Hongying looked anxious.
“Captain, Qiye was taken away by Loki, the God of Mischief. He won’t be in danger, will he?”
Captain Chen Muye calmly took a sip of tea.
“That mysterious person said Qiye would be fine.”
Hongying still felt uneasy.
“But we don’t even know that person’s background. What if what he said isn’t accurate?”
Chen Muye spread open his rough palm, thick with calluses.
“Look, Qiye’s Mortal Divine Domain left Cangnan, yet I, someone who stayed in Cangnan ten years ago, haven’t disappeared.”
Hongying’s lips moved slightly. After hesitating for a moment, she finally voiced the question in her heart.
“Captain, do you know who that mysterious person is?”
Chen Muye shook his head.
“I don’t know his exact identity either.”
“Back then, after the Outer Gods wrote Cangnan’s name on the Damp Grudge Hag, the higher-ups were completely at a loss.”
“Only a hooded man wearing a mask came to us. He said he could resolve Cangnan’s crisis.”
“He stayed alone in a separate room with the Damp Grudge Hag for a full seven days, without eating, drinking, or sleeping.”
“When he came out again, the name ‘Cangnan’ had already been erased from the Damp Grudge Hag.”
Hongying couldn’t help but press further.
“To erase the conceptual destruction of the Damp Grudge Hag… how powerful must he be? What was his purpose in doing this?”
Chen Muye shook his head again.
“After finishing all that, he simply left.”
The tightness in Hongying’s chest eased, though she still worried. “I just hope Qiye is safe.”
Wen Qimo, who was sitting on the sofa, sounded a little jealous.
“Hongying, why are you so concerned about Lin Qiye?”
Hongying sat on Wen Qimo’s lap and pinched his cheek.
“You’re jealous, aren’t you? Qiye is our teammate. Of course I care about him.”
“Not just Qiye, even if something happened to Xiaonan, I’d be anxious too.”
“Qimo, you have to understand. This kind of concern for Qiye as a teammate isn’t the same as what I feel for you.”
“The former is more like family affection, while the latter…”
Hongying hooked her arms around Wen Qimo’s neck and kissed his lips. “Got it?”
Wen Qimo’s lips couldn’t stop curving upward, stretching into a broad grin.
Chen Muye looked incredulous.
“You two… when did you get together?”
Wen Qimo smiled shyly.
“Last week, the day I went to the store to buy sanitary pads for Hongying. Something happened, and then we just naturally ended up together.”
That day, after dropping Lin Qiye off near the bar, he had driven to the store to buy things.
When Lin Qiye found out they were together, he had only said flatly, “Putting romance before friendship.”
At the top of Cangnan City’s lighthouse.
An Qingyu wore a fleece-lined coat, one hand resting on the railing.
From his high vantage point, he looked down at the countless lights of Cangnan below, his expression indifferent, his bearing noble.
A little white mouse crawled from his shoulder into his palm.
An Qingyu lowered his gaze to it, his expression suddenly softening.
“Snowball, I’ve protected the Cangnan that Qiye cherishes.”
An Qingyu understood what Cangnan meant to Lin Qiye.
His family, friends, and teammates were all there.
In the previous timeline, after Cangnan disappeared, Lin Qiye had been devastated.
Including Zhao Kongcheng’s death.
Back then, Zhao Kongcheng had died at the hands of the Masked King, becoming a thorn lodged in Lin Qiye’s heart.
After that, many more regrets followed, one after another. Lin Qiye hated his own powerlessness.
An Qingyu witnessed all of it.
So he calculated countless possible timelines, searching for the one answer that could make up for everything.
In the end, he restarted the timeline once more, solely to protect the people and things Lin Qiye cherished.
“The things Qiye treasures naturally must not be allowed to disappear.”
A faint smile lingered on An Qingyu’s lips as the night wind swept past the lighthouse, lifting the loose strands of hair on his forehead.
Out in the empty wilderness, Loki still hadn’t recovered from the shock.
Cangnan hadn’t vanished, what exactly was going on?
“Hmph.” Loki’s expression darkened. “If Cangnan didn’t disappear, then so be it. Killing you, the dual-god proxy, isn’t a bad outcome either.”
At least his trip to Daxia wouldn’t be in vain.
Loki summoned a gigantic venomous serpent. Lin Qiye was no less formidable, he summoned a Godzilla in response.
Lin Qiye’s face was grave. Although the Loki before him was only a divine avatar, he was far from easy to deal with.
Without hesitation, Lin Qiye bore the soul of Nyx from the psychiatric hospital within his mind.
Combined with the miracle of the Mortal Divine Domain, he successfully slew Loki’s avatar.
After finishing it all, Lin Qiye felt as though his soul were being torn apart.
Nyx’s faint, wavering soul showed clear concern.
“My child, you’ve exhausted too much energy bearing a soul. It’s very easy for you to lose control and fall into deviation.”
Lin Qiye forced himself to respond,
“Mother, I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
Carrying her unease, Nyx returned to the psychiatric hospital.
The next second, Lin Qiye collapsed to the ground in agony, seized by an urge to harm himself.
Frost-covered vines surged out from the surrounding darkness and wrapped around him.
As the icy vines touched his skin, the pain throughout his body gradually faded.
He closed his eyes and lost consciousness.
The frost vines withdrew into his sleeves as An Qingyu scooped Lin Qiye up in his arms.
The arriving Phoenix Squad saw this scene. Noting that An Qingyu bore no hostility, they explained their purpose.
“We were sent by the higher-ups to take Lin Qiye to the Fasting Institute.”
“His soul has been damaged. When he wakes up, there’s a possibility he might attack others. For the safety of the residents, we hope you understand.”
An Qingyu looked at the Phoenix Squad expressionlessly.
“I’m going to the Fasting Institute with Qiye. He can’t be without me.”
More precisely, An Qingyu could not endure the torment of Lin Qiye not being by his side.
The captain of the Phoenix Squad instinctively wanted to say something, but recalling certain instructions from the higher-ups, she nodded. “Alright.”
The Phoenix Squad drove them toward the Fasting Institute.
Along the way,
An Qingyu held Lin Qiye tightly in his arms, as if afraid he might suffer the slightest harm.
A member of the Phoenix Squad hesitated, but couldn’t help asking, “What exactly is the relationship between you two?”
If they were just good brothers, this man’s behavior toward Lin Qiye was undeniably intimate.
An Qingyu lowered his head and pressed a brief kiss to Lin Qiye’s unconscious lips. Then he lifted his gaze again.
“This is the kind of relationship Qiye and I have.”
He seemed to say nothing, yet everything was said.
The Phoenix Squad members were collectively stunned, all sharply inhaling.
The legendary dual-god proxy Lin Qiye actually… actually had a boyfriend.
The girls in the Phoenix Squad felt their inner gossip flames ignite, wow, this was intense.
Only the boys looked utterly incredulous. Wait, guys could kiss other guys?
The two male members of the Phoenix Squad couldn’t help glancing at each other.
“How about… we give it a try?” one of the young men asked. He was already in his twenties and had never experienced kissing before.
“Get lost. Stay far away from me,” the other young man’s face instantly darkened.