“So well-behaved.” When he had seen You Zhengping drink the tea, Yu Hua’s tone was faintly cheerful. 

The next second, Yu Hua, who had been sitting across from You Zhengping, appeared beside him. His chair had turned into a recliner. Yu Hua leaned back slightly against the back of the chair and quietly looked You Zhengping over. 

Every place his gaze scanned, You Zhengping felt numbness. The hair stood up on the back of his neck. 

“Why would I show up in your little world?” You Zhengping was full of doubts and misgivings, and he vaguely thought that if he didn’t say something now, something awful would happen. 

“Where else would you show up?” Yu Hua picked up the teacup and brought it up to You Zhengping’s lips, having him drink it. “Inside Guan Shaoguang’s time rules?” 

“Pfft!” You Zhengping spat up tea over the whole table. He was about to use his sleeve to wipe his face when Yu Hua got out a paper towel from somewhere and wiped his mouth for him. 

It was as though You Zhengping had returned home in his dreams. This Yu Hua resembled the Yu Hua who had discovered a problem with his pants, but he was a little more frightening than that. 

You Zhengping didn’t resist. He also didn’t take the paper towel. He didn’t even ask any questions, letting Yu Hua carefully wipe his face for him, and then his hands. 

He only quietly looked at Yu Hua, his eyes full of trust and reliance. 

Yu Hua tossed the paper towel aside and gently said, “I remember the last time I saw you, Guan Shaoguang wanted to kill you. He’ll do things to aid the team members, but he rarely personally steps in unless there’s someone he needs to kill.” 

“Yes, yes!” You Zhengping saw that Yu Hua had guessed it at last and he no longer needed to speak at cross-purposes; he quickly nodded repeatedly. 

You Zhengping couldn’t resist pulling his chair closer to Yu Hua. He said, “In the thought group last time, you guessed that I was being limited by time law and there were many things I couldn’t say. Now you’ve guessed that it’s Guan Shaoguang’s time ability making mischief. Is the reason I didn’t show up near Guan Shaoguang that you noticed the time fluctuation ahead of time and rescued me?” 

Seeing You Zhengping get close to him, entirely ignoring the forbidding air he gave off, Yu Hua looked at him with a faint smile. “Yes.” 

“You’re so clever!” You Zhengping was overwhelmed with joy. He didn’t know whether he could say more. He could only collect the important things to tell Yu Hua. “Listen to me, Guan Shaoguang wants to kill you, I came…” 

“I know,” Yu Hua interrupted You Zhengping. 

“You know? You Zhengping’s train of thought was entirely disrupted. He looked at Yu Hua in surprise. 

“You saw their plans inside my little world. Do you think I didn’t see?” Speaking of his plotting subordinates, Yu Hua drew back his smile. 

“Right, you must also have been able to see.” You Zhengping nodded hurriedly. “So you have to look after yourself! Level 500, five holders of natural law power will be hard to handle. Why don’t you expose their plot and simply root them out one by one? First go talk to one of them on their own, say you already know their plot, that it was Guan Shaoguang who spilled it. Then go to the second one and say the last person you talked to spilled it. That way, they’ll lose trust in each other and break apart. Their assassination plan won’t have a chance of succeeding.” 

You Zhengping had done his best to think of a method that would avoid hurting Yu Hua’s former friends but would still keep Yu Hua safe. 

“Your imagination is cleverer than mine.” Yu Hua had listened earnestly. Seeing that You Zhengping had talked his mouth dry, he passed him a cup of warm water. “Drink.” 

“Okay.” You Zhengping gulped it down in one go and went on, “But this Guan Shaoguang, he…” 

At this point, You Zhengping paused. He thought of the Guan Shaoguangs he had come into contact with at different times and couldn't help wondering, did Guan Shaoguang really want to kill Yu Hua? Did he have some inexpressible personal difficulty? 

“Guan Shaoguang should be killed?” Yu Hua said. “Then let’s kill him.” 

You Zhengping looked at Yu Hua and thought that this person was a little unfamiliar. The Yu Hua from level 11 and the Yu Hua from level 398 had both been his husband Yu Hua; neither of them would have so casually and ruthlessly said such a thing about killing someone.

You Zhengping did want to kill Guan Shaoguang. Never mind his reason—whether he was being controlled by the System or had some inexpressible personal difficulty, Guan Shaoguang had trapped them in this little world. If he wanted to get out, then he had to kill him. On principle, You Zhengping wouldn’t hesitate. But Yu Hua…

He didn’t say but only thought, Yu Hua shouldn’t be like this. 

He almost truly seemed the way Guan Shaoguang had described him, doing whatever he wanted, running riot, like a “Tyrant.” 

“After the last time we parted, did you go through a lot of things?” You Zhengping said in concern. 

“It was all right.” Yu Hua pressed his hand to the back of You Zhengping’s neck. “Let’s not talk about the ‘past.’ Tell me about the ‘future.’” 

“The-the-the future? What future?” You Zhengping felt a chill go up his spine. His body wanted to escape Yu Hua’s hold, but his instincts nailed him to the chair. He didn’t move a muscle. 

Yu Hua leaned close to You Zhengping, lips pressed to his ear, and quietly said, “Tell me how you came here from the future. Tell me what you came to do. Tell me what relationship you and I have in the future.”  

You Zhengping’s mouth and lips went dry. He licked his lips and looked earnestly at Yu Hua. “I don’t know what I can say under the natural law power. How about you guess, and I’ll nod or shake my head? You’re so clever, you’ll definitely be able to guess close to the truth.”  

