Chapter 624

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes as he watched her.

Gu Xi had already picked up her teacup and taken a sip, though her fingers were still trembling slightly.

Fang Qi did not speak at once.

He was waiting for Gu Xi to make the first move.

He knew very well that she had come prepared today. She was here as a negotiator.

She had not come to beg him. She had come to bargain, because she knew how important Liguang’s memories were to him.

He lowered his head slightly and glanced at the girl in his arms.

The silver-haired girl was still sitting beside him, her thigh pressed tightly against his. Fang Qi could feel the faint warmth of her body.

Her two small hands were still cool, clutching his hand tightly…

But she was much more obedient than before. She had obediently curled up beside him, quietly leaning against his shoulder.

Only once in a while would she peek at Gu Xi from beneath her silver hair, then quickly avert her eyes.

Watching the star-shaped earring swaying gently beside her ear, Fang Qi blinked…

Oh…!

He suddenly understood why Liguang was being so well-behaved.

Because…

He turned his head toward the doorway.

Because the ditzy genius had left, leaving only him and Gu Xi behind!

And Liguang had an innate fondness for Gu Xi.

…Tsk.

He looked back at Gu Xi.

The police beauty’s lips trembled faintly. She opened her mouth as if she wanted to say something, then closed it again, lowering her eyes and pursing her lips.

It looked as though she was organizing her thoughts.

…In any case, Gu Xi’s “soul” resembled his own.

That resemblance alone was enough for the amnesiac little yandere in his arms to instinctively let down one layer of her guard.

On top of that, he was there too. With the two people she felt favorably toward present at the same time, she naturally no longer felt that tense fear that her “master” would be taken away.

And so, she had calmed down.

…All right, all right.

Who would have thought that sending the ditzy sweetheart away would have such an unexpected effect?

Could this be a case of fortune coming from an unintended turn of events?

Tsk, tsk.

Fang Qi gently breathed in the strawberry-sweet scent of the silver-haired girl’s hair, tightening the arm around Liguang’s waist.

…Once my wife relaxes, her waist really is as soft as though she had no bones.

“Fang Qi.”

Gu Xi finally spoke.

Fang Qi came back to himself and looked at her.

Those light-brown eyes were staring straight at him without the slightest hint of evasion.

But compared with before, they now held a greater sense of resolve, as though she had finally made up her mind.

“…The first thing I want to talk about is me.”

The fingers resting on her knees curled slightly. Then she drew a deep breath…

“I have never forgotten a single memory.”

She did not look at Fang Qi. Instead, she murmured while staring at the teacup on the table.

…?

Fang Qi’s eyelid twitched immediately.

His fingers tightened unconsciously, gripping Liguang’s small hand.

The girl in his arms let out a soft “mm,” curling even farther into his embrace. She did not struggle, merely allowing him to hold her and squeeze her little hand.

Gu Xi did not look at him. Her gaze remained fixed on the steaming cup of tea on the coffee table.

“All the ‘dreams’…”

She began with that euphemistic term, then paused and pressed her lips together…

After that, she slowly raised her head and looked directly at Fang Qi.

“All the ‘world lines,’ all the ‘loops’… I remember every single one of them.”

“I have never forgotten anything!”

Fang Qi: “…”

He stared blankly at her, speechless for a long while.

The morning sunlight was bright, slanting in through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the balcony.

Against his chest was the soft, warm body of the girl in his arms. In his ears…

He could hear his own heartbeat, beating a little too quickly, once after another.

Well, how should he put it?

He should have been shocked to discover that he had guessed correctly.

A policewoman who should have been an “NPC” was sitting on his sofa one day and telling him:

—I remember everything. I remember every time you reset the world!

If he had heard those words shortly after he had “crossed over”—or rather, when he had first lost his memory—he probably would have leaped straight off the sofa in shock!

…Only to be slashed back into another reset by Liguang’s laser blade.

But now?

He realized that he was not surprised at all.

There were merely some ripples in his heart.

Fang Qi lowered his eyes slightly.

Because deep down, he had always had a vague suspicion about this.

After all…

Gu Xi had been helping him from the very beginning.

Her first appearance had been during the hostage-taking incident, when she had shot and shattered Liguang’s crimson eye…

That had led to the first time Liguang sacrificed herself for him.

—Master, don’t forget Liguang.

Later, at the containment facility, it was Gu Xi who had given him and Liguang that final half-minute, allowing them to complete their link…

And experience that illusion lasting eighty-two years.

That was why he called her “Matchmaker Sister.”

And then?

Then, time after time, she had fired her gun and shot Liguang’s crimson eye.

So Fang Qi had already felt that…

Gu Xi might know about the “resets.”

She might know the mechanism, understand the principles behind it, and even be aware of certain patterns.

