Chapter 90
destiny.
These two simple words have bound countless lives.
Xie Xubai frowned as he looked at the real estate transfer documents in his hand.
...Could it be that it was because of his existence that Pei Yuheng was pushed into the future he knew?
To try your best but to no avail, and even to find that the original tragedy was caused by your past efforts—how despairing is this discovery?
If an ordinary person suddenly saw through this, they would probably be terrified and stop moving forward in the torrent of history.
Xie Xubai did not.
It cannot be denied that at the time of his sudden enlightenment, he felt extremely confused and developed profound self-doubt.
But after a moment of distraction, he was back in thought.
He only thought of the clinic because he knew that Pei Yuheng would take over it.
If he were to tear up the documents in his hand, would the clinic still be the predecessor of the First Hospital? Or would the First Hospital cease to exist altogether?
When Xie Xubai wanted to get rid of those spoiled brats once and for all, the rules did indeed warn him that way. But since he is now a part of history, he can't change the original outcome no matter what he does, so why is he still subject to the restrictions of the rules?
Imagine someone standing at a crossroads, heading towards destination A. Every intersection inevitably leads to destination A, so what's the point of interfering with their choice of which way to go?
Unless each intersection leads to a different destination, then naturally we must bring him back to the right path.
Xie Xubai desperately needed to prove whether he could change history, or at least alter it, even by a tiny margin. His gaze swept across the room and landed on the butler (the player) not far away.
"Wait here for me a moment, I need to ask someone about something."
Just as Pei Yuheng, feeling lost and dejected, was about to turn around, Xie Xubai shoved a glittering golden... uh, little figure into his hand.
The little figure was about the size of a three-year-old child, created using Xie Xubai's spiritual power. Its eyebrows and eyes were exactly the same as Xiao Xubai's, except that it had less childishness and innocence, and more composure and calmness.
Staring at him with such indifferent eyes, Pei Yuheng felt as if he were holding a hot potato, unsure where to look. After all, he was introverted; he had only managed to hold Xiao Xubai after being pestered relentlessly.
"What, what is this? Pei Yu, don't go yet—"
Xie Xubai: "It's okay, just treat it like a toy, it won't bite you. I'll be there in a bit."
Before Pei Yuheng could say anything more, he suddenly felt the little person in his arms move. The little person wrapped his arms around Pei Yuheng's neck and rubbed against him like a kitten.
[Don't refuse; he only made me up to keep you company because he was afraid you'd overthink it. After all, as an adult, I have no experience interacting with elders and don't know how to comfort you, nor can I treat you like a superior.]
Spiritual beings created with mental power are much more honest; they will involuntarily vent their original desires... Hmm, pure desires alone won't do either; I can't handle it. If I weren't outmatched by the original, I'd really like to put a bite stopper on them. The little man thought expressionlessly.
Xie Xubai's spiritual energy exuded a warm heat, like a child's coquettish gesture, making it impossible for Pei Yuheng to treat it as a toy. He subconsciously patted and coaxed it, saying, "Good boy, good boy."
[Is this what it feels like to be comforted by Dad?] The little one focused intently, and after a moment, his eyes, which had been shimmering with light, suddenly brightened again. He looked at Pei Yuheng intently, [I like it very much. Comfort him a little more.]
Pei Yuheng didn't know what spiritual power was, but based on the tone and context of the golden figure, he could roughly deduce about three-tenths of it. The golden figure was also quite talkative, speaking rapidly without taking a breath, giving Pei Yuheng a strange sense of déjà vu.
Pei Yuheng: "Are you Pei Yu after he grew up?"
The little man: [You could say that.]
Pei Yuheng couldn't help but rub its little face. It wasn't as soft and bouncy as some others, but it was still as smooth and warm as jade.
He glanced at Xie Xubai walking away, then turned back to look at the little man. His cold gaze softened considerably, and he remarked with emotion, "He looks just like he did when he was a child."
The little one flatly denied it: "No, I'm not as cute as I was when I was little, and I can't make you happy like I used to."
Seeing its gloomy expression, Pei Yuheng's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously retorted, "How could that be? You're cute right now too."
"Is that so?" The little boy looked at him thoughtfully. "Then, Daddy, do you prefer me when I was little, or me now? You can't answer that you like both."
Pei Yuheng: "..."
He was jolted awake, instinctively realizing he was about to face his first father-son crisis. His mind, which had been filled with confusion, unease, doubt, and fear, suddenly cleared up considerably. He stopped thinking about those irrelevant things and racked his brains to figure out how to answer the villain's question.
Seeing his worried expression disappear, the little boy wrapped his arms around him, his eyes crinkling with a triumphant slyness, and said softly, "Everything will be alright, Dad. Trust me, we will definitely find out the truth about what happened back then."
You are not alone, I am here for you.
Pei Yuheng paused, his eyes suddenly becoming moist, his heart seemingly filled with a surging, burning emotion, and he tightened his grip on the little figure: "...Mmm."
Xie Xubai approached the butler, who was answering the magician's question, but he hesitated and seemed very wary.
