Chapter 91: Cultivation (Part 4)
Surrounded by those gentle and doting gazes, a rather peculiar sensation suddenly arose within Qi An's heart. Their eyes were soft and carried no hint of aggression, instinctively making one feel safe.
This feeling should have been a positive one by all accounts.
Only... such gazes were not what he should have been receiving.
They should have been fearful, terrified, wary, guarded, and... hateful.
[ Tongtong, why is this task set in this world, and why is it this particular mission? ]
The mermaid before him tightly embraced the black-haired, black-eyed youth, rubbing its face back and forth against the boy's shoulder. From its constantly rippling tail, one could tell it was in an excellent mood.
The strength of its embrace was perfectly measured—firm enough to hold the boy securely, yet not so tight as to create any pressure. It was visibly careful with its every move. Anyone witnessing this scene would undoubtedly conclude that this youth was extremely important to the mermaid.
However, the slender-looking boy's arms stirred slightly, as if he wished to break free from the mermaid's embrace.
The inner disciple and the guard disciple had just recovered from their shock when they witnessed this scene, and their hearts lurched once more. Everyone in the cultivation world knew that mermaids were formidable creatures.
Their temperament was the complete opposite of their appearance—fickle and volatile. Countless people died at their hands every year. Qi An's just-now gesture would certainly provoke it. They couldn't care less whether something happened to the boy, but if the mermaid truly flew into a rage, the two of them would inevitably be caught in the crossfire.
This particular mermaid held a special status—it was Du Ning's spirit beast. So no matter what it did, no one was permitted to criticize it.
However, contrary to their expectations, the mermaid showed no signs of anger. Instead, it obediently released the boy. Its tail immediately sank to the bottom of the water, and its azure eyes betrayed a sense of grievance.
[ An'an, are you alright? ] The system's voice carried a strange tone. It seemed to want to speak those words gently, though its non-human timbre prevented it from fully succeeding.
He had visited this world before when he was at the Fast Travel Bureau.
The moment he arrived yesterday, Qi An recognized it. He had traversed countless worlds, and the漫长的 years had in truth worn away much of his memory. Yet this world was particularly special—so special that he still remembered it vividly.
[ I simply feel a sense of lament, as if many things have become completely different. ] Qi An stepped back a few paces, as if startled by the mermaid's gesture. His face was pale, and he微微 lowered his head, as if afraid to meet the mermaid's eyes.
The mermaid's pupils dilated slightly, and the inner disciple unconsciously tensed up, terrified that the former might do something unexpected.
The mermaid slowly sank to the bottom of the water, its figure vanishing from the surface of the pond. The surrounding spirit beasts also scattered outward in an instant, though before departing, each cast the youth a reluctant glance.
Such behavior resembled that of creatures desperately wanting to keep watching the boy yet fearing they might frighten him.
"Little Shushu, should we head back?" The inner disciple spoke while casting a wary glance at the now-calm water surface.
"Sure."
In his memories, these spirit beasts had never regarded him with friendly eyes.
His task at the Fast Travel Bureau was identical to his current mission—both were about saving this world.
Only the previous task had one requirement, one that compelled Qi An to continuously reload this world.
—Please treat this world with sincerity.
According to the character requirements, he was an extremely gentle person, one who could even be called saintly. Du Ning loved this world, always bringing warmth to everyone around him, even as he continuously faced mockery and persistent misunderstanding.
[ An'an? ] The system's voice called out again.
[ What is it? ] The thin-built youth walked along the path as he responded to the system. His voice was perfectly normal, yet the system did not continue speaking.
This was an exceptionally unique world.
Because... its host had been continuously failing in this world, and even with store items, the task for this world could not be abandoned. So Qi An could only keep restarting this world.
The system had always known that its host possessed exceptional acting skills.
It was the same in this world. The system believed that its host's character had not faltered at all in this world. Yet every time after saving the world, the task would be judged a failure.
The reason was that Qi An could never achieve that special requirement, no matter how flawless his acting appeared, no matter how successfully he saved the world each time.
It was at this moment that the system confirmed just how cold-hearted and emotionally detached its host truly was.
He would never extend even a trace of genuine feeling toward the people and affairs of the task worlds.
However, the system did not find Qi An terrifying. Instead, it felt that without that special requirement, this emotionally detached nature would have been perfect for this world.
Because Du Ning was incredibly pitiable in this world.
The saintly character setup might have been barely tolerable in other worlds, but in the cultivation world, its flaws became especially glaring.
He existed in a world of the survival of the fittest, yet his disposition was so kind and gentle—he was so... incompatible with his surroundings.
Others would never believe that helping him came from genuine intentions. Instead, they would only regard him as a hypocritical villain with ulterior motives.
If he were truly only such a simple, kind-hearted person, how could he have survived in the brutal cultivation world? How could he have become the young master of a major sect despite having neither background nor exceptional talent?
No one... understood him.
Qi An flipped open a book beside a stone table and began reading. Suddenly, accompanied by a soft chime, a ring appeared on the stone table.
Qi An recognized it as a storage ring.
He lightly furrowed his brow. Picking up the ring, Qi An swept his consciousness through it and couldn't help but freeze.
The storage space within the ring was enormous, filled to the brim with countless various spirit artifacts and all manner of treasures.
After scanning his surroundings, Qi An set the ring back down.
There were people from Dark Pavilion lurking nearby.
Based on the world's background description, Dark Pavilion should have been the reason the world would be destroyed.
However...
According to those memories in his mind, Qi An could not for the life of him figure out why the people of Dark Pavilion would suddenly turn to the demonic path, or why they would develop the idea of destroying the world.
That had been an organization that had always defended the righteous path.
Moreover, their... attitude toward him had also completely changed.
[ An'an, it's raining. ]
The system's voice made Qi An startle. He looked up and discovered that sure enough, rain had begun to fall from the sky without warning.
—A rain of red.