Chapter 532: From the Future
Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Chen Xiaolian actually didn't know how to explain it to Miao Yan.
Now, this situation was too bizarre. According to Chen Xiaolian's speculation, he gradually pieced together a vague answer: he had been sent back to the Qin Shihuang's Mausoleum instance by the Zero City main frame, and it was the same instance he had experienced before! It was like a cycle of time and space, starting over again.
But how exactly did the Zero City main frame accomplish this? Chen Xiaolian was completely clueless.
As for Miao Yan...
Chen Xiaolian's initial plan was to deceive... After all, it was very difficult to explain such a thing, and deceiving was the simplest solution.
But soon, Chen Xiaolian changed his mind.
Deceiving others might work, but deceiving Miao Yan didn't seem like the best choice!
Who was Miao Yan? She was a player with an exclusive high-level account!
Her own strength was extremely powerful, her intelligence remarkable, her background mysterious and formidable (she wouldn't possess an exclusive high-level account if her background wasn't strong).
Most importantly, the relationship between Miao Yan and Chen Xiaolian had always been "special".
As a player, naturally, one should be opposed to the indigenous participants of this world.
However, Miao Yan was a peculiar existence.
Between her and Chen Xiaolian, it was more like a partnership. They fought side by side, sharing their strengths and weaknesses.
It could be said that for Chen Xiaolian, Miao Yan was the only gateway to understanding the "upper world," and now, it seemed to be the most plausible one.
Because Miao Yan had always been friendly and non-hostile towards him. Indeed, Chen Xiaolian had obtained some valuable information and intelligence from Miao Yan.
With such a person, instead of blindly deceiving her completely, it was smarter to take a different approach.
After tidying up their equipment on the shore, Miao Yan took out something from her storage equipment, a metal rod. When pressed, the metal rod emitted a soft, faint yellow light.
Holding the metal rod, she swept it over her body as if going through airport security. Chen Xiaolian noticed that the moisture on Miao Yan's clothes was quickly extracted, leaving them dry. Even her damp hair, soaked by the underground river, dried up again.
Seeing Chen Xiaolian looking at her, Miao Yan smiled and tossed the metal rod over, saying, "You can borrow this."
Chen Xiaolian took a glance but casually tossed it back, saying, "I'm a man, not afraid of being exposed. A little water won't hurt."
Although Miao Yan wasn't his enemy, this woman was constantly changing, as cunning as a fox. Chen Xiaolian wouldn't casually use something she lent him.
"You're quite cautious," Miao Yan smiled as she collected the equipment.
She took out something similar to an energy bar, tore it open, took a bite, chewed vigorously, and then drank some water.
"Now, we can talk," she said.
Chen Xiaolian looked at Miao Yan and suddenly asked, "Can you tell me the current time?"
"Time?" Miao Yan paused for a moment—there was no concept of time inside the instance. Time within the instance didn't synchronize with the outside world. Asking about time here was pointless.
But then Miao Yan understood Chen Xiaolian's meaning. She glanced at her wristwatch. "From the beginning of the instance until now, it's been eighteen minutes."
"Eighteen minutes," Chen Xiaolian silently calculated.
According to the "course of history," at this time point, "he" should still be with Qiuyun, then "he" would meet Alice and her group with Qiuyun, then "he" would separate from them, and next, "he" would fall into a trap and meet Miao Yan, and that's how they would meet...
That's roughly how the course of history would unfold.
At this moment, only eighteen minutes had passed since the start of the instance, placing us right at the beginning. At this point in time, the "me" from this timeline was still exploring the underground palace with Qiuyun.
Meanwhile, Miao Yan, as a player privileged to enter the instance early, was adventuring independently.
With this in mind, Chen Xiaolian tried to speak with as much honesty as possible: "Our acquaintance, we once participated in an instance together, fought side by side. However, this memory no longer exists in your mind."
Miao Yan's expression changed!
When Chen Xiaolian mentioned that this memory no longer existed, Miao Yan naturally interpreted it as the memory possibly being deleted!
As a player, she was far more familiar with the world's programs and rules than a native like Chen Xiaolian.
Memory deletion?!
