“Without a home, she didn’t know how to find a Lao Zhen to start one together? This child, really.”
“Have ten kids! Have ten kids!”
“No wonder Ruoxi wanted to marry Lin Zhen after being mind-controlled; she just wanted to create a home again.”
The last sentence Yun Ruoxi had spoken seemingly without intent was incredibly lethal.
After hearing it, the group fell into an instantaneous silence.
Although Lin Zhen and Zi Jiu had some suspicions earlier, most people were hearing this for the first time.
It turned out that long before she was mind-controlled, the seemingly lively, adorable, and worry-free Yun Ruoxi actually harbored extremely severe self-destructive tendencies.
Her heart… had always been dead.
She had only chosen to hide it alone because of Lin Zhen’s ‘deception.’
“This… is everything,” Chicha’s voice rang out once more.
Then, with a *crack*, the projection screen shut down instantly, and the blue-white light retracted into the iron plate.
Lin Zhen reached out to take the iron plate. He looked down at it, his expression profoundly dejected as he mumbled, “Xiao Xi, you said I lied to you, but haven’t you lied to me too? I never knew… I never knew your heart held so much pain.”
“I thought those words back then had comforted you. Thinking about it now, that was just my own daydream. How could a heart-deadening past be healed by just a few words?”
“You were just too gentle. You didn’t want me to be sad, so to cooperate with me and ensure I wouldn’t be disappointed, you chose to lick your wounds alone. You pretended everything was fine just to laugh with us…”
In all those past days, however bright her smile had been, that same smile now felt just as fake and stifled in Lin Zhen’s mind. Before, he would talk to her about his hometown and the future whenever he had the chance —
‘I… I deserve to die!’
And he hadn’t noticed a thing at the time!
“If you say another word about the past, I’m going to cut off your tongue!” someone couldn’t help but grumble.
With a face full of agony, Lin Zhen gripped the iron plate tightly.
“Is this development leading to a lifetime of regret?”
“It feels more like a ‘chasing his wife at the crematorium’ trope.”
“Correcting the sinister female brat Ruoxi (lol).”
“Although asking now might be inappropriate, I still want to know,” Zi Jiu asked softly. “A Zhen, what exactly is the situation between you and Xiao Xi?”
They had been curious before. Why would Yun Ruoxi, who was so outstanding in both beauty and strength, be so submissive to Lin Zhen?
Even though Lin Zhen was now one of the only three Perfect Awakeners in the entire battle camp, back then, he hadn’t shown any talent at all.
His only redeeming qualities were being a good person, working hard, and being a bit sharp-witted.
But no matter how curious they were or how much they asked, Yun Ruoxi would always just smile and say Lin Zhen had saved her, before falling silent.
Now it seemed that whatever happened between the two was far more complicated than they had imagined.
However, after Lin Zhen sighed and recounted the events from the beginning, they found that it actually sounded quite simple — a simple case of a Hero Saves Beauty.
It was just that Lin Zhen had used a lie to save her.
Scarlet, however, after hearing Lin Zhen’s words, her gaze narrowed. She finally lowered her voice, and Yun Che heard her clearly. After connecting everything in her mind, she couldn’t help but whisper, “So that’s how it is.”
Though she spoke softly, she was still noticed.
“Scarlet, do you seem to know something?” he asked immediately.
Aware that she had let something slip, Scarlet hesitated, seemingly weighing whether to speak. But as the others turned their gazes toward her, she swallowed hard and lowered her head with a sigh.
“Truthfully, I shouldn’t be the one telling you this. But now that we’ve left the battle camp, and many things you weren’t supposed to know have been revealed by Dr. Forefinger, it doesn’t really matter whether I say it or not.”
As her voice trailed off, Scarlet raised her head and said seriously, “Actually, I didn’t find you by following the group. To be more precise, I was following Yun Ruoxi. I was discovered the moment I followed her out of tree god city.”
“I thought she would eliminate me, but unexpectedly, she told me many things. She explained her entire plan to me and finally asked me to do one thing for her.”
“What was it?”
Lin Zhen asked impatiently. He truly hadn’t expected that even Scarlet joining them was part of Yun Ruoxi’s arrangement.
For Yun Ruoxi to go to such lengths just to plant Scarlet in the team, there had to be something major she needed done.
Perhaps this matter was related to the plan Yun Ruoxi mentioned in the recording about preparing to run away after completing a certain task.
‘I must help finish this task and save Xiao Xi when the time comes,’ Lin Zhen couldn’t help but think.
Thinking back to that day, Scarlet said with a face full of emotion, “Yun Ruoxi told me that after everyone leaves the Saints’ hand society, the society will definitely send people to your hometowns to capture your families.”
“So, she gave me an anonymous, secret account and told me to use the money inside to help everyone change their identities and start new lives.”
Lin Zhen fell silent for several seconds. With a face full of disbelief, he asked in a strained voice, “Xiao Xi… she actually thought of that?”
Scarlet nodded, then pointed at Lin Zhen, mimicking Yun Ruoxi’s tone. “Yeah! She was actually very thorough.”
“She said Brother A Zhen loves learning and machinery, so she wanted me to help get you into the Cosmic Academy in the Machinery capital. There, Brother A Zhen would surely become a super engineer.”
Listening to Scarlet’s words, Lin Zhen could even imagine how beautiful Yun Ruoxi’s smile must have been at that moment.
“Xiao Xi really knows me…”
Tears involuntarily began to flow again.
“You thought of the way out and everything else for us, so why weren’t you willing to think more about yourself?”
“Ruoxi is truly beyond reproach.”
“Indeed.”
“So meticulous, she’s practically a woman who could be my mother.”
Scarlet looked at the distraught Lin Zhen and sighed.
To have nurtured such sincere feelings even within the battle camp, it was no wonder this group managed to escape.
After her lament, Scarlet looked at Aili.
“She said Xiao Ai likes Coronal Sunflowers and plants, so she insisted I send her to the Green planet, preferably close to the others in the team. That way, Xiao Ai wouldn’t miss her as much.”
“Sister was wrong about me!” Aili cried. “I will definitely miss her all the time!”
“The biggest mistake she ever made in her life was saving me, so I’m definitely going to pester her for the rest of my life!”
“Yandere younger sister? That’s quite nice.”
“Oh no, Ruoxi raised a Yandere.”
Scarlet then looked at Zi Jiu.
“She said even though Sister Jiu didn’t have any clear preferences, she would definitely want to be with Brother A Zhen, so she should be sent to the Cosmic Academy for further studies as well.”
Zi Jiu shook her head while laughing through her tears.
“She truly saw through everything and was willing to give up everything… but I won’t accept it!”