Chapter 288: Returning to the Old House

"Mo Li, is there anywhere you want to go?"

"Mo Li only wants to be by Brother's side."

"Then… Klisa, what about you?"

"I do not, Mentor."

"Sigh, then, Ele, how about you?"

"I have no region I wish to visit, no scenery I wish to see. I only wish to continue serving you."

The shopping trip had come to an end.

Xu Xi walked out of the mall's main entrance, followed closely by several Supreme beings.

Some were cool and beautiful, some calm as ice, some passionate as fire, and others elegant and serene.

Xu Xi was asking them.

He wanted to see if the girls had any places of interest; if they did, they would visit them together.

But unfortunately, the answers were all 'no'.

"What about me? What about me?"

"Sir, you haven't asked me yet!" Wu Yingxue's eyes widened, unable to believe Xu Xi would skip over her alone.

Thump—

Xu Xi flicked the County Princess's forehead with slight force.

His tone was helpless: "Do I even need to ask you? You've been out more times than I have; you've probably toured the entire Earth by now."

"Hehe, that's true."

The County Princess laughed sheepishly.

She rubbed her forehead.

The noisy crowds, running children, and sounds of laughter were mixed with playful banter.

There was still some time before the New Year.

But in the snow-covered, hazy scenery of Yanshan City in winter, a hint of festive splendor had already appeared, with the clamor of voices echoing through the streets.

More importantly.

The wind and snow were no longer as piercing as before.

Xu Xi reached out his hand, and the snowflake that landed on his palm was only a tiny bit large.

"In that case, let's just take a casual stroll."

None of the girls had a place they wanted to go.

Xu Xi thought for a moment.

He might as well take them for a walk nearby.

It was still early anyway; there would be nothing to do if they really went back to the Courtyard.

Walking, they advanced through the intersection of wind and snow.

Stepping, they repeated the cycle in the Reincarnation of years and months.

Under the influence of magic tricks, no pedestrians noticed Xu Xi or the girls following closely behind him.

Their slender figures were unremarkable in the wind and snow.

Only, as they walked…

Xu Xi's pace faltered for a moment.

The signs of nearby shops and the bustling customers in the storefronts reminded him of memories from a long time ago.

[Taiji Steamed Bun Shop]

[Telekinesis Hair Salon]

[Battle Qi Steed Vocational Training School (New: Battle Qi Wings)]

Familiar signs, familiar slogans, and a familiar layout.

"Did I unconsciously walk near my old house?"

Looking at the various shops on both sides of the street that combined Earth's native culture with supernatural systems, Xu Xi was first stunned, then let out a light laugh.

He remembered many things from the past.

The Courtyard where Xu Xi lived now.

He had only moved in after the second simulation ended.

Before that, Xu Xi had always lived in a cramped old house, observing the outside world from the window in the embarrassing posture of being in a wheelchair.

Passively.

Helplessly.

In the alternation of day and night, he quietly watched every change in the world outside.

Thinking about it now, that felt like an extremely distant matter.

"Since we're already here, let's go back and take a look. It's a good chance to check if anything is wrong with the old house."

"Perhaps the appearance of the simulator is even related to this house."

Xu Xi thought to himself.

He set off toward his former home.

On the way, while passing the bun shop, he bought some food for the girls.

Surprisingly, regarding the flavor of the tofu pudding from the bun shop, his sister, the County Princess, and the Witch had some disagreements.

His sister liked it sweet.

The County Princess liked it salty.

The Witch liked it bitter.

"Ele, aren't you going to eat?" Xu Xi looked toward the Mech-Servant who hadn't spoken.

The winter sun was not as scorching as in summer, nor did it have the brilliance of interlaced light and shadow.

But in the pure white, clear world, everything was reflected without blemish.

In the ankle-deep snowy path that submerged Ele's feet, she stood quietly and shook her head at Xu Xi.

"I do not need it, Master."

In the fourth simulation.

As an Intelligent Machine, the loyal Mech-Servant did not need to eat, and doing so would have been meaningless.

And now, the Mech-Servant had ascended into an eternal Supreme, creating a true body for herself, yet she had long since disregarded the cycle of life.

She did not have the habit of eating.

Nor did she have the necessity to eat.

Unless it was a dish prepared by Xu Xi.

"Is that so? Then I'll find some time later to let you try my cooking," Xu Xi said with a smile, reaching out to gently stroke Ele's hair.

Snowflakes fluttered, blurring the vision.

But the snowflakes landing on the Mech-Servant's head were all disrupted by her high-frequency vibrating ears.

"Yes, Master."

"Ele will wait forever."

The Mech-Servant showed an easy-to-understand happy expression.

Next.

Xu Xi led the girls toward the former old house.

Mental Energy solidified into substance, mimicking the shape of a key, inserted into the door lock, and gently turned the handle.

Then a gentle push.

The dust-covered door, which had been uninhabited for a long time,

Opened with a shake of flying ash, creaking and groaning, the rusted door bolt making a piercing, noisy sound.

What came into view was a slightly dim and cramped room, empty inside with almost no items present.

Useful things had been taken to the Courtyard by Xu Xi long ago.

What remained were nothing more than some valueless scattered objects and useless things that would never be used again.

Like Xu Xi's former old partner, a cheap folding wheelchair.

In the corner, that wheelchair was folded up, its metal surface covered by a thick layer of dust, looking worn and dilapidated.

"Purification."

Klisa lightly raised a finger.

An invisible ripple quickly swept across the room.

While removing all the dust, it also purified the stagnant air, making the dilapidated room look brand new, without its previous filthy appearance.

"Thanks, Klisa."

Xu Xi thanked her.

He walked into the house, looking around his former residence, his eyes full of complexity and emotion.

Who could have thought that he, who was prepared to spend his life in withered silence, would be lucky enough to obtain the beautiful life simulator and be able to change that desperate life.

"The wonders of fate are nothing more than this."

Xu Xi's thoughts fell into reflection on the past.

In comparison, the girls' attention was focused more on the wheelchair.

"Brother, is this what you used before?"

Mo Li's tone turned somewhat cold.

Belatedly, she realized one thing.

Xu Xi had the ability of Reincarnation and had healed his legs himself, but that former disability had indeed troubled Xu Xi for many years.

Perhaps.

She should modify the past.

And hack the culprit to death?

"Yes, I used this before, but you don't need to care. That's already a thing of the past."

Xu Xi snapped back to reality and laughed, making the girls give up the idea of crusading against the culprit.

The source of the Spiritual Qi Recovery was very likely the life simulator.

The girls wouldn't even be able to find it.

Let alone hacking the simulator.

Of course, if such a day ever came, Xu Xi felt he could have a passionate struggle with the simulator.

Let the simulator experience what is called the 'wrath of the sacrifice'.