Welcome to Rewind World Game

"——Pull me up! Pull me up!"

A voice came from below, belonging to Zou Yuqing. She was slashing at the tentacles around her. Since most of the tentacles were attacking Su Ming'an, she was relatively safe on the ground. But at this rate, she definitely couldn't escape.

"Big brother, don't pull her up. We're already overloaded, and we don't even know her well," Mo Yan whispered.

Su Ming'an frowned. In the previous timeline, it was Zou Yuqing who warned him to escape quickly; she must know some secretive information.

As he extended his puppet threads towards Zou Yuqing, he used the floating cannon to blast away the tentacles, maintaining the precarious defensive line. With Su Ming'an repeatedly unleashing spatial vibrations, the mechanical disk started to rise gradually.

Zou Yuqing grabbed onto the puppet threads, climbing up as if ascending the spider threads of hell. Her movements were quick, and within seconds she had climbed onto the mechanical disk.

"Thank you for the rescue, Your Highness." Zou Yuqing bent her beautiful fox-like eyes.

Su Ming'an nodded and continued using the floating cannon to blast the tentacles. Among the four of them, only his firepower was the strongest, and only he could create the space for flight.

Suddenly, he felt a tremor nearby as purple-black tentacles sprouted from Zou Yuqing's back, thrusting towards him sharply.

"Swish!"

Her actions were merciless, aiming straight for his heart.

"Big brother!" Mo Yan jumped in fright, but everything happened too quickly.

... Zou Yuqing turned out to be an exotic species?

The tentacles moved with such speed that they were about to pierce Su Ming'an in an instant. Zou Yuqing's expression reflected hesitation and struggle; she didn't want to kill Su Ming'an. While infiltrating human society, she had heard of the Eldest Prince's wisdom more than once and indeed had good feelings for him, but she still couldn't disobey Xiao Jingsan's secret orders.

"Swish!"

In the air, invisible threads suddenly appeared.

Zou Yuqing looked up in surprise as her tentacles were intercepted and couldn't advance another inch.

These were the puppet threads that had existed long before, and also the close-in defensive net that Su Ming'an had long prepared.

He had been betrayed too many times and would even defend against teammates, let alone Zou Yuqing.

"I could use the puppet threads to pull you up," Su Ming'an said coldly, "and I can use the puppet threads to send you up."

Pulling you up was to thank you for the warning last timeline.

Throwing you down was to avenge the backstab this timeline.

Goodbye.

With a pull of his right hand, Zou Yuqing hadn't even steadied herself before being flung down like a sack by the puppet threads. With a few cutting sounds of "ssssss," she lost her balance, fell off the mechanical disk, and plunged back into the dense forest of tentacles.

Su Ming'an stood on the mechanical disk, giving her silhouette a cold glance, no longer sparing any further attention.

——Speaking of which.

Su Ming'an looked around at these "fairies."

He had noticed early on that all these "fairies" had black hair and black eyes. Why did they have such similar features?

"Noticed?" Xiao Jingsan's voice came through.

Su Ming'an looked up, meeting Xiao Jingsan's gaze.

"These 'fairies' are actually the failed pure-blooded exotic species," Xiao Jingsan smiled and said. "It was through continuous cultivation that they became so alike."

Upon hearing this, Su Ming'an realized there was a lot of information in these words. He estimated the time; this segment of the plot would surely exceed twenty minutes, and the assassin in the real world wouldn't wait. There was no time left in this timeline; he would inevitably have to die once.

If that was the case, he might as well apply his best information extraction technique — showing weakness to lure the enemy into carelessly revealing information, and then rebounding through death.

"Take them and go," Su Ming'an instructed the mechanical disk, leaping off it directly.

"Hey, wait, big brother!"

Mo Yan was dumbfounded; he never expected his big brother to jump off voluntarily.

The mechanical disk received the command and rushed off with Yi Zhongyu and Mo Yan.

"Big brother! Big brother! You have a plan, right? You're worried we'd hold you back, so you sent us away on purpose! You're going to survive, right?"

Mo Yan's voice soon flew further and further away until it couldn't be heard anymore.

Su Ming'an landed on the ground, not answering. He didn't have any plan; the only plan was the death rebound, which was also his most trusted and useful plan.

Seeing Su Ming'an voluntarily stay, Xiao Jingsan raised an eyebrow, chuckling lightly, "I really didn't expect you to be so self-sacrificing. I thought you weren't the type to sacrifice yourself for others."

Su Ming'an chopped down a few nearby tentacles, saying indifferently, "Then what kind of person do you think I am?"

"You are someone who puts his own life first," Xiao Jingsan said.

