Although Dai Yuan now believed that Huo Youqing had the ability to travel through time, he was still very curious and asked many questions, like how Huo Youqing managed to do it. When he heard that it happened during sleep, his curiosity grew even stronger.
“Does time flow differently in the two worlds?”
This was something Huo Youqing had always found strange as well.
Every time he crossed over, time in the current world would stop until he woke up here.
Time was waiting for him.
“Yeah.”
Seeing Huo Youqing nod, excitement flashed in Dai Yuan’s eyes. He gently grabbed Huo Youqing’s arm. “Can I watch? I’ll stay up and watch you sleep tonight.”
This request was refused. Huo Youqing didn’t have control over when he would cross over, and he couldn’t be certain that falling asleep tonight would send him to the twenty-seven-year-old timeline. Dai Yuan was a bit disappointed, but he quickly asked again, “When we shared a hotel room before, how many times did you cross timelines?”
Huo Youqing had no intention of telling Dai Yuan everything. He didn’t fully trust him, so he gave a vague answer and didn’t mention that the last time he crossed over, he had stayed in the twenty-seven-year-old timeline for more than five months.
“Let’s get back to our deal. I’ll give you everything I have and everything I know, but I won’t be publicly involved. This matter must not affect my family,” Huo Youqing cut off Dai Yuan before he could ask more questions.
Dai Yuan agreed readily.
His quick agreement only made Huo Youqing more suspicious.
Dai Yuan noticed Huo Youqing’s wariness and gave a helpless smile. “When I confessed to you before, I wasn’t faking it. No matter what, I will protect you and your family. Otherwise, you’d definitely hate me to death, and if you hated me, how could I slowly win you over in the future? Like I said, I want both the Dai family and you. I believe I can eventually win you over. My brother isn’t right for you. Even though you won’t tell me much about the next nine years, I can tell that you weren’t happy.”
As he spoke, he leaned closer to Huo Youqing, wearing a look as if he was asking for praise, like, “Aren’t I being obedient?”
But Huo Youqing spaced out for a moment. When he came back to his senses, he pushed Dai Yuan’s face away. He wasn’t stupid and could tell that Dai Yuan was saying these things on purpose—to make him feel reassured, at least enough to not worry about his family’s safety while working with him.
That night, Huo Youqing boarded a flight back to China. He couldn’t stay in M country any longer, in case Dai Yuan’s father realized he was involved. Dai Yuan would cover up all traces of Huo Youqing’s presence in M country, and Huo Youqing had something very important to do.
He needed to return to the twenty-seven-year-old timeline.
He needed to find out how Dai Yixin had managed to defeat his father back then.
Perhaps understanding that he wanted to change the future, his frequency of time travel increased again. In the twenty-seven-year-old timeline, he contacted Dai Yixin’s assistant, Assistant Gui.
Assistant Gui had been by Dai Yixin’s side for almost six years and knew many things about him, but he didn’t know much about the events that happened nine to eight years ago in that timeline.
How did Dai Yixin, under his father’s twisted control, manage to send his own father to a nursing home and secure his position in the Dai family company?
When Huo Youqing met with Assistant Gui, he didn’t have high hopes, but Assistant Gui gave him a surprising lead.
“Mr. Huo, would you like to visit the Dai residence? There’s a safe there. I think it might have what you’re looking for.”
Huo Youqing’s expression changed. “You… you knew I’d come looking for you? Or what?”
Assistant Gui shook his head, then nodded. “I wasn’t sure if you’d come to find me, but I’ve been waiting for you. It was Mr. Dai’s instruction. He said if you asked me about what happened nine years ago, I should tell you he left something there for you.”
“Did he tell you this before the surgery?”
“Yes.”
Huo Youqing pressed his lips together hard, making them turn crimson before slowly relaxing them. He sat in silence, and Assistant Gui sat quietly with him as well.
After a long pause, Huo Youqing said, “Come with me.”
Although Dai Yixin had taken control of the Dai family, in Huo Youqing’s memory, Dai Yixin had never voluntarily brought him back to the Dai residence. This grand mansion had stood the test of time for nine years without showing any signs of decay.
