Inside the residence of the little princess of the Divine Family, two small children could be seen on top of the bed. Xue Hui was pinned beneath the curious prodding of Chen Linlin.
"Linlin, stop. If you don't stop squishing my face, it might end up all soggy and wrinkled," Xue Hui said helplessly as her soft hands hovered over his small face.
Hearing his plea, Chen Linlin paused and looked at him. The disbelief on her face never lessened even a bit.
Earlier, when she poured her heart out to Xue Hui, she had never truly believed that he would actually answer her cry for help.
So it was no surprise that Chen Linlin received the shock of a lifetime when he suddenly caressed her cheek and spoke to her.
She didn't know how to feel about it. Looking down at him, she saw that instead of his usual blank expression, he wore a troubled look.
SMACK!
"Ouch! What was that!?"
Her palm stung after landing a crisp slap on Xue Hui's cheek. She ignored the look Xue Hui was giving her and instead stared at her palm with a stunned expression.
She wasn't dreaming. Her eyes widened further. She was fully awake.
Xue Hui had woken up and talked to her.
Wanting to inspect his face more closely, she leaned down until her face was only a strand of hair away from his.
Her hands moved and pinned his arms down beside his head.
"Ah, Linlin, what are you doing?" Xue Hui felt awkward. He wanted to break free from her hold, only to discover that his body was still too weak to do so.
She couldn't believe what she was seeing. Her personal attendant, Xue Hui, who usually wore a blank expression, was now showing various emotions on his face.
At the moment, he looked awkward and troubled.
But Chen Linlin ignored all of that and kept her inquisitive eyes fixed on him.
His usually void-like gaze now held life within it. Unlike before, his eyes were now glowing brightly.
Not metaphorically.
There was actual light within his pupils. They looked like halos shining in the darkness.
Chen Linlin found them quite pretty to look at.
Xue Hui began to feel increasingly awkward in their current position. He was pinned beneath Chen Linlin's weight.
He couldn't just shake her off. They were near the edge of the bed, and one wrong move might send her tumbling to the floor.
Helplessly, he simply endured it and waited for her to grow tired of staring at him.
"H-Hui-hui… i-is that really you?" Chen Linlin asked in a shaky voice. The Xue Hui she knew and the one beneath her felt so different that she was afraid she had somehow lost her friend.
Xue Hui noticed this and gave her a reassuring smile.
"I still am. I just woke up from a long dream, that's all."
With a grunt, he mustered all his strength and lifted Chen Linlin, placing her beside him.
"Woke up from what?"
As she sat next to him, Chen Linlin wore a confused expression. She tilted her head while looking at him.
"From a long dream," he repeated.
Although Xue Hui had just returned from the space of the [CREATION ORIGIN ANCESTRAL MANUAL], he had already processed all the new information that had flooded his mind.
He had returned to the past, to a time when he was still a child, about a year after Chen Zhenlong had brought him home from the orphanage.
Although everything had played out exactly as before, there was one massive difference between his past and the present he now found himself in.
And that was his own situation.
Memories poured into his mind. Events had unfolded the same way as before. He had been abandoned on the cold streets as a baby.
He was then picked up and brought to an orphanage, where he grew up until Chen Zhenlong took him in.
The only difference was that he had experienced all those events while his soul remained trapped within the space of the [CREATION ORIGIN ANCESTRAL MANUAL].
While he spent tens of thousands of years studying, his body had gone through life on some kind of autopilot.
It fascinated him. Despite the disposition of his former self, he had still managed to catch Chen Zhenlong's attention.
In fact, that was likely the very reason Chen Zhenlong adopted him in the first place.
Chen Zhenlong had probably believed that his disposition might help Chen Linlin to feel comfortable around him. Since he can follow instructions and perform simple tasks, he had been made into her attendant.
It was a strange reason, but it worked in his favor, so he wasn't complaining.
As long as he was with Chen Linlin, everything would be okay from now on.
"Is that why you always looked like you were…?" Chen Linlin bit her lip, unsure how to properly describe his condition.
"Like a lifeless boy?" Xue Hui finished for her.
"Mhm." Chen Linlin nodded timidly.
"Because I was," Xue Hui said nonchalantly. "I was trapped inside my own head before. But now that I'm here, things are going to change for the better."