Su Ming'an neither confirmed nor denied it. Xiao Jingsan's statement wasn't wrong after all.

"Would you mind telling me more about what you just said?" Su Ming'an asked.

"Since you've stayed behind sacrificing yourself, wouldn't it be ungrateful of me not to tell you?" Xiao Jingsan said, "Using your life in exchange for information, you really are... surprising me."

Su Ming'an couldn't discern any surprised expression on Xiao Jingsan's face, only mockery. After all, from any angle, Su Ming'an who actively jumped off the mechanical disk had no chance to escape anymore, effectively becoming something in Xiao Jingsan's pocket. Even if Su Ming'an wanted to use a prop to teleport, the tentacles so close wouldn't give him the opportunity.

"Come on, speak," Su Ming'an didn't even pick up his sword, leisurely sitting down. Seeing this, the neighboring tentacles even fashioned him a tentacle chair so he could sit and listen.

Su Ming'an waved at Xiao Jingsan, "By the way, do you have any peach blossom brew? The peach blossom wine brewed by Li Mingyue earlier looked very tasty. I wonder if you have any here, could you offer me a cup?"

The surrounding fairies were stunned as they looked at Su Ming'an.

This Eldest Prince Louyue was actually sitting calmly in the enemy's lair, putting life and death aside. In their hearts, respect arose; perhaps this was a true hero.

Gradually, they stepped back a few steps, allowing Su Ming'an more space to sit.

"Can you drink peach blossom brew?" Xiao Jingsan said, "Come on, you got drunk just from the smell last time you sat in the National Preceptor Pavilion. Now you dare to ask me for peach blossom brew."

Su Ming'an shook his head, "I wasn't drunk at that time."

Xiao Jingsan laughed, "Your face was red at the time, yet you say you weren't drunk?"

His tone even gradually became familiar, as if conversing with an old friend he hadn't seen in years.

In the years growing up with the Eldest Prince, Xiao Jingsan had spent thousands of days and nights chatting like this with the prince as a shadow and substitute. They talked about the Jianghu, about growth, about folk tales, and about kites outside the palace.

But the vicissitudes of life are unpredictable, and no one can abandon their mission. Xiao Jingsan had the mission of awakening the Exotic Species King, and the prince's ideals had been crushed by the Royal Family. Xiao Jingsan gradually forgot how long it had been since he chatted like this with the prince.

——It seems that from the moment they personally shackled the Eldest Prince, their gazes never met again, like the slowly separating blades of a pair of scissors.

Su Ming'an shook his head: "Forget it if there's no wine."

He looked around, at the pavilions and terraces, the small bridges and flowing streams, he looked up at the branches laden with thousands of red blossoms, and felt a great calm in his heart.

When a person quietly waits for death, all they feel is a sense of tranquil rest. Like a traveler long running on the road, finding a place to rest and sleep.

Su Ming'an squinted his eyes, suddenly feeling very very tired.

Xiao Jingsan gazed at Su Ming'an, suddenly saying: "Wine has a pain-relieving effect."

Su Ming'an looked up.

Xiao Jingsan said: "I know why you want wine. But in the end, it won't hurt much."

Su Ming'an smiled slightly: "So, it's still about killing me, after all?"

Xiao Jingsan shook his head.

Looking at Su Ming'an in this posture, Xiao Jingsan suddenly lost interest in the cat-playing-with-mouse game. Simultaneously, a faint sorrow surged in his heart. He didn't want to see Su Ming'an like this, sitting quietly under a peach tree, fiddling with the petals on his shoulder, as if always planning something with hopeful anticipation, evidently just a young man, but seemingly carrying the vast Jianghu in his heart. This posture was too familiar, the temperament too similar.

He didn't want to look.

Nor did he want to remember.

He feared Su Ming'an might suddenly lift his head and ask him: "Xiao Jingsan, how old do I have to be to leave the palace? Can I see with my own eyes that Prosperous Era the palace maid sister once spoke of?"

He feared seeing Su Ming'an lift his sleeves, revealing the deep and shallow blade marks on his arms. He also feared Su Ming'an might suddenly change his expression and question him, why take away my identity, why to awaken the Exotic Species King, must you trample all my childhood words into dust, subjecting me to such humiliation.

Luckily,

Su Ming'an wouldn't do that.

Xiao Jingsan turned and took a cup of peach blossom brew, pouring it for Su Ming'an to drink.

Su Ming'an received the cup, smelled the fragrance of the peach blossom wine. He merely held the cup, without drinking.

Tentacles constructed a second stool, and Xiao Jingsan sat beside Su Ming'an, the wooden plaque at his waist jingling.

