Chapter 592

Fang Qi raised a hand to his forehead.

Liguang tilted her head slightly, narrowing her phoenix eyes as she stared at Lin Xiaoyou… The corners of her lips curled upward.

That familiar smile.

“No wonder…”

She spoke softly.

“No wonder Liguang and Miss Gu Xi both get the urge to scratch an itch whenever they see Miss Lin…”

She tilted her head and stared at Lin Xiaoyou, the crimson light in her scarlet eyes pulsing again and again.

“Liguang’s hands are itching again…”

Lin Xiaoyou shuddered on the spot. Almost instinctively, she took half a step back, stumbled, and covered her rear.

“Li—Liguang!”

Her round little face instantly filled with a fawning smile.

“Let’s not talk about that yet! Let’s talk business first. Business!”

As she spoke, she desperately waved the hand that wasn’t covering her behind.

“I’m on your side now!”

“We’re teammates. We’re teammates!”

She spoke rapidly, winking at Liguang nonstop.

“You know that. We’re the same—we both want to build a perfect new world for Senior, right?”

“I’m not going to hurt you! Senior, tell her I’m right!”

She turned to Fang Qi and winked furiously at him as well.

“This is good for Senior too!”

“With such an amazing ability, not using it would be a terrible waste!”

Huh…

A good ability?

As Lin Xiaoyou spoke, her eyes began to light up.

The fawning look on her face slowly transformed into excitement.

“We can use this…”

She began muttering to herself.

“To create an information gap with the outside world!”

“Senior and Liguang’s abilities, combined with my brain, will definitely…”

Her voice grew softer and softer, but her expression became increasingly excited.

Fang Qi could no longer make out what she was saying.

He simply stood there with his hand pressed to his forehead, watching the round-faced girl get excited all by herself…

The corner of his mouth twitched.

He gave up.

Miss Genius, you really are a little traitor.

Matchmaker Sister would probably cry herself unconscious.

What had Miss Gu Xi intended by telling Lin Xiaoyou all this?

She had wanted Lin Xiaoyou not to do it!

Because if Fang Qi rolled everything back in that manner, even Lin Xiaoyou herself would lose her memories.

Miss Gu Xi had been warning her. Drawing a line she absolutely could not cross.

But what had happened?

Fang Qi looked helplessly at the genius girl still muttering excitedly in front of him and shook his head.

Instead, that woman’s little brain worked in a way completely different from normal people’s. The moment she arrived, she had “defected” to their side!

Miss Gu Xi had told her, “Don’t do this…”

And Lin Xiaoyou had immediately taken that information and come running to them, intending to use this ability together with them!

The police beauty had probably never imagined that the information she had given Lin Xiaoyou as a warning…

would instead be treated as a pledge of allegiance and handed over for them to use!

Lin Xiaoyou simply didn’t care about losing her memories.

Her eyes contained nothing but an obsession with that ability!

Fang Qi covered his face.

He suddenly understood why, whenever Miss Gu Xi mentioned Lin Xiaoyou…

she always wore a gritted-teeth expression, as if she wished she could draw her gun.

That woman really was…!

Suddenly, he felt a deep, quiet gaze.

Hmm?

He instinctively followed it—and then…

His body went rigid!

It was Liguang.

She wasn’t looking at Lin Xiaoyou. Instead, she was smiling as she quietly watched him…

her head tilted to one side.

She neither spoke nor moved. She simply watched him.

Her amber left eye was moist, while the scarlet light in her right eye pulsed calmly.

Her expression was incredibly gentle!

—Master, what do you think?

Fang Qi: “…”

A layer of cold sweat instantly broke out across his back.

No, honey…

Could you please not make that expression?

It’s terrifying!

At the same time, Lin Xiaoyou stopped muttering and began looking at him with shining eyes.

Two pairs of eyes, one on either side…

Both fixed squarely on him!

One was so “kind” that it made his scalp prickle, while the other was so excited that it left him speechless.

Fang Qi took a deep breath. Then…

he suddenly shook his head and chuckled.

What other choice did he have?

Liguang’s memories…

had never been a choice to begin with.

There had always been only one possible answer.

“No.”

He looked at the round-faced girl and said it lightly.

Lin Xiaoyou’s smile froze slightly.

“…Huh?”

As though she hadn’t heard him clearly, she stared straight at Fang Qi.

“Senior, what did you say…?”

The terrifying pressure beside him melted away as swiftly as snow in spring.

He turned his head slightly.

The smile on Liguang’s face had already changed.

It had gone from “kind” to natural and satisfied, and she even gave him a cheerful wink.

Well, that crazy woman really was easy to placate.

“Senior!”

Lin Xiaoyou suddenly glared at him.

She planted her hands on her hips, her round little face filled with disbelief and indignation.

