Ge Nianlan beamed. “Okay, Um…okay. So, the character I’m playing is someone who is easily bullied. He has a um…dis…dis…a…”

“Disability?”

“Mn! He’s a little foolish,” Ge Nianlan said. “So, he accepts lies easily and people tells him to do something, he’ll do it! But one day, he gets a dream from a very powerful deity and then he wakes up and realizes that he’s being used! So, in the bad conclusion, if he continues to be used, he’ll die and the world ends, because of this bad guy. And, obviously, I’m trying to get a better ending, but I’m not sure how to go about it.”

Ye Mingxi held his chin. The games of Yinxue Region were quite complicated and a little too brutal. Was that why children here came of age earlier than in Yunheng Region?

“Ahem, um…are there any other restraints to this game?” Ye Mingxi asked.

“There’s more plot,” Ge Nianlan said.

Ye Mingxi held onto his serious expression and crossed his arms. “Alright, let’s hear it.”

“So, there’s the big bad guy, who is also his rival—that’s the guy who destroys the world,” Ge Nianlan said with a wild hand gesture. Sigu swayed with Ge Nianlan’s head and squawked in irritation. “Um, so, this bad guy and my character are still children! But the bad guy gets bullied all the time and he eventually gets super angry at the world, so he ends up hating people. It’s actually the bad guy’s fault that my character dies in the future, because he tricks people into hating him! Oh, and the reason the bad guy doesn’t like my character is because they were swapped at birth, so bad guy sort of wants revenge or something? I think it’s misdirected hate. Um, and then the bad guy kills everyone.”

Ye Mingxi stared at Ge Nianlan. What a hardcore game.

“So, right now, I’m trying to decide what to do. My two goals are to survive and prevent the destruction of the world,” Ge Nianlan said with a troubled sigh. “I think the most important thing is to prevent the destruction of the world, because if my character survives, but the world still ends, that’s still a bad ending! The only reasonable way I can think about going about this is to kill the bad guy.”

“Wait, hold on,” Ye Mingxi stopped Ge Nianlan. “Does your character know that he was adopted?”

“Um, at this point, yes. Because of the deity granting him a vision.”

“Does your character and the bad guy live in the same household?”

“No, they’re different.”

“Then, it’s easy! Just have your character tell the truth, and then the bad guy won’t be bullied anymore and he won’t hate the world anymore.”

“But if my character ends up in the bad household and is bullied, it still won’t be considered a good ending! The ending I’m aiming for is one where he can live without being bothered,” Ge Nianlan explained.

“I see…” Ye Mingxi murmured. He glanced at Ge Nianlan. This boy was very meticulous. “Then…”

“Then?”

“Well, first off, I think killing the bad guy is out of the question.”

Ge Nianlan’s expression fell. “How come?”

“Because if it ever gets out that your character is not the real child, then his adoptive parents will be mad that your character killed their son.”

“And then that won’t lead to a good ending either,” Ge Nianlan said as his face paled.

“Exactly,” Ye Mingxi nodded. “Plus, you said he was a child?”

“Yes.”

“It would be difficult for a child to kill someone easily. Killing takes a lot of strength,” Ye Mingxi explained.

Ge Nianlan nodded with rapt attention. Ye Mingxi made a great point.

“Then, what should I do?” Ge Nianlan asked.

“Let me think,” Ye Mingxi said.

The two sat in silence for a few minutes until Ye Mingxi snapped his fingers.

“Okay! I got it.”

Ge Nianlan’s eyes lit up. “Okay?”

“The bad guy is still a child, which means there’s a chance for change, right?”

Ge Nianlan stared at him blankly before his expression slowly showed understanding again. That’s right! Right now, Huai Zhen was just a helpless little lamb who constantly got tossed around and bullied. Until he came into contact with devil Qi, he was just like any other bullied kid!

“Mmhm!”

“Then, your character should try to change the bad guy’s future,” Ye Mingxi suggested. He sighed. “Being bullied is a horrible thing. You’ll feel so isolated and alone. Some people might even feel like they’re not worthy of anything, because they’re constantly being put down. If the bad guy’s bullying is bad enough to make him hate every human, to the point of destroying the world, that probably just means that he has lost hope in humanity.”

