Chapter 264, Chapter Two Hundred and Sixty-Three: A Journey Becomes Reality
"You want things to turn out this way," Yan Shi repeated slowly, noticing something amiss.
"So, you want your name to be Xu Xiqiao?" she asked in surprise.
Linxiqiao's body stiffened noticeably, as if someone had stepped on a sore spot. A slight dampness rose in the air due to Shuiling's slight agitation.
After a moment, she answered in a low voice, "No." Her words were cold and hard, and then she gave a reasonable explanation, "Calling it Linxi Bridge directly would be too revealing. It wouldn't be good if someone we know saw it."
Yan Shi raised an eyebrow: "But none of your supporting characters have had their names changed."
Moreover, the protagonist only changed his surname, so anyone who knows Linxiqiao will be able to recognize the protagonist's prototype at a glance.
Linxiqiao realized that this reason was not convincing, and she couldn't think of a better explanation for a moment, so she said coldly, "This is my personal matter, and I don't think it's within the jurisdiction of the school teachers."
"It is not within the jurisdiction of the school teachers."
Yan Shi didn't like standing for long periods of time, so she pushed the drawing paper on the altar to the side to make room, then propped herself up with her hands and sat down.
She swung her legs casually, watching with interest as Linxi Bridge bristled.
“But I’m curious.” Yan Shi spread his hands. “Lin, you don’t want to see your comic printed out and pasted on the school bulletin board tomorrow morning, do you?”
Linxi Bridge paused, his breath caught in his throat: ...
Her face flushed red, and she almost jumped up and down: "You're being unreasonable!"
Yan Shi: "Adults are like this, they're all particularly bad," she said gently, "People's hearts are treacherous, Lin."
“So tell me,” she leaned forward slightly, bringing her face close to the bridge overlooking the stream, “why?”
The hall fell silent, and for a moment only the sound of the wind rushing in from inside the door, blowing through the paper.
Linxi Bridge lowered her eyes, her fingertips slightly clenched, and her face appeared pale under the lamplight.
Yan Shi didn't urge her, but just kept his eyes on her.
After a long while, Linxiqiao whispered, "Because I don't want to be a bastard."
Her voice was soft, yet it carried a sharp pain.
“I also want to be recognized. Instead of not being able to inherit a surname, just having a random surname and a given name, and then being thrown into the real world.”
"I haven't done anything wrong, so why is it that just living is a mistake?"
When Linxiqiao suddenly raised his head, his eyes were filled with undisguised, overwhelming resentment.
She is a disgrace to two families: the illegitimate child of the merfolk chieftain and a human. The human, also from a prestigious family in the underworld, has a fiancé with whom she grew up and shares a deep connection.
The brief period of emotional turmoil during their travels left a stain that neither party wanted to acknowledge.
Linxiqiao's mother's fiancé would never acknowledge this illegitimate daughter, but Linxiqiao's mother still had a last shred of love for this child.
So although she left Linxi Bridge in the real world, she found her a very capable guardian.
Christie owed Young Master Xu a huge favor, and reluctantly agreed to raise Linxiqiao in the outer world until he reached adulthood.
Young Master Xu was also worried that Linxi Bridge lacked peers for companionship, so he designated a city in the real world and converted all the most famous schools in the city to accept mixed-race students.
Christy had been the principal of her school since elementary school near the creek.
Linxi Bridge turned her head away: "My talent is better than my sisters'." She bit her lip, and because of her unstable emotions, the water spirits around her surged.
"But Mom could only see my little sister."
"So you draw comics so that you can do things in the fantasy world that you can't do in the real world?" Yan Shi tapped the table lightly with his knuckles.
She paused, "But you can't just draw real-life events directly into comics and then change established facts."
“Because this is my ability.” Linxiqiao suddenly looked directly into Yanshi’s eyes. “Because this is my ability. Teacher, I’m not even an adult yet, but I’ve already awakened my ability.”
