Liu Yanyun noticed Aya Tone’s retreating steps, instinctively assuming he was frightened. A surge of maternal affection immediately swelled within her.
She gently crouched before Aya Tone, tenderly pulling a silk scarf from her pocket.
“Don’t be scared, big sister will wipe it clean for you.” As she spoke, she reached out and took Aya Tone’s hand.
Their eyes met for a moment. Aya Tone blinked, utterly bewildered.
‘This policewoman… why does she look so familiar? I feel like I’ve seen her somewhere before…’
Meanwhile, Liu Yanyun’s mind exploded with realization, and her actions faltered momentarily.
Seeing her suddenly stop, Aya Tone nimbly scrambled to his feet.
He lightly patted the dust from his backside.
“I’m fine, I’m leaving now.” He quickly made his escape.
“Wait a moment!” Liu Yanyun snapped back to reality, urgently calling out to Aya Tone, who had already slipped several meters away.
“Is… is that child doing well?”
Aya Tone: “???”
He stiffly turned around, pointing to himself. “Are you talking to me?”
Liu Yanyun took a deep breath, suppressing her inner excitement. “How about we find somewhere to sit down and talk properly?”
“No need. Whatever you have to say, you can say it here.” Seeing that her words were indeed directed at him, Aya Tone’s expression turned cold.
His identity was a top secret; there was absolutely no information about Aya Jiu available to the outside world.
‘How did this woman know?’
“…” Seeing his reaction, Liu Yanyun mistakenly thought he had forgotten her.
And so, she recounted her entire undercover mission in painstaking detail.
“Oh—it was you.” Realization dawned on Aya Tone. He truly had forgotten.
“You’re that person I rescued on a whim? My apologies, I didn’t recognize you with your clothes on.”
Then, as if sensing the derogatory implication in his words, he swiftly changed the subject.
“What did you mean by what you just said?” Aya Tone’s voice deepened, his gaze fixed intently on Liu Yanyun.
If she couldn’t offer a plausible explanation, he wouldn’t mind sending Liu Yanyun’s life back to where it came from.
Under the scrutiny of that deathly still gaze,
Liu Yanyun felt a chilling breeze seep into her bones, threatening to freeze her very blood.
Her teeth chattered uncontrollably as she bravely fought her fear, explaining, “Three… three years ago, a man came to the bureau with an infant…”
Following her words, Aya Tone quickly sifted through his memories and located the report from three years prior.
The face of that policewoman slowly merged with the woman standing before him.
But!
‘Why would she tell me all this? Could it be?’
Aya Tone knitted his brows, a glimmer of hope in his voice as he asked, “That day, you… weren’t unconscious?”
Liu Yanyun was about to nod in affirmation but then seemed to recall something, her cheeks suddenly flushing crimson.
Others might simply kiss, but this one? He went straight for a bite.
“…”
‘Excellent! Practical application!’
Aya Tone’s face clouded over. This was no less awkward than having the door burst open during an intimate moment.
‘Now my reputation as a pervert is stone-cold proven.’
He found a utility pole and leaned against it.
He actually wanted to bash his head against it, but it would hurt too much. So, he settled for bumping his back against it, just for the gesture.
“You know, the situation back then was extremely urgent. I really had no other choice…” By the end of his explanation, Aya Tone’s head had almost retracted into his collar.
‘It’s just too embarrassing…’
At the time, he thought no one would recognize him, and that those people would be cremated afterward, so he had let loose and performed. He never expected the actual person hadn’t been unconscious at all. That scene of him embracing and biting her face directly…
‘Oh, wow!’
‘I’m finished!’
‘Perhaps I should just eliminate her.’
A sinister grin spread across Aya Tone’s face, his magic already prepared, waiting for the signal to strike.
Perhaps Liu Yanyun sensed something, for she waved her hands frantically. “I… I understand. I’m not pursuing it. I just wanted to properly thank you.”
“No need to thank me, we’re all comrades.” The magic in his hand was discreetly withdrawn.
‘Phew~’
‘I almost finished planning where to bury her and how to create an alibi.’
“Speaking of which, do you remember that blood test report from back then?”
****
Aya Tone did not return to the guild; instead, he went straight back to his apartment.
The remaining matters would proceed with or without him; he might as well go home and sleep.
Due to the unrest in the city, kindergartens, primary, and secondary schools had all been closed, with new class schedules pending notification.
As for certain ‘workhorses,’ they weren’t so fortunate.
After a quick wash, Aya Tone didn’t go into his room. Instead, he leaned back on the sofa, lost in thought.
His mind returned to his conversation with Liu Yanyun.
Liu Yanyun: “I remember. I was the one who submitted the report back then. Are you asking this because you intend to abandon that child!?”
“No! How could I!?”
He had once used his S-rank privilege to search for his original body’s family, but without exception, all leads were blank.
It was as if his very existence had been conjured out of thin air.
‘So why… was Aya Jiu abandoned in the alley beside my rental apartment?’
Everything had been too coincidental, but too many coincidences meant it was intentional!
“Ah-woo…” He let out a big yawn.
As he thought, the mental exhaustion soon claimed him, and he lost consciousness, drifting into a dream.
In his dream, Aya Tone met many, many people.
His hazy past life suddenly became clear at this moment, everything he had seen over more than two decades.
Whether familiar friends or strangers, every face was vividly visible.
They walked towards him. Aya Tone instinctively furrowed his brows, raising a hand as if to stop them.
Yet, the figures seemed not to see him, walking straight ahead.
Just as Aya Tone thought they were about to collide with him, everyone…
No!
Rather, Aya Tone was like a phantom; not a single person could touch him.
‘Where exactly is this place?’
“You dumb dog, you died too?”
The familiar, annoying voice made a nerve in Aya Tone’s bewildered mind suddenly twitch, and he clenched his fists tightly.
Turning around, he indeed saw a figure identical to himself within the stream of people, smirking at him.
Unlike him, the crowd did not pass through this figure; instead, they parted, allowing him to pass.
“Didn’t you disappear? How are you here?” Aya Tone voiced his question.
‘He remembered falling asleep, didn’t he? What is this place…?’
The ‘Aya Tone’ smiled bitterly. “Yes, I’ve already disappeared, which is why I asked if you died…”
“This place… is the River of Oblivion.”
He pointed to a spot beyond the flow of people. Aya Tone followed his gaze and indeed saw a stone tablet with the characters ‘River of Oblivion’ carved prominently upon it.
‘Did I really die?’
‘What was the cause of death!?’
‘Sudden death?’
“Heh, dumb dog, do you really think I’d believe you?” The next moment, the anxiety on Aya Tone’s face vanished, replaced by a playful glint.
If anyone understood ‘Aya Tone’ best, it was naturally Aya Tone himself.
He would never miss an opportunity to mess with himself.
“How boring. This is your memory space. I am merely a lingering image within your memories right now.”