It had been months since they last had hot pot, and they finally enjoyed a meal together again.
After the meal, they agreed to meet again in the evening. Tong Yang took Tong Le back to Yang Lin's parents' place.
"Tong Yang, you're back?"
"You seem a bit tanner."
"Uncle Yang, Aunt Yu."
"Will you stay home for a couple of days? I'll go buy some of your favorite dishes to make you a proper welcome-home dinner tonight."
Tong Yang said, "Aunt Yu, I have something to do tonight. I won't be home. I might be back tomorrow or the day after."
Yang Lin's mother frowned. "Tomorrow or the day after? Isn't your birthday coming up soon?"
"Yeah, I'll come back once I've sorted things out."
"What about Shiyu?"
Chu Shiyu said, "I'll go with her."
"Well, that's fine too. You'll have each other for company."
After chatting with Yang Lin's parents for a while, Tong Yang took Tong Le to visit Grandma Yu. Upon learning they wouldn't be staying long, they were met with a barrage of sarcastic remarks from Grandma Yu.
Tong Yang didn't take it to heart, while Tong Le tried to soothe things over on the side.
Finally, after having dinner with Xu Junyue and the others and dropping Tong Le off at home, Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu set off.
They arrived at the airport and entered the departure hall.
Tong Yang said, "You don't have to come with me."
Chu Shiyu shook her head. "I might not be safer on my own than by your side. Besides, I also want to know what's really going on."
Tong Yang lowered her eyes, her gaze deep and somber. "Since when has it been happening?"
Chu Shiyu replied, "About two months ago."
"Two months ago?" Tong Yang's brow furrowed tightly.
"Mhm. At first, when I was attacked, I thought it might be related to you. But I could handle it myself, so I didn't tell Police Officer Lin. I don't log into my social media accounts often either, so I didn't know others from the same group were being attacked. Later, when things became more and more strange, I realized people from the 1209 exam site were having the same experiences. That's when I told Police Officer Lin."
"The police assigned people to protect us in secret, but those attackers have become very difficult to deal with. Quite a few officers have been injured too."
Tong Yang pressed her lips together. If this was related to her, the parallel world should be targeting Tong Le, not the others from the 1209 exam site.
Chu Shiyu sighed. "Everyone was more or less injured, but no one expected Sun Ye to die."
Sun Ye's mother hadn't revealed much over the phone. Apart from knowing he died a gruesome death, Tong Yang hadn't gotten any other useful information, which is why she decided to return to the old district to investigate.
Before boarding, Tong Yang opened a social media app and scrolled through the messages in a gossip group chat.
Studying is for Making Money: [Did any incidents happen in the old district of Yaocheng in April, May, or June of 2025?]
[Wow! That sounds so familiar, haven't heard that in ages]
[Oh my, the time difference is getting bigger and bigger. Meeting Sister Tong is just around the corner!]
[Let me see...]
[Seems like there were, but not sure if they count]
Studying is for Making Money: [What do you mean?]
[They didn't happen in the old district of Yaocheng, but they're related to it]
[Huh? I don't remember that news. Must be another sudden incident]
Studying is for Making Money: [What's going on? Stop being cryptic.]
[They say multiple students from the same year, living in different parts of the old district, died one after another in a short period. The cause of death is unknown, and the manner of death was horrific.]
[Sister Tong, is this related to you?]
[I found an uncensored photo. View with caution!]
[image.jpg]
Tong Yang clicked on the photo. The setting was narrow and dimly lit, with dried blood on the ground. A mutilated body lay there. The head seemed to have been crushed by something, brains splattered, the skin of the face hanging from the neck. Limbs were twisted, fingers broken and pointing in different directions. The knees appeared to have been forcibly bent, a bloody piece of bone protruding through the skin.
Tong Yang zoomed in on the photo and saw a familiar earring on the ground in the corner.
"What are you looking at?" Chu Shiyu asked curiously, seeing her focused expression.
Tong Yang looked up, brushed aside the hair near Chu Shiyu's ear, and looked at her earlobe. She saw a pearl earring, identical to the one in the photo.
She remembered it because this pair of earrings was a gift Tong Yang had once given Chu Shiyu.
"What's wrong?" Chu Shiyu asked.
Tong Yang was silent for a moment. "You might die."
Chu Shiyu's eyes widened. "You found out?"
"Yeah."
"When? How?"
Chu Shiyu knew Tong Yang could learn about future events in advance.
