He Didn't Deserve It

Before actually seeing the words "Lingren" on Zhao Yijiu's personal terminal, Yu Xing still had a vague and distant illusion about Lingren.

He had known the Lingren for so long, and they had been enemies for a long time. In fact, his motivation for surviving in the first place was to take revenge on the Lingren. He entered the deduction realm in order to find the origin and truth of the Lingren's abilities.

These are undeniable facts, but in reality, he has been pursuing, searching, and exploring. In the few direct confrontations, the Lingren always stand in an unattainable position, either as NPCs who can influence the system's decisions and force their way in, or as behind-the-scenes manipulators who can destroy both the pawns and the opponent at any time.

Yu Xing had never heard the system mention the Lingren's name in any of the deductions.

Complete, authentic, unsliced, and not a projection of the Lingren himself.

It was the body of the Lingren he had once encountered, admired, and trusted in his youth—a body that was within his reach...

He was now separated from the Lingren's body by only a short dirt road leading to the survivor base in the low mountains!

Yu Xing was momentarily unable to control the tremor rising from the depths of his soul and the fervent flames that suddenly ignited within him.

The target of his hatred was so close to him.

In the Death Parallel Line, even if he kills the Lingren, the one who dies is just a "Master" NP. In the terrifying hospital, he can only let Han Yan die, and he has no way to deal with the Lingren hidden in Han Yan's soul.

This time... seems a little different.

His slender fingers curled slightly, hovering in mid-air, hesitant to press the back button that appeared after he had scrolled to the end.

Zhao Yijiu hesitated, "Yu Xing, it's not that I didn't want to tell you, it's just that I just saw you and didn't remember... I'm sorry."

The main problem is that the Lingren hasn't done anything significant in the past two weeks; his most noticeable presence has been in Carlos's chattering paper doll mouth.

He had a premonition that something good would happen to him since he woke up in the morning, and it came true. Although Zhao Yijiu didn't show it on his face, he knew that he was actually very happy.

He was so excited that he kept telling Yu Xing what he had been doing and what information she hadn't had time to know yet, and in the end, he neglected that person.

Yu Xing, suddenly receiving Zhao Yijiu's apology, turned her attention away from the name and smiled faintly, "Hmm? What did Brother Jiu think of this time? Why did you apologize?"

"I should have told you sooner," Zhao Yijiu said. "This means something different to you... Isn't everything you've done for revenge?"

Then nothing interesting and no rule takes precedence over the Lingren.

Yu Xing chuckled and patted Zhao Yijiu's head. He had wanted to do this for a long time. There was a tuft of hair sticking up from the back of Zhao Yijiu's head, stubbornly sticking out. Now he finally had the chance.

"I don't quite understand. Even so, why are you apologizing?" He sighed, a helpless yet amused smile on his face. "Even if you had told me immediately, I couldn't possibly rush to the base and kill him right away. What difference would it make if it were sooner or later? Or do you think I can't handle a mere name and would have a lot of negative emotions because of it?"

"Besides, the practice of using actors for Lingren is a thing of the past."

Zhao Yijiu's ears twitched, her eyes brightened slightly, but her expression remained cold and apologetic. "What you're saying makes me feel like things are no longer the same."

Yu Xing did not deny it.

Just as his personality has changed over time, so too has his character. In recent years, ever since he saved Zhu Yan and Qu Xuanqing, his life has become more complicated.

Then, when he entered the Absurd Deduction system, in fact, his initial plan only involved himself and Qu Xuanqing.

Contact with Zhao Yijiu was a coincidence, while contact with Zhao Mou was premeditated, intended to use the Zhao family for resource exchange.

When did it start to change?

There doesn't seem to be a clear turning point. Zhao Yijiu is just pitifully naive, giving her sincerity time and time again. Although she doesn't like to talk, her occasional serious words always touch people's hearts.

Zhao Mou, a cunning fox, made the first exchange with Yu Xing for his brother's safety during the simulation. However, they were unknowingly attracted to each other's ways of thinking and became "kindred spirits" in terms of strategy, hitting it off immediately.

As it turns out, even the most shrewd people have their own selfish motives. It's unclear when it started, but Zhao Mou entered a state of complete financial loss, worrying himself sick and overwhelmed by the Broken Mirror Squad, while still having to keep Yu Xing things when Yu Xing was a hands-off manager.

When doing these things, Zhao Mou showed no trace of his shrewd calculations or uncompromising ambition.

Then there's Carlos. Yu Xing only recruited him because of his strength. He exudes mystery and strangeness. When I first met him in Coffin Village, Carlos's thoughts jumped around, breaking through the illusion of rules without any hindrance. He was ruthless, yet always pretended to be romantic and mysterious. His personality and strength were both top-notch.

After spending time together, the ambiguous outer shell seemed to gradually fade away, revealing Carlos's cheerful and goofy side. If he didn't consider the team members as friends, how could the Magician have so easily shed his disguise?

Many things have changed.

Teammates are changing, and so is Yu Xing. When hatred is no longer the only thing in one's heart, it loses its greatest negative effect and can no longer easily control a person.

His concern gradually diminished, from unconsciously sinking into darkness whenever he thought of the Lingren, to becoming willing to consider all of the Lingren's thoughts about him, and then to being able to use the Lingren's obsession to destroy the Lingren's plans.

This is also a step forward for him.

Yu Xing shrugged and said matter-of-factly to the somewhat uneasy Zhao Yijiu, "If I were still the same person I was at the beginning, I would never have created the Broken Mirror Squad. And since I've chosen to tie the fates of so many of you to mine, I certainly won't be as irresponsible as I was when I was all alone."

Oh, that year's disappearance was an accident, truly an accident.

"Brother Jiu, every teammate I choose could potentially suffer dangers that aren't originally theirs because of my conflict with the Lingren. Therefore, from the moment we became teammates, you are more important than the Lingren."

Zhao Yijiu lowered her head.

It's impossible to tell what he's thinking.

Yu Xing chuckled lightly, "So what if the Lingren is involved in this divination? Don't worry about him. I'll decide whether to wait for him to provoke me or take the initiative to provoke him after I understand the divination itself."

He shoved the wristwatch into Zhao Yijiu's hand and suddenly noticed that Zhao Yijiu's fingers were warm.

Upon closer inspection, one could vaguely see bulging veins on Zhao Yijiu's neck, and the tips of her ears were tinged with red due to the great emotional fluctuations.

He kept his head down, not letting anyone see his expression; he was hiding his happiness.

Yu Xing felt that she had gone too far. She had never properly spoken to her teammates to give them a sense of security, but instead left them in a state of constant speculation and compromise.

This was a dereliction of duty on his part as team leader.

He was unusually serious, without a trace of jokingness, and said slowly but firmly, "Never apologize to me again because of the Lingren, not any of you. He doesn't deserve it."