Speak of Cao Cao and he arrives!
Zhang Yuanqing felt a genuine sense of relief. Xie Su had a good relationship with him and was also the father of Little Green Tea. It was good that he returned safely.
"Let him come over." Xie Family Ancestor said calmly, without joy or sorrow, "Bring two pots of wine and ten crabs while you're at it."
Xie Qin retreated, the clacking sound of her high heels fading away.
A moment later, Xie Su arrived outside the small courtyard and bowed, "Ancestor, I'm back."
After the centenarian boy grunted in acknowledgement, the old wooden door of the courtyard was pushed open, and the handsome and refined Xie Su stepped over the stone threshold, entering the courtyard.
Xie Su was wearing a retro Changshan, the sleeves were wide, and the trouser legs were also wide, swaying as he walked, exuding an air of scholarly elegance mixed with immortal grace.
But his eyes were dim, his expression weary, seemingly plagued by old ailments, giving off an impression of weakness and frailty.
"Head of the Xie Family!" Zhang Yuanqing stood up and cupped his hands in greeting.
"Not calling me Father, it seems Lingxi will be disappointed." Xie Su teased with a smile.
The centenarian boy said faintly, "The girl's matter can wait. Your girl has just come of age, no need to rush."
Xie Su's disappointment lifted slightly. Based on Ancestor's forthright personality, if Yuanshi Tianzun truly didn't want to marry Lingxi, he would sneer and say, "Does the Xie Family's girl worry about marriage?"
Ancestor's current attitude indicated that Yuanshi Tianzun had not refused, and may have even agreed, but for some reason, the marriage could not be finalized in the near future.
While thoughts flashed through Xie Su's mind, 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, "Ancestor, in the Palace of Fate within the Scribe of Destiny dungeon, I encountered an extremely unusual and strange event, which is why I only left the instance now."
Zhang Yuanqing immediately perked up his ears.
Xie Family Ancestor was calm and composed, his tone unchanged, "What happened?"
A trace of confusion flashed in Xie Su's eyes. He struggled to find the right words for a long time, seemingly unsure how to explain. After about two minutes, he slowly said, "According to Ancestor's strategy 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 bizarre event."
"Before I even entered the Pool of Rebirth, an extremely large number of evil doppelgangers leaped out of the pool, as many as a dozen of them. They attacked me relentlessly, and even though I was in good condition, I was already exhausted and covered in wounds."
"That feeling…" Xie Su paused for a moment, "It was as if I had already been fighting in the pool for days and nights, but I 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 memory of it? Was this the reason Xie Su hadn't left the instance for so long?
Zhang Yuanqing listened in astonishment. Xie Family Ancestor frowned slightly. With his vast experience and knowledge, he immediately gave his judgment, "You may have had your memories 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. Ancestor, you've been to the Palace of Fate, what do you think could be strange about the Pool of Rebirth?"
The Ancestor picked up a piece of crab roe and chewed on it, "It was decades ago. Let me think. The Pool of Rebirth shouldn't have any hidden quests. I can basically determine which solo instances for the Musician class have hidden quests and which don't."
He swallowed the crab roe and said, "But instances aren't static. Someone may have entered the Palace of Fate in these decades and left something behind!"
Hearing this, Zhang Yuanqing immediately thought of the Yin-Yang Disk and the head of the Sacred Infant in the Sea of Y崖山, which directly increased the difficulty of that instance and changed the main quest.
What could cause a change in a top twenty-ranked instance? Zhang Yuanqing wondered.
Xie Su continued, "Realizing that I might be caught in some kind of cycle and had my memories erased, I made adjustments. I must have been infiltrating the pool in the same fixed location each time. So, the last time, I changed my route and went around to the other side of the Pool of Rebirth. After going underwater, I didn't dare to look around or investigate the bottom of the pool. I started refining the sacred mud at the bottom of the pool directly. I almost died in the battle against the doppelgangers. After the battle ended, I finally cleared the instance."
That battle had caused him great trauma. Although he had repaired his injuries, his origin had not yet recovered, which was why he looked so tired.
He would need to rest for at least ten days to half a month to return to his peak state.
"It's good that you're back. Come, future father-in-law, let's drink!" Zhang Yuanqing thought that the matter was more or less over after this.
Unexpectedly, Xie Su took out a folded strip of cloth from his pocket, which seemed to be a corner torn from his clothes.
"I found this in my pocket after the battle. I must have recorded it in one of the cycles."
Xie Su said, "What's written on it is likely the secret of the bottom of the Pool of Rebirth. I haven't opened it yet."
Zhang Yuanqing and Xie Family Ancestor's gazes simultaneously fixed on the strip of cloth.
The Ancestor said faintly, "Based on 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 are still here. Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief.
Good, the wine is still here.
Xie Su silently let out a breath. Xie Family Ancestor chuckled, "What are you two afraid of? I, your Ancestor, am a Demigod. The powers that can affect me in this world are few and far between, and they won't appear in a Lord-level instance. Give me the thing."
Xie Su handed over the strip of cloth. The Ancestor reached out and took it, slowly took a sip of yellow wine, and looked at the two of them.
"You two don't need to look." After saying this, he opened the folded strip of cloth and fixed his eyes on it.
In the next instant, Zhang Yuanqing and Xie Su both saw the Ancestor's pupils contract and his face change dramatically.
Then, 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 hair-raising scene appeared.
The strip of cloth in the Ancestor's hand folded itself back up as if time was flowing backward, and his hand unconsciously raised and returned to the posture of receiving the strip of cloth.
The only change was that the wine in the cup was already empty.
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