Honkai Impact: Grandma Pine Sparrow is still chasing me!

Chapter 287 A Monumental Lie

"Rice cake, don't try to fool me!"

Even when Qiong poked the snake's head, "Nian Gao" remained curled up and unresponsive: you can wake a hibernating snake, but you can't wake a snake that's pretending to be asleep.

Even Kiana herself knew that she was really about to be exposed this time—there were too many flaws! Kiana (Moonlight), my verbal tic, and the nickname "Teacher White"... Even if she stubbornly kept it a secret, Sora would definitely have a grudge against "Mochi", right?

"I considered you a friend, but now I suspect you're deceiving my feelings... Confess, or I might have to consider having dinner with you tonight!"

To scare "Mochi", Sora cut the baseball bat into a fire spear - which reminded Kiana of the time when the three of them scared Bronya together.

Although I am not afraid of torture, I would like to confess some of the information now in order to get away with it and receive lenient treatment.

"Sora, um..."

The moment it opened its eyes, "Nian Gao" changed its mind.

It's hard to tell whether Qiong is being genuine or acting. Her originally smiling face was now clouded with gloom—was she trying to glare at her to death?

Although her intuition told her that Qiong had a sharp tongue but a soft heart and couldn't bear to part with him, but...

How to put it? I feel like if I just squeeze toothpaste out of her, Qiong will think this trick works and will definitely push her further and continue to threaten her with roasted snake... But what if she spills everything out?

He teleported himself to the past in collaboration with Vita, dreamt of attacking Qiong, forcibly signed a contract and gave her a Stigmata, and even tried to cut off Qiong's extraterrestrial romantic relationships...

Putting myself in her shoes, wouldn't Qiong definitely break up with me and go her separate ways? What if Bronya and the others succeed in the future, but I don't get a share? I'll just be left alone on the moon, looking miserably at the photos Bronya and Seele took together...

This is absolutely unacceptable!

But she didn't want to use the Feather Dust to alter Sora's memories—that would be too despicable! Yes, Kiana might have a little bit of possessiveness, but she definitely didn't want to make Sora her own.

What should she do? Kiana was at a loss.

"Excuse me, I had no intention of disturbing Master Bai Shu and this... young lady? But what brings you here, Master?"

Bai Ji stepped forward and tried to communicate with Qiong again. From the previous actions, Bai Ji had a preliminary understanding of Qiong: she was quite capable, very loyal, and impulsive, without considering the consequences.

In addition, everything he has done for the residents of Langqiu recently can be considered selfless. Overall, he is a good person and someone you can talk to.

When Bai Ji struck up a conversation with her again, Qiong had no choice but to shift her attention away from "rice cake".

"Nian Gao, I'll settle the score with you later!"

"Mmm-hmm!"

Teacher Bai, you really are a good person!

Baiji and Qiong had no idea what the snake in Qiong's pocket was thinking. They both had things that took priority over "rice cake": rescuing the pine sparrow and befriending Qiong.

Needless to say, Bai Ji was extremely curious about Qiong's identity. How could he have an intelligent snake by his side? It possessed immense strength, was skilled in Shadow Annihilation, and seemed to be proficient in hand-to-hand combat as well. And that flaming lance, which he wondered if it was constructed using magic techniques… Aside from being a bit impulsive, he didn't seem to have any flaws. When did Langqiu have such a versatile and exceptionally talented individual? Why hadn't he heard of this before?

“My friend, the sparrow has been captured by these people.”

When facing Bai Ji, Qiong put away his weapon and tried to negotiate with Bai Ji as calmly as possible—he did not trust the Lamp Organization, but he trusted Bai Ji.

----------------

After Bai Ji promised to rescue Song Que and provide them with satisfactory compensation, Qiong, feeling refreshed, seemed to have transformed back into a sunny and cheerful young man.

However, in the eyes of some of the bruised and battered members of the Light Organization, Qiong was still that unharmable humanoid beast. When Qiong gave them a harmless, handsome smile, they always felt as if they were seeing an extremely oppressive "gray-haired devil's smile." Recalling the baseball bat from just now, they couldn't help but tremble.

After escorting Qiong to the best reception room and Qiong stating that no third party should be present, all the reception staff fled this place of trouble as if they were escaping.

Inside the reception room, Sora sat in a chair, tapping her fingers lightly on the table, and crossed her legs to increase her imposing presence—but in Kiana's eyes, Sora now gave off a feeling somewhere between a gangster boss and a nouveau riche.

Qiong looked at "Nian Gao," the snake wriggling uneasily in front of him. If Qiong didn't speak, it would probably keep wriggling.

Baiji needs some time to deal with the situation and bring people over, and Qiong doesn't intend to waste time here.

Qiong cleared his throat, his face contorted in a grimace. At this moment, his face was even darker than that of Yinhe, the unlucky guy who had won fifty Star Jade prizes in seven consecutive days.

"Nian Gao, you're hiding something from me, aren't you?"

The "rice cake" stopped twisting and turned, and remained silent for a moment, as if it had made up its mind.

She was terrified. She was afraid that Qiong would despise the things she had done during this time, things that could be considered despicable... Therefore, she had to lie, to tell a colossal lie that could cover up the truth.

If you were to ask where the honest Qi Maomao learned deception... blame it on Qiong! And then there are her two teachers after she settled on the moon: Schicksal's most outstanding scientists, academic evergreens, and technological stalwarts. Einstein and Tesla...

Don't ask, the answer is that it was all because of those two PhDs who taught them bad things!

"Qiong, I... I did hide something from you. But I really didn't mean to, I just wanted to help you, but I was afraid you wouldn't be able to accept it."

