Honkai Impact: Grandma Pine Sparrow is still chasing me!

Chapter 375 Baiji's Little Discovery

An afternoon in the ivory tower of St. Freya. Sunlight streams through the windows, falling on the empty hospital bed in the infirmary.

Although the air was filled with the distinctive smell of disinfectant from the infirmary, Baiji felt great. He even felt that the sun had never been so warm and the air had never been so fresh.

This is a world without any old acquaintances who want to devour him alive or incite him to join their evil ways... How wonderful!

At this moment, Bai Ji had no patients. With nothing to do, he sat at his elegantly decorated table, which seemed a bit out of place in the medical room, enjoying a moment of peace. Although he was enjoying the peace, his thoughts had already drifted to the sky outside the window.

Judging by the time, they should be back soon, right?

Now that they're back, everyone's back. His little wish has been fulfilled. If circumstances allowed, he would have been very happy to gather everyone together to give Xiaoxing a proper welcome after her serious illness.

Unfortunately, that won't work, unless he wants his second apprentice to suffer "imprisonment".

Bai Ji considered himself an old carbon-based life form, still keeping up with the times, even so, he couldn't understand how "imprisonment" and love were linked: put yourself in his shoes, imagine a girl falling in love with a boy and fearing losing him (including but not limited to accidental death or running away), so she treats him like a law enforcement officer dealing with a criminal—that doesn't seem like an expression of love at all!

Yes, that's how it is. So Bai Ji made up his mind to help Qiong escape this calamity and to use gentle means to stop Selim and the others from committing crimes so that everyone would suffer. After all, Qiong is Qiong who has regained his memories, not the silly boy who lost his memory. If he really gets angry now, wouldn't it be 90/10 if he loses his temper and attacks others?

Well, with a careless blow from Qiong, some people will be sent straight to the underworld...

Just then, a commotion arose outside the window, growing louder as it approached. Lost in thought, the door to the infirmary was suddenly pushed open with a bang.

"Are you a doctor?"

Xing rushed in like a gust of wind, her eyes fixed on Bai Ji.

"Xing, you're back?"

Bai Ji turned around, pulling her wandering thoughts back, a gentle smile unconsciously curving her lips: She's back, everyone's back. They're back, that's good…

To be honest, of all his apprentices, Xing was the one he raised himself, and because of Xing's father's background as a "dead dragon," he had put the most effort into Xing...

However, Xing was clearly not on the same wavelength as him.

"Doctor, quick! Please come and see my brother! I'm about to beat him to death with this stick!"

Bletilla striata: ? ? ?

Xing spoke urgently, immediately grabbing Bai Ji's sleeve and pulling him towards the door.

Bai Ji's heart skipped a beat, and he was somewhat at a loss.

What... what's going on? My brother is talking about Sora, right? Sora was injured so badly that she's in critical condition, how is that possible?

……

When Bai Ji was dragged to the door by Xing, he saw Qiong being carried by Princess Kiana Kaslana. Qiong's eyes were closed, and she looked unconscious. But the moment Kiana "threw" Qiong onto the hospital bed, Bai Ji caught a glimpse of Qiong's slightly trembling eyelids and her face, which was flushed with nervousness.

Bai Ji immediately understood about 70-80% of it... But why was Qiong pretending to be unconscious?

"Doctor, how is my brother?"

"Xing, haven't you remembered your teacher's name?"

Slightly saddened, Bai Ji bent down and examined someone who didn't need any examination at all, then sighed heavily—of course, it was sadness over his youngest disciple's amnesia.

But Xing and the others' hearts jumped into their throats.

"How is it, Teacher Bai? Is Dead Ash Hair...?"

"The situation is not good."

Bai Ji frowned, his tone heavy, as he secretly observed the gestures Qiong made.

"That blow would probably leave Miss Rita lying in bed for half an hour..."

The ward fell into a deathly silence.

Xing gasped, looking at the baseball bat in her hand with regret; Seele's face turned deathly pale, glancing at the culprit every now and then; even the usually boisterous Kiana froze on the spot, not to mention Raiden Mei, whose eyes were filled with panic... Only Bronya, whose eyes remained calm, noticed Sora lying on the hospital bed, her lips twitched almost imperceptibly, and her eyelids trembled even more violently...

Bai Ji suppressed the urge to accuse his disciple of faking unconsciousness, keeping a straight face and resting his right hand on his chin.

"No obvious intracranial bleeding was found after the blunt force trauma, but the potential for concussion-induced altered consciousness should not be underestimated. It may require..."