"I've been trying to awaken the Exotic Species King."

Su Ming'an turned to listen.

Xiao Jingsan said: "I suppose you've guessed, I'm not the Exotic Species King himself, I'm just a human deeply connected to the Exotic Species King. I bear the mission to awaken the Exotic Species King, this is something I must strive for my entire life, no matter what I face, this ideal must not waver."

Su Ming'an didn't ask why. It's nothing more than reasons like family inheritance, elders' expectations, or personal ideals. Xiao Jingsan didn't elaborate, so there's no need to ask.

Xiao Jingsan said: "To awaken the Exotic Species King requires giving it new life on a suitable host. This requires three basic conditions: First, the host must be Exotic Species. Second, the host must recognize the Exotic Species King. Third, the host itself must be very similar to the Exotic Species King."

Su Ming'an said: "The Exotic Species King... how long has it been asleep? For what reason?"

Xiao Jingsan said: "A thousand years ago. The reason is unknown, possibly due to life's end."

... A thousand years ago.

Su Ming'an's ears twitched again at this timestamp. A thousand years ago was also when the Supreme God seized power and the Old God vanished.

Xiao Jingsan said: "The first condition, no problem. The second condition, no problem either. But the third condition: the host itself must also be very similar to the Exotic Species King from back then, has put me in a very difficult position."

Su Ming'an listened silently, folding the peach blossom petals in his hand into a paper airplane shape.

Xiao Jingsan said: "The Exotic Species King of that time, though only leaving behind mythological scraps, I gradually pieced together its image, and roughly know what kind of existence it was: black hair, black eyes, a gentle and compassionate personality, idealistic. So, I've been endeavoring to cultivate a host meeting these conditions for the Exotic Species Queen to be reborn."

Su Ming'an said: "Is it you then?"

These conditions of black hair and black eyes, Xiao Jingsan fits perfectly.

Xiao Jingsan shook his head.

Under Su Ming'an's shocked gaze, Xiao Jingsan slowly articulated the answer:

"It's the entire Louyue Royal Family."

In an instant, Su Ming'an's fingers trembled, the peach blossom petals falling to the ground. He widened his eyes, speechless with shock by this answer.

... Far too audacious, too preposterous.

The entire Louyue Royal Family worshipped by millions—are they all preparatory hosts for the Exotic Species King?

"Every generation of the royal family is a preparatory host for the Exotic Species King, though the royal family themselves don't know this." Xiao Jingsan said:

"Due to the royal bloodline and privileged education, the royal offspring always have similar appearances of black hair and black eyes, gentle personality, and idealism. But there's never one who is most like the Exotic Species King, so the Exotic Species Queen has never reached the standard for rebirth."

"In the previous generation royal family, I originally wanted to choose your father as a host, as he was once an idealistic child. However, the cruelty of the royal power, the crushing of foreign clans, the temptations of wine and lust, made him gradually become a mediocre and greedy adult, unworthy to be the Exotic Species King's host. I could only wait for his next generation."

"In this generation, your second brother is useless, submissive and cowardly. Your third brother is lost in debauchery, disappointing. Your sisters are all too kind, incompatible in character. After much thought, only you are most suitable. And you could say... extremely suitable."

Su Ming'an suppressed the wildly beating heart in his chest, suddenly realizing an incredibly absurd thing.

If the Eldest Prince were as foolish, greedy, and selfish as his siblings, he wouldn't become a preparatory host for the Exotic Species King.

And the Eldest Prince not becoming a host means Xiao Jingsan wouldn't target this generation of the Louyue Royal Family, wouldn't incite the royal family to cruelly imprison the Eldest Prince and drain his blood, waiting for Su Ming'an to break the deadlock.

Under Li Mingyue's protection, all the tragedies of the Eldest Prince likely wouldn't have happened.

Su Ming'an gazed at Xiao Jingsan's eyes, word by word saying:

"——So, the Eldest Prince's kindness, gentleness, benevolence, compassion, his heart for the people, his longing for a Prosperous Era, all his positive beautiful traits, all his respectable qualities, all his human virtues—are instead the root of his tragedy?"

If the Eldest Prince weren't so good, he wouldn't have been chosen as a host and wouldn't suffer such a tragedy.

Xiao Jingsan lowered his head slightly.

A petal of peach blossom landed on his hair whirl, then floated lightly downward without settling.

Then, lowly, like a laughing cry, slipped from his throat. The sound seemed like laughter, and also like crying.

"That's right."

"That's exactly how it is."

He covered his face, masking all expressions on it.

"...So I said it long ago, Su Shaoqing, you shouldn't have become such a good person."