Lu Mingming froze, not daring to move.
Yi Fu hummed an unknown tune, playing with a new small knife he had produced from who-knows-where.
The silver-white circle cut through the air, and Lu Mingming feared that if the knife slipped, it would fly towards her. That would truly be an undeserved disaster.
"Don't be afraid, I won't hurt you."
Yi Fu retrieved the knife stuck in the wall and put it into his personal space. He leaned close to Lu Mingming intimately, staring at her soft profile and said, "Sister, shall we go deal with Dean Morian now? If anyone notices the marks on the wall, remember to say that Sister accidentally made them – don't worry, I disabled the monitoring system when I came, they won't know."
"Okay, okay."
Lu Mingming forced herself to stay calm, countless thoughts swirling in her mind, coalescing into a messy ball of yarn with no thread to grasp.
Two things were certain:
First: Lu Yan, Yi Fu, Morian, and Orlannar knew each other, and their relationship was more than ordinary.
Second: What Qingchen said in the morning had come true by fifty percent; at least it was confirmed that Orlannar would indeed return.
But Knightwin…
Lu Mingming thought of what Qingchen had said about the "old merman" possessing the powerful ability to abduct her without anyone noticing, his capabilities evident.
"Sister, what are you spacing out for? Come help, Dean Morian is making my shoulders ache…"
Yi Fu bared his teeth and complained in a low voice, reaching out to lift Morian from the ground and prop him against the research table to rest temporarily.
"This old Samoyed is so heavy… Sister, you'll have to make me something delicious to compensate me later."
Yi Fu blurted this out subconsciously, paused for a moment, then sheepishly rubbed his nose.
He felt as though that sentence wasn't something he would normally say.
"How's the food you make?"
"Have you eaten my cooking?"
Yi Fu's mumbled addition collided with Lu Mingming's questioning voice.
Silence fell between them for a second, then Yi Fu immediately turned and supported Morian, quickly leaving the research room, waving goodbye to Lu Mingming, "Sister, see you next time!"
"That's strange…"
Lu Mingming distinctly remembered only showcasing her cooking skills in front of the old woman. If it were just a polite remark, why didn't Yi Fu reply?
She shook off the chaotic thoughts in her mind and picked up her light communicator, fixing it herself with spare parts – it was the only thing Lu Mingming could do after staying there for so long.
Let's not tell Lu Yan about this for now, or perhaps only half of it.
Having made up her mind, Lu Mingming tapped on her light communicator: "Beep… Beep…"
[Hello, the light communicator user you are calling is currently busy. Please try again later. You can choose to leave a message…]
"No one's picking up."
Lu Mingming breathed out a sigh of relief, a heavy burden suddenly lifted from her heart.
She hadn't thought about how to face Lu Yan for a while, but now the problem was, how would she face Hong Yu?
Thinking of this, Lu Mingming felt a headache coming on.
If someone suddenly told you that the world you live in isn't your original world, and your perceptions aren't your perceptions, that you've been completely hypnotized and everything around you is fake.
Just the slightest thought of considering this made Lu Mingming unable to make a decision, let alone that Qingchen said Hong Yu was the mastermind behind it all.
Were the snippets of her life with Hong Yu over the past decade buried deep in her memory… all fake?
Lu Mingming was lost.
After a perfunctory day of experiments, Lu Mingming casually ate a meal and returned to her room, locking herself away for the entire day. Fortunately, nothing came to bother her; her mentor was, thanks to Yi Fu, recuperating in the research institute's hospital.
Hong Yu repeatedly climbed into Lu Mingming's arms, showing great affection. Although he didn't possess all human emotions, he could discern Lu Mingming's absentminded state and a feeling of utterly rejecting the world.
The two of them stayed quietly for the entire afternoon. The sense of security and warmth from the blankets made sleep come easily, and Lu Mingming's breathing gradually became steady as she sank into sleep.
[Returned to the familiar sky pavilion.
Just like last time, a bird person came to find Lu Mingming, and half an hour later, carried Lu Mingming to the small pavilion.
"Sister Mingming!"
Hearing Qingchen's call from afar, Lu Mingming responded and raised her hand to wave at him.
Qingchen brought something unexpected for Lu Mingming today.
Inside the pavilion was a rhombus-shaped mirror framed in gold. Unlike traditional mirrors with glass reflecting human images, this mirror's surface rippled with wave-like patterns, creating a strong sense of fluidity.
"Sister Mingming, come quickly, this time I can prove it to you!"
Qingchen obviously had something urgent to say, piquing Lu Mingming's curiosity, and she hurried over.
She leaned her head to look into the mirror – the ripples shimmered, and the twin faces within the mirror suddenly shifted to a perspective of flying in the air.
Peering down from above.
It was a deserted airway, and a low-profile, dark aircraft was flying through the clouds at an unimaginable speed, heading towards the main planet.
"What is this?"
Lu Mingming looked up and asked Qingchen.
Knightwin glanced casually and replied.
In the quiet atmosphere, no one spoke for a moment, only the sound of machines ticking.
"Is this how they normally are? It seems like I can't hear any important information."
Lu Mingming's interest in listening further waned.
"They wouldn't be. Orlannar and Knightwin are sworn friends; they often discuss various matters within the alliance."
"Have you… spied on them many times?"
Lu Mingming asked uncertainly.
"Haha." Qingchen gave an embarrassed laugh. "The bird race and the merman race are natural enemies. We are occasionally tasked by the elders to monitor them. Knightwin and I are very familiar with each other's moves."
"No wonder you could easily pull me from a parallel world to the bird race's sacred land."
Lu Mingming suddenly understood.
Qingchen was about to say more when Knightwin, within the mystical mirror, suddenly spoke, "That person brought the peeker to me."
The peeker?
Lu Mingming raised a finger to her lips, signaling Qingchen to be silent and listen.
Knightwin: "Aren't you curious who that person is? I heard him say that woman has an unusual relationship with you in another world."
Orlannar gave him a faint glance, his eyes clear and placid, like a solitary ice sculpture, chilling to the bone.
"I disdain to associate with such a fool."
His words were incredibly calm, as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
Lu Mingming was taken aback, feeling her heart being tightly gripped by a large hand, instantly constricting into a ball. Countless emotions churned within her heart like a stirred bottle of water.
Qingchen instinctively glanced at Lu Mingming's emotions.
"It's alright."
Although her reason told her she didn't know Orlannar, her heart was filled with trepidation.
Lu Mingming almost felt like laughing, yet she couldn't bring herself to do so. She was like a broken feather floating in the wind, about to scatter at any moment.
"...Should we stop watching?"