Unless it involved several core forbidden areas of the system's main program, memories would not be deleted!
Could it be...
She couldn't help but glance at Chen Xiaolian again.
"You are Miao Yan, an advanced player, with an exclusive high-level account. Your exclusive account identity in this world is the Countess of the Norman family in England..." Chen Xiaolian quickly spoke.
Miao Yan's expression grew even more serious!
As an advanced player, her exclusive account identity was definitely an important secret! If enemies found out about her identity in this world through her exclusive account, such as extreme native Awakened organizations, they would be eager to assassinate players' exclusive accounts.
Although such actions couldn't cause real harm to players, they could bring about significant trouble.
The fact that this guy in front of her knew her exclusive account's identity...
"Don't look at me like that," Chen Xiaolian smiled bitterly. "I didn't actively probe your secret. Your identity is something you told me."
"I... told you?" Miao Yan frowned. "Does that mean we're very close?"
"...We're friends, I consider you a friend, at least," Chen Xiaolian sighed.
"So why did this memory of mine disappear?"
"Because..." Chen Xiaolian really wanted to say "because these things haven't happened yet," but reason told him that if he said so, Miao Yan might not believe him and might even become more suspicious, making the explanation even more difficult.
"Because..." Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath. "Because of the system's rules. Some memories are automatically blocked and erased. I don't think I need to explain these rules to you."
Miao Yan shuddered, looking at Chen Xiaolian. "Who are you exactly? An Awakened? Or... a player?!"
Chen Xiaolian's smile was somewhat helpless. "Well... I can't tell you right now."
"How can I be sure you're not lying to me?"
"..." Chen Xiaolian thought for a moment, then suddenly took out a piece of paper and a pen, turned away, and quickly wrote a few lines on the paper.
He then folded the paper into a square and tossed it to Miao Yan.
Before Miao Yan could open it, Chen Xiaolian's expression became serious. "Don't open it now!"
"What does that mean?"
"It means don't open it now," Chen Xiaolian sighed. "Later, you can open it. By then, what's written on it will make you believe that I haven't lied to you."
If it were any other girl...
Like someone with Qiao Qiao's personality, they would probably open the paper without hesitation to see what's inside!
If it were someone like Phoenix, they might pretend to agree but would likely find a chance to sneak a peek at the content of the paper behind Chen Xiaolian's back.
But Miao Yan...
Chen Xiaolian had a special, indescribable confidence in Miao Yan. This woman wasn't like a normal person; she had extraordinary patience and intelligence.
Although she was curious, she could suppress it with intelligence and rationality.
Miao Yan glanced at Chen Xiaolian and placed the paper square into her storage equipment.
"I'll trust you for now," Miao Yan pondered. "My intuition tells me you're not my enemy."
"Your intuition has always been accurate," Chen Xiaolian smiled.
"So..."
"We can proceed together to complete this mission," Chen Xiaolian sighed. "Rest assured, my mission goal won't conflict with yours."
"What's your mission goal?"
Chen Xiaolian smiled. "It's definitely not Qin Shihuang's coffin."
Miao Yan was shocked at his words! She stared incredulously at Chen Xiaolian. "You..."
"Let's go. I think you should have prepared adequately for this instance. I'll follow your lead," Chen Xiaolian said, spreading his hands.
A few minutes later...
"...According to my guess and previous research, the underground palace of the Qin palace should be deep underground. Based on the architectural requirements, besides the passages in the underground palace, the underground river is the fastest shortcut! Entering from the underground river and advancing along its channel will be faster and safer than using the palace passages."
After Miao Yan finished speaking, she noticed that Chen Xiaolian seemed lost in thought and frowned. "Do you have any thoughts?"
"None," Chen Xiaolian sighed. "As I said, I'll follow your lead."
"Don't you have any other plans of your own?"
"...My plans aren't as comprehensive as yours," Chen Xiaolian shamelessly grinned.
Miao Yan shook her head. "I really wonder why I became friends with someone like you... Let's go!"
The two returned to the bank of the underground river. Miao Yan quickly took out a diving helmet and put it on her head. With a gentle press of a button on the helmet, it emitted a hissing sound.
