When Was the Last Time You Made a Joke Like This

When he opened his eyes again…

Fang Qi saw a night sky filled with stars and a bright moon.

He lay on his back in the grass, the soft blades cushioning the back of his head.

His consciousness was still hazy, as though a thin veil of fog covered his mind.

With his eyes half-open, he gazed at the starry sky above him.

The edges of the moon looked a little blurred.

The cool night breeze passed through the woods and brushed against his cheeks.

Insects chirped around him, their calls drifting near and far, one after another.

The grass beneath him was so soft that he didn’t feel like moving.

…So comfortable.

He was slightly dazed.

Where am I…

Then, everything that had happened before began to flash through his not-yet-fully-awake mind.

The sight of Lin Xiaoyou’s back as she jumped into that pitch-black void, those two slender arms reaching out from the nothingness…

And finally, the silver-haired, odd-eyed girl.

Liguang, with her dim amber eye and her crimson eye blazing fiercely.

And that softly trembling sentence…

—Aqi, I’m sorry.

…?!

Fang Qi’s whole body shuddered. He abruptly sat up from the ground!

His breathing grew slightly rapid!

His vision was still blurry. He rubbed his eyes hard and felt the fine marks left by the blades of grass on his cheeks.

The evening wind in the mountains slipped through his collar, making him shiver faintly…

Then his pupils contracted, and he came fully awake.

Wait.

He opened his eyes and looked around.

What was going on?

The moonlight was bright, casting his shadow clearly across the grass.

Sparse woodland surrounded him, the trees’ shadows swaying in the night.

And not far in front of him…

Fang Qi’s eyelids twitched slightly.

It was that patch of ground… the place where the little wooden cabin had originally stood.

He sat on the ground and stared blankly at the clearing for a long time.

…He was still here?

Then he looked down at his own perfectly intact hands.

He clenched them, then opened them.

Yes, they still moved.

But…

He looked around again.

What did this mean?

Why was he lying here?

There wasn’t a single wound on him, and his clothes weren’t even torn…

He used the tree beside him for support and stood up.

The rustling of leaves in the wind filled his ears.

He walked back to the edge of the clearing and looked down at the bare patch of earth.

…Why?

Why had I come out?

Hadn’t Liguang said… she was going to lock me up?

Why had she let him out?

He covered his forehead and tried hard to think.

That feeling was still there.

That calmness brought about by possessing Liguang’s “authority.”

He could clearly sense the air moving as the wind swept over the grass. He could even predict that, two seconds later…

That cloud would cover part of the moon.

The night grew darker.

And he remained terrifyingly calm.

But this calmness couldn’t help him answer the question.

He stepped onto the patch of bare earth.

The soil beneath his feet was slightly damp.

He looked down at the ground, then slowly crouched and pressed his palm against the mud.

The earth didn’t turn pitch-black and swallow him, nor did a slender arm reach out to seize his wrist.

That faint pull from before, that familiar call coming from beneath the ground…

All of it was gone.

This place now seemed no different from any other clearing in the woods.

Fang Qi remained crouched on the ground, his palm still pressed against the soil.

His calmness was reinforced by Liguang’s “authority,” but…

His hand was still trembling slightly as he stroked the earth.

“…Liguang.”

He spoke softly, his voice carried away by the night wind.

“Are you still down there?”

There was no response.

“How come I… can’t feel you anymore?”

The moonlight quietly spilled across the clearing, while the insects continued chirping deep in the grass.

He lowered his eyes.

But why am I still so calm?

I can’t feel you. I don’t know what’s happening to you…

And yet I’m still this calm. Calm enough to frighten even myself.

The wind blew again, mussing the hair over his forehead.

Fang Qi slowly stood up and brushed the dirt from his knees.

“Liguang, you…”

He murmured softly.

You still haven’t found your “reason,” have you?

Why is your reason still inside me?

Remembering what Liguang had looked like after losing her reason, Fang Qi’s breathing quickened slightly.

That state of hers had been even crazier than that lunatic who had actually broken his leg in the beginning…

…No.

He had to find Liguang. He had to return this authority to her. He had to…

Restore her completely!

