Chapter 28 Just Friends
Ren Yi reached out and grabbed Yan Er before realizing he had been foolish.
With the secret seal he gave Yan'er, it was inevitable that the latter would be accepted by the secret realm.
If anyone gets into trouble, Yan'er is unlikely to get into trouble.
Sure enough, as soon as the two were drawn into the spatial rift, Ren Yi felt the other side of the secret realm accepting them.
Thanks to Yan'er, after a dizzying sensation of crossing space, the two became the first to arrive at the secret realm.
Ren Yi had experienced too many spatial teleportations, often across worlds, so this dizziness was nothing to him. However, he happened to be affected by the side effects of the pills Yan Shuoyun had given him earlier. After landing, he was unusually dizzy, nauseous, and wanted to vomit. He dry-heaved a few times before he could barely calm down.
Yan'er was so anxious that she patted Ren Yi's back and brought him water. Only after Ren Yi finally calmed down did she ask worriedly, "Brother Ren, are you alright?"
Ren Yi felt that something might be wrong with him.
He had calmed down for a while and his discomfort had indeed subsided, but he encountered an even bigger problem: there was an unusual blank in his memory.
Ren Yi immediately realized his situation: he had lost part of his memory.
—This memory specifically refers to the content after entering this world.
Although "amnesia" mostly happens to the protagonist, Ren Yi, as a tool who has experienced so many worlds, is no stranger to it, and there are occasional plots where he needs the help of the tool.
However, the staff members all have tasks to complete when entering the small world, and to avoid the plot going off track, Ren Yi usually prepares in advance for similar situations, and wouldn't actually lose his memory. Right now, it can only mean that something unexpected has happened.
Ren Yi glanced at the anxious-looking girl beside him. Judging from her aura, she shouldn't be the "chosen one" of this world. Moreover, the environment around them was a bit strange. Ren Yi couldn't quite put his finger on what was wrong, but there was a subtle sense of disharmony.
Ren Yi guessed that he had probably really messed up, and that he had messed up in a way that was outside the plot.
He lowered his eyes in thought for a moment, then quickly looked up, first saying, "I'm fine." After calmly reassuring the clearly disoriented girl, he asked the question, "...Who are you?"
Yan'er was stunned for a moment, then revealed an expression of utter devastation.
Ren Yi: "..."
He chose to comfort her first instead of asking about the situation because he was worried the girl would become too emotional and cause the current situation. But now it seems the difference isn't that significant.
But to Ren Yi's surprise, although the girl was flustered and seemed completely lost at first, she quickly composed herself after hearing his words, and even managed a stiff smile as she tried to comfort Ren Yi.
“Brother Ren, I am Yan Er, Yan Er of Xuanqing Sect.”
After introducing herself, she didn't dwell on why Ren Yi had lost his memory. Instead, she quickly explained in very concise language that the two of them "encountered a monster on their way to the secret realm, and after defeating it, they were swept into a spatial rift." She also told Ren Yi that he was now a "guest elder of the Xuanqing Sect."
Without Ren Yi even having to ask anything, she swiftly provided all the information a person with amnesia most desperately wanted to know. This calm and rational attitude made Ren Yi doubt his initial guess—was this truly not the "chosen one"?
For a while, the "unlucky protagonist" type was quite popular. Although Ren Yi hadn't encountered one during his missions, he had heard his colleagues at the bureau complaining about it, the gist of which was, "You never know what kind of bad luck he or she would get involved in." If that's the case, his current unexpected mishap seems to make sense.
With this suspicion in mind, Ren Yi became much more cautious in his attitude towards Yan Er.
This time, however, his amnesia was quite thorough; he had completely forgotten the plot of the small world. He was unsure of his role as a "tool" and, while adhering to the principle of saying less and making fewer mistakes, he adjusted his attitude based on Yan'er's reactions.
However, Ren Yi soon realized that he didn't need to be so cautious.
The two seemed to have a good relationship. The girl trusted him a lot and told him everything. He also had a subconscious tendency to take care of others.
Ren Yi couldn't help but wonder if the role of the "tool" this time was that of the "elder brother".
While summarizing the information he had obtained from Yan Er, Ren Yi tried to contact his own system.
When he regained consciousness, he discovered that the system was no longer with him.
Normally, the systems in the Transmigration Bureau are bound to their hosts, so this kind of separation within a small world shouldn't happen. However, for the "tool" department that frequently uses multiple identities to play multiple roles within a single world, this situation isn't uncommon. After all, the difficulty lies in multi-role portrayal. If there's a time span and the tasker only needs to change identities, that's fine, but the challenge is when two characters often appear simultaneously on the same timeline. In such cases, the tasker needs to split their personality on the spot and control both identities at the same time.
In principle, the mental strength of the staff at the bookstore is certainly sufficient to complete this operation, but the energy required would increase several times over, and it would also easily lead to psychological problems. In such situations, most staff members choose to separate the two identities into a "main account" and a "sub-account" based on their level of involvement in the plot. They focus most of their energy on the "main account," while the "sub-account" is controlled by the system, requiring only a small amount of mental energy for assistance. This is mainly so that in case the sub-account encounters an emergency, the mental energy link can be used to instantly switch the main identity.