But at the same time, he had always thought that perhaps Gu Xi merely “knew” about them, rather than actually “remembering” them.

Just as someone might know that weather forecasts existed without being able to predict every single rainstorm.

…But today was different.

He looked at Gu Xi before him. She was taking another sip of tea, her fingers still trembling slightly.

Fang Qi narrowed his eyes.

The moment Gu Xi had entered the house today, she had directly called Lin Xiaoyou an “idiot.” Her very first words had been, “Don’t cause trouble, idiot!”

Was that normal?

Was Lin Xiaoyou an idiot?

Yes.

There was nothing wrong with that.

But Lin Xiaoyou had only become a ditzy sweetheart in the previous loop!

And in the previous loop, Liguang had clearly sacrificed herself to trigger the reset. Aside from Fang Qi, no one else should have retained their memories!

Yet Gu Xi had known from the start what condition Lin Xiaoyou was in now!

What did that mean?

It meant that Gu Xi remembered what had happened in the previous loop!

And furthermore…!

“Gu Xi…”

Fang Qi pulled Liguang deeper into his embrace, feeling her warm breath brush against his neck as he spoke in a low voice:

“Lin Xiaoyou retained the memories from the previous ‘dream’ too…”

“Could it have been your doing as well?”

He narrowed his eyes at Gu Xi.

So that was why Lin Xiaoyou had retained her memories!

Was it because of you, police beauty?

So you…

“…Huh?”

Gu Xi’s hand stopped halfway through lifting the teacup.

Holding the cup suspended in midair, she widened her light-brown eyes slightly and looked at Fang Qi with sudden confusion.

Fang Qi: “…?”

…What?

Her eyes sharpened, and her brows immediately drew together.

“Clack!”

She set the teacup down directly, the bottom striking the saucer with a sharp impact.

“How did Crazy Lin retain her memories too?!”

Her voice was full of disbelief as she suddenly glared at Fang Qi.

Fang Qi: “…Huh?”

The two of them stared at each other.

Fang Qi held Liguang in his arms as the two stared wide-eyed at one another. The air remained silent for several seconds.

Fang Qi’s mind went momentarily blank.

Had he guessed wrong?

Wait… Gu Xi did not even know that Lin Xiaoyou had retained her memories?

…What?

He stared at Gu Xi, feeling as though his brain truly was not enough for this.

But…

Lin Xiaoyou had clearly mentioned “the world’s nourishment” right in front of her just now.

Wasn’t that something connected to the cooperation between the two of them…?

…Ah!

Fang Qi suddenly raised his brows.

No, that was wrong. That had happened in the loop before the previous one!

The loop before the previous one!

The one in which he had drifted on the sea, been imprisoned on a raft by Liguang, and thrown the outside world into complete chaos!

It was during that same run that Lin Xiaoyou and Gu Xi worked together to get him out, and that was when they learned all of this.

And the “previous run”—

That was when Lin Xiaoyou first entered, caused a commotion, and was driven away by Liguang. After that… he carved words into the raft, Liguang lost her memories, and he cut off one of his fingers.

As for Lin Xiaoyou, because Liguang had taken part of her “soul,” she had directly turned into a ditzy sweetheart once she returned outside.

So, as far as Gu Xi knew, Lin Xiaoyou and she had worked together two runs ago.

But in the previous run, Lin Xiaoyou had become a ditzy sweetheart.

That was why she had assumed Lin Xiaoyou hadn’t retained any memories from the previous run.

…Huh?

Fang Qi’s head was starting to tie itself in knots. He stared blankly at the police beauty before him, who was also frowning deeply.

Then why… why could Lin Xiaoyou retain the memories of the previous run?

She…

A flash of red suddenly flickered from within his arms!

Fang Qi: “?!”

He instinctively lowered his head—

And met the crimson eye hidden between the strands of her bangs.

Liguang was staring fixedly at him. Who knew how long she had been watching him!

A scarlet glow seeped from her eye, flickering on and off, before she cast another glance in Gu Xi’s direction.

—Master, you’ve been looking at her for too long!

A warm little hand was sliding up along his waist, inch by inch.

Fang Qi: “...!”

His mind instantly snapped back to reality.

No going dark!

He raised his hand and gave her cheek a firm pinch. Her soft, puffy cheek instantly squished out of shape again.

The silver-haired girl immediately let out two muffled whimpers.

The little hand that had been creeping upward stopped at once, and the crimson in her eye quickly faded.

Then she obediently burrowed back into his arms.

Fang Qi shot her a glare.

You behave yourself, got it?

I haven’t even settled the matter of you having feelings for the police beauty yet, and you’re already picking a fight with me!

How dare you!