Tong Yang didn't answer immediately, instead asking in the group: [When did this incident happen?]
While waiting for a reply, she described the state of the body to Chu Shiyu.
"Basically, your head gets crushed, and your body is tortured in various ways."
Chu Shiyu let out a sigh. "Well, that's a pretty nasty way to go."
[Ding—]
[May 17th, in the capital]
[They say the body appeared out of thin air. No one entered or left that section of the road when the body was discovered.]
[Anyway, it was a brutal death, probably related to the parallel world.]
[May 17th? Sister Tong, that date has already passed for you, right?]
Chu Shiyu asked, "So when do I die?"
Tong Yang looked at the date on the screen, her eyes dark.
"I'm asking you a question!" Chu Shiyu nudged her arm.
Tong Yang looked up silently and said, "In a couple of days."
"Where?"
"The old district, probably."
Chu Shiyu joked, "So if I go back to school now, I should be fine, right?"
Tong Yang's expression remained impassive. "What do you think?"
"Just kidding. Might as well stick with you and solve this for good."
Tong Yang replied once more in the group, then turned off her phone. "It's almost time. Let's queue up for boarding."
"I told you, buy first-class tickets. Then we wouldn't have to queue. It's not like you're broke."
"I'm used to being poor. Haven't quite adapted to the life of the wealthy yet."
As they walked to the boarding queue, Tong Yang asked casually, "What day of the week did you get injured on your forehead?"
"Saturday."
"Saturday... May 24th?"
"No, the week before. May 17th."
"May 17th..." Tong Yang murmured softly.
Chu Shiyu asked, "What is it?"
"Nothing. They're checking tickets now."
"Oh."
They boarded the plane and took their seats.
Before switching to airplane mode, Tong Yang took one last look at the "Netizen Gossip 007" group chat.
[How did you find that case in the capital? I couldn't find it.]
[It was restricted because it was too graphic. You have to search with specific keywords. They say it wasn't exposed until a month after it happened.]
[Oh, I'll try.]
"Excuse me, miss, please turn off your phone or switch it to airplane mode."
"Okay, thank you." Tong Yang nodded, switched her phone to airplane mode, and placed it on her lap.
Death in the capital... May 17th...
Did Chu Shiyu already die in the attack on May 17th?
The Chu Shiyu from the parallel world is still hunting outsiders around the world. So, the person sitting beside her right now... could she be the Chu Shiyu from the first world?
Tong Yang raised her hand to rub her temples, a slight frown creasing her brow.
How could Chu Shiyu have died? Even though her skills were far inferior to both her own and Xu Junyue's, she shouldn't have died so easily.
"Headache?" Chu Shiyu asked softly.
Tong Yang nodded. "A little."
"Serves you right."
Tong Yang pressed her lips together, unable to discern who the Chu Shiyu before her really was. If she truly was from the First World, then where was the real Chu Shiyu? Even her body...
Group members said the incident wasn't exposed until a month after it happened. It was highly likely the body was only discovered a month later; otherwise, the First World's Chu Shiyu couldn't have so seamlessly replaced the real one.
The photo contained no other landmarks, making it impossible to tell where the body was.
Even if she asked Police Officer Lin now or searched for related news, she likely wouldn't get any results.
Tong Yang turned her head to look at Chu Shiyu, her mood heavy.
Following her usual style, she should find a deserted place and kill her after getting off the plane.
But...
For some reason, Tong Yang felt hesitant.
In the future news, Chu Shiyu died on May 17th. The time she was attacked was also May 17th. It was hard not to connect the two.
"What are you looking at?" Chu Shiyu asked, puzzled.
"Harry Potter."
"Shut up!" Chu Shiyu laughed and scolded.
Tong Yang turned her head to look out the window.
Regardless, since she hadn't done anything to the people around Tong Yang yet, she would keep her close for now to confirm. If she really was the Chu Shiyu from the First World, then she would have no choice but to kill her.
As for Chu Shiyu...
More than half a month had already passed. Even if Tong Yang could perform time regression, she probably couldn't save her.
Premium Genetic Serum? The Premium Genetic Serum could still save her. If Tong Yang asked the 749 Bureau for it, it shouldn't be a problem. However, with the body damaged to that extent, the serum would likely make her end up like Liang Xi. She might not be willing to become like that.
The plane took off, flew for several hours, and landed at Yaocheng Airport.
They took a taxi to the old city district. As it was already late, the two of them first found a hotel to rest.
