He practically tumbled and scrambled all the way out, following the little hand drawn map Qian Shengke had given him earlier. Cutting through the shortcut, he placed the letter at a very obvious spot along the small path.
Everything was ready. All that remained was for Lu Xiao to come pick it up, once he did, the matter would be settled.
Lu Xiao returned to the kitchen shortly after. At the moment, their state was something close to being spirits, half illusory, half weightless, so whenever they walked, it felt like a gust of wind was pushing them forward, carrying them along with effortless speed.
“You’re back! Come, come, come, have a bit of this tofu,” Qian Shengke called warmly, waving him over. “Eating some really helps. In this place, we grow weaker the longer we stay. This tofu can restore our strength.”
Lu Xiao didn’t respond immediately.
Instead, he glanced at Qian Jinye’s expression first. Seeing that the man showed no displeasure, he finally gave Qian Shengke a faint smile.
It was true, although moving around felt incredibly easy, there was still an inexplicable exhaustion creeping through him.
His body didn’t tire but his mind did. It was a strange, disorienting fatigue and if eating tofu could relieve it, Lu Xiao was more than willing.
While chewing, he asked, “Since there’s a shortcut… why didn’t we use it earlier?”
That shortcut was unbelievably convenient. Lu Xiao couldn’t understand why they hadn’t taken it from the beginning. It would’ve made investigating the stables much faster.
“You really are stupid when I say you are.” Qian Jinye’s tone was, as always, sharp and unforgiving, though in his heart he had long since forgiven this fool.
“That shortcut is a temporal crack created by the time space distortion around the Qian Residence. Normal people can’t see it.”
They lived within this narrow pocket of space, convenient in some ways, terribly inconvenient in others.
“Come on, let’s go watch ‘us’ arrive,” Qian Shengke said as he tidied his notes. “As long as you’re smart enough, we can finally leave this place but if you can’t figure it out… then Jinye and I will be heading out first.”
He pushed open the large doors and strode out with long steps.
Lu Xiao and Qian Jinye hurried after him. Despite looking like he was walking fast, Qian Shengke clearly wasn’t planning to leave the two behind, he kept glancing back every few steps, as though afraid these two little ones would get lost.
That passageway was unbelievably fast. In no time, Lu Xiao was standing face to face with the flock of chickens again.
“Why aren’t they here yet? By logic, they should have already arrived.” A trace of unease colored Qian Jinye’s voice. From past experiences, the timing never deviated this much.
Qian Shengke felt something off as well. He and Qian Jinye hadn’t done anything wrong, so the only possible point of failure…
…was Lu Xiao.
“Where exactly did you put the letter?” His tone was more serious than Lu Xiao had ever heard, making him instantly question whether he had somehow made a terrible mistake.
Less thinking, more doing, Lu Xiao immediately sprinted off, running back to the spot where he had placed the letter.
But when he got there, the place was completely empty.
No letter.
No person.
Nothing at all.
His skin prickled with goosebumps. He had no idea how to explain this to Qian Jinye and Qian Shengke.
Turning around, he saw Qian Jinye panting as he caught up, while Qian Shengke strolled over at an unhurried pace behind him.
“The letter… it’s gone. It’s gone.” Lu Xiao repeated the words in a daze, his voice hollow and devastated.
Qian Jinye reached out to comfort him, but Qian Shengke abruptly pulled Jinye away.
“Being gentle with him is useless, Jinye. It’s time to tell him the truth.”
Qian Jinye looked reluctantly at Lu Xiao, who was curled on the ground groaning in confusion and fear. After one last lingering glance, he slowly stepped back to Qian Shengke’s side.
Lu Xiao watched helplessly as the two of them moved farther and farther away from him. A nameless fear surged up his chest, being abandoned like this left him weak, breathless and utterly unable to believe what was happening.
But Qian Jinye truly did leave his side.
“Come out,” Qian Shengke suddenly called into the darkness, not at anyone in particular but as if addressing the air itself.
And from that darkness, figures stepped forward, the Qian brothers, Li Xianguan and Chen Yu’er.