"Nian Gao's" voice trembled slightly with worry, and it was hard to tell whether it was feigned or a genuine sense of guilt.

Qiong stared at the tangled snake on the table, wondering what other tricks she was up to—he already had a guess, but needed to confirm it.

"I am Kiana, Kiana from the future! And the Herrscher of the End of the World."

Qiong frowned—he had guessed, but it didn't seem very reliable, and it turned out to be true?

"It really is you? So why are you forcing me to buy something?"

"No, is that all you think?"

The "mochi" that was emitting white light paused for a moment because of Qiong's inexplicably mood-ruining words, and then the dazzling light made Qiong unable to open her eyes.

When Qiong opened her eyes again, a Kiana with a high ponytail tied with a red ribbon, a guilty and uneasy look on her face, and purple eyes darting around stood on the table.

Oh, those long, white legs! But aren't they a bit too fleshy...? No, that's not the point!

"Kiana, get off the table!"

……

"Why don't you move away from me for a bit?"

The thought that this was Lantern's territory made Qiong struggle to break free from Kiana's soft, warm embrace. Taking a few steps back, she finally saw Kiana's full appearance: her clothing was predominantly red and black, accented with white, and she wore fingerless gloves similar to his…

Of course, leg rings are also essential.

If it weren't for that pitiful, bullied expression, Qiong would have thought this was a cheerful and playful Valkyrie armor set—of course, that was impossible, because in his memory, Kiana didn't have this armor set, and the End's waist and legs weren't that thick.

"Qiong, are you angry with me?"

With tears welling up in her eyes, Qi Bao opened her arms, wanting to embrace Qiong.

Ke Qiong immediately crossed her arms, took a few steps back, and nodded solemnly.

The main problem is that I don't know why, but I always feel that besides those two forced sales, there were other things... and my little brother is a bit disobedient and wants to set up a tent.

This damn temptation! I need to focus my energy on the interrogation!

"Kiana, we can talk about the rest later! What exactly do you want to help me with, and why do you think I can't accept it?"

Kiana bit her lip, every move she made exuding cuteness and...allure?

Mentioning this, Kiana's eyes instantly filled with sadness and longing—this wasn't an act; she was genuinely sad and truly missed it.

Sadness and Mei are getting married, and after the wedding, they'll go on a vacation to another planet, reminiscing about the days when they were all bickering and playing around. But now, this feeling is brewing in order to lie.

"In my future, you are dead."

"what?"

Seeing the astonished look on Qiong's face, Kiana quickly organized her thoughts and added a few more words.

"In the final battle on the moon, to protect everyone, you... perished together with Kevin—the one you and Mr. Welt released from the Sea of ​​Quanta. He was a warrior from a previous civilization who had lived for 50,000 years. I'll tell you about that later... You sacrificed yourself. We had agreed that we would go back and get married after this battle! You promised to marry me, Mei, Bronya, and Seele at the same time..."

Look how loyal Kiana is! She doesn't forget her best friend even at a time like this! As for why it's "Seele" instead of "two Seeles"... well, Seele wasn't two people back then.

"Am I such a scumbag? Are you sure that's me?"

"You've gone too far! Why should you die?! We don't agree!"

Kiana didn't respond to the question of whether Sora was a scumbag. She was afraid that if she talked about it, her eyes would betray her—so she chose to close her eyes and try to squeeze out tears.

But she was a physical entity formed from the power of the end, so she couldn't shed tears.

"You're widowed before you even got to wear a wedding dress for me. What are you going to do about the babies in Bronya and Seele's bellies?"

"No, how old were they during the final battle?"

Eighteen years old.

Qiong: ...

Is this timing correct?

"After your sacrifice, we crossed the end and ended the Honkai. Then aliens came, and the people on one of the trains said they were your friends and wanted to take you back to the galaxy. They also said that if you didn't go back—I mean, if your body didn't go back, it would bring a huge disaster."

Does it refer to the star's core?

“We all miss you. Later, we dealt with a bad guy and helped a wicked woman who had gone astray become the God of Venus... One day, that wicked woman came to us saying she had a way to change the outcome and let you live. So I sent over a little bit of my power and a little bit of my consciousness. But then this woman did something strange and somehow managed to bring you and me back to this godforsaken place. Even Helia and Coralie, the students that Mei, Bronya, and I taught together, were dragged over there. It's all her fault!”

Kiana's expression was extremely indignant, as if she wished she could strangle Xiao Wei the next second—even though she wasn't the one who did some of it.

"In short, I was afraid that knowing about the future would be a burden for you, so I kept it from you. I used various methods to make you stronger or to save your life, forcing you to accept the Holy Mark, trying to use the 'contract' to hold your soul..."

After saying that, Kiana let out a long sigh of relief.

As Dr. Einstein once said, a lie that is entirely false is full of flaws, and a lie that can fool her into not doing her homework must be at least nine truths and one falsehood.

She's learned a bit, so a few half-truths should be enough to fool a three-year-old with little experience, right?

Kiana looked at Sora, who remained silent.

Qiong was pondering the truthfulness of Kiana's words. Now that he had calmed down, he could receive Kiana's messages—but for some reason, he felt that something was not quite right.

Oh, he got it! Kiana's move gave him the feeling that Otto Apocalypse wanted to create a world where Kallen existed.

Girl, why did you have to learn from Otto? Besides, you saved me, why don't you consider saving your mother Cecilia?

However, if Kiana really changed the past, shouldn't this Kiana be "killed" by the timeline correction?

Of course, all of this is on the premise that she is the real Kiana, and not Ms. Hanabi who is spouting nonsense and pretending to be Kiana.

After all, those people who enjoy themselves are capable of anything.