Qian Yuliu's Secret Treasure

In the end, Le Yu still ate with Qian Yuya.

Or rather, Le Yu ate while Qian Yuya watched him eat. He went upstairs to bring the food into the living room, then wolfed it all down under Qian Yuya's strange gaze.

Luckily, the embarrassing one was Qian Yuliu, not Le Yu.

To be fair, the Qian Family's food was pretty good. There was fish and vegetables. Star Engraving Prefecture bordered a harbor, so seafood was cheap. There just were not many seasonings, making everything taste rather bland.

After eating, he washed the dishes. Though Le Yu had not lived in this home for even a day, he handled the chores with ease. That showed Qian Yuliu had washed dishes often.

I've digested most of Qian Yuliu's memories... Le Yu naturally understood what this meant: he was becoming more and more like Qian Yuliu.

Le Yu had also considered a philosophical question: was a person's self-awareness the sum of their memories? If so, did amnesia mean that the person from before was already dead?

Yet now, he faced a problem no one had ever experienced before—he had digested someone else's memories.

If nothing unexpected happened—or rather, if many unexpected things happened—then Qian Yuliu definitely would not be Le Yu's first "food." In the future, Le Yu would inevitably be reborn many times and digest many people's memories. By then, would he still be Le Yu, or merely a collection of countless memories?

He felt like a Ship of Theseus. His body had changed, and his memories had increased. Was he still the same person?

Thinking too much about such questions would only create needless worries.

Le Yu took a shower first. By the time he changed into pajamas and came out, the living room lights had already been turned off. The living room was brightly lit, and Qian Yuya usually studied there before returning to her room to sleep.

It was nine at night. Qian Yuya woke at six in the morning, sleeping for nine hours. She slept that long not only because there was no entertainment at night, but also because young people's Mental Power required longer sleep to grow.

Qian Yuya had yet to awaken her Mental Power. Once she did, she would need to sleep for fifteen to twenty-four hours at a time. The longer she slept, the deeper her Mental Power would be. When Qian Yuliu awakened his Mental Power, he had slept for a full twenty hours.

Le Yu entered Qian Yuliu's room, and his first impression was that it was simple.

A desk, a chair, a bed. Nothing else.

There was a lamp by the window. Le Yu flipped the switch, and it gave off a dim white light. Like a streetlamp, it absorbed solar energy by the window during the day. However, the Qian Family residence faced an unfavorable direction. The bedroom window did not face the street, but the small building next door. There was barely any sunlight even in broad daylight, so naturally the lamp was not very bright.

The living room light was connected to a Radiant Stone energy panel on the rooftop, so it was quite bright. However, it could only stay lit for three hours, since civilian-grade energy panels had limited storage capacity. The streetlamps outside could shine so long because their poles contained enough Radiant Stones for energy storage.

There was a book on the desk. Le Yu opened it and saw the title: "A Detailed Account of the Hundred Combat Arts of Radiance." A bookmark was tucked into the chapter titled "The Characteristics and Weaknesses of the Sima Clan's Wolf Eagle Fist."

This was Qian Yuliu's life: work, get off work, train in combat arts, read. He had no entertainment. Rather than saying he did not like entertainment, it was more accurate to say he looked down on it.

Fighting people was endlessly enjoyable.

Kui Zhao specialized in the Wolf-Eagle Fist, while Qian Yuliu was studying the Wolf-Eagle Fist. That was naturally no coincidence. As a spy, Qian Yuliu was extraordinarily dedicated. Not only did he want to infiltrate them, he wanted to infiltrate all the way to the upper ranks of the Statistics Department. Once Qian Yuliu drove out Kui Zhao and became Deputy Director, he would probably want to become Director too.

If things continued this way, a conversation like this might happen:

"Teacher, I became Deputy Director."

"Good. Keep it up. We'll soon liberate Star Engraving Prefecture!"

"Teacher, I became Director."

"Good. We're only one step away from liberating Star Engraving Prefecture!"

"Teacher, I became Prefectural Governor."

"Good, we... huh?"

Le Yu suddenly found something in Qian Yuliu's memories. He turned sideways and felt around beneath the desk, pulling out an illustrated album.

This was the secret treasure every man had.

Le Yu flipped through a few pages and clicked his tongue in admiration. Qian Yuliu had good taste! Uniforms, big curls, long hair, classrooms... No wonder this was the only designated tool Qian Yuliu had treasured for years. It was indeed quite practical.

Well, that was perfectly normal. Although Qian Yuliu revered asceticism, he still occasionally experienced the stirrings of youthful hormones. Yet he had no interest in marrying or dating, so he could only use this traditional solution.

Moreover, the album's art style was not bad. It even had something of an anime feel to it. Le Yu felt his own heart begin to stir, so he hurriedly hid it away, intending to throw it out someday. Qian Yuliu, to avoid tarnishing your reputation, this is all I can do for you.

Le Yu lay on the bed, his entire body finally relaxing.

Perhaps he had been influenced by Qian Yuliu, or perhaps the surroundings truly were so quiet, but Le Yu felt as though he had returned to a safe zone, where he could let down all his guard.

No one would suddenly burst in to kill him, nor would anyone expose him as a spy.

Today, he had survived.

Le Yu let out a long sigh.

