said with a smile, "Old man, do you remember what Qiqi said before?"

"If one day she has an accident and passes away before us, please don't keep crying, otherwise she will never be able to let go and won't be able to reincarnate properly."

"Yes, yes, you can't cry anymore."

Dad wiped away his tears, turned around and patted the tombstone.

The two men put away the sacrificial items, and after the incense burned out, they supported each other and left.

Li Xiaoqi stood in front of the tombstone and quickened his pace to rush to his parents.

But after running for a distance, he instantly returned to his own tombstone.

She stared at the words on the tombstone for a long time, feeling that all this was unreal.

Li Xiaoqi could not accept the fact that she was dead. She even speculated how she died from the illusion and barrage descriptions.

She has no memory of death at all, only the memory of traveling through time.

Unfortunately, a serial killer broke into my house and killed me...

Li Xiaoqi cried and laughed at the same time, "You're crazy... Why am I so unlucky——"

She even started kicking her own tombstone, as if kicking it over would change her fate.

Li Xiaoqi thought of the old and lonely backs of his parents when they left just now, and suddenly felt very distressed.

The food on the table in the illusion was fried chicken and beer, which means that she was already dead when she first traveled to Teyvat.

And what world did she return to after the system was attacked?

Are the memories of that life fictional?

She had long been a soul, possessed by the system and traveling through various worlds.

No wonder the system broadcasts live so unscrupulously, and is not afraid that she will cause trouble after returning to the real world.

After some trouble, Li Xiaoqi lowered her head, looked at the white dress on her body, and gradually calmed down.

She stared blankly at her tombstone and began to walk around. After trying several times, she found that she could only move within a radius of 50 meters. Once she exceeded this range, she would be teleported to the tombstone.

I looked at my own soul body and found that it was the same as my physical body. It could step on the ground without disturbing the fallen leaves and stones on the ground, leaving any traces of my walking.

With a light leap, she could jump into the air or float up, but she could not fly out of the range of movement.

Li Xiaoqi simply sat on his own tombstone and sighed deeply.

This cemetery is located in a place with a wide view, probably not too remote. As far as the eye can see, there are several families paying homage.

The midday sun shone on her body, but she did not feel any discomfort, nor did she see any souls like her.

Li Xiaoqi sat alone on the tombstone from day to sunset.

As night fell, fog rose in the cemetery, and shadows that could not be seen during the day began to wander around.

Li Xiaoqi looked at the hunched old man not far away, who was walking around with lifeless eyes.

There were also children around five or six years old running around in the cemetery, looking for someone.

She shuddered all over and huddled in front of her own tombstone, trembling.

No, no, no, she is a ghost herself, why should she be afraid!

Li Xiaoqi looked at the ghosts in the cemetery with tears in his eyes and comforted himself in his heart.

At least these were still in human form, still wearing funeral clothes and with burial makeup on their faces. Compared to the cursed spirits, they were not scary at all.

It seemed that self-comfort worked and her fear gradually disappeared.

She observed for a while and found that these ghosts seemed to have no memories of their previous lives, could not communicate with other ghosts, and just walked around the tombstones aimlessly.

But when it collides with other ghosts, it will avoid them, look at its "kind" as if observing them, and then circle around the tombstone.

Soon, Li Xiaoqi discovered a strange problem.

These ghosts seemed unable to see her, and when she deliberately tried to collide with them, they didn't even look at her and just crashed into her.

Then they passed through him.

She originally thought that the ghosts seemed to have entities, but in fact they were not physical beings. They could not collide with each other and could only penetrate each other.

It was not until the middle of the night that two men in suits walked into the cemetery, holding a black chain in their hands and walked towards the ghost.

The two men were wearing suits of the same style, one black and one white. Whenever they saw a ghost, they would chain it.

"Our King of Hell is really something. He changed the uniform into a suit for no reason. The original clothes were so good, and they were flying fish suits."

The man in the white suit spoke, complaining to his companions.

"Um."

The man in the black suit responded coldly.

