Regarding the question of whether one thousand lives are enough to beat Honkai Impact 3rd.

"But as long as he's alright, that's good. He's always been in good health, and he'll be able to be discharged from the hospital soon."

"But I probably won't be able to get out before I go to school."

As she spoke, she gazed wistfully at the tall building in the distance, its red cross emblem prominently displayed.

...

...

Let's go back to the present.

For the girl, the only difference from previous visits was the presence of Su Qing'an.

The simple feeling of having someone like a friend accompany her to visit her father was quite nice, and it brightened her mood a little.

But in the end, this resulted in this inexplicably awkward situation.

Su Qing'an moved a chair to the front of the hospital bed and sat up straight.

He kept his eyes straight ahead, his long, slender fingers resting neatly on his knees, looking rather obedient.

What exactly is this strange, tense feeling, like meeting one's father-in-law?

Fu Xiuran's gaze lingered on the boy's face for a moment, and the coldness in his eyes dissipated slightly.

Sure. She's very good-looking, only slightly less so than I was when I was young.

He broke the silence quietly and asked:

"age."

Su Qing'an was taken aback. In fact, it had been a while since he had truly faced his age.

Now that I think about it, when he first came into this world, he had just spent a birthday alone at home without any ceremony.

Even if you include all the time spent before the restart, the current age is still the same.

He replied:

"17."

The little girl sat on the chair opposite, her big, questioning eyes scanning the strange atmosphere between the two.

Fu Hua didn't understand the current situation at all, but it was no different from when she visited the sick before. The girl first placed the soy milk and the rest of the breakfast on the small table next to her, and then she took out a fruit knife from her small bag and began to peel the apples that had been washed earlier.

The awkward atmosphere between the two remained even as the fruit knife made a soft sound as it touched the fruit.

17 years old. My daughter's birthday hasn't come yet, but she's already 15. Thinking about it, she's only two years shy of her age, which is just within the required age range.

But that's nothing. The man recalled how he had haphazardly stuffed his son-in-law selection manual with his own arbitrary opinions and various preferences, and his heart was inexplicably calm.

Such an unreasonable request, can anyone actually meet it?

He chuckled inwardly.

In a state of suspicion that the other party might target his daughter, he had fallen into inexplicable hostility and completely forgot the original purpose of the manual.

Fu Xiuran asked:

What are your hobbies?

Su Qing'an answered seriously:

"Feeding cats, making coffee, practicing martial arts, and watching the sea."

If I had to say, he does play pay-to-win mobile games to pass the time, but it's hard to call it a hobby.

Regarding the fact that he likes to feed small animals but doesn't keep them as pets, Su Qing'an still feels that his choice was not wrong.

Although he had always wanted to have a cat, and the conditions in his previous world made it a good choice, he ultimately gave up on the idea for the awkward reason of not wanting to lose something easily.

Looking back now, it was absolutely right. Otherwise, if he had been gone for so long, unless that cat was Doraemon, he probably would have starved to death at home long ago, given his habit of locking all the windows and doors.

Fu Xiuran's mind raced, and he began to think.

Feeding cats shows this kid has a kind heart, right?

How come it meets another criterion?

He quickly forgot about coffee and the sea view, and focused his attention on his hobby of martial arts.

Hobbies? Well, probably something like Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) or free fighting.

He knows my family's boxing style? And he can even enter the Mind's Eye realm?

Sighing that outstanding young people are hard to find, Fu Xiuran regained his confidence and continued to ask:

Have you ever been in a relationship?

Su Qing'an felt an extremely strong sense of déjà vu. This situation was exactly like being vetted by the girl's parents. Although the journey was difficult and long, as long as she passed through the layers of vetting, she could fast forward to marriage.

The boy suppressed these strange thoughts; since the other party was Fu Hua's father, he could only honestly say:

"We haven't talked about it."

Su Qing'an was still quite young before, and before she even reached the age where anyone in her social circle was ready to fall in love, she had already fallen into a state of isolation. Not to mention dating, she only had a few friends who she kept in touch with purely online.

Needless to say, after the time travel, he died too quickly the first two times.

After the restart, I was interrupted just before I was about to confess my feelings, and shortly after, I died once and restarted again to where I am now.

He sneered inwardly upon hearing this. Someone who looks like that has no ex-girlfriend?

Do you think I'd believe that? Men understand men best.

Even an outstanding man like myself had relationships before meeting my wife. Being outstanding is unavoidable; it's inevitable that I made mistakes in my life before meeting my wife.

This person is notorious for his double standards.

Fu Xiuran's martial arts insight had selectively ignored the other party's clear eyes and natural expression, and just as he was about to continue asking questions, the little girl next to him could no longer sit still.

