HI Chapter 131

When Yan Wei first met Lin Zhen, he didn’t harbor much hostility toward him—even though their initial encounter wasn’t exactly pleasant.

Yet, he always held a tolerant attitude toward Lin Zhen. This attitude was subconscious; deep down, Yan Wei never saw Lin Zhen as an enemy. Even during the instance of Ankang Ancient Town they cleared together, Yan Wei teased Lin Zhen more than he guarded against him.

That’s why they later naturally teamed up for the next instance, clearing three instances together in this way.

Now, with his memories restored, Yan Wei finally understood why this was the case.

—Because Lin Zhen was the part he had personally “split” from Lin Qing.

Yan Wei still couldn’t recall many details and experiences from his first ascent of the Tower.

Although he had regained his memories, perhaps because they had been tossed around—leaving his mind, circulating through the Tower’s instances, and finally returning to his brain—and given the long passage of time, many things from those years were only vague impressions. Some things he still couldn’t quite remember.

Even the details of the instance where he first met Yan Mingguang were hazy in places.

But when it came to Lin Zhen, Yan Wei remembered everything clearly.

He rarely did things without certainty, but Lin Zhen’s situation was an exception, an accident neither he nor Lin Qing had managed to control.

At that time, he hadn’t yet met Yan Mingguang. It was shortly after he had befriended Lin Qing and just after they had assembled the Moon Wheel.

Although they had only cleared one instance together, outside the instances, they often supported each other. They had no disagreements about the Blackbird either. The reason they could work so well together was that, in some ways, Lin Qing was very similar to Yan Wei.

Lin Qing wasn’t a talkative person. He was usually somewhat rigid, silent, gloomy, and lifeless. Standing next to Yan Wei, they seemed like completely different people, but their core personalities were the same.

Like Yan Wei, Lin Qing had a natural, innate madness when it came to achieving goals.

In the final moments of the Puppet Castle instance, if it had been Lin Qing from when he first met Yan Wei, there was a high chance he would have made the same choice as Yan Wei—sacrificing the NPCs to gain more clues, even if it put the players in a passive position, risking everything for a chance to survive.

Moreover, Lin Qing had an underlying restlessness hidden beneath his lifeless exterior. This was a result of his childhood experiences, which had instilled in him a sense of indifference and a desire for destruction.

Rational madness could be a sharp weapon, but madness driven by destructive urges and a sense of playfulness could easily become a burden.

Lin Qing himself deeply disliked this aspect of his personality.

Somehow, after discussing it, the two of them decided to use the Moon Wheel to split away all the negative emotions and traits Lin Qing didn’t want, leaving only his calm and composed side.

Yan Wei wasn’t entirely confident, but as they climbed higher, Lin Qing urgently needed to overcome these unstable factors. The Moon Wheel was a new Legendary Item that had never appeared before, and its abilities required Yan Wei to explore and master them on his own.

So, before Yan Wei entered the instance where he met Yan Mingguang, he spent five full days in the Tower World, going from being awkward to proficient, finally completely splitting away those unwanted negative emotions and traits from Lin Qing.

“No good…” Yan Wei, pale and drenched in cold sweat, said after completing the split with the Moon Wheel. “Lin Qing, these negative emotions and traits of yours are too unstable.”

The Moon Wheel hovered between them, a thick, shapeless black mist rolling on its surface.

Lin Qing became much calmer. Looking at this part of his soul that should have belonged to him, he merely frowned slightly and asked Yan Wei, “Can’t we just disperse it?”

Yan Wei shook his head. “I’m not sure. This is my first time tampering with a soul. It’s a miracle I didn’t mess you up. These emotions and traits… I suggest we don’t discard or disperse them, because I can’t be certain if they’ll have any effect on you.”

Lin Qing reached out and slowly took the insubstantial “soul.”

His expression was calm as he joked, “I should be a few grams lighter now.”

Yan Wei helplessly shrugged.

“What should we do then?” Lin Qing asked him.

Yan Wei thought for a moment and said, “It’s best if you carry it with you for now. If there’s really an accident or side effect, you can reabsorb it in a critical moment.”

The Moon Wheel was full of unknowns. Though Yan Wei was bold, he wouldn’t gamble with a friend.

This was the safest approach.

Naturally, Lin Qing listened to him. He exchanged for a container that could hold anything in the Tower World’s store, placed the soul inside, and carried it with him in the Black Ring.

After that, no accidents occurred. Yan Wei’s first attempt was clearly a great success. Lin Qing changed completely from then on. Though his actions were ruthless, there was no pointless madness, and his ascent of the Tower proceeded smoothly.

In Yan Wei’s memories, after entering the Tower, he first befriended Lin Qing. During the instance where they met, they had even clashed—somewhat similar to how he met Lin Zhen during his second ascent. After that instance, they became friends through conflict and together founded the Blackbird. Later, Yan Wei assembled the Moon Wheel and used it to split away the negative emotions and traits Lin Qing didn’t want.

After that, Yan Wei met the unfathomably powerful Yan Mingguang, and gradually they began clearing instances together. The events that followed… were the fragmented memories that appeared before Yan Wei regained his full memories. His relationship with Yan Mingguang grew increasingly intimate, and beyond being trusted comrades, they gradually developed a different kind of possessiveness toward each other.

Yan Mingguang didn’t seem to like socializing with others, so Yan Wei never introduced Lin Qing to him.

By the time Yan Wei and Yan Mingguang were charging toward the higher floors, Lin Qing informed Yan Wei that the small part of the soul they had split off had developed some issues.

Perhaps because Lin Qing had carried it with him for so long, this incomplete soul had absorbed various things it shouldn’t have, including curiosity, kindness, and desire—things that were essential for a complete person. It seemed to have become a separate… individual.