“I knew it. I knew I was definitely the smart one.” The Qian Shengke standing opposite them praised himself smugly, earning an exaggerated eye roll from his brother.
Everyone here seemed to know exactly what was going on, everyone except Lu Xiao, who sat on the ground blankly, unable to comprehend any of it.
“It should be that our time space jump collided with Lu Xiao’s brain,” Qian Shengke explained calmly. “Now that we’re returning him, just follow the procedure and send us back. That’ll be enough.”
Qian Jinye worked hard not to meet Lu Xiao’s bewildered, silently questioning gaze. He looked instead at the other version of himself and said, “He must’ve been overstimulated. Try to talk some sense into him. I’m going back.”
The second Qian Jinye moved to help Lu Xiao up and only then did Lu Xiao’s foggy mind finally begin to understand what had happened.
So all along… he had been the Lu Xiao of this world? And the ones who had been jumping through time weren’t him but Qian Jinye and Qian Shengke?
The Qian Jinye beside him gave him a sharp kick to the backside and barked:
“Look at you, all soul scattered like that! They leave and you suddenly remember everything? And what’s with that ‘mysterious letter’ act? Do you know how much trouble you caused? So clever yet you can’t figure out there’s only one Lu Xiao in this space? Hurry up and send them back!”
Despite the harsh tone, he soothed Lu Xiao’s back with a few gentle pats as he scolded him.
Lu Xiao’s memory had been scrambled, fragments slipping through the cracks of this time space. Without realizing it, he’d already asked Qian Shengke the same question three times,
why didn’t they take the shortcut earlier?
Even though Qian Jinye kept trying to stop Qian Shengke from telling him the truth, the older brother finally gave in, because without straightening things out, they could never go back.
The stables, with their tangled scents and restless air, were chaotic, but none of it was messier than what Lu Xiao felt inside.
Slowly, painfully, he pieced together the truth. He had always been the person of this timeline. Everything that felt wrong was just the illusion caused by time space turbulence.
Lu Xiao opened his mouth but didn’t know what to say. He looked at the two Qian Jinyes standing before him and couldn’t tell which one was his Jinye.
Sending them back would end all of this but…
Why had he been affected?
At what moment had he slipped between timelines? What made him so convinced he had belonged to the other world all along?
Every error, every confusion had happened to him.
Why him?
Lu Xiao simply could not understand.
While everyone around him discussed how to help Qian Jinye and Qian Shengke return safely, Lu Xiao remained lost in the center of it all.
What would happen if two Lu Xiaos existed in a single space?
But he couldn’t let that happen. The loss of his memory didn’t erase the fact that everything had happened nd though he hadn’t spent long with them, he already trusted them completely.
Lu Xiao had never seen himself as a hero, but if sacrificing himself meant everyone else could return to safety, then he could give up wondering whether he belonged here or not.
After all… he had never truly belonged anywhere.
“Let’s make this quick, everyone,” Lu Xiao said lightly, as if nothing burdened his heart. He grabbed the Qian Jinye closest to him and led them toward the place where the monster lurked.
The familiar screeching. The wet, rhythmic dripping of mucus. The sound of tentacles thrashing impatiently against the walls, as though furious at having waited this long.
Lu Xiao guided everyone as they dodged left and right, weaving through danger. Everything felt so familiar, so painfully familiar, as though he had genuinely lived through these moments, not merely glimpsed false memories born from time distortion.
They reached it.
They found the door.
This time, their timing was perfect, neither early nor late. The monster’s ear splitting shriek was cut off abruptly as the door slammed shut behind them.
This time, for real, it would never return.
From outside the door, Qian Jinye watched as Lu Xiao leaped forward. Watched as Lu Xiao’s body vanished entirely into the space beyond the door.
Time itself collapsed a heartbeat later.
The world shattered into fragments.
Only Qian Shengke and Qian Jinye remained standing together, gazing at the empty space where the door had been.
“Let’s go, Jinye. Don’t stare at it anymore. Go back and find your Lu Xiao.” Qian Shengke ruffled his brother’s hair before pulling him toward a glowing crack in the air.
But Qian Jinye looked back one more time. “We didn’t tell him… He’ll forget us.”
