The towering city walls.
The soldiers patrolling back and forth.
As the heavy gates were pushed open, the convoy slowly drove inside.
Tens of thousands of civilians stood on both sides of the streets, cheering loudly and welcoming the heroes’ return.
It was exactly the same as the scene in his memories.
Lian Qiguang rolled up the car window and closed his sore eyes.
“Sir, the report from the commander’s side…”
Su Lang spoke softly, seemingly afraid of disturbing Lian Qiguang.
“Not going.”
Lian Qiguang answered expressionlessly.
There was faint impatience hidden in his voice.
“This…”
Su Lang hesitated.
But after looking at the exhaustion on Lian Qiguang’s face, he still nodded.
“Yes!”
After ordering the others to report the completion of the mission first, Su Lang personally drove Lian Qiguang back to his residence.
He opened the door and pulled open the curtains, allowing sunlight to enter the room.
Ignoring Su Lang’s worried expression and the words he wanted to say but held back, Lian Qiguang expressionlessly scanned the room.
Relying on the memories in his mind, he returned to the bedroom.
Then he collapsed onto the bed.
Looking at the tightly closed bedroom door, Su Lang shook his head and sighed.
Then he turned and left the room.
Lian Qiguang lay on the bed.
Although his entire body was extremely weak, his mind was unusually clear.
He expressionlessly stared at the pale ceiling.
From beginning to end, his expression did not change.
The sun slowly set.
The sky gradually darkened.
The room sank into darkness.
After a long time—
Lian Qiguang’s eyes moved slightly.
He slowly sat up.
It was not because he had figured anything out.
Rather, the footsteps and the sound of a key outside the door told him who had arrived.
Lian Qiguang stood up.
Suddenly, dizziness struck.
His body swayed.
One hand grabbed onto the nearby table.
With a dull sound, the books on the table fell onto the floor.
Hearing the footsteps outside pause, followed by hurried movement, Lian Qiguang slightly frowned.
Looking at the books on the ground, he did not think twice.
He waved his hand.
The books instantly disappeared into his spatial storage.
Wait!
Lian Qiguang’s body froze.
A dark glint flashed quickly through his eyes.
Space!?
Could it be…
The door was pushed open from outside.
A young man wearing a black uniform and possessing exquisite features walked in.
“I heard that you cried.”
The young man walked directly toward Lian Qiguang.
He stopped one meter away from him.
His dark eyes were unreadable as he stared closely at Lian Qiguang.
It seemed as if he wanted to find something on his face.
“What are you doing here?”
Lian Qiguang spoke expressionlessly.
“Of course, I came to see you.”
The young man tilted his head.
A charming yet eerie curve appeared at the corner of his mouth.
“Isn’t that allowed, Teacher?”
Perhaps intentionally, the young man placed extra emphasis on the last two words.
“Teacher.”
“I’m tired. Leave.”
Lian Qiguang said calmly.
“Teacher, are you trying to avoid my question?”
The young man narrowed his eyes.
Although he smiled, there was not a trace of warmth in it.
Lian Qiguang expressionlessly looked at the young man.
After a long silence, he moved past him and walked away.
“Teacher!”
The young man suddenly grabbed Lian Qiguang’s wrist.
His lowered head cast a shadow over his face, making it impossible to see his expression.
“Who are you thinking about?”
“…”
Looking at the hand holding his wrist, Lian Qiguang frowned slightly.
He exerted a little force and broke free from the young man’s grip.
Then he continued walking toward the door.
“Teacher.”
The young man’s sudden voice stopped his footsteps.
“Teacher promised Grandpa that you would take care of me.”
“I don’t like people who break their promises.”
“If Teacher lied to me…”
“I don’t know what kind of punishment I would give Teacher.”
Lian Qiguang slightly pressed his lips together.
His gaze became cold and silent.
“Are you threatening me?”
“…”
“Heh…”
“Student, how would I dare?”
Standing on the rooftop with his hands behind his back, Lian Qiguang expressionlessly looked at the base submerged in darkness.
The wind moved his black hair.
His clothes fluttered slightly.
A faint chill touched his body.
One month.
It had already been one month since he returned to this hell.
During this month, he had not accepted any missions.
Not even the little prince’s orders.
During this month, he wandered through every corner of the base.
He listened to the gossip among the ability users.
He looked through the missions in the mission hall and the latest announcements.
The fall of Chaoyang Base.
The internal conflicts and betrayal of Tianlong Base.
The further mutation of mutated beasts.
The advancement of zombies.
Everything…
Everything overlapped with the scenes in his memories.
“Sir…”
Su Lang walked over.
“Su Lang.”
Lian Qiguang spoke quietly.
“Humans still have a very long road ahead.”
“Hmm?”
Su Lang stopped.
A trace of confusion crossed his face.
“But unfortunately…”
“You won’t be able to see it.”
