When Bohemia, full of unease and hesitation, re-entered the Astral Plane, she initially thought she might see... well, she wasn't exactly sure what she expected to see. Either way, she didn't feel good about it.
So, when she found Lin Sanjiu, it took her quite a while to understand the situation.
What on earth was she looking at?
"Are you... are you guys okay?" She hovered in mid-air, looking dubious, having suddenly rembered the blue polka-dotted handkerchief that had been taken by Dr. Hu which was later returned to her.
Lin Sanjiu briefly glanced at her amid her busy work, seemingly surprised at how quickly Bohemia had returned. With a slight nod, she gently patted the back of the person in her arms and whispered, "It's nothing; he's just a little tired."
Can a pure consciousness even get tired? It was as absurd as soone telling her that electricity needed to eat.
Sensing that soone had arrived, Ji Shanqing hesitantly withdrew his arm. He had been hugging Lin Sanjiu like a giant koala, and because he was shorter, his whole body was draped over her, making Bohemia suddenly wonder if they were truly siblings.
He didn't entirely detach himself from Lin Sanjiu, still lightly leaning against her arm. He appeared sowhat different from just a while ago and had a hint of a nasal, childish tone in his voice, "Hello."
In her confusion, Bohemia replied with a simple "Hello."
Ji Shanqing's bright black eyes stared at her for a while, and he couldn't help squinting slightly. There was even a trace of a smile on his lips. Faced with such a pure and clear face, Bohemia initially felt uncomfortable until she heard Lin Sanjiu speak at this ti. As Ji Shanqing turned to look at her, she couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Now that the war is over, can you leave that place?" Lin Sanjiu asked without any intention of explaining the whole situation to Bohemia.
Bohemia wasn't too pleased with the lack of an explanation, but she didn't care to know anyway. "I can only leave for a while," Ji Shanqing sighed. "I've taken over one of their territories and stored a lot of data there. If I leave for too long, the Veda will discover it... and then everything I've carefully stored, and the territory I've occupied might be lost."
Lin Sanjiu furrowed her brows slightly, not entirely understanding what the purpose of his data storage was and why it was necessary. Before she could ask, the grand prize spoke up, looking at her with a smile. "Besides, how can the anchor roam around casually? Even if you don't want to go back now, I have to keep a place where you and your friends can return to at any ti, right?"
At that mont, Lin Sanjiu was left speechless, with countless words swirling around in her mind. In the end, she could only co up with a dry and uninteresting response, "Can you co out to see from ti to ti?"
The grand prize's eyes sparkled as if stars were hidden in the clear lake, and he nodded vigorously.
With that, Lin Sanjiu felt like she might be able to send a ssage to Yu Yuan through him when the ti ca. She had no confidence that she could persuade the current Yu Yuan, who had beco a Veda, with anything she said. She could only think of so dry and bland words to remind Yu Yuan of the ti they spent together in Black Mountain Town, to encourage him to reconsider his decision and to express her wish to have a conversation with him.
As she spoke, the grand prize listened calmly, his long eyelashes fluttering gently, each blink feeling like the light touch of a feather on velvet.
Would he really deliver the ssage? As Lin Sanjiu began to entertain this thought, she couldn't help but feel a little guilty for harboring it. They had already talked and clarified everything; all the suspicions and speculations from before were now gone. The current relationship between them should be as clear and transparent as the sky after a heavy rain.
"Do you need to write it down?" Bohemia leaned over, having reverted to her human form at so point. Her big, golden-brown eyes shifted back and forth. "She entrusted with a ssage for Magus the last ti, and I... I forgot."
Lin Sanjiu turned her head and glared at her.
"Why are you looking at like that? Don't you think it's been a long ti? Do you really rember—" Bohemia, originally bold and assertive, suddenly lost her montum when she t Ji Shanqing's gaze. Her voice inexplicably lowered, and she appeared quite uncomfortable. However, Ji Shanqing seed oblivious to this and just smiled, saying, "I don't need to write it down. I won't forget."
"Earlier, the white star said you seem to know sothing about Magus?" Lin Sanjiu asked seriously, getting back to the main topic.
The grand prize probably knew that he could always wait for Lin Sanjiu to show up if he found out Magus's whereabouts. That's why he took longer to find soone and obtained more detailed information.
