Chapter 156 Infinite 06

Chapter 156 Infinite 06

The next second, the door opened.

A somewhat familiar figure appeared in Yan Jing's continuously quaking pupils.

...Little Bai wasn't kidding; this guy had indeed almost killed him before.

And his wild guess was half-right.

The other party did have maxed-out combat stats and was indeed flat-chested.

But...

In front of this yandere lolita who was taller than himself, Yan Jing, deeply shrouded by some shadow, swallowed hard. His knees were about to turn into noodles, barely holding on to the last bit of human dignity.

No, no, I can't embarrass Little Bai... But how did these two end up talking... Never mind, it's not that surprising, it's just a shame about my fantasy of a yandere flat-chested lolita... wu wu wu...

Yan Jing, suffering from severe mental shock, was in an internal struggle.

Until those gray-blue eyes swept over indifferently, he jolted, suddenly retreating several steps to keep a distance from Yu Bai. Then, with a fawning expression, he blurted out without thinking, "Big Brother and Sister-in-law, may your date be auspicious! I'm leaving right now!!"

As soon as he said that, the entire hallway fell silent.

Yu Bai: "..."

Xie Wufang: "..."

The former had an expressionless face, his fists clenching, thinking that maybe he should kill this guy himself.

The latter was taken aback, a look of confusion appearing in his eyes as he looked at Yu Bai. "What is he saying?"

Yu Bai was silently reciting that murder was illegal and one shouldn't act rashly. He took a deep breath, trying to gloss over that crazy statement. "Nothing, he's just crazy. Don't mind him, I didn't understand either..."

Xie Wufang asked again, "Date?"

Yu Bai was startled.

...He sure knows how to pick out keywords.

Before he could say anything else, Yan Jing was nodding like a wooden pestle. "Yeah, yeah, Little Bai wants to go out with you! This is the first time I've seen him actively ask someone out on a date, oh oh, being passively asked out is also the first time! Really! My attempts don't count, I'm not human! Wait, no, it should be that you're not—"

Yu Bai couldn't stop his babbling nonsense in time. "Hey! I didn't..."

What date!

He just wanted to find Xie Wufang to go out and verify—

And a certain non-human accurately filtered out the unnecessary information and seriously asked, "Did you come to me for a date?"

Facing those shimmering heterochromatic eyes, a certain appearance-obsessed person suddenly and shamefully fell silent.

Then, he nodded silently.

...Forget it, a date is a date.

After all, things had already come to this.

Ten minutes later, the summer sun shone brightly on people.

The clean streets were dotted with tree shades, sunlight filtering through the gaps in the leaves, illuminating the soft strands of hair blown by the wind to near transparency.

A fair-skinned youth with brown hair walked ahead, and every time he was about to walk side by side with the man behind him, he would suddenly quicken his pace a little, attempting to create distance like covering one's ears while stealing a bell.

Even though things had already come to this.

He still felt quite embarrassed.

...

Cough, sorry.

Today, he couldn't control what his head was thinking, nor could he control those strange, awkward physical instincts.

Yu Bai looked up at the boundless blue sky as if nothing had happened, unable to resist asking quietly in his heart, What exactly is love?

And what is a date?

A slightly uncertain, magnetic voice sounded in his ear. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

Yu Bai paused in his steps. After coming back to his senses, he hurriedly shook his head. "No."

He wanted to ensure that this was a completely purposeless and meaningless outing.

"Okay."

The air fell silent once more.

Until a moment later, the person tentatively spoke again. "Do you want to go shopping at the mall?"

"..." Yu Bai couldn't help but turn around to look at him, his expression odd. "No."

He saw Xie Wufang's restrained and somewhat hesitant expression in his calm demeanor.

Just like when he was earnestly reading the elevator instructions during their first meeting.

These questions were originally very normal, but when they came out of this "person's" mouth voluntarily, they seemed very abnormal.

Yu Bai suddenly found it amusing and subconsciously said, "Didn't you search online what to do when dating?"

"…Mm."

