Chapter 1110: Lin Sanjiu with Dual Purpose
When Bohemia, full of unease and hesitation, re-entered the Astral Plane, she initially thought she might see... well, she wasn"t exactly sure what she expected to see. Either way, she didn"t feel good about it.
So, when she found Lin Sanjiu, it took her quite a while to understand the situation.
What on earth was she looking at?
"Are you... are you guys okay?" She hovered in mid-air, looking dubious, having suddenly remembered the blue polka-dotted handkerchief that had been taken by Dr. Hu which was later returned to her.
Lin Sanjiu briefly glanced at her amid her busy work, seemingly surprised at how quickly Bohemia had returned. With a slight nod, she gently patted the back of the person in her arms and whispered, "It"s nothing; he"s just a little tired."
Can a pure consciousness even get tired? It was as absurd as someone telling her that electricity needed to eat.
Sensing that someone had arrived, Ji Shanqing hesitantly withdrew his arm. He had been hugging Lin Sanjiu like a giant koala, and because he was shorter, his whole body was draped over her, making Bohemia suddenly wonder if they were truly siblings.
He didn"t entirely detach himself from Lin Sanjiu, still lightly leaning against her arm. He appeared somewhat different from just a while ago and had a hint of a nasal, childish tone in his voice, "h.e.l.lo."
In her confusion, Bohemia replied with a simple "h.e.l.lo."
Ji Shanqing"s bright black eyes stared at her for a while, and he couldn"t help squinting slightly. There was even a trace of a smile on his lips. Faced with such a pure and clear face, Bohemia initially felt uncomfortable until she heard Lin Sanjiu speak at this time. As Ji Shanqing turned to look at her, she couldn"t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
"Now that the war is over, can you leave that place?" Lin Sanjiu asked without any intention of explaining the whole situation to Bohemia.
Bohemia wasn"t too pleased with the lack of an explanation, but she didn"t care to know anyway. "I can only leave for a while," Ji Shanqing sighed. "I"ve taken over one of their territories and stored a lot of data there. If I leave for too long, the Veda will discover it... and then everything I"ve carefully stored, and the territory I"ve occupied might be lost."
Lin Sanjiu furrowed her brows slightly, not entirely understanding what the purpose of his data storage was and why it was necessary. Before she could ask, the grand prize spoke up, looking at her with a smile. "Besides, how can the anchor roam around casually? Even if you don"t want to go back now, I have to keep a place where you and your friends can return to at any time, right?"
At that moment, Lin Sanjiu was left speechless, with countless words swirling around in her mind. In the end, she could only come up with a dry and uninteresting response, "Can you come out to see me from time to time?"
The grand prize"s eyes sparkled as if stars were hidden in the clear lake, and he nodded vigorously.
With that, Lin Sanjiu felt like she might be able to send a message to Yu Yuan through him when the time came. She had no confidence that she could persuade the current Yu Yuan, who had become a Veda, with anything she said. She could only think of some dry and bland words to remind Yu Yuan of the time they spent together in Black Mountain Town, to encourage him to reconsider his decision and to express her wish to have a conversation with him.
As she spoke, the grand prize listened calmly, his long eyelashes fluttering gently, each blink feeling like the light touch of a feather on velvet.
Would he really deliver the message? As Lin Sanjiu began to entertain this thought, she couldn"t help but feel a little guilty for harboring it. They had already talked and clarified everything; all the suspicions and speculations from before were now gone. The current relations.h.i.+p between them should be as clear and transparent as the sky after a heavy rain.
"Do you need to write it down?" Bohemia leaned over, having reverted to her human form at some point. Her big, golden-brown eyes s.h.i.+fted back and forth. "She entrusted me with a message for Magus the last time, and I... I forgot."
Lin Sanjiu turned her head and glared at her.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Don"t you think it"s been a long time? Do you really remember—" Bohemia, originally bold and a.s.sertive, suddenly lost her momentum when she met Ji Shanqing"s gaze. Her voice inexplicably lowered, and she appeared quite uncomfortable. However, Ji Shanqing seemed oblivious to this and just smiled, saying, "I don"t need to write it down. I won"t forget."
"Earlier, the white star said you seem to know something about Magus?" Lin Sanjiu asked seriously, getting back to the main topic.
The grand prize probably knew that he could always wait for Lin Sanjiu to show up if he found out Magus"s whereabouts. That"s why he took longer to find someone and obtained more detailed information.