Sun Ye's home was in the old city district, not in the city proper, but on a hillside at the edge, surrounded by farmland.
The next day, after asking around several times, they found Sun Ye's house.
A small, single-story house. In the yard stood a white canopy, and under the canopy rested a coffin, its lid off.
The yard was eerily quiet, with no one in sight. Behind the coffin was an iron basin filled with oil, surrounded by scattered ashes of burnt joss paper.
Chu Shiyu and Tong Yang exchanged a glance, walked to the gate of the yard, and asked, "Is anyone there?"
The house was blocked by the white canopy, making the light very dim. The ground in front of the door was wet, mixed with bloodstains, as if something bloody had been washed there.
The door was open, but no lights were on inside, leaving the room pitch black.
"Is anyone there?" Chu Shiyu asked again.
"Who is it?"
An elderly woman with temples frosted white, looking aged and frail, appeared in the doorway leaning on a cane.
Her face was deeply lined, covered with age spots. She looked to be in her sixties or seventies, but her voice still sounded fairly robust.
Chu Shiyu said, "We are Sun Ye's classmates. We heard something happened to him, so we came to pay our respects. We hope we're not disturbing you."
The old woman's muddy eyes peered from within the folds of her loose skin, staring at the two of them for a long moment before she said expressionlessly, "Come in."
The two walked into the yard and looked at the black coffin.
The coffin was made of very poor-quality material, already rotting and cracked in some places. It felt like it couldn't withstand much and would easily fall apart.
"Can we take a closer look at the body?" Chu Shiyu asked politely.
The old woman just stood in the doorway, watching them coldly.
"As you wish."
Although they found the old woman's attitude strange, they didn't dwell on it. They walked to the side of the coffin and looked inside.
A strange corpse lay in the coffin. The black burial clothes sagged on both sides and bulged in the middle, its shape unlike a human body. Looking towards the cuffs and pant legs, it seemed there was nothing there to fill out the fabric.
A white cloth covered the corpse's face, the contours of the features visible beneath. The middle part of the cloth was different from the rest, as if soaked with water.
Anyone could tell the corpse was highly unusual.
Chu Shiyu asked cautiously, "Grandma, how did he..."
The old woman said, "Come inside and sit."
Tong Yang and Chu Shiyu looked at each other. The old woman turned and walked into the room.
Tong Yang glanced around. Only the old woman seemed to be in the house; she couldn't sense anyone else's presence.
Following the old woman into the room, a damp smell mixed with a strange odor assailed them. Tong Yang felt it was familiar, but having never experienced it up close, she couldn't place it immediately.
The old woman sat on a dark red armchair, both hands gripping her cane, her eyes closed as if in deep meditation.
"Sit wherever," the old woman said.
The room had no lights on. Many large objects were piled together, making the corners even harder to see.
The lounge chair was scattered with sundries: dried orange peels and pumpkin seeds, a wooden comb missing several teeth, a gray transparent plastic bag wrapped around black objects of various sizes. It was unclear what exactly was inside. The entire room, from top to bottom, exuded an aura of age and decay.
"It's okay, Grandma, we'll stand," Chu Shiyu said.
It wasn't that they didn't want to sit; there was simply no place to sit.
The old woman opened her eyes. "The police found Sun Ye four days ago and had his parents go identify the body. The body was too disfigured; it would cost money to restore it. His parents have no money, and even if restored, it would still be bad. So they brought it back. Last night, we finally cleaned the body, dressed it, and carried it into the coffin."
Tong Yang sensed something off. Sun Ye was an adult. Even if his body was severely mutilated, the word "carried" shouldn't be used.
His body was probably incomplete or completely inhuman in shape.
Tong Yang asked, "Where are Sun Ye's parents?"
The old woman silently lowered her head. After a moment, she said, "They don't usually live here."
Tong Yang nodded in understanding. This place was too far from Third Middle School; Sun Ye wouldn't have had enough time commuting. His parents apparently rented a place with him in the city.
Chu Shiyu frowned. "They left you here alone?"
The old woman said, "That's my grandson. I'm not afraid."
The small yard was too quiet, lacking light, feeling perpetually gray and indescribably eerie.
The old woman didn't know much. Tong Yang asked if she could examine Sun Ye's body. Expecting a refusal, she was surprised when the old woman agreed.
Tong Yang turned and walked back into the small yard. Chu Shiyu helped the old woman to the eaves.
