Chapter 27: The Reversal of the White Dream Day (2)
The Yata no Kagami is in Ji Lianbing’s hands!
So that’s how it is!
No wonder I couldn’t find it before. It was hidden so well… a double layer of security?
My first layer of security was to mislead and delay. The second layer was Ji Lianbing. Entrusting the Yata no Kagami to her is far safer than hiding it anywhere. The most dangerous place is the safest place; they truly utilized this psychology to the fullest.
A large portion of the Ariadne’s Thread in my backpack has disappeared, but it hasn’t vanished completely. This means more conditions are needed to revive Juncheng.
Finding the Yata no Kagami is equivalent to finding Juncheng’s soul. The necessary conditions have been met. Following the guidance of the Ariadne’s Thread further will lead to Juncheng’s true revival… but that’s no longer necessary.
Ji Lianbing turned her head and said to me.
“Zi’ai, I didn’t expect you to arrive so quickly… You don’t mind that I didn’t tell you, do you?”
“No, if I had known about this beforehand, I might have revealed something later. You have to lie to your own people before you lie to the enemy, right?”
“Hehehe, as expected, Zi’ai is so easy to talk to, just as likable as Juncheng~”
I somehow felt completely relaxed.
Perhaps it was because her confident expression put me at ease. It was as if everything was under her control. She possessed a mature mind far beyond her youthful appearance, making her the perfect mastermind.
…It’s useless.
For Zihua, this was merely an experience that was about to become “experience.”
Since she already knew what happened this time and had no way to continue, she just needed to try again.
The Demon Lord in RPG games can never defeat the Hero because the Hero can revive and use the save-load exploit. Facing an opponent who can retry infinitely, there’s no way to win…
Yes, just like me. It’s precisely because I was helpless that I gave up resisting…
Soon, Zihua will use the retrograde samsara to return to the morning again.
Therefore, no matter what is done, it will be useless. Even if Ji Lianbing is invincible now, it’s only for this time. Again and again, cycling and recycling, Zihua will repeat until her goal is achieved.
But the phenomenon of time stopping didn’t occur. I looked towards Zihua with confusion and saw her eyes also glancing at me. Her brow was deeply furrowed, her smile vanished, and her gaze became serious.
Ji Lianbing, with a broad smile, stepped forward, used her index finger to lift Zihua’s chin and said,
“What’s wrong? Aren’t you going to use that special ability to return to the past? No, not “aren’t you going to,” but “can’t use,” right? Hehehehe~”
“…What did you do?”
“Although it’s just a guess, you need a medium to rewind time, right? And that medium is undoubtedly Zi’ai, who met you here. Rewinding time, in simple terms, is returning to a certain point in the past. And from that point to the present is linear. So, as long as a ‘branch’ is created in the middle, you won’t be able to return to the previous node.”
“Ah! You don’t mean… that just now!”
I looked back at the trembling cat-eared maid in surprise. She had said earlier that she used an ability that could jump to another choice, called Schrödinger’s Cat. This novel…
I originally wanted to turn right, but under the influence of this ability, the fact was rewritten as ‘I turned left’ and I was tackled by the cat-eared maid.
Jumped to another branch!
“That’s right. Your ‘save point’ has been destroyed by me. Unfortunately, you can’t go back to the past anymore~”
How could this be…
How terrifying. She had already grasped the situation to this extent?
How did she know?
Clearly, Zihua had the same doubt as me. As an outsider, Ji Lianbing wouldn’t know that Zihua possessed the ability to rewind time, let alone use such a strange ability to crack it.
But the reality was this convoluted and bizarre. The impossible had happened.
“How did you know… Besides the person I designated as the choice point, no one else should have been able to perceive the change in time.”
“Of course, I don’t know. But my Head Maid knows everything, hehehehe.”
“Laplace’s Demon…”
Miss Shirley, in her white dress and maid outfit, also walked out of the room, followed by other maids. The short maid and the red-haired maid were among them.
“First, please allow me to express my apologies. Restraining you here was indeed impolite. However, if I hadn’t done so, I wouldn’t have been able to capture you.”
Miss Shirley curtsied to Zihua, holding the hem of her skirt, and then turned to bow to me.
“Miss Zi’ai, the situation was urgent, so I had no choice but to find a cat and bestow paradox abilities without even having time for maid training. So please bear with any impropriety from Maid Xiao Yu. I will educate her properly later.”
“Don’t, nya! Head Maid is the scariest, nya! Xiao Yu doesn’t want to be a demon anymore, nya! I want to go back to being Nyan Nyan!”
The cat-eared maid didn’t dare to meet Miss Shirley’s gaze. She only dared to whine from behind me. The cat-like paws on my shoulders trembled, clearly having already experienced the Head Maid’s terror.
Upon seeing Miss Shirley appear, Zihua didn’t show much surprise. She had probably already expected that only the omniscient Head Maid knew everything and could inform her own Young Miss.
However, there was a trace of confusion in her eyes, likely wondering why Miss Shirley would do such a thing?
What’s so strange about that?
Miss Shirley is Ji Lianbing’s maid. It’s natural for her to inform her master of the situation truthfully, isn’t it?
“Shirley… I remember you never interfere in any events. Don’t tell me that this kind of indirect interference is fine. As far as I know, whether indirect or direct, aren’t you an observer who ‘doesn’t get entangled in karma’? Interfering suddenly now, aren’t you afraid of accumulating karma? All Laplace’s Demons in history have perished this way.”
“You even know such things… It seems you come from a future that even I cannot observe.”
…Hmph.
Zihua snorted unhappily. Her silence was equivalent to an admission.
Miss Shirley smiled calmly and said,
“Yes, as you said, if Laplace’s Demon gets involved in destiny, they will be counter-attacked by the world’s Destiny Power and perish. So, generally speaking, I indeed do not interfere in anything.”
As she spoke, Miss Shirley opened her eyes, which had been squinted shut. That pressure instantly affected everyone present. Even Ji Lianbing seemed to see Miss Shirley like this for the first time, frowning and turning to look at her.
As expected, those with squinted eyes are monsters!
“But that’s only under ‘general circumstances.’ This time, failing to keep Young Master Juncheng’s body was my judgment… So, even if the consequences are severe, I want to do some ‘making up.’ Please understand.”
After speaking, Miss Shirley bowed deeply to Zihua again. It was a standard ninety-degree bow, and she didn’t lift her head for a long time.
But before Zihua could be surprised, Ji Lianbing and the other maids’ mouths dropped open, their expressions incredibly dramatic.
The knife held by the Ponytail Maid at Zihua’s neck fell to the ground with a crisp sound.
As if signaling, others began to voice their thoughts one after another.
…The Head Maid, who never makes mistakes, actually admitted her mistake!
That perfect Head Maid…
Good heavens! Is the world ending? The Head Maid made a mistake!
Shirley? Is that really you?
I mean, do you all have to be like this…
Although I find it incredible too.
Hmm… I really can’t help myself either.
You’re not the Head Maid I know!
