Chapter 098: Dimension 05

Chapter 098: Dimension 05

The early summer afternoon was pleasantly warm, yet behind Yu Bai, there was a chill autumn breeze.

Accompanied by writhing dark lines, a visible melancholy.

These animated effects were vivid and accurate, precisely capturing the essence of various emotions.

Artists created or abstracted them, placing them in their works to intensify expressions of diverse feelings.

Over time, they became a cultural instinct, easily recognizable.

Just as when stars are mentioned, people instantly envision the image of a golden five-pointed star.

The proprietress looked at the desolate black lines behind Yu Bai and exclaimed in confusion, "If you're surprised, be surprised, but why are you suddenly melancholic?"

She hurriedly turned to the police officer she had been chatting with for an hour, now somewhat familiar, "Hey, hey, hey, what's going on here?"

Lis Nanxiao, his mind still filled with tales of murder, wearily massaged his temples, condensing a thousand words into a sigh.

"...Sigh."

Behind the usually calm and collected police uncle, there were also faint traces of black lines.

Not just Xiao Bai, even he felt quite melancholic.

...This proprietress selling buns here was truly underutilizing her talents.

She should have been working in intelligence.

As for the remaining third handsome man, his gaze swept over the swaying black lines behind Yu Bai, learning another lesson from the proprietress' casual words.

This is melancholy.

But...

Xie Wufang asked in puzzlement, "What does 'fangirl' mean?"

Pink bubbles continued to dance recklessly in the air.

The youth under his gaze remained in a state of self-imposed isolation.

The enthusiastic proprietress immediately answered, "It's the heartfelt appreciation of beautiful things! A very pure affection!"

"..." Yu Bai, filled with melancholy, was startled awake by her fervent tone. Confused, he looked around, "Who's very pure?"

Xie Wufang replied earnestly, "Fangirl."

Yu Bai looked bewildered, "Huh? What fangirl?"

Lis Nanxiao wore a pained expression, "..."

The proprietress steadily emitted pink bubbles, not forgetting her penchant for gossip, "By the way, I heard that you seem to know each other? Did you arrange to meet here? What are you planning to do together—"

"Alright, come inside."

The police uncle, feeling dizzy from all the chatter, could no longer bear it. With a serious expression, he said, "Ms. Qiao, please close your shop door for a moment. There's something very important I need to tell you."

When the captain of criminal investigation, dressed in his uniform, became serious, he was indeed quite intimidating.

Ms. Qiao, the proprietress, fell silent immediately, not daring to say more. She quickly responded, "Eh? You came specifically to see me? Alright, alright, let's talk inside."

As she spoke, she promptly began tidying up the items at the entrance, preparing to lower the roller shutter temporarily.

Her smile faded from her face.

Yet, behind her, a sudden surge of pink bubbles appeared.

Lis Nanxiao, splattered with insubstantial bubbles, was left speechless.

An invisible '井' (well) symbol emerged on the police uncle's forehead.

Ten minutes later, behind Qiao Jinmei, there was a sea of exclamation marks vibrating wildly, as if the world was collapsing.

As Yu Bai and Lis Nanxiao explained the situation, upon seeing this scene, for some inexplicable reason, they felt an odd sense of satisfaction, as if a great revenge had been achieved.

Given the special circumstances, they didn't know where the proprietress who had returned with them through time was. They could only contact her through the current proprietress.

They needed a plausible reason.

Since the two were sisters, there was nothing to hide, so they decided to tell the truth.

Moreover, the reserved proprietress wasn't aware of the specifics of the time travel; she only knew she had returned to the past.

It would be better to explain everything together.

Inside the bun shop, despite the abundance of items, it was neatly organized and clean. The three men, standing or sitting, did not feel cramped.

Qiao Jinmei stared at the phone on the table, which was still in a call. After her head spun with stars for a while, she spoke in a dazed voice, "Ah Li, you...you heard everything, right?"

There was a moment of silence from the receiver before a voice identical in timbre but slightly different in tone replied, "Yes, I heard."

"Are you really like they said, back in the past?" Qiao Jinmei asked incredulously, "Or am I dreaming? I'm so stunned I can't believe what I'm hearing..."

The woman on the phone spoke succinctly, "Yes, I come from twelve days in the future."

Then, Ah Li paused, seemingly asking the three people who had time-traveled with her, "Have we really entered Yu Siming's world?"

Yu Bai spoke with caution, "This space-time is definitely related to that animation, but I'm not yet certain if characters and events from the animation will appear."

A Li said, "Oh."

Yu Bai waited for a moment, and apart from Qiao Jinmei's gasps of shock, the room was eerily silent.

He exchanged a glance with Li Nanxiao, who was equally surprised, then took the initiative to speak, "That... Ms. Qiao, do you have any other questions? I'm not sure if I've explained everything clearly."

