Who says those who retire at the speed of light are not heroes?

"At the dinner table at home, my mother talked to me about you. She said you were the one who had the best chance of ending the natural disaster. When she mentioned this name, her eyes lit up."

"When I was 17 or 18 years old, my relationship with my mom was actually very strange. She was trying hard to play the role of a mother, but because she was too busy, she rarely took care of me. Even when we were alone together, her expression was always indifferent and calm. She rarely even smiled at me because she was never good at that kind of expression."

"On the day Siming left this world and headed for the abyss, I returned home and saw her sitting by the window, staring at the gray sky in a daze for a long, long time."

"During the time when Siming was away, the thing she did most was to sit by the window and stare blankly, and she would sit there for the whole night."

"Later, Siming returned from this world, and ended the abyss with his own hands."

"From that time on, my mother seemed to have suddenly become a different person. She would ask me about my well-being, about my future plans, go shopping with me, pick out clothes for me, ask me what I wanted to eat in the evening, and exercise and run with me in the morning. In short, she suddenly treated me very well, as if she wanted to make up for all the maternal love that I had not felt in the past many years."

"At that time, I was frightened by my mother's enthusiasm. I was never used to it. I didn't understand why she suddenly became like this. At that time, I was not happy, but terrified. I felt awkward in my heart... I always selfishly thought that when she created me, she didn't regard me as a daughter, but a tool. But tools have lost their meaning. After the abyss was ended, she lost her hatred and the meaning of living... Now I have become her last connection with this world, so she is kind to me."

"So I was very rebellious during that time, and I resisted her enthusiasm in my heart. I felt that I had grown up and no longer needed her love to make me happy. I had learned how to love myself. Well, now I think it was still quite childish."

"During that time, I always felt that the light in her eyes was fake. All her enthusiasm and brightness were not to deceive me, but to deceive herself, because she needed a reason to live. The paranoia of the past twenty years drove her forward, but suddenly everything was over, so she became empty, until...that day at my house, you and her met for the first time. At that time, I felt very awkward, because I found that from that time on, it seemed that the light in her eyes gradually brightened again."

"Especially when she looked at you, she didn't look at you as a junior, she didn't look at her son-in-law... And when I first saw her that day, she deliberately changed into that very sexy nightgown. From that day on, the seeds of doubt were planted in my heart."

"Later, every time you came to my house, the way she looked at you made me feel very strange... I tried hard not to think in a strange way, but I still couldn't fool myself, so I wanted to get the answer from you."

"Lin Cheng, I want to know." Lu Xiaoxiao stared straight at Lin Cheng in front of her, but her eyes revealed a soft pleading.

....................................

In fact, Lin Cheng still has room to lie.

He could say that nothing had ever happened between him and Lu Lingling, he could say that maybe Lu Lingling had some special feelings for him, but maybe that was just pure desire. Everyone lives on desire, and it seems that having desire is a natural thing. He still has countless opportunities to lie, and he believes that Lu Lingling will cooperate with his lies.

He thought he could rely on lies to deceive Lu Xiaoxiao. Maybe telling a white lie at this moment was a good decision, so that no one would be sad. But there seemed to be a voice in his heart telling him that he should be honest and not lie. Selfish genes are human nature, but love is to go against this nature.

"I... I haven't found the right time to tell you about this before." Lin Cheng sighed softly, "Don't get excited yet, listen to me and explain it to you slowly, okay?"

"I'm not excited." Lu Xiaoxiao looked at him, "I'm calm, I swear."

"Then listen to me and I will tell you slowly..."

Lin Cheng took a sip of the beer on the table. Bubbles bloomed on his taste buds. He suddenly felt that the beer was very cold. In a trance, he realized that snow was falling around them. The two of them sat in a shed with snowflakes flying all around them.

"After joining the alliance as Sima Ming, I switched to several teams."

"Because the mortality rate of the Alliance's judges was very high at that time, the members of my team were often rotated. Later, my strength became stronger and stronger, and I stood out among the Alliance's judges. Occasionally, I would receive special missions, and I was qualified to team up with people of Lu Lingling's level."

"That's when she and I met. We teamed up to kill a red lizard, but I was unconscious. She quietly took off my mask and saw my face, and found out the secret that I was still a 16 or 17-year-old child."

"Later, she often came to the training ground to see me, bringing me cream cakes she made herself. Occasionally, she would sit on the rooftop with me at night and chat about our plans after the Abyss was ended. She knew that I was hanging out with those seniors from the past alliance and had a habit of drinking and smoking. One day, she sent me a message and asked me to quietly go to a rooftop later, where there was a box of cold beer."

