# 1843
Chapter 1843: Beijing Courtyard
After the battle at the border ended, Lin Qiye immediately took control of the Seraph avatar and hurried toward Sword Hut.
After all, his main body was in a "hostage" situation over there, so he didn't need to worry about it much—he just had to follow An Qingyu. Compared to that, it was far more important to stop Zhou Ping.
If Zhou Ping saw himself being kidnapped and his [Pure Childlike Heart] activated out of rage, unleashing three swords to rescue him... that would be a huge loss.
Seeing that Zhou Ping had been stabilized by the Fate Monk, Lin Qiye breathed a sigh of relief. After exchanging a few words with everyone, the two of them walked out of Sword Hut.
"How are the casualties from this ambush?" the Seraph Lin Qiye asked.
"Civilian casualties are almost zero, but the damage to our top-tier fighters is quite severe." The Fate Monk spoke slowly, "Chen Han, Wu Quan, Master Chen, Shao Pingge—five Human Apex were locked up. They forcibly stopped two Cthulhu Faction gods. Although they managed to delay them for a while, they all suffered serious injuries and will struggle to recover in the short term.
The mud flat Cthulhu Faction god they encountered at Sunken Dragon Pass should be the strongest among the Cthulhu Faction gods. After the great battle, Shen Qingzhu's divine power was nearly exhausted, and he's still unconscious...
Not to mention Wang Mian, who just returned from the Antarctic and is still heavily wounded, plus Lu Wuwei. Right now, nearly half of Great Xia's top-tier fighters need to rest."
The Seraph Lin Qiye's brow furrowed tighter and tighter.
"This won't do... If the Cthulhu Faction attacks again, Great Xia will be in danger."
"Exactly. We currently have far too few pieces we can move." The Fate Monk nodded. "And given this situation, even if your main body finds where the Cthulhu Faction gods are and uncovers their secrets, with our current manpower, it will be difficult to breach their stronghold."
After walking in silence for a moment, Lin Qiye stopped.
"It seems... this trip to the Antarctic is something I have to do."
"Antarctic?" The Fate Monk's brow rose.
Previously, when Lin Qiye had just returned from Olympus, he had beaten him up badly and thrown him onto Kunlun Mountain. As such, the Fate Monk didn't know about the Antarctic or the Temporal Maze.
After hearing Lin Qiye's retelling, the Fate Monk nodded slightly.
"Indeed. Currently, the only one in Great Xia who possesses supreme battle power is the Crimson Dust Sword Immortal, but his sword can only be swung three times—he can't be used unless absolutely necessary... If we can break through the Temporal Maze and bring back the Black Night Goddess Nyx, our pressure will ease considerably.
Moreover, it's said that when Nyx left Olympus all those years ago, several Chief Gods followed her departure. If they could join forces with us, that would make up for our lack of Chief God-level combat power. Two birds, one stone."
The Fate Monk turned to look at Lin Qiye. "Who are you planning to bring?"
"No one." The Seraph Lin Qiye said calmly. "Right now, top-tier combat power is already scarce. If I take people with me, who will defend Great Xia?"
"You go alone? Your main body is still being held as a 'hostage' by An Qingyu—can you really manage that?"
"I can." He answered decisively.
After the words fell, he fell silent for a moment. Those blazing golden eyes fixed on the Fate Monk, and a dignified aura radiated outward.
"This avatar is going to Antarctica, and Shen Qingzhu is severely injured and unconscious... At present, only you can temporarily oversee the Night Watch. During my absence, don't do anything unnecessary, understand?"
The Fate Monk met that imposing gaze directly but said nothing. However, his eyes seemed to convey everything.
The Seraph Lin Qiye sighed helplessly in his heart.
It was impossible to change the Fate Monk's thinking and approach. Fortunately, Olympus had been destroyed, and the Cthulhu Faction gods wouldn't be attacking again in the short term. Even if they did come, his main body should be able to receive advance warning—in the worst case, his avatar could rush back at full speed.
After giving the Fate Monk a few more instructions, the snow-white wings behind Lin Qiye spread wide. With a powerful flap, his figure transformed into a streak of golden light and vanished into the horizon.
...
Mist.
When An Qingyu saw that Zhou Ping's sword ultimately did not fall, his eyes narrowed slightly.
He turned to look at the Lin Qiye beside him, a faint glint flickering in the depths of his gaze. After a moment, he raised his palm and pressed it toward Lin Qiye from a distance.
The temperature around Lin Qiye dropped rapidly. Gray frost crystallized on his skin, and even his movements became sluggish.
He frowned slightly. "What? Now that you've used me to leave Great Xia's territory, you want to eliminate me?"
"I told you, I won't kill you... But there are some things along this journey that it's better you don't see." An Qingyu replied calmly.
As the gray frost accumulated thicker and thicker, heavy ice sealed Lin Qiye's body within. After a moment's hesitation, Lin Qiye didn't resist, allowing the ice to engulf him completely.
Soon, a heavy gray coffin of ice appeared in the air.
An Qingyu carried this ice coffin to a strait between lands. His toe touched the surface of the sea lightly, and the world seemed to flip around him.
In the blink of an eye, they had arrived at the mirror image of that strait.
Once here, An Qingyu's expression relaxed slightly. He waved his hand casually, and Yu'er and Yu'si immediately transformed into two gray-skinned mice, burrowing into the ground and vanishing.
He himself carried the ice coffin, stepping onto a cliff on one side. Passing through the dense mist barrier, an enormous laboratory and corpse collection hall appeared before him.
An Qingyu's expression unchanged, he continued forward. Passing through another mist barrier, a small hill covered in maple trees came into view...
...
The cold receded, and the frost melted.
When Lin Qiye opened his eyes again, he found himself lying on a hard bed.
Seeing the familiar ceiling above, he was stunned for a moment, then abruptly sat up, his gaze sweeping rapidly across his surroundings.
His pupils contracted slightly!
This was...
Lin Qiye rose and strode quickly toward the door.
Pushing it open, what entered his vision first was a sea of crimson red—countless maple leaves piled on the weathered courtyard floor. Even the fish pond in the courtyard was covered with them, as if it hadn't been tended to in a long time.
The room he was in was a guest room on the south side of the courtyard. Leaning against the wall by the door stood a maple tree, and beneath it rested an elegant stone table.
Everything before his eyes was so familiar. Every blade of grass, every tree was identical to his memories. Simply standing here, he seemed able to hear the voices of the past:
"...With Jiang Er around, we could really run wild all over campus."
"..."
"Philosophy? Why philosophy?!"
"..."
"The great Great Xia [Nightfall] Squad, not even afraid of Outer Gods, yet afraid of math?"
"..."
"Cao, you clean up the house."
"..."
"??? Why is it always me cleaning?!"
"..."
Lin Qiye stood frozen in place for a long while. His gaze continued to sweep into the distance. The distant view was not the Shangjing City of his memories, but a towering mist barrier...
This was not Great Xia, nor was it Shangjing.
This was the Beijing Courtyard, faithfully recreated at one-to-one scale within the Cthulhu nest by An Qingyu.