Lu Xiao’s memories lasted only as long as the time he spent with them.
Now that they were leaving, he would never remember again.
“If he could be affected by the tremors of time, then perhaps he can also remember us. Don’t be sad. Fate is in the heavens. Who knows, maybe next time, when you bring your Lu Xiao…
you’ll meet him again.”
“…I hope so.”
The two stepped into the rift.
Farewell.
Someone shouted:
“He woke up! He woke up, Lu Xiao! Jinye ge, he’s awake!”
Qian Jinye blinked groggily, struggling to open his eyes. Three large blurry heads floated before him…
then became six…
then merged back into three.
Everything swayed slightly.
Qian Jinye tried to get up but his body refused to obey him. This time, the shockwave had hit him far harder than before, leaving every limb heavy and unresponsive.
“Why can’t he get up yet? His brother already finished two whole bowls of tofu mixed with rice.” That voice sounded suspiciously like Li Xianguan. A second later there was a muffled grunt, clearly someone had smacked him for talking nonsense.
A pair of hands carefully lifted Qian Jinye, supporting him with exaggerated gentleness. His head fell sideways onto something incredibly warm and comfortable and alongside his ear he could hear a steady thump thump heartbeat.
The enveloping warmth, that sense of absolute safety, Qian Jinye melted into it unconsciously. Wrapped in that comfort, he finally managed to force out a sentence, his voice soft and thick with fatigue.
“Lu Xiao… so noisy…”
The moment he spoke, the surrounding chatter cut off instantly. The world became so quiet it almost felt unreal and in that depthless silence, Qian Jinye drifted back into sleep.
When he woke again, his stomach was rumbling like a beast. Half dazed, he opened his mouth, letting Lu Xiao feed him spoonful after spoonful of tofu. From the side came a series of clicking tongues and quiet ridicule, immediately followed by Lu Xiao’s sharp retorts.
Despite feeling boneless, he finished an entire bowl. Only then did strength begin to seep back into his limbs. Little by little he pushed himself upright.
Only afterward did he learn he had been asleep for a very long time, so long, in fact, that they were now in the evening of the second day.
Though the sky had never brightened in this distorted space, Li Xianguan had his own strange way of measuring time. He simply knew it was the second night, with no room for doubt.
Everyone remained where they were to rest and regain strength while discussing their next move. As for Qian Jinye, he hadn’t seen his Lu Xiao for what felt like an eternity and now he clung to him like glue, refusing to let go.
Like a stubborn piece of sticky candy.
Qian Shengke found it unbearably embarrassing and kept trying to pry him off but the more he tugged, the more tightly Qian Jinye clung.
Lu Xiao had already gotten a rough summary of the brothers’ condition from Qian Shengke and was genuinely surprised by how intensely Qian Jinye reacted but really, what kind of boyfriend minded being relied on like this?
Besides, their investigation of the Qian Residence’s time space tunnel was almost complete. If anything went wrong later, they now had a method to retrace their steps. What remained was the final stage: investigating the main residence.
Those horrifying cries… all the secrets… the truth they had been seeking, most likely, everything was hidden there.
During the period when Qian Jinye was unconscious, everyone had taken turns keeping watch, so each of them had managed to get decent rest.
They were almost prepared to head out. Yet suddenly, Lu Xiao felt a sharp bolt of fear, sudden, inexplicable, cold as ice.
“What’s wrong?” Qian Jinye immediately noticed Lu Xiao’s abrupt stop and halted as well, confusion written across his face. Chen Yue’er also sensed something was off with him.
Lu Xiao forced a smile, squeezed Qian Jinye’s hand and continued walking forward with larger, more deliberate strides. What could possibly happen?
He definitely hadn’t experienced anything unusual… right? It was just fear, fear he could overcome if he pushed through.
After all, how could someone keep looping through time while retaining their memories? That kind of thing shouldn’t be possible. Something should vanish each time; something should always be lost.
So then… what exactly had Lu Xiao forgotten?
✦ ✧ ✦
Nycreth
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(╯°□°）╯︵ ☕ — deploy caffeine!
