During the time Lin Xing rested, the village remained in constant uproar, with various arguments and cries echoing intermittently.
After countless hours, a large group of footsteps resounded outside the courtyard.
Lin Xing abruptly opened his eyes, a fleeting murderous intent flashed: "What are you going to do now?"
A middle-aged man stepped forward, nodding and bowing, followed by many villagers continuously glancing towards Lin Xing's direction.
The man spoke, "Hero, thank you for eliminating that evil spirit in the mountains. Your great kindness is unforgettable to us from Jiang Family Village."
Another voice arose from the crowd, "Hero, we went to the mountains and found the village chief, confirming it was truly you who killed the evil spirit. You are a great benefactor to our village."
At that moment, numerous villagers began speaking all at once, and Lin Xing learned that the village chief, along with the brothers Jiang Fang and Jiang Wu, had already been tied up and brought back to the village by the villagers.
After tying up the village chief and the others, the villagers encountered another difficulty.
That was, with the Mountain God and village chief gone, how could they face the retaliation soon to come from Commander Zhang?
Thus, they came to Lin Xing…
Lin Xing glanced over and saw the villagers had knelt down in a mass.
"Hero, although you killed those two scoundrels for the good of the people, once you leave to continue your righteous deeds, we here in the village cannot leave."
"When Commander Zhang retaliates, I'm afraid the entire Jiang Family Village will be leveled to the ground."
"This hero, please, we beg you to save us."
As the villagers pleaded desperately, Lin Xing finally awaited the moment the door opened.
Feeling that familiar sensation, he hurriedly picked up three children, stepped towards the courtyard gate, and disappeared from the villagers' sight.
…
As Lin Xing reemerged, the entire Quantum Intelligence Research Institute was thrown into chaos.
The three children were first taken for examination, while Lin Xing fell asleep as soon as he hit the bed, sleeping straight through till noon the next day.
Lin Xing opened his eyes and found Wei Zhi at his bedside.
"Awake?"
Upon seeing Lin Xing open his eyes, Wei Zhi couldn't help but give a wry smile, "You really brought me three troubles, how did you think to bring natives from Mirror World? You didn't just steal someone's children over there, did you?"
Lin Xing stretched lazily, starting to recount his experiences in Mirror World.
Wei Zhi listened and nodded; it was mostly consistent with what the three children had said, only the children were not aware of many of Lin Xing's solo adventures.
Thinking of those thrilling, life-threatening solitary experiences recounted by Lin Xing, Wei Zhi couldn't help but look at him with a touch of admiration.
Especially that terrifying Mountain God creature, if the three children hadn't unanimously spoken about it, they might have thought it was a figment of Lin Xing's imagination.
Although the children made eliminating the monster sound simple.
But just thinking about a creature over three meters tall, composed of stitched together corpses, threatening nearby mountain villages for decades, Wei Zhi understood the terror of the monster.
He knew the process of Lin Xing slaying it single-handed was anything but easy.
And if it had been him, he likely wouldn't have risked so much for three unknown children from Mirror World.
At this moment, Lin Xing appeared in his eyes filled with a courage and spirit of sacrifice that were rare among ordinary people.
He hadn't expected the words Lin Xing always spoke to seemingly be true.
"Lin Xing, the intelligence you brought back this time is very important, especially concerning that evil spirit creature. It will definitely aid in the upcoming operations from above, and I will definitely apply for a reward for you," Wei Zhi said. "As for these three children, they are natives of Mirror World after all and can only stay in Block C for now. We will assign people to take care of them."
Lin Xing nodded, reminding him, "Also about the talismans, I brought back a few of the Evil Suppression Talismans I drew. Take them for research."
"This intelligence is invaluable," Wei Zhi patted Lin Xing's shoulder. "I won't say much more, rest well. I'll be leaving now."
"And a reminder, don't try so hard next time, it's too dangerous."
"In Mirror World, you should prioritize your own safety."
Watching Wei Zhi leave, Lin Xing collapsed back onto his bed, feeling an immense relief.
Trusted people, a bed he could sleep soundly in, and the many caring doctors and nurses...
Lin Xing couldn't help feeling that the real world was far, far better than the Mirror World.
…
Wei Zhi excitedly ran back to his office, uploading the intelligence provided by Lin Xing one by one, convinced that this information would definitely attract attention from above and have significant influence on the upcoming exploration of Mirror World.
Shortly after he sent off the intelligence, Director Lv Ming's phone call came through.
Lv Ming, "I've received the intelligence, but most of the things you mentioned are already known to us."
Wei Zhi blinked in shock, "What? You already know everything?"