"I remember it was summer. She took off her league uniform and put on a black dress. We sat on the rooftop together to look at the stars. Her calves under the dress were so white that they dazzled my eyes."

Lin Cheng has a very clear memory of that day, because he remembers that Lu Lingling had a nice scent on her body, her voice was very gentle, there was light in her eyes when she looked up at the stars, she was holding a beer bottle in her hand, her pink lips seemed to be glowing, and the starlight was grand.

"That day she told me about her past. When she was young, all her relatives and friends died in natural disasters, so she became a member of the Alliance. When she was young, the obsession with revenge lingered in her heart. When she was thirty years old, she suddenly realized that her life seemed to be completely occupied by hatred, like a machine that could not be stopped once it started. I looked at her profile and didn't know what to say."

"Then she changed the subject and asked me what I wanted to do after The Abyss ended. I said I didn't know. She asked me if I wanted to move in with her. She also said she had a very cute daughter and that I would definitely like her when I met her."

“I remember we drank a lot that day.”

"And then you did it?" Lu Xiaoxiao suddenly interrupted his conversation.

Lin Cheng's mouth twitched slightly. "I was only seventeen years old back then! Seventeen years old! Nothing happened! And at that time I always regarded Lu Lingling as an elder! Please! Don't think of me as such a jerk back then, okay?"

"Oh." Lu Xiaoxiao didn't interrupt Lin Cheng again, "Go on."

"Then we gradually became familiar with each other. I really liked the cream cakes she made, and she would occasionally treat me to dinner at night. You lived on campus at that time, so I came to your house a long time ago. Even though she always wore very cool clothes at that time, I guarantee that I didn't have any strange thoughts at that time. We were just a normal relationship between elders and juniors."

"And then what?" Lu Xiaoxiao knew the story was about to take a turn.

"Later, I prepared to go to the abyss. The energy in this world was not enough for me to continue to improve, so I had to go to the abyss and look for an opportunity to destroy the abyss and close the cracks in the abyss. At that time, I compressed all my strength into the energy core. During those days, my body was no different from that of an ordinary person. I only told this secret to Lu Lingling, and came to your house. She will protect me to avoid any accidents."

Lu Xiaoxiao looked at Lin Cheng in front of her, and Lin Cheng was silent for a few seconds.

"Then...your mother put drugs in the wine I drank at night. When I woke up, I was tied to the bed with stockings, and then unspeakable things happened."

Lu Xiaoxiao took a deep breath.

"Don't get excited." Lin Cheng said hurriedly.

"You... continue talking." Lu Xiaoxiao tried to be patient.

"I can't describe to you how I felt at that time. I feel like I was completely hopeless. Lu Lingling did this in the hope of having a child. Her future is uncertain, and the possibility that I will never come back is also very high. You know, it is very likely that two high-level ability users will give birth to a high-level ability user when they combine."

"Even if this is the case, even if this is the case...she can obviously, can...choose to use other methods..." Lu Xiaoxiao finally couldn't help but speak.

"This is why I lost all hope." Lin Cheng looked into Lu Xiaoxiao's eyes. "I also know that I may not be able to come back this time. Although I have always hated children, if I really never come back, it seems that for the hope of mankind, it doesn't matter if I leave a child. But Lu Lingling could have told me directly and discussed it with me instead of tying me up directly and using the most primitive method..."

"I was very disillusioned at that time, as if the Lu Lingling I had seen in the past few years had always been an illusion. That illusion was gentle and caring, and I always regarded her as a very good elder. Perhaps... perhaps because of the lack of love, I seriously thought about living with her in the future, and it seemed that calling her mom would not matter... In the end, she drugged the wine, and then that illusion was shattered."

"I was still very young at that time. I couldn't tell whether it was out of desire or anger. During those days, I pinned Lu Lingling under me and bullied her. Lu Lingling didn't resist. She just looked at me blankly, and I just looked at her blankly. At that time, I suddenly felt that we were like two monkeys living in a cave on the top of a mountain. We couldn't do anything except mate."

"When I see her eyes, I always feel like I'm looking in a mirror. We are both equally confused and desperate, as if everyone has turned crazy under the heavy pressure. Or maybe it's because of the fear of death? I don't know and I'm not sure. I know that after going to the abyss, I might die among those monsters. Maybe it's the fear of death that makes me want to continue my life... Well, to you, it sounds like my desire is just an excuse for me to get away with it."