Even if she was slow to notice, she sensed something was wrong. She could let bygones be bygones regarding her previous hobbies and age.

Dad, why are you asking Master Su if he's ever been in a relationship?

It turns out that Master Su was only 17 years old.

Although she does look to be that age, she seems much more mature.

The moment Fu Hua grabbed Fu Xiuran's sleeve, she was overwhelmed with mixed feelings. Suppressing her shame, she said:

"Dad, please don't ask such questions."

"Su Qing'an just came to visit you with me, why are you asking her so many questions?"

Fu Xiuran fell into a speechless silence, stunned by the shyness in the girl's words.

He knew Fu Hua's personality all too well. If she and Su Qing'an were just ordinary friends or classmates, she would at most tug at his sleeve to give him a subtle warning and then stop talking, without much of a change in expression.

But now it's completely different.

A glimpse of the leopard in the tube can be seen.

In just two sentences, Fu Xiuran seemed to see a stark contrast to his usual conversations.

Fu Hua's few words overwhelmed the man's rising will like a tsunami, causing him to sink into defeat.

The atmosphere became slightly more normal after that, but it was completely impossible for Fu Xiuran to find Su Qing'an agreeable like a turtle and a mung bean.

Perhaps from a father-in-law's perspective, even the most outstanding son-in-law would be somewhat unsatisfactory. Moreover, he had no means or ability to verify Su Qing'an's worth. This genuine sense of powerlessness and anxiety about his daughter's future were the real reasons for his poor attitude towards Su Qing'an.

In essence, it's hard for a normal person to feel displeased with Su Qing'an.

This can be seen from the fact that before Su Qing'an met Chen Junxuan, he kicked several martial arts schools and no one bothered him. In fact, they treated him kindly afterwards.

Most people would be met with disdain if they gave money, but when Su Qing'an gave money, it gave people the feeling that "actually, being friends with this person might not be so bad."

Being obsessed with looks is one of the realities of the world. Even Fu Xiuran's first reaction upon seeing Su Qing'an was that this person was only slightly less attractive than he was when he was young.

This is an extremely high evaluation.

The visit did not last long.

As Su Qing'an stepped out the door, a hint of displeasure appeared on his face.

Su Qing'an was not concerned about Fu Xiu's subsequent indifference and coldness, but rather that he had finally realized the truth about the other party's illness.

Collapse...infection.

13. Lu Youhua.

Honkai infection.

As someone who has experienced this symptom multiple times, no one in the world understands better than Su Qing'an how desperate a Honkai infection can be.

In short, this is a situation that is almost unsolvable.

The fact that Fu Xiuran is still alive only means that the Honkai energy in his body is too scarce.

He may have only been exposed to a tiny amount of Honkai energy, but that was enough to destroy his tempered body.

Honkai energy is a brutal dimensional reduction attack for humans who do not have the corresponding resistance. No matter how high your martial arts level is, or how vast your wisdom and accumulated knowledge are, as long as you do not meet this "selection mechanism", you will die without exception.

They either die as inhuman monsters or are completely annihilated, leaving no normal remains.

The only difference is the form of death.

This is an era destined to be one where ashes fall like a torrential downpour, and death truly harvests the beauty of the world indifferently, like a gust of wind.

In Fu Hua's original understanding, Fu Xiu's subsequent death was due to the inevitable large-scale Honkai, where male Honkai energy resistance could only be annihilated into zombies or ashes by the Honkai energy wave brought about by the Honkai outbreak.

At that time, ashes will be scattered throughout every corner of the city, a magnificent sight of countless corpses piled up one after another. Even if Fu Xiuran is not among them, given the city's level of development and backwardness, it will not receive rapid support from the Fire-Chasing Moths.

Reinforcements arrived in Canghai City only after two weeks, so the treatment of Fu Hua's hometown was even more predictable. It was most likely that the organization would decide that there was no value in rescuing them and abandon them decisively.

But looking at it now, Fu Xiuran's death was something that was destined much earlier. The rest of his life was nothing but an empty dream, which he eventually had to face reality and wake up with a sense of loss.

Su Qing'an has ways to make this dream longer, but it's difficult to keep this dream beautiful forever.

That's right.

Just before leaving, the boy used his [Stigmata] ability to drain the remaining Honkai energy from Fu Xiuran's body, and the Grim Reaper's scythe was forcibly dissipated into nothingness using the power he had awakened through numerous death experiences.

If there are no unforeseen circumstances, Fu Xiuran will be able to be discharged from the hospital soon, given his physical condition.

Even though his organs have shown subtle signs of erosion, making it difficult for him to perform at his original level in martial arts, returning to a normal life is still not a big problem.