In the alternate timeline, Fu Jianzhi hurriedly returned to the Fu family's old residence, rushed into the ancestral hall, pushed open the door of the small house, and bent down to try to scoop up the child who had been curled up there for years.
He reached out and grabbed nothing; the small house was empty, with only a faint sandalwood scent remaining.
Fu Jianzhi could feel that subtle bond; the imprint of time he left in this world had disappeared.
Not long ago, in another dimension of time, the imprint used up its last bit of energy and turned into nothingness.
That wasn't a product of time distortion; it was a selfish act he had when he tore open the timeline. He peeled a part of his eight-year-old self from the river of time as a link between the two worlds, so that whenever he wanted, he could go back to the main timeline to see how that girl was doing.
Now that the imprint has disappeared, Ruan Chen from the secondary timeline remains in the main timeline, while Fu Jianzhi, having lost the imprint of time, can no longer reach another dimension through the ancestral hall.
"Young Master." The servant behind him saw Fu Jianzhi standing silently at the door of the empty room for a long time, so long that even the shadow of the sun began to shift, and finally couldn't help but call out to him softly.
Fu Jianzhi finally came to his senses, looking somewhat lost and dejected.
“From now on, Miss Ruan’s room doesn’t need to be cleaned,” he said, turning and walking toward the door. “No one is allowed to enter her room without my permission.”
Fu Jianzhi went to the research institute alone to pack up Ruan Chen's belongings, which were all Ruan Chen's personal items. Nan Jing had no reason to stop him, but simply walked up to Fu Jianzhi with a large tea mug and asked, "What happened to Ruan Chen? When is she coming back?"
Fu Jianzhi's lips moved, forcing out a smile that was more like a grimace. "It might take a few years."
"several years?"
"Maybe five years, maybe seven years, maybe..."
Before Fu Jianzhi could finish his incoherent rambling, Nan Jing gently put down her teacup and interrupted him, "I'll take you to see a place."
Nan Jing took him to the research institute, where only five of the intertwined threads remained in front of the holographic projection.
The most eye-catching thing, the red thread that once belonged to Ruan Chen, has disappeared.
Fu Jianzhi skillfully pulled up the Ark's historical testing records, and also glanced at the distance between the technology screen and Blue Star, using the Ark's built-in calculation program to estimate the approximate number of years.
Nan Jing didn't seem surprised that Fu Jianzhi, who had never been here before, was so familiar with the Ark's interface. After Fu Jianzhi finished operating it, he asked, "Did Ruan Chen go back to your world?"
Fu Jianzhi's body stiffened, and he looked at Nan Jing with an incredulous expression, asking, "When did you find out?"
Nan Jing smiled and said, "I'm not that stupid. Five years ago, Ark issued us an unknown intrusion warning—just a warning, no other information. That was the time when you first met Ruan Chen."
"When the second unknown intrusion warning was issued, the Martial Arts Research Institute just released a notice. It was the day you became Zhanlu's pilot—now that I think about it, it was also the day your self-awareness from the two worlds began to merge."
"Later, Ark issued several more warnings about unknown intrusions. I didn't find any useful information, but I think it was related to you."
"So can you tell us what happened in your timeline, and why you ended up here?"
Fu Jianzhi looked at the projection on the ark and said after a moment, "I can tell you, but before that, I need to correct a mistake in your deduction—Ruan Chen, who has always lived by your side, does not belong to the place I came from; this is her home."
"It was my mistake to involve her; perhaps I will kill her."
His voice was so mournful.
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Ruan Chen felt like she was about to die from exhaustion.
She's so busy right now that she doesn't even have the energy to think about what the person in question is up to, which is why they haven't shown up for so long.
“I didn’t understand the last chapter at all. Can you explain it to me?” Ruan Chen sighed and said to Fu Jianzhi.
“You’ve been really distracted lately,” Fu Jianzhi said, picking up Ruan Chen’s book and making some marks on it. “What’s on your mind? Your instructor told me that your training performance has also dropped significantly recently.”
Ruan Chen gave an ambiguous "hmm".
In order for the plan to be implemented smoothly, she will take over all of the main character's learning and training progress here.
Ruan Chen considers herself a genius, and in fact she is. However, there is still a significant gap between her and the people living here. It's unimaginable what kind of arduous efforts the people living here have made.
Fortunately, Fu Jianzhi respected her enough not to ask too many questions about what had happened.
"I'm leaving Crescent Bay next week."
Next week? Ruan Chen raised her eyes. "Which day of next week?"
"on Monday."
Today is Sunday.
Why didn't you just say you were leaving tomorrow?
Fu Jianzhi's tone was matter-of-fact: "Saying it's next week makes it seem like we have plenty of time to spend together."
It's a very touching love confession.
But Ruan Chen knew that these words weren't meant for her.
"Will you be gone for a long time?" Ruan Chen was actually hoping that Fu Jianzhi would leave Crescent Bay, so that she wouldn't feel restricted in what she was doing here.
Fu Jianzhi got up and walked behind Ruan Chen, pulled off her hairpin, and combed her long hair again. "Why do you look so haggard these days? Are you very busy? I see you don't comb your hair properly. Did you just haphazardly put it on this morning and come out?"
"I'm asking if you're going to be gone for a long time," Ruan Chen said coldly.
She wasn't used to Fu Jianzhi's somewhat intimate actions and overly close behavior, but she knew that the person who had lived here before had interacted with Fu Jianzhi in this way, so she couldn't push him away.
"Hmm, maybe a long time."
Ruan Chen always felt that there was something in Fu Jianzhi's tone that she couldn't understand.
Before she could ask any further questions, Fu Jianzhi continued, "Actually, whether it's long or short isn't something I can define. After all, time is relative. What is a fleeting moment for me might be many long years for you. Of course, the other way around is also possible."
Ruan Chen said to him, not too harshly, "Why don't you try speaking like a human being?"
Where Ruan Chen couldn't see, Fu Jianzhi smiled gently, his gaze towards Ruan Chen filled with longing.
“I may only be away for a few months, but those few months may be a few months for you, but for me it may be years.”
Ruan Chen completely failed to understand this sentence.
So she just muttered an "oh" to herself out of boredom, somewhat admiring that Fu Jianzhi truly loved the person in question deeply, and could utter sweet nothings so easily.
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