Tong Yang and 2036 Tong Le stayed in Lier Port for two days.
When parting, 2036 Tong Le stood at the street corner and dyed a strand of hair on his head golden yellow, exactly matching the position of Tong Yang's golden hair.
"Sis, I won't waste any more of your time."
The twilight glow spilled over him, making the contours of his face appear very soft.
Tong Yang, carrying a black backpack, nodded slightly, "Alright, be careful."
"You should be the careful one. I'm off now."
"Mhm."
He didn't linger, turning and walking in the opposite direction.
Tong Yang stared at his receding figure for a long time, until he disappeared into the crowd.
The phone rang. Tong Yang answered, "Hello."
"You're there already? That was quick."
"If you have time, please go visit Chu Shiyu for me. Thanks."
"Mhm, I'll be in touch."
After hanging up, Tong Yang turned and walked towards another street.
2036 Tong Le walked down the central street of Lier Port, soon arriving at a hotel. He entered the lobby, took the elevator to the eleventh floor, and knocked on a door in the middle of the corridor.
A moment later, the door opened from inside and he entered.
In a suite, a middle-aged man past fifty sat at a tea table, meticulously cleaning tea utensils, a rich aroma of tea lingering in the air.
"Master."
"You're here. Sit."
The middle-aged man glanced at him and said to the girl who opened the door, "Shiyu, go back to your room."
Chu Shiyu from World A nodded, "Understood."
2036 Tong Le sat down opposite the tea table and, after Dr. Wu extended his hand, naturally took over the tea utensils from him and continued the cleaning.
"Satisfied?" Dr. Wu leaned back and asked.
2036 Tong Le said, "Mhm, I was very happy being with sis."
Dr. Wu glanced at his hair and teased, "Changed your hairstyle, bought new clothes, and this hair color..."
2036 Tong Le lowered his eyes, his expression somewhat cool. "I wanted to be like sis, so I dyed it."
Dr. Wu chuckled, "Copycat."
"You're right, Master."
2036 Tong Le was not at all like the obedient and well-behaved version he presented before Tong Yang. In fact, he even bore some resemblance to the current Tong Yang.
After all, he had spent the twelve years after Tong Yang's death alone. Both his personality and appearance were vastly different from his childhood self. Only in front of Tong Yang could a glimpse of his former self be seen.
Dr. Wu sighed, "You were right. Tong Yang is the perfect candidate for the temporal anchor. Given some time, she would undoubtedly surpass your achievements."
Speaking of Tong Yang, 2036 Tong Le's eyes held a smile. "Sis has already surpassed me. Even if the temporal anchor weren't on her, as long as she lives, she will always walk ahead of me. I'm just following in her footsteps."
Dr. Wu's eyes shifted. "She and that Ye family boy..."
2036 Tong Le's expression changed slightly, and he pursed his lips. "Sis knows her own mind. On the 2036 timeline, I cooperated with Ye Huai. He is a very outstanding, good person."
"But..."
Dr. Wu caught his words, "But, you don't like Tong Yang being in a relationship?"
"It's not that I don't like it. It's just... I feel unwilling."
"Girls will always have the day their hearts flutter for the first time. That Ye family boy does have some capability. If his health were a bit better, he and your sister would be a perfect match."
2036 Tong Le frowned, seemingly not agreeing with his words, but said nothing more.
"As long as sis likes him. A heart can be dug out and replaced with another one anyway. His heart has already been replaced before."
Dr. Wu laughed helplessly, "You..."
"Has sis agreed to go to the First World?" 2036 Tong Le asked.
"She agreed. She knows that if the magnetic field energy disappears, your timeline will also vanish. Even so, she will still do it."
"Of course sis would do that. She's always decisive, knows her goals, and works tirelessly towards them."
2036 Tong Le finished brewing the tea, poured it into a cup, and handed it to him with both hands.
"Master, thank you for your hard work."
Dr. Wu took the teacup, smiling, "Dealing with Tong Yang is indeed quite hard work."
"That's because she misunderstood you. However, you also deliberately let her misunderstand, didn't you?"
"Anyway, thank you. I'll be troubling you from now on."
Dr. Wu waved his hand. "No need. I chose to cooperate with Tong Yang; it has little to do with you."
"Then thank you for adjusting the temporal anchor to her."
Dr. Wu took a deep breath. "I'm glad now that I believed you and chose her."
