The Keepsake

"Then, I'll be right back."

Angela out of the elevator, turned around, and looked triumphantly at the several figures not far behind her.

"Would you like me to bring you some food? Whether it's meat bones or cat food, anything is fine. I'm in such a good mood."

"I think it's alright, thank you for your kindness, miss."

The young man at the head of the group nodded slightly to her, while cautiously taking two steps back. Angela noticed his gaze sweeping around, as if testing the surroundings. Beside him stood the girl Angela quite liked, the one she wanted to take home as a servant. She stood quietly beside the boy, but her eyes revealed a wary look.

Interesting eyes.

Angela lingered on the girl's golden eyes for a moment, seemingly still considering. As one of the holders of the "Root," Angela could naturally sense the power of the girl's right eye. Although it was quite powerful, the little one didn't seem to care. Although Angela really wanted to just grab her and leave without a second thought, she ultimately abandoned the idea. While Angela, who possessed the power of life and death, couldn't be destroyed, she could tell that the other half of the girl's power was her adversary. Even if she ultimately achieved her goal, it might bring many troubles. In that other world, Angela had plenty of time to waste, but now it was different; every minute was precious, especially with that strange man below. Although he seemed ruthless on the surface, he was actually quite protective of these stray animals... a mother hen spreading her wings to protect her chicks—there seemed to be no more fitting description...

Well, better to avoid trouble. It's a real shame I didn't get my hands on this collectible, but with enough patience, I'm sure I'll come across the same thing again in the long run. I'll just let this one go for now.

Thinking this through, Angela withdrew her gaze, then let out a cold laugh and disappeared into the darkness.

The flow of time is indeed different in the two worlds. Although Angela felt that she and Li Lin had spent almost a year in that world, here she had only just learned that she had been gone for a few dozen days. This has accelerated Angela's determination to act. Otherwise, if Li Lin successfully achieved his ideals and goals when she returned, that would be fine. But if Angela returned and found that her master had failed again, Angela was not sure what she would do.

Fortunately, before she left, the "professor" had already begun researching his own power, or rather, he had been researching the power he had acquired all along, though with little progress. In Angela's eyes, for a human to achieve this level of control over Root power in such a short time was quite impressive. However, the "professor" was clearly not satisfied. But after Angela casually offered a few pointers, he seemed to grasp the essence. Angela had originally planned to directly tell him how to use all the power to help her reopen the dimensional portal. Unfortunately, since her Root power wasn't creation and destruction, but life and death, Angela had never used other Power of Origin and had no insights to share. Therefore, she could only let the man figure it out on his own.

Angela also had things to do.

Where she is now is only a two-day drive from the city where Li Lin used to live. What Angela needs to do now is to find what Li Lin left behind in this world and bring it back to the professor so that he can locate and search for it by using the traces of power left on it.

"Considering your master's indiscriminate love for any woman, it wouldn't matter if he brought back an illegitimate child for me to use."

Although that's what the other party said, Angela knew very well that Li Lin had never had a relationship with any woman other than her during his years in this world. Although, in Angela's view, he wasn't from this world and didn't need to take responsibility for anything here. Even if he got thirty or forty women pregnant, what did it matter? After all, once the master returned to his own world, he and the Book would never be heard from again. Could these women really bring their families to this other world to claim kinship with him? Angela wasn't worried at all that thirty years later, a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl would suddenly appear before Li Lin, crying and shouting, "Sir, do you still remember the time by Daming Lake..." She might as well just pull them all into bed.

Besides, in this day and age, physical relationships are commonplace for many people. Angela has seen enough one-night stands. Although she despises such casual relationships, in Angela's opinion... well... casual humans with casual feelings is perfectly suitable and there's nothing wrong with it.

However, Li Lin clearly had no interest in this kind of relationship. Although Angela had grown up with Li Lin since childhood and knew that quite a few girls had feelings for Li Lin, he wasn't particularly interested in them. Of course, sometimes Angela would encourage him to try something new, since those fresh and tempting girls were practically offering themselves up, and he might as well take advantage of it. But Li Lin wasn't interested in her suggestions. He had his little guy to satisfy his desires on a daily basis, and as for other women, it didn't really matter.

Other women...

Thinking of this, Angela immediately recalled a certain face that wasn't very likable.

A poor creature that clung to its owner for over a decade, only to be rejected in the end.

With that thought in mind, Angela changed direction, spread her jet-black wings, and flew towards the city where Li Lin had once lived.

The city, which would normally take two days to reach, was covered in just a few tens of minutes thanks to Angela's high-speed movement. Gazing at the city's twinkling lights through the clouds, Angela sneered. Then, she transformed into a black shadow and dashed down.

