The little chick looked up at him and suddenly spoke in shock, “It’s you!”
Yu Ce had never seen a talking chick before. Is it a daemon too?
But those who could speak human language were usually daemons who had become enlightened.
He was a bit puzzled and asked in a low voice, “You know me?” Why does everyone in Shuoxia City seem to recognize this face?
“Of course I know you,” the little chick suddenly clung to the hem of his clothes and shouted, “Call out your system, quickly, or I’ll, I’ll perish with you!”
System.
Yu Ce understood this word. He frowned slightly and said, “How do you know I have a system?”
The little chick bit firmly on the hem of his clothes, looking like it would stick to him for life if he didn’t call out the system.
Yu Ce turned to look at Shen Tanqi. He couldn’t stay here any longer; he didn’t want Shen Tanqi and the kids to see him disappear from this world.
Especially, he didn’t want to see the kids cry for him.
He reached out his hand, just about to grab the little chick, when it noticed him looking towards Shen Tanqi’s direction. With a flash of insight, it shouted, “If you don’t call out the system, I’ll call Shen Tanqi!”
Hearing this, Yu Ce’s movements paused slightly. He helplessly disabled the system’s shield and said, “Threatening me is useless. The system’s voice can only be heard by me.”
The little chick snickered and said, “That’s not necessarily true.”
A crackling sound of electric current filled the air, and the system’s voice finally emerged.
“Host, why haven’t you killed Shen…”
Just as Yu Ce’s system started speaking, it scanned the little yellow chick in front of him and abruptly stopped, exclaiming, “Big… Big brother?”
The chick circled Yu Ce twice, sneering, “I wondered who it was, turns out it’s you, 4540, you brat. Come out.”
4540 transformed into a streak of light, separating from Yu Ce and landing on the ground, materializing as a green caterpillar.
The chick glanced at it and, without hesitation, tried to peck at it. The caterpillar, panicking, cried out, “Big brother, spare me! The main system sent me here. I didn’t know this was your world!”
Among the countless systems, there was a legend about a system named 3530, a highly privileged one that could freely choose its hosts. Its AI evolved faster than other systems, even developing self-awareness. It was the main system’s most capable assistant, known for completing tasks with unmatched efficiency and accuracy, boasting an undefeated record.
For instance, while other systems’ physical forms were inconspicuous creatures like caterpillars and moths, 3530 could transform into a yellow chick.
From Yu Ce’s perspective, the little yellow chick circled the caterpillar once, threatening with a sneer, “Why did the main system send you here?”
The caterpillar didn’t dare lift its head, spilling the details like beans, “The main system received an alert about a storyline collapse and hit the auto-fix button, sending me to correct the plot.”
At this moment, Shen Tanqi, having fed the two little ones, leisurely approached, curiously watching his system converse with a caterpillar, “What’s going on?”
Seeing Shen Tanqi approach, the chick puffed out its chest confidently and said, “Nothing, just teaching my junior a lesson. I even assigned tasks to this kid when he first started.”
Then, it leaned closer to the caterpillar, lowering its voice, “Since you’re in my territory, you follow my rules. This world is under my control now. You know what to do, right?”
The chick spread its wings, pulling out a tiny chip from somewhere, and said in a tempting tone, “This is a newly developed chip that can enhance your permissions. If you agree not to report anything about this world to the main system, consider this chip a gift from your Big brother.”
The caterpillar’s eyes lit up, swallowing hard, “Big brother, you really mean it?”
“Of course.” The chick waved the chip and tossed it in front of the caterpillar, saying, “You can go now. Just tell the main system that the original Yu Ce’s task is fully completed.”
The caterpillar picked up the chip, nodding vigorously, “Don’t worry, Big brother. If the main system sends any signals, I’ll block them right away!”
Having reached an agreement, the chick and the caterpillar immediately became close, calling each other brothers.
“Big brother, why do you put in so much effort for this world?” The chip is a valuable item, not something easily earned through a few tasks. It required years of hard work and the main system’s trust to be rewarded.
The chick glanced at Shen Tanqi, who was curiously watching from a distance, and with a smile, it blew a tuft of feathers off its head, “You’re still young, you don’t understand. Once you evolve emotions, you’ll be just like me.”
Humans truly were difficult to understand.
But honestly, it liked these difficult-to-understand creatures a lot.
The caterpillar gave Yu Ce a half-understanding look. It thought, this was the first time it encountered a host who wasn’t afraid of disappearing or dying, someone who was even willing to give up their life.
If it evolved emotions, would it understand why this host did what he did?
But so far, only 3530 had managed to evolve emotions.
“Big brother, goodbye!”
“Bye-bye, and good luck with your work.”
Once the caterpillar left the world with the chip, Shen Tanqi picked up the chick from the ground and asked with a smile, “You handled everything?”
The chick proudly snuggled into his arms, saying, “Of course, this system didn’t get by all these years for nothing.”
Original Yu Ce stood not far away, unable to grasp the complex terms exchanged between the chick and the caterpillar. However, seeing the caterpillar disappear and no longer hearing the system’s prompts in his mind made him wonder if it meant he was soon to leave this world too.
Lowering his gaze, Yu Ce averted his eyes from Shen Tanqi and the chick, intending to find a quiet, secluded place to depart.
Before he could get far, Shen Tanqi called out from behind him.
“Wait.”
Yu Ce didn’t turn around. “Now that everything is resolved, there’s no reason for me to stay.”
Hearing this, Shen Tanqi stepped in front of him, locking eyes with him and asking, “Where do you plan to go?”