On a whim, he asked, "Suppose I said I wanted to take her as my disciple, what would her reaction be?"
2036 Tong Le thought for a moment. "It depends on whether she's in a good mood or a bad mood."
"How so?"
"If she's in a good mood, she might tell you to dream less."
"And if she's in a bad mood?"
"If she's in a bad mood, she might say, 'You're not worthy.'"
"Hahaha..." Dr. Wu was amused into hearty laughter. "I'd really like to ask her sometime, see what her reaction is."
2036 Tong Le said helplessly, "Master..."
-
After parting with 2036 Tong Le, Tong Yang did not leave Lier Port immediately.
Chu Shiyu from World A and He Jingjing had both returned to the country. It was said that after a short rest, like Tong Yang, they would obtain coordinates of parallel world humans, disperse to various parts of the world to clean up the parallel world humans who had infiltrated, and regroup before entering the First World.
Xu Junyue needed to recuperate for a while. From what she said, she still intended to participate in the subsequent matters, so Tong Yang didn't stop her.
Not long after landing, Xu Junyue called.
"What is it?" Tong Yang answered lazily.
"I'm about to go visit Old Xu. Aren't you curious why they came to save me back then?"
Tong Yang was speechless. "I'm not curious."
"No, you are curious. I'm curious too."
Tong Yang scoffed. "Fine then, I'm curious. What do you plan to do?"
"Take you along to listen!"
"You go ahead. I'll listen."
"Okay, right away."
As dusk fell, Tong Yang didn't return to the hotel. She found a spot with a view of the sea and sat down.
Not long after, the sound of conversation came through the phone.
Footsteps echoed in the empty room, followed by the sound of a chair being dragged and someone sitting down.
The clinking of shackles was especially clear.
"Old Xu." Xu Junyue called out.
"Why have you come?" Xu Zeming's tone was surprised.
"Why can't I come? You've been arrested. Even with my lack of conscience, I should come see you, right?"
Xu Zeming asked, "What about your aunt?"
Xu Junyue's voice noticeably darkened. "Dead."
"How did she die?"
"Tortured to death by Xu Siyuan, trying to force me to go find her. I didn't go."
Xu Zeming said, "You did well. You really shouldn't have gone in that situation."
"Xu Siyuan is dead too. Her body was soaked in sulfuric acid and shipped back to the country."
Xu Zeming was silent for a few seconds. "She deserved it."
Xu Junyue stopped beating around the bush and said directly, "I know what happened back then. Why did you and Auntie choose to save me instead of my sister? Shouldn't you have liked her more?"
Xu Zeming fell into silence again. "It wasn't about liking one more or less than the other."
"You and Siyuan have different personalities. She's sensitive, while you're straightforward and tomboyish. The parenting style that suited you wouldn't necessarily have suited her, and vice versa."
"Is that so?" Xu Junyue murmured. "Then why did no one go to save her? If any of you had gone, maybe things wouldn't have turned out this way."
Xu Zeming sighed. "We couldn't not go looking for you."
"Siyuan was in your mother's hands. I knew she wouldn't kill Siyuan, but your uncle truly would have killed you. Jingya felt the same way. If we hadn't gone for you, or if only one of us had gone, we wouldn't have been able to control him, and you would have died."
"Over the years, I explained it to Siyuan many times and tried everything to make it up to her. What truly devastated her probably wasn't the choice your aunt and I made, but the fact that your mother was the one who blinded her with her own hands."
Xu Junyue was silent for a long time, seemingly pondering his words.
After a prolonged silence, Xu Junyue muttered, "Then it would have been better if Mom had taken me instead."
Xu Zeming let out a bitter laugh upon hearing this. "Silly child."
"When can you get out?" Xu Junyue asked.
Xu Zeming said, "I wasn't involved in any illegal transactions. I should be able to get out sometime soon."
"And after you're out..."
"Who knows about the future."
Xu Junyue said, "My superiors have arranged for me to take the special forces exam."
"You? Special forces?"
"After my shoulder healed, I already agreed."
Xu Zeming didn't say anything more. "It's your decision."
"Of course. Since when have I ever listened to you?"
"What about Jingya's body? Has it been brought back? I owe her a great deal."
"No. It's underground on Hake Island."
"Underground..." Xu Zeming murmured to himself. "I have to go bring her back."
Xu Junyue said, "I'll try to find a way too. Hake Island is a private island."