The calmness of this boss lady truly exceeded his expectations.

Qiao Jinmei immediately raised her hand. "Yes, yes, I want to know—"

Li Nanxiao sighed and shook his head. "I wasn't asking you."

"He's asking me," A Li on the phone seemed to think for a moment before she spoke at length, which was rare for her. "You said earlier that as long as time flows until twelve days later, at eleven forty-one in the morning, we can return to the normal world, even if we don't do anything during that period?"

Yu Bai confirmed, "Yes."

This certainty came at the cost of Xie Wufang's high fever.

No matter which unexpected timeline they were dragged into in the future, as long as they reached the moment when the two timelines intersected, travelers from the future could return to reality.

A Li asked again, "Does it not matter if we die along the way?"

"Uh—" Yu Bai was taken aback, his words stuck in his throat. "What?"

...He hadn't really thought about this question.

Although he did pull Xie Wufang into the river in the loop, the situation was somewhat different. Death in the loop would directly trigger a restart.

He subconsciously sought help from the man beside him with his eyes.

Something like this, perhaps only a god would know.

Xie Wufang shook his head. "The soul will leave."

It took Yu Bai a moment to process this.

This was a journey through the soul, and physical conditions wouldn't be carried over, so injuries didn't matter—they couldn't be brought back to reality.

But if the soul perished along with the body...

Then it was likely a real death.

Realizing this, he hurriedly said, "It does matter, it matters! You can't die! Don't—"

Hearing the young man's somewhat anxious voice, A Li responded calmly as if she had just asked out of curiosity, "Oh, I see."

The boss lady, who was not in sight, was very calm, but Yu Bai was no longer calm.

He had just learned that there was an implicit additional condition to smoothly returning to reality.

They had to survive safely until that critical point in time.

In most looping timelines, this wasn't much of a condition; it was unlikely to encounter fatal events.

But in this world, there was a probability of a group of aliens existing.

High-dimensional extraterrestrials hidden among humans, with the purpose of eliminating humanity.

—Stupid humans! You're doomed! Tomorrow, my subordinates will claim your souls!

At this moment, thinking about that long chuuni name again, Yu Bai suddenly couldn't laugh anymore.

Short vertical lines of worry appeared around his body.

On the other side, Qiao Jinmei also had similar effects.

She picked up the mobile phone on the table, which was on speaker mode, and spoke in a tense tone, "A Li, is time travel uncomfortable? You must be scared right now. Wait for me at home, I'll be back soon!"

"No need," A Li refused quickly. "I'm not afraid."

Qiao Jinmei looked at the pitch-black split-screen scene in the air, tears welling up in her eyes. "Then turn on the lights."

"...No."

"You see, you won't even turn on the lights, and it's so dark. You must be calling from under the covers, right?"

Qiao Jinmei covered her mouth, on the verge of tears. "You must not want me to see your emotions, afraid I'd worry. And yet you say you're not afraid, how could you not be scared, waaah my precious little sister—"

"Don't cry!" A Li on the phone sounded like she was gritting her teeth. "There are people around!"

Even though the split-screen in the air was so dark that nothing could be seen.

Both Yu Bai and Li Nanxiao seemed to see that hidden '井' character in the darkness.

A vein bulged silently, a manifestation of great sound and form.

"What's wrong with having people around? You've traveled back in time together, that means you share a life-or-death bond. These handsome guys are so nice, always thinking about you. What's there to be shy about..."

Amidst her sister's loving chatter, A Li sighed, then skillfully used a swift blade to cut through the chaos.

"There's no need to come home to see me," she said. "I'm going on a long trip, I'll set off right away."

Qiao Jinmei was indeed stunned. "Where are you going?"

"I have something important to do. I'll call you often to report that I'm safe."

"Huh? Ah? Oh... Will you turn on the lights when you call?"

"..." A Li choked up in the darkness. "We'll see."

She finally said, "You shouldn’t run the shop either. Rest well and do whatever you want. It’s extra time anyway. Alright, I’m hanging up now. Thank you for telling me what happened."

After the call ended, the three humans present were somewhat stunned.

Qiao Jinmei muttered to herself, "Huh, what I want to do…"

Yu Bai was surprised, "She hung up just like that?"

Li Nanxiao looked surprised, "She believed us so quickly?"

He thought his sister’s personality was already quite amazing, but her sister gave off a similarly bewildered feeling.

They truly were twins.

Amidst his confusion, Yu Bai felt a sense of relief that a burden had been lifted.

The proprietress who had crossed over with them already knew the ins and outs of the situation. She didn’t sound afraid, and she had her own things to do. That was good news, right?

In any case, they no longer needed to bother this pair of sisters.