"Later, we separated. I went to the abyss. Actually, I can be considered to have died in the abyss. After all, my original body has been transformed into an energy form. My current body is made from the crystal core of the Queen of the Abyss. It is a body that has all of Lin Cheng's memories. Then I came back."

"After I came back, Lu Lingling came to see me, but I treated her badly. I think I said some very unpleasant things to her. She was very sad when she left, but I didn't know what to do. We didn't contact each other for a long time. She would occasionally come to see me, but I would always drive her away... Because I hated her. I always held a strange hatred. I couldn't accept Lu Lingling's deception of me."

Lin Cheng lowered his head slightly and continued, "Then three years passed, and I met you in a bar. The first time I saw you, I knew you were Lu Lingling's daughter because you looked so much alike. Before that, I would not bring other women home. Do you remember? We talked a lot that day, and then when we were going home... I pushed you away when you came close to me."

"I didn't want to push you away because I wanted to play hard to get, but I don't know if it was because I had been lonely for too long, I was taken by desire, and something happened between us. Later, I began to pray that we would not meet again, otherwise I would be very distressed in the future. But we met anyway. I never deliberately created so-called encounters, but we met again at the right time and fell in love."

"But I never told you about this. It's not because I wanted to hide what happened between me and Lu Lingling from you, but because I was afraid that you would be sad if I told you. If it weren't for you, I actually didn't want to see Lu Lingling. I just wanted to keep avoiding her, but in the end, there was no escape."

Two-thirds of Lin Cheng’s story has been told.

Lu Xiaoxiao was silent for a long time, then she said "oh".

She lowered her head, not knowing what she was thinking. Lin Cheng didn't know what to say for a moment, and there seemed to be only silence between the two of them.

Very long time.

Lu Xiaoxiao slowly spoke, "Do you have anything else to say?"

"Yes." Lin Cheng replied.

Lu Xiaoxiao raised her head and looked at him, "Then continue."

Lin Cheng thought about it and said, "How about not listening at all?"

"why?"

“I think it’s better to not know some things.”

"Is this the first day you met me?" Lu Xiaoxiao looked at him, her eyes full of stubbornness.

Lin Cheng nodded gently and was silent for a moment, "Do you still remember the battle with Minghe that day?"

"Remember." Lu Xiaoxiao nodded.

"The person who came out to save the situation that day was Lu Lingling, but she had actually been hiding in the cracks in space the entire day, watching me unseal myself. She didn't do that to test my power, or to see if I would still do something to humans, but simply to make me angry... She came to my house that night, and then..."

Lu Xiaoxiao took a deep breath.

She had just been struggling for a long time over whether to forgive Lin Cheng, because when she thought about it carefully, if Lin Cheng did not lie, then it really could not be considered Lin Cheng's fault. Although the result was wrong, it was not the person who was wrong. But when Lin Cheng said this, she seemed to have guessed something, and her calf under the table could not help but kick Lin Cheng hard, "Why don't you die! Why don't you die!!"

Lin Cheng was silent for a while, then muttered quietly, "Death increases people's desire to reproduce. I died several times that day. She was wearing too much and deliberately provoked me... Well, no matter how she tempted me, I didn't resist the temptation. That was indeed my problem. I am guilty."

"But since then, nothing has happened."

Lin Cheng thought about it again and felt that there was something else he needed to add, so he said softly, "I had an argument with Lu Lingling some time ago, and we talked about the past... She gave me an explanation for why she drugged my wine that day."

"what did she say?"

Lin Cheng smiled bitterly, "She said that was her love for me. Isn't it ridiculous? But when I think about it, it seems quite reasonable. How should I explain love? Who doesn't love their own desires? I feel that I have been deceived by her, but she said that she was crazy because of her love for me, as if I really am a person who doesn't care about anything. That day she asked me what role I hope she will play in the future? If I say that I hope she can be content to be Lu Xiaoxiao's mother, then she will do it."

"What's your answer?" Lu Xiaoxiao asked.

"I said... that's her own business. Don't ask me. I'm not qualified to decide her life."

Lu Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth and said, "Why do I feel like you just want my mother's body?"

As soon as Lu Xiaoxiao heard this, she started to go crazy.

At the beginning, she just wanted to cheat Lin Cheng.

it's good now.

She felt like she was going to explode.

337 You have no shame!

"This isn't the first day you've known me, Xiaoxiao."

