Chapter 48: Time to Retreat

In the blink of an eye, class was over.

Lin Shen Xue clung to Xu Lin’s arm as they walked out of the campus.

After wandering around, the two arrived at a narrow alley.

There was a coffee shop here.

Seeing the name of the café, Xu Lin froze slightly.

“Corner Lane”

It felt strangely familiar.

“Xu Lin classmate, have you been here before?”

Xu Lin instinctively wanted to say yes, but the next second, the words caught in his throat.

The sense of familiarity from seeing the café name vanished.

“No, this place is pretty out of the way. If you hadn’t brought me, I wouldn’t even know it existed.”

Lin Shen Xue didn’t press further and simply pulled him to sit at an outdoor table.

She still sat pressed tightly against him.

They ordered coffee and chatted idly while waiting.

When the coffee arrived, Xu Lin took a sip of his and paused.

?

“Xu Lin classmate?”

“It’s a little bitter.”

Xu Lin looked at Lin Shen Xue and smiled.

Lin Shen Xue smiled back at him.

“Of course, it’s Espresso.”

Xu Lin rarely came to places like this; actually, she had ordered for him earlier.

The coffee was indeed bitter, but that wasn’t why he had frozen.

That familiar feeling from the classroom had returned.

This time, it was from the seat across from him—he felt as though another person had been there.

But now, that feeling had vanished again.

…

After finishing their coffee and lingering sweetly for a while longer, they finally stood up and walked in another direction.

Halfway there, Lin Shen Xue suddenly swayed toward him and let out a small cry.

Xu Lin hurriedly caught her.

“What happened?”

“I think I twisted my ankle.”

Xu Lin quickly crouched down. She was wearing flat shoes.

Without overthinking, he helped her remove her shoe and sock. Sure enough, her ankle was red.

He gently massaged the swollen area.

Lin Shen Xue endured the pain, but faint whimpers still escaped her lips from time to time.

Xu Lin asked how it felt and adjusted the pressure accordingly.

…

“Much better, Xu Lin classmate.”

After a while, Lin Shen Xue’s slightly shy voice sounded.

“Really?”

Xu Lin looked up at her.

As if to prove it, she put her shoe and sock back on and walked a few steps.

Then she hugged his arm again.

“See? It’s really much better now, right?”

Seeing her walk normally, Xu Lin relaxed.

The two continued onward.

They strolled around the streets until sunset, finally parting reluctantly at a crossroads.

After watching Lin Shen Xue disappear completely, Xu Lin took a step to head back.

The moment his foot landed, he paused briefly, but soon continued without hesitation toward the school.

Back in the dorm, after exchanging goodnights with Lin Shen Xue on WeChat that night, he fell asleep.

…

“Xu Lin classmate, how about here?”

Lin Shen Xue’s voice pulled Xu Lin back to reality. He looked ahead.

It was a coffee shop named “Corner Lane”.

It felt familiar again.

“Uh…”

He instinctively started to reply.

But the moment the words were about to leave his mouth, a dull pain suddenly exploded in his head, as though something heavy had smashed directly into his brain.

Lin Shen Xue’s concerned voice came from beside him, but he could no longer respond.

The dull pain tore at his consciousness, as if trying to dig up every hidden memory buried inside.

He gritted his teeth, clutched his forehead, and fought against that soul-deep agony.

Yet all resistance was futile. The pain swallowed him whole.

In an instant, everything went pitch black before his eyes; the world spun wildly.

“Young…”

A voice came from the depths of the darkness.

“Hero…”

Distant, ancient—like a sound traveling across countless light-years, or an echo left by countless ages.

“Lord…”

That voice ripped through the darkness.

“Young Hero!”

The voice suddenly rang right inside his mind, close as his own heartbeat.

A familiar voice.

His vision cleared. The name of the café became sharp and distinct.

Lin Shen Xue’s worried voice beside him was perfectly clear.

“What… is happening to me…”

It’s a dream.

“Young Hero, it’s time to retreat.”

That voice appeared again in his mind.

In his consciousness, he saw that familiar figure.

It was Li Zhi Ran.

…

So that’s how it is…

Memories flooded into Xu Lin’s mind, and everything became clear.