...
Tong Yang didn't listen further and hung up the phone.
Xu Jingya held a significant position in the black market, engaged in illegal transactions, murder, robbery—she had done it all. Even if she had left Hake Island, she would have been a dead woman walking.
The M-country government did not reveal the true cause of Xu Jingya's death. As a public figure, they only stated she died in an accident.
Before Wu Pingxue sent the coordinates, Tong Yang had nothing else urgent to do. She simply settled down in Lier Port to wait for news, cramming professional knowledge. She stayed indoors all day, either reading e-books on her specialty or taking online courses. She went through all the new online courses by the Peking University professor.
After half a month like this, Tong Yang was immersed in the sea of learning, living in a daze. Before she could receive the coordinates from Dr. Wu, she first encountered an uninvited guest.
At night, Tong Yang was munching on fried chicken while organizing the key points from the online courses she had been watching onto paper, filling up half a notebook.
"Boom—"
Suddenly, the overhead lights went out, leaving only the eerie glow of the computer screen.
A power outage?
Tong Yang's movements paused slightly. The surroundings plunged into darkness. She turned to look out the window; some light shone in from outside. It seemed only the hotel had lost power.
Everything was eerily quiet. No car horns could be heard, as if the space had been isolated.
The last time she encountered a situation like this was in the early hours of May 28th last year.
Tong Yang continued eating her chicken leg, calmly pausing the online course, preparing to see what was going on.
"Thump—"
The hotel room door was knocked, just once, and then there was no further sound.
Silence spread through the dark night. Whether it was an illusion or not, a thick shadow fell across the crack under the door, denser than the surrounding darkness.
"Thump—"
Seemingly not getting a response, the person outside the door, unwilling to give up, knocked again softly.
Tong Yang pulled back her chair, stood up, and walked to the door.
"Thump—"
Before she could open the door, the knocking sounded again.
Tong Yang grasped the doorknob and turned the lock with a "click."
The door slowly opened. Standing in the shadows, Tong Yang threw away the finished chicken bone and instead picked up her cup of cola for a sip.
As the door opened wider, Tong Yang's eyes, already accustomed to the dark, stared outside. Sure enough, she saw a figure standing rigidly at the door, like a wooden post, emitting an indescribable strangeness.
It had been a long time since she had encountered pursuit from the parallel world. Tong Yang had almost forgotten that these beings were constantly coveting her life.
"Why did the power go out suddenly?"
"Let's go ask at the front desk."
"Huh?"
"Why is there someone standing here?"
Two guests suddenly emerged from the room next door, using their phone flashlights as they talked. Seeing someone standing in front of Tong Yang's door, they instinctively shone their phone lights over.
The light illuminated a pair of bare, pale feet, with traces of red blood remaining under the toenails. The blue veins on the instep were clearly visible, unlike the feet of a living person.
"Who... who is that..."
The two halted, unable to proceed. The area in front of Tong Yang's room was the only path to the elevator.
In response, the owner of those feet slowly raised its head and looked towards them.
Both Tong Yang inside the room and the two outside simultaneously noticed the abnormality—the person's face was on the back of its head!
After two seconds of deathly silence, ear-splitting screams erupted in the corridor.
"Ah!!!"
"A ghost!!!"
"Help!!!"
Tong Yang sighed. These creatures were becoming more and more brazen, completely unafraid of being discovered.
"Stop screaming."
The two were so scared their legs gave way. They clung to each other, huddled in a corner, trembling.
Hearing her voice, they shakily looked up. In the light of the phone flashlights, a girl holding a cola cup walked out.
She stepped around the strange figure at the door and looked at the two in the corner. "Scream your lungs out, no one else will hear you."
Only the area around Tong Yang had lost power, meaning the hotel hadn't been completely pulled into the parallel world. It was like during the scripted game at Xili Mall, existing in a crack between worlds.
Probably, apart from her and the two guests next door, everyone else in the hotel was still in the real world.
Thinking of this, Tong Yang chuckled. "You two are quite pitiful."
"Wh-who are you? Are you with him?"
"Are... are you human or a ghost..."
Tong Yang took a sip of cola and was about to say something when she saw the two widen their eyes in terror, looking behind her.
"L-look out!"
