The change in behavior

Liling looked dumbfounded as I diverted my attention to the bandits. I mean, as much as I wanted to fight her, saving her is my key priority. And as Goldy said, my current Qi scythe will probably not make even a dent in her bear defense. Practice makes a man perfect. So, I'm gonna use these bandits as my practice dolls.

Although, initially one would feel pressured when they see tens of furious people running towards them, once you get to know their actual power level, you wouldn't feel so cornered. Rather, it'd be quite the opposite. You would actively try to fight against them just because it's fun. At least, that's how it is for me.

"Guo—mad bull, try not to interfere in this fight. Only come by if it looks like I need help." I ordered.

I was about to call him Guo Ning, but since we're in disguise, I called him mad bull for no other reason than my stupid brain not being able to find a cool name. Anyhow, it seemed as if he caught on with it, since he nodded his head. Although he kinda looked displeased about my naming sense, since his moments were a bit on the slower side. Maybe it was just me being fast.

With the amount of bandits around me, I could raise my proficiency on Qi scythe quite a bit. By the end of it, I felt like I could make an actual tear in Liling's defense. This development satisfied me.

Anyhow, when I looked back at Liling, she looked dumbfounded. Initially, I thought that was because of my Qi center debacle and was secretly laughing to myself, however, I learned the truth behind only when I walked towards her.

"How could you murder your own brethren in cold blood like that?" She sounded horrified and disgusted as she said it.

"Brethren? Who?" I could only look at her with a dumbfounded expression after hearing her statement.

Was that the reason she was so surprised when she saw that I could use Qi? Because she mistook me as a bandit? Oh, gurl! You're crazy!

"Wait, you aren't one of the bandits?" She asked.

"You've been around them for a long time now, haven't you? Then you oughta know that this particular bandit group doesn't have female members in it." I replied.

"Oh, really? I never knew. And also, the bandit group hasn't been here for that long, so I don't know where you get your rumors, kid." Liling replied.

It looks like the bandit attack, and the migration of the people of this village is fairly recent. Now I just have one question in my mind.

"Why do you stay here?" I asked.

"Before I answer that, how come you knew my name?" She asked back.

"Ah, well. I heard that you got something really important in your possession. Something that you've been treasuring your entire life." I was straightforward with it, even though I knew that wasn't the right way to go.

I mean, Liling in the game took over one year to recognize Zhangsun Shan as her family. So, if the main lead couldn't make her call him family, what chance do I have?

"Hmm, what might you be talking about?" Liling acted as if she wasn't aware of it.

"Very well. What is the most precious thing that you carry?" I asked.

"My life." She replied without hesitation.

Ha, then she threw it away for the sake of the skill book. You're a little liar, aren't ya?

"I see. I'll not be taking your life. Instead, show me your home. I'll be taking everything else from there." I smiled as I gave out my reply.

"Is that so? How do you know about it?" She asked.

"Hmm? What might you be talking about?" I asked back, thus finally using her word against herself. It felt good.

"Ha, nice one! Where did you hear about the seventh heaven's healing book?" She asked.

"Oh, I wasn't talking about it though." I acted coy.

"Just stop now, will ya? If you want it, you should've just asked. It isn't that valuable as whoever told you." She replied.

"Huh?"

What the hell just happened? I don't get the inconsistencies. Why is she so willing to give me the skill book? How come she thinks that it isn't that valuable when she from the game future and even the ancient gold dragon thinks it is?

What happened in the span of two years that changed a person by this much? And now that I take a glance at her, she looks much younger than her game self—like, she looked thirty at most. And she's really beautiful. No kidding, every other character that I've seen in this world is beautiful as fell—other than me, of course. Anyway, what happened that made her age so poorly? Can a person age ten or twenty years in just two? All these questions were messing with my mind.

The thing is, since the game didn't dwell in her past—the two years of her life which caused drastic changes in her, I have no idea about it as well and that irks me. Until now, I kinda knew the basic past of most people, other than Goldy, of course. But now, it's like I'm living a normal life, where you gotta deduce stuff and not know them already. Damn, I miss the feeling of knowing it all!

"Here we are! Get in." She welcomed me inside her home.

I was secretly worried that she might show me the wrong home in order to trick me, but she didn't. I knew this home; this nostalgic feeling that I felt with everything that I came in contact with as Zhangsun Shan; it was overwhelming to the point that I shed a tear or two. Such a beauty!

Once we got in, she nonchalantly walked to a table beside her and took the book that was on the very top. "Here you go! You came looking for this, didn't ya? Seventh Heaven's healing. Now it's yours." She said as she placed the book on my hand.

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