Chapter 67

In the afternoon, a young girl with gray-black hair tied into a pigtail came to the bakery with a little girl who was only as tall as her waist.

Antin and her husband were still busy preparing for the trip in the joyful atmosphere of their newlywed life. Xiaoman was a friend of theirs who had been invited to their wedding, so she was willing to help with some small tasks, such as taking Rona to buy some cookies and sweet breads for the family gathering.

Of course, Xiaoman still stood on the side of a guest and an outsider, and the one who decided what to buy was Rona, the youngest daughter of the host family.

The little girl was busy checking the list and looking at samples next to the bakery employee. There were no extra stools in the long and narrow shop, so Xiaoman strolled around leisurely.

She suddenly saw a familiar little cake, in the shape of a flower, each with a fresh candied fruit embedded on the top.

So Xiaoman paid extra money to buy some of these cakes and carried them in his hand.

After she had delivered the large amount of supplies that Rona and the little girl had bought, she walked along the streets of the City of Arts, offering other snacks to people she knew, and even the fish in the river were lucky enough to get a couple of handfuls of the crumbs left at the bottom of the packaging. Xiao Man hoped that this would help gather the fish so that the old man could catch one today.

Finally, Xiaoman stopped in front of a mansion whose outer wall alone took up the entire width of the street. Fortunately, she no longer wore her old traveler's coat, so she could walk into the wealthy area without being stopped by the guards.

"Oh...thank you for the gift. I think this will be my most unforgettable afternoon tea."

Chen Xing, who greeted her with his true face, took the cake package with both hands and said happily.

In fact, Xiaoman didn't know why she came here. Until this meeting, she still felt that the existence of Dust Awakening as a fragment of Star God was a bit unsightly, like a slag or a lump of paint stuck out of nowhere on the smooth surface of a stone sculpture.

But recently Chen Xing insisted on waving his original face in front of her, as if he was determined to keep doing it until she became desensitized.

"I still hope you'll remain as mysterious as you were at the beginning," she couldn't help but say.

Chen Xing, who was sitting opposite her, pushed the filled cup of black tea towards her.

"What kind of words are you talking about?" He still had a smiling expression on his face, with his ten fingers resting on his chin and tilting his head innocently.

"Was I not attentive enough at that time? No matter what, this is my nature. Now that there are no more troublemakers around you, I can finally approach you with peace of mind."

Xiaoman thought the face was pretty, but unfortunately she had to use half of her energy to restrain herself from hitting it, so she inevitably lost patience with Chen Xing. She thought this was not a good thing, but unfortunately the other party did not listen to her advice.

"You didn't come to me before, was it because you couldn't beat them - the people around me?" Xiaoman finally asked.

"..." Chen Xing's smile faded, revealing a sad and resentful expression, which clearly meant "what do you think?"

Seeing his eyes from such a close distance in the afternoon sun, they were like light red syrup dripping into a bright silver spoon, ready to burst at any time, crystal clear and lovely, and just staring at them would make the tip of your tongue stained with an indissoluble sweetness. With his gentle face and long curly purple hair like petals, he never looked artificial no matter how he pretended to be weak and useless.

Xiao Man looked at Chen Xing and thought of her teacher again. Even though the two were not similar in the slightest, she could associate the invincible instinct of the Incomplete Ones towards the Star God and its fragments with the instinct of the Beastmen towards the dead, just like the ordinary cakes with similar flower shapes on the cabinet reminded her of the afternoon tea that her teacher prepared specially for her disciples.

What's more, the teacher's right eye before the experimental accident was also a similar light red color, but it looked more like a cool crystal stone, and it also had a light green base, which was probably from the Siren's own eye color, making it look much fresher than Chen Xing.

But she was still distracted for a while.

During this time, Chen Xing just ate the cake with great manners. When he was not pretending to be pitiful, he was more like a creature in a fairy tale. Just by doing nothing, he could show his illusory and eternal beauty.

Although their hair color seems to be similar, and their appearance is of a very rare and excellent level, even Xiaoman, who thinks that there is not much difference between beauty and ugliness, thinks that Chen Xing and the City Lord Flora who died in her hands are two completely different types.

Ellyratna... She should be the kind of beauty that is portrayed with meticulously measured standards, the kind of undeniable, strong and bright beauty that is displayed to the world. To those of lower status than her, her dazzle is equivalent to extraordinary honor, and in the eyes of stronger people, it is also a high-end collection worthy of acquisition.

Chen Xing hides this God-given face under thick protection, not caring about other people's eyes. It is so soft that it seems more real and quiet, and there is no need to worry about touching the sharp thorns inside.

"You can eat." Xiaoman moved his eyes to his lips and suddenly became curious.

The purple gemstone cigarette stick was still lying on the table, unlit, looking quite harmless.

"Hmm." Chen Xing nodded and swallowed the last piece of cake before saying, "It's OK. It's just that I can't survive on food. But are people also doing useless and pure pleasure-seeking things like this?"

It seems to make sense. Xiaoman nodded.

She picked up the teacup and took a sip tentatively. She was not used to the "high-end" taste, but before she frowned slightly, Chen Xing had already obediently pushed the sugar bowl towards her with his fingertips.

