Chapter 488
With a heart full of questions, Charles asked, “You already know all the details. Why did you choose to come and ask me?”
“He has no other wounds on his body... What do those symbols mean? Why would he have such an injury at that moment?”
“The ‘uniqueness’ of Qiangyin allows him to reverse time... but he has no memories of the time he reversed,” Xia'er explained, looking at Charles and picking out what she could say. “He can only use the side effect of his ‘uniqueness’ to create eternal wounds on himself as reminders for his past self when he reverses time.”
Time... reversal?
Charles suppressed the urge to gasp in shock, taking a long moment to contain his astonishment.
He knew that Qiangyin possessed a ‘uniqueness’; in fact, he wasn’t the only one aware of it... because the ‘intelligence’ Qiangyin displayed far exceeded that of an ordinary extraordinary being.
Charles had speculated it was some form of “foreseeing the future” or “divination,” but he hadn’t expected it to be time reversal.
To be able to reverse time... wouldn’t that make Qiangyin invincible?
Forget about Qiangyin; if he had that ability, he could secretly control Ansu City, perhaps even more firmly than Qiangyin currently did.
“How do you know all this?” Charles turned to the girl before him, asking directly.
If it really was “time reversal,” how did this red-haired girl know about it?
“Because my memories are not affected by the reversal,” Xia'er replied. “I can retain my memories and know how many times the reversal has occurred...”
Not affected...
Retaining memories?
In an instant, Charles thought of nothing else but Qiangyin’s ‘uniqueness.’
If Qiangyin’s ‘uniqueness’ fell into the hands of this girl, she would undoubtedly unleash an even more terrifying power.
“How can you prove that what you’re saying is true?” Charles asked, looking at Xia'er.
“I can’t prove it,” Xia'er admitted bluntly. “What I just told you about the dream is a true event that happened before Qiangyin’s reversal. You did indeed say those words to me, but I have no way to prove it.”
Listening to Xia'er, Charles wanted to argue but held back.
He thought carefully about how, if he were on the brink of death, facing someone so close to him, he would surely find ways to excuse his past misdeeds...
Charles wouldn’t shy away from admitting that.
“What are you planning to do about Qiangyin?” Charles asked directly, getting to the crux of the matter.
Xia'er raised her eyes slightly to look at Charles, as if sensing the intent behind his question.
“Are you thinking of taking action?” Xia'er asked.
“I don’t plan to take action,” Charles shook his head. “I can only offer some help that doesn’t involve direct confrontation, but...”
“But?”
“The condition is that you can arrange for me to meet Aivina.”
Upon hearing Charles’s request, Xia'er paused for a moment before shaking her head.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t agree to that. Whether or not to meet you is Aivina’s own free will, and I have no right to interfere,” Xia'er replied.
Her answer left Charles momentarily silent, and after a long pause, he sighed softly.
“Why are you opposing Qiangyin? Is he a threat to you?” Charles asked.
“In a way, he threatens everyone important to me,” Xia'er replied.
Threatening everyone important to Xia'er... Charles pondered this statement, deep in thought.
“Does that include Aivina?” Charles inquired.
“Of course,” Xia'er nodded.
“I will help you within my means... provided I believe there’s a chance of success,” Charles said, nodding slightly, as if making a decision.
Having gathered enough information, Xia'er showed no intention of continuing the conversation with Charles.
She looked at him and asked one last question.
“If Qiangyin reverses time again, what should I say to convince you to help me as quickly as possible?” Xia'er asked, her gaze fixed on Charles. “I really don’t want to have my throat cut by a sword again.”
Charles fell silent for a moment.
He looked at Xia'er and said, “Have Aivina write me a letter... anything will do.”
“With Aivina’s letter, I’ll probably help you, I guess...”
Xia'er stood up, slightly bowing her head to Charles. “Then I’ll take my leave for now, Duke Charles.”
Xia'er left the Duke’s residence, taking Tara with her as they walked home.
Now... everything was in place.
All that remained was to draft a detailed plan for the simulation.
In her room, Xia'er’s hand flashed with silver light as she took out the *Endless Manual of Forgetting*, immediately beginning to write.
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PS:
Sorry, I dozed off while writing and just woke up at six...
I’ll keep it to 4K for today; I’m afraid if I write too much, I won’t be able to sleep tonight. I need to try to sleep earlier.
Waaah, my normal routine!!!!!!
Good night!!!!!!
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**Chapter 257: Xia'er’s Anger (4288 words)**
To kill Qiangyin in the simulation, it was essential to ensure that the Gate of the Otherworld was placed at the position where Qiangyin would reverse time—specifically, the first position to the left of the Queen—before 12:15:05.
As for the other people at the dining table, whether they lived or died had nothing to do with Xia'er... The information she received from Duke Charles indicated that aside from Qiangyin and the Duke, there was only a second-tier “Lawkeeper” present, which wouldn’t have any impact.
However, to gain the Duke’s support in the simulation, Aivina had to be present to persuade him... this was the only uncertain factor.
Because Aivina certainly harbored hatred for Charles; she had even gone so far as to drink the uncertain “Listener” potion and run away from Ansu, just to escape the Duke’s arrangements.
Aivina didn’t want to be a pawn.
Yet Xia'er knew that if she asked, Aivina would definitely comply, which was precisely what troubled her.
In that case, wasn’t she also using Aivina as a tool?
But Xia'er was merely troubled; she had to survive first before considering anything else, even if it meant being misunderstood by others.
Survival came first.
Rustle, rustle—
Xia'er continuously planned what to do in the simulation in the *Endless Manual of Forgetting*. She decided to postpone the simulation by 1-2 days, as she wanted Aivina in reality to send a letter to Charles.
Xia'er wanted to obtain a secret from Charles that would make him believe her, just like Yulis did... this would greatly increase the success rate of her plans in the simulation.
The Otherworld nodes taught by the God of Order could be crafted by her, but to be safe, Xia'er had no intention of directly summoning the Pure White Knight.
She decided to set up the Otherworld node in the simulation while sacrificing Eleanor to summon the Dark Worm... after all, the Dark Worm had a proven track record against Qiangyin, and using it to kill Qiangyin was the most stable option, almost guaranteeing that Qiangyin would be killed before he could reverse time.
The Pure White Armor only needed to stay at the Otherworld node; once the Dark Worm killed Qiangyin, everything would depend on the Pure White Armor.
This combination of Otherworld techniques would require a significant amount of Xia'er’s mental energy. Perhaps it could be optimized further to reduce her mental strain, but that would take time... and it seemed Xia'er didn’t have much time left.
Because a letter had been delivered by a “gambler”... it was a letter from Lucy.
Knock, knock, knock—
The door was knocked on, and after Xia'er responded, Tara opened the door, holding a letter as she walked toward Xia'er.
“Lady Xia'er, this is a letter from Miss Lucy. She said you must read it...” Tara recalled the person she had seen earlier and continued, “The messenger was someone I didn’t recognize; he said Miss Lucy seemed very anxious.”
Lucy?
Xia'er paused her planning momentarily, taking the letter with some confusion.
In the future, Xia'er had experienced everything, and future Lucy hadn’t written her any urgent letters.
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