It can only be said that although the magician is very famous, coincidentally, this person is not his fan.
Should he resort to coercion or bribery, or use mind control tools? The magician hesitated, knowing that taking action against the players would damage his popularity with the audience.
Seeing Xie Xubai approaching, seemingly also intending to extract information, he raised an eyebrow, stepped aside, and wanted to see what method this big block of ice could use to persuade people.
Then, to his astonishment, Xie Xubai actually laughed.
The young man was truly blessed with good looks. His lips naturally curved upwards, and his eyes were filled with a gentle smile, like ice melting in the warm spring sun, making people involuntarily relax their worries and unconsciously let down their guard.
Xie Xubai extended his hand and smiled: "Hello, my name is Pei Yu."
The butler had a good impression of Xie Xubai, after all, it was Xie Xubai who had stepped in and saved him and his companion from disaster, so he extended his hand to shake hands in return: "Hello."
Xie Xubai keenly sensed the change in his emotions. Instead of rushing to ask for clues, he asked the butler what to do next. The Fu family was facing a crisis, and the Fu family members were not kind people; they didn't know when they might be targeted and killed.
The butler looked worried: "I don't know what to do either. There are too many restrictions. It seems like no matter which way I go, it's a dead end."
His character is defined as: opportunistic, profit-driven, cunning, cowardly, and born to be a wage earner—a pure cannon fodder version of a saint, which is simply deadly.
Xie Xubai had asked about his character setting, and after thinking for a moment, suggested: "Since the character setting is one of opportunism and profit-seeking, now that the Fu family is in crisis, you can consider resigning and changing jobs."
"Find a powerful and visionary ruler who can suppress your cowardly nature and allow you to utilize your strengths as an employee. Just like a person's character, it cannot remain unchanged. Perhaps under the influence of a wise ruler, it can be honed and effectively utilized? Of course, this is just my personal opinion."
"..." The butler was taken aback and fell into deep thought.
He was clearly tempted, but the problem was, which wise ruler would want a "cunning and treacherous villain" like him?
The butler's gaze shifted and landed on Pei Yuheng. It wasn't that he had some kind of precognitive ability to see Pei Yuheng as a wise ruler, but rather that he trusted Xie Xubai's judgment. Even if Pei Yuheng wasn't powerful enough, Xie Xubai's strength was enough to suppress him.
Unexpectedly, Xie Xubai shook his head: "I'm sorry, if you want to be with him, I'm afraid it's not possible."
The butler looked surprised; he had thought Xie Xubai had approached him to persuade him to work for him.
However, Xie Xubai's reasons were quite valid. Logically and emotionally, Pei Yuheng would not want a subordinate that the Fu family did not want, especially since this person was an accomplice of the Fu family and had previously tormented him in every way.
The butler thought about it and realized it made sense, and immediately panicked: "Then what should I do? The Fu family might not necessarily collapse. If I leave at this critical juncture, they might realize what's happening and punish me severely. At that time—"
“Infinite Games have always been this cruel, which is why we must do everything we can to save ourselves. You could fake your death and make the Fu family forget about you, or try to do something to win Pei Yuheng’s trust.” Xie Xubai patted his shoulder, speaking gently and patiently, “We must find a way to utilize the settings, we can’t just sit and wait to die.”
The magician, watching Xie Xubai's healing spell move the butler to tears, was utterly dumbfounded.
Once Xie Xubai had successfully gotten the information he wanted from the butler, he leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "I'm a little confused. Do you want his help or not?"
Xie Xubai looked at him suspiciously: "Of course I want it." Otherwise, why would he bother with all this talk?
Based on his initial observation, this player's physical condition was quite good. When he used his mental power to restrain the butler along with his bodyguards and servants, he didn't hold back at all, yet the butler didn't immediately faint and was full of energy when he got up.
The magician was even more puzzled: "Then why didn't you just accept him?" The man clearly seemed very interested, and Xie Xubai was just short of making an invitation.
Xie Xubai said calmly, "Because Pei Yuheng is just a better choice for him, not the only one he can't live without. Besides, he's also known for being a fence-sitter. If he wavers and messes things up at a crucial moment, that won't do."
"Even you can see that I intend to invite him, so I can't possibly extend an invitation now. In other words, what you earn yourself is what you will cherish."
Magician: "Are you so sure he'll ultimately choose Pei Yuheng? The wise ruler you recommended for him must be powerful, and Pei Yuheng doesn't seem powerful at all."
"Didn't you see Pei Yuheng's growth stats? I'm 99% confident that Pei Yuheng will become extremely powerful later on and become the Demon King of the current dungeon." Xie Xubai pushed up his glasses, seeing the magician's skepticism, and said with a smile, "You don't believe me? Want to make a bet?"
The magician had a deep-seated unease about his ambiguous smile and immediately shuddered: "No bet!"
However, he was very interested in Xie Xubai's theory that "the character's settings can be changed according to the character's experience" and planned to follow the butler for a while or find a way to verify it himself.
