Walking through the dense forest, suddenly hearing the sound of water, following the sound forward and pushing through the grass—at that moment, discovering a beautiful girl bathing in the pool ahead!!
Such a development did not happen to Ling Qing.
If anything, what could happen now would be when someone else follows the sound and carefully pushes through the grass, they would suddenly see a muscular man bathing!
The hot summer seemed to be gradually passing, but the weather hadn't completely cooled down yet. Therefore, bathing in the knee-deep flowing water in the forest would only feel refreshing, not cold.
The water that could kill several people with just one sip in the 80th District was flowing freely as a stream in the 49th District, with no one paying attention to it!
Ling Qing had also thought about this: once you pass the 50th District, living conditions suddenly improve—after all, past the 50th District, everything drops sharply. Why do people beyond the 50th District willingly accept a life of giving up? Setting aside other things, people in the 50th District, you can still try harder, don't give up struggling!
But actually, this question was easy to answer. First, the 70th and 80th Districts were already beyond help. It was unclear whether they had fallen there and become like that, or because of their nature that they had gathered there.
For those in the 50th and 60th Districts, although living conditions were harsh, they weren't at the point where they couldn't survive. What prevented them from leaving their area wasn't just the distant journey and uncertain future, but more importantly, they had "family" around them.
Because they had people they cared about, they couldn't leave their "home."
Someone like Ling Qing—alone, with certain abilities, who hadn't encountered sudden situations he couldn't handle, and still had abundant energy to continue moving constantly—such people were extremely rare.
Even Ling Qing himself, if someone had told him before he died that he would spend over two months continuously traveling, he wouldn't have believed it.
After all, converting it, this was an entire summer vacation!
But human adaptability is just that strong. What you would never believe you'd do before death, you've already done by the time you realize it after death.
The cool stream water flowed past his calves and feet. Ling Qing used his shirt as a temporary towel, soaking it to wipe his body. He would wash it clean afterward and hang it on tree branches to dry.
It must be said that without the corruption of modern society, the water quality in Soul Society was truly excellent. You could clearly see everything on the not-too-deep riverbed, and the water was so clean that Ling Qing dared to drink it directly.
Along the way, Ling Qing had also gained a deeper understanding of Soul Society, or rather Rukongai. Simply put, even though living conditions were quite harsh, the cultural atmosphere clearly displayed the cultural level of ancient Japan from the Heian to Edo periods.
There were no matching modern buildings or even machinery. From clothing to architecture, there were many things that gave a sense of historical periods, but you couldn't even see a single telephone pole, let alone cars and such things.
Speaking of this, Ling Qing was confused again. Where exactly had he died, and how did he end up in such a Japanese-style place after death?
Even if he had been cosplaying a Japanese game character before death, with those appearance features, shouldn't he have reported to the afterlife in Europe or America?
Well, it seems there was no reason to report to his homeland after all.
The clear flowing water passed by Ling Qing's calves. For some time, Ling Qing made no other movements, and the water flow gradually became calm. The clear water surface formed a mirror-like reflective surface.
Ling Qing lowered his head and looked at himself reflected on the water surface.
Solid and well-built muscles—such a body would make even men admire and exclaim "Strong! I want to become like that too!" If he went to a gym, the fitness girls probably wouldn't be able to walk.
But what was important wasn't how his body looked, but rather Ling Qing's face at this moment.
Or rather, his entire person now.
Ling Qing had originally gotten into cosplay because someone said he looked a bit like Sephiroth.
After makeup, plus a wig and costume props, he had at least eight or nine points of similarity.
But that was only after all that preparation to achieve such an effect.
However, the face reflected on the water surface now... could be said to be Sephiroth himself!
Whether it was that beautiful-type handsome face, the blue-green eyes, the slightly pointed pupils, or even the silver-white hair—everything was there!!
You should know that Ling Qing didn't have the time or effort to put on makeup now, meaning he was completely bare-faced!
And he wasn't wearing a wig either—his hair had really turned silver-white. Moreover, his hair hadn't grown to waist-length and flowing yet, at most it was just a bit long from not cutting it for over two months.
This caused his current hairstyle to look more like gel-styled Vergil.
But even so, even with Vergil's hairstyle, if he went to a comic convention like this, people would point and exclaim "Sephiroth himself!"
"...What on earth is going on..."
Ling Qing stared at the face reflected on the water surface and murmured to himself.
He was happy to have become so handsome, but it would be even better if it was his original face, wouldn't it? At least he'd used it for twenty-five years and had grown attached to it.
Since gradually entering areas where water resources weren't scarce and he had bathing conditions, Ling Qing had suddenly noticed changes in his appearance when crouching by the water to wash his face.
He didn't know if it was because he had been misunderstood as a handsome man before death, so after death he simply became a handsome man in one step.
Thinking about it, Ling Qing made several funny faces at the water surface.
The handsome face reflected on the water surface also made the same funny faces.
This was an image-destroying look of Sephiroth that you would absolutely never see in the game, but now this face was on Ling Qing's body, and he could do whatever he wanted with it.
He had no intention of becoming Sephiroth's thought-form (substitute) just because he had this face. He was himself.
However, Ling Qing had to admit that being handsome really meant you could do whatever you wanted. Even making funny faces was still incredibly handsome.
"But old Seph is still handsome..."
Ling Qing couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, but then immediately realized that he was the same now. So he rather narcissistically changed it to:
"I'm just as handsome now."
Then, in his contemplation, Ling Qing didn't know if it was an illusion, but in the corner of his vision—
The reflection of his own face on the water surface—Sephiroth's face—the corners of his mouth slightly lifted, revealing what seemed to be a meaningful smile.
"!"
His blue-green pupils suddenly contracted sharply. Ling Qing instinctively looked back at that spot, staring intently at the reflection on the water surface.
But all he saw was a face that was slightly panicked, but more filled with doubt about whether he had seen something wrong.
—His own face.