After everyone left, Xu An tidied up the house and prepared dog food and water for Gou Dan before retreating to her room.
As soon as she entered, Xu An slipped into the space.
"Zeyuan, Zeyuan."
Xu An called out several times, but there was no response.
The prolonged silence made Xu An a little panicked.
The red butterfly gracefully landed on Xu An's shoulder. This butterfly seemed to be very fond of Xu An.
Every time Xu An entered the space, this butterfly would actively fly to her side and seek affection.
Xu An had asked Zeyuan about this before, but Zeyuan had never answered directly, only saying that she carried something the butterfly liked.
Knowing it wasn't her own doing, Xu An stopped asking.
Perhaps she had the constitution of a "Fragrant Concubine" after her rebirth.
Seeing no reaction from Zeyuan, Xu An walked purposefully towards the massive tree.
Yes, the once withered branch that looked like it was about to die had now grown into a large tree.
Previously, Xu An had always assumed this tree was Zeyuan's true form. Although he had never explicitly admitted it, he had not denied it either.
Xu An gently stroked the tree trunk. After years of companionship and mutual support.
Since discovering Zeyuan's existence, this was the first time he had disappeared for such a long period.
In the past, Zeyuan would occasionally disappear, but never for this long.
She knew that for some reason, Zeyuan was undergoing some form of evolution.
And the reason for Zeyuan's evolution was the mycelium Xu An had been collecting.
Although Zeyuan had explained before that the mycelium was part of his body, scattered fragments of his power.
Now, this mycelium was under Xia Jin's control, and Qin Chuan seemed to have some mycelium as well.
She didn't know if these factors would directly affect Zeyuan's disappearance.
Xu An didn't wallow in despair for long. Instead, she inspected the vegetable and fruit greenhouses in the space, loosened the soil, and watered the planted land.
Now, Xu An was truly grateful for her foresight in buying so many drones.
Using drones for watering was incredibly convenient.
It was the first time Xu An truly appreciated the advancements of human technology.
After finishing her tasks and emerging from the space, the room had become completely dark.
The moment she exited the space, a bone-chilling cold engulfed her.
To save electricity, Xu An had turned off all the heating equipment in the room before entering.
However, this also meant that the room was now as cold as an ice cellar.
Xu An, with trembling fingers, turned on the electric heater.
As warm air blew out from the electric heater, Xu An finally let out a sigh of relief.
"I'm alive."
Without delay, she turned on the electric blanket and immediately snuggled into it.
Because the temperature in the space was constant, and it was extremely cold now.
This extreme temperature fluctuation made it very easy to catch a cold.
She didn't want to get sick.
She took out chicken claw snacks from the space and then pulled out "Detective Conan," which she had already watched hundreds of times.
She happened to be watching the "Valentine's Day Murder Case" episode.
Xu An calculated, and today seemed to be Valentine's Day.
Well, this was quite fitting.
So, she happily gnawed on the chicken claws.
There was nothing more delightful than being in bed, eating chicken claws, and watching dramas. If there was.
It would be to accompany it with a bottle of "Fatty's Happy Water."
Just kidding, what could be better than chicken claws for a man?
While Xu An was happily watching anime,
Others were not so calm.
Xia Jin looked at the corpse of Weng Quan that had been brought back.
There was a clear stitching mark on the back of his head. He didn't even need to examine it to know that whatever was in Weng Quan's brain was gone.
That was a living specimen he had painstakingly cultivated. He looked at the woman in front of him.
"When you went, why did Qin Chuan make you wait at the door for so long?" Xia Jin's voice was cold.
He was never a kind person. Since this woman had taken the money, she should have done the job properly.
However, now, although the person was brought back, the most important thing had been removed by Qin Chuan.
The woman looked at Xia Jin. At first glance, she knew that this person was not as easy to get along with as the rumors suggested.
But now, she was no longer the naive and sweet young lady she once was.
She was not at all surprised that Xia Jin knew her movements so clearly.
"When I arrived, Qin Chuan came out to meet me. I told him my purpose, and he investigated my identity. Initially, he said he wouldn't give me Weng Quan, but then he suddenly changed his mind and said he would give me Weng Quan, but I had to wait for a while. So I kept waiting."
"The rest, you know," she replied calmly, without any hint of subservience. She wasn't lying.
Mainly, she knew there was no need to lie. There was no place more transparent than the law enforcement building on the lighthouse.
There were surveillance cameras almost every three steps.
Nothing could escape them. Moreover, it was not surprising that Xia Jin could obtain those recordings.
Instead of fabricating a bunch of excuses that Xia Jin might discover, it was better to be upfront with him.
After all, Xia Jin only asked for Weng Quan's corpse to be brought back; he didn't say he wanted Weng Quan's brain to be brought back as well.
Looking at the woman's demeanor, a slightly cruel smile appeared on Xia Jin's lips. He no longer looked at her beautiful face.
He waved his hand, signaling for people to leave, and then remained alone with Weng Quan's body.
He looked at the face that was already beginning to deform. "Weng Quan, after following me for so many years, you still haven't learned to be smart. If you wanted to betray me, you should have dealt with me first."
He whispered, not like he was looking at a long-time friend whom he had personally killed, but like lovers whispering in each other's ears.
"Didn't I tell you? If you want to escape my control, then your only end is death."
Xia Jin looked at the face in front of him, a fleeting hint of confusion flashing in his eyes.
He felt no sorrow, no sadness, not even the sadness of betrayal, only a sense of bewilderment.
Although this only caused a momentary confusion, it was still a puzzling matter.
In his memory, a dejected youth vaguely reappeared.
The youth, who should have been full of pride, looked disheveled. Even at the moment he found him,
Xia Jin could see a flicker of embarrassment on Weng Quan's face.
Yes, it was embarrassment.
Back then, Weng Quan's eyes were filled with sincerity, not yet blinded by the colorful world around him.
He was still the Weng Quan who was solely focused on research.