First came bewilderment, then a stunned pause, followed by shock.
"What the hell?"
Huai Shi jumped up in fright and leaned over to inspect the bird's-eye view in the basin, making out the outline of a dilapidated factory building somewhere in the outskirts.
He could hardly believe it.
"Wang Hai is here?"
"Yep." Crow asked in return, "It's just a watermarking method that marks and tracks event branches through ink. Is that really so unbelievable?"
Huai Shi's eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?!"
"But you never asked."
Crow looked at him in confusion, the picture of innocence.
Huai Shi could not help wanting to grab the damn bird and squeeze her to death.
"You're obviously a traitor!" He slammed the table in anger. "Look at you, eating my rice, living in my house, stealing my electricity, using my internet. Fine, I won't hold that against you. But you knew that bastard wanted to kill me, so why did you hide it from me?"
"Oh?" Crow looked at him curiously. "What would you have done if I'd told you earlier?"
"What else? I'd have called people to deal with him!"
"The Astronomical Society? The Special Affairs Department? Or both together?" Crow smiled strangely. "But have you thought about how you'd explain why they were hiding there?"
Huai Shi opened his mouth to answer, only to be cut off.
"No, no, no. I don't mean how you obtained the location of his hideout."
Crow paused and glanced at the reflection in the water. "I mean, how would you explain why property that once belonged to your family became a den for the Purified People?"
"...What the hell?!"
Huai Shi stared wide-eyed at the basin. "You're saying this place—this thing—is my family's?"
"You really did forget everything."
Crow gave him a