But… where could he find her? And…

Fang Qi stared blankly at the clearing.

Where was his teammate who had said she would help him find Liguang?

Miss Genius, where…

Where were you?

Could it be…?!

He immediately turned his head and surveyed the area.

With Liguang’s “authority,” he could take in everything around him.

In the bushes to his left, a field mouse was gnawing on a tree root.

In the tree to his right, a bird was preening its feathers.

Ten meters away, a spider was weaving its web in the grass.

…What an incredible sense of perception.

The authority Liguang had given him seemed to have grown even stronger?

But…

He couldn’t sense Lin Xiaoyou.

There was no sign of her heartbeat or breathing.

It seemed Lin Xiaoyou hadn’t been released along with him.

Had Liguang left her behind?

Fang Qi’s hands slowly tightened into fists.

He remembered the agreement between the two of them.

She had jumped into that darkness to change the course of the world, while he would wait above for an hour before taking action.

But it was already night.

Fang Qi looked up at the sky.

The moon hung high overhead, and the mountains and forest had completely sunk into darkness.

From the moment he had been dragged down here at noon until now, at least half a day had passed!

Fang Qi’s eyelids twitched.

…This was bad.

The flow of time deep within that darkness was different from the flow of time outside!

If half a day had passed on his end, then how long had Lin Xiaoyou…

And on top of that, she might have to…

Face a Liguang who had lost her reason? The same Liguang who had nearly strangled even him to death.

If Liguang had almost strangled him to death, then what would she do to Lin Xiaoyou?!

At the thought of those possible horrific scenes… even though that authority pressed down on his emotions, his heartbeat still quickened by several beats.

Damn…

Had she already been killed?

Fang Qi finally came fully to his senses!

He slowly drew a deep breath. The mountain air carried the scent of damp earth.

…What time was it?

He hurriedly pulled out his phone and turned on the screen.

Thankfully, the phone wasn’t broken.

The display showed 9:17 p.m.

But Fang Qi froze.

Because beside the time was a dense row of missed-call notifications.

And every single one of them came from the same name.

[My junior colleague, Lin Xiaoyou]

…?

…What did this mean?

Fang Qi was stunned for a moment, but that authority quickly restored his calm.

…Let’s see.

He swiped across the screen and opened the call log.

The earliest call had come three hours ago, a little after six in the evening.

Then there were calls at seven, eight, and nine…

More than a dozen missed calls, all from the same number.

There were messages, too.

[Senior, where are you?!]

[I can’t find you anywhere!]

[You’re not hurt, are you?!]

[Senior, answer my messages!]

[Senior, don’t leave me here all by myself!!]

[Senior! Where on earth are you?!]

Fang Qi stared at the long string of messages on the screen.

…Lin Xiaoyou had been looking for him?

She had been searching for him ever since evening.

It seemed…

She hadn’t been imprisoned alongside him until now.

She had been released before him.

But she couldn’t find him. Perhaps… he had still been “locked” down by Liguang at the time?

That was why she had called.

More than a dozen times, in fact, and she had sent countless messages.

The last one had arrived five minutes ago, and her tone was already frantic and fearful.

Fang Qi was a little surprised.

…Honey, you actually let her out?

Looks like Liguang was still fairly rational after all.

Fang Qi instinctively called her back.

But just as his thumb pressed the call button, he suddenly realized something.

…Crap.

Liguang was already so jealous that she would lose her mind if he even had normal contact with Lin Xiaoyou. If he called her now, would his wife…?

…Whatever.

The call had already gone through. It was just a phone call, not as if he and Lin Xiaoyou were alone together in the same room.

He lowered his head toward the flat ground, then slightly raised his eyes to the night sky.

Honey, please be understanding.

Stay calm. Don’t get angry.

“Hello! Senior!”

The call connected.

Lin Xiaoyou’s voice came through the receiver, frantic and breathless!

“…Yeah. It’s me.”

“Senior! Senior, are you all right?!”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine.”

A long sigh of relief immediately came from the other end of the line!

“Phew—That’s good, that’s good!”

Then…

“Oh my God, Senior!”

She cried out again at once!

“What on earth were you doing?! I finally managed to get through to you!”