"That's impossible! I didn't hit him in the head!"

Bai Ji deliberately dragged out his tone and glanced at Qiong's secretly outstretched finger.

"It's alright, but he may need a day to rest. Everyone, you may leave now."

Xing's worries immediately turned into urgency.

"Rest? What kind of rest? Doctor, what can we do?"

"Xing, call me teacher."

"Good doctor."

"Do you need any medicinal herbs or equipment, Teacher Bai? I'll tell Auntie right away!"

"No need."

Bai Ji stared at the boy on the hospital bed. He couldn't understand why Qiong was pretending like this; there was absolutely no reason for it!

However, Bai Ji chose to believe his disciple and ordered everyone, including Xing, to leave.

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"Ah, I'm alive again..."

The explosion-proof door to the infirmary, which Lao Yang modified, has a certain sound insulation effect, which has greatly relieved Qiong's tense nerves.

Looking at Qiong who had stood up, Bai Ji, suppressing the urge to reminisce with Xing and evoke her memories to achieve a happy ending, took a sip of tea.

"Qiong, tell me, why did you do this?"

The tension on Qiong's face disappeared, replaced by seriousness.

“My dear teacher Bai, I had no other choice! You see, Leiera is keeping a close eye on me. If I don’t come up with an excuse, I really have no chance to get rid of her…”

Suddenly, a strange chill ran down Qiong's spine, making him shiver.

Qiong quickly looked around: Even though the surroundings were airtight and soundproof, why did she still have an ominous feeling?

"Leera? A god? Cough cough cough... How could this be, how is this possible!"

Bai Ji's face turned pale instantly, and he coughed up the tea.

"Qiong, this isn't funny. Your teacher can't stand pranks..."

"But Teacher Bai, everything I said is true!"

Qiong's voice echoed in the enclosed space. He subconsciously touched his chest, where the Ten Signs of Calamity still seemed to linger.

Even Bai Ji himself didn't notice that the teacup in his hand was trembling slightly, and the tea was rippling in the cup... His back, which was leaning back in the chair, stiffened for a moment.

Although I was a little flustered, I still had to ask the questions I needed to ask.

"image?"

Bai Ji, looking pale, guessed the one he thought was the least dangerous, but Qiong shook his head—which made Bai Ji break out in a cold sweat.

"Could it be the coordinates of the imprint?!"

Qiong shook her head again.

"Neither? Could it just be a fully formed shadow monster?"

Bai Ji's expression relaxed considerably. If it was just a spontaneously formed shadow monster, then it was actually fine—because research showed that shadow + Honkai energy should be conserved. With Earth's absolute Honkai disaster dominating, as long as the dome didn't explode, the shadow disaster wouldn't be able to erupt.

Qiong shook her head vigorously.

"Neither, it's her consciousness."

Baiji: ...

That's terrible, even more terrifying than coordinates. Coordinates might come in the future, but if consciousness has already arrived, how far away can its arrival be?

Bai Ji began to seriously consider the possibility of requesting a rocket from Otto to launch them back to Mars—their coordinates were too obvious if they stayed here, especially Qiong; if things went wrong, Earth would also suffer a shadow disaster…

"Her consciousness possessed Xiaoxing's body and even corrupted my baseball bat..."

Qiong spoke faster, her fingers unconsciously twisting together.

"Just last night, Leera—she appeared using Xiaoxing's body. Luckily, she doesn't know I know..."

Bai Ji's lips twitched slightly upon hearing this. What about Xing? Given how intolerant that person is, wouldn't that cause an uproar?

……

Qiong was pushed away by a gentle yet irresistible force, the heavy blast door nearly hitting his high nose. He touched his nose, not annoyed at all, but instead a bright smile bloomed on his face, almost as if he was about to hum a song.

After learning about the situation, Bai Ji, who was in a bad mood, kicked Qiong out. Despite this, Qiong was still very happy—Bai Ji had taken care of everything, since he was the most reliable head of the Seven Arts, and their teacher was "False".

For Baiji, right and wrong, cause and effect, are all illusions. Taking power from the shadows is also a rule—for Qiong, rules are meant to be broken, but if the medium for breaking the rules is tampered with or malfunctions, then it cannot be used for the time being.

But Baiji is different. His power can make any rule appear real, even the resurrection of the dead—as long as he has enough Honkai energy and is willing to pay the price of defying the heavens…

Moreover, currently, most of the causal events on Mars do not yet have a direct impact on humans on Earth.

