Deep into the night.
Fu Zhu opened his eyes automatically from the bed and subconsciously reached out to grope around his side, but he did not touch that familiar soft warmth.
"Hmm?"
Fu Zhu turned his head in confusion to look at the side of the bed. It was empty. What was even stranger was that the color tone of the entire guest room had become extremely dim. Upon closer inspection, he could see many translucent crystals floating in the air.
Sensing something was wrong, Fu Zhu immediately flipped over and sat up in bed. He took his phone out of his pocket with one hand to check the time. The time was frozen at 02:31. If he remembered correctly, it was just past one o'clock in the morning when he and March 7th finished and went to sleep.
"Only one and a half system hours have passed? And these crystals in the air... are they ice?"
Fu Zhu summoned [Yamato], looking around vigilantly. He glanced at the [Minimap] in his peripheral vision. The map showed that apart from himself, there was only one yellow neutral marker in the surroundings. Aside from that, there were no other living creatures.
And above that single yellow neutral marker, three strange characters were noted.
[Changye Yue]
Judging from previous minimap display results, the three characters "Changye Yue" were likely the name of that neutral creature.
"Inviting someone to be a guest suddenly late at night, yet the host won't show their face?"
Fu Zhu gripped [Yamato] and pointed it towards the location of the yellow marker on the minimap. In the next moment, an umbrella printed with strange dark red floral patterns opened abruptly, then slowly lifted. Under the umbrella was a face Fu Zhu had not expected.
"March?"
Fu Zhu looked with some surprise at that face, which was nearly identical to March 7th's, except for the makeup on her face and the color of her pupils.
Changye Yue looked at Fu Zhu coldly, those dark red eyes filled with hostility.
"Who are you?"
Fu Zhu held [Yamato] aimed at Changye Yue, but he didn't dare to act rashly. It wasn't that he felt he couldn't beat her, but his intuition told him that since the other party looked exactly like March 7th—ruling out the possibility of a Masked Fool playing a prank—then she must have inextricably linked ties to March 7th.
If he acted casually and accidentally involved March 7th, that would be bad.
Changye Yue stared closely at Fu Zhu. Finally, her brows, which had been tightly knit together, relaxed. Her voice, carrying a hint of laziness, rang out in the dim guest room.
"It is not I who invited you to be a guest, but you who intruded upon my territory."
"What?" Fu Zhu didn't quite understand her meaning.
"That answers your first question. As for the answer to the second question... you should already know who I am. After all, within her—or rather, within my—memories, you possess the ability to see through people's identities directly, do you not? Dear."
"My?"
Fu Zhu keenly captured a certain keyword in Changye Yue's words, causing his brow to furrow tightly.
Is this Changye Yue before him and March 7th the same person? A dual personality? Or two souls?
Fu Zhu couldn't figure it out, so he decided to test it.
"When March 7th and I met for the first time, what was the first thing she said to me?"
Hearing this question, Changye Yue couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, the corner of her mouth curling into a trace of a smile.
"The first sentence said upon meeting... this question is quite a test of someone's memory. The answer is: 'Hey, are you okay? Why are you spacing out?' Correct?"
Just as Changye Yue was confidently waiting for Fu Zhu's affirmative reply, Fu Zhu shook his head.
"Wrong. You really aren't her."
Changye Yue froze for a moment. Her originally unhurried tone became somewhat urgent.
"How could it be wrong? That is clearly the sentence! Is it that you remembered it wrong?"
"Remembered it wrong?" Fu Zhu sneered. " I don't remember the first thing she said to me at all."
Changye Yue instantly choked, staring at Fu Zhu with a look that said, Are you teasing me?
In the next moment, Fu Zhu's figure suddenly disappeared from in front of Changye Yue. Immediately after, Changye Yue felt something cold placed against her neck. She didn't even need to think to know it was definitely [Yamato] in Fu Zhu's hand.
Despite having a blade held to her neck, Changye Yue was not anxious in the slightest. She merely asked Fu Zhu behind her somewhat stubbornly:
"Why did you say my answer was wrong? Clearly, I said nothing wrong."
"You care?"
Fu Zhu held [Yamato] to Changye Yue's neck with one hand, while his other hand took a [Lead] out of his backpack.
The lead looked ordinary, but in reality, it could not be severed by any means in reality, and its extensibility was extremely strong. It was suitable for tying people up. Even if Changye Yue was an Aeon, she shouldn't dream of breaking the lead.
