It felt like a fleeting moment, yet as if a long while had passed.
Opening his eyes, Li Zhiyuan found himself lying on the bed.
Sitting up, he looked around carefully. He needed to make sure not only if this was his own room but also if he was in a dream right now.
After a while, Li Zhiyuan confirmed that this was reality.
But in his ears, there seemed to remain the crisp sound of the Grandmaster slapping the floor tiles with a talisman in his hand.
Then, everything went black.
What happened afterward, Li Zhiyuan couldn’t remember.
He didn’t even recall when the ritual of fate transfer had ended, nor how he exited the Grandmaster’s room and returned to his own bedroom.
Looking down at the blanket on his knees, he noted that every night the blanket would be on his stomach, and he had his own way of folding it.
This meant that it wasn’t the Grandmaster who had brought his unconscious self back to the bed, because the blanket was folded by himself.
Stepping out of bed, he glanced at the clock: five in the morning. Alii usually came around six.
Having experienced the Underworld walk numerous times, there’d inevitably be a little anxiety in the daze of recently waking up, instinctively wanting to confirm reality and illusion.
Just like when you walk a distance after leaving home, then suddenly stop feeling anxious, wondering whether you locked the door.
And every time he woke up and saw Alii sitting on the chair right away, he could skip that step.
Feeling thirsty, Li Zhiyuan walked over to his desk intending to grab his water cup but found the cup full of ashes.
He immediately began checking his notebooks. Although they were cleaned off well, one could still see the traces where pages had been torn out.
However, the torn-out pages weren’t what he had written.
His gaze shifted to the pen holder on the desk, which held four pens arranged according to his habits, but the ink level of the pen he most commonly used had dropped significantly.
An image formed in Li Zhiyuan’s mind:
In the dead of night, he lay sleeping on the bed. At the desk, a stranger was writing something on his notebook with his pen.
In the end, this person tore out what was written, lit it, and dropped it into the cup.
Li Zhiyuan opened the drawer; it contained his remaining loose change, not a penny less.
Books, workbooks, and the pen holder were organized according to his habits. Combined with the fact that his memory was missing since last night’s fate transfer ritual, Li Zhiyuan couldn’t help but wonder:
Could it be that the person writing last night was himself?
But if it was him, why would he burn what was written?
Was there something he couldn’t allow himself to see?
Plus, the act of burning it indeed suggested that last night’s self seemed to predict this memory loss.
Li Zhiyuan flipped through the books on the desk, not hoping to find any clues since he had no habit of scribbling in books.
However, when he picked up "Righteous Demon Extermination Records" Volume II and flipped to the last page, he noticed a change: a word was crossed out, and a new word was written beside it.
—Written by Wei Zhengdao.
—Written by Fake Righteousdao.
Li Zhiyuan furrowed his brows. He could almost be certain that the person who sat at the desk last night was himself.
Because it wouldn’t make sense for any family members, thieves, perverts, or filthy things to commit such a tedious act.
Only he could have entertained some malice in associating with "Destroyed by Righteous."
"What exactly did I do?"
Li Zhiyuan walked to the wardrobe. The reflection of his face appeared in the mirror on the closet door.
The moment he and his reflection in the mirror made eye contact, Li Zhiyuan suddenly felt a strong sense of panic and quickly averted his gaze.
That cold, peeling emotion surged from the bottom of his heart once more, this time even more violently.
He hugged his own head with both hands, muttering the names of people he knew. This time, he mentioned Alii and the Grandmaster the most, while everyone else, including his parents, were only briefly named in the end.
Finally, the feeling subsided.
Li Zhiyuan lowered his hands, and as he sat on the floor, he looked into the mirror again, both "personas" panting.
After fully regaining composure, Li Zhiyuan stood up, picked up the washbasin, and prepared to freshen up with a wash.
Pushing open the door, the door next to it opened simultaneously.
Li Zhiyuan and Li Sanjiang stepped out from their doors almost at the same time.
The cool morning breeze met his face, and Li Zhiyuan couldn’t help but stop and cough.
In the sky, just then, two birds flew side by side, coincidentally leaving behind nature’s gift at the same time.
Li Zhiyuan looked at the bird droppings on the ground in front of him. If he hadn’t coughed and stopped just now, that bird dropping would have landed on his head.
Li Sanjiang touched his head and, seeing the white residue on his finger, wrinkled his nose in disgust.
He instinctively wanted to wipe it on the wall, but then remembered this was his bedroom’s entrance in his own home, so he could only go to the balcony where the water tank was, wash his hands, and scoop water to wash his head.
"Grandmaster, let me go get some hot water for you. You’ll catch a cold washing your hair with this cold water."
"Little Yuanhou, get the Grandmaster some laundry powder and a dry towel for me."
After bringing the items, Li Zhiyuan lifted the thermos and poured the hot water into Li Sanjiang’s basin, then he also began brushing his teeth.
"Motherfucker, today’s really unlucky, bad luck."
"Grandmaster, let’s consider it as magpies bringing you good news."
"Grandmaster, I’ve realized that you, Little Yuanhou, are the one who knows how to speak."