Thinking this far, the Death Knight felt a slight sting in his nose. Although he had been one of the earliest to follow Xu Yuan, as Xu Yuan grew stronger and stronger, the burdens on his shoulders also increased, and the time they spent together instead became less and less.
Whenever the Death Knight missed Xu Yuan, he would replay those moments that belonged only to him and Xu Yuan over and over again in his mind.
Just like the little dog in those animated scenes that clings to its owner, asking again and again, "Tell me the story of when you picked me up again."
Even if the owner had already told that story countless times, even if that story was its own personal experience, even if it could remember every single detail clearly, it would never get tired of hearing it.
Because for the little dog, that story was not just a memory, it was the turning point of its life, the starting point of its happiness.
Just as the Death Knight was recalling his past with Xu Yuan, Null, who was also immersed in memories beside him, suddenly snapped his eyes open, shock filling his gaze.
He seemed to have sensed something, but wasn't entirely sure. He frowned and closed his eyes again, as if confirming that fleeting intuition from just now.
A moment later, he opened his eyes again. The shock from before had already been replaced by joy. He took a deep breath and shouted, "I can feel my king!"
Null, nicknamed the fully automatic humanoid detector, had perception abilities that were obvious to all.
Moreover, as Xu Yuan's dark side, he was essentially two sides of the same coin as Xu Yuan, so he was naturally more sensitive to Xu Yuan's aura.
Hearing Null's words, everyone was overjoyed.
"Didn't expect this method to actually work!" Entity 303 opened his eyes and glanced at Rookie, wearing an expression that said "you really pulled that off," though the joy in his eyes couldn't be hidden.
The Dread Lord raised his hand in surprise and touched his non-existent nose. He looked at Null, his eyes showing a hint of unwillingness.
"I also sensed a bit of that aura just now and was about to confirm it again. Looks like there's no need to go through the trouble."
Seeing everyone suddenly open their eyes, the Ender Queen instinctively raised both hands to cover her flushed face, her gaze instantly turning a bit evasive.
Noticing that no one paid attention to her actions, the Ender Queen finally let out a small breath of relief. After the heat on her cheeks gradually faded, she spoke with lingering emotion.
"After so long, we're finally going to reunite… I really wonder what the first thing he'll say to us will be…"
———
While everyone was chatting excitedly, Notch, however, stood there as if frozen, staring blankly in their direction, lost in thought.
At the exact moment Null said he sensed Xu Yuan, Notch saw clusters of aura, like wisps of smoke, appear above everyone's heads.
Then those auras seemed to have a will of their own, gathering toward the same direction.
As time passed, those auras gradually converged into the shape of a person.
Seeing the scene before him, Notch couldn't help but feel stunned.
Clearly, the aura gathering from above everyone's heads was the very aura of Xu Yuan that Null had just sensed.
But what confused Notch was that among everyone present, it seemed only he could see those auras.
However, this question didn't trouble him for long. The rules of the inner world were already hard to grasp, and besides, now wasn't the time to study such things.
Thinking this, Notch frowned and stared carefully for quite a while. He even subconsciously rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
After confirming once again that what he saw wasn't an illusion, he quickly looked at everyone and raised his voice.
"Everyone, focus! It won't be too late to celebrate when Xu Yuan is truly standing in front of us!"
Notch didn't tell them what he saw. It wasn't because he intended to hide it, but because the aura he saw was extremely unstable.
Although those auras were slowly gathering into a human shape, they were very thin and fleeting, as if they could dissipate at any moment. Right now, the priority was to stabilize those auras as soon as possible.
Hearing Notch's reminder, everyone nodded and once again focused, continuing to recall their past experiences with Xu Yuan.
Rookie, standing to the side, glanced at Notch thoughtfully but didn't say anything.
As everyone closed their eyes and reminisced, Notch kept observing the new auras emerging above their heads.
While observing, his brows unconsciously furrowed tighter and tighter.
From the moment Notch suddenly spoke to remind everyone until now, Rookie had been silently watching him.
He was certain that Notch must have discovered something, but since Notch didn't say anything, there had to be his reasons, so Rookie hadn't spoken earlier.
But now, seeing Notch's expression, Rookie finally couldn't hold back. He stepped forward, leaned close to Notch, and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"
Seeing the concern in Rookie's eyes, Notch thought for a moment, took a deep breath, and finally spoke softly, "Not enough."
"Not enough what?" Those sudden two words left Rookie confused.
Notch lowered his gaze and thought for a moment, organizing his words before speaking again. "The method you mentioned does work, but it's still not enough…"
"Just now, when Null said he sensed Xu Yuan's aura, for some reason, I could see those auras."
"Those smoke-like forms are slowly gathering into the shape of a person, but they're as thin and fleeting as smoke."
"I originally thought that as long as they continued recalling their past with Xu Yuan, those auras would become denser…"
At this point, Notch let out a long sigh and shook his head helplessly. "But those auras haven't become any denser…"
Hearing this, Rookie raised his hand to his chin, thinking as he muttered to himself.
"After they recalled their past experiences, Xu Yuan's aura appeared. That means our direction is correct…"
"But the aura hasn't become stronger…"
Thinking this far, Rookie seemed to suddenly realize something. He looked at Notch and said, "They seem to have overlooked a key point!"
"What key point?" Notch asked in confusion.
Rookie didn't answer immediately. After organizing his thoughts a bit, he asked Notch instead.
"Do you know why these people, who seem to have nothing to do with each other, all follow Xu Yuan so wholeheartedly?"
Notch shook his head, frowning in confusion. "I think everyone has their own reason for believing in Xu Yuan, right? What, don't tell me you know all of them?"
Hearing that, Rookie shrugged and shook his head indifferently. "I don't know either."
"If you don't know, then what are you showing off for..." Notch rolled his eyes and was about to complain, but Rookie cut him off mid-sentence.
Rookie looked toward the group and lifted his chin slightly. "Just like you said, everyone has a different reason for believing in Xu Yuan."
He paused, as if thinking about how to express himself better, then continued, "These different reasons are like pieces of a puzzle, forming all the different sides of Xu Yuan."
"Take me for example. I didn't have any special feelings toward Xu Yuan at first. Everything I did was for Entity 303. But the moment he appeared outside the trial ground in the true form of HIM… I was genuinely moved."
"To me, he is selfless. That's the side of him that touched me the most from my perspective…"
Just as Rookie was about to continue explaining, Notch suddenly reached out and grabbed his mouth.
His eyes were fixed on the top of Rookie's head, filled with uncontrollable joy and excitement.
"I see it…"