“You scared me to death! I thought something had happened to you! Where were you before? Why couldn’t I reach you?”

Fang Qi fell silent for a moment.

What had he been doing before?

Being held down by his deranged wife, his head forced into the ground, and nearly strangled to death.

Should he tell her directly?

Come to think of it, hadn’t Liguang dragged her down there too?

What had happened to her afterward?

“Lin Xiaoyou, you…”

“Senior, where are you? I’m coming to find you right now!”

Lin Xiaoyou hurriedly cut him off!

Fang Qi opened and closed his mouth.

Come find him?

…Forget it.

Liguang was probably still watching him, wasn’t she?

Keeping his wife happy was the most important thing. He needed to avoid giving her any reason to be jealous.

At least until he found Liguang and returned her “rationality” to her, he should avoid meeting Lin Xiaoyou face-to-face.

“Let’s not.”

He spoke in as calm a tone as possible.

“Liguang’s situation is a little unusual right now. The two of us… should probably avoid seeing each other for the time being.”

Afraid that Lin Xiaoyou might cause more trouble, he added:

“What happened to us this time was because Liguang got angry.”

“Huh? Why can’t we see each other? How are we supposed to… Hmm? Senior, who are you talking about? Who’s in a special situation, and who got angry?”

Her tone instantly became confused.

“Li… what? Senior, what are you talking about?”

Fang Qi was silent for a moment.

Heh…

“…Lin Xiaoyou, you already pulled this joke on me last time.”

He spoke calmly.

“I’m perfectly calm now, and I’m not going to panic just because you make a joke like that. Enough already.”

“Um…”

There was an “um” from the other end.

“Senior, why do you sound so scary…?”

Lin Xiaoyou’s voice turned pitiful.

“And I wasn’t joking. I really don’t understand what you’re talking about, Senior.”

Her tone was so innocent and bewildered.

Yes.

It was a very familiar tone.

Fang Qi was just about to expose her when—

“Wait, Senior!”

Lin Xiaoyou’s voice suddenly became guarded!

“You didn’t get yourself a girlfriend, did you?!”

Fang Qi: “…”

That familiar routine again?

“…Could it be that your girlfriend misunderstood and got jealous about us going out to buy supplies together last time?”

Lin Xiaoyou sounded utterly shocked. Then—

“No, wait, Senior?!”

Her tone was suddenly frantic!

“When did you get a girlfriend?! How come I didn’t know?!”

“Senior, explain yourself!”

Fang Qi gripped his phone tightly.

“…Lin. Xiao. You!”

His voice sank.

“If you keep joking around, I swear I’ll—!”

“Who’s joking around?!”

She shouted from the other end!

“I’ve been worried about you all day, and you—you…”

Her voice was equal parts aggrieved and furious.

“You haven’t been answering because you’ve been… fooling around with that girlfriend of yours who came out of nowhere, haven’t you?!”

“Ahhhhh! You’re making me so mad!!!”

Her voice was practically hysterical now!

“E-even if you were fooling around with some random woman…!”

She ground her teeth.

“You should at least finish your work first!!!”

“This was a task for two people, but you left me to do it all by myself and ran off on a date?!! What is that supposed to mean!!!!”

Fang Qi: “…?”

There was a deep breath from the other end.

“Hmph!”

She let out another cold snort.

“I’m not going to find you! You come to the company and find me yourself!”

“Whatever work we didn’t get done today, we have to finish it, even if we have to work overtime! I don’t want it dragging into tomorrow!”

“Senior, you’re not even as capable as a new hire like me!”

Click.

The call ended abruptly.

“Beep—beep—beep—”

Fang Qi listened to the dead tone coming from his phone…

Slowly, he tightened his grip on the phone pressed against his ear.

The night wind swept past, while insects continued chirping deep in the grass.

He slowly lowered the phone.

She seemed…

Not to have been joking?

In other words… she had succeeded?

The world line had changed?

But this time…

Fang Qi’s eyes trembled faintly.

Even she herself had forgotten everything?

Then…

He lowered his head and looked toward the flat ground that no longer held any attraction.

In this world line…

Did Liguang exist?