Past, and Present

Some time after Lilith returned to the venue, Zhu Yufeng returned as well. When he returned, he paid special attention to Adams and saw that he was indeed watching the performance attentively.

Noticing his return, Lilith treated him like a complete stranger, giving him a gentle smile befitting a well-bred young lady.

It's as if nothing was posted before.

Speaking of Adams... Before meeting him today, Zhu Yufeng's only impression of him was that he was covered in blood and buried under the rubble. He didn't even realize Lilith's murderous intent towards him when Lilith approached him. Until his last breath, he kept calling out Lilith's name, hoping she could save him.

He began to slowly recall the scene at that time, as well as his thoughts and feelings.

There were many reasons why he stood by and did nothing at the time. He subjectively believed that Lilith was forced into it, but in reality, he probably also sided with Lilith because she was a girl.

Another point is that his mindset wasn't very good at the time.

Because of his failed confession to Elysia, even though only Elysia and he knew about it at the time, he still chose to leave Elysia's team and went to the Europa branch, where he stayed for a few months.

At that time, he was eager to improve himself by defeating Honkai Beast. Ultimately, he wanted to surpass Kevin, at least to have a respectable record.

However, when he arrived at the Europa branch, since he had applied for the job himself and there were no combat teams available for him to join, and the teams there had a strong xenophobic attitude, he was assigned to a rescue team.

To put it bluntly, he was experiencing setbacks in both his personal life and career at the time. He was told that if he wanted to become a combatant again, he would need to have enough team members, or someone from another combat squad would be injured.

His decision to stand by and watch someone die was also based on this reason: if he could harm humans, he might be able to harm Honkai Beast as well. In addition, he knew the truth about this matter, so he could control the other party. At least communicating with them would not be as difficult as communicating with strangers.

Isn't that a common tactic in games?

Lilith also needed to give false testimony for her, so their relationship at that time was one of mutual exploitation.

To demonstrate her stance, Lilith prevented other rescuers from arriving at the scene while committing her murder, cutting off all hope of survival for everyone else.

"Heh, I've never been a good person..." Zhu Yufeng chuckled self-deprecatingly, thinking to himself.

He suddenly realized that there was no point in dwelling on Vincent's death; he had already committed countless sins, so one more wouldn't make a difference.

But... can someone like me, with blood all over my hands, really be worthy of Elysia's affection for me?

Amidst a jumble of thoughts, the second half of the performance came to an end, and Lilith and Adams bid farewell to Elysia and left. Lilith didn't say another word to Zhu Yufeng from beginning to end; after all, they were now considered "not very familiar" with each other.

Watching Lilith and Adams leave, Elysia looked at Zhu Yufeng with some confusion. Because Disaster was present, she couldn't ask directly, so she and Kevin made up an excuse to send Kosma away and find a way to get Disaster out of the way.

Kosma: "..."

Thank you so much!

Although Rin was just a little kid and didn't understand anything, Sakura still took Rin with her and left, just to be on the safe side.

Now that the irrelevant people were gone, Elysia immediately asked the question that had been bothering her, "Maple, was Lilith like this before?"

Everyone else looked at Zhu Yufeng, since among those present, Zhu Yufeng was the only one who had spent the most time with Lilith and knew Lilith best, so the answer could only be obtained from him.

As for Kosma... it's fine to tell him the conclusion after they've finished their discussion.

Zhu Yufeng looked at Elysia: "If you're asking about her in the past, that's true. Although... it was all just a disguise."

"Huh?" Everyone was a little surprised, but Su's expression remained serious, as if the situation had not surprised him.

"I don't know how she got back," Zhu Yufeng said calmly, "But there's no doubt she has memories of the previous life."

Everyone was truly surprised. Elysia then recalled that Lilith had also left the table for a while after Zhu Yufeng left because of a phone call. Could it be that she went to see Zhu Yufeng during that time?

Thinking of this, Elysia suddenly stepped forward, sniffed Zhu Yufeng gently, and then looked at Zhu Yufeng with narrowed eyes, saying, "During the time she was away, it wasn't just that she went to see you, was it?"

"You want to know?" Zhu Yufeng looked at Elysia, and for some reason, he suddenly had a very bad idea.

