The Time Paradox

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The system dutifully prompted him.

[Optional tasks completed in Stage Two: 4. You will receive a special reward when the results are settled.]

Footsteps sounded behind him. Yu Xing glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw Fang Xiao, who had been trailing behind.

"She doesn't want to hear me apologize." Fang Xiao gazed at the mountains and forest, lost in thought. "She'll live a happy life from now on, right?"

"At least a happier one than you," Yu Xing said truthfully.

"You might die in some deduction instance before long. She should be able to live for quite a while."

Fang Xiao said, "...That works too."

His good-for-nothing older brother adjusted his mood, then grew curious. "This Absurd Deduction Game... is it a team game? Do you have a team?"

"Yeah."

"Can I join?"

"No."

"Oh."

He didn't ask why. The answer was obvious: he was too useless as a newbie. Anyway, he wasn't about to admit that his "younger brother" simply didn't want him on the same team.

"Then, can I keep thinking of you as my younger brother?" Fang Xiao asked.

He explained, "I... can't change the way I think just yet. No matter who you really are, in my world, you're my younger brother."

The system had already transmitted the relevant concepts to him. He needed time to understand them, but all in all, he wasn't completely in the dark anymore.

Yu Xing had changed into a different set of clothes by now. With his hands in his pockets, he turned around with a half-smile.

"Let me tell you something."

Fang Xiao's heart skipped a beat. For some reason, he had a bad feeling, but he managed to keep his composure. "Go ahead."

Yu Xing grinned. "I'm older than you."

Fang