Chapter 80: Three Days

Chapter 80: Three Days

"I'm sorry, but no."

The instant that deep voice rang out overhead, Chu Lanting's wrist trembled. The cup in his hand had just been filled with water, so quite a bit splashed out, soaking his hand.

His cool, composed expression finally cracked, revealing something else. He furrowed his brows and turned to look at the tall man who had appeared behind him seemingly out of nowhere.

"Why? I already told you everything. I confiscated that book from a student who was reading it in class—I only read two pages."

Chu Lanting was a terrible liar.

Every word he said, every look on his face, was pure sincerity.

Pei Du, of course, knew he wasn't lying.

Having absorbed the memories of living with "A Du," he'd come to understand Chu Lanting pretty well.

This guy, who seemed cold but was actually warm and gentle at heart—if someone showed him even a little kindness, he'd try to repay it tenfold.

How could a guy like that lie?

Pei Du lowered his gaze, his dark eyes boring into Chu Lanting's tea-brown ones: "Aside from yourself, no one can vouch for what you just said."

Chu Lanting wouldn't lie, but Pei Du would.

He believed Chu Lanting wasn't lying, but he also knew that if he agreed, they'd drift apart like intersecting lines—crossing once, then growing farther apart.

That was something he didn't want to happen. It was his own selfish wish.

He pressed his thin lips into a firm line. When Pei Du put on a stern face, his whole presence turned downright intimidating.

He'd been on the battlefield and seen countless horrors there. Even now, standing in this tiny room, his commanding aura was impossible to ignore.

Chu Lanting was clearly taken aback by his words too.

His fingers clenched around the cup, and the crease between his brows deepened.

He opened his beautiful eyes wide, anxiety plain in them: "Then how am I supposed to prove it? I've tried to get back to my original world, but I can't figure out how."

"I've got a pretty good memory. What if I write down everything I read for you?"

Chu Lanting could understand where Pei Du was coming from.

If someone told him his world was just a novel—that he was just some extra or cannon fodder—he wouldn't believe it either.

But he really had no other way to prove himself. The tech here was behind the times; even the main planet probably hadn't invented a way to travel between worlds.

All he could do was write out the book from memory. The rest was up to whether Pei Du decided to believe him.

"You're good with words. Writing a novel shouldn't be too hard for you."

"..."

The confidence he'd built up on the way home just completely deflated.

Chu Lanting's eyelids drooped, and the corners of his mouth turned down: "So what would it take for you to believe me?"

"The main planet has lie detectors."

Pei Du's answer was concise.

Chu Lanting wasn't stupid—he could read between the lines.

His shoulders slumped, his face a mix of worry and hesitation: "So if I go back with you and prove I'm not lying, I can come back?"

He really couldn't stand leaving Xiaoyi and Xiaoyuan behind, and he really couldn't let go of this little planet where he'd shared such good times with A Du.

Even if the food here was so-so, the living conditions weren't great, and the tech was outdated.

Strangely, even though he'd only been here a short time, it felt like he'd lived here for ten or twenty years.

If he couldn't go back to Blue Star, he'd rather stay here forever.

He had warm friends, lovely kids, and memories he kept tucked away in his heart.

He'd been lonely for so long, drifting like duckweed on a river, day in and day out. Now, he'd finally found a place to put down roots...

He looked up at Pei Du, who was standing there, not saying anything for a long time.

Seeing Pei Du frowning and staring at him, Chu Lanting didn't look away. Instead, he blinked and asked, "What's wrong? Don't you believe me?"

"Stuff like this is really hard to believe. If the lie detector says I'm lying, I'll take whatever punishment comes. But I still want you to know—I'm not lying."

Maybe because so much had happened that day, Chu Lanting looked tired, and even his voice sounded off.

He finished the half cup of water, then turned to wash the cup when he caught sight of two ceramic bowls out of the corner of his eye.

One big, one small.

The noodles had been sitting out for who knows how long—the broth had mostly soaked into them by now.

A couple of leafy greens sat on top, clearly uneaten.

He was about to put the cup in the sink when he paused. Chu Lanting turned around: "You didn't eat dinner?"

Pei Du followed his gaze. Before, he would've explained.

But now, he just walked over and dumped both bowls of noodles in the trash: "Three more days."

"What?"

"In three days, you're coming back to the main planet with me."

"That fast?"

As Pei Du said this, Chu Lanting's confused look turned to surprise: "But I'm not ready..."

"You also said that if the lie detector proves you're not lying, you can come back."

Pei Du kept washing the dishes as he said this.

He moved with practiced ease, like he was still the other master of this house, like nothing had ever changed.

Chu Lanting watched him. Hearing that, he sighed in relief, and a smile finally appeared on his face—the first since he'd gotten home that night: "Mm, got it. Thanks."

"I'm gonna use the bathroom first. These dishes... I'll leave them to you."

After Chu Lanting finished speaking, he hurried off toward the bathroom without looking back, and thus failed to see that the moment he left the kitchen, Pei Du stopped washing the dishes.

The freezing water had numbed his hands.

As if he felt nothing, he stared down at the dishes in the sink.

He'd made dinner himself, even though Chu Lanting had told him before he left that he didn't need to cook.

But he'd done it anyway.

Chu Lanting didn't want to leave with him, even going so far as to expose where he came from.

A person who didn't belong to Planet 207, or the Aland galaxy, or even this universe...

If he were merely from Planet 207, Pei Du thought, he could think of hundreds of ways to get him to leave and come with him to the main star.

But he said he came from another dimension—one Pei Du had never heard of—and two people who were never supposed to cross paths had somehow formed a bond.

Whether it was himself during his amnesia or himself after regaining his memories, he had fallen in love with him at first sight.

What should he do? If he used his authority to keep him by his side, what about his soul?

Would it one day vanish, returning to the world he came from?