He was inside a dream, and this scene—he had repeated it with Lin Shen Xue countless times already.

Every single time, the locations were always the same few places.

Classroom, coffee shop, alley.

Only the words they exchanged differed slightly each cycle.

But what remained the same was that she seemed to be deliberately probing something.

As expected, she had noticed something, yet she still wasn’t certain.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t go to such lengths to test him inside the dream.

And this time was clearly far more dangerous.

If Li Zhi Ran hadn’t appeared, he might not have realized he was dreaming at all.

Every time Lin Shen Xue probed, he would instinctively try to say something dangerous.

Yet at the critical moment, some mysterious force always made him change his words.

That was how the things he couldn’t say never reached Lin Shen Xue.

Now he understood—it had been Li Zhi Ran protecting him.

And now she was telling him to withdraw…

“Lady Witch, have you finished your research?”

He asked in his mind.

No one had taught him, but following the feeling of Li Zhi Ran speaking to him, he naturally knew how to reply.

“Yes. But there’s another reason. The magic the Gravity Witch is channeling into you is growing stronger. The preparations I made won’t be broken by this level of power, but for safety’s sake, I recommend the Young Hero retreat as soon as possible.”

“Understood. But what exactly should I do right now?”

“I’ve already set the beacon. Young Hero, please use your power to activate it. Remember—try not to let the Gravity Witch notice anything unusual.”

Xu Lin instantly understood.

In other words, he needed to use one of his <chuunibyou>-type tags right now.

“Xu Lin classmate, let’s go sit at that table over there for a bit. You didn’t look well just now.”

Lin Shen Xue’s voice came from beside him.

“Mm.”

Xu Lin didn’t look at her, only nodded.

He could already feel the power of her <Heavy Girl> tag.

And going to the café to sit was part of every single loop anyway—following her lead wouldn’t arouse suspicion.

He remembered the dream from the previous night: the moment he deviated from the script, she immediately reset everything.

…

Before long, the coffee they ordered was placed in front of them.

Once again Lin Shen Xue had ordered Espresso for him; he didn’t interfere much.

But hearing the name made his heart sink.

Wasn’t this the exact drink Luo Qiu Zhu had that afternoon?

Just how much did she know?

But right now he absolutely could not ask, or he would create unnecessary complications.

Xu Lin picked up the cup, created a <Wisdom> tag, and fused it with the coffee in his hand.

The moment the synthesis succeeded, he sensed a faint, strange ripple in the surroundings.

His expression remained unchanged. He chatted and laughed with Lin Shen Xue while drinking the coffee.

As the coffee flowed into his stomach and the tag’s power spread, that strange ripple became clearer.

The direction of the ripple became distinct.

He glanced toward it.

A trace of purple light caught the corner of his eye.

The purple light was hazy, as though floating in mist, deep inside the alley on the opposite side.

But soon the light grew clearer, eventually forming a distinct marker.

It was a witch’s hat—exactly the same as the one Li Zhi Ran wore.

“Young Hero, the beacon has received your signal. Head toward the beacon, and you will leave the dream. Remember—do not let the Gravity Witch notice anything unusual.”

“Understood.”

After replying to Li Zhi Ran’s voice, Xu Lin looked away.

Fortunately, the beacon lay along the mandatory path of every script.

Yet seeing that direction, Xu Lin couldn’t help smiling bitterly inside.

He knew that direction very well—it was the way he and Luo Qiu Zhu had left after spotting Lin Shen Xue that afternoon.

…

After finishing coffee with Lin Shen Xue, Xu Lin followed the same actions he had taken several times before, walking with her toward the alley.

At first he worried whether Lin Shen Xue would notice the witch’s hat.

But when he saw that she showed no reaction at all, he relaxed.

Still, he didn’t stare directly at the hat. Instead, he continued acting like his previous dream selves—chatting with Lin Shen Xue as they walked.

One step, two steps…

Only a short distance remained to the witch’s hat.

Xu Lin’s heart rose to his throat.

She might not see it, but at this range, Lin Shen Xue might still sense something.

“Mm?”

Without warning, the smile on Lin Shen Xue’s face froze, replaced by a look of confusion.

At that moment, only one step separated them from the witch’s hat.