The apartment building where Li Lin once lived was completely messed up by the turbulence generated during his previous spatial travel, especially the top floor where he lived. Under the massive energy bombardment, even the ceiling was nowhere to be found. This was also the reason why Li Lin chose this place in the first place. Otherwise, even if he eventually succeeded in traveling through time, it wouldn't be good if other innocent people suffered. At least living on the top floor would give other residents some time to escape... well, that's all.

A petite figure flew down from the clouds and landed heavily on the rooftop, which had become ruins. Although Angela's impact wasn't great, it still made the entire building creak and groan. Looking around, the once tidy room was now completely unrecognizable. The beautiful floors and other furniture had long since been shattered into dust, along with the gemstones, all reduced to a pitiful sight.

Angela frowned, silently comparing the devastation here to the scenes of magical attacks in that world. She, of course, didn't know that the official report described it as a "gas leak and explosion."

After searching for a while, Angela still hadn't found anything to replace the medium. Everything here was in ruins, and even if there was anything of value, it probably couldn't stay here. Angela's extraordinary senses also yielded no clues. She had originally planned to search this place to see if she could find any of her master's belongings, but now it seemed hopeless. Even so, Angela didn't give up. After all, she had other plans, and if she couldn't find anything...

So, that's all that's left.

Thinking of this, Angela revealed a smug smile.

Although she had never held a grudge against the girl because her master treated her well, these were extraordinary times. Even her master would forgive her, right? Thinking of this, Angela narrowed her eyes and gently licked her lips. Although she had never liked that brat, she hadn't caused any trouble because her master doted on her. However, if the brat didn't know what was good for her this time, Angela would definitely not mind teaching the naive little girl a lesson.

After all, Li Lin isn't here right now, and even if he were, he would forgive her... Of course, if he were here, Angela wouldn't need to do this.

The room was pitch black.

The girl leaned silently against the bed, staring blankly at the ornament in her hands, saying nothing. It was a strange ornament: three spherical objects rotated autonomously around two rings, emitting a tinkling sound while shimmering with beautiful light. If an ordinary person saw it, they would surely be curious about how this little thing, which seemed to have no power source whatsoever, worked.

However, the girl did not have such a desire to investigate.

For days, she had sat silently on her bed, gazing at the birthday gift she had last received from Li Lin. Her tears had long since dried over ten days ago, but even now, the girl's sorrow remained. She hadn't forgotten the massive explosion she witnessed that day, erupting from the room of her beloved, especially after Li Lin had rejected her confession. The girl couldn't understand why such a thing had happened. Although being rejected had hurt her deeply, it was nothing compared to losing the person she loved.

"Li Lin..."

The girl whispered that name, while curling up again.

For days, she couldn't eat or sleep. Sometimes she would only vaguely eat food left at the door by her parents, but even the girl herself didn't know whether she was asleep or unconscious before waking up each time. Sometimes, she even thought about closing her eyes and dying with her beloved. Although the police and her father had investigated, no one knew why Li Lin would do this. According to the investigation, his house had an "abnormal explosion," but according to the police search results, no explosive device residue was found inside, and it didn't seem to be a gas explosion. It was impossible to determine what had happened there. Although suicide was a possibility, the girl couldn't believe that her gentle and strong older brother would take this desperate path of no return.

But I guess I'm pretty much done for myself...

Lost in her grief, the girl was unaware that the natural darkness had been enveloped by something. A thin, almost invisible mist drifted in through the gaps in the locked doors and windows. Just as this invisible and strange darkness was about to engulf her, the delicate ornament in her hand suddenly burst into a circle of beautiful light, enveloping her. Then, with a low scream, Angela's petite figure leaped out of the darkness, gritting her teeth and staring intently at the ball of light before her.

"A protective spell? Master must be incredibly bored to make something like this! Of all the times to do something like this..."

"Who... who are you?"

Startled by this sudden turn of events, the girl stared at the girl before her with surprise and wariness, fearfully moving a few steps toward the head of the bed and clutching the ornaments tightly in her hands.

You don't need to know who I am.

Angela stared at the girl in front of her, her eyes gradually turning bloodshot.

"Just obey my orders and hand over what you have! Human, and I'll spare your life!"

"Hand it over..."

Under Angela's crimson gaze, the girl's expression gradually became confused. She slowly raised her body and extended her right hand. Just as Angela smiled triumphantly and was about to take the constantly glowing ornament from her hand, the girl suddenly seemed to regain her senses. She quickly stepped back, clutching the object tightly to her chest again. And her eyes regained their former clarity.

"Who are you?! What do you want?! This is a birthday present from my Li Lin! Why did you take it?! Who are you?!"

Even if you scream your lungs out, it won't make a difference.

