500, The Past Deeply Etched in Emperor Xueye's Mind [First Update]_1

Hmm???

Upon hearing Lin Yi's words, Emperor Xueye quickly turned his head to observe his surroundings, but all he saw was a blank space.

He immediately thought of what Lin Yi had just explained, that being sent back in time meant existing in an intangible, ghostly form, invisible and untouchable.

The reason Lin Yi could sense this was that his connection to the System's reward was stronger than anyone else at the scene.

However, Emperor Xueye wondered, "Why would I use the Time Machine to return to today?"

Lin Yi replied, "Perhaps the future you is reminiscing about the day you received the Time Machine, and maybe, in the times to come, this Time Machine holds a special significance to you."

"Perhaps..."

Emperor Xueye muttered. But a Time Machine that couldn't change the past felt somewhat ordinary in terms of significance.

He examined the bracelet tied to his arm for a while before raising his head and asking, "Can I use it now?"

Lin Yi nodded, "Have a quick try, we need to save time."

"Okay."

Emperor Xueye pressed the button, and his body instantly became ethereal and transparent, almost as if he turned into Air and merged with it, transitioning directly into a ghostly state at that moment.

Soon, the spectral form of Emperor Xueye was engulfed by a brilliant white light.

At that time, he thought of the moment in time he wished to return to. The scene twisted, rays of color stretched indefinitely before his eyes, and an annoying buzzing noise filled the Space around his ears. After about two or three seconds, as the buzzing ceased, the scene refreshed.

Emperor Xueye looked around and found himself in a room of regal elegance.

Undoubtedly, in his spectral state, he was invisible and unnoticed by anyone.

In front of him was a soft, Gold-Level bed, and on it lay a middle-aged man with a withered face, appearing extremely weak.

Kneeling on the carpet beside the bed was a youth, his hands tightly clasping the middle-aged man's, his eyes red and his expression grief-stricken.

The kneeling youth was Emperor Xueye on the eve of his ascension to the throne.

The point in time was 53 years earlier.

"Father, Emperor, I am not yet prepared. Can't you stay, please don't go... Teach me, teach me how to be a good Emperor..."

The young Xueye was crying inconsolably as he spoke.

The Xueye standing aside even opened his mouth slightly, repeating the words he once said, words that were so familiar and vividly memorable.

After so many years, watching this scene again, he could no longer cry, but a profound sense of loneliness and desolation was deeply hidden in his heart.

At that moment, a withered hand touched the young man's head at the bedside.

"My son..."

"Father Emperor, if you have any unfulfilled wishes, I will surely fulfill them for you!"

The middle-aged man struggled to turn his head to look at the bedside, shaking his head with a weak smile. Illness had left his face so thin that only a layer of skin covered his bones, his eyes sunken, yet unable to hide the affection and regret for his son shining within them.

"Your father remembers... is tomorrow your birthday? Do you remember when you were little, how I never had the time to be with you? Now... I finally have time to spend your birthday with you once."

"Father Emperor..."

"Xueye, do you hate Dad?"

The young Xueye held the withered hand even tighter, "No."

"But I hate myself, despite being adored by the citizens, I often forgot that I also had a father's role... Xueye, please don't hate your dad, alright? Dad wishes you in advance... wishes you a happy birthday..."

The spectral Emperor Xueye watched the scene with a calm expression.

Watching the middle-aged man pass away with regret, watching the young man kneel on the ground sobbing.

Decades had gone by, yet only now did he realize that in the moment before his father, the Emperor, died, he hadn't been concerned with state affairs but instead had remembered his birthday.

No wonder that scene had been so deeply ingrained in his memory.

The moment he most wanted to return to upon receiving the Time Machine was this one.

Emperor Xueye looked at the middle-aged man on the bed with a smile and said, "Dad, I'm sorry I forgot to say it back then, I love you too, I love you very much."

Just then, Emperor Xueye was surprised to see a spirit rise from the middle-aged man's body.

The spirit sat on the edge of the bed, looking around the room with some confusion, then turned its gaze to his son who knelt on the ground crying, his expression softened in an instant, completely devoid of the seriousness he remembered.

He reached out to stroke his son's head, his eyes filled with reluctance; he appeared to be speaking, and Xueye stepped forward, finally understanding what his father was saying.

"Happy birthday."

The spirit just sat by the bed, watching his son, seemingly very reluctant to leave.

Emperor Xueye watched this scene, transfixed.

So, his father had indeed spent his only birthday with him; the spirit chose to leave only at the stroke of midnight, having stayed to see his son's birthday through without any regrets.

Emperor Xueye turned around, a smile of relief on his lips.

He pressed the button on his bracelet, and the spirit slipped into a colorful space, returning to the present time point.

Looking at Emperor Xueye, who had reappeared on the platform, the crowd below couldn't help but buzz with conversation.

"Did he really return to the past?"

"I don't know, we couldn't see what he just went through."

"Alas, although this reward isn't of any substantive use, I would like to try it as well."

"For what purpose?"

"To see what my parents who gave birth to me looked like. I've been an orphan since I was a child. My grandfather told me that my father was the only man in the village who had Soul Power, brave and fearless. It's a pity that I can only fantasize about his image through dreams, so it would be great if I had a Time Machine."

"Although I've never seen your father, I can assure you that he must have loved you very much."

"Thanks, haha."

…

Hearing the discussions around him, Emperor Xueye took a deep breath, stepped forward, and bowed to Lin Yi, "Senior, I have tried the reward; it went smoothly. Although it changes nothing, the experience was very good. This reward indeed has its significance."

Lin Yi nodded, "You spent ten minutes. It seems that for you, that is a memory that made a deep impression."

Emperor Xueye smiled, "Yes!"

Having said this, Emperor Xueye walked towards the audience.

Lin Yi watched his retreating figure, his gaze then turning to the panel in front of him.

On the panel appeared an image of a stately and elegant room where a young man was kneeling and sobbing, and beside him sat a spirit quietly watching him.

This was an image actively shared by the System, as the distributor of rewards, the System deemed it necessary for Lin Yi to monitor the use of each reward.

Lin Yi took a deep breath; the Time Machine's settings indeed spurred infinite imagination.

Living on Blue Planet, there might be people from the future reliving moments of the past every second of every day, only these time-traversers went unnoticed and untouchable.

ps. Happy Father's Day.