Chapter 114 Still Need to Follow the Procedure?

Chapter 114: Still Need to Go Through the Process?

Xiao Yan finally spoke.

"You told me there was a chance I could return to that world, that's why I said those words."

Xiao K: "..."

When Xiao Yan was about to lose consciousness, Xiao K had reminded him.

That's when Xiao K excitedly chimed in, "Host, host, I just found some new information! In all the missions our system employees have carried out, there have been three hosts who ended up staying in the book world! That means you still have a chance to come back!!!"

That totally perked Xiao Yan up, and he forced himself to say that to Liu Qingci.

If there truly were no hope, he wouldn't have given Liu Qingci false hope.

He didn't have the confidence to make Liu Qingci wait his whole life for nothing, but the mere thought of slowly crushing his hopes, he felt it was unbearable.

Xiao K's words gave him hope.

As long as there was even the slightest chance, Xiao Yan would do everything in his power to return to that world.

To that world where Liu Qingci was.

"Yes... I did say that..." Hearing Xiao Yan's words, Xiao K's shrill shrieking stopped dead, its voice turning hesitant. "But I didn't tell you to go tell Liu Qingci!"

"And besides! If you told Liu Qingci, wouldn't that be OOC? You'd be directly erased, so how could you still have a chance to go back to that world?!" Xiao K said, getting indignant again.

Xiao Yan stood still, staring off into nothing.

This time, he truly was in the wrong.

Normally, he could think rationally, but in that moment, he couldn't think clearly.

He had seen Liu Qingci cry with such heartbreak.

At that moment, Xiao Yan's only thought was to stop him from crying, to make him feel less miserable.

"When he saw me get hit by that arrow," Xiao Yan said, "the expression on his face... I'd never seen it before."

"The time I fell into the water, he jumped in to save me. I couldn't see his face clearly in the water back then."

"Later, I found out he was terrified."

"But today, I saw it."

Xiao Yan paused.

"It was more than just terror."

Xiao K's glow went completely dim, turning a dull gray. It floated in front of Xiao Yan, its voice muffled:

"Host... I know you're upset. But... but the OOC alarm has already gone off. This is the last warning, the highest level..."

"The main system has flagged it too... It's all over, over, over... This is really over..."

Listening to Xiao K's muttering, Xiao Yan suddenly asked a question:

"So, this 'erasure'—what's the actual process?"

He had always assumed that triggering the third warning would make him vanish instantly, completely, not even giving him a chance to react.

But as it seemed now, that wasn't the case.

He was still standing here talking to Xiao K, without anything wrong.

In other words... was there still a procedure to go through?

His question caught Xiao K off guard, its light ball drifting around in the air, its glow flickering on and off as if short-circuited.

Xiao Yan didn't press, just watched it in silence.

After a long pause, Xiao K spoke hesitantly:

"After a world's mission is completed, the main system still has to evaluate the story's completion."

"Since you were warned at the very last moment, host, we have to wait for the main system to finish its evaluation before handling your case."

Xiao Yan raised an eyebrow. "So it's in the evaluation phase now?"

Xiao K: "...Yes."

Xiao Yan: "So I might still get a chance to meet your boss—the main system?"

Xiao K: "...Most likely."

—

Two days had passed since Xiao Yan died.

The main hall of the Qianqing Palace had its doors and windows tightly shut.

The window frames, sealed with Korean paper, blocked out the daylight, making it impossible to tell day from night.

Only candlelight lit the space, a dim yellow that stained everything with the faded hues of an old painting.

Liu Qingci sat on the daybed beneath the window.

He had been sitting there ever since that day.

He was now dressed in clean clothes, leaning back against the wall, his knees drawn up, his hands folded on his lap.

When the door was pushed open, the candle flames flickered violently.

Liu Qingci didn't raise his head.

The footsteps were unhurried, steady, pressing against the white marble floor as if treading on someone's life.

Xiao Jing stood in the doorway for a moment, his gaze landing on the daybed.

Liu Qingci was dressed in clean plain white inner clothes, with a gray robe over them.

Xiao Jing stepped inside and closed the door behind him.

"You changed your clothes today," he said softly.

On the day Xiao Yan died, he had ordered Liu Qingci to be forcibly dragged away from the palace path and confined in this Qianqing Palace.

Throughout that entire day, Liu Qingci refused to speak, refused to move, and even refused to change his bloodstained clothes.

Finally, some change today.

"Are you just going to sit there like this?" Xiao Jing asked.

Liu Qingci still said nothing.

Xiao Jing walked up to him, stopped beside the low table stacked with food containers. He glanced down.

The meal had been eaten—half a bowl of congee was gone, and there were flecks of grease on the chopsticks.

The corner of his lips lifted slightly.

"Good. I thought you might go on a hunger strike. It seems Xiao Yan wasn't that important to you after all."

Liu Qingci's eyelashes fluttered.

He looked up, his eyes landing on Xiao Jing's face.

That gaze was icy cold.

The smile on Xiao Jing's face dimmed slightly.

"What are you staring at me like that for?"

Liu Qingci spoke.

His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't spoken in ages, like sandpaper was lodged in his throat.

"What are you here for?"

Xiao Jing smiled. "Just to see you. Two days—I was afraid you'd get bored."

Liu Qingci said nothing.

Xiao Jing waited a moment, then added, "Is the food to your liking? If there's anything you crave, just tell them to make it..."

"Where is Xiao Yan?"

Three quiet words cut short Xiao Jing's speech.

Xiao Jing's smile froze on his lips.

Liu Qingci looked at him, and in those hollow eyes, there was finally a spark.

"He's dead," Xiao Jing said.

Liu Qingci asked, "What about his funeral rites?"

A prince's funeral rites involved a complicated sequence from lying in state to the final burial, a process that took a long time.

Only two days had passed, and Xiao Jing was already wearing a python robe trimmed with red embroidery in the Qianqing Palace. What was he planning?

Xiao Jing suddenly smiled, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.

"Funeral rites?" he said coldly. "A rebel and traitor—what funeral rites does he deserve?"

Liu Qingci's gaze turned even colder.

There was nothing in that look; it regarded Xiao Jing as if he were an eyesore, like something filthy you'd accidentally step on.

Xiao Jing sensed it and said slowly, "By law, rebels are executed and their bodies left exposed in the marketplace for three days as a warning. Out of brotherly affection, I spared his body intact... and gave him a flimsy coffin."

He spoke slowly, one word at a time, as if he were savoring it.

Liu Qingci looked at Xiao Jing's sneering face and suddenly felt a surge of nausea in his stomach.

That nausea surged up from the pit of his stomach, reaching his throat and pooling beneath his tongue.

He swallowed hard, forcing the nausea back down.

Xiao Jing watched his Adam's apple move and raised an eyebrow slightly.

He asked knowingly, "What? Are you unwell?"

Liu Qingci did not answer.

He simply lowered his gaze, looking at his hands folded on his knees.

Xiao Jing waited a moment, received no answer, and smiled again.

"Since you're not well, rest. I'll come to see you another day."

He turned and headed for the door.

Xiao Jing had taken just two steps when a sudden gust of air came from behind.

He didn't have time to turn around, only dodged on instinct.

A flash of cold steel grazed his neck and buried deep into his shoulder socket.

A sharp, wet sound.

The sound of a blade driving into flesh.