Let's rewind time and see what happened in the forest.
"Yang Jing? You're Yang Jing?"
The national-style female ninja before him had long, deep blue hair tied in a ponytail, and her eyes were the same deep blue as her hair. Apart from that, she was identical to Yang Jing, Siegfried's coworker at the company, his neighbor to the right. He had even helped Yang Jing deal with workplace harassment a few days ago.
A hint of surprise lingered on Yang Jing's cold face, but encountering a familiar face in another world lightened her tone considerably.
"Yes, I recognized you when you took off your hood. So you're a wanderer too."
"It's a long story, haha. I never expected my helper to be you. I'm truly honored and deeply grateful, haha… sniffle."
Siegfried didn't know what he was saying anymore. His brain had completely shut down, and he was on the verge of tears.
(It's over, my reputation!)
Yang Jing keenly noticed Siegfried's unusual behavior. A subtle curve appeared on her lips as she said lightly,
"As expected of Qi Gong, you're amazing. You've become so powerful that you can destroy the entire forest."
"All dharmas are like a dream, a bubble, an illusion, a shadow, like dew, or a flash of lightning; thus should they be regarded."
The man was reciting the Diamond Sutra to escape reality.
(I can't hear it, I can't hear it. A monk should be detached from worldly affairs; mere social death cannot affect my Buddhist heart.)
[Wanderer, please think positively.]
(Positively??)
[At least things can't get worse than they are now.]
Shannon's system was as irritating as ever, but Siegfried had lost the energy to scold it.
"Qi Gong must have completed the mission very easily. After all, not many people in this world can injure you. If you were serious, I probably couldn't even hold on for a second," Yang Jing continued her onslaught! She continued her relentless verbal attack!
Siegfried was curious why this woman could say such malicious words with such an expressionless face.
His Buddhist heart shattered, Siegfried slowly raised his broken sword…
Then he placed it on his neck, his expression tragically resolute.
"Stop… stop…"
Seeing that the joke had gone too far, Yang Jing cleared her throat and stopped her teasing.
She made a gesture with one hand, and a peach-colored handbook appeared in her hand.
"Let's exchange information first."
[Wanderer Yang Jing requests to exchange information with you. Do you agree?]
Siegfried also took out his black handbook and replied, "Of course."
The two wandering handbooks floated from their hands, turning pages rapidly in the windless air. A large amount of data flowed from the peach-colored handbook into the black handbook. Siegfried felt a surge of information flooding his mind.
Yang Jing entered the Kirand continent six months ago. Her mission was to advance history and help the Second Prince, Roderick, unify the kingdom within six months.
During those six months, she had done many things for the Second Prince, including intelligence gathering, assassinations, and pursuing Krinhide.
With her help, Roderick completely suppressed the First Prince's forces. All that remained was to eliminate Krinhide, and he could rightfully ascend the throne and end the civil war.
But at this final step, Siegfried, this unknown wild wanderer, appeared out of nowhere and unexpectedly became entangled with the Princess's faction, causing a massive shift in history.
Due to Siegfried's intervention, the civil war could no longer end within six months, and Yang Jing's mission was deemed a failure, resulting in her return to reality.
Two days ago, Yang Jing re-entered this world. This time, her mission was to:
Assist wanderer Siegfried in completing his mission: 0/1
Yang Jing was surprised when she saw the mission. This name was the same as her neighbor's. Not many people would choose such an edgy name.
She had asked Shannon about Siegfried's identity and location, but Shannon only told her that she would meet the target if she continued to work for Roderick, and she would learn more later.
When Yang Jing arrived with the pursuit team, she keenly sensed an ambush and decisively abandoned her cheap teammates.
During her escape, she encountered Siegfried, who had rushed to the rescue. Because Siegfried was wearing a hood, Yang Jing couldn't see his face and assumed he was also an ambusher, so she preemptively attacked.
That's how it happened.
"I see…" Siegfried murmured.
Yang Jing's six-month experience replayed in Siegfried's mind.
But the information he received wasn't limited to Yang Jing's experiences; it also included a vast amount of confidential information about Roderick's faction.
Knowing oneself and one's enemy ensures victory in a hundred battles. In any era of war, intelligence is always paramount.
This was a great gift, a priceless gift.
On the other hand, Siegfried's short but eventful life in another world also appeared in Yang Jing's memories.
Yang Jing was very astonished. She didn't expect Siegfried's greatest asset in completing his mission to be his mouth.
"Thank you. This information is very important to me," Siegfried thanked sincerely.
Yang Jing nodded slightly, indicating that it was only natural. But she immediately furrowed her distant mountain-like eyebrows, asking with some doubt:
"Why didn't you choose Roderick? He has an overwhelming advantage and considerable talent. Joining his faction would easily allow you to achieve your goal."
Siegfried, based on the information Yang Jing had transmitted, knew that whether or not the stage mission was completed didn't really matter. It was merely a mechanism to assist wanderers in historical correction or advancement.
He could have chosen to join Roderick's faction and wait for the ambitious Second Prince to unify the kingdom on his own. He could just lie back and wait to win.
He could also betray Krinhide and the others to Roderick now, which would also quickly and easily complete the historical correction.
Indeed, why? He was clearly a pragmatist. Why didn't he choose the simplest and most effective way?
The helpless tears of the princess in the church and the bright smile of the girl in the sunset appeared before Siegfried's eyes.
He shrugged helplessly at Yang Jing.
"No particular reason. I want to challenge something difficult. Besides, if there's a choice, I'll definitely choose the beautiful girl. I'm not gay; what would I do at Roderick's place?"
Yang Jing rolled her eyes, but she didn't dwell on it.
"It's fine. You're the main force; you decide."
"Okay, thank you. I'll take you back and introduce you to everyone. Your profession… is it an assassin or a ninja? By the way, how are you so strong??"
Siegfried suddenly realized that he seemed to be the weakest in the team.
As a high-ranking executive at the Princess's company, being the weakest didn't make sense. He quickly sought advice from Yang Jing, a senior wanderer.
Yang Jing skillfully turned to the status bar and showed it to Siegfried. Since they already knew each other, the trust-building process was skipped.
Name: Xing Mei (Yang Jing)
Female, 21 years old
Race: Wanderer
Faction: Neutral
Class: Assassin Master
A girl from the inner city of the capital. Her name seems out of place in this world.
Specializations: Animal Communication 52% (Proficient), Karate 81% (Master), Chinese Dance 65% (Expert), Ninjutsu 12% (Beginner)
Martial Arts: [Concealed Aura], [Shadow Escape], [Blade Dance], [Moment of Assassination], [Substitution Technique]…
Mental Skills: Hidden
Ability Data:
Strength: B
Agility: A+
Magic: B
Intelligence: B
Luck: C
Leadership: E
Overall Rating: A
(Damn, that's almost as good as Roland, at least ten times stronger than me.)
Siegfried was secretly amazed.
Even ignoring the A-rank overall rating and the numerous martial arts, just looking at the specializations.
Master-level karate would be enough to overwhelm Siegfried. And Animal Communication? What is that? Can you even specialize in that?
He suddenly recalled often seeing Yang Jing talking to the fat orange cat, "Meow Meow," kept at the company during lunch breaks. This scene had healed the tired minds of many male colleagues.
No way, she was actually talking to it!
On the other hand, Yang Jing was also looking at Siegfried's status bar.
However, she had only glanced at it when an uncontrollable look of surprise and shock appeared on her expressionless, cold face.
"What is this! This is impossible! How can there be so many specializations?"
Siegfried's status bar, under the specializations section,
was densely packed with nearly forty specializations, occupying more than half of the page.