Xie Xubai didn't miss the magician's contemplation, and a barely perceptible smile appeared on his lips. He knew that someone would be eager to help him verify whether the character settings could be changed.
Xie Xubai: "Also, have you noticed that the number of players is a little too small?"
Magician: "Now that you mention it, it's true. I explored the entire dungeon map before, and there were fewer than fifteen players, but this dungeon has at least fifty, maybe even a hundred. Unless two-thirds of us die at the start... it's not impossible."
Xie Xubai pondered.
The magician had previously stated that they could not see the current date, and Xie Xubai suspected that players might be scattered across different timelines.
Xie Xubai wanted to determine the number of players, for no other reason than that Pei Yuheng was desperately short-staffed for his hospital, and he needed to find more laborers for others, while he also needed to cultivate followers to help him become a god. Weighing these two factors, players with a single need (surviving and completing the game) became the best choice.
After saying goodbye to the magician and the others, Xie Xubai thought about the information he had received from the butler and had a plan in mind.
In the mission footage seen by the butler, even without him, Pei Yuheng would have been secretly imprisoned by the Fu family in the clinic afterward until the disaster broke out and he was able to see the light of day again.
In other words, Pei Yuheng's decision to establish the First Hospital based on the health clinic is a historical anchor point.
Xie Xubai knew he didn't have the power to shake the anchor point. What he cared about was that Pei Yuheng had gone from being "humiliated and bound with no way out" to being "unharmed and making his own choice." How could it be said that nothing had changed?
Seeing the vast amount of room for maneuver here, Xie Xubai was excited but remained calm, and suddenly had a new realization.
—My place was not originally in history until I joined it. I am a link in history, and also a variable in destiny.
Xie Xubai wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he seemed to hear a sigh of relief. It echoed in his mind and then slowly faded away.
Not long after, Xie Xubai and the other person returned to Pei Yuheng's laboratory.
Pei Yuheng spontaneously began cleaning the laboratory, but Xie Xubai stopped him. After all, Pei Yuheng no longer needed to perfect his obsessive-compulsive disorder, and cleaning meticulously would be a waste of time.
He used cleaning tools he'd gotten from a magician to remove dust with a single click.
Looking around the bright and tidy laboratory, Pei Yuheng stared intently at Xie Xubai. Xie Xubai pretended not to see his deep gaze and made a new request: "From now on, all items must be placed in fixed positions, not even one centimeter off."
Pei Yuheng's gaze toward Xie Xubai deepened.
Ever since Pei Yuheng learned that they were father and son, Xie Xubai could no longer force the other party to do things according to his requirements. After all, he had to respect his elders—it was definitely not because he was cowardly.
Before he could come up with a way to persuade Pei Yuheng, the latter chuckled and relaxed his brows, saying, "Alright, I will do as you say, but I have a request."
Xie Xubai: "What?"
Pei Yuheng: "It seems you haven't called me yet."
They didn't call him by his name, they called him "Dad." Xiao Xubai called him that, the spirit body called him that, but he himself never uttered a single word.
Xie Xubai: "..."
When he met Pei Yuheng's expectant gaze, his expression went blank for a moment, then he turned his head away nonchalantly, pretending not to have heard.
Seeing this, Pei Yuheng couldn't help but feel a little sad. He felt that he might not have been able to take Xiao Xubai away smoothly, which caused Xie Xubai to hold a grudge against him and that was why he was unwilling to ask.
Feeling guilty, he didn't insist. Instead, he picked up a ruler and measured the spacing between the various decorations. He wouldn't hesitate to do anything as simple as arranging things neatly, even if it meant going through fire and water.
[Character "Pei Yuheng," the character with severe obsessive-compulsive disorder, is 50% complete. Please keep up the good work.]
Now that the documents are in hand, the question is when to start work.
Xie Xubai considered that Pei Yuheng was in a bad mood because of his parents' affairs, and wanted to wait until he finished his current experiment before going to see him. Without thinking about so many right and wrongs, and only needing to focus on his studies, Pei Yuheng visibly relaxed a lot.
But the change came so quickly.
"This is H City News. At 1:05 PM today, we received the latest news from major medical institutions in the South New District, confirming that the influenza virus spreading widely in the area is a novel virus. Experts are working hard to develop effective antiviral drugs."
...It is important to note that while this virus is highly contagious, it is not fatal. Frequent handwashing and disinfection can provide some protection...If you are diagnosed with the virus, please seek medical attention at the nearest medical facility as soon as possible and do not spread panic...Volunteers who wish to donate medication or funds or participate in relief efforts can call the following number. Thank you for your assistance.
Xie Xubai hadn't brought his previous phone charger, so he temporarily switched to a different phone. He frowned as he watched the news broadcast.
The next second, Pei Yuheng walked over anxiously: "My senior brothers and sisters just told me that our mentor was invited to investigate the disease in the South City New District, but suddenly disappeared at the rest stop they were arranged to go! He can't answer the phone, and the expert investigation team's dedicated communication seems to be interfered with by a magnetic field and is constantly busy. I have to go with them to check on him!"
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