Honkai Impact 3rd experience, starting with a thousand Herrschers

Cheng Lixue's eyes held a hint of fierceness as she pushed open the door and went inside, only to find a young man standing in front of an incense burner in the center of the house.

The young man had a very upright posture and was dressed in ancient clothing. Even though he was tied in a ponytail, his long hair, with the ends of his hair still touching his waist, gave him an inexplicable ethereal feel.

It's like a figure that has stepped out of an ancient painting.

At first glance, Cheng Lixue didn't think this person was the type to pick locks and steal things, so the fierce look between her brows disappeared, and she asked, "Sir, why are you in our old house? Did you open the lock on that door?"

Cheng Xing snapped out of his daze, turned around, smiled at Cheng Lixue, and said, "Oh, I'm sorry, it was indeed my mistake. The lock on the door looked a bit loose. I just gently tried to remove it, but it came off easily. I couldn't suppress my curiosity and came in to take a look. You can tell from my attire that I have quite an interest in ancient things."

Although Cheng Lixue still had doubts, seeing the other party's clean and honest appearance, he didn't seem like someone who came to steal, so she nodded with some skepticism and then asked, "Then what can you tell, sir?"

"Not many. This incense burner is probably about 500 years old."

As Cheng Xing touched the incense burner, his thoughts drifted back to the past for some reason.

"Master, what do you need this incense burner for? Does our pharmacy need it?"

"Of course, you buy an incense burner to burn incense."

"Oh, which deity does the master worship?"

"Of course, we worship heaven and earth. As for what to pray for? We pray that the medicines on my shelves will never sell, and that we will never need to see or treat patients."

"Won't we starve to death like this?! Shouldn't we be praying that the medicine will sell better? Ouch! Master, why did you hit me?!"

"How can you curse others like that! Doesn't the fact that our business is good mean that more and more people are suffering from illness? Remember this, Cheng Lin: If only there were no sick people in the world, why should we care about the medicine gathering dust on the shelves?"

"Wow, Master, what you said makes so much sense!"

"Ah, that saying was something Master heard from someone else."

"........."

Cheng Xing came to his senses and, for some reason, could smell a faint fragrance in the incense burner, which was already empty.

"Cheng Lixue... Cheng Lin..."

Cheng Xing muttered to himself for a few moments, then sighed and said, "Can there really be such a cause and effect in this world? It feels strangely magical."

"gentlemen?"

When Cheng Lixue saw that the person was just gently stroking the incense burner and then stopped talking, she felt a little strange. Could it be that this person had taken a fancy to this ancient object?

“Sir, this item has been passed down from my ancestors, and I have no intention of selling it.”

"...Sorry, oh, by the way. My name is Cheng Xing, Cheng as in Cheng Men Li Xue (standing in the snow outside the master's door), and Xing as in starlight."

"So you share the same surname as me?"

Cheng Lixue was quite surprised. She hadn't expected it to be such a coincidence. Could this be a distant relative?

"That's a bit of a coincidence. I also have the surname Cheng, Cheng Lixue, which comes from the Cheng family's tradition of standing in the snow."

"Then I won't bother you any longer, I'll take my leave now."

Cheng Xing turned back again, sighed silently, and then turned and left.

"Master, why do you call me Cheng Lin?"

"Of course, I hope you can be as resilient as the trees in the forest and have an endless number of descendants."

"Really? Then I will definitely fulfill Master's wish! I will ensure that my descendants continue to exist in this world, and all my children and descendants will offer tea to you, Master!"

“…Silly child, this message won’t reach that time.”

"Shouldn't you be too young to live to see that day?"

"You little brat! Don't run away!"

"Hehehe! I beg you, Master, to stop stealing my candy!"

The energy dissipates, the connection... is formed.

Chapter 138: Apology

"Lilia! Lilia!"

A pink-haired girl with horns on her head and a tail behind her was charging happily toward the blue-haired girl in front of her, as if she were a motorcycle speeding by.

"Idiot Rosalia, don't rush over so excitedly."

Lilia skillfully dodged her sister's super headbutt, and finally said calmly, "What's making you so excited? Is there cake for lunch?"

"No, no, it's Bronya who's here!"

Rosalia smiled sweetly and then said excitedly, "We haven't seen each other for so long! And maybe Bronya will have news of Mom this time. We haven't heard anything about Mom since we were taken away. Bronya is so smart and has been out there all this time, she'll definitely know something."

"This is indeed something to be happy about."

Lilia's eyes widened slightly. Although her expression remained silent, her slightly open eyes revealed that she was not entirely at peace.

"Also, we haven't known how Xing is doing since we moved away. Lilia, do you think she'll be very worried when she comes back looking for us and can't find us?"

"Silly Rosalia is with her mother. Even if they want to find us, they'll find us easily. You don't need to worry."

"Oh! Right! I forgot!"

Bronya was standing in front of the glass panel on the transport plane, watching the buildings getting closer and closer in the distance, and her heart was filled with complicated feelings for some reason.

"So you haven't figured out how to explain it yet?"

Cheng Xing stood behind Bronya, looking at her with some concern. Although he had changed into modern clothes, his waist-length hair, which was tied up, was still there.

