A rollback after death? Then let them offer their loyalty!

Chapter 85 The Big Brother from Childhood?

The survival rules of the Ash Wasteland are presented to us in the most brutal way.

When Lin Yu's vision cleared again, he found himself standing in a cold cellar.

The cellar was small, containing only a dilapidated wooden crate and a pile of moldy burlap sacks.

In the corner, a little girl of about eight or nine years old was huddled up—it was the kestrel.

She hugged her knees, curled up in a ball, her chestnut hair was dirty and tangled, her small face was covered with tear stains and dirt, her lips were frozen purple, and her body was trembling.

But even in despair, her eyes remained fixed on the simple wooden board covering the cellar entrance, her gaze filled with deep-seated hatred and a will to survive.

This is the most central traumatic scene in the kestrel's memory.

Her mother sacrificed her life to allow her to hide in the cellar, and she had to endure the absolute darkness and fear alone for an unknown period of time.

Only when it is completely quiet outside can one crawl out and face a world where all loved ones are dead and homes are destroyed.

Lin Yu could sense an almost tangible despair permeating the cellar scene.

The kestrel's adult consciousness may very well be "stuck" here, trapped in this childhood nightmare from which it can never escape.

"Red Falcon," Lin Yu said, his voice echoing in the cellar.

The little girl suddenly looked up in Lin Yu's direction, her eyes filled with terror: "Who? Who are you?"

She couldn't see Lin Yu's specific appearance; she could only sense a vague human outline.

"I'm here to take you out of here," Lin Yu said, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Go out..." the little girl repeated the word, her eyes filled with even more fear. "No, I can't go out! There are bad people outside, Mommy said I can't..."

"The bad guys outside are gone," Lin Yu said.

"You're lying!" the little girl screamed, her voice shrill.

"They're all still here! They're looking for survivors! I heard footsteps! They've been walking back and forth up there!"

She covered her ears, and her body trembled even more violently.

Indeed, heavy, dragging footsteps could be faintly heard above the cellar, along with indistinct conversations and sinister laughter.

But these voices are actually projections of the falcon's inner fears, hallucinations created by the mixture of her memories and mental images.

In this mental prison, logical persuasion is useless.

Lin Yu remained silent for a few seconds, then walked to the corner of the cellar and squatted down next to the little girl.

He didn't try to touch her, he just got close.

"Listen," Lin Yu's voice was low but clear: "I know there are bad people outside, I know you're scared, I know your mother is gone."

The little girl's trembling stopped for a moment.

"But—" Lin Yu continued:

"You've been hiding here for too long. You've run out of water and your food is almost gone. If you keep hiding, you'll die here."

"That's better than going out and being killed by them!" the little girl cried out.

"What if I told you I could guarantee your safe exit?" Lin Yu smiled slightly.

The little girl looked up, her eyes gleaming faintly in the darkness: "...How can you promise?"

"Because," Lin Yu looked directly into her eyes, "I didn't come here now. I came from the future."

The little girl was stunned.

"In your future, you survived. You grew up and became very strong, so strong that all the bad guys combined couldn't defeat you."

Lin Yu spoke slowly, while a faint wisp of black and red flame appeared in his palm:

"Look, this is the power you will master in the future."

The cluster of dark red flames burned quietly, dispelling some of the chill in the cellar.

The little girl stared blankly at the flames, her eyes shifting from fear to confusion, and then to a faint glimmer of longing.

"You really...came from the future?" she asked softly.

"Really." Lin Yu nodded.

"I'm here to tell you that you don't have to hide here forever. You can go out, become strong, strong enough that you'll never have to be afraid of anyone again."

"Then...what about Mommy?" the little girl asked, her voice trembling.

Lin Yu paused for a moment: "She won't be coming back."

But if you keep hiding here, her death will have been in vain.

These words were like a knife, piercing through the little girl's last psychological defenses.

Tears streamed down her face, but this time she didn't scream; she just wept silently.

The hallucinatory footsteps and grotesque laughter above the cellar began to fade as her emotions shifted.

"Come with me." Lin Yu extended his hand.

"I'll show you your future. Come with me, okay?"

The little girl looked at Lin Yu's hand and hesitated for a very long time.

Finally, she trembled and slowly extended her cold little hand, placing it in Lin Yu's palm.

The instant the two hands touched—

The entire cellar scene shattered like a mirror!