“It’s one thing for Liguang to disagree, but Senior… how can you disagree too?”

Her gaze seemed capable of boring straight through him.

“You won’t lose your memories, Senior!”

“If we don’t do this, are you really going to just watch those people outside break into Senior and Liguang’s little world?”

“And Liguang!”

She suddenly turned toward Liguang.

“Do you want what happened in the previous dream to happen again?”

She gritted her teeth.

“This time, Senior might not be able to save you in time!”

The smile on Liguang’s face gradually faded.

She fell silent. Deep within her amber left eye, a stream of blue data flashed by.

Fang Qi saw the blue light in her eye and knew that she was seriously considering Lin Xiaoyou’s words.

But…

he merely shook his head.

How should he put it?

At present, he really was an idiot.

He wasn’t as clever as Lin Xiaoyou, nor did he possess Liguang’s computational power and abilities.

He didn’t know anything about information gaps, and he had no idea what the optimal solution was.

He…

only knew one thing.

He looked at the silver-haired girl beside him, blue light flickering in her amber eyes.

Her profile was so beautiful in the morning light that she looked almost unreal. The little plastic star dangling from her earlobe swayed gently in the sea breeze.

He knew only this…

Liguang’s memories were incredibly, incredibly important.

No matter what he did, he could never sacrifice Liguang’s memories.

Ah, of course, that wasn’t because of anything Miss Gu Xi had said…

—Liguang’s memories are important.

Well, perhaps Miss Gu Xi had her reasons for saying that.

Perhaps it had something to do with that plan he couldn’t remember?

For now, he didn’t want to know about any of that.

He had sworn an oath.

He would never let Liguang lose another memory.

He would help her preserve every memory she had made with him!

He wouldn’t let her forget anything else, the way she had forgotten those eighty-two years!

Besides…

“Heh.”

He let out a self-mocking laugh.

If he were willing to sacrifice Liguang’s memories for the sake of some objective…

then he should have sacrificed them long ago.

After so many rollbacks, after resisting the outside world so many times…

if he had been willing to do that from the start, the road he had traveled would have been infinitely easier!

But to preserve Liguang’s memories, he had never done so.

Ever since the island, every time he rolled everything back, he had chosen death.

Every single time.

Using the most painful method to exchange for her memories.

That was how he had made it this far.

He had already come this far.

And it was precisely because of his persistence that he and Liguang had the relationship they did now.

So…

Fang Qi closed his eyes.

Call him stupid if you wanted. Call him stubborn.

In any case…

he suddenly opened his eyes!

He turned to Lin Xiaoyou with a serious expression.

“If success in the end has to be bought with Liguang’s memories... then this success...”

His voice was low and solemn.

“Isn’t worth having.”

Liguang’s memories were not something that could be sacrificed!

He couldn’t do this!

There were some things that, once done... could never be undone!

Lin Xiaoyou froze.

She looked at him, mouth opening as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, no words came out.

Beside him, a soft body pressed gently against him, and a pale arm lightly wrapped around his.

Fang Qi gently took her hand and looked toward Lin Xiaoyou as he said softly, “Besides, these are memories shared by Liguang and me. I don’t want to be the only one who remembers them.”

He pursed his lips, then added, “Xiaoyou, you should understand this better than anyone, shouldn’t you?”

Lin Xiaoyou’s eyes trembled.

“You remember everything, but your Sister Xiaoqing has forgotten you.”

Fang Qi looked at her, his voice gentle.

“I don’t think you’d want to go through that again.”

Lin Xiaoyou bit down hard on her lower lip.

She stared straight at Fang Qi, something churning violently in those almond-shaped eyes.

Well, it seemed he had hit the mark.

Beside him, Liguang tightened her embrace.

“Then, Senior... what about Liguang?”

Huh?

Fang Qi’s eyes suddenly trembled.

The expression on Miss Genius’s face was unusually calm.

Too calm. Almost unsettling.

She was looking at the two of them pressed together, her gaze deep and unreadable.

“Do you have some other plan?”

Our plan?

Fang Qi blinked, then lowered his head...

And met Liguang’s raised eyes.

Liguang curved her lips slightly and rubbed her cheek gently against his arm.

“Master,” she said softly, “Liguang will keep everyone else outside this world.”

“Master only needs to...”

She tilted her face up slightly and looked at Fang Qi, the morning light reflected in her amber eyes.

“Stay here and live happily with Liguang.”

“Liguang will gradually build a perfect world for Master.”

“Master only needs to, whenever Liguang makes a mistake...”

She winked at Fang Qi.

“Help Liguang correct it, and let Liguang ‘wake up from the dream.’”

Wake up from the dream?

Fang Qi gently stroked her head, his fingers gliding through her soft, silky silver hair.

As expected of his wife—they really were thinking along the same lines!