"...Yes, there are some. I don't know how to face those two pairs of sisters. Everyone in the orphanage loves Cocolia's mother... Even though everyone knows her purpose, even though everyone knows that human experimentation will bring great pain, it is because of the home that our mother gave us a warm place to live that we are willing to sacrifice for her."

"And now I've destroyed that light in their hearts..."

“Bronya,” Cheng Xing pressed down on her shoulder from behind, then said, “Since you didn’t kill Cocolia, just tell them it was me. Whether it was the planning or the execution of the plan, it was all me…”

Bronya turned around and covered Cheng Xing's mouth with her hand, her eyes revealing a gentle look as she said, "Fool, how can you push your lover out as a scapegoat? Besides, you respected my wishes back then, and at that time, I also hoped that my mother would end her sins at that time... Cheng Xing, this is something we committed together."

"...Okay, I'll stand by your side then."

Walter looked at the couple who seemed to be very much in love and inexplicably felt a pang of emotion. Love can transcend age... For some reason, he thought of a certain guy.

Moreover, the thought of that person brought an inexplicable smile to Walter's face, a smile that reflected both helplessness towards his old friend and tolerance for her personality.

"It's been a long time. I hope they're still the same as before. But now they're handling most of the political events in Anti-Entropy. They must be exhausted. I should come back and lend a hand. Otherwise, I'll be a really incompetent leader."

The transport plane landed on the open ground in no time, and as soon as it landed, the two girls quickly ran out of the building and rushed towards them.

"Bronya! Bronya!"

Rosalia waved happily and charged forward. She looked like a weak and powerless little girl, but she ran at an astonishing speed. If a Honkai Beast were to be placed in front of her, it would probably be knocked away by the girl's enormous strength.

Bronya saw that Rosalia still looked rather dim-witted, and a faint smile involuntarily appeared on her face.

"You idiot Rosalia, you run too fast!"

Lilia immediately warned that if they continued rushing forward at that speed, they would likely crash directly into the transport plane behind them.

Upon hearing this, Rosalia immediately stopped sprinting, just like a character in a comic book. She slammed her heels into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust, and then successfully braked when she was only about a meter away from Bronya.

"Lilia! How could I be so stupid! Do you think I'm just a clumsy idiot who can only run faster and never slow down?!"

"Yes, you are an idiot."

"The person who calls others stupid is the stupid one! So you're the real idiot!"

"So you're the idiot."

Seeing that the two sisters were still the most lively and unreliable characters in the orphanage, Bronya felt a little comforted, but also felt the same headache as before.

Although these two sisters may seem like just a silly older sister and a clueless younger sister, they are actually quite troublesome characters.

These two little ones especially love playing pranks. Even the younger sister, who seems the most sensible and reassuring, is just as troublesome.

"So, Bronya, can you tell me where Mommy is right now?"

Rosalia asked with a smile.

“…Hoo…” Bronya had already prepared herself. After exhaling, she said calmly, “Cocolia’s mother is dead. Her death is directly related to me.”

The atmosphere, which had become somewhat lively because of the two children, instantly froze.

Rosalia's smile gradually faded, and a layer of gray seemed to have settled over her once lively eyes.

Lilia couldn't maintain her composed expression; that serious look rarely appeared on her face anymore.

"……Why?"

Rosalia, surprisingly, did not immediately fly into a rage and want to beat Bronya up. Instead, she lowered her head and asked.

"Back then, my mother caused the deaths of an entire city in her quest for the power to conquer the gem... That reason is enough. Rosalia, Lilia, I'm sorry."

"...Bronya, Rosalia doesn't understand many things, but in the orphanage, you've always been the smartest one. Although I don't understand many things, I know your love for everyone and your love for Mom are genuine. And now, what Mom has done has reached a point that even you can't tolerate, so perhaps what you did was really the right thing to do... But, Lilia, why do I... why do I hate Bronya so much right now?"

Rosalia's eyes seemed to be brimming with tears.

"...Sister, let's go back first."

Lilia did not call her sister "idiot" as usual.

“Bronya, maybe what you did was right... but for us kids, it’s really hard to accept all at once.”

After Lilia finished speaking, she left with Rosalia.

Bronya's expression held a hint of dejection, but the embrace from behind brought her some comfort.

"I'm sorry, but perhaps back then I could have just destroyed her soul, leaving only her living body. That would have made things much easier for you now."

“Cheng Xing, there’s no need to regret this… Everyone has to pay the price for their actions.”

"None of us are wrong; we just made different decisions from different perspectives."

Chapter 139: Acknowledgment

Cheng Xing knew that while Bronya needed his comfort, she needed to communicate more with her two sisters and other people in the orphanage.

That was the cause and effect she had to bear herself. Cheng Xing should have been more of a witness and a silent supporter. To her, the orphanage was a home, and the so-called conflict was just a family matter.

Huh? You're asking about Cocolia? There will always be times in this world when a son wants to kill his own parents.

Cheng Xing was strolling around this research base belonging to the anti-entropy conservative faction. Besides accompanying Bronya to see her old friends, he was also there to see someone himself.