Lin Yu felt himself being "pushed" out by a force, and his consciousness returned to his body.

He was still standing in the forest of his mind, and the "burning ruins" area in front of him was rapidly collapsing and dissipating.

The screaming phantoms turned into black smoke and disappeared.

The ground returned to its normal dark red color.

In the center of the area, the weeping figure slowly turned around—

It's not a young kestrel, it's an adult kestrel.

She knelt on one knee, supporting herself with her hands on the ground, panting heavily.

His face was as pale as paper, his forehead was covered in cold sweat, and a few strands of wet hair clung to his cheeks.

But her eyes were clear.

Her amber eyes lifted to look at Lin Yu, filled with extremely complex emotions:

The disorientation of surviving a disaster, the pain of having my trauma touched, and... a deep sense of shock and gratitude.

"You..." the falcon began, its voice hoarse, "How could you—"

"You're trapped in your mind's eye." Lin Yu stepped forward and helped the red falcon up. "Can you walk?"

The kestrel used its strength to stand up, its legs still a little weak, but it nodded.

She looked at Lin Yu, her lips moved as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she only whispered, "Thank you."

"Let's get out of here first." Lin Yu looked around.

The kestrel's emotional turmoil was subsiding, and the strange feeling in the surrounding forest was also diminishing.

The two continued towards the center of the forest.

This time, the kestrel was no longer troubled by mental images.

The sweet fragrances seemed to have no effect on her; instead, she looked at Lin Yu with tender affection.

Her childhood... seemed to have been enriched by a gentle older brother.

On the way, the kestrel remained silent for a long time.

Only when she could see the outline of a silver lake in the distance did she suddenly speak:

"Those scenes...you saw them all?"

Lin Yu hummed in agreement.

"...That happened when I was eight years old." The falcon's voice was calm, but beneath the calm lay a suppressed undercurrent:

"A small settlement in the Ash Wasteland, my father was the leader."

Later, another, larger force wanted to annex us, but my father refused.

They attacked under cover of night, and my mother hid me in the cellar.

She paused. "I hid inside for three days. When I came out, everyone was dead. Those people took everything usable and burned the rest."

"And then?" Lin Yu asked.

"Later, I wandered the wilderness like a stray dog, stealing, robbing, fighting wild animals, and battling other wanderers," the falcon said.

"Until I accidentally obtained a strange object that allowed me to hear sounds from a great distance and sense danger... that's how I slowly survived and grew stronger."

She turned to look at Lin Yu:

"So I need to go into the nature reserve to find out the identities of those people from back then. Some of them may have entered the nature reserve or have connections with it."

I need to find them, and then...

The kestrel didn't finish its sentence, but the coldness in its eyes said it all.

Lin Yu nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

Everyone has their own obsessions and reasons.

The two arrived at "Tranquil Lake" in the center of the forest.

The lake was silvery, calm as a mirror, reflecting the distorted forest and the leaden sky.

Two trial participants were already reflecting their reflections by the lake.

They dipped their hands into the lake, closed their eyes and concentrated, their bodies trembling slightly, as if they were fighting against something.

Lin Yu and Red Falcon also walked to the lakeside.

Lin Yu put his hand into the lake water.

It was icy cold, but even more strange was the feeling of spiritual cleansing.

The subtle distractions and lingering emotions stirred up by the mental forest in my mind are absorbed and purified like dirt by the lake water.

A few seconds later, Lin Yu withdrew his hand, and at the same time, a small ball of silvery-white light, like solidified moonlight, rose from the lake.

The kestrels also completed the mapping and received the mark and reward.

"What's next?" Red Falcon asked Lin Yu.

"Should we separate, or..."

"I'm almost done with the game," Lin Yu said casually.

The falcon nodded: "I understand, I still have a long way to go. Well... see you at the exit?"

Lin Yu looked at Red Falcon: "After we get out, if you want to take revenge on those people and need help, you can come find me."

The kestrel paused for a moment, then a very faint smile appeared on its lips.

"Fine, but before that... I owe you a life, and you can use it as you please."

This is a very important promise.

Lin Yu nodded: "Remember what you said."

Without saying another word, the two stepped into the misty exit that appeared on the shore of Tranquil Lake.

Red Falcon's pretty face flushed red; she sensed that Lin Yu might be going to investigate her thoroughly.