Seeing Wu Tianzhen and Fatty preparing to disembark, Zhang Qiling breathed a sigh of relief and continued forward as if nothing had happened.
Hei Yanjing's words had indeed affected him.
...Upon gaining the physical characteristics of Xiao Ge, his lifespan also became exceptionally long. During his time in the Qionglong Silver City, he had profoundly understood this after enduring the hundred-year torrent of time. However, for reasons he preferred not to dwell on, he had deliberately ignored it.
He was different from Hei Yanjing. Hei Yanjing had wandered this world for a vast amount of time and viewed interpersonal relationships with great detachment.
To them, the people of the world seemed like mayflies that lived and died in dreams, their brief, passionate lives ending abruptly, leaving behind only long and despairing memories.
Zhang Qiling suddenly realized that he would no longer be anyone's returning guest. Instead, he could only repeatedly play the role of a fleeting passerby in one life after another.
Unbeknownst to him, Wu Tianzhen and Fatty seemed to have become his anchors in this world. He was like a wandering soul cast into an unfamiliar realm, held fast by their connection lest he become lost.
What was his duty here? Where lay his direction and his path forward? If, one day, Wu Tianzhen and Fatty were to truly die... could his own return journey ever exist?
At that point, perhaps he would become a sailor waiting in vain at a ferry terminal for a sunken ship, or a devoted soul hoping for the fusion of night and day at dusk, or a fool praying for a distant, mysterious star light-years away to pass over Earth.
Or perhaps he would simply continue to walk the world, waiting to encounter another Wu Tianzhen, or another Fatty.
...A monster.
For the first time, Zhang Qiling realized with such clarity that he had been transformed into a monster by the system without his knowledge.
A monster... destined to be left behind alone on the other side of time, immensely powerful, yet unable to find the way home.
The problem, which he had never formally faced, was suddenly laid bare before him, like moss beneath deadwood suddenly exposed to the sun. A dark, decaying aura began to coil around him, suffused with the helplessness and melancholy of someone walking towards an abyss.
Zhang Qiling tried to find a solution to this situation within Xiao Ge's memories, but as he searched, all he saw was emptiness. It was as if he were looking at a blank piece of paper – clean, yet overflowing with loneliness.
...Intermittent amnesia.
It was like a computer that regularly formatted its hard drive. Those past passions, those moments of spiritual connection, those bonds of loyalty, those shared experiences of life and death... all the sorrow, joy, happiness, and anger seemed to be deleted with a single click, like data devoid of emotion.
This life of fumbling through the world, searching for memories again and again, was too agonizing. Even by delving into the memories, Zhang Qiling felt a despair that penetrated to the bone.
...But wasn't this also a shortcut to forgetting and separating from memories?
They died, he forgot, and from then on, it would be as if they had never met, a happy ending for all.
...A happy ending for all, was it?
Not at all.
"Hey, mute!" Hei Yanjing's voice suddenly called out. Zhang Qiling felt his wrist tighten, and the hand that had been firmly gripping the palace pillar was forcefully pulled down by Hei Yanjing.
Only then did he realize that he had unconsciously exerted too much force, and his fingers were now throbbing with a dull ache.
Hei Yanjing was truly puzzled. He couldn't understand why Zhang Qiling's emotions were so volatile over something like this.
It wasn't that Hei Yanjing was heartless or unfeeling; rather, he had always assumed Zhang Qiling, like himself, was an ancient soul who had traversed the world alone for a long time.
Having witnessed the ebb and flow of life and death in the world, how could he be so moved by fleeting friendships?
"You—"
"Xiao Ge!" It was Wu Tianzhen and Fatty, who had finally caught up.
Wu Tianzhen's face was bright and cheerful, as if he hadn't been the one stubbornly demanding an answer just moments ago.
Fatty also didn't mention anything, merely grumbling loudly about Zhang Qiling not waiting for him, and threatening to revoke his privilege of picking the first animal-shaped ice cream for a day.
The two of them laughed, as if the things that might have distanced them simply didn't exist, as if Zhang Qiling's moment of evasion had never happened.
When Zhang Qiling emerged from the cockpit, he had no idea how to face the two of them. In that instant, he had genuinely considered parting ways after this.
But unexpectedly, the shallow trench he had hesitantly drawn between the three of them was instantly bridged by Wu Tianzhen and Fatty.
Not only did they cross it, but they acted as if they hadn't seen the trench at all, standing before him cheerfully. With a few casual kicks of their feet, the kicked-up dirt even filled it in.
"Xiao Ge'r~" Fatty, as if oblivious to Zhang Qiling's averted gaze, slung an arm around him, calling him by a strangely childish nickname, his demeanor as casual as ever.
"Fatty was too busy dealing with those tentacle monsters earlier to get a good look at this so-called Immortal Island."
"You have to give your brother a proper tour, right? If you do a good job as a guide, Fatty will reward you handsomely. You'll immediately regain your top status for picking ice cream when we get back~"
"Yeah, yeah!" Wu Tianzhen immediately chimed in, eagerly pushing the two of them forward, eager to leave this dangerous place (where Hei Yanjing was). "I want to see what Yingzhou looks like too, Xiao Ge, please take us around!"
Zhang Qiling: ...
He didn't know why, but he couldn't refuse. At this moment, their arms were more resilient than steel chains, making it impossible for him to resist.
Hei Yanjing watched from the side with a curious "tsk," seeing the mute being inexplicably led away. It seemed as if Zhang Qiling had once again cast those thoughts aside.
He raised his foot to follow, but suddenly saw Wu Tianzhen turn back and give him a "terrifying" expression that was meant to be threatening but, due to overexertion, appeared comical. Hei Yanjing found it both amusing and exasperating, so he slowed his pace, trailing behind them leisurely.
...He had to admit, he even momentarily entertained the illusion that this was not so bad.
Poor Hei Ye, always such a good person, and today he had truly played the villain in vain.