Chen Linlin looked at him in awe. She could hear the confidence in his voice.
Xue Hui gently took Chen Linlin's hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
"Like I said, I won't let you suffer any longer. I will help you walk again and cultivate. All I ask is that you trust me. Can you do that, Linlin?"
Chen Linlin looked at their joined hands, her heart beating loudly because of everything he had said, especially his promise to help her.
"Really… can you do that? Can you really help me, Hui-hui?"
She tightened her grip and leaned toward him with a desperate look on her face.
"Y-you can really save me, Hui-hui!?"
He nodded firmly.
"Like I said, all I ask is that you believe in me. I will definitely help you regain everything you've lost, and gain even more. All I'm asking is that you trust me."
With the knowledge he had gained from the [CREATION ORIGIN ANCESTRAL MANUAL], Xue Hui was one hundred percent certain that he could help her recover everything she had lost.
All he needed was her trust.
What worried him most was that Chen Linlin might push him away because he was no longer the same Xue Hui she had known.
That was why he kept asking her to believe in him.
He wanted to make sure she wouldn't feel a sense of unease once he began cultivating and underwent a complete rebirth.
With another gentle squeeze, Xue Hui looked at Chen Linlin and patiently waited for her answer.
"Y-yes… I will always believe in you, Hui-hui, no matter what!"
Seeing the eagerness in her eyes, Xue Hui displayed a bright smile, prompting her to return it with a shaky smile of her own.
"Then in that case, I need to start now."
Letting go of her hand, Xue Hui sprang up from the bed and stretched his small body, easing the stiffness he had accumulated from moving so rigidly for such a long time.
He fully intended to begin the process of freeing Chen Linlin from her condition.
But in order to do that, he needed to strengthen himself first, from a single soul force to at least Bronze Rank.
Only then would he have the confidence to face and speak with Chen Zhenlong.
Xue Hui knew full well that revealing the existence of the [CREATION ORIGIN ANCESTRAL MANUAL] was far too risky.
If news of it ever leaked out, it could very well cost him his life.
So instead, he would have to come up with a believable explanation for how he had suddenly regained consciousness and how he was capable of helping Chen Linlin.
As much as Xue Hui wanted to keep his awakening a secret, he couldn't do so without explaining all the changes that had happened to him.
It wasn't as if he could simply walk around the Divine Family mansion, high-fiving everyone, and expect them not to make a big deal out of his awakening.
So if he was going to reveal himself, he might as well do it with Chen Zhenlong first.
At the very least, if things went well, he might gain his cooperation.
If that happened, he could help Chen Linlin much faster.
He could borrow Chen Zhenlong's strength and resources to traverse the outside world and gather the treasures he needed to heal her.
Xue Hui sighed inwardly.
In the end, all he could do was gamble.
He hoped that Chen Zhenlong was someone broad-minded enough to hear him out.
His cooperation would be a crucial part of all his plans.
Because if not, Chen Linlin would have to wait quite some time before he could restore her health and cultivation.
Even with all the knowledge he had gained from the [CREATION ORIGIN ANCESTRAL MANUAL], increasing his strength from a single strand of soul force to the level of a Black Gold Demon Spiritualist would still take an extremely long time.
Demon Spiritualists had different ranks: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Black Gold, and Legend Rank.
Each rank was divided into five levels: One-Star, Two-Star, Three-Star, Four-Star, and Five-Star.
The gap between Bronze Rank and Legend Rank was like the difference between heaven and earth.
Reaching each new rank could take years for an ordinary person.
That was why Xue Hui hoped to gain Chen Zhenlong's cooperation.
But before confronting him, he needed to increase his strength first, at least to the level of a Bronze Rank Demon Spiritualist.
Only then would he have the ability to escape if Chen Zhenlong decided he was too suspicious to remain by his daughter's side and threw him into prison.
A One-Star Bronze Rank was enough to use the Soul and Blood Ignition Technique.
He would suffer terribly if he ever resorted to it, but as long as he could escape, he could recover his strength and resume cultivating.
No matter how his conversation with Chen Zhenlong turned out, none of it would stop him from achieving his ultimate goal.
And that was to save Chen Linlin and ensure that his past would never become their future.
End of Chapter 7