Angela glanced at the girl with a cold smile, then snapped her fingers lightly. Although her final hypnotic suggestion had failed, the little one clearly wasn't planning on resolving the issue peacefully. She had originally intended to hypnotize the girl and take the birthday present her master had given her— Angela had seen it made from start to finish by Angela Li Lin. While, in principle, she didn't want to cause trouble for her master's favored woman, her most basic priority was returning to her master's side.

"Your parents and the rest of the unrelated people are all asleep and won't come to save you. Now, obediently hand that thing over to me, and I will leave. Just treat this as a dream, otherwise..."

Angela's voice immediately turned cold, evil, and tyrannical.

"I'll kill you and snatch this from you! Hmph, little girl, I've tolerated you for too long. You're just a spoiled brat, never knowing your place! But I don't want to say anything pointless. Considering how much my master dotes on you, I'll give you one more chance to choose: hand over what you have."

Although Angela's power wasn't incapable of breaking through the barrier, it was, after all, something Li Lin had created. And Angela, having been banished back to this world, saw magic as if she were seeing Li Lin again. That's why she tried to achieve her goal without resorting to such violent means.

If the other party is engaging in nonviolent non-cooperation, then things are even easier to discuss.

"I... I don't know you! Who is this master you're talking about?!"

Hearing Angela's words, which seemed to indicate a deep familiarity with her, the girl grew even more terrified. She searched her memory but had never seen this little girl before, let alone one with those terrifying and strange wings. She had never seen this girl before! Why did she seem so familiar with her? And what was this master she mentioned...?

Li Lin.

Hearing that name spoken by the girl in front of her, the young woman felt as if the blood in her entire body was about to freeze.

"You know...?"

"That's right, the man you love is my master, and I am his most loyal servant. Listen carefully, you don't need to know too much. Now I need that tool your master made. Although I know it was a birthday gift from him, I need it to get back to his side, so hurry up and give it to me."

It was a rather unreasonable statement, but the girl suddenly jumped out of bed, her eyes sparkling with excitement, disbelief, and exhilaration.

"What did you say? Li Lin isn't dead?!"

In fact, even the girl herself had never believed that her beloved brother could die so easily. After all, the police hadn't found Li Lin's body, not even a single fragment, which was the source of the confusion. Because of this, the girl still didn't want to believe that Li Lin was dead. But now, the girl's words rekindled her hope.

"Where is Li Lin? I want to go too...!!"

"Thump!!"

The girl's words were interrupted by a loud noise. She stared in horror at Angela's right hand, which slammed heavily against the wall, knocking a large piece of the hard wall off. When Angela up, the girl noticed the sharp white teeth at the corner of her mouth.

"Listen carefully, brat. Your master is no longer in this world. He has his own goals and a life, a life that ordinary people like you have no right to interfere in."

The distorted and swaying shadow flickered for a moment under the magical light, then returned to normal.

"Your fate with your master ends here, brat. You are merely a human, unworthy to intrude upon his domain. My advice is to forget him and find an ordinary, unremarkable human to live. No matter how much you yearn, your master will never return to this world. Simply abandon him and find a new life with books. I don't want to waste my breath on a brat like you. If you weren't my master's once beloved sister, I wouldn't be wasting this time. Now, give me that thing, and you can go to sleep obediently. Otherwise... don't blame me for turning on you."

The girl fell silent.

Even if she were a naive young lady, she could easily sense that Angela's murderous intent was real. Moreover, although what the other girl said was unbelievable, for some reason, the girl could accept it all calmly, as if everything the girl said was true. The girl even had the illusion that she was having the strangest dream, but she couldn't wake up.

Finally, she stretched out her right hand, trembling.

"Li Lin... is he really still alive?"

"My master isn't so easy to kill."

Even though the two sides want to express completely different things, it doesn't really matter as long as they understand each other.

"However, you should no longer even dream of seeing your master. It's alright to consider him dead."

Finally, Angela took the ornament from the girl's hand and examined it closely. She could easily sense the magical power contained within, as well as Li Lin's familiar aura. Yes, this was the last birthday gift that Li Lin had secretly given to the girl before leaving this world. However, when Angela watched Li Lin make it, she never imagined that she would one day come back to ask for it back.

This is it! This trip was definitely worthwhile.

"Then, then..."

The girl's trembling voice brought Angela back to reality. She looked at the girl in front of her with timidity, but also with great courage.

"Could you... could you please pass on a message to Li Lin for me... tell him that I will try my best to live... that I will try my best to find happiness... and that I will never forget him, no matter where he is, I will never..."

"If I am in the mood."

After putting away the delicate little ornament, Angela revealed a smug and proud smile. The wings on her back slowly closed, enveloping Angela's petite body. Then, a powerful gust of air broke through the glass in front of her, lingering and roaring as it left the room that had been occupied by cold darkness for so long.

The girl stared blankly at the night sky outside the bed, her expression becoming solemn, and her eyes regained their vitality.

And hope.