Make a Feint in the Open, Sneak Across in Secret / Trust Us One More Time

"It's obvious that Xia Ling knows some of the so-called truths, but she may not be able to tell us directly for some reason."

"So her attitude itself says a lot."

"So, can you guarantee that what she knows is really the so-called truth? You need to know that if the plan fails, those Corrosion Virus you're using as bargaining chips could cause the already tense situation to collapse directly."

"I can't, but Elysia believes her, so I believe her."

"Heh, you really trust that traitor." Serpent scoffed. "Besides, if Elysia knew about your plan, hmph..."

"There's nothing we can do about it... after all, our opponent is corrosive..."

"Reading the shallow consciousness is a piece of cake for it."

"And those Corrosion Virus, if used for protection, would be immediately detected; their only function is to ensure they remain undetected..."

Vill-V's gaze was deep and unfathomable, as if she had pierced through the Elysian Realm and looked at Xia Ling in her dream.

"Now that I've presented my plan, can you trust me completely, just as you've said?"

Chapter Four: Openly Repairing the Plank Road While Secretly Crossing the Chencang Pass

As Xia Ling walked through the streets of Yae Village, the respectful gazes of the surrounding villagers made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

She was almost certain that she had taken Yae Sakura's place.

However, fearing that her secret would be exposed, she didn't dare to talk to the villagers in detail. Otherwise, if there was even the slightest deviation in their answers, all sorts of outrageous versions would spread throughout the streets and alleys in less than half a day.

This is the value of the village auntie's intelligence network.

However, even without asking others, Xia Ling has her own way of determining the time.

After traveling all the way to the back mountain, Xia Ling arrived at her destination.

Looking at the inscription "Tomb of Yae Rin" on the tombstone, Xia Ling fell into deep thought.

In other words, I'm currently at the point in time after Rin's death... The villagers are still relatively friendly to me, which means Kallen shouldn't have appeared yet...

But what does Hi-maru want to do by placing me in this time period? Is he trying to make me relive the process of meeting Kallen?

But I haven't met Kallen or heard any news about Kallen.

Sitting in front of Rin's tombstone, Xia Ling thought quickly, but unfortunately, she couldn't come up with a solution no matter how hard she tried.

In a daze, she seemed to feel something staring intently at her from all around.

"?"

"Did I just... never mind, anyway, this dream was created by Hi-maru, so even if I really saw something, it's most likely her conspiracy."

Seemingly very dissatisfied with the shrine maiden's AFK behavior in the back mountain, Xia Ling soon found that tasks were starting to come to her automatically.

"My lady, demons have appeared near my house again. My child is too scared to go home. Could you please help to get rid of them?"

"My lady, there's a piece missing from my roof, but I need to collect the materials outside the village. Could you go up and help me gather some?"

"My lady, my sow..."

Soon, Xia Ling's time was completely occupied by a full schedule of tasks.

"Wait? What role am I supposed to play? Have I turned into a harp? Why do you bunch of troublemakers have to come to the priestess for every little thing!"

To ensure she wouldn't be exposed in her dream, Xia Ling didn't dare refuse the villagers and began helping them one by one.

Fortunately, Xia Ling could easily solve most of their requests. For the few that she couldn't solve, such as the postpartum care of sows, Xia Ling could pretend to offer a blessing.

Don't ask, the answer is the power of the gods. Anyway, according to the original work, the gods here are also disguised by Hi-maru.

In short, in the Yae Village of her dream, Xia Ling experienced for the first time what it felt like to have accumulated ten weekly commissions without any acceleration cards.

"So, what exactly is Hi-maru up to? Am I Yae Village master hired by it?"

"Damn it, if I ever get the chance, I hope I catch you!"

Running through the streets of Yae Village, Xia Ling clenched her fists indignantly.

However...

If Xia Ling possessed a certain level of mental ability, she would have discovered this.

Hi-maru had actually been following behind her all along, silently watching her.

A few hours ago.

"Including today's incident, this little girl Theresa has probably died in her dreams more than ten times..."

Watching Theresa, who had become Yae Rin in her dream, habitually walk step by step toward her predetermined fate, Hi-maru shook his head in boredom.

"Damn it, if it weren't for Yae Sakura holding onto half her power to fight me, I wouldn't have needed to resort to such roundabout methods."

A hint of human-like resentment appeared in the eyes of the enormous nine-tailed fox.

"Under that guy's interference, even if we forcibly open the Stigmata Space and pull Theresa in, we can only keep her from being discovered for a short while."

"It's not even possible to maintain the hypnosis on her, let alone with Yae Sakura's interference. If this goes on for too long, we definitely won't be able to kill her."

"Therefore, if we want to get rid of Theresa quickly in the Stigmata Space, we must first get her used to the identity of Yae Rin."

"When 'playing' Yae Rin becomes a habit for her, or even a muscle memory, then when she is pulled into the Stigmata Space and falls into hypnosis, she will quickly walk towards death in the illusion I set up, based on inertia."

"Even if Yae Sakura arrived at this point, it would be too late to save someone who had already subconsciously become accustomed to this 'script'."

"At that time, all we need to do is have Theresa, who is suspected to be a descendant of Kallen, make Yae Sakura Yae Rin..."

"Hehehe, not only will the host's spirit be completely dead, but even Yae Sakura, who has always been an obstacle to me, will lose her mind under this double blow."

"Um?"

Hi-maru suddenly realized that a force seemed to be trying to break through the dream it had set up for Theresa.

"Who is this person... and there's something familiar about her..."

"She wants to enter Theresa's dream... Let me first erode her dream and see who she really is..."

