When Lian Han left the mall, he vowed never to go shopping with a woman again; it was simply unbearable. Especially when the woman's purpose in shopping wasn't to dress him up, but to make a move on him.

Although she didn't feel tired, trying on clothes one by one with a click was driving her crazy. Afterwards, Anhe complained that she wasn't a girl and had no desire to shop. Although she thought it was fine, since she was being criticized, Lian Han said that she would let Anhe know who wasn't a girl when school started!

Old Xing: ...This child is getting more and more vengeful! But this kind of playful fighting is more in line with her age.

Back in his birthplace, Lian Han glanced at the still silent AI and couldn't help but ask, "003, is there still no news from home?"

"Yes, Master."

Lian Han was taken aback. "Then why are there no unread messages?"

003 replied in her gentle voice, "Young Master Ling Xin instructed that unless the master asks, you need not know."

"Whose AI are you anyway? Do you just believe whatever it says?" Lian Han said, looking distressed.

003 hesitated for a moment, then said, "Understood. From now on, if any of the young masters need anything, we will inform the master immediately."

"Let me see the message right away." This was Lian Han, who was feeling guilty.

Even though she never celebrated the New Year before, she knew that spending New Year's Eve together was the most valuable thing, but at that moment—she fell asleep, and suddenly felt even more guilty.

A new message invitation appeared in the message bar. The time was 23:30 yesterday. Lian Han checked the current time, 16:54, and quickly clicked to confirm.

"Finally here?" Ling Xin looked at her younger sister with a smile, which made her feel a chill in her heart.

Lian Han said weakly, "I think I can explain."

Having no memory of her past is one thing, but after being triggered, she even remembered things from before she was four years old. Because her mother left, the Ling family doted on her like she was made of glass.

"Come here." Ling Xuanyu reached out his hand to her.

This is still Marshal Ling's birthplace, but under the myriad stars, there are now sofas, coffee tables, and many other incongruous items.

But none of that matters. What matters is that the man, sitting on the sofa, is looking up at her, yet he exudes an immense sense of pressure on Lian Han.

He was angry.

When she was little, Ling Xuanyu truly doted on her, taking care of her personally. He would even applaud if she turned the house upside down. But whenever she was young and clung to him for her mother, he would act like this, which would always scare him to tears.

Lian Han felt even more guilty and quickly went over, her voice weak, "Dad."

Ling Xin/Ling Yue: ?!

Ling Ze's surprise was even more direct: "Why has the way you address me changed? Little sister, you're such a coward..."

With a single glance from Marshal Ling, Ling Ze immediately cowered and hid behind Ling Xin.

"sit."

Lian Han blinked and sat down opposite Marshal Ling, but only leaned against the sofa, using his legs to brace himself, not daring to actually sit down. He couldn't help it; he had developed a psychological trauma from being frightened as a child.

However, Marshal Ling's first words shocked Lian Han: "Who is Cangming?"

The girl jumped up, her face changing from guilty to extremely pale. "How much did he say?"

“The current courses are mainly conducted on SkyNet. For your safety, I will apply to Diluo for permission to stay at home from now on and not go out unless necessary,” Ling Xuanyu said.

Lian Han: "I disagree."

"There's no room for negotiation on this." The man's tone was firm.

Ling Wei also sided with him this time, "Xiao Han, listen to me. The villa's defenses are being strengthened. You should stay home after it's finished. We're really worried about you."

Looking at the two elders in the family with firm gazes, Lian Han took a deep breath, "You can't hold me back."

“The card-making workshop has been demolished. Since you want to learn about mecha, then don’t get distracted by cards anymore,” Ling Wei said.

Before Lian Han could speak, Ling Ze, who was closest to her, couldn't help but jump in, "Mother, isn't this...?"

"You have no right to speak!" Ling Wei said coldly.

Ling Ze was about to say something when Lian Han said, "Cousin, don't speak."

Lian Han sat back down on the sofa. Although he was still scared, he looked directly at his father. "I don't know who Cangming is. I only know that he has a great connection with the Blood Nether Flower."

"You may or may not know what the Blood Nether Flower is. That's okay, I'll just treat it as a science lesson. There's a group of people in the Federation hiding in the shadows, pursuing their coveted immortality, and the Blood Nether Flower is the result of their research. When the Blood Nether Flower is planted on a person, it will grant them more than twice the normal lifespan. It is said that if the Blood Nether Flower can bloom on them, then they can live forever."

"And bloodworms are the best nutrients to trigger the growth of the Blood Nether Flower. You would never guess what the bloodworms eat."

"Does immortality really exist?" Ling Wei frowned.

"It is said that Cangming claimed to be immortal."

"Go on," Ling Xuanyu said in a deep voice.

“Okay, I’ll tell you. When I was four years old, you sent me away. I thought it was just a game, or that you were busy. But I never expected that the person who was escorting me would want to kill me. I was terrified. At that moment, someone descended from the sky and saved me. He had a blood-red flower in his hand.”

Lian Han paused, and although no one understood why the topic had shifted to her experience, no one interrupted her as she continued, "That man later became my adoptive father. He had a very kind face, and he was also extremely good at disguising himself. Before I turned 18, I always thought that he and my adoptive mother really liked me. Oh, my adoptive mother, she had a bloody worm mark on the back of her hand."

“I had a very happy 6th birthday. But that night, my adoptive father brought me a bowl of late-night snack, which I ate. When I woke up the next day, I was in a different place, a white room. I called out for a long time but no one answered. When we ate, a small opening would appear in the door and someone would bring the food over. It was then that I noticed a mark on my hand, exactly the same as the mark on my adoptive mother's hand. But the mark appeared for a moment and then disappeared.”

“At first I didn’t pay attention to it and was only thinking about how to get out. But a few days later, when the marks reappeared, I started to feel uncomfortable all over. I felt so uncomfortable that I had to bang my head against the wall and scratch my arms with my fingernails to make myself feel better. That’s when the bugs appeared. They crawled out from the wall and swarmed towards me.”

"Bloodworms are extremely picky creatures. They disdain to gnaw on pre-existing wounds; they only eat what they can bite open with their sharp teeth. But they don't eat everything at once; they retreat on their own after a while. Then they reappear when the body wants to self-mutilate again. Just like—"

Lian Han gave them a comparison: "It's like cutting leeks. You only cut off the top part each time, and then cut it again after the roots have grown back."

"That's how that year went. Don't get me wrong, there's no time in the White House, and the AI ​​doesn't know why it can't be activated. We only learned about time after we escaped that day."

"But we were just kids, unfamiliar with the place, and our AI couldn't be activated, so we were quickly discovered. And then—"