Xie Wufang remained as honest as ever.

"The guide mentioned things like watching movies and going shopping together… These are called dates. I was planning to come find you."

Yu Bai first regretted letting his inner thoughts slip out, then suddenly realized something.

No wonder he had been so accurate with the keywords!

So, instead of peeping at the neighbors, this guy had been studying human romance diligently at home?

...How silly.

But also, kind of cute.

Xie Wufang asked, "Where do you want to go for our date?"

The blushing man reacted on impulse, "Nowhere!"

Confusion clouded the man's handsome brows, "Why?"

Yu Bai explained, "Because today, my purpose for going out is just aimless wandering without any specific goal."

After some thought, he looked earnestly at Xie Wufang, "Can you promise me one thing?"

Xie Wufang was still pondering over humans' peculiar tongue twisters, "Alright, what is it?"

"Can we do this more often in the future?"

"Like this?" Xie Wufang asked, "Aimless wandering without any specific goal?"

"Yes," Yu Bai said, "Not going to the cinema, not going to the mall, not doing anything in particular, just calling me out for no reason, even if I say I don't want to come out."

As he made this request, Yu Bai felt a bit nervous.

He started searching his mind for any new memories that might be related.

At the same time, he curiously observed the reaction of the person before him.

Xie Wufang should agree… right?

In the intense gaze, the man paused for a moment before responding.

"Is this considered a date too?"

…Hey!

You're missing the point!!

Yu Bai, who had been full of anticipation, nearly lost his balance. He forgot his shyness for a moment and urged, "Forget about the dating thing, just promise me quickly!"

"Alright, I promise."

As the words fell, Yu Bai held his breath.

In the tense wait, his beautiful light brown eyes blinked nervously.

His long lashes fluttered like little fans, filled with fresh, romantic sunlight.

But there were no new memories appearing in his mind that didn't exist before.

He didn't remember Xie Wufang doing this before.

The future seemed not to have changed the past.

…Was it because memories couldn't be altered at will, so the things influenced by the future must have already existed in the past, events he had already experienced but hadn't yet noticed their connection to the future?

Or was he overthinking everything?

The confused human was lost in thought.

The changing expressions were reflected in another pair of eyes.

"Aren't you happy?" Xie Wufang suddenly stopped, "Is it because of me?"

"…Uh, no." Yu Bai snapped back to reality, hurriedly denying, "It has nothing to do with you!"

He couldn't let Xie Wufang know the true purpose of this request, this "date."

After all, his motives weren't pure.

…Damn, why did he really feel like a jerk?

"I just, just…" The slightly guilty man's gaze wandered, trying to find an excuse to gloss over it, "It's too hot, I was spacing out…"

"Do you want some watermelon then?"

"Sure, I'd love—huh?"

Yu Bai stopped in his tracks as well.

The man who should have been out of place amidst the everyday atmosphere paused in front of a fruit shop brimming with seasonal fruits, looking down at the large round watermelons on the shelf.

The deep and light green stripes looked refreshingly cool, perfect for summer.

The young man beside him stared blankly at him.

Until he said, "Different watermelons seem to have different sweetness levels."

"Yes, it's different..."

"How do you know which one is the sweetest?"

The human answered instinctively, "Like that, tap it once?"

A stranger nearby was tapping a watermelon.

The non-human responded earnestly, "Alright."

He mimicked the person's action, curling his knuckles and gently tapping the smooth, round melon skin.

Then...

With an unexpected light sound, the air suddenly filled with a fresh, sweet fragrance.

"..." The usually calm man took a sudden step back, at a loss, "It cracked open."

The shop owner, who was busy inside, sharply looked over, "Hey! Tap lightly, don't use force! How did you crack it open?!"

"..." "I'm sorry, I didn't use much force."

"Yes, he just tapped it lightly—"

"But my melon cracked open!!"

Three distinct voices intertwined, flowing noisily in the bright summer air.

In the dreamlike, vivid colors, the young man trying to defend his companion was momentarily dazed, then couldn't help but laugh.

