My lord, spare his life!

"What did you say to the mountain spirit?"

Wang Qi was furious that he hadn't gotten the better of Guan Si, and when he returned and heard Wang Ba's disgusting instructions, his anger flared even more. What "poor child," what "helpless and destitute"—it made him sound like a stray dog! The old man was deliberately trying to disgust him!

Wang Ba: "I'll help you."

Wang Qi's face showed no gratitude that Wang Ba had expected, only a cold indifference that said, "I'll stab you to death." Wang Ba said earnestly, "That guy named Siyin has both strength and looks, and looks and strength. He has the air of someone who has read a lot of books. My son is no less capable than him, but you must be careful and never let your guard down."

Wang Qi frowned: "What nonsense are you spouting?"

As an inside agent in the alliance, Wang Ba's actions—disregarding the overall situation and coming over in the middle of the night—were already extremely outrageous. Now, he was spouting nonsensical nonsense, making Wang Qi suspect that the old man might be getting senile with age. Today, the father and son couldn't even handle the Guan brothers; didn't the old man feel ashamed?

"You don't admire Zhang Jun?"

"Of course I admire the Mountain Spirit."

Wang Qi's likes and dislikes have always been straightforward; he never hides his feelings. In his simple worldview, only those he likes have the right to live, while those he hates should be annihilated.

No one knows a son better than his father, and Wang Ba naturally understood Wang Qi's logic.

He hesitated for a moment before leaving.

Wang Qi, lacking patience, turned to leave when he saw that Wang Ba hadn't uttered a single word. Wang Ba, quick as a flash, grabbed Wang Qi's arm: "Hey, hey, don't be so impatient. I suddenly remembered something your mother once said; perhaps you should listen to it."

Upon hearing the word "mother," Wang Qi stopped in his tracks.

He tilted his head slightly, waiting for Wang Ba to continue.

Wang Ba: "Your mother said that women still prefer men who can turn into cats, tigers, or dogs that get soaked in the rain."

Wang Qi: "???"

He yanked his hand away from Wang Ba: "Don't try to frame your mother with your own quirks. Do you think the dead can't speak?"

Wang Qi couldn't help but shake off the goosebumps that had risen on his skin.

Wang Ba emphasized, "It really was your mother who said it."

Wang Qi's face clearly said, "I don't believe you."

Furthermore—

"What nonsense are you spouting?"

What does a woman's liking have to do with him?

Wang Ba remained silent, only displaying an inscrutable expression. Wang Qi wanted to stab him, but his gaze swept over the other's chest, and he forcibly suppressed his murderous intent: "He Wu'an, you old man, handle that yourself. If he gets in my way, I won't hesitate to send him on his way. If you try to stop me later, I'll take care of you too."

Wang Ba did not respond.

"Old man, why don't you inquire about his mother's revenge?"

"Why should you ask?"

"His mother is your savior."

"Didn't I raise Wu'an to repay a debt of gratitude?"

This answer left even someone like Wang Qi speechless.

Wang Ba tried to understand Wang Qi's logic and guess his worries—that's how unreasonable a child who sides with outsiders is. Even He Ning's desire for revenge might be blocked because "Guan Zong is a man of the Mountain Ghost," completely disregarding He Ning's feelings.

He said, "I will neither stop you nor help Wu'an."

Wang Qi: "..."

Wang Ba sighed, "Moreover, if we really think about it, the person she wanted to save wasn't me; she even wanted me dead."

Wang Qi: "What nonsense are you talking about?"

Wang Badao said, "What she cares about is your mother's heart."

Wang Qi: "..."

Wang Ba couldn't help but mutter, "Very few people who have come into contact with your mother dislike her, including Wu'an's mother. After her husband died, it was your mother who helped take care of her and looked after young Wu'an. She more or less developed feelings for your mother."

Wang Ba could understand.

After all, how could someone who has lived a life of hardship and displacement from birth to adulthood not like a fairy?

Wang Ba also liked it, and he even beat him to it by several steps.

Wang Qi sneered: "I remember you two had an affair."

"Yes." Wang Ba readily admitted, pointing to his chest cavity, "She told me that your mother's heartbeat is here."

Wang Qi: "..."

Wang Ba scoffed, "Incredible?"

Wang Qi's lips twitched, unsure how to comment on the inhuman behavior of these people. Wang Ba, seeing only his expression, knew what he was thinking: "Wu An knew about this to some extent, but I found out later. Her affection for your mother might not be the kind you think; it's more of a motherly respect and love."

Wang Qi: "Won't Mother find you disgusting?"

Wang Ba bluntly stated, "She says she feels sorry for her, but you probably can't imagine her crying while holding the body of a woman who had bullied and provoked her and died in childbirth. Saying things like 'it shouldn't have been like this'... I really don't know what kind of place could raise such a person."