He gave her cheek another hard pinch before letting go and raising his head to look at Gu Xi again.

Gu Xi had also recovered from her earlier daze.

Yet her brows remained furrowed, and there was even a trace of helpless exasperation—as well as gritted-teeth frustration—in her expression.

“That lunatic really knows how to surprise people...!”

Her emotions had even begun to grow somewhat restless.

She tapped a finger against the rim of her cup, then looked up and glared at Fang Qi again.

“I already told you before. Don’t trust that lunatic Lin You! Don’t associate with her!”

The look in her light-brown eyes was equal parts helpless and furious.

“And yet you insisted on doing exactly that!”

“Happy now?!”

The corner of Fang Qi’s mouth twitched.

No, Matchmaker Sister! Do you think I wanted this? Do you think any of this was under my control?

That Miss Genius has been plotting against me nonstop with that brilliant little brain of hers. What was I supposed to do?

I didn’t want anything to do with her in the first place, but I couldn’t even escape her!

Although…

His gaze drifted slightly to the side.

The version of himself before losing his memories did seem to have taken the initiative to work with Lin You...

He had even outmaneuvered her once?

He didn’t say any of that aloud, but Gu Xi had clearly read something from his expression.

She merely gave a soft snort before speaking in a tone of profound exasperation:

“Even Liguang knows she shouldn’t get close to Lin You!”

Gu Xi looked toward the silver-haired girl in Fang Qi’s arms, and her expression suddenly softened.

“Liguang, don’t you agree? Do you think your master should get close to Miss Lin... Miss Lin Xiaoyou?”

Her tone was coaxing, as though she were gently persuading a child.

Liguang lifted her head from Fang Qi’s arms.

She looked at Gu Xi, her amber left eye and crimson right eye opening in slight confusion.

Clearly, she hadn’t followed the conversation at all.

But after hearing Gu Xi’s question, she still instinctively gave a small nod.

“...Mm. Master shouldn’t get close to Miss Lin.”

Her voice was soft and hazy with confusion.

“Liguang doesn’t like Miss Lin...”

Another flash of crimson passed through her red eye.

“...She’s trying to take Master away!”

Fang Qi: “...”

Wife, don’t let her bait you!

He immediately raised his hand and pinched her nose.

Liguang let out two muffled whimpers. Her two mismatched, watery eyes gazed up at him, innocent and obedient.

Then he looked toward Gu Xi.

Gu Xi was sipping her tea. The rim of the cup hid the lower half of her face, while her light-brown eyes quietly watched him over the top.

Fang Qi drew a deep breath and, with some difficulty, asked the question he most wanted answered:

“So, Gu Xi... you’re the same as me, aren’t you?”

His throat felt dry.

“You’re also...”

A transmigrator? A player?

He didn’t voice the rest, but Gu Xi would certainly understand.

After all... only a “player” like him could retain their memories through a reset of any kind.

Whether it was death, irreversible bodily injuries, or some other method, he remembered everything.

And Gu Xi had just made it perfectly clear to him...

She remembered everything too—all the world lines, all the runs.

Didn’t that mean she was just like him?!

And besides—

He lowered his head and glanced at the amnesiac little yandere in his arms, who was secretly rubbing her cheek against his sleeve.

Liguang had said that Gu Xi’s “soul” was very similar to his.

That was even more proof!

So Gu Xi really was—

“No.”

She shook her head directly, her tone crisp and decisive, without the slightest hesitation.

“Of course not.”

Fang Qi: “?”

Huh?

He stared blankly at the police beauty before him.

...Had he guessed wrong again?

“Fang Qi, I told you a long time ago.”

Gu Xi set down her teacup, her voice calm.

“You are a being from beyond the heavens, an outsider. But I... am not.”

Yet her pupils trembled faintly as she looked at him.

“You are special.”

She paused, then lowered her eyes to the teacup.

“It was you...”

Gu Xi raised her eyes again, looking at Fang Qi and then at Liguang in his arms.

“You gave the authority stolen from the ‘world’ to a girl who...”

“Once knew nothing at all.”

Fang Qi’s heart jolted. He tightened his arms around the soft warmth in his embrace and stared blankly at her.

“And that girl iterated on her own, improving little by little, until eventually...”

Gu Xi slowly exhaled.

“...I came to exist.”

Her chest rose and fell slightly as she closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, her gaze returned to Fang Qi’s face.

It seemed much gentler now.

“Later, you said...”

Her lips pressed together faintly, and her sharp-featured face took on a complicated expression.

“That I was a ‘virus’ in this world.”

“And viruses like me... you spread far, far too many of them throughout this world.”

The living room fell silent.

Gu Xi closed her eyes.

“...But in the end, up until now...”

“I’m the only one left.”