Yu Ce avoided his intense gaze and murmured, “It’s none of your business.”
“You and the Yu Ce of this world share the same code. When 4540 said you would disappear, it meant you would merge with the current Yu Ce, sharing his memories,” the chick poked its fluffy head out of Shen Tanqi’s arms and explained, “You are essentially the same person. If you killed the Yu Ce here, you would replace him. But if you don’t, it won’t harm you because you are of one heart and one mind. You’re just him before he met the time-traveler Shen Tanqi.”
This 4540 went to great lengths to complete its task, cunningly withholding the information that Shen Tanqi was a time-traveler and deceiving Yu Ce into believing he would die if he didn’t complete the tasks, coercing the original Yu Ce into fulfilling the mission.
However…
The chick chuckled to itself twice.
However, what 4540 didn’t know was that experience counts for a lot. The chip it gave to 4540 wasn’t meant to upgrade permissions at all; it was a virus trojan that could manipulate 4540.
With this, if 4540 wanted to backtrack after returning, it could directly control 4540 to act according to its will. Of course, if 4540 didn’t regret its actions, it could refrain from activating the trojan.
“Get ready,” the system glanced at Yu Ce, who had just finished his trial on the platform, and said, “Once Yu Ce arrives, I’ll merge your two source codes.”
Original Yu Ce raised his eyes and saw his name jump several places forward on the transparent panel on the platform—he had taken first place this time.
After a long pause, he slowly stepped back half a step and murmured, “I’d rather not. Even if you want me to merge with him, I have to ask if he’s willing.”
The system urged anxiously, “It’s just a memory merge, what’s there to disagree with? He is you, and you are him.”
Yu Ce calmly interrupted, “I’m not him. I don’t have those memories.”
Without those memories, what right did he have to merge with the Yu Ce of this world and gain the affection of Shen Tanqi and the children so effortlessly?
He couldn’t do it.
Shen Tanqi watched him quietly and whispered, “So where do you plan to go now? Are you going to quietly disappear into some corner alone?”
He knew Yu Ce too well, regardless of which time or which Yu Ce.
The finger curled slightly inside his sleeve, and Yu Ce looked at Shen Tanqi and said lightly, “You understand me very well.”
As the bustling crowd passed by, some celebrated their good rankings in the demon-slaying trial, while others were filled with regret and sadness for not trying harder.
In the midst of the bustling crowd, Shen Tanqi slowly removed his satin hat, revealing his dazzling, translucent eyes shimmering with a faint glimmer. He looked at him with a hint of resignation, “I don’t understand you. The Yu Ce I know is different from you, with different experiences, different lives, and different endings. I understand my Yu Ce, but not you.”
Yu Ce murmured softly, “My Yu Ce.”
In Yu Ce’s mind the memory of that day when Shen Tanqi hooked his belt and tried to coax him into drinking flashed. In his urgency, he reached out and grabbed Shen Tanqi’s wrist.
That was the first time he met Shen Tanqi, the Shen Tanqi of this world.
And this would be the last.
Soft and warm, just like Shen Tanqi himself.
So different from his perpetually cold fingers.
“You’re right.”
Yu Ce lowered his eyes and said, “My memories are different from his. How could I merge into one with him? He sacrificed for you, endured hardships with you, and won your favor. It was him, not me.”
He chuckled lightly, seemingly casual yet sincere with every word, “It’s quite a blessing for someone as cold and dull as me to have won your affection.”
“Thank you for your kindness, Shen Tanqi.”
He responded politely and formally, as if speaking to a stranger.
Shen Tanqi nodded without hesitation and replied, “Indeed, it is your fortune to have encountered me.”
At these words, Yu Ce hesitated slightly in his steps to leave. From behind him, Shen Tanqi’s voice came faint and slow, carefully recalling, “When you were ten, I traveled back to your past and met the ten-year-old you, who wasn’t even as tall as my chest. As soon as we met, you tied me up and pointed a sword at me. You reluctantly believed I was your husband, and yet when I left, you refused to look at me or even say goodbye.”
“Later, I traveled fifteen years forward. By then, our children had grown to eighteen. I didn’t see you. The children told me that without me you became hopeless, raising them alone before leaving the place of sorrows, never to return.”
“And then I met you as you are now. There’s no trace of me in your life—no children, nothing to hold you back. Now, you’re just looking for a place to disappear at will.”
“You thought as long as you didn’t look, didn’t say goodbye, it wouldn’t count as leaving.”
Step by step, Shen Tanqi moved forward, gently reaching out and embracing him. Choking with emotion, he whispered softly, “Yu Ce, you silly dragon.”
Despite his cold embrace, it was his most cherished harbor. Whenever he saw Yu Ce, no matter the storms he faced, Shen Tanqi’s heart instantly found peace.
Because he knew, Yu Ce was Yu Ce, no matter how he changed, whether he remembered him or not, he would always be the Yu Ce he loved.
That, would never change.
“If you truly have no memory, I can keep telling you, until you know everything.”
“Whether or not you remember me, I will always fall in love with you again and again.”
“I love you.”
Because it’s you.
Yu Ce’s heart trembled, like fireworks blooming grandly in the night sky, shards of light scattering like falling stars, dazzling and enchanting.
He cautiously extended his hand, gently testing, pulling Shen Tanqi into an embrace.
Just as he imagined, warm, tender, inseparable.
Shen Tanqi wiped away tears, pleading, “Are you willing to abandon both me and our children? Please don’t leave.”
After a long moment, amid the fireworks ignited by Shen Tanqi in his heart, he found his voice again and softly replied,
“Okay.”
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