Xiaoman is not used to being served in this way, which is one of the reasons why she finds communication with Chenxing difficult.

She added three sugar cubes to the tea, which made it taste much softer and went well with the salty and sour preserves and the dry cake.

At least during afternoon tea time... Chen Xing is not an unpleasant candidate.

Yuan Qian also felt that the atmosphere was very good. Although it was summer, the sunlight could not shine directly in here, and only illuminated the light-colored carpet with rabbit patterns. The dozens of servants in the mansion ensured that the windows were clean and the indoor temperature was just right. The whole world seemed to be running in an orderly manner, and no unexpected events could affect this moment. Even sadder things were covered under the dust, and the food tasted good.

He really wanted this time to last longer.

The Star God, this huge inhuman being that has traveled through tens of thousands of years carrying the world that grew up with it, can hardly communicate, has never spoken a complete sentence, and only wants to die, forcing Xiaoman to bear the name of a hero or a sinner on his shoulders when he is less than 20 years old. So he or they had to do their best to make up for it, at least to give this child some colorful memories.

"Star God... what is it like?" After they sat in a daze for a long time, Xiaoman also brought up the same topic, as if they had telepathic connection.

She watched Dust awaken and professionally interviewed him about the person she was supposed to kill.

In fact, Yuan Qian's attention was on Amara who efficiently cleaned up the mess, and he quickly retracted his attention when he heard Xiaoman speak.

The fragment of the star god, who was apparently acting as a businessman, thought for a moment and no longer showed an expression that deliberately wanted to attract sympathy. He was calm and sad.

"'Dust Awakening' is a fragment that has separated from Him and gained intellectuality. I still remember how it felt when I was 'Him'. I probably can't be impartial, but I can only guarantee that it is fairer than what the orcs say. After all, who would believe in themselves?"

He even had time to lighten the mood with a joke, before saying:

"He... of course loves the beasts, and he also loves this world very much. Compared to using reason to measure himself and others as individuals, His nature and emotions are actually closer to those of beasts, which is why He treated His family inappropriately and caused the appearance of 'you'. And the part of reason He possesses is just enough for Him to produce a miraculous and strong love for His family that can only appear in human nature. It is so strong that He can give up himself for the world without hesitation, far more than a female beast that protects her cubs out of instinct.

"But He is too big to understand and take good care of the society that is only a surface of the world, just like our fingertips cannot properly help maintain the fine soil at the entrance of an ant hole, but will only flatten all the tiny depressions and protrusions at once.

"The so-called Father of Starlight is such a clumsy and primitive god. He is by no means evil, nor does he have any concept of malice or goodwill, but his immense existence itself is a disaster and a manifestation of despair for tiny individuals. I think the existence of the 'Tree Spirit' and the 'Spirit of Knowledge' is no longer a secret to you, and the choice of immortality that he brought to the orcs is such a thing.

"So whether it's out of hope for the continuation of this world, or out of fear, empathy, or compassion for my father who is suffering from illness, I do hope that you—"

"—killed Him."

Chen Xing did not wear a mask or gloves when he was alone with Xiao Man. When he said this, he looked at Xiao Man sincerely, stretched out his cold and slender ten fingers and gently held Xiao Man's fingers, but was so careful that they separated as soon as they touched.

"I understand. Although I'm not sure how to do it." The fact that Chen Xing was willing to talk nicely and dispel the strange sense of distance and slightly awkward atmosphere in their interaction was enough for Xiao Man to nod in agreement.

After all, she was a person who was very open-minded about her own life span, so after her mother passed away, she resolutely left the place where she had lived for the first half of her life and embarked on a journey of going wherever she wanted. Naturally, she could accept all kinds of things that she could not do, and the so-called mission that was closely related to her short life span was just one of them.

Chen Xing smiled happily.

"Thank you," he said.

"I'm not short of money. Just think of it as a reward if you absorb less evil thoughts recently." Xiaoman said calmly.

Even though one might instinctively dislike Chen Xing, anyone who sees the horrible look on this guy's face when he becomes withered after having evil thoughts would feel sorry for him.

"Okay." Chen Xing agreed obediently and happily, and immediately put away the cigarette.

[She is so good.] The adjutant sighed sincerely, [If there really was a lost little fragment standing in this position and hearing such words, he would have been stunned by Xiaoman's teasing. I am grateful.]

"Honest concern is the most deadly." Yuan Qian also thinks so.

[What is so dazzling! So it is! The radiant humanity of the protagonist——All my powers are ineffective, it’s disgusting, but why do I feel warm inside?]

"Don't be purified so quickly, you still have work to do as a villain." Yuan Qian complained at the right time.

[May I ask if people in your world are so adaptable to being stripped of their status?]

“This is just a contract responsibility system…”

[This is too evil. I want to use the righteous backstab on you——but number four is a wimp, and number six is ​​not my favorite. Forget it. I'm going to work now. Remember to buy it when it's updated later.]

The adjutant, whose interest quickly faded, threw another compressed package and ran away. Yuan Qian had guessed from the title that the content was a physical book extra to the third and fourth volumes of the comic book, so he chose to turn a blind eye to the true nature of his "job".