Changye Yue answered Fu Zhu's question very honestly: "I care very much."
But in the next second, she was suddenly pushed down onto the bed by Fu Zhu. Then, her hands were forcefully pulled behind her back by Fu Zhu, and she was tied up firmly with the [Lead]. Even her feet were tied with another [Lead].
Suddenly bound by Fu Zhu, Changye Yue cried out softly in surprise, but she quickly recovered her calm. She smiled as she turned her head to look at Fu Zhu, who was straddling her waist.
"Dear, so you enjoy this kind of play?"
Fu Zhu gave a dry, humorless laugh. If it were March 7th asking him this, he would definitely answer very enthusiastically, but the person before him was not March 7th.
"Answer my previous question. What was the first thing Little March said to me? I don't even remember it myself, let alone Little March herself. She couldn't possibly remember. Yet you were able to give such a definitive answer... So what are you? A Memokeeper from the Garden of Recollection? A Cremator?"
Changye Yue sighed as if very heartbroken.
"Dear, why are you unwilling to believe that I am me?"
Fu Zhu sneered. March 7th wouldn't lie to herself, nor would she reveal hostility toward him. The minimap doesn't lie.
"Fine, cut the crap."
Fu Zhu held Changye Yue down with one hand, and with the other, he took out a bucket of [Milk]. Then he flipped her over and pressed the milk against her mouth.
"Drink this for me."
Changye Yue, however, laughed, looking at the milk pressed against her lips with disdain.
"Milk that can clear all special status effects is useless against me."
"Whether it's useful or not, we'll know after you drink it."
Seeing she wouldn't cooperate, Fu Zhu simply used his other hand to forcefully squeeze her cheeks, prying open her mouth, and poured the milk directly inside.
Changye Yue hadn't expected Fu Zhu to be so forceful. After drinking two or three mouthfuls, she choked on the milk. Her legs, pressed beneath Fu Zhu, began to thrash ceaselessly, trying to throw Fu Zhu off her body, but it was all in vain. Fu Zhu was like a great mountain, crushing her down firmly.
Only when the entire bucket of milk was poured into Changye Yue's mouth and Fu Zhu saw no effect did he frown and get off her. Changye Yue lay on the bed coughing ceaselessly, milk coughed all over her body.
"Are you satisfied now?"
Changye Yue turned her head resentfully to glare at Fu Zhu. She really didn't understand why [She] would like such a forceful man.
Fu Zhu ignored Changye Yue and instead stared at her with a deadly gaze.
If the milk didn't work, that meant the other party wasn't a product of "brainwashing" or some special effect resulting from March 7th becoming Changye Yue. Then, could it really be a dual personality or two souls squeezed into one body?
Seeing Fu Zhu didn't answer, Changye Yue sighed lightly.
"Dear, I said it before. I am me. Not that I stole March 7th's memories, but rather she retrieved [My] memories. You getting handsy with me makes [Me] very sad. My favorability rating is dropping whoosh whoosh whoosh."
"Since milk is useless..."
Fu Zhu pulled out [Yamato] and slashed down towards Changye Yue lying on the bed.
Changye Yue turned pale with fright. With a flash, her figure disappeared from the bed. Only her voice still echoed in the room.
"Trying to use the separation characteristic of Yamato to separate your imagined dual personality? That probably won't work."
"If it won't work, then why did you run?"
Fu Zhu looked at the marker for Changye Yue on the minimap. The other party was obviously truly afraid he would cut her directly. The map showed her marker moving rapidly around the perimeter to avoid being caught by him.
However, this wasn't difficult for Fu Zhu.
Envoy of Finality, Activate!
The surrounding space solidified. Time completely stopped at this moment.
Fu Zhu glanced at the minimap, then flashed to arrive in front of Changye Yue, who was fleeing in all directions. It was just that under Observer Mode, he couldn't attack. He could only deactivate Observer Mode, and then grabbed Changye Yue's slender neck.
Changye Yue, who had been chattering incessantly, suddenly realized her neck was being held. She looked in shock at Fu Zhu, who had appeared right in front of her.
"Dear, you actually used the power of [Finality] to deal with your girlfriend?"
Fu Zhu didn't talk nonsense with her. He raised [Yamato] in his hand and stabbed it toward her stomach. Changye Yue's dark red eyes instantly lit up with a dim luster.