This question puzzled Wang Ba for many years.

Despite being an ordinary person with little strength, suffering from acclimatization issues and growing increasingly weak, she felt pity for everyone she met.

Wang Qi interrupted Wang Ba without speaking.

He rarely heard Wang Ba mention his mother.

Wang Ba didn't like to talk about it too much, because if he brought it up too much, he would always suspect that she would fall for someone else. So he briefly summarized: "At first, I thought she was a pampered young lady who only ended up in such a dangerous place as the battlefield because of the mutiny. But then I thought, being rich and well-fed is far from enough. I have spoiled you for so many years and never let you lack anything, but in what way are you like her?"

A small, resource-rich environment cannot nurture such people.

Only a peaceful environment makes this possible.

However, that was beyond Wang Ba's comprehension. As she had said, people cannot imagine things they have never seen before.

Wang Qi asked him, "What do you think of the Mountain Spirit?"

Wang Ba: "Zhang Jun? She doesn't look like your mother."

He hadn't witnessed Zhang Yang's attack firsthand, but as he approached her, the ghost within him, Changchang, seemed to fear her. Wang Ba had no doubt that in a real fight, he wouldn't stand a chance. In contrast, Wang Qi's mother was someone even a three-year-old could easily defeat.

Wang Qi rolled his eyes.

He knew, of course, that the mountain spirit didn't resemble his mother. However, Wang Qi didn't explain further, impatiently dismissing Wang Ba. Wang Ba was used to his son's attitude; he wasn't annoyed at all, but rather pleased, his heart pounding with joy.

"Your parents left so quickly? Didn't they say a few more words?"

Zhang Yang had already finished all the skewers.

Wang Qi looked around but couldn't find a portion she'd saved for him, and his displeasure grew. Why did the mountain spirit remember to save one for Guan Siyin but not for him? He cursed Wang Ba inwardly for being nosy and wasting his time, but thankfully he could still continue grilling.

Guan Zong was fawning over him.

As soon as Wang Qi came over, he hurriedly moved in the opposite direction, continuing to use Zhang Yang as a shield. Wang Qi rolled his eyes in disdain.

What a cowardly old dog!

"Mountain Spirit, what's your hometown like?"

Upon hearing this, everyone else present fell silent; the atmosphere was so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Lu Yuan, Zhe Meng, and the others secretly strained their ears, curious about how their adoptive mother/lord would respond. Would she tell the truth, or evade the question? Since Zhang Yang never concealed anything, how could they, each more cunning than the last, not be suspicious?

However, no one dared to ask Zhang Yang for confirmation.

Unlike Wang Qi, who was a bit of a hothead, he asked directly.

Zhang Yang: "Why do you ask that?"

Wang Qi then told him about his mother's situation.

He only knew that Wang Ba and his mother met on the battlefield; he didn't know any other details. With today's addition, the possibility that his mother was a female prisoner of war was ruled out. Wang Qi was well aware of what those undisciplined, wild military camps were like.

If someone has truly suffered, an ordinary person wouldn't survive more than a few days.

The old man said that when he first met his mother, she had a fair complexion, cascading black hair, and although her clothes and accent were strange, she spoke politely and clearly. Her temperament didn't change much afterward.

She seemed to have appeared out of thin air.

The others listened with great interest to what Wang Qi was saying, because they found Wang Qi's mother's story to be quite fascinating.

It's normal for things to be supernatural or ghostly; it's rare to be neither supernatural nor ghostly.

Zhang Yang listened for a while and then made a judgment.

"Your mother's experiences sound like those of a time traveler."

"A time traveler?"

"As the name suggests, it means accidentally arriving in another place from one place. Your mother and I are probably not from the same world." There's no rule that Zhang Yang is the only outsider in the world, and as an NPC, she accepted it very smoothly. This world is still full of ghosts and monsters, so one more outsider isn't surprising.

"To conclude that we're not on the same wavelength based on just a few words?"

"This... is complicated to explain."

There are two reasons.

Wang Qi's mother's body parts were all original, and her physical condition was too weak. According to Zhang Yang's observations of the observed samples, humans in the observed sample world like mechanical modifications to their limbs, and the more original a person is, the stronger their physical condition will be.

Therefore, they cannot be from the same world.

"What's your hometown like?"

"Peace?"

Are they wealthy?

"Are there people like my mother?"

Humans truly cannot imagine things they have never seen.

Even using Zhang Yang as a benchmark, Wang Qi still couldn't imagine what his mother's hometown was like. Not only Wang Qi had this confusion, but Lu Yuan and the others also looked bewildered, until Zhang Yang said, "It's good, peaceful, prosperous, there should be plenty."

