Welcome Back

Zhao Kongcheng was stunned.

He really hadn't expected that this ordinary high school student before him would say such a thing, would have such mature thoughts…

It was only then that he realized how ridiculous his previous attempt to leverage the common adolescent tendency towards chuunibyou and youthful passion had been.

Lin Qiye was not an ordinary high school student.

Lin Qiye stood up and walked directly to the door, hesitating for a moment before stopping.

"Thank you for telling me so much. I'll sign the confidentiality agreement."

With that, he pushed the door open and left.

This time, Zhao Kongcheng merely sat silently by the bedside, his body rising slightly as if he wanted to grab him. After a brief pause, he slumped back down powerlessly.

He knew what this young man represented, and he knew that he had a mission to bring this young man back, but…

He couldn't do it.

"Little Qi, you're finally back? Why aren't you wearing your school uniform today?"

"Auntie, I woke up in a hurry this morning and forgot to wear it."

"You child… won't the teachers scold you if you don't wear your uniform?"

"They only said a couple of things, it's fine."

"Sigh, Little Qi, you just transferred to a new school. You can't leave a bad impression on the teachers. You need to be more careful."

"Got it, Auntie."

"How are you getting along with your classmates at school? Are they ostracizing you?"

"No, we're getting along well. They even walked me home, and I walked them part of the way too."

"That's good, that's good."

"I'm going back to my room, Auntie."

"Okay, sleep early."

Thump—!

Lin Qiye closed his room door, lay on his back on the bed, and stared at the night sky outside the window, letting out a long sigh.

This world was far more complicated than he had imagined…

However, it didn't have much to do with him.

After resting for a while, Lin Qiye sat up. Just as he began to take off his clothes, a hard object fell out of his pocket.

Clang!

Lin Qiye looked down, picked up the object, and a look of confusion appeared on his brow.

It was a metal ornament, like a badge, a little larger than a one-yuan coin. It was made of some unknown material and felt cool to the touch.

On the front of the badge, two straight sabers were crossed, their blades emitting a faint blue glow. The background behind the sabers was a night sky dotted with stars, and the craftsmanship was extremely exquisite!

Below the pattern, the three characters "Zhao Kongcheng" were engraved.

"What is this…" Lin Qiye narrowed his eyes slightly.

Lin Qiye recalled that as Zhao Kongcheng had been pulling him towards the hotel, he seemed to have touched his pocket.

Did he drop it accidentally?

Lin Qiye fiddled with the badge, flipping it over. On the back, a few lines of small text were engraved.

"If the dark night finally descends, I will stand before countless people, With my saber towards the abyss, My blood staining the sky!"

"What spirit… Did Zhao Kongcheng write this himself? Or is it the creed of the Night Watchmen?" Lin Qiye murmured to himself. "He looked so dazed, he doesn't seem like the type to write something like this…"

After playing with it for a while longer, Lin Qiye placed it on the table and changed into his clothes before climbing into bed.

Tonight, he had something very important to do.

He closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the Psychiatric Hospital of the Gods in his mind.

At this moment, in the small courtyard of the psychiatric hospital, Nyx was sitting in a rocking chair, holding a pile of bottles and jars, seemingly mumbling to herself, a smile occasionally appearing on her lips.

If one were to overlook the haziness in her eyes and the strange objects in her arms, judging solely by the noble aura emanating from her every gesture, this would have been a breathtakingly beautiful scene.

Not long after, Lin Qiye, dressed in a white coat, slowly walked over.

To better immerse himself in the role of a psychiatrist, Lin Qiye had specifically found a white coat in the dean's office and even clipped a pair of non-prescription glasses to his collar.

At first glance, he did indeed look the part.

Lin Qiye walked to the rocking chair and silently gazed at Nyx's hazy, vacant eyes, letting out a soft sigh.

Based on the mythological texts he'd reviewed, Nyx was indeed one of the oldest and most powerful deities in Greek mythology, holding a top-tier position and strength.

However, compared to other gods, she had one major characteristic...

She loved giving birth!

According to Lin Qiye's statistics, Nyx had at least twenty children, including the renowned Thanatos, Hypnos, as well as the god of space, the goddess of fate, the god of misfortune, and so on and so forth...

With very few exceptions, the vast majority of Nyx's children were evil gods who wreaked havoc on the mortal realm after their birth. Many of them met tragic ends.

From the fragmented mythological stories, Lin Qiye couldn't obtain more detailed information about the Goddess of Night. However, he speculated that Nyx's current condition might be related to her offspring.

The doctor at Sunshine Psychiatric Hospital said that a male patient, out of longing for his wife, fantasized about her presence. Could Nyx's illness be similar?

Because she missed her children too much, she started treating those bottles and jars as her children?

But what exactly happened to her children to cause such a violent reaction from Nyx?

Furthermore, could an ancient deity with divinity truly possess such intense emotions? Or perhaps... before her episode, her divine body was taken, and her divinity stripped away?

Lin Qiye had no idea.

"Hypnos, don't rush, your brother will be back soon. He's just playing around for a bit...

Danaus, that child, has always been a troublemaker since he was young. When he gets back, I must teach him a good lesson!"

Nyx caressed the vase in her hands, gazing blankly into the distance, a flicker of hope appearing in her eyes before they clouded over again.

She paused, her hoarse voice trembling slightly:

"But...

It's been three thousand years. Why hasn't he come back..."

Watching this scene, Lin Qiye felt an inexplicable pang of sadness.

Who would have thought that the once-lofty Goddess of Night would now be so helpless and humble?

She was the Goddess of Night, and also a mother waiting for her child's return.

"To cure her illness, we must address the root cause..." The doctor's words echoed in Lin Qiye's mind again. He lowered his head, thinking hard.

The root cause... Nyx's illness stemmed from her lost children.

To cure her, he had to start with her children. But knowing that her children were all famous Greek gods, there was no way he could find them one by one and bring them to Nyx, right?

Besides, Lin Qiye didn't even know if they had been brought to this world by the mist. Where could he find so many gods?

Even if he found them, would those evil gods really come with him obediently?

Lin Qiye frowned in thought. Just then, a flash of inspiration struck him!

Perhaps... this would work?

Lin Qiye stood up, looking at Nyx with a conflicted expression for a long time. Finally, he made up his mind and took a step forward.

Under Nyx's dazed gaze, Lin Qiye walked step by step in front of her...

He gently crouched down, reached out his hands to embrace Nyx, and whispered in her ear:

"Mother, I'm back."

At that moment, Nyx's eyes suddenly shone with an unprecedented brilliance!!

She tremblingly reached out her hands and held Lin Qiye tightly. After a long while, she managed to stammer out a complete sentence:

"Welcome back, Danaus, my child..."