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Chapter 368: Chapter 358: Multiple Lin Qings

"I can testify that everything he said is true." At this moment, Honglian took off her face mask and hat, revealing her full appearance.

Lin Qing was stunned once more upon seeing her face.

The woman was surprisingly similar to herself in many ways.

The biggest difference was her red hair, while hers was black. And judging by the sheen, the other’s red hair seemed natural, not dyed.

"You are..."

"My name is Honglian," Honglian said. "We are like sisters, aren’t we? Honestly, the first time I saw Lin Qing, I thought the same thing. Unfortunately, I haven’t found any evidence of blood relations, and the ’region’ I’m in is quite far from hers."

"Honglian?" She repeated involuntarily.

"What’s wrong?"

"The name... sounds somewhat familiar," Lin Qing said hesitantly, "but I can’t remember where I’ve heard it before."

"No worries, you can take your time to think about it later," Chen Xuan said. "Now you should answer me, who is the Lin Qing you’re looking for? Additionally, Yuyan seems to be a nickname; what’s your real name?"

Her gaze jumped back and forth between Honglian and Chen Xuan, finally letting out a soft sigh, "I don’t know who the person is. All I know is that someone sent me a letter, asking me to come to Jiang City. The signature at the end of the letter was Lin Qing."

"A letter?" Chen Xuan frowned, "When did this happen?"

"A long time ago, around when I was fourteen years old," Lin Qing recalled. "At that time, machines waking up and eating people were just stories circulating online, and the war between the Dimensional Limit Mechanism and the Evangelical Association hadn’t spread worldwide yet. As for my name... it’s actually not important. I’m indeed not called Yuyan, but also not Lin Qing."

"I..." She paused, "don’t have a name."

How could she not have a name?

Chen Xuan thought for a moment and immediately realized the problem, "Your family..."

"I was adopted." Lin Qing’s tone was somewhat somber, "That family called me Xia Xiaoyan. For a long time, I considered it my name. But later, I realized that they were actually my adoptive parents. The girl named Xia Xiaoyan died in an Ability User crime accident, and I became her replacement."

"Where did you live before you were adopted?" Honglian asked, "An orphanage?"

"I don’t remember." She shook her head, "I was too young at that time, probably only about a year old. When I started remembering things, I was already living in that family’s house."

Chen Xuan couldn’t help but exchange a glance with Honglian.

Orphans clearly wouldn’t receive such treatment; Lin Qing’s early sending off could only mean one thing: the matter was arranged early to prevent her from having memories of her childhood living environment.

"How did you later discover you weren’t their biological child?"

"The adoptive parents told me when I was ten years old," Lin Qing said candidly. "They said I was entitled to know the truth and wouldn’t stop me from finding my real parents."

"Good people," Liuli said softly.

"Indeed, they’ve always treated me well." She quickly snapped out of her somber mood, "After that, I received that letter saying that if I wanted to know my background, I should come to Jiang City to find her. Based on the postmark, the letter was sent from Jiang City, so my whole family moved to Jiang City and started searching for this person named Lin Qing."

She didn’t continue with what happened thereafter.

But Chen Xuan already knew what unfolded—war expanded, the nano-bug disaster erupted, the population of Jiang City surged and then quickly decreased until it became the "isolated island" it is now. The Xia Family either fled to nearby rural areas or died at the hands of the nano-living bodies.

"Is this the reason why you formed the Fireline Band?" Honglian looked at her in realization, "You’re still searching for her!"

"Forming it wasn’t solely my contribution but rather the combined efforts of many Searchers," Lin Qing did not deny, "But it is indeed the most suitable group for me, whether for opening new communication routes, searching for potential survivor gathering places, or rallying everyone to fight against the nano-living bodies and protect the city from total collapse."

"Additionally, I have a small ulterior motive—to exaggerate its words, thereby attracting many people’s attention. Maybe... it can also draw Lin Qing’s attention."

"But you haven’t found this person until now," Honglian reflected, "You don’t even know if she’s still alive."

"Yes, if it weren’t for you mentioning her name, I would have thought this was a secret only I cared about."

"No, Lin Qing is your name, that much is unquestionable," Chen Xuan emphasized, "As for who sent the letter and why she also knew the name Lin Qing... that’s another matter."

"Perhaps she really is also called Lin Qing," Liuli said unexpectedly.

"That’s impossible," Chen Xuan frowned, casting her a glance.

"I agree," unexpectedly, Honglian nodded in agreement.

"What do you mean, could there actually be two Lin Qing in this world?"

"Names are just symbols, but they’re also quite important," Honglian explained, "Think about it, if someone is deliberately guiding Lin Qing to Jiang City, what about before she comes?"

Chen Xuan was slightly taken aback.

"To ensure that the name Lin Qing always persists in Jiang City, one person is definitely not enough. So, multiple Lin Qing are needed to relay, to ensure that there’s always a Lin Qing in Jiang City."

Honglian’s words made Chen Xuan break out in goosebumps.

"Someone knew we would come?"

"Yes, but they probably didn’t know when we would come, so they can only use this method to ensure that whenever we come to Jiang City, there’s a Lin Qing to find."

"Uh... the things you’re talking about, I don’t understand," Lin Qing showed a confused expression.

"From this perspective, she really isn’t Lin Qing," Honglian patted her shoulder, "Because she is now called Yuyan and has yet to obtain the name Lin Qing."

Chen Xuan couldn’t help but be speechless.

He clearly understood what they meant.

For Lin Qing to become the real Lin Qing, she had to find the previous Lin Qing first. And after she inherited the name Lin Qing, she needed to find the next successor to pass this name on in the future.

But at this moment, this cycle has already been declared ended.

Because they came and found the real Lin Qing.

"But we still need to keep looking for the previous Lin Qing," Chen Xuan said after pondering for a while, "She probably knows many secrets, like who arranged all this and knew decades ago that we would come to Jiang City."

"I feel somewhat confused by your words," Lin Qing scratched her head.

"You’ll slowly understand," Chen Xuan didn’t mention the Ability Store and free crossing to the future, worried that conveying too much information at once would be hard for her to digest. Furthermore, she hadn’t completely regarded him as one of her own, so directly bringing her back to prove things was too abrupt; thus, he chose to hide these pieces of information. "Let’s eat noodles first, and after eating, we have official matters waiting for us."

Lin Qing blinked, hesitated but eventually said nothing, lowering her head to obediently slurp her noodles.

At this moment, in her understanding, Chen Xuan was from another future, where there existed a Lin Qing entirely different from herself... Despite these explanations sounding exceptionally mysterious, they traveled a long distance to Jiang City and were willing to contribute to the Fireline Band cause; it wouldn’t make sense if it was just to deceive her.

Moreover, the band currently needed Ability Users.

Even if these people were truly spouting nonsense, cooperating a bit could secure them—this deal was indeed quite worthwhile.

After weighing things in her mind, Lin Qing easily reached a conclusion: From today onwards, she is Lin Qing—at least the "Lin Qing" they painstakingly sought.

As for the Lin Qing she’s been inquiring about, they also said they would help find her, hitting two birds with one stone.

She vaguely felt a premonition; when the person who sent that letter is found, all answers would come to light.