Thus, the moment Xia Ling lost consciousness, a new dream formed in Xia Ling mind, while Hi-maru watched her every move from behind.

"In dreams, I can easily read the host's superficial consciousness. Let me see what you're thinking..."

However, the first sentence that came to Xia Ling's mind made Hi-maru's eyes widen.

(It's me, Vill-V. What's on your mind right now is a message. Don't be surprised.)

(Now, whatever you were doing before, keep it the same and don't give anything away.)

"Vivi, Vill-V?"

Of course, Hi-maru knew who this was. She was one of the Flame-Chasers of the Previous Civilization, and the nuclear bomb that destroyed human cities was her creation.

At the same time, she also created the Black Box that imprisoned her, and even now, the seal from back then can still hinder her in every way. Even Yae Sakura's ability to rival it is largely due to the seal.

"Why, why is she here? No, that's not right, what I just heard was just a message, just a message..."

Now that he was no longer careless, Hi-maru immediately focused his attention and continued to listen to the contents of Vill-V's message.

Afterwards, as Vill-V slowly narrated, Hi-maru's anxious heart gradually calmed down.

"So that's it... That makes sense. It's impossible for all the Flame-Chasers from the Previous Civilization to still be alive now. That Vill-V is probably long dead. This one must be a memory left behind in that Elysian Realm."

"As memory entities, they can't attack me, so they can only send this little guy to test me... Thank goodness."

"Luckily, their so-called little thing didn't pose a threat to me. Hmph, otherwise I would have really fallen into their trap."

"As for this guy... let's just give him all sorts of missions to confuse him, and add a few high-risk mission objectives to keep him busy. As long as I keep an eye on him and change the strategy according to his thoughts, there shouldn't be any problems."

With apprehension towards the Herrschers, Hi-maru concealed his presence and followed Xia Ling closely.

"I will always be watching over you..."

Just as Hi-maru's attention was completely focused on Xia Ling.

Before Yae Rin's tombstone, an ominous green light slowly rose.

If Xia Ling were still here, she would probably immediately recognize that this color represents the Corrosion Virus that Mobius developed in imitation of the Herrscher of Corruption.

After confirming the surrounding environment, these viruses immediately began to invade the core of the Hi-maru through the backdoor in the Black Box from back then.

However, they did not attempt to corrode anything. With the power of these Corrosion Virus, they would go undetected, but if they were to even slightly touch the power of the Herrscher of Corruption, they would be immediately discovered and eradicated.

Therefore, they were not used by Vill-V to protect against that message. After all, she had already guessed the state of the Herrscher of Corruption, and the message was only meant to confuse people.

Their real mission, however, is to use their shared erosive properties to secretly search for something.

This search lasted a long time. Using the publicly available data on Yae Rin, they then reverse-engineered and located Rin's counterpart from the Previous Civilization, Rin, and carefully bypassed the power of the Herrscher of Corruption...

Finally... deep inside the Black Box.

A sleeping pink-haired consciousness slowly opened its eyes.

To maintain her sense of self amidst endless erosion, she must minimize her presence as much as possible while reducing the expenditure of her limited power.

But now, she seemed to feel that familiar presence again.

She looked at the green patch in front of her with a puzzled expression.

Because she felt that these few strands of erosion, different from erosion itself, seemed to be calling her name.

"Wake up, ring..."

Chapter Five: Trust Us Once Again

"This is..."

Rin wanted to reach out and touch the unusual erosions, but she was also afraid, afraid that this was a trap set by Hi-maru after discovering her.

Seemingly sensing Rin's hesitation, this special corrosive power abandoned most of its form and abilities, transforming into a piece of pre-prepared data, and drilled into Rin's head.

"Long time no see, Ring."

A familiar yet somewhat unfamiliar voice rang directly in Ling's mind.

"I don't know if you still remember me. I am Vill-V. If possible, I originally wanted to record some of Sakura's voice for you, but due to some circumstances, Sakura in the Elysian Realm does not know about you."

"Vill-V ...and... Sister Xia..."

Ling murmured these words that she thought she would never hear in her life. Although she no longer had a body, she inexplicably felt an urge to cry.

"The data carried by the Corrosion Virus is limited, so I can only leave you with the most crucial information. Regardless of whether what I just said has convinced you, please remember what I am about to say."

She wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes, held her breath, and listened to the voice echoing in her mind.

"The green substance floating in front of you now is a Corrosion Virus developed by Doctor Mobius. It is highly similar to the Herrscher of Corruption, sharing a nearly identical origin and equivalent powers."

"In the time that follows, you need to try to familiarize yourself with the remaining Corrosion Virus, understand it, and control it."

"Mobius left a simulated persona of himself in those viruses as a teaching tool, the one you just heard calling out. It will help you."

"Remember, never reveal your existence. The purpose of that virus is not for you to fight back, but to teach you how to use it skillfully."

"Then, wait for my next message."

"Ling, we have never given up on you. Perhaps due to circumstances, this rescue has been delayed for fifty thousand years."

"However, I would still like to take the liberty of asking you to trust us one more time."

"..."

"How could I not believe you?"

"Of course I believe you, after all you are... my sister's family."

Ling revealed her first genuine smile in 50,000 years.

As if venting 50,000 years of grievances and pain, she tightly gripped the wisp of green virus.

That was her hope.

"If the biggest risk of this plan is whether Xia Ling can trust me wholeheartedly, even if I give her a mission that is close to death."

"The second biggest risk is that Ling must never meet Xia Ling."

Let's go back to when Vill-V was explaining her plan to Mobius.