Jiang He was once again given a harsh lesson by his "future self"—
Even though Old Jiang looked like a straightforward man with thick eyebrows and honest eyes, without much scheming, in reality, he was an old man over a hundred years old.
Being carefree was only his façade. He had gone through so many things. For him to become the Savior of humanity, it was naturally impossible for him to lack the necessary depth and cunning.
It was just that, until now, there had been no need to show it.
Once something caught his interest, the carefree front he displayed before became nothing more than a disguise to lower Jiang He's guard. A few tricks of acting and wordplay were enough to easily extract the information he wanted.
The Jiang He who got trapped was grief-stricken and indignant: "You old men, why do you all like playing mind games with yourselves?!"
"To be precise, we are you. So it's you playing mind games with yourself." Old Jiang smiled. "Haven't you also been hiding something from yourself?"
Jiang He was left speechless.
Old Jiang's words were not wrong.
Whether it was "White Crane" or "Old Jiang," at the end of the day, they were all possible futures extended from Jiang He's "Moment of Awakening."
But when the "Moment of Awakening" happened, Jiang He had just turned eighteen.
Perhaps in the eyes of these old men, he was naïve and laughable, still carrying the pure foolishness of a student…
But he was not truly a "blank sheet of paper."
The eighteen years of life behind him had long since stained this "blank sheet" with colors, shaping the course of the future Heroic Spirits.
No matter how much the personality of a "future Jiang He" changed with life experiences, some things—his most essential traits—were not so easily altered.
Jiang He muttered helplessly: "So the reason I got played is all my own fault?"
"Of course." Old Jiang smiled. "You are the source. We are the future."
"As the original self, you cannot just enjoy the benefits of the future while refusing to shoulder its possibilities."
"You must take responsibility."
"So, quickly tell me—who is she?"
"..." Jiang He sighed helplessly. "The reason I didn't say before was that I was worried about you…"
"No need to worry needlessly." Old Jiang smiled faintly. "Your attitude, my personality… there are already so many clues for me to piece things together."
"What I need now is simply a definite answer."
"Besides, even if you don't say it now, when I return, someone will give me the answer."
"…The Prophet?"
Jiang He suddenly realized.
In Old Jiang's future timeline, the Prophet had not died and had even become an X-rank Observer.
He could look into the past and future, and unlike Old Jiang, he suffered no side effects like memory erasure.
Old Jiang could easily turn to him for the answer.
He himself had even changed professions into an Observer. At worst, he could dig three feet into Blue Star's ground to find the truth.
Realizing this, Jiang He finally relaxed and sighed inwardly.
"All right. But in fact, I don't even know what exactly her relationship with you is…"
"I only saw some fragmented scenes of you being close with her. As for how far it developed, I didn't see…"
Jiang He recounted without reservation the fragments he had witnessed when upgrading his talent.
Old Jiang listened in silence, his expression calm, showing no emotion.
At last, he said: "I understand."
Jiang He clearly remembered: in Old Jiang's past, when the camp was overrun by exotic beasts, when she lay fallen in a pool of blood, the rage and killing intent on his face, and the grief and pain when he buried everyone…
Yet at this moment, Old Jiang seemed to be listening to a stranger's story, incomparably calm.
This stark contrast made Jiang He's heart heavy.
As if sensing Jiang He's thoughts, Old Jiang spoke: "Pain, grief, guilt, rage… these are the most meaningless emotions."
"They cannot change what has already happened, yet they consume one's heart, robbing one of reason."
"In the future of the Exotic Beast Rampage, many people were controlled by emotions and fell into the traps of the beasts."
Jiang He asked: "Traps?"
Old Jiang explained simply: "Some exotic beasts repeated the very things humans had once done to them."
"..."
Jiang He had never seen such scenes, but just imagining that hellish picture made him nauseous, his heart freezing cold.
If that was the outcome, then a quick death would instead be the best ending.
No wonder Old Jiang had chosen to erase certain emotions from himself…
He was humanity's Savior. The hells he had witnessed must have been countless.
Under such circumstances, erasing grief and rage allowed him to remain rational in battle, preventing emotions from consuming him, letting him face calamity with a clear mind, and ultimately succeed in turning things around.
That was his choice.
"Of course, you are not the same as me."
"You don't need to worry about emotions affecting your reason. On the contrary, you need emotions to understand the flow of time ahead, to understand every version of us in the future…"
"You must always remember one thing."
"We are you."
Jiang He nodded slightly.
In truth, he didn't need Old Jiang's reminder.
Back when White Crane's identity was exposed, he had already figured this out.
Now, Old Jiang stared straight into Jiang He's eyes and spoke with utmost seriousness.
"I saved the future of the Exotic Beast Rampage, allowing humanity to continue."
"I am humanity's Savior."
"You are different."
"I hope you can save me, save White Crane, save 'us'…"
"I hope you can become the Savior of 'me'."
So this was Old Jiang's true wish?
He taught Jiang He techniques, helped him improve his profession system, raised his strength…
Was all of it so that Jiang He could grow strong enough to become the Savior of "himself"?
Jiang He thought of the despairing White Crane who became the World Destroyer, thought of the Old Jiang who had abandoned his past in order to save humanity.
Their futures were not beautiful—this was the reality.
No one's life could be flawless. The stronger a Transcendent, the more experiences they carried, and the more likely they were to encounter suffering.
Perhaps in some people's eyes, it was precisely these hardships that made them powerful.
But in Old Jiang's eyes, if there had been a chance to change the past, he would rather have given up being the Savior in exchange for a peaceful life.
Jiang He and Old Jiang locked eyes.
This was a request from the Savior, from "himself."
He felt the weight on his shoulders grow heavier.
Perhaps this, too, was the responsibility he had to bear after awakening the talent [Ferryman of Time].
Jiang He nodded seriously. "All right, I promise you."
Old Jiang's face broke into a smile.
At that moment, Chi Zhilei exclaimed with joy: "Great! Then I'll go tell Dad. Next Tuesday, we'll have dinner together…"
"…?"
Jiang He was momentarily stunned, his brain quickly processing the information.
He remembered now. Just earlier, Chi Zhilei had told him that Chi Zhenshan invited him for a meal, asking when he was free, asking from this week to the next, from lunch to dinner…
But when Jiang He was talking with Old Jiang just now, he had been too focused in thought.
So much so that he forgot to keep their conversations separate, and directly nodded his agreement…
"Oh my, already this old, and you still can't send your chat messages to the right channel." Old Jiang smiled, adding a cold jab.
Jiang He: "..."
Sure enough, perhaps world destruction would be better.