"She disappeared along with the Concrete World Branch. Although her disappearance was quite abrupt, I know the person who took control of the Concrete World Branch simply changed her and the Concrete World Branch"s location," the grand prize said with a smile. A rare hint of cunningness shone in his white teeth and slightly squinted eyes. "I happen to know the new location."
Bohemia jumped up from her spot.
"I don"t know what the Concrete World Branch"s owner intends to do with her, but his abilities aren"t strong enough to obliterate Magus"s consciousness in such a short time. He probably trapped Magus inside the Concrete World Branch and couldn"t do anything immediately. So, he decided to..."
"Take me there!" Lin Sanjiu"s eyes lit up. "Are there many guards outside the Concrete World Branch?"
Ji Shanqing wasn"t entirely sure about this. The Concrete World Branch had been moved to a place tens of thousands of miles away from its original location. Even for an ent.i.ty known for its speed like a consciousness, it wasn"t a short distance to travel.
If she continued to rush through the Astral Plane, her body in the doomsday world would have to remain in a deep sleep state. Under normal circ.u.mstances, this wouldn"t be a problem, but there was a Puppeteer continuously forcing her to keep moving. According to Bohemia, Puppeteer had never stopped during this period. It seemed that he hadn"t reached his destination yet. When she left, he sent another paper crane, instructing them not to waste time and to catch up with him quickly.
That"s why Puppeteer hadn"t noticed anything unusual. In theory, if he were waiting in one place and unable to find his puppet, he would notice something was wrong when he realized it was lying on the ground, kicking its legs. That would be troublesome for Lin Sanjiu. However, since he was moving along the way as well, and the puppets hadn"t caught up, everything seemed normal.
When Lin Sanjiu mentioned that Puppeteer was also outside, Ji Shanqing blinked, showing no emotional response, and just leaned closer to Lin Sanjiu. Lin Sanjiu remembered how scared he used to be of Puppeteer and couldn"t help but pat his head gently.
Bohemia rolled her eyes unconsciously.
"What time is it outside?" Lin Sanjiu hadn"t noticed anything wrong with Bohemia"s expression and thought for a moment before saying, "It should be close to dawn, right?"
"It"s already dawn," Bohemia said, lowering her eyebrows, looking like an old lady. "It"s really annoying. Meeting someone like that right after coming in makes me tired... It"s better to avoid dealing with such people and things in the future."
It seemed that she hadn"t given up her intention to convert.
Lin Sanjiu"s thoughts drifted back to Yu Yuan. Then, unexpectedly, she thought of the [A Mermaid Cultivation Drink] because a part of its name was "Another Way."
One by one, her friends had chosen paths outside their current lives, even if it meant giving up many things. They were all searching for and accepting another way as an answer. Had she been too stubborn?
"Sis?" The grand prize called her softly, bringing her back to the present. Bohemia was also looking at her, waiting for her to continue.
"I have an idea," Lin Sanjiu said after some thought. "I can"t keep putting off finding Magus or Puppeteer. Fortunately, I can do both simultaneously without conflicts... After you leave, continue on your journey, and let the two puppets take my body. My consciousness will stay here with the grand prize to find Magus."
Worried that Bohemia might be overly meticulous and knowing that Dr. Hu often lacked typical human perspectives in strange ways, she added, "I can go out with you first, and remove the card transformation from Puppeteer"s sleeping pallet. When the time is right, you can place me on the sleeping pallet. Just don"t tie me up with a rope carelessly, as extended periods of poor circulation could affect my limbs. When you feel the journey is almost over, you can come back in to retrieve me."
Bohemia"s admiration for Lin Sanjiu increased when she heard that Lin Sanjiu would sleep on Puppeteer"s sleeping pallet. With an atmosphere of "those who don"t know the heights of heaven and earth deserve a beating," she and Ji Shanqing awkwardly greeted each other without making eye contact and left with Lin Sanjiu. When she brought Lin Sanjiu back into the Astral Plane, Ji Shanqing was still waiting in the same spot.
"You"re my sister"s only way in and out of the Astral Plane, right?"
He confirmed this again, even though he had asked it once before.
Bohemia nodded in agreement.
"Okay," Ji Shanqing held Lin Sanjiu"s arm and waved to Bohemia. "Then, we"re off. Be careful on your way."