Actually, he had already completed what he came out to do, and should have turned back home.

But this watermelon really smelled sweet.

So sweet that it made him forget any other purpose.

Soon after, under the cool shade of trees, several boxes of freshly cut watermelon, brimming full, sat on a park bench.

Yu Bai held a bamboo skewer in one hand, having already eaten half a box of watermelon.

With the other hand, he silently rubbed his cheek, tired from laughing.

No, thinking about Xie Wufang seriously saying the watermelon cracked open, he still wanted to laugh.

"Did you really not use force when you tapped it just now?"

"...No."

"Huh, no? Then why did you hesitate?"

"Because," Xie Wufang paused, a hint of confusion tainting his calm tone, "nothing happened after I tapped it, I still didn't know which one was the sweetest."

...He seemed to be waiting for the tapped watermelon to send a sweetness notification.

Yu Bai froze for a moment, then laughed even harder.

"It's about listening to the sound, you don't know how to listen."

"What kind of sound represents sweetness?"

"Crisp and loud? Uh... actually, I don't know either."

"You don't know either?"

"Yeah, everyone taps the watermelon when they buy it, so I tap it too, it makes me more confident when buying, regardless of what sound it makes."

Yu Bai said this matter-of-factly, feeding himself a piece of watermelon: "But, this melon is indeed very sweet."

Colorful kites danced in the sky above, while the people on the ground had eyes filled with sparkling smiles.

The deity watching him also smiled.

His gaze was gentle and profound, with a radiant joy.

"Mm, it's very sweet."

And humans looked up at the clouds, at the soaring kites, at the familiar yet novel scenery around them.

It was an exceptionally beautiful summer day, and he was sitting in the park, lost in idle chatter with his lover.

Yu Bai had never idled away time like this, without a care in the world.

This park was near their neighborhood, called Sun Park.

It always had playing children, strolling adults... and elderly people gathered to play chess.

After unexpectedly spotting two familiar figures in the crowd, Yu Bai sighed softly, "Elementary school lets out early, huh."

Xie Wufang didn't understand the significance of early or late dismissal for humans, but he saw those two figures as well.

"Do you want to go find them?"

"No." Yu Bai shook his head, "They both look like they're having fun."

Under the clear blue sky, a little girl with two braids in her hair ran with a kite string in her hand, the old man behind her carrying her backpack, stomping his feet incessantly, looking more excited than the child.

"The wind is coming, the wind is coming! He Xi—run faster!"

Uncle Yuan, who had lost his old friend, didn't go to play chess today, but was flying a kite with his young new friend instead.

It was clear that He Xi had just gotten out of school, leading his little friends to the park for play.

Perhaps it was because the weather today was truly splendid.

Perfect for aimlessly and purely reveling in the essence of summer itself.

Having just returned from another sojourn in an alternate dimension, Yu Bai felt a sense of otherworldliness upon seeing these two old travel companions once more.

In reality, only a day had passed since Uncle Yuan suddenly moved into this neighborhood, settling next door to He Xi's home.

"Time is indeed a peculiar thing," Yu Bai sighed softly, leaning against the park bench. "A day can be short, yet also long."

For Uncle Li and A Li, who were similarly ensnared in the alternate dimension, they experienced twelve full days of astonishing adventures within that single day, utterly upending their previous perceptions and imaginations of the world.

For him, who had entered an extraordinary loop, this day would feel longer than twelve, with no clear end in sight.

For that little girl, once tormented by domestic violence and utterly alone, it must have been the happiest day, igniting a newfound hope in her previously dim life.

Because it was the day she finally found her guardian angel.

An angel within arm's reach.

Colorful kites danced in the sky, while people laughed and chased below, or gazed quietly in admiration.

Once again, it wasn't until his words fell clearly into the air, and he saw them staring at him in astonishment, that Yu Bai realized what he had said.

Words spoken without thought, without concealment.

He said, "If I had a neighbor like that, my life would probably be quite different."

"Maybe even my whole existence would become a bit brighter."