"Well, let's wait for Xiao Bai to come here," Meng Qinghuan sat down with the desperate little boy on his back, ignoring the child as he casually settled down and said with a grin, "Are you hungry? Since this is a real world, the food should be real too."
"...Stupid brother, you noticed from the beginning, didn't you?" Baimeng nestled in Meng Qinghuan's embrace, uncharacteristically losing his look of disdain. "Meng Qinghuan, I won't stop you."
Meng Qinghuan: "..."
"I protected you, so you didn't directly attach yourself to that child. That's why you're standing here." Baimeng, who usually remained silent for days on end, speaking so much at once was unprecedented. "You felt it from the beginning, didn't you? You've truly returned to the past."
"Heh heh, so, what about it?" Meng Qinghuan lowered his head. He still wore a smiling face, his lips naturally upturned. Even though Baimeng sensed Meng Qinghuan's melancholy, she still saw a smile on his face.
Come to think of it, that little boy just now also seemed to have a faint smile, but that smile was distorted and despairing.
They were one person, born with a smiling face.
"You can choose to change the timeline, maybe you'll succeed," Baimeng buried her small face in Meng Qinghuan's embrace. After a long silence, she finally spoke her mind. "You know, you can save your father, and then you can find your sister in time, and then... kill us."
Meng Qinghuan: "..."
Both fell silent. They hadn't forgotten their first meeting.
At that time, an A-class evil dragon appeared. This extremely powerful evil dragon, ranked highly, instantly turned the land into ruins. Ye Feng arrived in time to lure the evil dragon away.
The incident was sudden, with no warning. Meng Qinghuan was still young. He placed his sister in the evacuation zone and then desperately dug through the ruins to find his father.
He was too young then. When his father was found, he was barely clinging to life. To make matters worse, Baimeng, as the second evil dragon to appear, caused destruction the moment she showed up, instantly turning the evacuation shelter into ruins.
When Meng Qinghuan rushed back, his sister and father were already gone. Only the small Bai Cha arrived in time and brought him back, who was disheartened.
Baimeng was controlled by the Dragon Mother at the time, but the moment she saw Meng Qinghuan, she miraculously broke free from her control and transformed into a loli resembling Meng Qinghuan's sister by eight parts, standing quietly before him to protect him.
She desperately protected him but killed his sister. He cared deeply for his dragon, but his dragon killed his family.
This was the pain they both carried.
Meng Qinghuan remained silent. He stood up calmly and took a deep breath.
He had never thought that everything might start over. He had hoped for this possibility countless nights, but when this possibility reappeared, he found everything so heavy, pressing down on him until he could barely breathe.
Meng Qinghuan knew what would happen next: he would save his father but not in time to save his sister. His father, due to his high position, would survive but fail to guard an important evacuation area and be sentenced heavily. On top of that, he would be persecuted and die directly, and finally, he himself would be exiled...
He was very strong now. He could save his father before his father was severely weakened, and then rush back in time to save his sister.
"But I can't do this," Meng Qinghuan murmured, finding it pathetic and laughable. "Little Bai said that we shouldn't act rashly in this environment. As subordinates, we must be obedient..."
He could watch the outcome, knowing exactly how it would unfold, as if he were an onlooker.
"This is impossible, I can't change the outcome," Meng Qinghuan's lips curved. There were some scattered water droplets on his long eyelashes, and he choked up, instinctively hugging the little one in his arms tighter.
"Why?" Baimeng didn't understand. She truly didn't, the opportunity was right in front of them.
[Of course, it's because the Meng family is destined to be destroyed,桀桀.]
"Who!" Baimeng was vigilant. This aura was dangerous yet very familiar.
"It should be the will of Androsia. It sent us here. It would be strange if I didn't feel anything without it," Meng Qinghuan gently patted Baimeng, as if truly comforting his younger sister.
[So intimate, and yet the murderer of his sister.] The voice grew sharper.
Baimeng: "..."
[Why? Because his father must die. Otherwise, how would he get in the way of those people? Isn't it ridiculous? A loyal warrior dies at the hands of the people he protected. You would also be saddened and angered, wouldn't you?]
[Look how many people you have left? The last spark of hope, how pitiful. Oh, by the way, those so-called neutral parties are even more laughable, staying out of it as if it has nothing to do with them...]
It seemed a shadow swirled, disturbing their minds.
"Amitabha..." Meng Qinghuan sighed, cupping his hands together. The prayer beads around his neck flickered with a faint glow, and his Clear Mind Incantation repelled the black shadow with a sudden force.
[You're wavering! See, even practicing Buddhism and cultivating the mind can be shaken. You also know how wicked those people are, don't you? I can give you strength, you can destroy with anger...]
"Alas, it's not that this humble monk is wavering, but that benefactor is too noisy..." Meng Qinghuan smiled. He seemed suddenly much more relaxed. "Amitabha... Since benefactor has so much to say, why don't this humble monk send you off? You can go tell the Buddha, how about it?"
Baimeng hugged Meng Qinghuan without moving. Her trembling fingers steadied. Meng Qinghuan seemed to be serious. His eyes were half-open, revealing a slit, with golden light flowing and tiny golden sparks crackling.
Meng Qinghuan was angry. Whatever happened between him and Baimeng was their private affair. How could he allow anything else to interfere?
