Lu Chengxuan’s pupils constricted, his expression grave as he looked at Shen Qi, "How did you know?" Lan Guoguo’s ability was something only a few of them knew about, and Lu Chengxuan was certain Shen Qi had never met Lan Guoguo.
Lu Zhi had a question hanging in his mind earlier: the boy taken away by the foreign apostle was indeed Lan Guoguo, but hearing Chu Shiling say Lan Guoguo had betrayed them only deepened his confusion.
"Stop standing around like an idiot and help me support Brother Mu. Also, what is a timeline?" Lu Zhi, confirming Chu Shiling’s wounds were not serious, went to tend to Li Mei and Mu Sen.
Shen Qi picked up Mu Sen by the collar with one hand, looking disgusted, and unceremoniously placed him against the wall to sit. Only then did he leisurely explain, "A timeline refers to different events happening in different spaces at the same point in time within the same duration."
Lu Zhi gently laid Li Mei down on the ground, carefully examining her exposed wounds. The severe injury was on her left arm, caused by a blunt object, and the wound was already healing on its own.
Supernaturals had strong physical constitutions and faster recovery abilities than normal people. Coupled with Manluo’s healing abilities, the wound soon closed.
After listening to Shen Qi’s explanation, Lu Zhi’s understanding of timelines remained hazy, "Different spaces?"
Lu Chengxuan sat with his knees bent against the wall and replied, "The simplest way to understand a timeline is to call the time point we are currently in the main line, and timelines are branch lines."
"There can be many branch lines. For example, in the main line, I am still alive and sitting here, but in the branch lines, some of me might be dead, or some might still be fighting the foreign apostle from just now. Do you understand?"
With Lu Chengxuan’s explanation, Lu Zhi understood but became even more confused, "Are these main lines and branch lines related? Do events happening in different spaces affect the main line?"
"They do." Chu Shiling was the one who spoke. He lowered his gaze, pondering an event from the past, "The first time Guoguo triggered this ability, Lu Ge and I were on a mission and trapped in an underground ancient city. It was Guoguo who found us. Back then, even Li Mei didn't know about our actions."
Chu Shiling still remembered Lan Guoguo’s reply, "Guoguo said he saw that we would be trapped to death in the underground ancient city, so he came."
Chu Shiling chuckled softly, pulling at his still-unhealed internal wound, and murmured, "At that time, Guoguo was only thirteen years old… I don't know what method he used to find us. He was covered in dust…"
Lu Zhi fell silent, "Guoguo always… disliked me. Could it be because he saw a bad branch line for me?"
Chu Shiling gave a wry smile, glanced at Lu Zhi, then at the silent Lu Chengxuan, before saying, "Yes, in the timelines Guoguo saw… Lu Ge’s younger brother had already died long ago."
Lu Zhi’s pupils contracted, and he looked at Lu Chengxuan in astonishment, pursing his lips.
Lu Chengxuan let out a wry laugh, "Li Mei said she found my younger brother, and I was still thinking about what kind of liar it was this time, even deceiving Li Mei with DNA verification. But the first moment I saw you, I knew you were my brother."
Lu Chengxuan raised his hand and patted Lu Zhi’s head, smiling gently, "No matter what the outcome of the branch line Guoguo saw, the fact that you are my brother will never change."
"Brother…" Lu Zhi’s emotions were complex. He wanted to explain to Lu Chengxuan, but he didn't know how to explain that he was still alive. Just as Lu Chengxuan had learned from Lan Guoguo, in the 'book,' Lu Zhi had indeed already died.
"Alright." Lu Chengxuan patted his shoulder, "Guoguo has always given you the cold shoulder, why didn't you tell me?"
Lu Zhi rubbed his nose, "Brother, saying something like this out loud is like tattling to parents; it’s too childish. Besides, Lan Guoguo is only verbally aggressive, and we’ve only met a few times."
Lu Zhi changed the subject, "Hey, hey, hey, that’s not right. If Lan Guoguo dislikes me so much, could he have always suspected I was fake? In the timeline he saw, 'I' had already died."
Initially, he had felt guilty towards Lu Chengxuan for being a fake, but Shen Qi’s appearance made Lu Zhi realize he wasn’t a transmigration reader at all. His memories had been distorted, causing him to mistake 'future prophecies' for a 'book.'
Lan Guoguo targeting him was understandable, but Lu Zhi was also innocent. Immediately, Lu Zhi thought of another problem, "Lan Guoguo was taken away by the foreign apostle. What do we do?"
That apostle boy who had been going easy on them was Lan Guoguo himself. He just didn't know what Lan Guoguo was trying to do.
"Guoguo… he wouldn't betray us." Li Mei, who had woken up from her daze, didn't know how much she had heard. Li Mei said seriously, "Chairman, we have to go and rescue Guoguo."
Lu Chengxuan: "Guoguo is very smart. He knows what he's doing. If that foreign apostle took Guoguo, it must be because Guoguo is useful to him, and he won't be in mortal danger for now. Let's find a way to contact Guoguo, or… wait for him to contact us."
The group fell silent for a moment, the atmosphere becoming rather somber.
Lu Zhi, "Brother…"
"It's alright. I'll handle Guoguo’s matters. As for you…" Lu Chengxuan sighed softly, "It seems you've kept quite a few things from me."
Lu Zhi was startled. He then remembered that his pupils changed color when he borrowed Shen Qi's divine power, and the weapon he conjured, the scythe of death, used to kill the blue-clothed apostle, was clearly seen by Lu Chengxuan.
Lu Zhi wondered whether to tell Lu Chengxuan the truth or make an excuse. After much deliberation, Lu Zhi decided to tell Lu Chengxuan, but not now, "Brother, can I tell you when we get back?"
Lu Chengxuan smiled and nodded upon hearing this, "Okay."
Lu Zhi breathed a sigh of relief, "Alright then, you all rest. Shen Qi and I will look for an exit."
They didn’t have any teleportation artifacts used by the foreign apostles. There were only two ways to get out of the Serpent God Tower: the first was, as Shen Qi said, to find the central teleportation point, and the second was… violent demolition.
Lu Zhi decisively chose the first option.
"Okay, you… be careful." Lu Chengxuan didn’t overexert himself and rested on the spot to recover his psychic power.
Lu Zhi felt that Lu Chengxuan and the others needed some private space to discuss Guoguo’s matter. He continued walking towards the end of the passage with Shen Qi.
Really, the walls of the Serpent God Tower’s passage were carved with many patterns. The candlelight from the merman lamps was blue, "What color is the flame of this merman lamp really?"
Shen Qi glanced at him sideways, "Blue. The fuel for the merman lamp is merman blood."
Lu Zhi looked enlightened.
After walking not far, a circular white mist wall suddenly appeared out of thin air in front of them. Several misty hands reached out from inside and pulled Lu Zhi in. Lu Zhi blinked in surprise, "Shen—"
Shen Qi’s expression changed drastically. He tried to reach out to save him, but the mist wall disappeared in a flash, taking Lu Zhi with it. His silver-gray eyes instantly turned into golden-red eyes with silver rings, and he gritted his teeth, looking at the void, "Serpent God—"
Within the Silverwood Forest, the golden and blue lake suddenly transformed into a pair of serpentine eyes.