Elizabeth looked at him for a moment before shaking her head.

"The loops ended a long time ago. You should know that too," she said.

Neo fell silent.

She was right.

The loops had started shortly after the end of the First Divine War. Or perhaps near its end. Time was always blurry around that period.

The Cosmos had been reset again and again. Hundreds of years, repeating. Then, one day, it had simply stopped.

No warning.

No explanation.

Why had it ended?

What had happened back then?

Neo wanted to know. At the same time, he didn't.

Right now, his life was… peaceful. As peaceful as it could be, considering everything.

If possible, he didn't want to dig up truths that would only leave him with regret or sorrow.

"Okay," Elizabeth said eventually. "You should go now. The nearby cities and markets are far. If you want to come back by evening, you'll need to leave soon."

Neo nodded.

He slipped the wooden token into his clothes and stepped outside the residence.

The guards posted nearby stiffened when they saw him and immediately saluted.

Other sect members noticed him as well. One by one, they bowed.

Neo gave a wry smile.

He didn't say anything to them.

He wasn't sure what he should say, and he didn't want to draw more attention than he had.

He kept walking, scanning the area until he finally spotted Vivi near the western edge of the sect.

She was sitting at a small food stall, drinking something from a cup.

The moment she saw him, she spat out everything she had just drunk.

"Cough—!"

She hurriedly wiped her mouth, rubbed her eyes, and stared at Neo as if he were an illusion.

"Da–dad? How are you outside?"

Neo's lips twitched.

He could guess exactly what Vivi had been planning, and why she looked so shocked.

She must have been fully convinced that he'd end up locked somewhere by now.

Unfortunately for her, Neo had hundreds of thousands of years of experience dealing with needy witches.

He didn't answer her directly.

Instead, he glanced toward the open area outside the stall and gestured with his eyes.

"Come outside," he said simply, before turning and walking away.

Vivi scrambled to clean herself up, paid for the food, and rushed after him.

"Dad!" she said as soon as she caught up. "How are you? Did everything go well with— ouch!"

She yelped as Neo flicked her forehead.

She clutched her head and stared at him with watery eyes.

"Why did you hit me?" she complained.

"You know exactly why," Neo replied calmly.

Vivi grumbled under her breath but didn't argue further.

After a short pause, Neo told her about his plan.

"I want to go to a nearby city or market for a breather."

"Suddenly?" Vivi asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yes," Neo replied.

"That's unlike you. You've stayed in the same place for years before without getting bored."

Neo shrugged.

"People change."

Vivi stared at him for a second, then sighed.

"Alright. I'll prepare things. Let me get the list of materials from the administration hall first. If we're going to the market, we might as well buy what the sect needs."

"That works," Neo said, nodding.

Vivi hurried off toward the administration hall.

Neo waited, leaning against a nearby pillar. True to her word, she returned in less than half an hour.

But she wasn't alone.

She was holding the hand of a small child.

Neo blinked and looked between them.

"This is…?" he asked.

"This is Qiuyue. She's the daughter of my friend. Her mother is on a long mission, so I'm taking care of her for now."

Neo looked down at the child. Qiuyue looked to be around three years old. She stared back at him curiously, her grip on Vivi's hand tight.

Neo frowned slightly.

"Couldn't you leave her with someone else? Taking her to the market will just make things harder for you."

Qiuyue, of course, didn't understand a word of that.

Vivi rolled her eyes.

"That's exactly what you'd say," she replied.

"What do you mean?" Neo asked.

"For you, taking care of children just means handing them over to a 'responsible person. Problem solved."

Neo coughed, and turned his head away without replying.

She wasn't wrong.

That was exactly what he had always done.

Firmaments. The Darkness Firmament. Obitus. Vivi herself.

Looking back, he realized that he had rarely stayed by their side. He had always trusted someone else to raise them, teach them.

'I'm just like Hades,' he thought.

The realization dampened his mood more than he expected.

The three of them left the sect and entered the forest paths leading outward.

They passed through several hidden barriers and formations along the way.

The journey was long, and by the time they reached the market, four hours had passed.

By then, something unexpected had happened.

Qiuyue was no longer holding Vivi's hand.

Instead, she was clinging to Neo.

She laughed happily as he carried her, her small hands gripping his clothes. Vivi walked beside them with an increasingly sour expression.

"This brat. How did she stick to you so fast?"

Neo gave her a mocking smile.

The look on his face clearly said, Didn't you claim you were better at taking care of children? Looks like she prefers me.

Vivi clicked her tongue.

"Dad," she said, shoving a small pouch and a list into his hands. "Take this money and buy these materials."

She bent down, picked Qiuyue up from Neo's arms, and turned away.

"I'll take her around. Don't wander too far."

With that, she stomped off, clearly annoyed.

Neo watched her go, then laughed softly.

But as Vivi disappeared into the crowd, his smile slowly faded.

He could see it clearly now. Vivi had changed.

She wasn't the same child he remembered. She was sharper, more guarded, and more independent. Someone who had grown up without him being there.

The thought left an uncomfortable ache in his chest.

He had laughed off her accusation about him being an irresponsible parent, but the truth was that it hurt because it was true.

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