Chapter 5: Zhao Sanren, Main Quest

After convincing himself that the nameless elder brother from the backstory is his Otherworld counterpart, Liang Yi felt somewhat relaxed.

He genuinely liked the girl who threw herself into his arms and opened her heart entirely. Previously he had been worried that if Su Youyi woke up and realized he was not her elder brother, she would turn against him, even perhaps attack him with swords.

Though their interaction was less than a day, Liang Yi started to feel anxious about it, realizing that emotions truly don't follow logic. As for appearance, that shouldn't be a problem; only the memory issue remains to be resolved.

Actually, that was manageable too, as pretending to have amnesia was his specialty. In his previous life, when he was a Bounty Hunter, he would feign amnesia after each kill when encountering them again, and he was the best at it. Those who he had killed several times would furiously confront him, and eventually leave shamefacedly, leaving him gifts while embarrassed about having mistaken him for someone else.

Having thought it through, Liang Yi leaned his head tiredly against the tree trunk behind him, tilting his head back and squinting at the light filtering through the leaves. He was exhausted from killing the Wind Cloud Leopard, and the wound on his back had just started to scab over.

He checked his Life Value, which was steadily at 38 points.

"I'm so tired, I really fancy a bottle of soda." Thinking about a life without soda in the future made Liang Yi feel a touch of heartache.

Idly, his mind wandered aimlessly to various unrelated thoughts, and before he knew it, he had drifted off to sleep.

...

"Ah!"

Liang Yi sat up abruptly, the clothes on him slipping off as he looked around cautiously, remembering where he had fallen asleep.

The only sounds in the silent forest were the crackling of the campfire, and the girl beside the fire.

"Elder brother, you're awake?" Su Youyi quickly ran to Liang Yi, grabbing his hand.

"Setting a fire to burn the mountains, spending eternity in prison, dear sister," Liang Yi casually said.

"What did you say, elder brother?" Su Youyi looked up curiously, not catching Liang Yi's mutterings.

"Nothing, nothing." Liang Yi shook his head, his hand grasping Su Youyi's small hand.

He took a moment to feel strangely; the pain in his back had lessened significantly, replaced by a slight itchiness. Looking at his Life Value, it had recovered to a healthy line of 140.

"Elder brother, while you were asleep, I applied some medicine to you," Su Youyi explained awkwardly, noticing the expression on her elder brother's face.

How did she apply it? Of course, she had to strip him down.

"Thank you, I feel like my wound has almost healed." Liang Yi thanked her warmly, affectionately patting her head as a reward.

Su Youyi's cheeks blushed, and she quickly grasped Liang Yi's hand again, not wanting to be apart from her elder brother for even a moment. During the days he was captured, she dared not close her eyes to rest. Whenever she did, she felt unbearable remorse. It was all because of her that her elder brother was taken, almost losing his life.

Sensing Su Youyi's emotions, Liang Yi sighed inwardly and decided to be honest. If he delayed further, unpredictable changes might occur. After weighing his options, he said:

"Miss, actually, I think I've lost my memory."

Su Youyi stared at him blankly, as if she hadn't fully processed his words.

"Since waking up in the forest, I have forgotten a lot. I don't know my own name or anyone I know. I don't know if I am your elder brother. Seeing you so sad yesterday, I didn't say anything." Liang Yi looked at Su Youyi apologetically.

What he said was the truth, except he omitted the part about having traveled from another world.

"You are my elder brother! I will never mistake you! Your every action, your concern, none of it has changed," Su Youyi declared loudly. In this world, he was her elder brother, and she would never mistake it.

Liang Yi touched his nose, unable to respond to her statement. He wasn't sure why, considering his soul had supposedly been replaced, Su Youyi was so certain that he was still her elder brother.

Moreover, Liang Yi was sure that her judgment was not based on physical resemblance.

If it's incomprehensible, then forget it. Don't treat brain cells as if they're not part of the body.

Smart people think through problems: Brain cells -1, getting the answer.

Liang Yi thinks through problems: Brain cells -1-1-1...

Such thought processes could make a person foolish.

Being able to cut losses in time is a minor strength of Liang Yi. If even time-travel has occurred, what else is impossible?

"Where is the man in the black robe?" Liang Yi decided to change the subject.

"I tied him up under that tree over there, I don't know why but he has been unconscious," Su Youyi pointed at a large tree not far away.

"Let's go see him." Liang Yi was still very interested in that man. Had the Great Dark Escape Technique appeared so early?

The two reached the base of the tree where the man in the black robe was tied, tilting his head.

Liang Yi squatted down, looked at the man in front of him, and touched his chin, then lifted the hood of the black robe.

Under the hood was a very ordinary face, the kind you wouldn't give a second glance if you saw him in a crowd. Looking at this unremarkable face, Liang Yi was confused; was he not an NPC he recognized?

He had thought that anyone capable of ambushing the leading disciple of Banished Immortal would not be a nobody, but it turned out he indeed was.

Could it be: I predicted your prediction, so that faction sent this unknown person?

But sorry, I have cheats.

Liang Yi directly punched the man in the black robe, and upon entering combat mode, he found the combat information in the prompt panel:

"Ding! You attacked Lv:** [Zhao Sanren], entering combat mode."

It's normal not to have faction information, and it's possibly because his own level is too low to see the level, but Liang Yi could guess from previous combats.

"What do you plan to do with him?" Liang Yi turned his head to Su Youyi, asking for her opinion.

"I checked, and he has Prohibition spells on him, pretty high-level ones. If we take him back to find master, we'll probably encounter a lot of trouble, so we might as well just kill him." Su Youyi wasn't afraid of those troubles, but she didn't want her senior brother, a common person, to face more dangers. As for the forces behind this man, she would find out.

Su Youyi's intent, Liang Yi could understand, of course. But since they were killing, he preferred to do it himself.

"Can I do it?" Liang Yi didn't want to make up a random excuse to deceive his little junior sister; lies were too easily turned into habits.

But he couldn't reveal the real reason, he couldn't tell his junior sister that he could increase in level quickly by killing? But earning Experience through killing was still too slow, he decided to look for tasks later. After all, tasks are the main source of Experience.

"Okay." Su Youyi didn't ask why, she just chose to trust him.

Liang Yi buried that touch of sentiment in his heart, borrowed a sword from Su Youyi. Without further ado, he stabbed the sword directly into Zhao Sanren's heart, letting him meet death in his unconscious state.

[Ding! Congratulations on killing lv.** Zhao Sanren (weak), gaining 30,000 Experience points!]

[Ding! Proceeding with a strength assessment between both parties.]

[Assessment: Zhao Sanren's challenge level is B-, Experience points increased by 200%]

[Congratulations, you gained 60,000 Experience points!]

[Ding! You have triggered the main quest: Shadow under Peace]

[You have opened Devouring Spirit Sect faction affinity!]

[Devouring Spirit Sect affinity -300, current status: Hostile]