Zhang Yang was born into a game world, a world rife with war, distortion, and destruction. Yet, she didn't consider the world created by the game designers to be her home. Her home was probably the world of the observation samples—a small-scale game studio with a peak online player count of 300 million; she couldn't imagine how many players truly popular games would have.

How chaotic could a world be where so many people can feel at ease and gain emotional value through games and entertainment?

Zhang Yang also subtly observed the samples.

Conclusion—

"...We were almost wiped out before, but after many years of settling down, we gradually rose up and recovered. After nearly a century of recovery, we began to expand outwards... uh, liberate the barbaric lands?" Zhang Yang searched for relevant fragments in her memory, but for some reason, she only had vague recollections. She shook her head. "Overall, it was pretty good."

Wang Qi: "Thank you for your hard work, Mother."

What's the difference between suddenly arriving in this world and being exiled?

She didn't look like someone who had done anything wrong.

"Mountain spirit, will you return to your hometown?"

Others had their ears sticking out even longer.

Zhang Yang showed no nostalgia for his homeland, nor any dissatisfaction with the present: "Why go back?"

"Everything there is wonderful."

Zhang Yang shook his head and said, "Since we're here, let's make the best of it. I don't even know how I got here, let alone how I'll get back. Instead of thinking about unrealistic things, let's think about other things. If there's a good place and this place isn't, then let's just make this place good too."

As an NPC, she doesn't have that much homesickness.

Everyone reacted differently upon hearing the last sentence.

If they came from a peaceful and prosperous place that could nurture such pure souls, they would not be able to accept suddenly arriving in a completely different chaotic world, let alone rationally think about turning bad into good.

What does this mean?

This means that it is also a kind of great love and magnanimity.

At least, she knows what is good and what is bad, so she doesn't need to imagine it, and she won't be discouraged or disheartened by a temporary setback.

Wang Qi's eyebrows relaxed, and he looked very happy.

Wang Qi's favorability towards you increases by three.

[Wang Qi's favorability towards you has increased...]

Zhang Yang watched as Wang Qi's avatar on his friend list rose, his favorability rating matching Guan Si's, and a new phrase appeared in parentheses: "Telepathic understanding." Besides him, everyone else's favorability ratings skyrocketed, all exceeding sixty.

Zhang Yang: "..."

Why does it increase favorability?

and--

Why did they accept her strange background so smoothly?

On second thought, this world is full of supernatural beings. People like Wang Ba have their organs devoured by ghosts, and people with countless yin organs under their skin can still live and kick. People like Jiu Ge can be resurrected after dying and grow half a head taller in half a year... Compared to them, she doesn't engage in feudal superstition or pretend to be a god, so there's really nothing she can't accept.

Guan Zong sighed, "I wish I could see it with my own eyes."

To be born in such a world—that kind of luck is truly enviable. But Zhang Yang is too powerful; even if he wanted to be envious, he wouldn't dare. Guan Zong's gaze subtly fell on Wang Qi, and a dark thought began to stir in his mind—was his mother really weak and sickly, and died of illness?

He thought this in his heart, but dared not utter a single word.

Wang Qi's mother was a vegetarian, but Wang Qi was not.

Zhang Yang: "In my lifetime, I will have the opportunity."

It may be just a simple sentence, but it carries a certain credibility.

After everyone had left, only Zhang Yang and Guan Si remained. He suddenly said, "You almost met the King of Hell just now."

Zhang Yang: "So confident you can kill me?"

Not only Guan Si, but also others including Wang Qi experienced a brief but rapid drop in favorability ratings, nearly halved. Wang Qi and Guan Si suffered the most, losing over a hundred points, their names flashing a glaring scarlet. However, Zhang Yang was no longer the reckless woman who would attack anyone with a red name. A thought flashed through her mind, and she understood the root of this change.

"Kill the unfaithful man, even if it fails, you must do it."

If you want to go back, then you'll have to give up your life here!

Guan Si hates people who pick up things and then throw them away.

If it is never picked up, it will at most lie there and be trampled on, but if it is picked up and then thrown away, it will be smashed to pieces.

Zhang Yang looked directly into his eyes.

A smile suddenly broke out on her face: "I hate giving up halfway."

She could persist for sixteen years just to pretend to be human, but did it really take that long to unify the Three Palaces and Four Symbols? What if it took another sixteen years? That's the kind of perseverance NPCs possess!

? ?＿|￣|●

The biggest subplot has been laid! (～￣▽￣)～

Strictly speaking, Wang Qi's mother shouldn't be considered a time traveler; Zhang Yang is the only true time traveler.