this infinite world

——Tonight, it’s a drinking party for three men.

Drinking, eating meat, singing, chatting, telling stories, bragging and gossiping...the relationship between men is so simple, especially for these three comrades who meet again after a long separation.

Except for Yang Yun who was a little calmer, Zhang Jie and Zheng Zha were obviously moved by their true feelings. Halfway through the drink, they just hugged each other and burst into tears... In the end, Zheng Zha was still drunk and fell asleep on the table, still vaguely muttering Zhang Jie's name; while Zhang Jie had his eyes wide open, leaning on the chair and staring at the ceiling, obviously he had drunk too much.

Although the three people present, including Zheng Zha himself, knew that with his current strength, as long as he didn't want to get drunk, no alcohol could make him drunk, even the highest-grade wine exchanged from the main god, which was said to be the heavenly wine that the Monkey King Sun Wukong drank when he made trouble in the Heavenly Palace...but wine doesn't make people drunk, but people make themselves drunk. Zheng Zha has been holding this anger in his heart for too long.

Although he didn't say it openly, Zheng Zha had always had a thorn in his heart about "Zhang Jie sacrificing himself", thinking that it was his lack of strength that led to such an outcome... Even when he was drinking just now, Zheng Zha was still there, hugging Zhang Jie under the influence of alcohol, crying and saying to him, "I was too weak back then, otherwise, I would never let you, as the leader, win by sacrificing yourself." It seems that Zheng Zha, who was drunk, has not yet completely distinguished between the script and reality.

Faced with Zheng Zha's true feelings, Zhang Jie, the director who planned the fake death and retired, was obviously embarrassed. He could only repeat over and over again, "You said it was boring before," and then persuaded Zheng Zha to drink more, and finally succeeded in getting him drunk.

"In fact, not only Zheng Zha, but even I didn't expect you to become a singer."

Seeing that the scene had become quiet, with only Zheng Zha's snoring and mumbling being the clearest sounds, Yang Yun, who was holding a wine glass at the side, suddenly spoke up: "How should I put it...surprise? Or surprise?"

"Hmm? Are we finally getting to the point?"

After hearing what Yang Yun said, Zhang Jie, who was drunk, coughed twice and shook his head to sober up his alcohol-soaked body.

Unlike the advanced fourth-order Zheng Zha, Zhang Jie, who has lost his power as a guide, cannot completely ignore the influence of alcohol. Especially since Zheng Zha, who doesn't care about money, has exchanged a lot of good wine from the Lord God, including some aged wine from the immortals that can only be purchased through side plots. "Of course, no problem. Although I don't have the strength I once had, I've been ready for a long time. When are we going to set off?"

"...What are you talking about?" Hearing Zhang Jie's irrelevant answer, Yang Yun immediately cast a puzzled look at the drunk in front of him: "Leave? Where to?"

"Ah? Didn't you pull me back to the main god space?" Surprisingly, Zhang Jie was even more confused than Yang Yun. He asked back, "Isn't it because the next battle is the final one that you want to pull me back to the Zhongzhou team?"

As he spoke, he stretched out his dominant hand: "Look, I took off my watch before drinking, and I'm waiting for you to put the Lord God Watch on me again."

"...I feel like you've misunderstood something very important."

Seeing Zhang Jie's "everything is ready, only east wind is missing", Yang Yun, who had only just realized the misunderstanding, couldn't help but hold his forehead: "This time we came back, in addition to telling Zheng Zha the truth and successfully letting him resolve his knot, we really came here purely to meet you and have a drink."

“Secondly, I think the current Zhongzhou team does not need to bring a singer who has retired for more than ten years and even has a child back to the main god space for the final battle. This is too inhumane.” At this point, Yang Yun smiled: “Besides, let alone you are no longer as brave as you used to be. Even if you can really regain your peak strength, you are at the bottom of the Zhongzhou team. I guess you can only compete with Ming Yanwei... After all, the ticket to the final battle is the fourth-level intermediate.”

"Ah? You mean you don't need me anymore?"

Although he had made preparations in advance and had struggled in his heart for a while, after hearing that the purpose of Yang Yun's trip was not to bring him back to the Zhongzhou team, Zhang Jie breathed a sigh of relief and lost his previous serious attitude. He smiled and said, "Speaking of which, is this considered a kind of withdrawal from the team? The reincarnations who retired from the main god space began to sing the praises of life..."

"...Can you please read less light novels? Or are you planning to write a novel next and develop into the literary field?"

Yang Yun shook his head helplessly: "Of course, if you really have this plan, I don't object. After all, a retired senior should act like a retired senior. It is the serious thing to escape from danger and enjoy life."

"I am indeed enjoying it." Zhang Jie muttered, "So, you guys really just came to have a drink with me this time, nothing else? You should have said it earlier, you made me do so much psychological preparation..."

"Well, I feel relieved to see you. It can be regarded as a fulfillment of my past regrets."

Yang Yun turned the wine glass in his hand and said with a smile. He didn't like the taste of alcohol, nor did he like the feeling of being drunk, so he just tasted it. Even when Zheng Zha and Zhang Jie drank bottle after bottle, he didn't get drunk like them: "I see that you are living a different life now, which is actually quite good."

"Perhaps in different parallel worlds, there are countless Zhang Jies. Some have lived their whole lives in the real world, some have died in Nightmare on Elm Street, some have handed over the position of captain of the Zhongzhou team to Zheng Zha, and some, as you said, have returned to the Zhongzhou team after leaving the main god space... But no matter what, you are now on a brand new path."

Yang Yun now naturally remembered that in order to improve the combat effectiveness of the Zhongzhou team in the last reincarnation, he and Zheng Zha pulled Zhang Jie back to the Zhongzhou team. But now Yang Yun can witness that after leaving the main god space, Zhang Jie has walked a path that he had never imagined, and he does not have to put him, who has a wife and children, in danger again.

"Why are you talking so mysterious? It's just like that guy who suddenly appeared in front of me one day, left my daughter to me to raise, and then disappeared for no apparent reason. He seemed to have said something similar..."

Listening to Yang Yun's words full of sighs and emotions, Zhang Jie shook his head, gritting his teeth: "I really don't know what that guy Da Yunyang was thinking. He actually left his own daughter to me to raise. Ten years have passed in the blink of an eye——"

"……Wait."

What Zhang Jie didn't expect was that the moment he said the name, Yang Yun suddenly stood up, no longer relaxed, and the atmosphere at the table suddenly became serious.

"…Who did you just say?" (End of this chapter)