In the next moment, Fu Zhu maintained his original posture and returned to reality. He frowned, looking left and right, until he saw March 7th lying on the bed. He hurriedly checked the minimap again.
[Astral Express - March 7th]
Seeing the real March 7th, Fu Zhu finally breathed a sigh of relief. However, what made him somewhat regretful was that the dark-toned space from before seemed to be Changye Yue's home field. She wanted to send him away, and he had no way to stop it.
Although he could use the power of Finality to go back, if the other party was determined to make him leave, he couldn't do anything about it.
"I have to find another way to get rid of her."
Fu Zhu couldn't be at ease with another existence inside his girlfriend's body, even if the other party claimed to be March 7th herself.
However, tonight, Fu Zhu didn't dare to sleep again. Instead, he stayed by March 7th's side, constantly paying attention to her state. If any abnormality appeared in March 7th's condition, he planned to go directly back to the past and fight Changye Yue to the death.
Fu Zhu stared at March 7th sleeping quietly on the bed and silently took out his phone to call Jing Yuan.
Before long, the call connected. Jing Yuan's voice, full of resentment, came from the other end.
"Fu Zhu, if not for this, you might as well just come directly to my house and ask if I'm sleeping!"
Fu Zhu didn't talk nonsense with Jing Yuan. He directly explained the situation with Changye Yue to him. Jing Yuan had lived for several hundred years and was one of the Seven Arbiter-Generals of the Xianzhou Alliance. He definitely knew more than Fu Zhu. Maybe he had a clue.
But unfortunately, after listening, Jing Yuan said with some regret: "Apologies, I am not clear on what this situation is exactly. However, since that person calling herself Changye Yue mentioned that Miss March 7th retrieved [Her] memories, why not let the diviners of the Divination Commission help? Perhaps they can gain some clues? I will instruct them to assist fully."
"Alright, then I'll trouble you."
After hanging up Jing Yuan's call, Fu Zhu called Huaiyan and Feixiao again. But unfortunately, the answers from the two were about the same as Jing Yuan's; neither had ever seen this kind of situation.
Fu Zhu also wanted to call Acheron and Herta. One was an Emanator of [Nihility], and the other was an Emanator of [Erudition]. Perhaps they had some special methods.
But unfortunately, neither of them could be reached. As for the IPC side, Fu Zhu didn't trust them enough to call.
Putting down the phone in his hand, Fu Zhu looked at the beauty lying on the bed with a headache.
"Four veteran Emanators have no solution... Changye Yue, what exactly are you?"
---o---
The next morning, March 7th had just opened her eyes when a tray containing breakfast and a [Golden Apple] was placed beside her.
"Wake up and eat breakfast."
Fu Zhu stepped forward to help March 7th up from the bed, letting her lean against the headboard, then placed the tray on her lap.
March 7th smiled sweetly at Fu Zhu: "Thank you."
Fu Zhu smiled and patted her head, then said: "You eat first. Later, we'll go out for a date."
"Okay~"
Afterward, Fu Zhu walked out of the guest room and knocked on Dan Heng's door.
Dan Heng had always been an early riser. Before he could knock a few times, the door opened.
Seeing Fu Zhu standing at the door, Dan Heng raised an eyebrow in surprise: "You aren't going to rest a bit more?"
Fu Zhu shook his head: "Something happened. I can't rest."
Hearing that something happened, Dan Heng instantly frowned and asked nervously: "What happened?"
Fu Zhu explained the matter regarding Changye Yue to him, then instructed:
"Help me keep an eye on Xing first. She knows she might worry if she finds out. Also, for this Wardance Ceremony, I might have to take March 7th and be absent. If the Luofu can't find a solution, I plan to take March on a trip to Penacony. The Family claims to have methods for everything."
"Will that work?"
Dan Heng was somewhat worried.
Fu Zhu smiled and patted his shoulder, giving a thumbs up to guarantee:
"Who do you think I am? A double Emanator. I still have trump cards in my hand. If it really doesn't work, I can use [Yamato] to separate the two of them, or I can go directly to find Nous to ask for respect. He always has a way. If He won't answer my question, then I'll force Him to speak."
Thinking of Fu Zhu's strength, Dan Heng felt slightly more at ease, but he still couldn't help reminding him:
"There's no need to confront an Aeon directly. I will help search for clues in the archives. You must prioritize your own safety."
"Don't worry."