Xin-jie and Little Dou Ding are dead?
This news brought quite a shock to Yang Qizhou, so much so that he didn’t even notice the auxiliary law enforcent officers leaving.
In the morning, Xin-jie was perfectly fine, dressed fashionably and tastefully, exuding charm. Little Dou Ding was filled with anticipation for the ani expo. How could it be that by nightfall, they were gone?
Yang Qizhou returned ho.
Because he was already a tenant in the neighborhood, the law enforcent officers did not obstruct him after verifying his identity.
The room felt a bit desolate, but Yang Qizhou had long gotten used to it. He sat down on the sofa, lifted his right hand, and the black Dark Crow erged on his arm.
"I thought it was strange earlier, Little Dou Ding asking to accompany her to Diamond Square—a simple request like that, yet it generated a save-and-load node."
"So this is the reason..."
Yang Qizhou didn’t feel anger, nor grief. On the contrary, he was remarkably calm, sitting on the sofa smoking a cigarette while his mind churned incessantly.
It wasn’t that Yang Qizhou was cold-blooded or heartless; in fact, he cared deeply about this matter.
If it were soone else, faced with such an incident, there wouldn’t be much they could do other than adding helplessness and grief. At most, they could seek revenge for Xin-jie and Little Dou Ding soday, but ultimately, it wouldn’t change the tragedy of the mother and daughter’s deaths.
But Yang Qizhou was different.
He possessed the ability of the ’Dark Crow of Profane Fortune,’ and since Little Dou Ding’s save-and-load node from inviting him to Diamond Square still existed, he could completely revert to this morning and rewrite the tragic ending of Xin-jie and Little Dou Ding’s deaths.
"The cause of Xin-jie and Little Dou Ding’s deaths shouldn’t be sothing as simple as a robbery or a random murderous rampage. Even the Deceit Bureau is involved now; it’s very likely tied to the ga players from the Deceit World."
"If I want to save them, I’ll inevitably have to be drawn into this ss."
"The identity of the killer is unknown, the level of their power is unknown, their ga progress is unknown, and their thods are unknown. While I possess high-level treasures, the effect of the Hidden God’s Clothes is limited to concealnt and stealth. Wind Bell Town’s Law Book is temporarily unusable. The Silver Holy Object can control the weather but can’t directly cause harm. Facing strong enemies, Holy Redemption might serve as a substantial advantage, but I already used today’s allocation on the Abyss Old God, so I can’t use it again. This ans that the only truly powerful offensive asset I can deploy is the two Guentín Hunting Dogs I command through the Shepherd Dog Field Key."
"This leads to a key problem."
"If I choose to use the Dark Crow of Profane Fortune’s ability to return to the past and I encounter enemies during my efforts to save Xin-jie and Little Dou Ding that the Guentín Hunting Dogs can’t handle, then what?"
Yang Qizhou understood perfectly well—rationally speaking, staying out of this ss and avoiding involvent was undoubtedly the wisest decision.
The Deceit World has been manifesting in the real world for a while, though not too long. There’s no telling what kind of terrifying items players might acquire and whether you’ll encounter them.
Keeping a low profile, surviving carefully, and gradually improving his strength to prepare for the increasing number of players and the inevitable chaos—this would be the most prudent course of action.
Yang Qizhou understood all of this.
But his mind couldn’t stop replaying past mories: every ti Xin-jie made dumplings, she’d send him a portion; when Little Dou Ding learned he had beaten up his boss and lost his job, she was willing to share her favorite potato chips with him. Whenever he ran into Little Dou Ding, she’d excitedly hug him and call out "Qizhou-ge, Qizhou-ge" nonstop.
All those past monts vividly surfaced in his mind like a carousel of mories.
"Damn, if people are dead and you can still remain calm, can you even call yourself human anymore?"
"Xin-jie has always been kind to , and Little Dou Ding would call ’Qizhou-ge’ with such affection. Without them, I probably wouldn’t have managed to survive here in Capital City. Now that they’ve t such a tragic end, if there was truly no way to save them, it’d be one thing—but I have the ’Dark Crow of Profane Fortune,’ this literal chance to undo what’s happened. I absolutely have to try."
"If I have the ability to change the outco, then why not give it a shot?"
"Strong enemies, consequences, trouble—those are all problems for later. For now, just focus on what needs to be done imdiately."
There’s no ti to waste.
Yang Qizhou activated the ability of the ’Dark Crow of Profane Fortune.’
The scenery before his eyes instantly beca illusory, distorted, and indescribable, as though the world was lting and shattering. The eerie cawing of crows echoed in his mind.
"Qizhou-ge, don’t go to work, okay? Co play with instead."
A familiar voice rang out. Yang Qizhou opened his eyes again and saw sunlight streaming through the staircase window. A seven- or eight-year-old little girl was bouncing with excitent, calling out to him with eyes sparkling with mischief.
Ti had returned to the morning.
Xiao Lan really had a clingy nature when it ca to this guy. Zhao Xin saw Yang Qizhou not responding for a while and assud he was feeling awkward, so she picked up her daughter.
"Stop bothering your Qizhou-ge. He has to go to work and earn money, fighting on his own to survive—he’s very busy."
"Ah, but I want to play with Qizhou-ge! Can’t he skip just one day of work?"
"Listen to , don’t be naughty."
Yang Qizhou was so thrilled inside that he nearly gave them a bear hug but managed to contain himself in the end.
Zhao Xin didn’t have the mories of the previous tiline and had no idea she’d be dead by tonight. Naturally, she didn’t share the sa sense of surrealism he was experiencing.
Though she usually treated him kindly, Yang Qizhou understood clearly that it was purely out of goodwill and not anything deeper.
If he were to hug her now, Zhao Xin probably wouldn’t hesitate to slap him hard across the face and then evict him for overdue rent.
Better to restrain such foolish impulses.
The priority now was saving lives.
"I can’t, Little Dou Ding. I didn’t pay last month’s rent, and this month’s rent isn’t sorted out yet, let alone next month’s. If I don’t keep working, your mom will kick out for sure."
Just like in the previous tiline, Yang Qizhou once again turned down Ding Xiaolan’s invitation.
The familiar scene played out once more.
The little girl seed to have her temper triggered, yelling repeatedly, "No way! No way!" and demanding that Yang Qizhou buy her potato chips after work.
Zhao Xin apologized and exchanged a few more words with him before finally taking her daughter, Ding Xiaolan, out of the house.
This ti, Yang Qizhou didn’t go to work at the sorting center as he had in the previous tiline. Instead, he activated the Hidden God’s Clothes’ effect and stealthily followed them. Along the way, he couldn’t help but glance at his balance and noticed that his boss’s payout of 300 bucks from the last tiline was still there...
"I didn’t freeload—they worked hard enough. It’s just that the packages I sorted in the previous tiline reverted to their original state after the tiline reset."
"That’s not my fault."
"Today, my task is singular: to rewrite Xin-jie and Little Dou Ding’s fate and ensure they don’t die."
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