After returning from Spirit City, Yi Chen did not go back directly to the Shrek Academy, but stayed at Heaven Dou City for one night.
He first went to the Golden Spatula branch for a tour to confirm that everything was operating normally. He chatted with the person in charge of the branch for about half an hour and learned about the recent operation of the Heaven Dou City branch and feedback from players.
Everything was on track and there was nothing he needed to worry about.
After finishing the affairs of the branch library, the sky had darkened, and the streets of Heaven Dou City were lit up with dots of lights.
Yi Chen stood at the door of the branch, thought for a moment, and instead of finding a place to stay in an inn, he turned around and turned into the street leading to the Crown Prince's Mansion.
He did not send a greeting card in advance, nor did he let anyone inform him. The guard at the door had already recognized him. When he saw him coming, he did not stop him. He just bowed respectfully and opened the door. Yi Chen walked through the bluestone corridor that he had walked many times, passed through the two moon gates, and came to the back garden.
Sure enough, Qian Renxue is sitting in that small pavilion.
She did not wear the prince's clothes tonight, nor did she put on the moon-white dress last time, but changed into a pair of dark blue regular clothes. Her bun was loosely rolled up and fixed with a white jade hairpin, and a few strands of hair hung down by her ears.
There was a low table in front of her, and two cups of tea were placed on the table, one in her hand and one on the opposite side, as if she had already known that he would come tonight.
There is also a plate of cut fruits and a small plate of snacks next to it. The presentation is exquisite, and it is obvious that a lot of thought has been put into it.
Yi Chen walked into the pavilion and sat down opposite her. He picked up the cup of tea and smelled it. It still had the same fragrance of Heaven Mountain Snow Lotus and Osmanthus Honey. It was just right warm. It had obviously been brewed not long before he arrived.
He took a sip and nodded. "This still tastes better. Spirit City You can't get this kind of tea over there, so I always feel like something is missing."
Qian Renxue did not answer his words, but put down the tea cup in his hand and looked up at him with a hint of scrutiny in his eyes.
She did not speak in a hurry, but looked at him for a few seconds first, as if to confirm whether he was injured or tired. After confirming, she spoke in a calm tone but with a trace of imperceptible concern, "Spirit City, have the matters over there been dealt with?"
"It's done." Yi Chen put down the tea cup and said in a casual tone, "Bibi Dong talked to me about the cooperation expansion kit. It's nothing special. She wants to open three more branches around Spirit City. I agree in principle. The specific site selection and operation plan will be handled by the Association's people."
Qian Renxue nodded and did not go any further on this topic.
She was silent for a moment, then changed the topic, her voice was lower than before, and her eyes became sharper. "What about what I heard? Someone activated some kind of formation against Golden Spatula System in seven cities at the same time, and then at the moment of activation, all the formations disappeared at the same time. You should know this better than me."
Yi Chen did not deny it, nor did he show surprise. He picked up the tea cup and took another sip, then put it down and nodded. "Well, I took care of it."
Qian Renxue looked at him and waited for a few seconds. Seeing that he had no intention of explaining in detail, he couldn't help but ask, "How did you do it? The people I sent to investigate reported that those formation eyes disappeared completely, leaving not even a trace of residual Soul Power fluctuations. They searched for three days and dug three feet into the ground, but found nothing. It was as if those formation eyes did not exist from the beginning."
Yi Chen leaned on the pavilion pillar, crossed his hands in front of his abdomen, and relaxed his posture. The moonlight shone on his face, outlining his clear profile lines.
He was silent for a moment, and then spoke, his voice as calm as if he was describing a trivial matter. "I have a Soul Skill, which can deny the established fact of existence. It is not destroying, not erasing, it is negating. It is like drawing a line on a piece of text and saying, Tell the world that this thing never happened. Those formations were deleted from the history of this world the moment they were denied by me. They never existed, so no trace of them can be found by any detection method, because they never left any traces from the beginning."
Qian Renxue The hand holding the tea cup paused in mid-air.
She looked at Yi Chen with an unprecedented complex emotion in her eyes.
She has met countless powerful people, she herself is the successor of Angel God Position, and she knows very well how the laws of this world work.
But the ability to "deny the established fact of existence" has gone beyond her understanding of power.
That is not Soul Skill, that is the power of creation and destruction beyond the gods.
She was silent for a long time, then put down the tea cup, and her voice was lower than before, with a slight hoarseness that she didn't even notice: "How strong are you?"
Yi Chen looked at her and did not answer immediately. The moonlight shone on the table between the two of them, making the shadow of the tea cup very long.
He picked up the tea cup and looked down at the osmanthus petals floating in the tea soup. He was silent for a moment, and then he spoke, his voice low, but with a certain weight. "On this continent, there is no rival."
When he said this, his tone was very calm, without any showing off or pride. It was as natural as stating an objective fact, just like saying "the moon is round tonight."
Qian Renxue looked into his eyes, trying to find any trace of exaggeration or concealment, but she couldn't find it.