Lin Cheng looked at Lu Xiaoxiao in front of him helplessly.

"You've kept it from me for a long, long time." Lu Xiaoxiao bit her lip, her eyes gradually filled with mist.

"Because after I tell you the truth, you will feel awkward and sad, which you won't feel if you never know it."

"You are just trying to excuse your lie. You are the only one who thinks it is a white lie, but I don't think... it can't be considered a white lie."

"Yeah...so now you know the truth, what can I do?" Lin Cheng had no choice but to sigh softly.

He had a premonition that one day Lu Xiaoxiao would guess something from the clues, and some lies could not be concealed forever.

"So why did you tell me the truth again?"

Lin Cheng smiled bitterly, "Lu Lingling asked me that day what role I wanted her to play. If I had answered her that I wanted her to be a good mother to you, then I could probably continue to hide it from you, because from then on we would have to forget everything that happened in the past and pretend that nothing had happened. But I still feel that I am not qualified to make choices for her."

"I answered her like this not because I wanted to have anything else happen with her, but because I felt she was free and had the right to do whatever she wanted, instead of giving the right to choose to me, which I thought was a form of escaping."

"I've always had a hunch that one day you'd know the truth. After you knew the truth, I'd lose the right to choose... Now the right to choose is back in your hands."

"If you find it hard to accept and want to leave... I won't stop you."

Lu Xiaoxiao stared straight into his eyes, "Then what choice do you want me to make?"

Should they continue to love each other or become strangers from now on? Why did this question come to him again? Lu Xiaoxiao seemed to have guessed the answer. He would definitely say that this was her own choice and he had no right to interfere. But a moment later, Lin Cheng said, "If there is a choice, I certainly hope you stay."

"Why?" Lu Xiaoxiao was stunned.

"Because I can't bear to leave you." Lin Cheng looked around. A thin layer of snow had already fallen on the branches. He said softly, "Whether it's lust or greed, I hope to be by your side, because it's fun to be with you. It can dispel many shadows of loneliness and many memories of the past. If you leave me, I can only hold on to those memories and cry secretly."

"Shameless." Lu Xiaoxiao took a deep breath and finally uttered these two words.

Lin Cheng couldn't refute.

But now that everything that needed to be said had been said, the two could only sit in the courtyard and stare at each other. The snowflakes made the world even quieter, and Lu Xiaoxiao suddenly felt a little cold.

Her mind is so confused.

Lin Cheng stood up, took off his coat and put it on Lu Xiaoxiao, and said softly, "I'll take you home first. It's getting colder. Have a good sleep first. We can talk about the rest tomorrow, okay?"

Lu Xiaoxiao didn't say anything, but stood up obediently. Lin Cheng drove her to her door. Lu Xiaoxiao looked back at him and asked, "Do you want to go back with me?"

"If you need me...of course I can."

"Shall we do it then?"

"This...I have an appointment with Xu Wanyue."

"Do it with me, and I can pretend I heard nothing tonight."

Lin Cheng scratched his head and said, "No."

"why not?"

"Because we have an agreement in advance, if I agree to the same conditions as you, then no matter who asks me, no matter what happens, I will abide by it. Think about it, if I break my promise to Xu Wanyue because of you, it means that one day in the future, I may break my promise to you because of another woman."

"I don't want to hear you talk to me about this right now... My head is so confused, I can't sleep... I don't want to be awake... Stay with me... I want to be on top, I want you to hold me."

Lin Cheng hesitated for three or four seconds, then shook his head, "No."

"Sure enough, she is more important than me."

"This has never been a question of who is more important. This is a question of whether to keep your promise. You don't want me to break my promise to you one day in the future, right?"

"Do we still have a future?" Lu Xiaoxiao's face was a little pale.

Lin Cheng didn't know what to say. He was always bad at coaxing people or keeping people.

Maybe he should say something to coax Lu Xiaoxiao at this moment, maybe he should find a way to keep Lu Xiaoxiao, maybe Lu Xiaoxiao was just emotionally excited for a short time, and maybe she would forgive him when she figured it out... But sometimes, if someone is really determined to leave, there is no way to keep them.

Lin Cheng is never good at retaining people.

It was snowing, and snowflakes fell on Lu Xiaoxiao's shoulders one by one, as light as feathers, but Lu Xiaoxiao always felt breathless, as if she was about to be crushed by the snowflakes. Her nose was sour, and the mist in her eyes condensed into hot tears, sliding down from the corners of her eyes.