Lv Ming simply stated, "The third batch of five thousand explorers has already set out, and the second batch has just finished their dealings with the local indigenous powers. We've received too much useful intelligence these past few days..."
Listening to the other's account, Wei Zhi's initially excited mood quickly calmed down.
"Indeed." he thought to himself, "Compared to Lin Xing alone, there are thousands of brilliant individuals over there researching the Mirror World through the permanent gate; the efficiency here is just incomparable."
Lv Ming, somewhat stirred emotionally, added, "The Mirror World is truly incredible; it's going to be a groundbreaking discovery that will change the world. We really can't have enough people here."
"Wei Zhi, arrange the work at hand and come help me tomorrow."
"Tomorrow?" Wei Zhi blinked in surprise again, "But there are a few indigenous people here, and Lin Xing..."
Lv Ming firmly said, "The three indigenous people will continue their treatment, and Lin Xing will continue under observation. Isn't Doctor Chu always watching him? Plus, you must understand, the work here is now more important; I need you more here."
Wei Zhi nodded, "I understand. There's also the matter of Lin Xing being poisoned..."
Lv Ming replied, "I'll assign someone else to investigate it; don't worry."
Wei Zhi added, "There's also the repeated reports from Lin Xing about him experiencing time reversals; I think this matter..."
Lv Ming interrupted him, "You don't have to worry about that anymore."
Wei Zhi paused, then said, "Last time, you mentioned not to fully believe it but not to treat it entirely as insanity either..."
Lv Ming interrupted him again, each word distinct, "I said you don't have to worry about it anymore."
...
That same afternoon.
A recovered Lin Xing once again entered Doctor Chu Qingxin's office.
He sat relaxed in the chair and greeted, "Hello, Doctor Chu."
Chu Qingxin curiously examined Lin Xing before her.
Having vanished and reappeared out of thin air twice, he had become the most rumoured patient in building C, seen as a bizarre person by many nurses and security guards.
There were even rumors that this patient number four could perform the Wall-penetrating Technique and had supernatural abilities.
As a doctor, Chu Qingxin of course wouldn't believe unfounded rumors.
As a psychiatrist here, like most people in building C, she did not know of the existence of Mirror World or comprehend the so-called gates. She simply treated all her patients as those with plain mental illnesses.
Driven by curiosity about Lin Xing, she had been studying his medical records recently and had some new ideas.
She felt she might have found the root cause of Lin Xing's illness.
At this moment, noticing the cat doll stuffed in Lin Xing's collar, Chu Qingxin casually asked, "Lin Xing, how have you been getting along with the doll recently?"
It was just an attempt to close the distance with him, not expecting any special response.
"Quite well," Lin Xing said with a smile, "I learned martial arts from her and have taken her as my master."
Chu Qingxin slightly raised her eyebrows, noting in the medical record: "Hallucinations have worsened, possibly accompanied by a slight tendency towards violence."
She continued, "Lin Xing, do you remember you told me before that you felt history had changed starting from a hundred years ago?"
Lin Xing nodded, asking, "What about it?"
Chu Qingxin flipped through her notes, replying, "I've checked the historical changes you mentioned."
"For instance, you believed that a game company in Luoguo went bankrupt fifteen years ago, a year earlier than your memory, and the game ban in Zhiguo sixteen years ago happened two years earlier than you recall..."
She recited some historical changes Lin Xing had listed, then suddenly asked, "Have you noticed that these changes are all interconnected?"
"Because of the game ban in Zhiguo, the bankruptcy of the game company was accelerated."
"All the historical changes you mentioned seem interconnected like this; if traced back one by one, most of the origins of these historical changes seem to come from a major event a hundred years ago."
"That's the Beiyuan City earthquake. You remember it as a minor event, but in real history, it was a massive disaster that resulted in over five hundred thousand deaths and injuries."
Observing Lin Xing's pensive expression, Chu Qingxin continued, "So... could the historical differences in your memories be your own hypothetical scenario?"
"A possibility of history unfolding differently if a hundred years ago the earthquake had been minor?"
Inwardly, she mused: "Lin Xing seems to be confusing 'the possibility of history' with 'real history.' But why this confusion?"
"Did the earthquake a hundred years ago hold some significant meaning for him, causing him to gradually mix the two in his hypothesis? This might be the cause of his schizophrenia."
Listening to Chu Qingxin's speculation, Lin Xing appeared to freeze.
After a long moment, he spoke in shock, "So you're saying, someone altered a historical event a hundred years ago, and that led to a hundred years of changes in the world's history? That must be it! It has to be!"
---
Thanks to the "Delicious Fish Tofu," a fan of character Lin Xing, for gifting a substantial reward.