Therefore, Qiong was happy but also a little confused: she clearly understood and was confident after the initial panic, so why did her complexion turn bad again?

"Brother Qiong!"

Hi, Seele!

Seeing Seele running over again, followed by Bronya and Tako, Qiong smiled and put all other troublesome matters aside—prioritizing chatting with Seele and the others!

However, when Seele ran over and saw that he was unharmed, she immediately stopped smiling.

"Brother Qiong, who exactly is that person?"

"That person?"

Qiong paused for a moment, then quickly realized that Xier was asking about Xing.

"She's my sister, my own sister... Um, although your first meeting might have been a little unpleasant, I hope you can get along peacefully. Where is she now?"

Seele blinked.

"She left with Teacher Himeko... Brother Qiong, don't you have anything else to say to Xier?"

Other things? Qiong couldn't think of anything for the time being.

"what's up?"

"Xier wants to join Qiong-gege's team."

Seele thought for a moment and then added a sentence.

"Bronya wants to too."

Qiong was somewhat surprised, not expecting Seele and Bronya to have such thoughts—you've teamed up with me, so what about Kiana and Mei?

A three-person team! If it were expanded, that would be fine, but I promised Anna...

Seeing Qiong's conflicted expression, Bronya's lips curled up slightly by one pixel.

Presumably, Brother Qiong wants to confirm Mei's joining first, right? If he accepts Seele and himself, and then the headmaster assigns someone else to actually take charge, wouldn't that push Mei out?

Brother Qiong didn't want this to happen, and Bronya certainly didn't want it to happen either! After silently giving Qiong a thumbs up in her heart, Bronya's mind raced as she tried to persuade Seele to give up—but then, an unexpected person interrupted the conversation.

“Qiong-kun”.

Rita stepped forward with a smile.

"Does your back still hurt? Rita's chest has been hurting all day!"

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Do you believe in reincarnation?

Inside the infirmary, Bai Ji stood alone in the center. The composure and dignity he had just forced to maintain crumbled like a tide, revealing a bewildered and confused expression. He slowly raised his right hand, his fingertips trembling slightly uncontrollably.

It wasn't because of fear (or even a little excitement?) nor because of the cost, but because of that photograph.

Just now, after finishing her task of severing Xing's connection with Leiera, Qiong, now in high spirits, shared some trivial matters about Schicksal Headquarters with him—this was nothing unusual; after all, it's good for elders to listen to their children's stories, and they won't get bored...

Until he saw those photos—to be precise, photos of the white-haired, blue-eyed Qiong and the blonde, wavy-haired Durandal with a wisp of white hair.

Imagine if you changed the white hair of the character Qiong, who was holding a flaming spear, to gray, and dyed all of Durandal's hair snow-white, who was also holding a lance...

Perhaps others would find it unbelievable, but at that moment, he clearly felt a subtle and chilling sense of unease—a feeling like a leech, quietly entwining his thoughts along some invisible thread of cause and effect.

Nian Gao, the hero of Luo Xing's first Great Shadow Disaster.

The strongest Valkyrie of Schicksal, Durandal, with her hair changed, looks exactly like a rice cake! Add to that the "beef stew" little poisonous dish, and the resemblance skyrockets! And if we also consider that Sora used her "Flame Spear Charge Driven by Love" again, it was also during a fight against Durandal…

Is it possible that he was wrong from the start? He thought that Yae Sakura had stimulated the power of love and rekindled the Flame Spear that day, and later he thought it was something like March 7th, Raiden Mei... Everything was actually because of the possible reincarnation of Mochi, Durandal!

"Cause and effect..."

Bai Ji muttered to himself, a self-deprecating smile playing on his lips. If he wasn't mistaken, those few were completely out of luck—at least not through the proper channels.

With your current girlfriend, plus your deceased wife reincarnated, and another god you're planning to snipe, how are you going to win, Song Que?

He walked to the window and gazed at Qiong, who was chatting happily with three people outside.

That was the real reason for his sudden change in expression.

On Luo Xing, the Ouxia people can retrieve missing persons like Luo Chenxue from the Sea of ​​Data—although, without exception, those retrieved have lost their memories. Earth seems to have something similar, like a Sea of ​​Quanta? Nian Gao also mentioned she's from Blue Star…

If—and he meant if—Durandal really was the reincarnation of Mochi, what would Sora choose when she remembered everything? Mei, or Mochi? Or perhaps…

But one thing is certain: their old comrades and apprentices, Sparrow Serim and the Lamp, will be utterly defeated.