"Let's stay here. She'll just take a look," Chu Shiyu said, not wanting to upset the old woman further, standing with her on the steps.
Tong Yang walked alone to the coffin and lifted the white cloth covering the corpse's face, revealing Sun Ye's face.
Tong Yang's breath caught. That face could no longer be described with the word "face."
His ears were missing, and the bones of his face seemed to have been shaved away, turning into a cylindrical shape. The skin was stretched taut to the extreme, with rough suture lines on both sides of his head, clinging to bits of flesh and blood—a horrifying sight.
It was clearly the handiwork of someone from a parallel world.
The height of summer was approaching, and a faint odor of decay wafted from near the corpse, though fortunately it wasn't too strong.
Tong Yang furrowed her brows tightly, lifted the hem of his burial shroud. The fabric was coarse, feeling like paper to the touch. His neck was uninjured, but the bones of his face had been shaved off and stitched into a cylinder, making his head and neck appear almost identical in shape.
The skin over his collarbone was bruised purple, showing signs of being stretched, just like the skin on his face. Tong Yang pressed her hand against his body through the shroud, probing downward from the shoulders. There were no arms; both sides of his ribs were broken. The breaks formed a peculiar, downward-curving shape, so his torso had also become a cylinder, with similar suture marks.
Tong Yang's expression grew increasingly grim as she continued probing downward, reaching his bare pelvis. His legs were gone, the severed area at his pelvis also stitched up, forming a cylindrical "object" from top to bottom, inside and out—commonly known as a human stick.
Yet, the state of his corpse was even more terrifying than that.
After a moment of thought, Tong Yang straightened his burial shroud and covered his face again with the white cloth.
"Tong Yang, how is it?" Chu Shiyu asked.
Tong Yang shook her head and said to the old woman, "Where are his parents? I have some questions for them."
The old woman said, "They're gone."
"Gone where?" Chu Shiyu said.
The old woman said, "Dead."
Both women were stunned for a moment, exclaiming in shock, "What?"
"Why?"
"Drank poison to die." The old woman's tone was calm, as if discussing the most ordinary of matters.
Chu Shiyu's face paled. "Where are they?"
Suddenly remembering something, Tong Yang strode into the room permeated with a strange smell.
She realized what that strange smell was—the lingering odor of pesticide!
Entering the room and navigating past a pile of clutter, her eyes fell upon an old bed where two people lay side by side. Tong Yang pressed her lips into a tight line and stepped forward to check their pulses.
Blood had trickled from their noses and mouths, their bodies were stiff, and there were no signs of life.
The old woman hobbled to a table, pulled open a drawer, and took out something wrapped in several layers of plastic bags. Slowly, she unwrapped the plastic, revealing crumpled paper money inside—ten-cent notes, twenty-cent notes, one-yuan, two-yuan, five-yuan bills... The largest denomination was only fifty yuan, including twenty-cent and two-yuan notes that had long been out of circulation.
At the very bottom was a bank card, bearing Sun Ye's name, with the password being the last six digits of his ID number.
"Girl, she called you Tong Yang. You must be the classmate Sun Ye owed money to, here to collect the debt, right?" The old woman trembled as she handed over the money and bank card. "I'm sorry, girl. The family has no money left. This is all I have. The card holds what Sun Ye saved from working, always tucked in his notebook—probably less than ten thousand yuan. It's still quite short. Please take this for now. I still have plenty of vegetables in the field. Once I sell them, I'll repay you the rest, alright?"
"Grandma..." Chu Shiyu stared at her blankly, her emotions a tangled mess.
Tong Yang clenched her jaw, silent.
The old woman took her hand and placed the items in her palm.
"I originally thought about leaving with his parents. But Sun Ye still owed you money. Twenty thousand yuan is no small sum. If I died too, and the Sun family was completely wiped out, who would repay your money?"
Tong Yang tightened her grip on the items. "Then you all should have stayed alive. You alone can't repay it, so why... why would you..."
Tong Yang couldn't understand. No matter the circumstances, she had never considered giving up her own life. If Tong Le were killed by someone from a parallel world, she would do everything in her power to wipe that world clean rather than think of ending her own life.
She couldn't understand, but she also knew not everyone in the world was like her.
Perhaps for Sun Ye's family, he was their sole pillar. With him gone, the family collapsed.
The old woman said, "They couldn't live without me, so dying is just dying."
"Tong Yang..." Chu Shiyu looked at Tong Yang helplessly.