Without turning her head, Tong Yang swung her arm back and slammed the cola cup into the figure's face. She stepped back with her right foot, hooked the figure's leg, grabbed its arm—which was holding a gleaming blade raised mid-air—and executed a shoulder throw, slamming it to the ground. She bent over, stepped on its shoulder, controlled its head with both hands, and forcefully twisted it back. A distinct "crack" sounded—the neck was snapped directly.
Tong Yang straightened up. The way the two looked at her was more terrifying than seeing a ghost.
"I'm human. He's not."
The two shook their heads violently, almost shaking them into rattles.
Tong Yang didn't explain further. She walked up to them, placed a hand on each of their shoulders, and pushed them towards the room.
"How could there possibly be ghosts in this world? You're just dreaming. Listen to me, go back to sleep, and everything will be fine."
After pushing them into the room, Tong Yang casually closed the door, then stepped over the corpse on the floor that hadn't completely vanished yet and returned to her own room.
Sitting back down at her desk, before she could click open the online class, the overhead light blazed on with a hum.
The world's rift had disappeared.
Tong Yang, unfazed, placed her fingers on the mouse. Suddenly, a cold breeze blew from behind her. Her pupils constricted sharply. She grabbed a fountain pen and swiftly spun around to strike, but her hand, extended mid-air, was firmly caught by another hand. Ink droplets fell onto the floor, reflecting a familiar face.
"You've become more alert."
That person released Tong Yang's hand and instead propped up her chin, looking at her with leisurely amusement.
Tong Yang, seeing the other's face clearly, narrowed her eyes, withdrew her hand, and asked, "What are you doing here?"
She had no idea when the Tong Yang from the parallel world had entered the room. She hadn't detected her presence at all until she felt the breath the other had deliberately exhaled.
"Bored, just came to take a look," the parallel world Tong Yang said with a shrug, putting on an air of complete indifference.
"Look at what?"
"Look at the bounty target," the parallel world Tong Yang said, her eyes curving into smiles. "Your heroic deed on Harker Island, killing the 'Forerunner' officer, has spread through the upper echelons of both worlds. They've posted a bounty of a noble title and three vials of high-grade genetic serum for your life."
Tong Yang pulled a chair over and sat facing her. Apart from that strand of golden hair on top of her head, it was exactly like looking in a mirror.
"So, you want to kill me?" Tong Yang asked.
The parallel world Tong Yang said, "Guess."
"I guess it's not worth it for you to do that."
The parallel world Tong Yang deeply agreed, "Gaining a noble title and three vials of high-grade genetic serum would let me walk sideways in the parallel world. But it's not that interesting. I'd rather watch you turn their world upside down."
"It won't be long. If I could kill her, naturally I can kill others too."
The parallel world Tong Yang smiled, "You still suit my taste so well. Have you met the Tong Yang from the First World?"
"Yes. She's very strong."
The parallel world Tong Yang said, "She's strong. It's no exaggeration to say she's the strongest human across the three worlds. To be more specific, she can't even be described as human anymore."
"Is that so." Tong Yang's reaction wasn't strong.
"You're planning to go to the First World, aren't you?" the parallel world Tong Yang asked.
"How do you know?"
"If I want to know, I naturally can know."
"So you came to find me, is it related to her?" Tong Yang asked.
"It's somewhat related, but not greatly. I just wanted to see how the person who poses such a big threat to the parallel world's upper echelons is doing. It seems not so great, from the looks of it now."
"What exactly do you want from me? Didn't you say you didn't want to get involved in these matters?"
"Not involved, but joining in the fun is still possible." The parallel world Tong Yang leaned back in her chair. "Have you heard the news about the Maynard family being wiped out?"
Tong Yang nodded, "I heard. The First World's Tong Yang and other 'Forerunners' did it."
"No, she was the only one who acted." The parallel world Tong Yang's expression was full of relish. "The Maynard family, including servants and trained soldiers, over fifteen hundred people. Except for Maynard and some key members who went missing, everyone else died. But I think she deliberately let Maynard and those members go."
"Why are you telling me this? I know she's strong. I don't plan on confronting her directly."
"The First World is her territory. It would be simple for her to want you dead, even with your time-rewind ability."
Tong Yang pressed her lips together and said, "I don't want to kill her because it's troublesome and more trouble than it's worth. But if she insists on killing me, I naturally have a way to kill her."
"If I can't kill her the first time, I have a second, a third chance. But she only has one chance."
Although Tong Yang certainly wouldn't be so foolhardy as to clash with her head-on.