Yu Bai thought for a moment and took the initiative to say, "Ms. Qiao, we’ll be on our way then…"

Qiao Jinmei, who was deep in thought, immediately looked up at him and blurted out, "Don’t call me Ms. Qiao anymore. It’s awkward and easy to get confused. Just call me Ah Mei."

Yu Bai remembered that she always called her sister Ah Li and agreed. At the same time, he asked curiously, "Is your sister named Qiao Jinli?"

The proprietress looked to be in her thirties. Normally, one should call her Sister Qiao, but calling her Ah Mei wasn’t too disrespectful.

"Yes!" Qiao Jinmei said with a smile, "It’s a great name, isn’t it? Today is beautiful."

Qiao Jinmei, Qiao Jinli.

So the beauty in ‘Beautiful Breakfast’ referred not only to that beauty but also represented this beauty.

What a clever pun.

…It was almost as if it was doomed to be so.

Yu Bai chuckled, "It sounds nice, and the meaning is good too."

Just as he was about to continue his unfinished farewell, he saw a lightbulb suddenly illuminate above Qiao Jinmei’s head.

"Where are you guys going next?" she asked. "Are you going to do what you want to do too?"

Yu Bai shook his head, his tone slightly troubled. "No, we need to figure out if there are really aliens in this world before deciding what to do next."

If Prince and his alien companions really existed, they might actually have to save the world this time.

"You want to gather information, right? I’m good at that!" Qiao Jinmei’s eyes suddenly lit up, and she said enthusiastically, "Do you have enough manpower? Do you need my help?"

Yu Bai was taken aback and reflexively said, "Didn’t your sister tell you to go and…”

"Yes!" Qiao Jinmei said in a matter-of-fact tone, "What I want to do is look at handsome men!"

"—And beautiful women too. I like both."

As she spoke, she turned to look at Li Nanxiao. "Officer, your colleague was very pretty earlier. By the way, do you work cases around here? I’ve never seen you before. Come by often from now on…"

Pink bubbles emerged again in the air.

Yu Bai couldn’t help but laugh and decisively threw the problem to the elder. "Uncle Li, why don’t you discuss it first. I’ll go outside for some fresh air."

If Qiao Jinmei was really willing to help gather information, it would be a good thing.

With this proprietress’s natural ability to make friends, let alone aliens, even a rock could probably be moved.

The roller shutter suddenly lifted, and sunlight flooded into the room. Li Nanxiao watched helplessly as Yu Bai pulled Xie Wufang away before he could stop them. "Xiaobai, you—"

Inside the house, Qiao Jinmei rolled up her sleeves with fighting spirit and started asking questions. "Xiaobai? That little handsome guy’s name is quite cute. By the way, your colleague called you Captain Li earlier, Officer. What’s your full name?"

Amidst the sea of pink bubbles, silent question marks emerged.

o○○#○oo○##○o○…

Outside the breakfast shop, Yu Bai released Xie Wufang’s wrist and laughed for a while before recovering. His hair was adorned with golden flowers.

The latter occasionally looked back at the house where voices could be heard.

Yu Bai caught a glimpse of this scene from the corner of his eye and asked curiously, "What are you looking at?"

Xie Wufang said, "I’m looking at those bubbles."

Some of the bubbles overflowed from the house, shimmering transparently under the summer sun.

It was a very pretty pale pink.

Like human skin flushed with a faint redness.

"Eh?" Yu Bai, who wasn’t blushing at the moment, widened his eyes slightly. "What’s wrong with those bubbles?"

"They remind me of you."

…?

What did he have to do with love-struck bubbles!!

A row of question marks appeared above Yu Bai’s head.

Xie Wufang gazed down at a pink bubble silently dissipating in the sunlight. His tone was serious, tinged with anticipation: "Do you ever get love-struck feelings?"

"..." Yu Bai nearly choked on this out-of-the-blue question, and without thinking, he retorted, "I would never be infatuated like that!"

Then, he saw several transparent, ghostly faces suddenly appear around the deep black hair of the person before him, slowly ascending into the sky.

This was the first time Yu Bai had seen this effect; he was momentarily stunned, then found it rather endearing: "What is this... how are you feeling right now?"

Xie Wufang answered honestly, "Regretful."

...

What's there to regret about something like this, for crying out loud!!

Yu Bai glared at him, not in the mood for niceties: "Why do you regret this?"

As he spoke, his pale earlobes flushed with a faint redness, perhaps from embarrassment, tinting them a lovely light pink under the sunlight.

The pink bubbles overflowing from the room continued to float around in the transparent air.

So Xie Wufang continued to answer him honestly.

A hint of a very faint smile flickered across his gray-blue eyes.

"Because it suits you perfectly."