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · The beginning of the tragedyChapter 2 · Don’t forgetChapter 3 · Look at it directlyChapter 4 · Whom are you trying to seduce?Chapter 5 · TeaseChapter 6 · Sleeping in the same bedChapter 7 · Internal locksChapter 8 · Tampering The rules…Chapter 9 · Black LotusChapter 10 · FledglingChapter 11 · There are no horses in the stable.Chapter 12 · Water-oil separationChapter 13 · The cost of backtrackingChapter 14 · It got biggerChapter 15 · Was it a mouse?Chapter 16 · Too fieryChapter 17 · Administer medicineChapter 18 · Tracing the PearlChapter 19 · A KissChapter 20 · Ge, Kiss meChapter 21 · Ten Thousand Deaths Without RegretChapter 22 · Endless CorridorChapter 23 · CowardChapter 24 · GoodbyeChapter 25 · Back toChapter 26 · It’s is me, Not MeChapter 27 · VictimChapter 28 · Crossed CupsChapter 29 · IntuitionChapter 30 · ChangeChapter 31 · DifferentChapter 32 · ErrorChapter 33 · Mind Your Own BusinessChapter 34 · WanderingChapter 35 · EmbraceChapter 36 · LoveChapter 37 · UnrestrainedChapter 38 · Asking Over a DrinkChapter 39 · As BeforeChapter 40 · SatiatedChapter 41 · A Change in the WindsChapter 42 · A’SuChapter 43 · Welcoming the BrideChapter 44 · GossipChapter 45 · WeaknessChapter 46 · Wedding NightChapter 47 · Brother QingChapter 48 · FadingChapter 49 · Lying LowChapter 50 · CaressChapter 51 · OnceChapter 52 · The Hidden PassageChapter 53 · MotherChapter 54 · FlawlessChapter 55 · ProphecyChapter 56 · EtherealChapter 57 · DecipheringChapter 58 · The TrapChapter 59 · Stone StatueChapter 60 · ChessChapter 61 · AssassinsChapter 62 · The National Preceptor?Chapter 63 · Please return my belongings to me.Chapter 64 · I’m not that desperate.Chapter 65 · No wayChapter 66 · No turning backChapter 67 · I told you, get out of the wayChapter 68 · Still became a monsterChapter 69 · Let’s end thisChapter 70 · Why do you look so much like him?Chapter 71 · One wanted to kill, two stopped himChapter 72 · Unless, the people at Mingzhu Academy are keeping it from himChapter 73 · FraudChapter 74 · Don’t look back, Lu XiaoChapter 75 · It’s coldChapter 76 · Kill MeChapter 77 · We are even marriedChapter 78 · Gege… I Love YouChapter 79 · “It” had arrivedChapter 80 · Wake Up!Chapter 81 · How Nostalgic….Chapter 82 · You already Promised meChapter 83 · Their TerritoryChapter 84 · Jokes were JokesChapter 85 · What you dream was realChapter 86 · Did you cry?Chapter 87 · What’s wrong, young Master?Chapter 88 · No, I only ever said it to youChapter 89 · Honey, Please let me go.Chapter 90 · What are you pretending to be, a gentleman?Chapter 91 · It’s just a shoddy trick to fool people, but I like it anywayChapter 92 · Ge, I did it voluntarily, it’s no useChapter 93 · You little BratChapter 94 · Gege~ please have mercyChapter 95 · Hearing Lu Xiao come in, he patted the seat next to himChapter 96 · Stop fooling around, let me kiss youChapter 97 · “I want…” “Want what?”Chapter 98 · Gege, watch closely how I get youChapter 99 · Little Eleven, how about we talk to ‘it’ first?Chapter 100 · Had it gone mad?Chapter 101 · I will make my decisionChapter 102 · Tsk, how indecentChapter 103 · You are the creator of my original worldChapter 104 · The world is not your toy, go back to where you came fromChapter 105 · He was a boy with snow-white hair and a handsome faceChapter 106 · Haven’t seen you for a long timeChapter 107 · TYRBL Extra: 1Chapter 108 · TYRBL Extra: 2Chapter 109 · TYRBL Extra: 3Chapter 110 · TYRBL Extra: 4