She is a true genius.
Yan Shi was taken aback: "Your only ability is drawing comics...?" She couldn't quite understand.
"The effects of an ability are a secret to each individual with that ability." Lin Xiqiao lowered her eyebrows slightly. "Teacher, you should know that, right?"
But Yan Shi was really curious.
She raised an eyebrow slightly: "Then I'll make a trade with you, and I'll tell you the effects of my ability."
Linxi Bridge: "I'm not interested."
"Are you really not interested?" Yan Shi said softly. "I used to work at the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs, you know."
"The Bureau of Extraordinary Management?" Linxi Bridge's eyes widened in surprise.
Yan Shi shrugged: "Yes, not only the Bureau of Foreign Affairs, but the headquarters of the Bureau of Foreign Affairs."
Linxi Bridge certainly knew about the Bureau of Foreign Affairs.
The Underworld is, in a sense, an official institution with branches in various human territories, signifying power, order, and prestige.
This is also the future employment goal of Linxiqiao.
The Xu family does not acknowledge her.
She was determined to climb to a high position in the underworld, so that the Xu family would have no choice but to notice her.
Yan Shi noticed that her breathing had quickened a little, and his smile deepened: "Are you interested now?"
After thinking for a moment, Linxi Bridge nodded: "Okay, deal."
She wasn't afraid that Yan Shi would lie to her. In this respect, she felt that the staff of the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs still had basic integrity. So she took the initiative to say, "My ability is called 'making things come true with a pen'."
"As long as enough readers believe in the content of my comics, the settings in the comics will become reality."
"At the same time, the faith that a character gains in a comic book will be directly projected onto the character's prototype. And as we all know, faith can create gods."
Yan Shi's pupils dilated slightly in shock for a moment.
The faith that a character gains in a comic is projected onto the character's archetype.
Thus, faith creates gods.
Yan Shi once thought that the comics were the work of the Destiny Platform.
But after sacrificing the world barrier in Kirina, Claire took on the "job" of turning reality into comics.
Regardless of her relationship with Yan Shi, "The Curse of the Laws" continued to be serialized as usual, and Claire never managed to successfully fabricate any negative information about Yan Shi in the comic.
This is strange in itself, unless she has been restricted by something.
Or perhaps she doesn't actually have the ability to draw comics; she can only see them.
Claire's authority allows her to record history, so she can see it.
The first playthrough of the manga depicts a possible future that has already occurred, allowing candidates for power to use faith to alter certain settings.
Yan Shi felt that he had discovered the starting point of everything.
Linxi Bridge continued, "Of course, it's just that my abilities aren't strong yet." Seeing that Yan Shi frowned slightly and didn't react, she added, "When I grow up, the effects of my abilities will be stronger."
"At that time, I will designate a protagonist, and the events that happen to her will be automatically recorded as a comic."
Yan Shi's expression turned serious as he asked her, "Why was it published on Qiman?"
"Huh?" Linxiqiao blinked, a little confused. "Because I bought Qiman?" she replied blankly. "Otherwise, how can a new comic get the maximum publicity?"
"Without exposure channels, how can we gain more readers?"
Yan Shi: ...
"I'm done." Linxiqiao let out a soft breath, as if a heavy weight had been lifted from her heart. Then she looked up at Yanshi, her eyes filled with anticipation and curiosity, "So, teacher, what is your ability?"
Yan Shi didn't need to break her promises in this matter, so she said rather casually, "Words become law."
Linxi Bridge: ?!
"What?" she exclaimed in shock, her voice cracking.
Yan Shi: "Oh, words become law." She repeated, "It's easy to understand, isn't it? What I say can be automatically realized by the laws."
Yan Shi's expression was matter-of-fact.
Linxi Bridge's shock remained frozen on his face.
The worldview is in the process of slight collapse and reconstruction.
