Curtain Call and Encore

Minsk raised his head and looked at Xia Lin.

"Little brother," his voice was a little hoarse but utterly sincere, "that question of yours—what are you afraid of?—saved my life."

"I didn't do anything." Xia Lin walked over and slapped him on the back carelessly. "You figured it out yourself."

He chuckled and added, "Besides, honestly, I really have no idea what you were so afraid of."

Minsk froze.

Then he started laughing too.

The laughter began as a quiet chuckle, gradually turning into booming laughter until it almost spiraled out of control, as though he wanted to laugh away every shadow that had been weighing on his heart for all these years.

"Hahahaha—cough, cough—" He laughed until tears came out. "You brat, you brat!"

He wiped the corners of his eyes, took a deep breath, and briefly told Xia Lin about what had happened in the past.

About the crossroads in Hell, Elena and Selai, the desperate situation where he had been forced to choose, and how he had tried to twist fate only to lose everything.

Xia Lin fell silent for a moment after listening.

"Man... you really went through something that awful."

"It's all in the past." Minsk straightened his back, his eyes clearer than they had ever been.

As if remembering something, he slapped his forehead. "Oh, right. We've been talking so long, I still haven't asked your name."

"Xia Lin · Tolemo."

Minsk's expression stiffened.

"You're Xia Lin from New Stefan?"

"Looks like it." Xia Lin raised an eyebrow, a hint of pride in his voice. "I'm pretty famous now."

"Indeed." Minsk looked him up and down, a strange expression of realization appearing on his face. "More than famous. The version I heard along the way was that you used your personal charm to make