37. Xia Ling: Good Thing I Was Hurt Badly Enough, or I'd Have Gone Straight into the Dirge of the Wicked

"Okay, okay, I've only been asleep for a short while and you woke me up..."

Xia Ling was quickly awakened by the voice in her mind. After understanding the situation, she immediately replied in the channel.

"This seems like a good opportunity... Flame Willow, do you remember the excuse we used to cover up the suspicion that we knew each other when we were figuring out my backstory?"

"We happened to leave a lot of 'foreshadowing' in this mission, so let's go with that."

"You mean... I'm the character you brought into the Intrinsic World?"

"Yes, that's right. Two years have passed since we traveled through time. They won't remember some of the details clearly. As long as our story can satisfy most of the realities, that's fine."

Meanwhile, outside, as the saying goes, enemies are especially hostile when they meet. The moment Kiana saw Raven, she had already drawn her twin guns, while Theresa protected Xia Ling in her arms with her hands, and Judah had automatically deployed behind her.

The Raven spat softly, and a jet-black longbow appeared in its hand.

Then...

Two hands simultaneously grabbed Raven and Theresa.

Theresa looked down in surprise. Xia Ling had opened her lifeless eyes and was staring blankly at Theresa.

"Don't make a move yet, they're on our side!" ×2

"The Reed and Xia Ling across from me are friends I knew long before I came into this world!"

The two voices, speaking in unison, instantly silenced the tense situation.

A moment later, Theresa and Raven looked at the people beside them at the same time.

"Xia Ling, you're awake?!"

"Reed, what's going on?"

Seeing Xia Ling's lifeless eyes, Theresa couldn't help but shudder and turn her face away, unable to bear seeing Xia Ling's current state.

"Ahem... Don't rush to make a move..."

Xia Ling's weak voice echoed among the group.

"Wait, why did you make yourself look like this again?"

It was Flame Willow who spoke first, interrupting her. "I remember I gave you the antidote, didn't I?"

The Raven beside me stared wide-eyed, as if several question marks had appeared above its head, giving me the feeling that there was a traitor right next to me.

"Isn't this a case of plans not keeping up with changes...? Jackal's trump card is much more troublesome than I thought."

Xia Ling gave a wry smile, then turned to Kiana, who hadn't said a word until now.

"I'm sorry... I was really weak just now and accidentally passed out for a while."

"Don't worry, Kiana, these injuries on my body are not permanent, they will heal in time."

"Waaah..."

Kiana lowered her head abruptly, not wanting Xia Ling to see her crying.

"Okay, okay, don't blame yourself. How did our lovely Kiana turn into a crybaby? I'm perfectly fine..."

"You're definitely taking the blame for my injury again, aren't you?"

Xia Ling raised her hand and wiped away the tears from Kiana's eyes.

"Then... why not work even harder to become stronger? As long as you become strong enough to protect me, wouldn't that be enough?"

"You must still have things to do, right? Then go ahead, they won't stop you."

"As for the other secrets, I'll have to wait until you get back to tell you."

"Yes, I know, Sister Xia Ling... I won't let you down again..."

Kiana wiped her eyes and then looked at Theresa beside her.

"Don't worry." Theresa tightened her grip on Xia Ling even more. "I won't let her get away again."

"Hey, little guy over there."

Flame Willow threw what she was holding toward Kiana.

"These are the key and authentication components for the central signal tower, which should save you a lot of time."

Kiana caught it steadily, without the slightest suspicion that the other party might be bluffing.

After all, Xia Ling had told her that she could trust the other side, so she would naturally do as she was told.

Kiana glanced at Xia Ling with some reluctance, a ripple of space appeared around her, and then she disappeared from the spot.

"Alright, Kiana's gone, now it's our problem... [group name]..."

Flame Willow took Raven's hand and moved a little closer.

Theresa glanced down at Xia Ling.

Seemingly sensing Theresa's hesitation, Xia Ling took the initiative to speak:

"I meant what I said before, and she can be trusted."

Theresa nodded without hesitation.

"It seems your companions need an explanation."

"I think it's the same on your end."

"Wait a minute, I don't need that," Theresa said. "I will always believe in Xia Ling."

"Me too, I don't really care about the Reed's past." Raven suddenly felt inferior and quickly echoed.

"Pfft... Theresa, what kind of weird competitive race have you started now...?"

Xia Ling couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Forget it, let's just be open and honest about it, so you won't be so curious."

"Then I'll explain. You should get some rest."

Flame Willow glanced at Xia Ling's miserable state and shook her head.

"I met her outside of this world, and the time... probably goes back a long time."

Although they said they didn't care, Raven and Theresa still honestly pricked up their ears.

"When I first met her, it was in a World Bubble, and she looked... even worse than she does now."

"Not only was my strength greatly reduced, but my body was also severely injured. I fell into that World Bubble due to some accident, and for a while I had no way to leave."

"With the mindset of finding a local guide, I started using my abilities to heal her, but I never expected that she was also from outside the World Bubble."

"Back then, her abilities weren't as strong as they are now... roughly equivalent to the energy level of B-rank Valkyrie in your world."