He wasn’t the same person he had been before losing his memories. He couldn’t see that far ahead, nor could he think that deeply.

He could only see the present.

So...

The corners of his lips lifted slightly.

After all, he had the ability to roll back time—to “take it back.”

If something really went wrong later...

Couldn’t he simply take it back?

Wasn’t that what the rollback ability was for?

Why sacrifice Liguang’s memories?

They could just keep experimenting, couldn’t they?

And besides, that would mean creating many more memories together with Liguang!

He...

“How could it be that easy...”

Lin Xiaoyou suddenly spoke in a low voice.

Huh?

Fang Qi looked up at her again.

Her head was lowered, her black hair falling over her eyes and revealing only the sharp point of her chin.

Her small fists were clenched tightly.

Then she suddenly raised her head!

“How could it be that easy?!”

Those almond-shaped eyes glared fiercely at him, even tinged with red.

“How could we possibly succeed in the end without sacrificing anything?!”

She practically screamed the words.

Fang Qi: “?!”

The force of Lin Xiaoyou’s outburst left him completely stunned.

Wait, where had that come from?!

Lin Xiaoyou stared fixedly at him, her eyes already red from holding back her emotions.

“Forget Liguang for a moment... Senior, what are you thinking?!”

She stepped forward.

But before she had even completed half a step, a flash of silver appeared before her. Liguang had already moved in front of Fang Qi.

The silver-haired girl narrowed her eyes. The crimson in her red eye flared sharply as she stared straight at Lin Xiaoyou.

But this time, Lin Xiaoyou wasn’t afraid!

She continued glaring at the two of them, her voice growing louder and louder.

“At least for now, the situation is still under our control!”

“We can still choose which memories to sacrifice!”

“Even if we forget them, at least Senior will remember them for us!”

“Do you really want to wait until everything gets completely out of control...”

“Only to be forced to throw away the memories we can’t bear to lose?!”

Her unrestrained voice echoed across the surface of the sea.

Fang Qi stared at her blankly. His mouth opened and closed, but not a single word came out.

What she said... actually seemed to make sense?

But...

A flash of silver suddenly crossed his vision.

Liguang stepped forward and stood directly in front of Lin Xiaoyou.

“Miss Lin, what you said makes sense.”

Her voice was soft, as delicate as a strand of silk carried on the sea breeze.

“People do have to learn to choose what to keep and what to give up.”

Lin Xiaoyou’s eyes trembled.

“Then...!”

“But!”

Liguang’s voice suddenly sank.

Fang Qi saw the crimson in her red eye fade in an instant...

At the same time, a deep-blue light surged through her amber left eye like a rising tide.

“For Liguang, anything related to Master is something that can never be given up.”

Her voice trembled faintly.

“Liguang can forget everything else!”

“But she absolutely cannot forget anything about Master!”

The sea breeze suddenly grew stronger, sending her silver hair flying wildly around her.

“Liguang will never accept that!”

Lin Xiaoyou clenched her lips tightly and glared at her.

Her chest heaved violently, her shoulders trembling slightly.

Fang Qi: “...!”

The tension between the two women grew tighter and tighter.

Especially Lin Xiaoyou. This was someone who normally laughed and joked around, someone who seemed impossible to kill no matter how many times she was beaten...

And now, she was on the verge of completely losing control!

Hiss!

Fang Qi hurried forward and pulled Liguang back by the arm.

“Mm!”

Liguang stumbled backward from the force. The back of her head lightly bumped against his chest, and the fierce momentum she had possessed a moment ago instantly vanished.

She went limp in his arms and fell silent.

He looked toward Lin Xiaoyou with a mild expression, doing his best to make himself look “friendly.”

“Xiaoyou, your plan has a problem too.”

He spoke in a relaxed, half-joking tone.

“If we really did roll back time like that, I’d be the only one who remembered everything. But...”

He spread his hands helplessly.

“I’m so... so stupid. How could I possibly remember your plan?”

“And besides... you’d forget everything too. If I wanted to trick you afterward, it’d be incredibly easy!”

He raised his eyebrows at Lin Xiaoyou.

“Aren’t you afraid I might do something to you? And yet you still dare to go through with it!”

It was a joke—nothing more than a joke, meant purely to ease the tension.

But Lin Xiaoyou didn’t laugh at all.

Instead, she looked deeply at him, her eyes filled with something that made his heart seize!

“Of course I’ve thought about that,” she said softly.

“But so what?”

The smile on Fang Qi’s face froze.

Lin Xiaoyou clenched her fists and murmured, “Senior, you were right. You really are... incredibly stupid!”

She raised her head, those red-rimmed almond-shaped eyes staring straight at Fang Qi.

“Since I brought up this suggestion, wasn’t I already telling you...?”