“Sir, you…”
“Do you have something troubling you?”
“What do you mean?”
“This time when we went out to clear the area…”
Su Lang struggled to find the right words.
“I just feel that Sir…”
“You have changed a lot.”
“Sir, I don’t mean anything else. I just feel…”
Seeing Lian Qiguang remain silent, Su Lang became anxious.
“Su Lang.”
“Yes?”
“There will always be hope.”
“Oh!”
“Ah? What do you mean?”
Su Lang was confused by Lian Qiguang’s sudden willingness to speak more.
But Lian Qiguang gave him no chance to think further.
He turned around and jumped down from the rooftop.
“Let’s go.”
“Yes!”
One year later.
The zombie tide erupted once again.
Many bases suffered disasters one after another.
Humanity once again began to shrink.
Lian Qiguang stood with his hands behind his back on the edge of the city wall. He wore a black combat outfit with a black windbreaker over it, his gaze calmly fixed on the millions of zombies writhing beneath the wall.
The ability users continuously unleashed colorful powers from their hands, stopping the tireless zombies from advancing.
Lian Qiguang simply watched quietly, his black eyes utterly calm. His lips were slightly pressed together, carrying a faint hint of a smile, as if he had seen something that pleased him.
“Teacher, what are you doing over there!” The youth hurried over, his eyes coldly staring at Lian Qiguang’s back as he shouted in alarm.
“Come back quickly! It’s dangerous there!!”
“Little Crown Prince, tell me, is this a dream or reality?” Lian Qiguang’s voice was as soft as a sigh, causing an inexplicable uneasiness to rise in the youth’s heart.
“Su Lang said that I have changed. Perhaps that’s true.” Lian Qiguang slowly lowered his eyelids. “For the sake of those who are worth it.”
“Teacher…”
“Little Crown Prince, are you worth it?” Lian Qiguang turned around and looked at the youth expressionlessly. The silence and coldness in his eyes made the youth’s heart sink, and panic began spreading through his chest.
“Whether it is a dream or reality, you will no longer remember the memories of this one year.”
After leaving behind this inexplicable sentence, Lian Qiguang’s body suddenly sank, and he fell straight down from the city wall.
“Teacher!!!”
The youth let out a shrill cry of grief and tried to chase after him, but was grabbed and held back by someone behind him.
His body continued falling downward. The stench of rotting corpses grew closer and closer.
Lian Qiguang closed his eyes. A green light enveloped him, growing larger and larger, piercing through heaven and earth, covering all things.
“Swish!”
A pair of dark, silent eyes suddenly opened, carrying a faint trace of murderous intent.
Lian Qiguang raised his head and expressionlessly swept his gaze around. Between the mountain forests and bushes stood an ancient tree dozens of meters tall, requiring ten people to wrap their arms around its trunk. Its enormous circular leaves held clusters of crimson, three-petaled flowers in bloom.
Thick branches wrapped around Lian Qiguang’s waist, binding him tightly against the tree trunk.
It was not only Lian Qiguang. Qing Yi, Mi Xiaobao, Feng Qingyang, and Lan Qi were all restrained and imprisoned on the tree as well, each unconscious—some in pain, some smiling.
This tree was one Lian Qiguang recognized.
The Thousand-Year Drunk.
Its offensive power was impressive in appearance but actually weak. However, it possessed the ability to confuse and deceive people. Its flowers could cause a person to fall unconscious within five seconds, then weave a dreamscape based on the knots hidden within their hearts.
Inside that illusion, one would endlessly repeat the same cycle for thousands upon thousands of years, until their life force was completely drained by the tree in reality.
But…
Was it truly an illusion?
Lian Qiguang extended his spiritual power into his spatial storage. His eyes suddenly sharpened, and his hands slowly clenched.
No.
What happened to him was not an illusion.
A book appeared in his hand. Lian Qiguang flipped through its pages until he stopped at one particular page. A jade bookmark made of emerald-green crystal was tucked inside.
This was the gift the Little Crown Prince had given him.
Lian Qiguang slowly tightened his grip. The book became distorted in his hand.
He had returned to the past.
Or perhaps…
His soul had returned to the past.
That year had been real.
If that was true…
Did it mean that his soul had never completely merged with this body?
Did it mean that at any moment, he could leave this place and return to that other world?
Lian Qiguang’s eyes gradually darkened.
Perhaps, at this moment, he was truly a little shaken.
“Mm!”
The sudden pain from his abdomen pulled Lian Qiguang back from his thoughts.
He lowered his head and saw that the branch wrapped around his waist was slowly tightening.
Getting greedy, are we?!
The matters of the two worlds could be put aside for now.
The most important thing was dealing with this thing first!
A murderous aura surged in Lian Qiguang’s eyes. Qian Ming appeared in his hand.
‘This lord’s mood is already terrible! Perfect. I’ll use you to vent my anger!!’