"In short, in that rather dangerous World Bubble, given her situation, we've already saved her, so we can't just abandon her."

"Since we're both travelers, I decided to take her along on our trip."

"Although I was able to move around in the Sea of Quantum before, it was mostly by relying on my physical abilities to forcibly adapt to the marine environment, which was far less convenient than her ability."

"So at that time we had a clear division of labor, like a driver and a bodyguard. She drove, and I acted as her bodyguard."

"After a long time, we discovered a strange area. This World Bubble unusually stable, but it was not easy to break through into it."

"As you might have guessed, this so-called 'World Bubble' is the Intrinsic World, which we only learned later. But from our perspective at the time, it did indeed look like a super-large World Bubble."

"Such a large World Bubble must be quite stable, so we decided to break in and rest for a while."

"However, entering this Intrinsic World is much more difficult than we imagined."

"Therefore, we got separated during the transmission."

Chapter Thirty-Seven Xia Ling: Luckily, my injuries were severe enough, otherwise I would have been sent straight to the Elegy of the Sinner.

"Theresa, you should know what happened next."

Xia Ling then picked up the conversation. "I met you at the Chiyu Academy, and you took me in."

"Then, some time later, during Kiana and the others' combat mission, I suddenly detected the scent of Reed."

"Since I already knew about the distribution of power in this world beforehand, in order to prevent you from killing Reed by mistaking her for some strange guy, I put on a show with her and let her escape."

"And me..." Flame Willow squeezed Raven's hand, "After that, I met Raven in the shantytown of Changkong City, and then I got in touch with World Serpent..."

"Later, after receiving some support from World Serpent, the two of us resumed contact, but mostly we exchanged updates and such. Until the end of last year, Xia Ling suddenly cut off contact unilaterally."

"It wasn't until I arrived in Changkong City that I unexpectedly received Xia Ling's signal again."

"I also dislike that Jackal, and I'm not really interested in this so-called Stigmata Project either."

"So we hit it off immediately and decided to teach the Jackal a lesson."

"So... Xia Ling deliberately let herself be caught back then?"

Raven suddenly realized. "No wonder you were so anxious when I said I was using the Seven Thunders of Retribution..."

Before he could finish speaking, the Raven immediately felt a dangerous gaze fall upon him.

Looking back, there was Theresa staring intently at her.

The Raven immediately shut its beak.

"I originally intended to extract some information from the Jackal, after all, my understanding of your World Serpent is much deeper than you imagine..."

"In short, World Serpent's plan has basically failed. But Raven, you can rest assured that neither Gray Serpent nor Kevin will hold you accountable when you return."

"Because of the failure of this plan, it will most likely be blamed on me and..."

"Wait a minute..." As soon as Xia Ling mentioned holding someone accountable, Raven immediately thought of someone, "Where did the Jackal go?"

"If you and Reed had prior connections, then when she saw you had the antidote, she should have suspected Reed..."

"We need to act quickly, otherwise, given the Jackal's nature, he'll definitely..."

The Raven looked somewhat anxious.

"No, no, no, as a member of the World Serpent, even if it's about killing the Jackal, you can't be the one to do it..."

Xia Ling slowly shook her head, revealing a mysterious smile.

"Don't worry, the Jackal over there..."

"There is already a very reliable person who will absolutely not be held accountable and has taken care of her."

... slipped away 4 neighbors II mixed J privately took IV spirit...

After exchanging a few pieces of information, Flame Willow and Raven left in a hurry. Although Xia Ling could be considered one of their own, they shouldn't forget that the Immortal Blade of Schicksal still existed in Changkong City.

If you're accidentally tracked, it can be quite troublesome to deal with.

Not long after the two had left, at the edge of their sight, on the central signal tower of Changkong City.

A Honkai Energy fluctuations drew everyone's attention enveloped the group.

Theresa raised her head and looked up at the sky above Changkong City.

She saw a shooting star flying backwards, rapidly heading towards the edge of the sky.

And below this shooting star... Theresa can vaguely see a white-haired girl.

"What is she trying to do? Throw that engine into the sky?!"

Theresa was startled and stared blankly at the sky.

"The total amount of Honkai Energy carried by this engine is too high. It's impossible to use the power teleportation to leave directly. She can only use this method."

Xia Ling stared blankly at the sky, the light of the shooting star reflected in her eyes.

"Don't worry, Theresa ... the seal I left for her isn't so easy to lose control of."

"Moreover, according to my calculations, Kiana should be able to land safely as long as she holds back a little bit of energy, and nothing will happen to her."

Xia Ling nuzzled Theresa's chest reassuringly, though she didn't actually touch anything.

"Perhaps this is a good opportunity... an opportunity for her to greatly improve her mastery of the power of the Herrscher of the Void."

"Considering how I've become, I hope she can break through her limits once again..."

Hearing Xia Ling's murmurs, Theresa suddenly seemed to realize something.

A hint of realization crossed her eyes as she looked at Xia Ling.

She suddenly realized that she seemed to understand Xia Ling's behavior pattern to some extent, but what followed was a surge of anger rising from the bottom of her heart.