The parallel world Tong Yang's eyes curved, "I knew you'd say that."
"Whether she wants to kill you or not, I don't know. If she does want to kill you, I know one of her weaknesses. If you master this weakness, it will at least make her think twice."
Tong Yang asked, "What is it?"
The other beckoned her with a finger. Tong Yang leaned her head over.
The parallel world Tong Yang whispered something in her ear, then leaned back to her original position.
After listening, Tong Yang's expression turned strange. "Really? Her weakness is..."
The parallel world Tong Yang nodded, "Absolutely true."
"How do you know?"
"She came to find me, wanted me to join the 'Forerunner' selection. I refused. Then, during that time, I discovered it. She even warned me not to tell anyone else." The parallel world Tong Yang gave a gentle smile. "But, you're not just anyone else."
Tong Yang said, half-believing, half-doubting, "I see."
The parallel world Tong Yang walked to the desk, fiddled with the leftover fried chicken Tong Yang had been eating, and said, "I plan to stay in the real world for a while. Find me a place to stay. And buy me another one of these."
Tong Yang was displeased, "Don't you have your own money? Why should I find it for you?"
The parallel world Tong Yang said, "Between the two of us, who's who? We're practically the same, no distinction."
Tong Yang snorted coldly but didn't refuse.
Although she didn't know if the information was true or false, the other had somewhat helped her before. Perhaps she could even dig up some information about the First World from her.
The next day, Tong Yang wanted to go out to buy some things. Not trusting this character to stay alone in the hotel, she simply took her along.
After all, no one knew them.
Opening the door, she suddenly discovered two people standing furtively outside.
"What are you doing?" Tong Yang frowned, looking at the two people leaning against the door.
They were the two guests staying next to Tong Yang, the ones who had bumped into the parallel world humans.
"We, we were just passing by!"
"Y-yeah, just accidentally passing by!"
"Then you can leave now."
The two looked at each other, their expressions hesitant and troubled.
Tong Yang said, "Is there something? If there is, just say it?"
One of them spoke up, "Last night..."
"Last night what?"
"The corpse..."
"What corpse? Did we even meet last night?"
The two: "..."
"Miss, we may be timid, but we're not stupid."
Tong Yang said flatly, "Is that so?"
"The person you saw last night wasn't me. It was her."
Tong Yang pulled the parallel world Tong Yang out from behind her.
"Hello there," the parallel world Tong Yang raised her head and smiled at the two.
"T-twins?"
"But I clearly remember..."
"I remember your hair in front was just like that before."
Tong Yang said, "You remember wrong."
Their gazes shifted between Tong Yang and the parallel world Tong Yang. After a long moment, they muttered, "I think she looks more like it..."
With the national government backing her and someone cleaning up the mess behind the scenes, Tong Yang said indifferently, "So what are you going to do? Call the police to arrest me?"
"No, it's not that. Last night you were acting in self-defense, and the body is gone. The hotel staff also said no one else knew about what happened last night. They even claimed there was never a power outage. So, we're thinking... what appeared last night might not have been human."
"We originally thought it might be unsafe for a girl to be here alone, so we wanted to invite you to hang out with us."
Tong Yang glanced at the two of them. "What's your relationship?"
"L-lovers. Why?"
"No reason."
"Where are you headed? Let's go together."
"Yes, let's go together!"
Tong Yang smiled with an ambiguous expression. "Sure, we're going out shopping. Want to join?"
"We'd love to! We need to buy a few things anyway."
"What are your names?" one of them asked.
The Tong Yang from the parallel world said, "I'm Yang Tong, and she's Tong Yang."
"Huh? Your names are reversed?"
"That's right. Our mom's surname is Tong, our dad's is Yang."
"I'm Cynthia, and this is my boyfriend, Norman."
"I see."
After leaving the hotel, Tong Yang walked behind the trio. Her phone buzzed twice.
Answering the call, Tong Yang said, "What is it?"
Wu Pingxue said, "We've located the coordinates for most of the humans from the parallel worlds. Two of them are very close to you, right there in Port Lier."
Tong Yang replied calmly, "I figured."
"You figured?" Wu Pingxue was surprised.
"One named Cynthia, one named Norman, right?"
"How did you know?" Wu Pingxue asked, puzzled.
Tong Yang chuckled derisively. "They delivered themselves right to my doorstep."