She gritted her teeth, her voice growing louder and louder!

“Isn’t that just me telling you, Senior, that you can use me however you want?!”

By the end, she was practically shouting.

“Whether you treat me as a partner or as a tool, I’ll cooperate with you, Senior!”

“As long as I can reach that ‘New World’ in the end, you can order me around however you like!”

“Do I really have to say it out loud in front of Liguang?!”

Fang Qi froze.

And Liguang, standing before him, suddenly flashed her crimson eyes!

She violently tore her hand free from Fang Qi’s grasp and stepped between him and Lin Xiaoyou in a single stride.

“What… did… you… say?”

Her voice was cold as ice, each word forced out from between clenched teeth.

“What… are… you… planning… to… do… with… my… master?”

The atmosphere instantly became charged once more, as if swords had been drawn.

Fang Qi’s mind went blank for a moment, but… he still instinctively tried to defuse the situation.

Don’t! You two, calm down!

He reached out to take Liguang’s hand, wanting to pull her back. But the crazy woman had no idea where she had gotten all that strength. He tugged once, yet she didn’t budge an inch.

All he could do was quickly say, “Neither of you get worked up! Calm down!”

His eyes darted from Liguang’s tense profile to Lin Xiaoyou’s round face, which looked as though she were about to cry yet was stubbornly holding herself together.

“Xiaoyou, what kind of scary things are you saying? What do you mean, ‘tool’ and ‘order me around’? And what’s this about sacrificing memories?”

He spoke rapidly, trying to drag the conversation back on track.

“When you get right down to it, those people outside should all be… should all be part of a plan made by me before I lost my memories, right?”

“Don’t look at me like this. The me who hadn’t lost his memories was incredibly capable!”

“Those people couldn’t possibly be my enemies…!”

“Heh.”

A cold laugh interrupted Fang Qi.

He blinked slightly and looked toward Lin Xiaoyou.

The genius girl glanced at him with reddened eyes.

That look… was filled with mockery and pity, an expression he had never seen on her face before.

“Senior, as far as I know, your goal has changed, hasn’t it?”

She spoke softly, her voice trembling faintly.

“In your original plan, you never considered that… you yourself might truly be affected, fall hopelessly in love with Liguang, and be unable to pull yourself away, did you?”

At that, Liguang blinked faintly.

She turned her head and glanced at Fang Qi, the tension in her expression easing somewhat.

Fang Qi, however, suddenly froze.

Could that… really be true?

It seemed that the version of him who hadn’t lost his memories truly had never considered… that he would actually fall in love with Liguang.

And then… the plan had changed?

Huh?

“Heh.”

Lin Xiaoyou laughed again, but the sound was more painful than a sob.

“Senior, the people outside are truly loyal to you.”

Her eyes were red as she stared straight at Fang Qi.

“For your original plan, they have offered up far too many ‘souls.’”

“And they have continued… faithfully carrying out that original plan of yours all this time!”

Fang Qi stared blankly at her.

The original plan… was…

In front of him, Liguang’s body suddenly went rigid.

The sea breeze stopped.

Lin Xiaoyou smiled.

That smile, hanging on her small round face and framed by her reddened eyes, looked especially miserable.

“Oh, Liguang’s figured it out.”

She looked at Liguang and spoke softly.

“Yes. Liguang should know. I investigated most of what happened during those six months in the previous dream, too.”

She slowly continued:

“Because in the original plan…”

Her eyes were still red, yet she smiled as she looked at Fang Qi.

“There was never any place for Liguang in the New World.”

Fang Qi stared at her smiling face and froze as well.

Huh?

What… did she mean?

There was no place for Liguang…?

“And Dawn…”

Lin Xiaoyou stared fixedly at Fang Qi.

“Was created for precisely that reason.”

She murmured:

“Everything Dawn created will cease to exist in the New World…”

“Because all of Dawn’s creations, including Sister Xiaoqing…”

Her throat seemed to catch on something for a moment, and she choked back a sob.

“Will all… become nourishment for Liguang…!”

Fang Qi’s pupils trembled.

“And Liguang…”

She slowly turned her head to look at Liguang.

At that moment, Liguang was glaring furiously at Lin Xiaoyou! In her amber left eye, blue code was streaming wildly!

The corners of Lin Xiaoyou’s lips lifted slightly, as if she wanted to smile… but couldn’t.

“Will become… nourishment for the ‘New World’!”

Fang Qi: “?!”

Liguang’s crimson eyes flashed violently!

She suddenly tightened her grip on Fang Qi’s hand.

It hurt…! But…

Lin Xiaoyou turned her head slightly toward Fang Qi once more and spoke softly:

“Senior, your plan from back then… was truly amazing.”

Fang Qi: “…?”

This time, he was genuinely dumbstruck.