Chapter 54: Speaking Frankly

“You… why did you stop talking?”

After not hearing Su Aoxue’s response for a long time, Shen Yan only felt something was wrong.

So he quickly added, “Everything I said is true.”

But Su Aoxue suddenly asked back, “Why do you think she’s a bad person?”

“Well…”

This time, it was Shen Yan’s turn to be silent.

In the adjacent bed, Su Aoxue clenched her fists.

‘You can’t even explain yourself, you bastard!’

‘And you dare slander me as not being a good person?’

‘Next time I meet you in another identity, just wait and see if I beat you up or not!’

Since he was slandering her, Su Aoxue didn’t mind making it real and truly becoming the bad person in Shen Yan’s eyes.

But just as her anger peaked, Su Aoxue heard Shen Yan let out a sigh.

“Do you trust me?”

“Huh?”

Being suddenly dragged into a question of trust stunned Su Aoxue, and half her anger dissipated.

“I’m actually… reborn, with memories of the future…”

Before Shen Yan could finish, Su Aoxue hastily interrupted, “Hey, wait, wait. Reborn? What reborn?”

“And future memories—is that the kind of rebirth I’m thinking of?”

Hearing Su Aoxue’s shocked questions, Shen Yan wasn’t surprised. “Yeah, the kind of rebirth you’re thinking of. Just before dying, I returned to my teenage years.”

“No way, bro. Are you messing with me?”

“Are you pulling some old-school novel plotline?”

Su Aoxue mocked him in disbelief, but gradually, her confidence wavered.

“You’re not… actually reborn, are you?”

Her hesitant voice came through, and Shen Yan knew she was starting to believe him.

“Of course. Otherwise, why do you think I know how to be a pharmacist? In my past life, I was a Master Pharmacist. People wanting to commission potions from me could fill the entire Base City.”

“You get to drink my potions for free now, pretty sweet deal, right?”

“And I predicted the City-Destroying Crisis because of my future memories, not because I have connections up top. See? Believe me now?”

Hearing Shen Yan bring up those two things, Su Aoxue actually started to lean toward belief.

After all, Shen Yan’s recent changes were just too abrupt.

If you explained it with rebirth, it actually seemed plausible.

But then another doubt arose in her mind. “Then why do you think that Ice Attribute Martial Artist isn’t a good person?”

‘Did I turn into a delinquent in the future? No way?’

Yet Shen Yan’s tone suddenly grew heavy. “Because… in your past life, she killed you. Calling her ‘not a good person’ is just a polite way to put it.”

“She’s too strong. We… had no chance at all.”

“Huh?”

‘I killed myself?’

Hearing that, Su Aoxue was dumbfounded.

She couldn’t help but wonder if the person Shen Yan was talking about was really her.

So she couldn’t resist asking, “How do you know? Did you witness it?”

“No, but she told me herself. She killed you.”

“She’s so powerful that even after I stood among the top human combatants, I couldn’t avenge you by killing her.”

Shen Yan’s voice was full of regret as he spoke.

Su Aoxue, upon hearing all this, fell into thought.

‘I definitely couldn’t have killed myself. Was it a lie from future me?’

‘But why?’

“That’s the gist of it. The future stuff is real, at least what I said has come true.”

After saying that, Shen Yan chose to shut up.

He left Su Aoxue some time to think.

But before that, he emphasized again, “Yeah, I take responsibility for my words. It’s all true. That person is really dangerous. You don’t want to end up dead later, do you?”

With that, the night talk paused.

Su Aoxue’s mind was in chaos.

‘I definitely couldn’t have killed myself. Someone else must have done it.’

‘But someone else killing me is unlikely too. I have the Power of Glacial Calamity and Truth Society backing me. They wouldn’t let a premium experiment subject like me die.’

‘So there’s only one possibility: I tricked Shen Yan in the future!’

‘But what about my mom and sister?’

‘I have no reason to trick Shen Yan. I died.’

‘Something must have happened that made me hide my identity.’

Unable to resist, Su Aoxue spoke up again. “How did I end up in the future?”

But at this fatal question, Shen Yan fell silent.

He didn’t know how to answer.

The reason Shen Yan initially chose to hide his rebirth from Su Aoxue was that he feared she would ask about his own future.

He really couldn’t bring himself to tell her about the tragic experiences of her future self.

Soon, Shen Yan put on a lighthearted tone and said casually, “Well, I’ll tell you when we get to the 3rd Base City.”

“Yeah, a cliffhanger.”

“Not… you—”

Su Aoxue was momentarily speechless, but hearing Shen Yan’s tone, after ruling out the possibility of her killing herself, her future didn’t seem to hold a major crisis?

“Anyway, that’s all for tonight’s chat. Let’s sleep.”

Shen Yan said, closing his eyes first, and his breathing became eerily steady.

“What the—asleep that fast?”

Shen Yan was asleep, leaving Su Aoxue to rack her brains.

“You’re so damn annoying!”

With no other choice, Su Aoxue had to set that issue aside.

Because there was an even bigger problem now…

In the darkness, Su Aoxue’s senses were amplifying.

She could clearly feel another person lying on the other side of the blanket, constantly radiating heat.

It was much warmer than her own body.

Ever since Su Aoxue fully transformed into the perfect vessel for the Power of Glacial Calamity, her body temperature had never returned to normal human levels.

She ran cold, maybe only over twenty degrees, with no warmth at all.

While this didn’t affect her daily life, it made her very sensitive to heat sources.

And a warm environment made her much more comfortable.

Su Aoxue could only grit her teeth and resist her inner urges.

She kept telling herself that the person beside her was a danger, not a heater, and she couldn’t lean in!

‘Shen Yan, you’re such a piece of work. Next time I share a bed with you and have a night chat, I’m a pig!’

Time ticked by, second by second, until suddenly, Su Aoxue sat up sharply!

This startled Shen Yan, who had his eyes closed, pretending to be asleep but actually secretly practicing his Visualization Method.

But before he could open his eyes in confusion, he sensed an object rapidly approaching him.

Shen Yan instinctively chose to keep pretending to sleep, staying on high alert.

Just as he wondered what Su Aoxue was up to, she bypassed him and got off the bed.

It seemed she was heading straight for the bathroom.

Gradually, after hearing the sound of running water, Shen Yan went back to practicing his Visualization Method.

‘Just a bathroom break.’

Soon, Su Aoxue returned to the bed, carrying a chill all over her.

Although the cold from Su Aoxue affected his side of the blanket as well, Shen Yan, knowing that Ice System Awakeners usually had lower body temperatures than normal people due to their Talent, didn’t think much of it.

But just as Shen Yan assumed Su Aoxue would finally settle down and sleep, he sensed something off.

‘I’ll just move a tiny bit closer. A tiny bit shouldn’t hurt, right?’

‘I’ll get up when dawn is near.’

Thinking to herself, Su Aoxue began to act.

With snail-like movements, she carefully inched toward Shen Yan’s position.

After moving a small distance, she stopped and held her breath.

Hearing no change in Shen Yan’s breathing rhythm, she moved again.