"She disappeared along with the Concrete World Branch. Although her disappearance was quite abrupt, I know the person who took control of the Concrete World Branch simply changed her and the Concrete World Branch's location," the grand prize said with a smile. A rare hint of cunningness shone in his white teeth and slightly squinted eyes. "I happen to know the new location."
Bohemia jumped up from her spot.
"I don't know what the Concrete World Branch's owner intends to do with her, but his abilities aren't strong enough to obliterate Magus's consciousness in such a short ti. He probably trapped Magus inside the Concrete World Branch and couldn't do anything imdiately. So, he decided to..."
"Take there!" Lin Sanjiu's eyes lit up. "Are there many guards outside the Concrete World Branch?"
Ji Shanqing wasn't entirely sure about this. The Concrete World Branch had been moved to a place tens of thousands of miles away from its original location. Even for an entity known for its speed like a consciousness, it wasn't a short distance to travel.
If she continued to rush through the Astral Plane, her body in the doomsday world would have to remain in a deep sleep state. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn't be a problem, but there was a Puppeteer continuously forcing her to keep moving. According to Bohemia, Puppeteer had never stopped during this period. It seed that he hadn't reached his destination yet. When she left, he sent another paper crane, instructing them not to waste ti and to catch up with him quickly.
That's why Puppeteer hadn't noticed anything unusual. In theory, if he were waiting in one place and unable to find his puppet, he would notice sothing was wrong when he realized it was lying on the ground, kicking its legs. That would be troubleso for Lin Sanjiu. However, since he was moving along the way as well, and the puppets hadn't caught up, everything seed normal.
When Lin Sanjiu ntioned that Puppeteer was also outside, Ji Shanqing blinked, showing no emotional response, and just leaned closer to Lin Sanjiu. Lin Sanjiu rembered how scared he used to be of Puppeteer and couldn't help but pat his head gently.
Bohemia rolled her eyes unconsciously.
"What ti is it outside?" Lin Sanjiu hadn't noticed anything wrong with Bohemia's expression and thought for a mont before saying, "It should be close to dawn, right?"
"It's already dawn," Bohemia said, lowering her eyebrows, looking like an old lady. "It's really annoying. eting soone like that right after coming in makes tired... It's better to avoid dealing with such people and things in the future."
It seed that she hadn't given up her intention to convert.
Lin Sanjiu's thoughts drifted back to Yu Yuan. Then, unexpectedly, she thought of the [A rmaid Cultivation Drink] because a part of its na was 'Another Way.'
One by one, her friends had chosen paths outside their current lives, even if it ant giving up many things. They were all searching for and accepting another way as an answer. Had she been too stubborn?
"Sis?" The grand prize called her softly, bringing her back to the present. Bohemia was also looking at her, waiting for her to continue.
"I have an idea," Lin Sanjiu said after so thought. "I can't keep putting off finding Magus or Puppeteer. Fortunately, I can do both simultaneously without conflicts... After you leave, continue on your journey, and let the two puppets take my body. My consciousness will stay here with the grand prize to find Magus."
Worried that Bohemia might be overly ticulous and knowing that Dr. Hu often lacked typical human perspectives in strange ways, she added, "I can go out with you first, and remove the card transformation from Puppeteer's sleeping pallet. When the ti is right, you can place on the sleeping pallet. Just don't tie up with a rope carelessly, as extended periods of poor circulation could affect my limbs. When you feel the journey is almost over, you can co back in to retrieve ."
Bohemia's admiration for Lin Sanjiu increased when she heard that Lin Sanjiu would sleep on Puppeteer's sleeping pallet. With an atmosphere of 'those who don't know the heights of heaven and earth deserve a beating,' she and Ji Shanqing awkwardly greeted each other without making eye contact and left with Lin Sanjiu. When she brought Lin Sanjiu back into the Astral Plane, Ji Shanqing was still waiting in the sa spot.
"You're my sister's only way in and out of the Astral Plane, right?"
He confird this again, even though he had asked it once before.
Bohemia nodded in agreent.
"Okay," Ji Shanqing held Lin Sanjiu's arm and waved to Bohemia. "Then, we're off. Be careful on your way."
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