Chapter 21 : Leaving The Past And Walking Towards The Future

The next morning, Wang Qian woke up early and looked towards his right, where Bai Lian is sleeping. Not wanting to wake her up, he decided to sit up and meditate quietly to increase his strength. Just as he was going to start meditating, the system sent him a message.

[ DETECTED THE HOST HASN'T CLAIMED THE REWARDS FOR COMPLETING THE MAIN QUEST ]

[ DOES HOST WANT TO DISCARD THE REWARD? Y/N ]

'Oh right, I've almost forgot'

"Claim the reward" he spoke softly.

[ CLAIMING THE REWARD ]

[ THE HOST HAS OBTAINED 999999EXP , [???] ]

[ [???] HAS TURNED INTO [ SYSTEM UPGRADE TICKET ] ]

[ DETECTED THAT THE HOST HAS OBTAINED A SYSTEM UPGRADE TICKET ]

[ DOES THE HOST WANT TO UPGRADE THE SYSTEM? Y/N ]

'That's a little unexpected, I thought I'll only get an increase in strength.' he thought

"Will the upgrading process be dangerous?" Wang Qian asked

[ REPLYING TO HOST : DURING THE UPGRADING PROCESS, THE SYSTEM WILL ENTER A DOWN PERIOD AND THE HOST WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ACCESS THE SYSTEM. ALL SKILLS AND STATS WILL REMAIN USABLE AND THE HOST WILL NOT BE REQUIRED TO DO ANYTHING ]

'If so, it'll be better to upgrade it. I might be able to find more ways to get stronger' 

"Upgrade the system then." 

[ SYSTEM WILL NOW START UPGRADING ]

[ REMAINING TIME BEFORE UPGRADE FINISHES : 00 : 12 : 00 : 00 ]

"So I'll have to wait for 12 hours.. In the meantime, I'll just meditate." 

Wang Qian then started to meditate and increase his strength. Three hours later, Bai Lian woke up.

"Good morning, Bai Lian. Do you want to eat? We still have some of the wolf meat from yesterday, I can cook it for you if you want me to." Wang Qian said to Bai Lian with a smile on his face, wanting her to give up the thought of dying and continue to live on.

"Good morning. I'll just have some meat please" she said.

"Okay." He then stopped meditating and condense a fire and a few stick before starting to cook some meat skewers for him and Bai Lian. She sat at the corner, looking quietly at him cooking the meat skewers. The more she looked at him, the more Wang Qian resembles the village head in her eyes. Just as she was lost in her thought, he woke her up and called her to come and have her meal. She got up and took the meat skewer before sitting in front of Wang Qian. It was at this time, that he said

"Later when the entrance reopens, we'll head out and go back to the village to give the others a proper burial, okay?" 

"mhmm" Bai Lian replied softly.

After finishing their breakfast, Bai Lian just sat there while Wang Qian cook another few meat skewers for lunch later and told her that she could just take his if she wants more. He then continued to meditate and slowly increase his strength. Time slowly passed, and Bai Lian quickly felt bored. She decided to have her lunch first. When she finished hers, she wasn't feeling full enough, and she saw that Wang Qian's portion was still there and remembered that he said she could take it if she wasn't full enough. Just as she was about take and eat it, she decided to put it back and leave it for him when he finishes meditating. She then continue to sit there while hugging her legs while looking at Wang Qian meditating.

When the entrance reopened, Wang Qian also opened his eyes. The first he saw was Bai Lian sitting in front of him, sleeping soundly. He then saw that there was a few meat skewers that was wrapped in a small piece of cloth. He then looked back at Bai Lian noticing the part where the sleeve on her right arm was teared. 

"This girl..." he smiled warmly. He then finish the meat skewers and kept the cloth with him. After finishing that, he didn't wake the girl up and instead carried her on his back, letting her continue to sleep.

He then exited the cave with the girl on his back as he walked slowly towards the village. When he was about to walk past the place where he massacred the soldiers he took a big detour around the places. Just as he was near the edge of the outer area of the forest, Bai Lian woke up.

"Did I wake you up?" he asked

She shook her head and asked "Where are we?" 

"In the outer area of the forest, almost about to walk out of here" Wang Qian replied to her.

He then stopped talking as the girl didn't asked anything more. It was at this time, he asked

"Bai Lian, do you hate me for what I brought to the village?" 

She shook her head and said :" It wasn't your fault, remember? Papa says that they all did it voluntarily, so if there's to blame, it should be those soldiers."

"But I was the reason that all of this happen. If I didn't kill the hero there, none of this will have happened, and you all will still be living peacefully right now."

"Even so, we never hated you for doing so. Although I think that you were wrong to kill the hero, you must have had your own reasons doing so" Despite being only a kid who's only around 7, Bai Lian was surprisingly mature to not blame Wang Qian and even comforted him.

"And can I not call you papa?" she suddenly asked.

"Why the sudden question about this?" Wang Qian was confused.

"Because of your promise with papa, so..."

"Oh, you're talking about that. It's okay, you can call me what you want. I know I'm not worthy to be your father, but I'll be it anyways, cause I still have to take care of you and fulfill my promise with the village head" he replied.

Hearing his answer, Bai Lian didn't talk anymore. Soon, they got out of the forest. The first thing that entered their view was the blinding light of the rising sun.

"Isn't the sun beautiful?" Wang Qian asked Bai Lian

"mhmm" she nodded

"Come on let's hurry back to the village, the others are still waiting for us." he said softly.

When they reached the village, he and Bai Lian worked together to collect all the bodies and dig a big hole outside the village. He placed the bodies of them one by one before putting the soil back. He then placed the flowers he picked on the way here on the middle of the soil and knelt down to pray.

"I hope they will continue to be kind to others and will not meet someone like me in their next life" Wang Qian muttered.

Seeing so, Bai Lian followed his actions and started praying too. After a while, they got up. Wang Qian extend his hand towards Bai Lian and said "Let's go. I'll bring you around the world and let you get revenge for the village." "But didn't you already killed them all?" she asked with her head tilted to the side.

"That isn't enough. Although I'm not saying we should destroy this kingdom, but that doesn't stop us from making the royal palace regret burning this place and killing all of them" he said

Hearing what he said, Bai Lian then placed her small white hands on top of his, deciding that she will follow her new father around the world...