Ruan Mei didn't care that her friend was mocking her, and said calmly, "I won't."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, because AMu wouldn't like me doing that."
At the very instant before she was about to 'resurrect' her parents, she had destroyed all the data.
Completely and utterly.
AMu was right; a new life shouldn't be like that.
What she pursued now was to recreate the original miracle of life and break the existing constants of the universe.
Rather than... reproducing the electronic pets Yu Qintu spoke of, the false life AMu once mentioned.
"..."
Yu Qintu stared into her eyes for a long time, and only withdrew her gaze after finding no trace of a lie.
Black Swan asked softly, "What do you mean by the normal method?"
"Oh, it's simple: utilizing the convenience brought by intelligence."
Yu Qintu picked up the wine glass on the table, took an elegant sip, and continued:
"I have instructed the IPC executives to keep an eye out for anyone in the universe named Qi Zhimu. Every single one of them—I want all their information collected."
"Of course, the Little Fellow might not have the same name in his next life, but this is better than running around like a headless fly."
"This method is indeed a bit difficult for someone like Intimate form of Ruan Meis name, who dislikes public exposure and is accustomed to living in low-key seclusion."
"Ms. Jingliu, what about you?"
Yu Qintu turned the conversation toward the woman whose expression was as cold as frost.
Jingliu was silent for a moment before answering expressionlessly.
"I will leave the Xianzhou and use the skills my master taught me to hunt down all Abominations of Abundance that block my path."
"As long as Master hears that there is such a madwoman, he will surely recognize it is me."
Ruan Mei remained noncommittal and said flatly, "How can you be certain that AMu will take the initiative to recognize you? Don't forget, he never sought us out in his second life."
He hadn't even mentioned them.
It was hard not to imagine whether he had already forgotten all the experiences of his previous life and severed all ties.
"I don't trust myself; I simply trust Master."
Saying this, Jingliu's gaze toward Ruan Mei and the other two took on a faint sense of superiority.
"I am different from you. You only spent a few years to a few decades with him in his previous life."
"But I—"
Jingliu raised her index finger, her head tilting slightly.
"It was a full 1,079 years, nearly 1,080 years."
"Ms. Black Swan, Ms. Yu Qintu, I admit that in his previous life, Master treated the two of you differently than he treated her."
She glanced at Ruan Mei and said matter-of-factly:
"But to say that a few years or decades of companionship is enough for Master to engrave you in his heart and never forget you for eternity... if I may be blunt—"
"You are imagining the skeletal reality to be far too plump."
"The emotions Master felt for me were hidden for a thousand years, kept under restraint until his passing, with only one brief loss of control fueled by wine."
"Therefore, I do not believe you can be compared to me."
Hearing this, Black Swan did not get angry, but merely shrugged helplessly.
"What an undeserved calamity. I don't deny that I've been looking forward to the day I reunite with Mr. Qi, hoping he'd be willing to continue our unfinished fate."
"But that doesn't mean I take this for granted. If Mr. Qi's feelings for me have faded, I will simply cultivate them anew."
"I could enter his heart before, so naturally, I have confidence for our future reunion."
"The young girl named Clarice, whom he once treated with tenderness, hasn't changed in over a thousand years."
"What changed was merely Black Swan."
"Thus, no matter how Mr. Qi's life changes in each reincarnation, I believe the true him has never changed due to different identities or positions."
Yu Qintu glanced at Black Swan.
If Qi Zhimu doesn't like Black Swan, what does that have to do with her, Clarice? Was that the meaning?
She certainly knew how to talk.
In that case, she could also say that the genius sister who appreciated the Little Fellow had never changed either.
However, Yu Qintu did not voice certain thoughts.
None of the others present were over three thousand years old.
But she had lived through hundreds of amber eras; she had drunk more wine than they had eaten meals.
To brew a type of fine wine with romantic effects, she had once deeply researched human emotions.
That kind of emotion was called the 'White Moonlight' effect.
Though she didn't want to admit it, the first person to leave a deep imprint on Qi Zhimu's heart was the teacher he eventually gave up waiting for.
—Ruan Mei.
This woman, Ruan Mei, might be the most difficult mountain to cross.
Given the Little Fellow's bone-deep affection for his teacher, combined with Ruan Mei's current transformation, she had almost become the perfect teacher he had once hoped for.
She had recognized her own heart, learned respect, and realized she loved him.
If Ruan Mei found Qi Zhimu and opened her arms to him, there was a possibility he would refuse, but it was at least lower than for the others present.
What Jingliu said was indeed true, but she overlooked a certain base instinct of human emotion.
—The one who is not obtained is always in a state of agitation; the one who is favored is always secure and unafraid.
Regrettably, even geniuses could hardly be an exception.
Ruan Mei was a living example, and so was she.
As for Black Swan and Jingliu?
One was 'You were born before I was, and I was born when you were already old'.
The other was 'The world's affairs are hard to reconcile, with love and hatred both leading to mutual weariness'.
In essence, there was no great difference; both were cases of unrequited love and lingering obsessions. As she mentioned before, she counted as one of them too, belonging to the same category.
Only Ruan Mei's ecological niche was the opposite of theirs; it was Qi Zhimu who had loved her without attainment.
That was why she didn't look down on Ruan Mei... A genius can look down on most things in the universe, but that doesn't mean losing reverence and humility toward the unknown.
No matter how deep the research into human emotions, the answer to a certain subject would never change:
The free human heart can never be fully guessed or seen through.
Ruan Mei didn't notice Yu Qintu's contemplation. She deliberately ignored Black Swan's words, and only Jingliu's sentence echoed in her mind.
"...You said the feelings AMu had for you were hidden for a thousand years, with only one brief loss of control fueled by wine. What happened?"
When she asked this, her expression was slightly dark.
Clearly, she thought of memories that were not pleasant at the time, yet became the most beautiful after being lost.
Back then, during those two years, she, who had drunk plum blossom brew aged over three years, had once been intimately close with AMu... Upon hearing this, Jingliu nearly couldn't suppress the urge to draw her sword.
After giving Ruan Mei a cold glare, she forcibly pushed aside the images related to her master's previous life and suddenly looked at Black Swan.
"Since Ms. Ruan Mei wants to know, Ms. Black Swan, could I trouble you to manifest a certain memory from my mind?"
"..."
Black Swan narrowed her eyes, silent at first, before a mysterious glint flashed in the depths of her gaze.
"Happy to be of service."
Thus, that scene appeared.
Qi Zhimu's eyes were bloodshot, and with a desire like a volcanic eruption, he burst into Jingliu's private space.
Witnessing the entire process, except for Black Swan who was already prepared, the expressions of Yu Qintu and Ruan Mei both became quite unsightly, each in their own way.
Especially Ruan Mei, whose face was clouded over with a very obvious shadow.
A strange and oppressive aura enveloped the surroundings.
If any bystander were present, they would surely feel that touch-and-go atmosphere, one where blood might flow like a river between the four women.