Chapter 20: The Reincarnation Bond Between People (Patreon)

"Wangquan Baye." Gusttave called out his full name, his tone flat, giving nothing away.

"Here," Wangquan Baye said, lowering his head, his voice hoarse.

"Your father nearly gave himself a heart attack out there from worry. Did you know that?"

Wangquan Baye's body swayed, and his head sank even lower.

"Told to enlist properly and you wouldn't. Instead you had to sneak off Beyond the Circle." Gusttave's tone still barely rose or fell, yet every word landed like a dull blade twisting into the heart of everyone present. "Thought you were some kind of prodigy. Thought you were invincible. Thought all the intelligence the Way of Great Peace published was nothing but lies, and you wouldn't be satisfied until you saw it with your own eyes…"

"Well, you've all seen it now. Satisfied?"

No one dared answer.

Watching their companions die had driven the depth of their mistake home.

Gusttave paused, then went on. "It's only because I arrived in time that you lost just two people. If I'd come a little later, you'd be the ones with only two left alive."

Gusttave wasn't exaggerating for effect — that was simply the truth.

In the original story, of the ten members of the Masked Team, only Wangquan Baye and Li Quzhuo made it back inside the Circle alive — and Li Quzhuo lost the use of both legs, confined to a wheelchair, so strictly speaking he only counted as half a survivor.

"As punishment, I'm going to have what you did written into the newest textbooks before long — as a cautionary example to warn the world."

With that, Gusttave even cracked a joke at Wangquan Baye's expense. "Kid, from now on you'll be more famous than your father. People a few hundred years from now might not know Wangquan Shouzhuo, but they'll definitely know you — Wangquan Baye."

"And of course, Yang Yitan, Li Zizai, Li Quzhuo, Wangquan Zui, Qingmu Yuan, Mu Shenqi, Zhang Zheng, Deng Qiyue, and Ji Wuji too."

Wangquan Zui, her body having just been forcibly stitched back together, pressed a hand to her lower back, hissing softly through gritted teeth as waves of lingering pain stabbed through the break. She stole a glance up at the man before her, her mind reeling in disbelief.

The Daoist of Great Peace, the legend who'd subdued the Demon Emperor and laid down the order between humans and yao — she'd expected someone lofty and untouchable. Instead he talked like an ordinary person, and even his scolding came laced with snark. The contrast couldn't have been more jarring.

Wangquan Baye stood ramrod straight, fists clenched so tight his nails dug into his palms without his even noticing.

He'd gotten his companions killed and left his own sister gravely wounded, all because of a moment's arrogance. Facing Gusttave's gaze now, he didn't even have the courage to look up.

"A cautionary example — in the textbooks?" Li Quzhuo froze all over, his face collapsing instantly. "You can't be serious, Daoist. Isn't that a bit much? For the next thousand years, are the ten of us going to get dragged out and scolded by every generation after us?"

[Silver Wolf: The classic infamy-for-eternity package. One-click bind, lifetime activation.]

[Ju Fufu: Well done! If you're setting the rules, you've got to make an example of somebody — otherwise everyone will copy their reckless stunt, and Beyond the Circle will have incidents every single day.]

[Zenless Zone Zero · Belle: Guaranteed exam question: Briefly describe three mistakes made by the Masked Team's ten members in trespassing Beyond the Circle without authorization, and discuss your reflections in light of the facts. (15 points)]

[Hu Tao: This Director can already picture it — a few hundred years from now, some teacher rapping the blackboard in a schoolhouse somewhere, saying "This is important, it'll be on the test!"]

[Lumine: Wangquan Baye: I'd rather die Beyond the Circle than be socially executed in a textbook, aaaahhh!]

[Kiana Kaslana: Hahaha, serves them right! Bratty kids trespassing in restricted zones deserve to be pinned to a textbook page as a warning for generations to come!]

[Bronya Zaychik: Bronya thinks a certain brainless paramecium has no right to call anyone else a "bratty kid."]

[Kiana Kaslana: You annoying Bronya, I am NOT a bratty kid!]

"Compared to that, you should be more worried about facing your parents. Especially you, Wangquan Baye — your father looks about ready to kill you right now." Gusttave delivered the finishing blow, expression blank.

"He said it himself — 'If that little brat makes it back alive, I'll break his legs with my own two hands.' I'd suggest you start practicing walking with a cane."

"As for your sister's injuries—" Gusttave glanced at Wangquan Zui, whose face had gone pale, "she'll stay by my side for a while, and I'll personally see to her healing."

"Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if you and your sister have some kind of feud. First sword strike cut her clean in half at the waist, second one went straight for her neck. If you two don't have some personal grudge going on, I won't believe it."

Hearing that, Wangquan Baye ducked his head, looking a bit embarrassed.

After all, the two siblings really didn't get along all that well on an ordinary day.

[Wise: Maybe that's just what real siblings are like — no hesitation at all when it comes to beating each other up.]

[Zenless Zone Zero · Belle: I never realized my brother actually thought that way. No wonder he's always stealing my snacks — that's so mean!]

[Lumine: That won't do at all. How can a little sister let her brother push her around? If your brother bullies you, we have to get him back twice as hard!]

[Aether: Lumine…]

Watching Lumine's message, Aether — currently in the middle of dealing with the Abyss Order — felt a headache coming on.

The perspective shifts back to the dungeon simulation.

After settling matters with the Masked Team, Gusttave went back home and resumed his carefree life with his wives.

Later, work obligations led the family to move to Tushan.

After all, Tushan couldn't go a single day without its head.

One day, a strange thought struck Gusttave. "Belle, do you think the Pledge of Love only works between humans and yao? Can't it work between two humans?"

Belle flicked her pink ponytail and stared at him wide-eyed. "Huh? Did your brain short-circuit? Isn't the Pledge of Love just for humans and yao?"

"Of course I know that." Gusttave sighed. "Normally, two humans wouldn't need the reincarnation wish at all — human lifespans don't differ much, so there's no need for a Pledge of Love."

"But things are different now. Between you, me, and Wise, our lifespans…"

Gusttave didn't finish the sentence, but the implication was clear enough.

Gusttave, blessed with an unnaturally long life, was fated for tragedy alongside the short-lived Wise and Belle.

The candied hawthorn skewer Belle had been halfway through eating froze right at her lips. Her pink ponytail snapped bolt upright, her eyes went round, and she forgot to even chew the hawthorn still in her mouth. It took her a long moment before she finally yelped, "Huh? Did Feixiao's ice magic freeze your brain solid or something?!"

She flung the skewer stick down on the stone table and crossed to Gusttave in a few quick strides, chin tilted up as she glared at him — though the flicker of panic in her eyes was impossible to hide. "What's there to even talk about with lifespans! My sister and I living to a hundred or so is plenty — who asked you to go worrying about it!"

That's what she said, but the fingers gripping Gusttave's sleeve tightened more and more, her knuckles going white.

Beside them, Wise, brewing tea at the stone stove, paused for a moment with her long-handled ladle. A few drops of scalding tea splashed onto the back of her hand, but she seemed not to notice at all.

Her gentle, soft features stayed calm as ever — only the hand hanging at her side quietly curled into a fist.

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