If it had been Qian Yuliu, he surely would have accepted his situation with a calm attitude. But Le Yu could not. Before crossing over, he had only been an ordinary person. If not for the absolute calm and fearlessness of pain granted by his Low Health Constitution, he would have given himself away when facing Lan Yan and Kui Zhao earlier.

Still, Le Yu retained a sliver of hope.

Rebirth Through Death, the status panel... Since supernatural things like crossing worlds, superpowers, and attribute systems had all appeared, did that mean Le Yu still had a chance to cross back?

This world was certainly interesting, but it was not his home after all.

However, Le Yu still possessed too little information. For now, he could only act according to the status panel's prompts.

"Name: Le Yu/Qian Yuliu"

"Deaths: 1"

"Available Points: 0"

"Qian Yuliu's Tribulation: Have dinner with Qian Yuya. Maximum interval: 120 hours. (Time remaining: 120 hours) (1/12)"

"Personal Skills: Beginner Eight-Grain Flow Bite Combat Arts (+), Low Health Constitution (+)"

"Eternal Skill: Rebirth Through Death"

"Challenge (refreshable): Survive for 15 days. Difficulty: ☆.

Reward: 3 available points and 1 Eternal Skill upgrade opportunity (raise any skill of the current body by 1 level and convert it into an Eternal Skill)."

Le Yu noticed that the Tribulation information field had gained a new "(1/12)" counter. When he focused slightly, he received a more detailed explanation: "After Transcending Calamity 12 times, your Mental Power will receive a permanent increase. Completed: 1 time."

Eating with my little sister eleven more times will permanently improve my Mental Power? Does that count as living off a woman? Le Yu could not help laughing as he took out his phone.

This was the phone he had retrieved from his own corpse. It still worked, but without a charging plug, it was only a matter of time before it became a brick.

Without internet, the phone was not much use anyway. Le Yu turned it off, and suddenly a wave of sleepiness hit him. His breathing gradually steadied.

He had been too tired today.

The next day, as Le Yu changed clothes and went downstairs, he happened to see Qian Yuya opening the gate railing to head to school.

"Be careful on the way," Le Yu said casually. Qian Yuya paused slightly, then nodded and left.

Only after saying it did Le Yu remember that Qian Yuliu had rarely interacted with his sister. They barely exchanged greetings. The two were like neighbors living under the same roof, the sort who never spoke to each other.

Very good. As expected of biological siblings. Le Yu even felt a little familiarity—he had a younger sister in his previous life too, and ever since middle school, she had ignored him just like Qian Yuya did.

But taking the initiative to offer a greeting was Le Yu's own habit. At home or in the dormitory, whenever someone was about to leave, he would say something like that. Though it did not quite fit Qian Yuliu's personality, Le Yu no longer cared. He had figured it out: rather than forcibly disguising himself just to survive, he might as well follow his heart and maintain his own character.

Le Yu had been forced into this world. He could not change it, but he could keep it from changing him.

After washing up and eating the breakfast his sister had made, Le Yu went to work at the Statistics Department. Star Engraving Prefecture was rather lively in the morning, with many people already out working. Passing the market even made Le Yu feel a sense of familiarity—no matter the world, aunties' voices were always this loud.

It took Le Yu half an hour to reach the Statistics Department, arriving neither early nor late. But as soon as he entered the First Team's office, he ran into Kui Zhao.

"Good morning, Deputy Director Kui."

Kui Zhao glanced at him, nodded, and turned to leave. "Work hard."

"Burn for Radiance." Le Yu struck his chest with his right hand in salute, wondering why Kui Zhao had come to the First Team so early.

Inside the office, the team members were gathered in discussion. Le Yu asked curiously, "Why did the Deputy Director come here?"

Chen Fu's expression was somewhat grim. He handed Le Yu a document. "He came to assign us a mission. This is the arrest list. We have to capture these people today."

Le Yu took the list.

Ou Liu, Class of 98, Star Engraving Military Academy.

Gou Huo, Class of 99, Star Engraving Military Academy.

Mu Feihong, instructor at Star Engraving Military Academy.

Feng Chuanliu, instructor at Star Engraving National Middle School.

There were nineteen suspects in total, with information on their appearances, home addresses, and workplaces attached.

Le Yu quickly understood why Chen Fu was in such a bad mood. Half the people on this list were classmates and teachers of his and Qian Yuliu's, even close friends who had studied alongside them!

But this world had no recusal system. In fact, Kui Zhao had deliberately assigned the mission this way, making the two of them personally arrest those people!

"Why are we arresting them?" Le Yu asked.

"Old Lin... Last night, the search team found many letters in Lin Jinyao's home. There is sufficient evidence proving that these people participated in the Anti-Light Organization." Chen Fu exhaled heavily. "Director Lan has ordered that firearm restrictions be lifted when arresting these suspects. If they resist, kill them on the spot."

Ai Lili said bitterly, "Those Anti-Light Rebels are all dangerous criminals. We cannot let a single one go!"

Le Yu asked, "Ai Lili, how are your injuries? Don't you need to take leave and rest?"

"No need. I only scraped some skin while fighting Lin Jinyao last night. It's nothing serious." Ai Lili clenched her fists. "I must help the Director clear Star Engraving Prefecture of these Anti-Light Rebels!"

Le Yu looked over the list once more and nodded expressionlessly.

"Let's move."