A Star Reborn: The Queen's Return

Chapter 1212: Contemporary Sci-Fi Theme

She couldn’t possibly explain herself to everyone, right?

After suffering such a grievance, Jiang Bilian cooped herself up in her dorm and cried incessantly. She blamed it all on Xia Yingluo.

Xia Yingluo’s name had been smeared so badly previously, but now that the truth had been found, a good number of people ended up sympathizing with her. A portion of them even said that the scene in which she walked in the rain was emotional and unforgettable. In some sense, she’d gathered a few fans because of this, who in turn set up a forum page focused on her.

Jin Ling’er teasingly said that she’d actually benefited from this misfortune.

Xia Yingluo’s mood was better now too. In the blink of an eye, the day of going out with Wei Lingnan had come again. She dolled herself up and headed out for their date. This time, the date venue was Nanning Southern Park’s villa. Wei Lingnan had already settled the paperwork for the villa he’d promised her, and it was now officially under her name. He invited her over to “receive” this gift, and at the same time, share a drink as they looked at the stars.

The villa was beautiful.

She could tell that a lot of effort had been put into this place, given the wonderful work done for this futuristic theme. The entire structure of the building was painted a perfect silver, one that hinted at the future in a satisfying sight. On the walls of the living room, in the corner of the dining room, by the bed frame, and at odd corners and spaces were several decorative ornaments and items. Some of them looked like plants while others just looked... strange.

“This villa is for you,” Wei Lingnan said as he handed her a cocktail he’d just mixed at the bar.

She took a sip—it was pretty good.

“Thank you,” she said. Although she was the First Miss of the Li family, and it wasn’t difficult for her to buy an expensive villa like this, she could tell that there was something special about this one. The details and effort in the structure made it different from the rest.

Wei Lingnan smiled. “Cheers.”

As they each finished a cocktail, a comfortable dizziness began creeping up inside Xia Yingluo’s head. Strange, her alcohol tolerance had always been good since she was young, but why did she get drunk so easily when drinking with Wei Lingnan?

He took her to view the rest of the villa in her grogginess.

As they arrived at the long hallway on the second floor, Xia Yingluo turned and saw a huge painting on the wall.

It was a huge battlefield, with blood-red clouds rolling above. There was a massive empire of worms—yes worms, that was the only way Xia Yingluo could describe them, they seemed like alien worms out of a sci-fi film—surrounding a small group of...

A small group of... what were those?

They were fictional and abstract too, a species that was hard to describe.

Some of them looked like humans, but only partially, as the lower half of their body was in an animal form. Others simply looked weird, with sharp teeth and huge pupils that scared the soul out of her. They were bleeding profusely as they fought against the never-ending army of worms. The battlefield was sprawled with many corpses of the worms, but only a small number of those creatures’ corpses—it was evident that while outnumbered, this strange species definitely wasn’t on the losing end.

The scene was rather stunning, and Xia Yingluo could barely take her eyes off it.

Wei Lingnan looked at her expression. “Do you like it?”

She couldn’t say a word. Some aspect of this artwork had struck her in the heart, leaving her dizzy as blood gushed through her veins, as if... as if she couldn’t wait to dash on that battlefield, to stand with the strange creatures and fight alongside them. This was an unprecedented feeling, one that came too quickly for her to rationalize.

Wei Lingnan reached out and slowly pointed out to her. “These... are the Skatana species.”

He was pointing at the group of creatures battling the worms.

So, they had a name?

Xia Yingluo’s head spun even more now, and she struggled to stand upright. “Ska... tana species?”

It sounded a little awkward when she said it. Wei Lingnan looked into her eyes and she felt something buzzing at her ear, but then again, it felt like nothing at all. The inexplicable feeling—like resonance between metals—came back to her again. It felt like a fantasy, a hallucination, and it left her feeling weak.

It seemed to last a thousand years, or maybe, it had just been a split second, before the sound faded into nothingness.

Xia Yingluo went pale and looked up at Wei Lingnan. “What... just happened to me?”

Wei Lingnan did not respond, nor could he respond. His little girl... couldn’t even remember their accent?

Oh, how he wished she could understand that strange resonance and respond accordingly in that form. At this point, however, it seemed like a faraway dream. He did not dare to use too much of their accent on her, for this sound wave that came from the most superior species in the universe might have an adverse effect on her health, or might even result in death.

He turned back to the artwork and continued pointing things out to her. “These soldiers are all men, or I should say, males. In the Skatana species, the females are extremely cherished.”

She looked at him, confused. There was something abnormal about him tonight.

Not needing a response from her, he went on, “The males fight to protect the females; I am a guardian, I fight for Ah Luo.” A rather lonely voice was suspended in the air. If he lost her, he’d probably lose all meaning in life.

Xia Yingluo finally understood what was so strange about all of this. This man before her was narrating the fictional battle story to her as if it was real! How... was this possible? How could there be a Skatana species, or aliens?

Xia Yingluo thought she might be drunk and hallucinating all of these. Otherwise, it could be that he was drunk and spouting nonsense.

She looked at Wei Lingnan as if he was a ghost. She really wanted to ask him if he was drunk, but seeing how sober and quiet he looked, she began suspecting that he was mentally ill—could he have been missing Ah Luo too much, that he was becoming confused? Or, was Ah Luo non-existent in the first place, and simply a fragment of his imagination? That would explain why he’d been clinging onto her. Perhaps, he’d just been wanting to find a physical embodiment of Ah Luo in the real world.

And she happened to be the unlucky one.

“Wei Lingnan...” She sighed before saying cautiously, “You think you’re a Skatana person?”

“Not a Skatana person, it’s a Skatana species.” Wei Lingnan corrected her. “Person? That’s just a very narrow definition that humans came up with. The universe is full of different species, way more than the human race can imagine.”

... Alright, he was ill, pretty seriously ill.

“I know a psychiatrist...” She mumbled. “I’ll take you to him someday.”

He looked down at her with an unreadable expression.

She felt a little self-conscious under his gaze. In the dim light, his shadow on the wall was stretched vertically and he appeared so lanky, like the strange creature in the artwork. At that moment, she had an illusion, that the Skatana planet really did exist, and that he really did protect this particular little girl for many, many years.