"How was I supposed to mention it earlier?!" Zhang Wang's voice raised.
Ariunbayar's voice raised in turn, bouncing in her seat, "How am I supposed to know! But you have! That would have made things so much simpler! Wait does that mean you have a debugger too? Let me borrow it!"
"No! I don't have one! That's why I was asking you!" The two had devolved into full-on yelling. If it weren't for the array that Zhang Wang set up earlier, the entire manor would have heard their conversation.
"How can you not have one? I got mine when I turned eight! My mother gave it to me during a Main Quest flag."
"A Main Quest flag!" Zhang Wang screeched, "I've never got one of those before!"
Ariunbayar rolled her eyes, "You probably did, but missed it. It's hard to get anything done without a debugger. I only progressed 11% of my Main Quest before I got mine."
That was roughly the progress that Zhang Wang was currently stuck on… "So what exactly does a debugger do?" Zhang Wang was extremely curious now and asked intently.
"It's simple!" She chirped in response, raising a finger. "Your system just looks like a bunch of dumb gibberish right? A debugger will help decode all of that. They can also give you side quests, but to be honest, I don't really care much about those. The bonuses are nice, though."
Zhang Wang folded his arms over his chest. "Yeah, I don't understand anything that's shown on it. But you asked me if I had my own debugger, so you're saying that there are more than one."
"Yup that's right. I even have a side quest to obtain another one. Apparently, they unlock different branches of side quests. But I've never understood the first quest flag so I just kind of just ignored it. I'm really close to finishing my Main Quest…"
His eyes widened at her words. Zhang Wang had seriously so many questions. He remembered being a child, and his system still made sense to him at the time he was able to see the Main Quest clearly. The quest had simply been marked with 'Return Home'. Does that mean that completing the main quest meant they could return to their original worlds? "Is your Main Quest also 'Return Home'?"
The Princess nodded, "That's right. There are still a lot of things I want to do and accomplish…I need to go back. My family's still waiting for me."
"..."
Zhang Wang was silent at that, unsure about how he felt. He'd already lived twenty years in this world, and it was home to him as any other. If he were honest, his relationship with his parents in this xianxia world was probably better then the one he had previously. Though his parents were dead now…
"How did you get here?" He asked.
"Huh?" Ariunbayar asked.
"I died," Zhang Wang said, "in a car accident. I can't help wonder if returning means that I'll just be returning to the pile of ashes buried somewhere in the outskirts of Beijing." He had no idea what happened to his body after. His relationship with his parents was never the best; it wasn't horrible either. A part of him felt bad for departing with them so suddenly, but aside from his parents, it wasn't like he had that many close friends or a girlfriend to return to.
There was a fire in her eyes when she looked up, brows furrowed, "Well, unlike you, I'm not dead. I want to return. It's the only thing that's been haunting me since I've come here." She was especially insistent, fingers curling around the fabric of her dress but
With a sigh, Zhang Wang plopped down on the bed, next to the Princess of the Steppes. He thought about the prospects of going home and if he didn't return to just a dead body, then what would happen? What would he do? And if he left everyone here behind…
People like Chu Changying, Sikong Ren and Yu Yanlin just disappearing into a strange distant dream. That as well felt weird.
Zhang Wang suddenly felt extremely apprehensive about the Main Quest.
But that didn't mean he wasn't interested in the debugger and the rest of the system. And now that he knew Ariunbayar came from the same world that he initially did, he had many things he wanted to talk about as well. Like gaokao and the prospect of going abroad. The scent of coffee and tall skyscrapers, cars, TV shows. It was strange being able to talk about those things again, however mundane finally.
The two transmigrated people fell into easy conversation. It was only when Zhang Wang noticed that the light outside had changed that he realized he had talked for way too long. Where was Yu Yanlin? A strange anxiety came about him, and he wanted to stop Ariunbayar in mid-sentence.
She was going on about her previous life, "Actually my gaokao score was very high, so I could go to a lot of prestigious schools, but all I cared about was going abroad. It's super important to study in Germany, you know? If you're into music--"
"Wait."
"What?"
Zhang Wang got up from his bed and bounced up on his feet. "I need to check on Bai Hu. I kind of…"
The young lady rolled her eyes, "You kicked him out in a heartbeat. He's not really your lover, is he?"
The words were accusatory and biting. Zhang Wang found himself flinching at them, but it was just in fear that his secret might be discovered. At least that's what he told himself. "I was surprised, that's all! How was I supposed to talk about everything…you know about systems and stuff in front of him?"
"I do it all the time," Ariunbayar admitted, "It's not like anyone understands."
"Oh," Zhang Wang said and shrugged. He supposed that made sense, "I suppose. I still have to go find him."
"Mhm, if he's really your lover you better treat him better!"
Zhang Wang knew little about romance, but he knew that she was probably right.
Finally parting ways, Zhang Wang went out to his wayward lover.
No, wait, his fake lover.
Whatever, he needed to find him and was suddenly struck with dread, realizing that Sikong Yong had probably found him first.
…
"I was close with my mother," Yu Yanlin responded calmly as he pinched the alcohol bowl with his fingers.
"How about your father then? Ah, let's have a toast."
Yu Yanlin took his time to cling the edge of his bowl with the Sect Leader. Even without his eyesight, he could feel eyes boring down on him, "My father…"
King Jiaolong was always a distant figure in Yu Yanlin's life, and the most he remembered from the man was glaring down at him in disdain. Yu Yanlin did not hate him; in fact, he even looked up to him, aspired to be like him. But he didn't have many opinions about Yu Jiaolong either. To Yanlin, he was only an example to aspire to be and aside from that. There was no emotional attachment to King Jiaolong. "He was an admirable person, but not…"
Sikong Yong chuckled, "I understand. He wasn't present. Fathers are often like that, don't you think? After all, we have many responsibilities to tend to."
"..." Yu Yanlin was guilty of that as well but never thought it an issue or problem. "That is true."
"Tell me about your mother then, since you are so close to her."
"She was…" the person who showed him the meaning of devotion. Though she came from a poor background, her demonic energy was both terrifying and abundant. Miao Xin was a gourmet, a person who hated and loved in extremes. To say she was a good person would be a lie. To say she was a good mother would be at least a partial truth. So Yu Yanlin went with, "She was a terrifying person."
That earned him a raised brow. Yu Yanlin wondered if he said something wrong.
"That's a weird thing to say about your mother. Was she strict?"
Was Miao Xin strict? No, she wasn't. "Not really."
"Then why would you call her terrifying?"
Why? That was because she loved devouring the meat of her enemies for than anything else. Wasn't that terrifying? Yu Yanlin opened his mouth, but he then closed his lips. A slender arm slid around his neck and gently pulled him back.
"What's going on here?" Zhang Wang's voice tickled the shell of his ear.