At that time, Yan Wei was at the most critical juncture.

His rebellious nature was ingrained in his bones. From the very beginning, he despised the feeling of being controlled by something else. From the moment he entered the Tower, Yan Wei’s goal was to destroy it, and he had been steadily advancing toward that goal. He was just one instance away from exchanging for Pandora’s Box and ending everything.

He didn’t just want to leave by himself; he wanted to end it all and take everyone with him.

The final instance was especially crucial.

He might have already sensed something at the time. The specific details were hazy in his memory, but he remembered being highly strung, planning every day for what was to come, and secretly preserving the backup plans he had obtained.

So, when Lin Qing told him that the split soul had become a complete person, Yan Wei no longer had the energy to deal with it.

He simply told Lin Qing that he was about to enter the final instance, and there was a high chance of an accident, but he had left himself a way out and probably wouldn’t die. If Lin Qing encountered him afterward, he shouldn’t tell him about what had happened before, and let things unfold naturally.

After that, he ascended the Tower for the second time and met Lin Zhen.

Now, it seemed that Lin Zhen could only be that incomplete soul that had become an independent person.

Though Lin Qing and Lin Zhen shared some skills, Lin Qing was clearly the dominant one, and Lin Zhen didn’t have much autonomy. Moreover, during their conversations, Lin Zhen had mentioned “childhood” and “the past” a few times, all of which matched what Yan Wei knew about Lin Qing—those were Lin Qing’s memories.

Lin Qing and Lin Zhen were originally just one person, Lin Qing. They shared one set of memories, so there couldn’t be any memories of being brothers or the like. Only after the soul was split did the two begin to diverge, leading to Lin Zhen’s claim of suddenly recognizing a “brother” in the instance.

It seemed that the reason Yan Wei had gotten involved with Lin Zhen on the lower floors was likely because Lin Qing, unable to descend so many floors at once, had deliberately released this soul, allowing Lin Zhen to ascend from the first floor under the identity of Lin Qing’s younger brother, so he could meet Yan Wei and provide assistance.

It also gave Lin Qing an extra life when charging toward the higher floors.

Just like in the final moments of Puppet Castle, Lin Qing transferred his injuries to Lin Zhen, dodging a fatal danger.

The missing memories and the experiences of his second ascent of the Tower pieced together. Though some things were forgotten and some details were unclear, Yan Wei now knew the complete origin of Lin Zhen.

He set down the wine glass and slowly stood up, but still didn’t move.

Lin Zhen at the door knocked several times, growing impatient—he carried the irritability that Lin Qing had discarded, and he had never been a patient person. He knocked again and shouted, “Little pet, you’re not asleep, are you?!”

Lin Zhen muttered softly, “Strange, Yan Wei himself sent me this location… Could he have sent the wrong one?”

Yan Wei suddenly regretted sending Lin Zhen his address so quickly.

He didn’t move, glancing at Yan Mingguang inside the room.

Yan Mingguang was looking toward the door, his gaze fixed on the closed door, his thoughts wandering, as if he was pondering something. He must have always known Lin Zhen’s origin. During the Puppet Castle instance, Yan Mingguang hadn’t been surprised by Lin Zhen’s anomalies, and he had even anticipated that Lin Zhen might suffer severe injuries because of Lin Qing, keeping a close eye on him.

This guy must have felt pity again.

When dealing with enemies, Yan Mingguang was ten times more ruthless than Lin Qing. But when it came to innocent people or allies, Yan Mingguang thought things through more carefully than Yan Wei.

Yan Wei had wanted to ask for his opinion, but seeing Yan Mingguang’s expression, he opened his mouth but ultimately didn’t speak, instead slowly sitting back down.

Lin Zhen knocked a few more times at the door and sent Yan Wei several messages through the Black Ring.

Yan Wei didn’t respond to any of them.

After a while, Lin Zhen left.

The surroundings returned to silence. Yan Wei lowered his eyes and thought for a moment, then raised his glass and took a sip of wine, suddenly saying, “I’ve recovered my memories. I still need to fully absorb the data, but once I do, I can directly challenge the 99th floor.”

The consciousness born from the Tower had already clashed with him twice. Yan Wei was in the open, while that consciousness was in the shadows. The more instances Yan Wei entered, the more opportunities that consciousness had to strike.

With the experience, memories, and data strength from his past, the best choice was to charge toward the 99th-floor instance with Yan Mingguang at the fastest possible speed, not giving that consciousness too many chances, and in one go, obtain Pandora’s Box to achieve Yan Wei’s goal of destroying the Tower.

Lin Qing probably thought the same, which was why he hurried into this batch of 89th-floor instances to prepare the 99th-floor invitation letters for Yan Wei in advance.

Yan Wei sighed.

Yan Mingguang looked at him.

“This was something Lin Qing and I did back when we didn’t know better, so I should take responsibility for it. Clearing the 99th floor means we can leave this place or exchange for what we want. If Lin Zhen clears the 99th floor, he can too. I don’t just want the three of us to go in; I want to take him and Yu Feizhou with us to challenge the top floor.”

But even if Lin Qing came out this time, the Blackbird would have at most three invitation letters.

They needed five invitation letters for all of them to enter the top floor.

Yan Wei still needed to obtain two more.

Yan Wei raised his hand, his fingers curling slightly, and tapped lightly on the table, slowly writing out two numbers.

“89”.

“Once Lin Qing comes out, we’ll go to the 89th floor again. I need to get at least two 99th-floor invitation letters.”

Yan Mingguang reminded him, “Every high-floor instance you enter gives ‘it’ another chance to destroy you.”

Yan Wei raised an eyebrow. “Am I afraid of ‘it’?”