The Worlds Align Silently
“Ling Chen, there are so many pretty big sisters by your side!”
“Mm… they’re all very nice and will be very nice to Sha Sha as well.”
“I feel that they all really like Ling Chen.”
“… Why do you say that?”
“It’s just a feeling, but I’m extremely confident in my feeling… just like how I knew Ling Chen would come to save me.” Shadissika’s lips curved upwards into a smile that could insta-kill Ling Chen every time.
“Looks like they all think decently of me, haha… ha.” Ling Chen awkwardly laughed. He felt that the ‘like’ that Sha Sha was talking about wasn’t just how little kids ‘liked’ each other.
Suddenly, Qi Yue’s voice suddenly sounded out in Ling Chen’s mind, “Little master, you still haven’t given me an answer about this little girl. Where did you pick up this strange and pretty little girl? It looks like you reeeeally~ like her… aiya, don’t tell me that little master’s a lolicon.”
“[email protected]#$%... I wanted to ask you about her.” Ling Chen automatically ignored the latter half of Qi Yue’s sentence as he asked in his mind, “In your memories was there anyone who was completely white, including their hair and eyebrows like Sha Sha?”
“Indeed, there were,” Qi Yue replied after thinking. “In the ancient times, there was a high-grade type of creature called the Mystic Soul Ice Fox. After they reached the Saint Destroyer grade, their human form would be completely snow-white, including their eyes, just like this little girl. However, she doesn’t have the aura of a beast clan, so I don’t think it’s that. The only other clan I can think of is the ‘White Phoenix Clan’.
“White Phoenix Clan? Is it a type of Phoenix?”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt“Of course not. Back in the ancient times, the human race wasn’t so simple. The ‘White Phoenix Clan’ was like the ‘Dwarf Clan’ – they were both humanoid races. The White Phoenix people were snow-white and worshipped phoenixes. There were not many of them, and they lived in the far north. When standing in the snow, they almost merge with their surroundings. After the Phoenix Clan went extinct, the White Phoenix Clan also disappeared, most likely going extinct as well. The only clans that fit this little girl’s appearance are those 2 clans.”
“Sha Sha’s definitely not a beast… so could she be from the White Phoenix Clan?” Ling Chen wondered.
“You should at least tell me where you found her,” Qi Yue said slowly.
Ling Chen nodded as he replied, “Do you remember the mysterious door I told you about at the summit of the Godchild Peak? After killing the White Tiger, I obtained the third key. After putting all the keys in their respective holes, I was sucked into the door and then…”
Ling Chen suddenly had an intense feeling that he couldn’t tell her the entire truth. This feeling came very suddenly, which made him feel quite strange. However, this sensation became stronger and stronger, making him feel that if he told the whole truth, a terrible catastrophe would happen.
“Afterwards, I saw Sha Sha. She was sleeping and woke up when I touched her… apart from Sha Sha, there was nothing else. Since I woke her up, and there was no one else inside there, I decided to bring her out.”
Just like that, an incredibly long story had been but short. He didn’t mention the vast, dark world, the Lunar Scourge’s attraction to something, the blue crystal ball, the world within, or the things Sha Sha said to him. He didn’t tell Qi Yue any of that – although the feeling was quite strange, Ling Chen couldn’t go against it.
Could it be a warning from his mental energy? Ling Chen wondered. He trusted his intuition and gut feelings and did not resist the feeling. As such, he did not tell Qi Yue everything that had happened.
“So it’s like that… that reminds me of a long-lost Time Magic Formation,” Qi Yue said uncertainly.
“Time Magic Formation?” It was the first time Ling Chen had heard of such a thing.
“The Time Magic Formation is an extremely high-grade magic formation that can affect time. Once the formation is created, it can cause the time within it to slow down or even stop. The effects are only cancelled when a living being enters it from the outside. Activating this sort of formation is even more difficult than climbing to the sky, and they are usually used to store incredibly important things to prevent them from decaying or dying. They can also be used to protect important people,” Qi Yue slowly explained.
“You mean?” Ling Chen somewhat understood.
“From what we know, it’s quite likely that Sha Sha is from the White Phoenix Clan. She looks the same as the White Phoenix Clan I know of, and although the White Phoenix Clan’s people worshipped Phoenixes, which is a sovereign of fire, they loved the cold and always lived in extremely cold places. You discovered Sha Sha at the summit of the Godchild Peak, where the temperature is extremely low, and yet Sha Sha seemed fine. This matches with her being a member of the White Phoenix Clan.
“My guess is that the White Phoenix Clan faced an extremely powerful enemy that was trying to kill them all. In order to preserve their White Phoenix Clan’s bloodline, they used a Time Magic Formation to seal Sha Sha at the summit of the Godchild Peak to keep her safe. Many years later, after their enemy was gone and the name of the White Phoenix Clan forgotten, Sha Sha would be able to escape once someone brought her out. Because of the Time Magic Formation, as long as the formation was not broken, she would never grow old or die. That way, the White Phoenix Clan would be able to rise again. It’s not the first time a clan used this sort of method to preserve their bloodline.”