Li Xiaoqi looked at the two of them. Although his face was pale, his facial features were delicate, and he was an exceptionally handsome young man.

Could it be the Black and White Impermanence?

She widened her eyes with curiosity and stood in a conspicuous position in the cemetery.

After a lot of thought, Li Xiaoqi thought that since things had come to this point and he was going to die anyway, he could only let his parents rest assured and reincarnate early.

However, they took those ghosts away and ignored her existence, and Li Xiaoqi was confused.

"No, Brother Ghost Messenger, there's another one—"

Li Xiaoqi ran to the ghost, waved, and spoke hurriedly.

But no matter how many times she shouted, as long as she stood in front of the two ghost officials, they would pierce through her body and ignore her.

"Um?"

The handsome ghost messenger in black suit made a puzzled sound.

"What's wrong?"

"Do you feel like someone is watching us?"

"No, we've captured all the nearby souls, haven't we?"

When Li Xiaoqi heard their conversation, he froze in place, stunned for a few seconds.

It's over, it seems like she is not even a soul.

The sound of chains became farther and farther away, and two ghost officials dragged several wandering souls with chains and disappeared into the fog.

*

Li Xiaoqi sat beside the tombstone and thought all night, but still couldn't figure out what was going on.

No matter how many times she called the system, she received no response.

"System, you still owe me a special gift."

Li Xiaoqi hugged his knees and murmured, puffing up his cheeks and burying them in his knees.

The golden sunlight covered the entire cemetery, and people came in to sweep the graves.

"You kid, you've been holding your phone and watching some weird live broadcasts every day lately. Why are you thinking of coming out to burn incense for your grandpa now?"

"My live broadcast is over. I'm a bit bored."

The conversation between a mother and daughter came from the front. Li Xiaoqi raised his head and met the face of a girl.

The girl was about sixteen or seventeen years old. She was standing in front of Li Xiaoqi's tombstone, reading the words on it.

The girl's face showed a look of shock and surprise. "Hey, Li Xiaoqi?"

“No way—!!!”

She cried out in surprise and squatted in front of the tombstone with an expression of disbelief.

The girl's mother quickly pulled her up and said, "What are you doing? Don't disturb others."

The girl seemed to remember something, broke free from her mother's hand, and took out her cell phone to search.

"Sure enough, that comment was right, it's really like this..."

After a moment, she slowly put down her phone, turned to her mother and said, "Mom, I just found out that she was also a victim of the serial murder case some time ago."

"Let's burn some incense for her too. She's my idol and I like her."

The girl grabbed her mother's hands and burst into tears.

Li Xiaoqi was stunned, sat cross-legged on the ground, and looked at the girl's crying face in a daze.

She watched the girl being pulled away by her mother and paying her respects at the tombstone in front.

Li Xiaoqi watched the mother and daughter walk away, lowered his head and smiled self-deprecatingly.

Suddenly, footsteps were heard and the girl appeared in front of him again, holding a bouquet of chrysanthemums in her hand.

"Qiqi, I came here secretly."

She placed the flowers in front of the tombstone and lit the incense in the incense burner.

The girl was probably a sentimental person and she burst into tears after a while.

Li Xiaoqi raised the corner of his lips, looked at her fair face with tears in her eyes, and couldn't help but raised his hand to gently pat her head.

"Okay, stop crying."

"Damn system, if you don't revive Qiqi, my Zaiqi CP will be BE-"

The girl cried out.

Li Xiaoqi's mouth twitched and he raised his hand to support his forehead.

"You must reincarnate well."

Finally, the girl gave her blessing with tears in her eyes and ran away.

Li Xiaoqi looked at the girl's back helplessly as she left and sighed deeply.

"well……"

Li Xiaoqi wandered around his own tombstone for several days. He didn't feel sleepy and didn't need to eat. He just watched the sunrise and sunset every day and was very bored.

Just when she was wondering if she would be trapped here forever, people began to come to pay tribute to her.

"Qiqi, you died so tragically—"

"Xiao Qi, what will happen if you die?"

"Didn't the system give you a special gift? Why didn't it resurrect you?"

