Chapter 61: Altering the Thread of Fate

The sky was pure white, and so was the ground.

Yun Xuan’s vacant gaze slowly regained its clarity as he looked at the angel before him.

“Welcome back. How do you feel?” The young girl smiled.

“I’m dead?” Yun Xuan mouthed the words.

“Correct. But that was within my expectations. Don’t worry, you’re not truly dead; your life holds great value. This is merely one of my experiments. The strategy continues.” She ate her fries as she spoke.

“Who are you?” Yun Xuan asked, puzzled.

“When you reach level five, you’ll learn my name. This time, you activated a save point, spending a thousand exchange points. I’ll reward you with a special ability lottery. Your save point is that French restaurant—you can use it forever.” With a wave of her hand, a virtual screen appeared before Yun Xuan.

“A save point? Is my life just a game?” Yun Xuan’s face was expressionless.

“You could see it that way. As a player, you have countless lives. Whenever you die, you can choose to reload your save and start again,” the girl smiled.

“Can you directly intervene in my death?” Yun Xuan stared at her.

“No, I’m trapped here. The answers you seek are with the one who imprisoned me. You may stay here for another twenty-three hours and fifty-eight minutes. If you need anything, you can exchange points for it—the prices are clear.” With that, the girl vanished.

Yun Xuan looked at the large screen before him, displaying a wide array of items to exchange, and a clock counting down.

“So I have a day to consider my options?” Yun Xuan sat on the ground.

He still found it difficult to accept, but perhaps because he was preoccupied with the special ability, Yun Xuan soon calmed down and began searching for a solution.

The most useful thing he had was two instances of ‘battle moment’—five minutes of time and space standstill.

Jiang Yue had said his family was threatened. Yun Xuan didn’t know how many family members Jiang Yue had, let alone where they were.

Since the save point was that French restaurant, Yun Xuan knew his time was limited.

“Should I persuade Jiang Yue to rescue them, or kill him along with the others?” This was the best solution Yun Xuan could come up with.

He glanced at the exchange list on the screen and purchased two miraculous items.

“I’ll keep a thousand exchange points just in case. As for the rest, I’ll leave it to fate.” Yun Xuan sighed.

“The lottery.” He remembered the reward.

“Congratulations, host, you have obtained a special skill: learning.”

“Learning?” Yun Xuan’s eyes lit up.

Twenty-four hours passed in a blur. Yun Xuan saw a dazzling flash of light, and his whole being disappeared.

...

He reappeared at the dining table, gazing at the French cuisine before him, then at Jiang Yue, who was eating.

“Brother Jiang, I need to use the restroom. Please continue eating.” A complex expression flashed across Yun Xuan’s face.

“Hm.” Jiang Yue responded vaguely.

Yun Xuan entered the restroom, which was separated from the main area.

He took out one of the items he had exchanged: the super notebook.

Super Notebook: Global connectivity anywhere, waterproof, shockproof, bulletproof, theft-proof, fireproof.

Skillfully opening the notebook, Yun Xuan’s fingers danced across the keys, hacking into Jiang Yue’s phone, accessing call logs and messages.

He saw a picture in the messages: a woman and a young girl, their hands and feet bound. Yun Xuan sighed and began tracing the address.

Fortunately, it was Jiang Yue’s wife’s phone number, and its signal had stopped moving.

Yun Xuan stared at the map, his expression odd—it was right outside the restaurant!

“So that’s it—the purpose of the vehicle is to keep an eye on Jiang Yue and pick up those people, just in case. In the end, they’d likely kill all three together.” Yun Xuan understood.

Since they were right outside, the matter would be easy to handle.

Yun Xuan took out another miraculous item: the tranquilizer gun.

He summoned Bai Xue, took a deep breath, and put away the super notebook.

“Battle moment!” Bai Xue whispered.

Yun Xuan charged out of the restroom, bypassing all the frozen people, and reached the door.

There were quite a few cars outside, but only one van could hold more than a dozen people.

“Just two?” Yun Xuan observed the two middle-aged men in the van, as well as the young girl and Jiang Yue’s wife in the back seat.

He opened the door and fired a tranquilizer dart at each man. The darts hung suspended in the air, just a hair’s breadth from their heads.

He swiftly took their handguns as well. By the time he finished, three minutes had passed.

Yun Xuan returned to the restroom, and Bai Xue ended the time freeze.

...

Bang! Bang! Two shots.

Yun Xuan walked out of the restroom and saw Jiang Yue rush straight to the van, opening the door.

“What’s going on?” Yun Xuan asked, feigning surprise as he approached Jiang Yue.

“Let’s talk later.” Jiang Yue saw his wife and daughter unharmed, breathed a sigh of relief, and got on the road.

Yun Xuan watched Jiang Yue’s family and felt a weight lift from his heart. Thankfully, they were nearby, or he might not have managed.

Jiang Yue dialed Dongfang Qinglv’s number and described possible locations for the remaining people. Dongfang Qinglv was furious and promised to bring those responsible to justice.

The two men hit by the tranquilizer darts seemed to fall asleep, which baffled Jiang Yue, but it didn’t matter—the important thing was his family’s safety.

In less than ten minutes, Dongfang Qinglv arrived with reinforcements and took the two men away.

“Jiang Yue, for now, take your wife and niece to stay at the Dongfang residence. Yun Xuan should come too,” Dongfang Qinglv said, choosing to comfort Jiang Yue.

“I understand. Be careful, everyone.” Jiang Yue nodded.

Yun Xuan and Jiang Yue’s family got into the car, heading for the Dongfang home. The journey was peaceful.

Yun Xuan sat in the back, silent.

“Uncle, do you want some candy?” Jiang Yue’s daughter tugged at Yun Xuan’s sleeve and spoke softly.

“I’m just a high school student. Don’t call me uncle—call me brother.” The girl’s ‘uncle’ left Yun Xuan feeling a bit frustrated.

“Uncle, have some candy.” The girl smiled sweetly and handed him some.

“Thank you.” Yun Xuan saw her smile and felt reassured his choice was right.

“Oh, call me brother,” Yun Xuan said seriously.

...

At Dongfang’s home, the old master personally welcomed them. Sun Qinglv arranged for Jiang Yue’s wife and daughter to settle in.

With a thud, Jiang Yue knelt before Yun Xuan.

“Brother Jiang, what are you—?” Yun Xuan understood, but couldn’t say it aloud.

“I’m sorry. They threatened me to take you to the outskirts, intending to use you as a bargaining chip. I had no choice. If they hadn’t been rescued, I might have done something I’d never forgive myself for.” Jiang Yue spoke in a low voice, his face full of guilt.

“They? Brother Jiang, please stand up.” Yun Xuan still didn’t know the identity of the young man or who those fully armed soldiers were.

(P.S.: I wonder if this outcome is satisfactory? Please recommend... Seeing the number of favorites drop scared me into writing this chapter in a hurry...)