“Oh… so it’s like that.” Ling Chen nodded. However, within his heart, he knew that Qi Yue’s guess was most likely not correct. Sha Sha definitely wasn’t within a Time Magic Formation – since Qi Yue’s premise was incorrect, her conclusion was also incorrect. However, Ling Chen nodded and did not rebut her, and instead felt a desire to immediately change to topic.
“Ding…”
Ling Chen’s communication device sounded out. After returning to the new city, Ling Chen finally turned on his communication device again. He raised his wrist and saw the name ‘Tian Tian’ – Tian Tian was calling him from the real world.
Just as Ling Chen was going to answer the call, Tian Tian hung up. Ling Chen felt a bit surprised, but quickly realised that Tian Tian was worried that she would disturb him. Very soon, a voice message came through.
“Big brother, the big sisters said that you’re back. You haven’t logged off or eaten for nearly 2 days; you’ll starve to death at this rate. Hurry and finish whatever you’re doing and immediately log off! If you don’t come back before dinner, I’ll eat all of it by myself and I’ll draw 3 big turtles on your face!”
Ling Chen couldn’t help but laugh and feel a bit of heartache. After moving to the Bamboo Sea Wonderland with Tian Tian, it was the first time he hadn’t logged off for such a long time. Moreover, because of the special circumstances, he hadn’t been able to tell Tian Tian beforehand – she was probably worried sick.
After putting away his communication device, Ling Chen put his arm around Shadissika’s shoulder as he said, “Sha Sha, we’ll stop here for today. I’ll take you to the new city.”
“Is Ling Chen going to log off?” Shadissika asked as she smiled.
“… You know what ‘logging off’ is?” Ling Chen felt quite surprised.
“Of course I know; big sisters Qi Qi and Su Su told me about it. I know that Ling Chen is a player and like Sha Sha, belongs to another world. Logging on allows you to come to this world and logging off allows you to go back to your own world.” The girl spoke with a smile that was as clear as a freshwater fountain, looking as beautiful as a flower.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmLing Chen let out a small sigh of relief. Since she knew, he didn’t have to do any extra explaining. He held Sha Sha’s little hand as he said, “I need to log off now, so I’ll take you to the new city. There are many pretty big sisters, as well as Cai’Er, who can play with you.”
“I don’t want to!” However, Sha Sha shook her head, her eyes flashing as she looked at Ling Chen. “I don’t want to play with them; I just want to be with Ling Chen. Wherever Ling Chen goes, I’ll go with him. If Ling Chen is going to log off, I’ll log off with him.”
“But I can’t take Sha Sha when I log off,” Ling Chen said, feeling a headache coming. It seemed that Sha Sha didn’t truly understand what logging off meant.
“Don’t care! Don’t care! I don’t want to be apart from Ling Chen. I want to log off with Ling Chen… you said that since you took me out from there, you would take responsibility and wouldn’t abandon me.” Shadissika continued to shake her head as she pouted with her pink lips, looking extremely wronged.
“Then… does Sha Sha know how to log off?” Ling Chen felt quite complicated.
“Oh… of course I know. As long as Ling Chen holds my hand when logging off, that’ll be enough.” Shadissika’s eyes danced with light as she spoke confidently. Her small hands grabbed on to Ling Chen as if she was afraid he would suddenly run off.
“Alright, let’s make a deal then.” Hearing Sha Sha say this, Ling Chen formed a plan in his mind. “I’ll hold Sha Sha’s hand while logging off. If it works, I’ll bring Sha Sha with me every time I log off… if it doesn’t work, then Sha Sha needs to be good and stay here until I come back and can’t go anywhere else, alright?”
There weren’t any monsters in the Fairy Forest, so Sha Sha would be perfectly safe here.
Sha Sha’s cute eyes lit up as she nodded, “Okay! You have to keep your promise!”
In that case…
Ling Chen held Sha Sha’s little hand and stood straight as he prepared to log off, “Sha Sha, it’s starting now.”
The world in front of him turned white and then plunged into darkness. As the smell of the air changed, Ling Chen knew that he was back in the real world. He opened his eyes and looked at the familiar ceiling. Although he hadn’t eaten in 2 days, with his superhuman, monstrous body, he didn’t feel weak at all. He got up from the bed and saw the small figure by the bed immediately. He immediately said apologetically, “Tian Tian, I…”
Just as he started to speak, Ling Chen felt that something was stuck in his throat, preventing him from continuing. His expression also froze as his jaw dropped wide… as if it was going to smash into the floor.
The girl in front of him was small and cute, and had a tender and angelic face. Her eyes shone like resplendent stars, and she had snow-white skin as well as pure white hair and eyelashes… she was silently standing there, smiling sweetly.
“S-S-S-S-Sha Sha!!”