“So, Lin-kun,” Yan Shi said sincerely, “I didn’t use my abilities to force you to talk, and I even made a friendly deal with you.”
She is such a kind adult.
Linxi Bridge: "Can laws also be considered abilities?"
She couldn't understand.
She always thought her abilities were special enough.
After all, those related to laws and reality belong to the rule category, which has always been the most powerful type of ability.
But using laws directly as abilities is way too overpowered!
“Yes,” Yan Shi affirmed, “not only can I, but I also know other people whose abilities are even stronger than mine.”
To be fair, Yan Shi felt that although Lin Cai's abilities had many limitations, they were the most effective in terms of achieving results.
Linxi Bridge: ...
She looked up, her eyes vacant: "More effective than your abilities?"
“Yes,” Yan Shi blinked, then added, “She shouldn’t be much older than you.”
Linxi Bridge felt devastated.
She always felt that she was exceptionally talented and had awakened her abilities early on, so even in the Otherworld, she should be the most outstanding.
Christie said that when she was the same age as Linxi Bridge, it wasn't as outstanding as Linxi Bridge is now.
As a result, Yan Shi told her that someone else's abilities were more effective than hers.
Linxi Bridge was completely dejected: "Oh." She hung her head, looking utterly dejected.
But after a short while, she cheered up again, "It's okay, I'm still young."
She said firmly, clenching her fist tightly, "When I grow up a bit more, I will never be weaker than you, teacher."
As she spoke, a shimmering light danced around her fingertips, as if adding a sparkling special effect.
Yan Shi smiled; she knew very well the potential heights that Linxi Bridge could reach in the future.
She jumped down from the offering table: "Of course."
Yan Shi watched as Lin Xiqiao began tidying up the drawing papers on the table and putting the fruit and snacks back one by one: "Are you going back to school?"
Linxi Bridge nodded: "If we go back late, Christy will worry."
She pushed the offering table back, set out the cushions for worshippers to pray on, and moved the chairs back behind the temple door: "Teacher, aren't you leaving?"
Yan Shi did not answer.
She stood in the center of the hall, looking up at the towering statue of Yan Qing.
She stood in the dim light, her features still sharp and piercing. The gaze of the deity descended, not with mercy, nor with calm indifference, but with an extremely strong sense of will.
Steadfast, resolute, and always moving forward.
Amidst the astonished gazes of Linxi Bridge, Yan Shi knelt on the cushion, clasped his hands together, closed his eyes, and bowed his head in reverence.
Yan Shi felt that he had nothing left to wish for.
She has investigated almost the entire truth, and she is quite clear about what needs to be done in the future.
After she leaves this "malaria-ridden" area in Tonghai City, she needs to notify the logistics department so that they can take over the follow-up work.
Afterwards, she will travel to the Forest of Life to return the Staff of Life to the elves. At the same time, she can cast the Tide Blessing into the portal behind the Elven Mother Goddess's temple.
The boundary gate opened by Ishmael here leads to Guixu Town, also known as Guixu Sea.
Once all the authority of the spirits has been restored, the world barrier will reset itself, the inner and outer worlds will be separated again, and most problems concerning the outer world will be resolved.
Subsequently, Hikoshi wanted to further promote the reform of the branch offices in the Underworld, which might be difficult, but Hikoshi felt he could do it.
And then what?
Yan Shi felt that future matters could be considered in the future.
"So," a cold voice suddenly rang in her ear, "Yan Shi, do you really have no regrets?"
Yan Shi: "...That's all." She said softly.
"About Shan Fengyang, about Linxi Bridge, about Lin Cai, and Sheng Chunqiu, and countless other stories," the voice continued, "Do you really have no regrets at all?"
Look up at me.
Yan Shi pursed his lips.
She slowly looked up, only to find that Yan Qingxiang had moved at some point.
Yan Qing stepped down from the high altar and walked up to Yan Shi: "Is that so?"
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