Seeing Elysia's expression, Pardo imitated her and sniffed Zhu Yufeng, then said with some doubt, "Brother Yu Feng doesn't have any other smell, just a very faint fragrance..."

Suddenly, everyone except Pardo had white hair.

Kevin said thoughtfully, "She must have taken the initiative to hug you, right? As expected of Lilith, her feelings for you are really intense."

He almost wanted to say "cool".

After all, he couldn't expect his girlfriend to be that enthusiastic...

Pardo was stunned for a moment. So this fragrance was actually left by Sister Lilith? And Sister Lilith also has memories... Then, how can she compete with Sister Lilith?

Looking at Zhu Yufeng's expression, Elysia had a bad feeling. She tentatively asked, "Besides this, there won't be anything else, will there?"

"Let's just say it counts as a kiss." Zhu Yufeng recalled the situation at the time. Even now Elysia the eye when they make eye contact. On the other hand, he wouldn't be surprised by anything Lilith does.

Perhaps it's because Lilith did so many outrageous things last time that he's become immune to it; after all, Lilith almost crawled into his bed last time.

In comparison, what she's doing now doesn't seem so outrageous anymore.

Come to think of it, that must have been my first kiss, right?

Everyone's expressions instantly changed to:

(⊙ˍ⊙)!

Kevin was already getting impatient. "Although it might be a bit difficult, we should be able to bring her back to the Fire Moth now..."

Su covered his mouth and dragged him away, saying, "It's better to leave this to Feng to handle himself. Let's go see how things are going with Kosma."

Elysia's hands were trembling slightly. She suddenly remembered the manuscript that Lilith had given to Eden. Now that she thought about it, it must have been written by Lilith specifically for Maple.

And... kissing... Lilith, you're really ruthless...

After all, no matter how you look at it, Zhu Yufeng isn't the kind of person who would take the initiative.

In other words, Lilith attacked Zhu Yufeng without him noticing.

Pardo was completely flustered. Unlike Elysia, she didn't think as much; she just considered the situation literally.

Then her mood involuntarily plummeted, and she said, "Then... I'll go see if Sister Ying needs any help..."

As she spoke, Pardo ran off.

Zhu Yufeng watched Pardo's departing figure without saying a word. Sometimes, some things still need to be figured out by herself. After all, the fact that Lilith has memories... is a fact that he and they all have to face.

He even wondered if Vill-V would lock him in a dark room after returning to the Fire Moth, or if Mobius would one day put him on the lab table.

The question now is... what is Elysia's attitude?

After the initial shock, Elysia had recovered. She looked at Zhu Yufeng with a calm expression and said, "Feng, I only want to ask you one question."

Zhu Yufeng was also looking at her.

Elysia continued, "Do you... also have those feelings for Lilith, those feelings called 'love'?" If Kuangfeng answered yes, then she could only be friends with Feng from now on and would no longer try to interfere.

Although... there's still some resentment, Lilith is now considered her friend. Even if Feng says Lilith has been acting, Elysia still believes in her own judgment: when Lilith said she wanted to be friends with Lilith in Eden's lounge, her feelings were genuine.

If the answer is yes, then there will be no more happiness in the future.

Zhu Yufeng made this judgment, but Elysia seemed to have seen through his plan and continued, "Feng, can you look me in the eyes and tell me the answer?"

Zhu Yufeng looked into Elysia's eyes and knew that she was earnestly seeking the answer to this question. He also knew that he couldn't lie to Elysia while looking into her eyes.

He chose to look away and said, "You win, Elysia. I... may indeed have some feelings for Lilith, but... that feeling, as it stands, is not enough to be called 'love'."

To put it more figuratively, he felt they were more than friends, but less than lovers.

"So what kind of feelings do you have for me?"

Before Zhu Yufeng could answer, Elysia turned around with her hands behind her back, and said with a smile, "Forget it, the answer to this question... I may not have the courage to know right now, so give me some time, Feng."

After saying that, Elysia left.

Zhu Yufeng stood there alone. He had resolved his inner conflict, while everyone else seemed to have become withdrawn.

That's fine, everyone needs some time to think it over.

He suddenly remembered that Vill-V had placed a listening device on him, so she must have heard everything. He reached for his phone, wanting to tell Vill-V about it, and then... he took out a Sun Earring from his pocket.