She only saw a calm, bottomless lake. There was moonlight in those eyes, the reflection of the tea cup, and her own face, but there was no trace of wavering or hesitation.
She looked away, picked up her tea cup, lowered her head and took a sip, then put it down.
She was silent for a long time, until three or four bamboo leaves outside the pavilion were blown off by the wind, and fell on the surface of the pond, causing small ripples.
Then she spoke, her voice a little softer than before, with a tentative meaning that she may not be completely clear about. "Then why do you still stay here? With your strength, you can definitely go to the Divine Realm, or go to a wider world. This continent should not pose any challenges to you."
Yi Chen looked at her with a hint of gentleness in his eyes. He did not answer immediately. Instead, he picked up a piece of snack on the table and took a bite. He chewed it slowly and swallowed it. Then he spoke, his voice a little softer than before. "Because there is someone I want to keep here."
Qian Renxue's fingers gently rubbed a circle on the rim of the cup, but did not answer.
She lowered her head and pretended to be looking attentively at the osmanthus petals floating in the tea soup, but the slightly red tips of her ears were not visible in the moonlight.
The night wind blew through the bamboo forest outside the pavilion, making a rustling sound, like a soft background music, which perfectly filled the silence.
Yi Chen looked at her lowered eyebrows and slightly red ear tips, and the corners of her mouth slowly curved.
He did not pursue the victory or continue to deepen the topic. Instead, he picked up the tea cup, took another sip, then put it down and said in a more relaxed tone, "Besides, there is nothing good to go to over there at the Divine Realm. I heard that there are many rules there. You are not allowed to do this or that. Even drinking tea has to be done according to etiquette. It is annoying to death. I am not as comfortable as now. I can drink whenever I want and sit wherever I want."
Qian Renxue couldn't help but curl the corners of his mouth slightly at his words, but soon returned to his cold expression.
She raised her head and looked at Yi Chen, with a trace of resentment in her eyes, but that kind of resentment was not cold, but had a kind of casualness that only occurs between acquaintances. "You are quite reasonable. Others pursue things for a lifetime, but you are annoyed to death."
"That's because they haven't seen anything better." Yi Chen put down the tea cup, his eyes fell on her face, and his tone was a little more serious, "Having seen something better, they won't be so attached to those things."
Qian Renxue's eyes met his and stayed for a moment, then she took the lead and looked away.
She picked up the tea cup, took a sip, then put it down, stood up, walked to the edge of the pavilion, turned her back to Yi Chen, and looked at the wheel of Moon's Reflection in the pool.
The night wind ruffled the hem of her clothes and hair, and her back looked particularly slender and lonely in the moonlight.
She was silent for a long time, and then she spoke, her voice was much softer than before, with a vulnerability that she would never show in normal times. "Yi Chen, have you ever thought about what will happen to those people you left behind if you really leave this continent one day?"
Yi Chen stood up, walked behind her, and stood beside her. He didn't get too close, keeping about an arm's length away, and looking at the Moon's Reflection in the pool.
He was silent for a moment, and then spoke, his voice not high, but with a reassuring certainty. "If I really want to leave, I will take them with me."
Qian Renxue's body stiffened slightly, but she did not turn her head to look at him.
Yi Chen continued, "Whether it is Xiao Wu, Rongrong, Zhuqing, or Yan'er and Lingling, I will bring them with me. I will not leave them in a world without me."
He paused, turned his head, and looked at Qian Renxue's profile. The moonlight outlined her delicate outline, and her eyelashes were trembling slightly.
His voice was lower than before, with a serious and undisguised warmth. "Including you."
Qian Renxue's breathing stopped at that moment.
She stood there, motionless, like a statue frozen by the moonlight. The night wind blew by, blowing the broken hair beside her ears. She made no movement or any response. But she held the fingers on the edge of her sleeves and tightened them slightly.
Yi Chen didn't wait for her to respond. He withdrew his gaze, took half a step back, and his tone returned to his usual relaxed tone. "I've finished drinking the tea and finished talking. It's getting late, so you should go to bed early."
He turned around and walked out of the pavilion and walked out of the house along the stone road he came from. After walking a few steps, he stopped again and said without looking back, "By the way, I received your letter. The weather forecast is accurate. It did rain a little over there Spirit City. But I brought an umbrella."
Qian Renxue was still standing by the pavilion, with her back facing the direction he left. She heard his footsteps getting further and further away, passing through the moon gate, passing through the bluestone corridor, and finally disappearing into the night outside the mansion.
She slowly turned around and looked at the direction in which Yi Chen disappeared, and was silent for a long time. Then she lowered her head, glanced at the already cool tea on the table, picked it up, and drank it all.
It's still sweet, but with a hint of coolness.
She put down the teacup, gently rubbed the rim of the cup with her fingertips, and then whispered, as softly as if she was talking to herself. "Isn't it important to bring an umbrella..."
She raised her head and looked at the cold moon in the night sky, and the corners of her mouth slowly curved in an arc that she didn't even notice.
"Who asked you to take it?" She said softly, with a softness in her tone that she was not even aware of.