Tong Yang lowered her gaze, took out the bank card, and returned all the loose change to the old woman.
"I don't need the change. You can save up slowly. Repay me fifty yuan a month, give it to Officer Li at the police station, and he'll pass it on to me."
The old woman was taken aback. "Fifty yuan a month? Girl, isn't that too little? I can still farm..."
"Sun Ye and I agreed on fifty yuan a month. You can do the same as him."
The old woman sighed. "Alright then. I'll give the money to Officer Li on the first of every month."
"That's good."
Tong Yang continued, "Regarding Sun Ye's death, the state and government also bear responsibility. So, they should handle the burial. I'll contact them; they'll be here soon."
The old woman said, "That's wonderful. An old woman like me truly didn't know what to do."
Tong Yang asked Chu Shiyu to stay with the old woman while she stepped away to call Officer Li and explain the situation.
Soon after, Officer Li arrived with others, bringing three more coffins. Several police officers busied themselves moving the bodies while Tong Yang and Officer Li stood by the edge of the courtyard.
"Did you come back because of this?" Officer Li asked.
Tong Yang said, "Yes. The murderer is from a parallel world."
"Figured as much. The higher-ups are still investigating this. They originally planned to notify the Sun family after getting results, but who would have thought..."
Tong Yang said, "Officer Li, the old woman will give you fifty yuan on the first of each month. Keep it, and when you have a chance, buy her some things. There's also some money left on this card."
Tong Yang handed him Sun Ye's bank card.
Officer Li glanced at her and took the items. "Alright."
"What about you two? Where are you headed next?"
Tong Yang said, "Sun Ye won't be the last victim. So, we need to investigate further."
"By the way, do you remember the old woman who lived in your building in Dongyang Community?"
"What about her?"
"She's dead. Scared to death."
Tong Yang frowned. "When?"
"March."
"March?"
The old woman was scared to death in March, and then in April and May, attacks began on people from the 1209 examination hall. The first victim was Sun Ye, who should have died falling from a building back in early June last year?
Could there be some connection here?
Officer Li patted her shoulder and said, "Tong Yang, you've worked hard."
Tong Yang lowered her head thoughtfully. Was this retaliation for her hunting down humans from parallel worlds hidden in reality?
Officer Li didn't say anything more and went to help in the courtyard.
Chu Shiyu walked over to her side, glanced at her a few times, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
"You guess."
"Are you thinking that if we had arrived earlier last night, maybe they wouldn't have died?"
Tong Yang shot her a sidelong glance. "What do you think?"
Chu Shiyu sighed. "That's not your style."
Tong Yang remembered the events in the "Watermelon-Eating Group Chat" and looked at Chu Shiyu with an ambiguous expression.
"What?" Chu Shiyu asked, her face full of wariness.
Tong Yang felt she might be going crazy and blurted out, "Are you from the First World?"
Chu Shiyu was stunned for a second, pointing at herself in disbelief. "What? Me? The First World?"
"Are you or aren't you?"
"What kind of nonsense question is that!"
Tong Yang pondered for a moment, then smiled to herself. "You're right. Even if I asked, you wouldn't tell me the truth."
Tong Yang bent down and sat on the steps, her gaze fixed on the distance.
If this really was retaliation from a parallel world, things would actually be easier to handle.
"What's going on, really?" Chu Shiyu half-crouched in front of her, studying her expression with concern.
"You died. On May 17th," Tong Yang stated.
Chu Shiyu was puzzled. "But I'm not dead."
"So there are only two possibilities. One, you are the 'you' from the First World, and you're lying. The other possibility..."
Chu Shiyu rested her hands on Tong Yang's knees and looked up at her. "What's the other possibility?"
Tong Yang pressed her lips together. The other possibility was that someone in the "Watermelon-Eating Buddies 007" group chat was lying.
If it were her old self, she would have killed Chu Shiyu the moment she discovered the discrepancy.
"I can't completely believe you when you say you're not from the First World. I need a way to prove it."
Chu Shiyu asked, "What way?"
Tong Yang said, "Let me kill you."
Chu Shiyu nodded, seeming to understand, grasping the implied meaning behind her words.
"If my body disappears after I die, then you'll know I'm from the First World. If it doesn't, you can kill yourself, go back ten minutes, and I'll still be alive."
"Mhm. So, are you willing?"
Chu Shiyu nodded almost without hesitation. "Sure. It's not like it's the first time anyway!"
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