Stepping into the Dai residence again, Huo Youqing felt like it was almost identical to the one in the eighteen-year-old timeline. He even experienced the illusion that he had returned to that era.
The safe Assistant Gui mentioned was in Dai Yixin’s former room, a room Huo Youqing had stayed in the longest at the Dai residence—during the time he had transferred to a university in M country, he had spent at least three nights a week here.
Back then, his uncle and aunt thought he was willingly dating Dai Yixin, but because of his frequent overnight stays, they privately had a talk with him.
At first, he didn’t quite understand their concern, but when his uncle awkwardly told him to “protect himself,” his face flushed with embarrassment.
He opened his mouth to say something but found he didn’t know what to say.
Those things weren’t… they weren’t entirely forced by Dai Yixin. He was a man too, with his own desires.
After that conversation, he angrily told Dai Yixin, “I won’t be staying at your house anymore.”
He knew he was deliberately taking out his frustration on Dai Yixin. These matters couldn’t always be forced, but with his uncle’s subtle reminders, he felt it was time to set clear boundaries and stop indulging in such fleeting pleasures.
However, Dai Yixin could be very cunning at times. He neither agreed nor disagreed; instead, he knelt before Huo Youqing and started kissing him from his toes upward. Huo Youqing gasped, grabbing Dai Yixin’s hair. When he caught a glimpse of the amber eyes looking up at him, he stiffened and let go.
Helpless, Huo Youqing could only bite his own fingers. The window wasn’t fully closed, and the wind blew the curtains. In the shifting light and shadows, white sparks of fireworks seemed to visit in silence. Huo Youqing’s lashes cast shadows in the sunlight, as delicate as pearls.
After biting his fingers for a while, he couldn’t resist glancing at Dai Yixin’s lips.
They were so red.
***
“Mr. Huo, the safe is here.”
Following the voice, Huo Youqing looked over and saw a safe embedded in the wall behind the bedside table. The structure had merged seamlessly with the wall. After he walked over, Assistant Gui quietly left the room.
The safe required both a password and a fingerprint.
The password…
Assistant Gui hadn’t mentioned the password, likely because he didn’t know it. Dai Yixin had left this safe for him, clearly confident that Huo Youqing could figure it out.
Instinctively, Huo Youqing entered his own birthday.
It was wrong.
He thought for a moment and then entered the date of their first meeting in M country.
Still wrong.
…
He stared at the safe for a long time before entering the date of their first meeting as children.
He didn’t really remember the date, but Dai Yixin had repeatedly mentioned it when reminiscing about the past.
The password was correct.
Huo Youqing then placed his finger on the scanner.
With a beep, the safe door clicked open.
Seeing the documents inside, Huo Youqing couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. When entering the password, he had noticed a countdown on the screen in the top right corner, decreasing by one with each incorrect attempt. This had only added to his anxiety, making him feel like he had overlooked some detail, though he couldn’t recall what it was.
After retrieving the documents, he stood up and left the room. When Assistant Gui saw him emerge, he thoughtfully handed over a tissue and asked, “Mr. Huo, should we leave now?”
Huo Youqing thanked him. As they stepped into the elevator, his eyes caught sight of the button for the second basement floor.
“Assistant Gui, I’d like to visit the second basement floor. You can wait for me in the car,” Huo Youqing changed his mind.
Assistant Gui nodded and exited the elevator on the first floor, leaving Huo Youqing to descend alone.
Huo Youqing’s destination was a room where Dai Yixin had once been held for a long time. When the elevator doors opened, the same massive half-human, half-snake sculpture greeted him. Perhaps due to the cloudy weather, the statue’s expression seemed particularly cold today, as if it had transformed into a giant serpent watching any intruders entering its domain.
He walked down the corridor, deeper into the building.
It was his first time seeing this room in the twenty-seven-year-old timeline.
Gently, he turned the door handle. The room was pitch dark, and the stale air hinted at how long it had been since anyone had entered. Huo Youqing didn’t step inside but paused at the doorway, gazing into the seemingly endless darkness.
In another timeline, someone was locked inside here.
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