Chapter 139: Don’t Know You

Chapter 139: Not Recognized

The town head watched his expression and asked with a soft chuckle, "Figured it out already?"

"Why did Ling Qingjue do this?"

Lake's head was spinning. "Although I suspected it, I still can't wrap my head around what he's trying to do by trapping everyone in the same day."

The town head scratched his bald head. "I don't know. He's been refusing to see anyone. At first I didn't even realize we were stuck in a time loop, but as things felt increasingly strange, I started to suspect time was the problem."

"Why didn't this affect me?"

"You came back from the outside world. Maybe you're outside his control, so he left you out of it. But it's strange—all the magic passages in Moon Bay have been closed. How did you come back?"

Lake suddenly realized, "No wonder my first teleport attempt failed. He closed all the magic passages!"

"I've been watching for a long time. It looks like he's got control over Moon Bay and the surrounding forests and seas. Other areas are still normal."

"To prevent others from discovering the time problem in Moon Bay, he closed all the magic passages and blocked anyone from getting close."

Lake quickly put the pieces together and said thoughtfully, "But the outside world should have noticed by now, right? It seems he's controlled Moon Bay for over four hundred days."

"Do you know about Cat Island?"

"You mean the one that vanished without a trace over ten years ago?"

"Moon Bay is now the second Cat Island. If my guess is correct, from the outside world's perspective, Moon Bay has vanished into thin air."

"Vanished?!" Lake nearly choked on his breath.

Of course, he had heard of Cat Island.

It was a cat paradise, where all the cats were strays. Once they decided to find an owner, they would leave Cat Island and come to human society.

But many years ago, Cat Island vanished overnight without a trace, causing the cat population on the continent to take a nosedive, almost going extinct.

Even now, tons of cat lovers are still searching for traces of Cat Island, with no luck at all.

"Cat Island vanished because time got messed up. Same thing's happening here—time's been stopped, so no one outside can reach us, and we can't get out."

Only the town head knew what Ling Qingjue's story was.

Back then, Ling Qingjue drifted into Moon Bay, all hissy and puffed up at everyone—a total jerk. But he was too young. The town head kicked his butt a few times, and after that, Ling Qingjue spilled everything.

"Ling Qingjue has the ability to pull a whole area into a time loop. Inside, he controls everything about time."

"Why did he choose today of all days?"

The town head shook his head. "I don't know."

"Could it have something to do with Meng Shu?" Lake muttered under his breath.

Hearing this, the town head's eyes went wide and he frowned, confused. "Meng Shu... that name sounds familiar, but..."

Lake suddenly remembered that Meng Shu's star track had disappeared. For Moon Bay, everything about him had been erased, as if he never existed.

"Meng Shu was his boyfriend, but I'm guessing nobody remembers."

"You're saying there used to be a guy named Meng Shu here, he and Ling Qingjue were together, and now he's gone and wiped our memories?"

Lake's nose stung; he looked away. "He's not missing. He... he won't be here anymore. He got sick, and there was no cure. That world won't let anyone come back to life. He can never come back."

"I see."

The town head's head started pounding. A few blurry images flashed in his mind, but he couldn't remember what that guy Meng Shu even looked like.

He could feel that the person had indeed existed.

But all traces of that person had been wiped clean.

"If we count the days, Meng Shu last came here about twenty days ago in his world's time. Twenty days converted to this world would be about four hundred and eighty days."

It all lined up.

"So, after Meng Shu left, Moon Bay has been stuck on the same day ever since."

No wonder he shut down all the other passages but kept the one he made for Meng Shu open.

Lake frowned even deeper. "Logically, Ling Qingjue should have forgotten Meng Shu by now. Why did he trap time on this day?"

"I don't remember that person named Meng Shu anymore, and he refuses to communicate with me. If you're willing, why don't you go talk to him? If he changes his mind, Moon Bay might return to normal."

Lake was about to cry. "He's a full-on Demon King now. Will he even listen to me?"

He'd met Ling Qingjue once before and respectfully asked how to use space magic. Ling Qingjue glanced at him and said, "The stranger the spell, the stronger it is."

So Lake fell for it. Got screwed over bad.

"You're the only one who remembers Meng Shu." The town head's gaze was gentle, and he patted Lake on the shoulder. "Just try it."

Bearing the fate of Moon Bay, Lake suddenly felt a heavy weight on his shoulders.

He quickly laid out the chain of events:

First, twenty days back, Meng Shu went back to his world and ended up dying because treatment didn't work.

Then, from the day Meng Shu left, Ling Qingjue stopped time on the night before the Summer Festival.

This cycle repeated for four hundred and eighty days. Every day at midnight, everything reset.

To prevent the outside world from discovering the time freeze, Ling Qingjue cut off all magic passages, leaving only the hero's exclusive magic passage open.

And Lake had stumbled into Moon Bay through that hero's exclusive passage. Since he was an outsider, he wasn't affected.

He was puzzled: why did Ling Qingjue still remember Meng Shu? If he remembered, why didn't he go to the real world to find Meng Shu? Why keep living the same day over and over?

Lake stood outside Ling Qingjue's place, shaking with fear. A drizzly rain kept coming down nonstop.

Shivering from the cold, Lake looked up at the balcony of Ling Qingjue's apartment.

He saw a big bunch of dead flowers.

Totally dead, their shriveled leaves swaying in the light rain and breeze—you couldn't even tell what color they used to be.

Ling Qingjue loved flowers—he grew them and treasured every single one.

But on his balcony was this huge bunch of dead flowers, like they'd been burned in a fire, with nothing but ash left on the ground.

What kind of flower ends up looking this messed up after it withers?

Lake swallowed nervously, gathered his courage, and pressed the doorbell.

A few minutes went by with no answer from inside.

Just as he thought, Ling Qingjue was completely ignoring him.

Lake pressed the doorbell again, his voice shaking, "Um, Senior, I'm Lake, your junior... do you still remember me?"

No one answered.

"Can we meet?"

A gloomy male voice came from inside, barely hiding his irritation: "Piss off."

Lake's face turned red. "You little Berry Cat!"

He took a deep breath and stammered, "Then can we talk about Meng Shu?"

Ling Qingjue's voice was icy, almost brutally firm: "I don't know him. Get the hell out of here."