“And how do I restore his hope?” Ge Nianlan asked.

“You have to be kind to him,” Ye Mingxi said. “If you show him kindness, he will surely become a better person!”

Ge Nianlan hesitated. “Is that it?”

“Of course! But it will take time and effort. For example, what do you do when a plant is wilting?”

“Pull it out?”

“No, no. You have to water it,” Ye Mingxi said. “If you water it and care for it long enough, it’ll slowly get better. In a lot of ways, humans are like plants. Just like water is the cure for a wilting plant and food is the cure for a starving man, kindness is the cure for a broken heart. Bad people don’t become bad without a reason—it is often because they have been hurt before, so they can’t find it in themselves to know kindness anymore. Besides, if you’re kind to someone, they will naturally feel gratitude! And if they feel gratitude, it’s less likely that they will harm you.”

Ge Nianlan sat in silence for a long time.

Ye Mingxi watched him hesitantly. “Does that help?”

Would it help? Although Yinxue Region wasn’t as evil and barbaric as those pampered folk in Yunheng Region thought it was, people here did often resort to killing faster than others. Perhaps killing the bad guy and then getting strong enough to kill the character’s adoptive parents would have been the better way to go.

“I…I think it does.”

Ge Nianlan nodded to himself.

Of course, it does!

Just like Nie Chenhui said—children are easily swayed! If Ge Nianlan is kind and patient to the broken-hearted Huai Zhen, then Huai Zhen will realize that there are still kind people in this world. And even if that plan failed, then, at the very least, Huai Zhen won’t try to frame him at every turn, right? This plan could buy Ge Nianlan a few years before he figured out what to do!

Besides, being kind was definitely easier than trying to get powerful fast in a short period of time!

However, Ge Nianlan thought of a new problem. How in the world would he contact Huai Zhen? The boy lived across a large stretch of water and in a world that Ge Nianlan could not even think of reaching. He could accept Baili Liuye’s invitation and go back to Yunkong Pavilion with him, but once the truth was out, Ge Jinsheng would definitely send out his troops to find his son. And, at that point, won’t Huai Zhen be found nearly immediately!? Then, Ge Nianlan won’t have time to brainwash—no—cozy up—no, wait—be nice to Huai Zhen!

The plan was definitely a good one, but how could Ge Nianlan enact it naturally and without arousing any suspicion?

“Young Lord? What brings you over here?”

The voice made Ge Nianlan jump. He looked over his shoulder as Baili Liuye walked up to them. His hair flowed freely past his shoulders and he wore only thin robes and a light coat.

Ge Nianlan slowly settled back down after realizing the person who spoke was his father. He glanced at him again in irritation. “I was asking Lord Weidan about game strategy?”

“Game strategy?” Baili Liuye asked. “For what game? Chess?”

“Just some game I’m playing with some disciples,” Ge Nianlan said. “Do you want to help?”

“Is there more?” Ye Mingxi asked.

Ge Nianlan let out a long, troubled sigh. “The idea is certainly good! But the bad guy lives so far away, so I don’t know how my character could naturally approach him. It’s also a place that my character can’t easily enter.”

Baili Liuye raised a brow. “Just what sort of game is this?”

Ge Nianlan summarized the situation for Baili Liuye. The man stood, somewhat shocked for several seconds, before cautiously asking: “Is this what children of Yinxue Region do in their free time?”

“It’s to temper the mind!” Ge Nianlan said in exasperation. “You wouldn’t understand.”

Ye Mingxi bit back his laughter. “Right, Liuye. You wouldn’t understand.”

Baili Liuye shot Ye Mingxi a look, then proceeded to sit down beside them.

Ge Nianlan placed his chin against the back of his hand and stared blankly out into space.

After a few minutes crawled by, Baili Liuye softly cleared his throat. Ge Nianlan and Ye Mingxi looked in his direction.

“In life, the best thing to do is to wait.”

“Wait?”

“Mn. Always keep an eye out for an opportunity,” Baili Liuye said. “And when the opportunity arises, strike down quickly.”

Ge Nianlan fell silent.

Wait? How long would he have to wait? Was there really not another way to go about this?