“Do you have so much faith in my intelligence?” You Zhengping’s manner seemed to please Yu Hua. He smiled in gratification. 

“Of course I do! Your IQ and EQ are both first rate!” You Zhengping said decisively. 

He had been able to test into a top three school and be senior management at a top one-hundred enterprise with a very high annual salary with everyone around him praising him, and he had operated right under the noses of the Protection Organization and the Destroyers without his true identity being found out and completely duped Lian Yufan. Of course Yu Hua was clever if he could do this! 

“Fine.” Yu Hua immediately asked his first question. “You getting so nervous when I mention the future means that you’re from the future, right?” 

“Right.” You Zhengping nodded. 

“Guan Shaoguang was the one who brought you? I’m the target. Guan Shaoguang wants to kill me, and you want to rescue me.” 

“Exactly!” 

“If you kill Guan Shaoguang, you’ll go back?” 

“Yes, and so will you.” 

“Really? Go back?” The meaning of Yu Hua’s smile was unclear. “In your eyes, is this a little world that the future Guan Shaoguang created out of history using time law, or is it true history—time travel?” 

You Zhengping hesitated at this question. He thought about it and said, “I thought at first that it was the former. It can probably only be the former. But you still remember me, so…” 

“Since you can’t answer this one, let’s change to another one.” Yu Hua looked at You Zhengping and asked, “You don’t avoid close contact with me. Your attitude is very open. What is our relationship in the future? Friends? Companions? Lovers?” 

You Zhengping’s face flushed. Quietly, he said, “A step closer than the last one.” 

Yu Hua undid a button at his collar and asked, “Can I?” 

You Zhengping instantly burst. He still remembered when he and Yu Hua were dating, the first time they had exercised together. Yu Hua had been just like this, standing next to the fitness room downstairs at a five star hotel, unbuttoning one of his shirt buttons, asking, “Can I?” 

“There-there’s nothing you can’t…” You Zhengping mumbled. “We’re an old married couple, after all.” 

Yu Hua gave a contained smile. The surroundings in the little world changed once again, going from night in a pavilion in the estate to a dark room. 

A little boy and a dog bounced out of You Zhengping’s little world. They were both confused and disoriented. Yu Hua casually waved his hand; the child and the dog disappeared. 

“Where’d they go?” You Zhengping held his waist and sat up with difficulty. 

“I sent them to another room.” In the lightless surroundings, Yu Hua quietly said, “Are you all right?” 

“I’m fine,” You Zhengping said, waving his hand. 

Though it had been a little more tiring than in the past, he was in good physical condition. He’d always been able to handle it. 

He heard a light laugh in the dark. A strong hand gripped his ankle. There was a click. There was something ice cold hanging off You Zhengping’s ankle. 

“What is this?” You Zhengping bent over with his sore waist and back to touch the metallic object. 

Yu Hua grabbed his hand and softly said, “A special ability suppressor.” 

You Zhengping: “???” 

In the dark, he couldn’t see Yu Hua’s expression. He could only hear his tone, which was as mild as always yet made a chill of terror go up your spine. 

“Why would you put a special ability suppressor on me?” You Zhengping asked in confusion. 

In the room that was so dark you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, Yu Hua patiently explained, “Guan Shaoguang’s ability, even if he possesses time law power in the future, still can’t truly reverse time. I understand the sort of person he is. He couldn’t do it. You suspect that this is truly history, and I’ve also guessed that that’s the case. But it wasn’t Guan Shaoguang who brought you here. You did it yourself. Only with time and spatial abilities combined could you truly travel in time, personally bring yourself and Guan Shaoguang into true time.” 

“Then haven’t I changed history? Has a parallel world appeared?” You Zhengping was apprehensive. He got out of bed in a hurry to look for his shoes. “No, I have to go back as soon as possible.” 

The Xuyang District was still a mess now. Three Destroyers had died, one had been captured, and he and Guan Shaoguang had both disappeared. He couldn’t be stuck in a parallel world thousands of years ago. He had to go back as soon as possible!

“Go back? Go back where?” Yu Hua grabbed You Zhengping’s ankle. “Who are you going to see?” 

“I’m going to take you back with me!” You Zhengping said. 

Yu Hua’s fingers were on the special ability suppressor. Recalling, he said, “During level 11, you appeared briefly and promised to defeat the System with me. You disappeared, and I spent hundreds of years looking for you. During level 398, you woke me in the thought group and told me I had to defeat the System, that I was the only one who could do it. Then you disappeared again, and I waited for you again for almost a thousand years. You used space-time abilities to come to my side, and now you want to go to the side of some other ‘self’ that I’ve never known. How many thousands of years do you want me to wait this time?” 

“I…” You Zhengping had no idea how to explain this. And if this really was a parallel world where history had changed, if he returned to his own original time and left Yu Hua behind, would he be able to meet a second You Zhengping? 

He was switching between time nodes quickly, staying there for brief moments, but Yu Hua had experienced over a thousand years. 

This Yu Hua was completely different from the one during level 398, who had been cold on the outside but warm-hearted, willing to help other levelers. There was no smile in his eyes. He was contemptuous towards everything in the world. He didn’t trust a single person. 

“What have you experienced in all this time?” You Zhengping touched Yu Hua’s face, trying to distinguish his expression in the darkness. 

“Nothing.” Yu Hua gently kissed You Zhengping’s lips. 

It was just that he had experienced what loneliness was.