Ren Yi could indeed sense that his other alias was nearby. He guessed that this was a situation of "system controlling a secondary account". However, it was strange that the system had not responded, and it was also strange that he had not left any mental energy on the other side.
However, Ren Yi felt as if he had subconsciously anticipated this situation, and was not surprised at all.
Did something happen to the alternate account before the amnesia?
As Ren Yi tried to connect to his own system, he looked around at the incongruous environment.
Suddenly, Ren Yi's expression hardened, and he raised his hand to protect Yan Er behind him. Almost the instant he moved, several young men dressed in uniform blue robes with black trim, resembling sect attire, appeared in front of them. They also saw Ren Yi and Yan Er at the same time, seemed startled, and then quickly drew their swords, forming a battle formation with the tips of their swords all pointing at the two of them.
The chilling sword energy was layered several times over due to the sword formation, causing Yan Er, whose cultivation level was already low, to shrink back.
Ren Yi was injured at the moment, and his blood and qi surged as he was forced by the sword energy. However, he was strangely not nervous. He even had the leisure to mentally analyze the weaknesses of the sword formation, as if he were giving pointers to a junior.
Seemingly realizing that their injury and weakness posed no threat, and with the sword formation already formed and them confident, the group did not immediately make a move. One of the disciples, who seemed to be the leader, spoke up, loudly asking, "Who are you? How dare you trespass into my Primordial Forbidden Land!"
Ren Yi was slightly taken aback. According to what Yan Er had just said, they should be in the secret realm right now. But judging from the tone of her voice, it seemed like they had fallen into someone else's sect.
Yan'er was also caught off guard, but no one had said that the spatial rift would necessarily lead to the secret realm. She guessed that the two of them had been accidentally swept away to another place. Thinking that she couldn't let her amnesiac brother Ren face this group of people alone, Yan'er felt a strange sense of responsibility. She gritted her teeth and took a step forward, taking the initiative to speak, "I am Yan'er, a disciple of the Xuanqing Sect. My brother and I were swept into the spatial rift while training in the secret realm. We unintentionally entered your sect's forbidden area. It was a mistake. Please forgive us, fellow Daoist."
The two looked disheveled but showed no hostility, so the disciples of Taichu were already quite convinced by their words.
Furthermore, although Hancang Peak is called a forbidden area, there are no sealed treasures inside. If someone really intended to force their way in, that would be foolish. Therefore, its credibility increased even more.
A few disciples were slightly puzzled, as they had never heard of the sect "Xuanqing Sect".
On second thought, it was probably some small sect that had only recently emerged.
The disciples of Taichu exchanged glances silently for a moment before the disciple who had spoken first spoke up again, "Since you have entered by mistake, then leave quickly."
This attitude wasn't exactly good, but considering that the two of them had mistakenly trespassed on someone else's forbidden territory, the fact that they were only being asked to leave without actually being attacked was already a decent treatment.
Yan'er understood this principle and had no objection to the other party's attitude.
She quickly agreed, then tugged at Ren Yi, who had been silent beside her, and urged him in a low voice, "Brother Ren, let's go quickly."
Ren Yi hadn't been deliberately silent; it was just that he had finally managed to contact his system. After learning the exact location of the other alias, Ren Yi's expression became somewhat subtle.
Therefore, he did not immediately agree to Yan'er's request. Instead, he tugged at the little girl's sleeve and stopped in his tracks.
This reaction made the Taichu disciples, who had relaxed, tense up again, and they stared at the two people in the middle with unfriendly expressions.
These people did not want to take action here unless absolutely necessary.
After all, if this were to disturb the person cultivating in the forbidden area, it would be a grave offense.
Thinking this, the leading disciple urged again, "Why aren't you leaving at once?!"
This time, the tone was much more forceful.
Ren Yi opened his mouth, but before he could explain, he saw the disciples' expressions change.
—Someone is coming.
Before the newcomer even appeared, the oppressive aura descended heavily upon them.
Like winter frost, the biting coldness seemed to be a sharp blade that would cut through one's skin inch by inch.
Before the person even appeared, the disciples who had been so aggressive moments before knelt down in that direction and bowed in unison, saying, "Disciples greet Sword Master."
Almost in the blink of an eye, the person finally showed up.
His eyebrows were like swords reaching his temples, and his eyes were like cold stars.
He was extremely handsome, but even Yan'er, who always judged people by their appearance, couldn't judge him by his looks.
The young man stood there with his back straight, like a sword piercing the heavens and the earth; if one had to describe him, only the word "sharp" would be fitting.
He didn't look at the kneeling disciples, but walked straight towards the two of them.
Yan'er gripped Ren Yi's hand tightly, her palms damp with cold sweat. She had been able to calmly deal with the sword formation formed by the disciples just now, but now, facing this person, her throat felt frozen and she couldn't utter a single word. She gripped Ren Yi's hand so tightly that it even trembled slightly.
She watched as the man walked forward step by step, finally stopping half a step away from Brother Ren.
Yan'er almost couldn't breathe. She tried desperately to urge herself to make even the slightest sound, but it was all in vain.
Just as she was filled with despair, she heard the man speak—
"You've finally arrived."
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