“Don’t be like this…”
When a man throws a little tantrum, you still have to coax him.
Jiang Lingwei helped Jiang Cheng to the bed, helped him change his clothes (well, not including his pants), stroked his head and apologized, only then did this guy calm down.
“Xiao Wei… If possible, could you go a little easier next time…”
After taking a magical girl’s heavy blow, Jiang Cheng, who’d been unable to speak since just now, pulled a long face as he finished getting dressed.
See, how considerate he is—he didn’t even expect her not to kick him next time!
Jiang Lingwei felt even more guilty.
To be honest, she had just woken up too, and suddenly touched something she shouldn’t have, so her brain instinctively reacted in self-defense.
Now, Jiang Lingwei was reflecting on herself.
She didn’t even know why she reacted so strongly this time! That thing—she used to have it herself, it shouldn’t feel so foreign.
After all, she hadn’t even lost her little brother for more than half a year.
Besides, Jiang Cheng was just sleeping, he didn’t have any bad intentions. For him, getting attacked just because of a physical reaction was really an undeserved disaster.
(Peace of mind, peace of mind.)
This was already the second time something like this had happened. The first time was the day she and Jiang Cheng first shared a room—uh, no, just sleeping together as normal friends. That morning, she had run into it once as well. She’d panicked, and it turned into a huge mess.
Thinking back, it’s just that thing!
It’s not like she hasn’t seen it before!
Other than Jiang Cheng’s being a bit bigger in outline compared to when she had one, what real difference could there be?
Next time, if she accidentally runs into it again, she must stay calm! Between normal friends, even seeing each other’s bird shouldn’t cause such a big reaction.
If she keeps making such a fuss, it’s really not right.
(Seriously, what’s seeing myself—I’ve even used Jiang Cheng’s before! Otherwise, how would Yao Yao have come…)
“Cough, cough, cough cough cough!”
Suddenly smiling strangely, Jiang Lingwei’s face flushed as she started coughing hard, leaving Jiang Cheng completely baffled.
When he recalled last night, the scene of Jiang Lingwei in the magical illusion memory, he couldn’t help but become wary.
No matter what, after experiencing something like that—even if you don’t know the whole story—just from hearing that crying, Jiang Cheng felt his heart twist. It’s not unlikely someone would go a bit crazy after that.
Even though Jiang Lingwei claimed her memory had reverted to before that day, no one could guarantee if there were no leftovers.
Moreover, judging by her current attitude, at least she could still accept herself, meaning there were probably not just leftovers, but quite a lot of them.
Everything Jiang Cheng experienced was triggered by some magic in the magic core, which belonged to Jiang Lingwei. Even if it wasn’t leftover memories causing trouble, after Jiang Cheng experienced that illusion, it was hard to say if it would somehow affect her in return.
“Um, Xiao Wei.”
Hesitating for a second, Jiang Cheng held up a finger:
“Are… are you alright? How many fingers am I holding up? Do you remember who I am?”
“Oh?”
Jiang Lingwei’s expression turned stern:
“That’s one. And you… you, you are…”
Her gaze gradually turned vacant and confused: “I see it.”
Jiang Cheng’s heart leapt into his throat as he nervously asked,
“What did you see?!”
“I saw you… a tall giant in armor…”
“Huh?”
Jiang Cheng was shocked—what did she mean, a giant?!
Her words sounded like the ramblings of a dream:
“I know everything now. You are… you are…”
“What am I?”
Jiang Cheng quickly pressed.
Suddenly, Jiang Lingwei’s eyes refocused, her tone resolute:
“You are Robert Guilliman, the Master of Ultramar, King of the 500 Worlds, Sword of Unity, Blade of Vengeance, Son of Retribution, Uncrowned King, Imperial Regent, a bold and ambitious demigod who seized your father’s empire and will soon launch a great crusade across the galaxy.”
“What the heck is all that supposed to mean?!”
“Hahaha.”
Jiang Lingwei couldn’t keep up the act and burst out laughing:
“What, you thought I hadn’t woken up yet?”
She straightened her face:
“But as for the future, I really do have some plans…”
Finally, she was about to bring up this topic, but as the words reached her lips, Jiang Lingwei hesitated again.
No matter how much mental preparation she did, it was still hard to get past this hurdle.
No matter how you explain it, no matter how much you say it’s for some great cause, for the sake of all humanity, or to prevent herself from being harassed by those things again—none of that could change one fact.
That is, once she made this choice, she’d be letting her family down.
She would have to postpone her retirement, follow the guidance of [Ming] to search the world for her companions’ Magic Armaments, and uncover the truth of the past.
If possible, she’d rather sever every connection between this world and the Magic Plane once and for all.
(She couldn’t very well drag Jiang Cheng and Yao Yao along like they were collecting Dragon Balls, could she? Never mind Chengzi—even if magic doesn’t seem to affect him much, he can use magic without even turning into a girl, and it’s so big… Ugh! I don’t want to picture that scene! Get out of my head!)
(Anyway, he could barely tag along. See how his combat strength is, but the kid still has to go to school.)
(And if both parents leave, what would she do? She’d become a left-behind child again…)
This decision was a tough one, but Jiang Lingwei had no choice.
Otherwise, things like the Shark King incident would just keep happening.
Even worse, if she failed to collect her companions’ powers and instead let the enemy get them, then as the only one who could’ve stopped it but chose to back down, she’d be the undisputed sinner.
(Ah, this kind of dilemma…)
Now Jiang Lingwei admired Beifeng more and more. (Although she already did enough before.)
She only had to worry about two or three people, with most of the trouble not even having happened yet, and it was already so hard to decide.
Back then, Beifeng had to make decisions that could change everyone’s life or death with just her will, and then act immediately.
The pressure she endured—Aurora couldn’t even imagine it now.
“I’ll take good care of the family. If you need me, I can fight by your side too.”
While Jiang Lingwei hesitated, Jiang Cheng spoke up directly.
“What?”
Jiang Lingwei didn’t expect this at all, her mind went blank: “I haven’t even said anything yet.”
“You’re planning to continue your companions’ legacy, aren’t you?”
Jiang Cheng directly exposed her thoughts. He scooted backward:
“I had a feeling—you just made up your mind faster than I thought.”
“Besides…”
Remembering Jiang Lingwei’s agonized cries in the memory illusion, even though the girl in front of him was dazed and cute and calm, those tragic voices still echoed in his ears.
Those past days, the years of fighting side by side with companions, must have meant everything to her.
Back then, Jiang Lingwei chose her family in front of that old friend called Wen Yaquan.
Who knew how much determination that took.
To avoid regret, she even sealed away her magic core.
If possible, Jiang Cheng would actually prefer to spend a peaceful life like this.
Unfortunately, even setting aside Jiang Lingwei’s special circumstances, it seemed he himself wasn’t going to have it easy either. Letting Jiang Lingwei continue on her path was for both their own good.
And as for some things in the illusion, after a fun day out today, he planned to talk with Jiang Lingwei—leaving out the painful details—when the time was right.
Some things, Jiang Cheng also needed time to process.
“Don’t worry.”
He said seriously:
“I told you, no matter what decision you make, whatever you choose, I’ll support you.”
“I just need to know what you want me to do.”
“If you need me to look after Jiang Yao, if you need me to stay home and wait for you, I’ll do all that and wait for your return. The house will never be in chaos.”
“If you need me to fight, well, I can’t promise you’ll never be hurt—that’d be a lie. But, I, Jiang Cheng, will definitely die before you.”
Premium Chapter
Login to buy access to this Chapter.