Chapter 25 Arriving When Cao Cao Is Mentioned

Just speaking of Cao Cao and he arrives!

Zhang Yuanqing felt relieved. Xie Su had a good relationship with him and was also Little Green Tea’s father, so it was great that he returned safely.

“Let him come in.” Old Ancestor Xie said calmly, without joy or sorrow. “Bring two pots of wine and ten crabs while you’re at it.”

Xie Qin retreated, the sound of her high heels fading away.

A moment later, Xie Su arrived outside the small courtyard and bowed, saying, “Old Ancestor, I have returned.”

After the hundred-year-old child grunted in acknowledgement, the old wooden door of the small courtyard was pushed open, and the handsome and refined Xie Su stepped over the stone threshold and into the courtyard.

Xie Su was wearing a retro changshan (long gown) with wide sleeves and wide trouser legs, which fluttered as he walked, giving him an air of scholarly elegance mixed with the bearing of a celestial being.

However, his eyes were dim, his expression weary, and he seemed to be plagued by old ailments, looking weak and frail.

“Patriarch Xie!” Zhang Yuanqing stood up and cupped his hands in greeting.

“You’re not calling me ‘Father’? It seems Lingxi will be disappointed.” Xie Su joked with a smile.

The hundred-year-old child said faintly, “The girl’s matter can wait. Your girl has just come of age; there’s no rush.”

Xie Su’s disappointment lifted slightly. Based on the Old Ancestor's forthright personality, if Yuanshi Tianzun really didn't want to marry Lingxi, he would have sneered and said, "Is the Xie family's girl worried about not finding a husband?"

The Old Ancestor's current attitude indicated that Yuanshi Tianzun hadn't refused, and might have even agreed, but for some reason, the marriage couldn't be settled in the near future.

While Xie Su’s thoughts flickered, he sat down at the stone table. He accepted the wine poured by Yuanshi Tianzun, put his daughter's marriage aside for the moment, and said in a deep voice, "Old Ancestor, in the Palace of the Controller of Fate, I encountered an extremely special and strange event, which is why I was so late in leaving the instance."

Zhang Yuanqing immediately perked up his ears.

Old Ancestor Xie was calm and collected, his tone unchanged. “What happened?”

A look of confusion flashed in Xie Su’s eyes. He hesitated for a long time, seemingly unsure how to put it. After about two minutes, he slowly said, “According to the Old Ancestor’s guide, I arrived at the Pool of Rebirth without paying too high a price. But at the edge of the Pool of Rebirth, I encountered a very strange thing.”

“Before I even entered the Pool of Rebirth, a large number of evil doppelgangers leaped out of the pool, as many as a dozen. They attacked me desperately, and although I was clearly in good condition, I was already exhausted and covered in wounds.”

“The feeling…” Xie Su paused for a moment, “was as if I had already been fighting in the pool for days and nights, but had lost my memory. No, I must have lost my memory. The injuries on my body and the doppelgangers in the pool all indicated that I had been in the pool before.”

What a ghost story! Experiencing countless battles in the pool, but without any related memories? Was this the reason why Xie Su was so late in exiting the instance?

Zhang Yuanqing was stunned. Old Ancestor Xie frowned slightly. Experienced and knowledgeable as he was, he immediately gave his judgment: "You may have had your memory erased, or you may have been caught in some kind of strange cycle. The key is the Pool of Rebirth. There must be something extraordinary in the pool!"

Hearing this, Xie Su nodded in agreement. “That’s what I think too. Old Ancestor, you’ve been to the Palace of the Controller of Fate. What do you think is strange about the Pool of Rebirth?”

The Old Ancestor picked up a piece of crab roe and chewed it. “It was decades ago. Let me think. The Pool of Rebirth shouldn’t have any hidden tasks. I can basically tell which solo instances for the Musician profession have hidden tasks and which don't.”

He swallowed the crab roe and said, "But instances aren't static. Someone may have entered the Palace of the Controller of Fate in the past few decades and left something there!"

Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing immediately thought of the Yin-Yang Disc and the head of the Holy Infant in the Battle of Yashan, which had directly increased the difficulty of that instance, and changed the main quest.

What could cause a change in an instance ranked in the top twenty? Zhang Yuanqing wondered.

Xie Su continued, “When I realized that I might be caught in some kind of cycle and have my memory erased, I made adjustments. I must have been entering the pool in the same fixed location each time. So, the last time, I changed my route, went around to the other side of the Pool of Rebirth, and after entering the water, I didn't dare to look or explore the bottom of the pool. I immediately began refining the sacred mud at the bottom of the pool, and after nearly dying in the battle with the doppelgangers, I finally cleared the instance.”

That battle had caused him great trauma. Although he had healed his injuries, his source had not yet recovered, so he looked so tired at this moment.

He would need at least ten days to half a month to return to his peak condition.

“It’s good that you’re back. Come, let’s have a drink, future father-in-law!” Zhang Yuanqing thought that the matter was more or less over.

Unexpectedly, Xie Su took out a folded strip of cloth from his pocket, apparently torn from a corner of his clothes.

“I found this in my pocket after the battle. I must have recorded it during one of the cycles.”

Xie Su said, “What is recorded on it is likely the secret of the bottom of the Pool of Rebirth. I haven’t opened it yet.”

Zhang Yuanqing and Old Ancestor Xie’s gazes simultaneously fixed on the strip of cloth.

The Old Ancestor said faintly, “Judging from your experience in the instance, you may have already opened it, but you’ve forgotten.”

Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing immediately looked at the crabs on the table, while Xie Su looked at the wine in the pot.

Good, the crabs were still there. Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief.

Good, the wine was still there too.

Xie Su silently exhaled. Old Ancestor Xie chuckled, “What are you two afraid of? I, your Old Ancestor, am a demigod. The forces in this world that can affect me are few and far between, and they won’t appear in a Dominator-level instance. Bring it here.”

Xie Su handed over the strip of cloth. The Old Ancestor reached out and took it, slowly drinking a cup of yellow wine as he looked at the two of them.

“You two don’t need to look.” After saying that, he unfolded the strip of cloth and stared at it.

In the next instant, Zhang Yuanqing and Xie Su both saw the Old Ancestor’s pupils contract, and his face change color.

Immediately afterwards, his head moved, as if he was about to look at Zhang Yuanqing, but before he could finish the movement of raising his eyes, a scene that made one's scalp tingle appeared.

The strip of cloth in the Old Ancestor’s hand seemed to rewind in time, folding itself up, and his hand gestures unconsciously lifted, returning to the posture he was in when he received the strip of cloth.

The only change was that the wine in the cup was already empty.

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