Baimeng felt a bit happy sensing Meng Qinghuan's emotions. That guy just now had said quite a few bad things about her. At least Meng Qinghuan truly cared about her.
"Is someone there? Who are you?"
At this moment, the desperate little boy seemed to have heard the commotion. The disturbance caused by Meng Qinghuan's power was quite significant. Little Meng Qinghuan keenly sensed something and looked up, immediately becoming delighted.
"Help me! Please help me, save my father! I am Meng Qinghuan, the eldest son of the Meng family. If you help me, I will repay your kindness afterward!" The miniature Meng Qinghuan's voice was hoarse, but he was truly giving it his all. His monk's robe was a bit too big, hanging loosely, making him look even more disheveled.
Meng Qinghuan turned to look at his past self but fell silent. He wasn't afraid of the pain of wounds, but he absolutely did not want to tear open a newly scabbed scar. He had been trained by Bai Cha to be too calm. He knew that the outcome would not change whether he intervened or not.
If the future could be changed so easily, why would it be called the future? So why still try to change it? To amplify hope, and then let hope be dashed?
"Go on," a familiar voice sounded from not far away, as clear and gentle as moonlight on spring water: "Why leave regrets."
Meng Qinghuan and Baimeng's hearts leaped with joy. They turned around, and the peerlessly beautiful girl stood behind them, as still as a rock or a mountain, bringing them peace.
"Eh? Xiao Bai!" Meng Qinghuan's mood suddenly became joyful. Although he didn't know if Bai Cha could handle these things, he was still happy the moment he saw Bai Cha.
Just like how he had seen Bai Cha as the light that broke through the darkness back then, it had been like this every time since.
With just one slap, the black shadow was dispersed. A pale green light appeared at Bai Cha's fingertips. She could now temporarily wield the authority granted to her by the World Tree. Although she could only use less than one ten-billionth of it, it was enough.
Bai Cha led Meng Qinghuan to the little boy and patted Meng Qinghuan's shoulder. "Teaching you rationality doesn't mean you should abandon sentimentality. I just want you to accept the consequences and take responsibility. Now, it's about making yourself content. These are two different concepts."
Meng Qinghuan remembered that Bai Cha had said that even with absolute rationality, one should strive for the one percent possibility until despair sets in.
But...
"It will be very painful," Meng Qinghuan mumbled, but his body obediently squatted down, as if giving up. He slapped the rubble beneath him.
Even after so many years, he still clearly remembered where his father was buried.
Because he had almost sacrificed half his life to dig out his dying father.
The rubble melted under the golden energy, revealing the person buried beneath. A green energy shield protected Meng Yuan. This was the sliver of hope his dragon had fought for with its life.
When Meng Qinghuan dug up Meng Yuan, the energy of the shield had already been depleted. In this place polluted by evil dragons, no one dared to help. Once the shield's energy was exhausted, it disappeared, and the rubble eventually pressed down on Meng Yuan.
Now, Meng Yuan breathed steadily, but he could clearly feel that he was safe and sound.
The moment he saw the light, the green energy shield shattered, dissolving into dust and scattering into the heavens and earth. This was what it looked like when a dragon voluntarily sacrificed itself, reducing itself to dust without even leaving a corpse.
"Dad, Dad!" Little Meng Qinghuan fell onto Meng Yuan, crying out with all his might. In this instant, Meng Qinghuan saw that extremely strong light called hope.
So, was that the expression he had back then?
Meng Qinghuan was silent, somewhat at a loss.
Actually, he hadn't felt wronged at first. He was still rational and calm. He had been personally taught by Ye Feng and Bai Cha and could stand on his own by then. But the moment he saw Bai Cha, Meng Qinghuan suddenly felt extremely wronged.
It was like being perfectly fine, but then feeling wronged upon seeing one's mother.
Meng Yuan painstakingly opened his eyes. His pupils were somewhat unfocused. He had realized he had been saved, but his expression showed no joy.
He just struggled to turn his head, trying to say something to a blurry silhouette, but then his head drooped, and he fainted.
"Dad! Dad, hold on, I'll take you back to the camp. Mengmeng and the doctor are there!" Little Meng Qinghuan, only a little over ten years old, was already quite tall. Without seeking help from the two beside him, he carried Meng Yuan on his back and ran swiftly.
Bai Cha and Meng Qinghuan did not proactively offer help, but followed the miniature Meng Qinghuan. Watching the back of the miniature version of himself, which was so bright it reflected the sunlight, Meng Qinghuan suddenly felt like laughing.
"Xiao Bai, aren't you going to find Mr. Ye?" Meng Qinghuan looked at Bai Cha with some confusion. "I... I just saw him."
"Mm, I know," Bai Cha nodded faintly.
"Huh?" Meng Qinghuan was stunned. So calm.
He listened carefully, only to realize that the rumbling explosions caused by the energy conflict had long since ceased. He couldn't help but click his tongue. "Tsk, no wonder he didn't come to help me immediately. So he dealt with his own father's troubles first."
Bai Cha remained silent, tacitly acknowledging Meng Qinghuan's words.
"Then, does this mean we might actually be able to change the timeline?" Meng Qinghuan raised his eyebrows. "Mr. Ye finished his battle early, so he'll have time to save Miss Qingyuan, and then maybe the two of them will have a chance to protect my father. Then, we'll all..."
"Impossible," Bai Cha interrupted Meng Qinghuan's speculation. "You can't change it, and you can't save him."