"Why did the CP I was following end up like this? I don't want this kind of Easter egg—"

"I was thinking of asking you for an autograph, but I didn't expect you to become a tombstone."

It seemed that the news of his death had spread in a certain circle, and there were always people coming to his grave and wailing these days.

Li Xiaoqi sat beside the tombstone, enjoying the incense, and watching the CP fans and his own fans feel sad about his departure.

She suddenly felt that the boring days were not boring anymore. Every day there were different people to accompany her. At first they expressed regret and pity, but later they formed a team to come here for a small gathering.

"No, who's fan meeting is held in front of the idol's grave?"

Li Xiaoqi watched these people eating and drinking here, complaining about the unrefined plot and feeling sad about the unhappiness in life.

"No, why did you bring snail noodles? They look delicious."

Li Xiaoqi was talking to himself. Although no one could hear him, it was also a form of entertainment.

During this period, her cousins ​​also came to visit her.

"Sister, don't worry, I will take good care of my uncle and aunt."

Seeing their solemn promises, Li Xiaoqi felt relieved about his parents' future.

I don’t know how long this went on, until one day, the system’s voice suddenly appeared like a ghost.

"The incense value has reached 100%, and the special gift has been sent."

"Oh shit!"

Li Xiaoqi was shocked, patted his chest and cursed the system.

A white square gift box appeared in front of me, with a bow tied on it.

Li Xiaoqi twitched the corner of his mouth and untied the bow on the gift box.

The gift box opened and an oval mirror emerged.

"Since the host, Li Xiaoqi, has died in his birth world, should we teleport to Teyvat?"

A line of words appeared above the mirror.

Li Xiaoqi was stunned for a moment and said, "So, you gave me this special gift just to let me know that I'm dead?"

The system didn't say anything, but just highlighted the line of words in front of it.

Li Xiaoqi suddenly realized that "going home" was the obsession that had always lingered in his heart.

As long as her obsession is not resolved, she will never be able to be reborn.

Death and erasure are the same thing. She is already dead, so the erasure indicated by the system means canceling her qualification for rebirth.

After the host completes the task, the system must complete the host's wishes. This is the rule.

The system could have ignored her and just thrown her back. If she was dead after returning, it would have nothing to do with the system. Why should it give her a way out?

"Because the host's true wish is to return home alive."

"In this world, the host has disappeared, but you still have a home in Teyvat."

Fonts appeared above the mirror, representing the system's language.

Li Xiaoqi's eyes instantly turned red, and the corners of his lips curled up with mixed emotions.

"Thanks."

She arched her eyebrows and spoke softly.

"Why can't I remember my death?"

Li Xiaoqi looked at himself in the mirror and asked.

"Because the host's death was extremely painful, the system sensed the host's will and chose to possess the host. To avoid affecting subsequent missions, the system has decided to erase the host's memory of this period."

"Yeah, if you encounter a serial killer, how can you just stab him in the chest and be done with it..."

Li Xiaoqi murmured.

"So my real wish is to return home alive, I see."

She looked back at her own tombstone and said, "It turns out that my fate with this world has been severed long ago."

"System, you are still very good."

Li Xiaoqi smiled and said that he understood that erasing memories was the system's gentleness.

She stretched out her hand and stepped into the mirror.

After passing through the mirror, she stood directly under a big tree.

The branches of the big tree swayed in the wind, and the scene of Mondstadt in the distance came into view.

Li Xiaoqi spread his arms, turned around and was about to enjoy the breeze blowing from the windy land.

Suddenly, she stopped and looked at her own tombstone beside her in silence.

Li Xiaoqi twitched his lips and tried to touch the tombstone, and saw his hand passing through the tombstone again.

"Since the host has died and his body has been destroyed, his true form is this tombstone and a wisp of soul consciousness."

“…”

Li Xiaoqi wiped his face and took a deep breath.

"System, come out!"

In an instant, she shouted in frustration.

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The author has something to say: Sorry for the long wait, I’m back——

Don’t worry, this article is a happy ending!