Step by step, Miao Yan entered the water. Chen Xiaolian noticed that a force field naturally formed around the helmet, parting the water.
Although Miao Yan was in the water, the force field kept the water away from her body, creating a space approximately the size of a person around her!
"This is the underwater walking equipment. It has automatic lighting and underwater radar scanning functions," Miao Yan glanced at Chen Xiaolian. "But I only prepared one. You'll have to figure something out on your own."
Chen Xiaolian smiled wryly. "It's alright. I said I'm a man, not afraid of being exposed. A little water won't hurt."
He took out a diving gear, strapped the oxygen tank to his back, bit onto the oxygen tube, and gestured to Miao Yan to indicate they should proceed.
The two descended into the underground river and began to navigate through its channels.
Miao Yan led the way with Chen Xiaolian following closely behind. Miao Yan's underwater walking equipment was indeed very effective.
The underground river wasn't smooth; it had hidden reefs, protruding rocks, and deep caves.
If they were using ordinary diving gear, they would likely encounter multiple crises along the way. However, with Miao Yan leading the path, her equipment provided ample illumination of the surrounding water, and her radar system helped avoid all dangerous reefs and rocks. After walking for about fifteen minutes, they had already delved deep into the underground river. Whenever they reached a fork in the waterway under the underwater rocks, Miao Yan's radar system quickly identified the direction.
Finally, after advancing underwater for over twenty minutes, Chen Xiaolian estimated the time in his mind...
Ahead, the water flow suddenly became turbulent, and several sizable underwater whirlpools appeared around them!
Miao Yan turned around and made a "be careful" gesture to Chen Xiaolian.
Then she led the way towards the gap between the two underwater whirlpools.
Carefully navigating between the gaps of the whirlpools, the two cautiously proceeded forward under Miao Yan's lead, seemingly encountering no significant dangers.
Just as it seemed like the underground rock passage was about to end and a faint light appeared ahead...
Suddenly!
Miao Yan felt the surrounding whirlpools abruptly change position! Caught in the whirlpools, both she and Chen Xiaolian were squeezed by the shifting whirlpools, leaving them no space to maneuver. Before they could react, they were sucked directly into the whirlpools!
The rushing water flung their bodies into the air! Miao Yan suffered the most; the force field around her body, designed to repel water, actually intensified the impact against the rocks. After being engulfed by the whirlpool, she collided with the rocks, immediately coughing up blood!
The powerful water pressure pinned Miao Yan against the rocks, making it hard for her to breathe. Despite this, she managed to stay conscious, relying on her strong physical resilience. As Chen Xiaolian struggled to reach her and extend his arm, seemingly trying to pull her, Miao Yan grabbed onto his wrist with all her strength...
At that moment, as if under immense water pressure, the rock behind them was directly pushed open!
After the rock moved, the intense pressure "pushed" the two into an opening, like a drain, which sucked them in directly!!
After a roller-coaster-like ride of ups and downs, the two landed in an open space and crashed onto the ground.
Miao Yan immediately sat up, forcefully swallowing the blood in her throat, and widened her eyes, surveying the surroundings...
Giant stone pillars supported platforms made of rocks, but these rocks were visibly corroded and becoming loose and unstable.
Below the stone pillars lay... a sea of mercury!
This was a massive enclosed cavern!
Miao Yan's heart sank.
At that moment, Chen Xiaolian's voice came from behind her, "Now you can open that piece of paper."
Miao Yan remained silent, swiftly retrieving the paper from her storage equipment and unfolding it. With just one glance, her expression changed drastically!
On the paper were hastily scrawled words:
"Cavern, rock platforms, mercury, trapped."
Miao Yan was stunned for a moment. Then she abruptly turned around, crumpling the paper into a ball, and stared at Chen Xiaolian intently. "Who... who are you exactly? How did you... how did you anticipate..."
Slowly getting up and dusting off his clothes, Chen Xiaolian smiled bitterly. "Miao Yan, don't you understand? The instance we experienced together is exactly this one we're in right now! And I... I'm from... the future!"
From... the future?!
Miao Yan felt as if she had been struck by lightning, her face displaying an expression of incredulity.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone