They Had Not Lied

Xianyu felt as though he was developing PTSD from Aeons.

He tentatively asked the lotus, "May I ask what brings you to the Luofu?"

Unlike in his dream, Fuli did not appear before him in human form. A Light Cone suddenly hovered above the lotus.

The Aeon of Remembrance spoke directly into his mind.

"Because of Elation."

That profoundly mysterious voice, paired with an eerily calm tone, inspired an abrupt sense of awe.

They continued, "A gift for you."

Xianyu glanced at the Light Cone, baffled. "Huh? Thank you."

Fuli fell silent for a moment, seemingly thinking Xianyu found the gift insufficient, then added another Light Cone. "Amusement at Elation's expense is hard to come by."

Xianyu thanked them stiffly. "Thank you, Flowing Light Heavenly Lord."

He finally understood. Was this payment for making Aha look foolish? A gift?

Seeing that Fuli did not leave immediately, Xianyu asked tentatively, "May I ask you a few questions?"

Fuli said, "You may."

With their agreement, Xianyu breathed a sigh of relief. The Aeon of Remembrance seemed fairly approachable.

"Why did you give me... the memories of my past life?"

Fuli said, "They are important to the entire universe."

Xianyu was utterly bewildered.

Were his memories really that important?

Important enough for an Aeon to intervene personally?

Now that he had regained those memories, did he need to save the entire universe?

He continued, "Is there anything you need me to do in the future?"

For some reason, Fuli spoke much faster this time. "You need do nothing. Simply maintain the status quo."

Xianyu could not make sense of it.

Were Aeons all philanthropists? Did they offer help without asking for anything in return?

Or had he already paid that price in his previous life?

He looked up at the ice lotus representing Fuli and continued, "Heavenly Lord, you know all things in this world. Could you clear up my confusion and tell me the truth?"

"Elation did not lie." Fuli paused, then added, "Nor did they tell you the whole truth."

Xianyu's pupils trembled in shock.

Fuli immediately continued, "You fell alongside Akivili."

Well, damn.

So Aha really hadn't lied.

Akivili really hadn't shed a single tear for him.

After all, they had died together!

Leaving aside whether Aeons could cry, when a human and an Aeon both got a game over, who would have had time to shed tears?

Just as Xianyu was cursing Aha inwardly, Fuli spoke again. "You need not worry about Preservation and Destruction."

At that, he waited and waited, but Fuli fell silent and offered no explanation.

What exactly had he done back then?

Xianyu felt as though he was reading a novel whose author was an incorrigible cliffhanger merchant, cutting every chapter off at the most exciting moment. It left him itching to crawl through the internet cable, lock the author in a dark room, and force them to churn out a hundred thousand words a day.

But he could not curse Fuli, much less track them down through the lotus. He could only take a deep breath and continue, "Heavenly Lord, do you consider me an utterly wicked person?"

Xianyu could think of no other explanation.

Had he been a villain in his previous life?

If so, why had he returned from the dead and been born into the world again?

If not, why had he provoked two Aeons, only for someone who knew the truth to tell him not to worry?

He waited for Fuli's answer.

This time, their silence lasted longer than ever before.

After a while, Fuli spoke.

"To humanity, you are not."

"But to evildoers, the Swarm, and Intellitrons, you are."

Xianyu's anxiety finally eased.

As long as he had not gone on a killing spree or played some kind of galaxy-matching elimination game, that was fine.

As for the Swarm and Intellitrons? Who cared about them?

From what Fuli said, they seemed to think rather highly of him.

Relaxing, he thanked Fuli sincerely. "Thank you for clearing things up, Heavenly Lord. My memories are incomplete. If I offended you before, please forgive me."

"Offended?" They fell silent at first, then said, "You once told me, 'Riddlers, get the hell out of the universe.' Would that count as an offense against me?"

Xianyu: "..."

That certainly sounded like something he would say...

But why had he said something like that to Fuli?

Was that why Fuli had remained silent during their first meeting?

"I'm really sorry..." Xianyu said stiffly. "I was rude to you before."

The ice lotus representing Fuli suddenly burst with dazzling white light, forcing Xianyu to raise a hand to shield his eyes.

When the glare faded, another Light Cone hovered above it.

Xianyu: "..."

Had he just said something worth recording?

"You have changed greatly." Fuli seemed to be reflecting on something. They put away the Light Cone of Xianyu, then warned him, "Remember, do not defy fate or interfere in the karma of others."

Xianyu nodded in agreement. Then the ice lotus grew increasingly transparent until it vanished.

Once Fuli had left, he opened his backpack and put away the two Light Cones, then searched on his Jade Abacus. After confirming that no one had noticed the arrival of the two Aeons, he breathed a sigh of relief and finally had the mental space to consider their words.

Looking back now... his agreement with Aha had not mattered.

Aha seemed more like they had been... letting Xianyu fish for information while testing his memories.

It seemed the Aeons had not shared all their information.

Two Aeons in a row had mentioned fate and karma, and warned him not to interfere.

What earth-shattering commotion had he caused in his past life to make the Aeons so serious?

Utterly confused, Xianyu took out his Jade Abacus, opened the search engine, and entered "Yaoqing General."

When he hit search, a smiling mask he absolutely loathed popped up, with an endless string of "hahahaha" scrolling beneath it.

Annoyed, Xianyu switched to another electronic device and continued searching.

This time, he searched only for "Yaoqing," rather than "Yaoqing General."

Once it finished loading, another smiling mask appeared.

The mask, rendered in simple lines, perfectly captured Aha's infuriating grin. Its expression was so vivid that it seemed to be mocking him silently.

Xianyu forcefully deleted the text and changed the keywords to "Akivili's closest friend."

The mask changed into a painted theatrical mask.

It stopped smiling and started crying instead.

Two tears squeezed out of its pitch-black eyes and rolled down, instantly smearing its makeup and leaving two jarring tear tracks across its face.

Xianyu: "..."

He gave up.

He only wanted to look up information about his past life. Why did Aha have to trip him up?

He would borrow someone else's Jade Abacus another day.

If he could not search on a Jade Abacus, he would have to go to the library and consult ancient texts.

Xianyu switched off the device in irritation, picked up his own Jade Abacus, and opened his social media app.

As soon as he opened it, he saw messages from his immediate supervisor.

Before going to sleep, he had copied a leave request template online and sent it to his supervisor.

Had his boss refused to approve his leave? Was he going to be fired for being absent?

With a grave expression, Xianyu opened the chat and read through the messages.

At first, his supervisor had not approved it.

Only after Xianyu failed to reply for a long time had his supervisor reluctantly granted him leave.

Then his supervisor had sent more messages.

[Xianyu, are you all right?]

[If there's any conflict, it would be best to talk it out.]

Xianyu was baffled.

The way his boss put it, he sounded like some vicious villain.

[No replies outside work hours: Boss, I'm fine.]

The moment he sent the message, his boss replied.

[I heard the Sword Champion attacked you.]

Xianyu: ???